From the Northeast Intelligence Network:

The following posting, in English, was posted to several Arabic language jihadi forums. We thought that you might like to read it:

We Will Be Coming For You"

This letter is for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, "Islamic Response," and the rest of the so-called "insurgents" in Iraq. I obviously do not have an e-mail address for these vermin, so I am forwarding this letter to my entire address book in the hope you good people will forward it to as many people as possible, and that eventually through the miracle of the internet it somehow ends up in the hands of the intended recipients. Thank you all for your assistance.

This is from my good friend and fellow 3/4 vet. It sums up my feelings as well.

To the terrorists currently operating in Iraq,

I see that you have captured a U. S. Marine, and that you plan to cut off his head if your demands are not met. Big mistake. Before you carry out your threat I suggest you read up on Marine Corps history. The Japanese tried the same thing on Makin Island and in a few other places during World War Two, and came to regret it. Go ahead and read about what then happened to the mighty Imperial Army on Tarawa, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. They paid full price for what they did, and you will too.

You look at America and you see a soft target, and to a large extent you are right. Our country is filled with a lot of spoiled people who drive BMWs, sip decaf lattes and watch ridiculous reality TV shows. They are for the most part decent, hard working citizens, but they are soft. When you cut off Nick Berg's head those people gasped, and you got the media coverage you sought, and then those people went back to their lives. This time it is different. We also have a warrior culture in this country, and they are called Marines. It is a brotherhood forged in the fire of many wars, and the bond between us is stronger than blood. While it is true that this country has produced nitwits like Michael Moore, Howard Dean and Jane Fonda who can be easily manipulated by your gruesome tactics, we have also produced men like Jason Dunham, Brian Chontosh and Joseph Perez. If you don't recognize those names you should. They are all Marines who distinguished themselves fighting to liberate Iraq, and there will be many more just like them coming for you.

Before the current politically correct climate enveloped our culture one of the recruiting slogans of our band of brothers was "The Marine Corps Builds Men." You will soon find out just how true that is. You, on the other hand, are nothing but a bunch of women. If you were men you would show your faces, and take us on in a fair fight. Instead, you are cowards who hide behind masks and decapitate helpless victims. If you truly represented the interest of the Iraqi people you would not be ambushing those who come to your country to repair your power plants, or sabotage the oil pipelines which fuel the Iraqi economy. Your agenda is hate, plain and simple.

When you raise that sword over your head I want you to remember one thing. Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun is not alone as he kneels before you. Every Marine who has ever worn the uniform is there with him, and when you strike him you are striking all of us. If you think the Marines were tough on you when they were cleaning out Fallujah a few weeks ago you haven't seen anything yet. If you want to know what it feels like to have the Wrath of God called down upon you then go ahead and do it. We are not Turkish truck drivers, or Pakistani laborers, or independent contractors hoping to find work in your country. We are the United States Marines, and we will be coming for you.

Via Northeast Intelligence Network

Ooh! Purdy...
A little remodeling has been in order for some time. Now that I've passed my blogiversary, at least I needed to learn enough more HTML to spruce up the place a bit. Expect a couple more minor changes shortly.

If any of the text colors really don't work on your monitor, please give me a headsup.

Also, I've gone back to using Haloscan for the comments. Seems y'all were nervous about using the Blogger litterbox...

The British government has said repeatedly it stands by intelligence it gathered and used in its controversial September 2002 dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programmes. It still claims that Iraq had sought uranium from Niger.

But the US intelligence community, officials and politicians, are publicly sceptical, and the public differences between the two allies on the issue have obscured the evidence that lies behind the UK claim.

Until now, the only evidence of Iraq's alleged attempts to buy uranium from Niger had turned out to be a forgery. In October 2002, documents were handed to the US embassy in Rome that appeared to be correspondence between Niger and Iraqi officials.

When the US State Department later passed the documents to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, they were found to be fake. US officials have subsequently distanced themselves from the entire notion that Iraq was seeking buy uranium from Niger.

However, European intelligence officers have now revealed that three years before the fake documents became public, human and electronic intelligence sources from a number of countries picked up repeated discussion of an illicit trade in uranium from Niger. One of the customers discussed by the traders was Iraq.

These intelligence officials now say the forged documents appear to have been part of a "scam", and the actual intelligence showing discussion of uranium supply has been ignored.

Click here for the rest:FT.com Home UK

The lefties have their crainiums too deeply buried in a "very dark place" to actually believe this evidence, but this information makes great fodder with which to torment them.

Hey, I've been talking about this, but this is the first I've heard that implementation could be this close. This is a GREAT idea, far more efficient than using rockets, and probably better in many ways than an advanced "space plane" replacement for the shuttle!

The concept is simple: centripetal force on a counterweight stationed just beyond the geosynchronous orbit altitude will keep the cable taut, and solar energy beamed down from a station located at the geosynchronous orbit elevation powers the car that rides the cable.

This scientist expects that the carbon nanotube ribbon he envisions would be capable of lifting a 13 ton payload into space.

Click to read more:
Excite News

I am likely to be pointing you in the direction of the Belmont Club blog a lot. This blog is so chock full of great analysis, I figure why do I need to add more.

This post compares the tactics used against the Russians in Chechnya to the tactics used against Coalition forces in Iraq. The tactics are the same, but the results have been very different. Find out why: Belmont Club--The Grand Bumblers

FOXNews.com - U.S. & World - Terrorists Seek Iraqi WMD Scientists:"Charles Duelfer -- whose ISG is leading the hunt for weapons of mass destruction -- said terrorists in Iraq are 'trying to tap into the Iraqi WMD intellectual capital."

He also told Fox News that about 10 or 12 sarin and mustard gas shells have been found in various locations in Iraq"

Ok kids. How much more material do we need to find before Reuters can bring themselves to stop parroting the lie that "No WMD's have been found"?

How much?

Who cares when it was manufactured? Saddam declared that he had destroyed it all, and clearly he had not, in violation of UN Resolution after UN Resolution. Properly dispersed under the right conditions, the amount of sarin found in those shells is enough to kill 500,000 people.

Quit moving the goal posts. This war was justified.

This is terrible...but funny! Mouse-roll across the cartoon...
Curmudgeonly & Skeptical: ROLL

Link via SondraK

...is a very disturbing movie.

Never saw it before, saw it tonight.

I pretty much knew the plot before, but given the moral and political times we're living in, some of the more disturbing aspects are not so far-fetched. Stem-cell "harvesting", organ "harvesting" from "spare" "fetuses"...

"Soylent Green is made of PEOPLE!!!..."

Ok kids, why do you suppose I missed THIS in the regular course of my news perusal?

Where is the trumpeting of this major success in the mainstream press?!

Link and commentary at: The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: The End of Muttcatarrh al-Sadr.

Another one from Barking Moonbat.

Barking Moonbat Early Warning System: Rummy's New Rules For Reporters

Allan has some nice footage here of an Iraqi insurgent with an RPG, sent to meet his 72 ewoks.
Barking Moonbat Early Warning System: Video Of The Day

Belmont Club:

"The particular venom with which the Liberals regard President Bush is at heart a reaction to what they perceive as a coup d'etat directed against the carefully constructed edifice of their historical achievements. To understand why the President and individuals like Paul Wolfowitz are described as 'illegitimate', one should not, like the man who doesn't get the reference, look to the Florida chads or US Supreme Court decisions. Liberals are not talking about that kind of statutory legitimacy. Rather they are referring to what is perceived as a brazen attempt to negate the cultural equivalent of the Brezhnev doctrine, the idea that certain 'progressive' modes of behavior, once attained, are irreversible. In this view, an entire set of attitudes, commonly referred to as 'political correctness' and their institutional expressions, like the United Nations, have become part of a social contract, part of an unwritten constitution.

President Bush, so the indictment goes, is guilty of ignorant trespass on these civilizational norms; he is simply too stupid, too much of a yokel to know better. Like a hairy caveman guided by only the most primitive of instincts, he is accused of reacting to the September 11 attack on America by clubbing all, near and far. Yet if George W. Bush is beneath contempt, not so his archpriests the 'neoconservatives'. They are the worthy heirs of a role historically filled by the Knights Templars, Masons and Jesuits: the scheming manipulators of the half-witted king."

This is a must read.

(DON'T skip over it! Go back and click on the link.)

Link via Tim Dinkel

Some people get bent out of shape when, after months and months of blogging faithfully day after day, they are still no closer to surpassing the "Higher Beings" than they were when they started. "What?! Only 350 hits today? Can anyone tell me, WHAT IS THE POINT??"

Well not this Cat. Nosiree! I've figured out that, for massaging the ego, blogging is about as useful as a one-armed trapeze artist with an itchy arse. First off, nobody reads what I write anyway (yes, I know you're reading this and you're SOMEBODY. No offense intended.)

Sitemeter is great for bringing a dose of reality. "Twenty hits today? Cool!" But then I see that sixteen of them were poor lost souls who wandered in by accident from a misguided Google search.

Dang.

Just for example, someone wandered in here today searching for a "nose prosthesis". (Poor fellow--probably cut off his nose to spite his face. Sorry I can't help...)

Second, my recent troll-thwacking and a change to a new comment system seems to have killed the feedback. Maybe I should return to haloscan. At least with haloscan I had a few trolls to thwack, which was fun in it's own way. But it's kind of refreshing being a stinkin' li'l backwater blog. If I let go for a moment to itch my arse, not too many people even notice the thud, and even fewer are likely to comment on it.

So my effort at "Dave Barry" style humor elicited stony silence.

Hmph.

Hey, at least I don't have the kind of pressure Frank J. has on him...

For those of you for whom the manstream media is failing your expectations of full and fair reporting, here is a link to a report by CIA Director George Tenet to Congress, detailing the contacts between the Saddam Hussein regime and high-level Al Qaeda operatives.

Congressional Record -- Senate October 9, 2002 (.pdf)

Link via Bill O'Reilly

In further news this weekend, it turns out that the 9-11 commission members did not author that report that was issued in their name, which claimed that there was no link between Saddam Hussein's regime and Al Qaeda. In fact, it was authored by unaccountable staffers of the commission with (incredibly enough!) minimal to no input from commission members. Now a number of commission members have come out and said that they disagree with the conclusions presented in the report.

This weekend, commission member John Lehman came out and said that the commission is aware that a high level Al-Qaeda member was a Lieutenant Colonel in Saddam Husseins Fedayeen forces. How about that for a powerful link?

Also not discussed to any significant degree is the fact that Russia gave the US intelligence information--after 9-11 and before the Iraq war--that Saddam was actively planning terrorist strikes against the United States.

Bush and Cheney were more than right to call "Bullshit" on that commission report.

Here's a tip for cleaning your workshop of all that fine dust that gets all over everything, especially after you do any sanding, cutting or other woodwork. Now this only works if you have a powerful roof fan or evaporative cooler. This technique depends upon having a strong current of air coming into the shop.

You'll also need the following:

-Your goggles
-Your NIOSH-approved respirator (the one you use for spray painting--those wimpy allergy masks are useless)
-A powerful floor fan--one of those high horsepower models--not the weak box fan designed for the parlor, and
-A long extension cord to plug in the fan.

First, turn on the roof fan and open all the doors and windows. Put your goggles and respirator on. Now turn on the floor fan and point it at all those dusty workbenches, and into all those dusty cabinets and corners and crevices. It should be obvious by now what the goggles and respirator are for. By now you will have a tremendous cloud of dust that is being forcibly ejected from your workshop by the roof fan.

You might need to make a couple passes over the workshop with the fan in order to keep the dust airborne long enough for the roof fan to do it's job. But when you're done, your shop will look like you spent hours vacuuming and fussing over every corner meticulously with the shop vac. Trust me, no one will know the difference. This is why it's best to use this technique when the wife is not home. It'll take you ten minutes and make you look like a hero.

If your shop is in really desperate shape, you can use this same technique, substituting your leaf blower for the floor fan. The only problem is, the leaf blower is powerful enough to scramble your socket set and blow your birdhouse project into the next county. So it's best to reserve this for the truly deep cleaning needs. Plus your neighbors are likely to look askance when they see scraps of wood leftover from that Christmas 1963 paper towel-holder project flying out the garage door.

Oh and one last thing: It's always good to check which way the wind is blowing before you start.
(seriously, this is better than Dave Barry -- click THE SANDBOX to read the rest...)
(Click Here to return to Main Page)

SpaceShipOne

She packed my bags last night pre-flight
Zero hour nine a.m.
And I'm gonna be high as a kite by then

I miss the earth so much I miss my wife
It's lonely out in space
On such a timeless flight

And I think it's gonna be a long long time
Till touch down brings me round again to find
I'm not the man they think I am at home
Oh no no no I'm a rocket man
Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone

Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids
In fact it's cold as hell
And there's no one there to raise them if you did

And all this science I don't understand
It's just my job five days a week
A rocket man,
A rocket man

And I think it's gonna be a long long time...

Did you know that Space Ship One burns a combination of rubber and laughing gas in its flight?

I've been using the wrong stuff all this time...

That's how the headline reads. But that's not what the former president in question said. In fact, you need to get to the bottom of the article to find out what he really said.

Clinton not sure Iraq better off: "In an interview to be published in Time magazine, Clinton said that even though he didn't agree with the timing of the attack, he wants the Iraq invasion 'to have been worth it.'

'I think if you have a pluralistic, secure, stable Iraq, the people of Iraq will be better off, and it might help the process of internal reform in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere,' Clinton said."

Grouchy Old Cripple: Big Cat For Pumpman

That looks to be a Maine Coon cat. My cat Maxwell (probably half Maine Coon) is nowhere near that size.

Link via Acidman

Velociman makes the case here that Islamofascism is, in fact, probably the most pure form of Islam.
Velociworld: The Fuze Burns...

Think about it.

Mr. President, quit lying to us about the nature of the enemy. Islam is not a "religion of peace". Whereas war has been waged in the name of Christianity in centuries past, the very founder of Islam was a bloody man of conquest. This has nothing to do with hatred. This has everything to do with facing the truth and being willing to accept it.

Islam means "submission".

That's you and me.

To them.

I don't think so.

Looking in to civil defense issues, I was reminded of Elena's site, and had to pay it another visit (actually a mirror of her site). All things considered, the radiation levels around Chernobyl are not that high anymore. You still don't want to live there though...



Elena's Chernobyl

The meter measures milliroentgens/hr, so translating the decimal place, the meter is showing 763 microroentgens/hr directly in front of the power plant. That probably exceeds OSHA standards (*snicker*), but isn't likely to do a person much damage. The danger lies in stochiastic effects (i.e. long-term increased risk of cancer).

Something warns me that it is time to start looking into getting up to speed on the emergency planning advice that the Dept. of Homeland Security has published.

Ready.gov - From the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

The obvious first step is to assemble an emergency kit and set up a personal and family response plan.

Let's not kid ourselves. It's time to pull some heads out of some dark crevices. The "chatter" from the terrorist sources has been increasing again. We've been fortunate so far that we have not been hit at home since 9/11. There is very little to assure us that it can't happen again. Everyone needs an emergency kit and an evacuation plan.

What? Do you think someone will provide you with all you need at a moment's notice? You think it's okay that you become a burden on someone else who had more foresight than you?

Remember the parable of the ten virgins.

Doing more of the same thing that has been failing for the last fifty years isn't going to suddenly produce success. Given the civil liberties cost of the drug war, it's time conservatives pull their heads out of the sand and start addressing this from a new angle.
WorldNetDaily: Why drug cops can't win:

"Do drug warriors honestly wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and get a rush of pride that only 90 percent of illegal narcotics are getting through thanks to them? Sadly--and adding an entirely new dimension to the word "pathetic" --yes, they do.

As for the rest of us, we need something different. The war on drugs is spending taxpayer money by the billions and tossing it down a thousand rat holes. It's perfectly idiotic to continue trying to interdict narcotics when they so easily make their way across. Think of it this way: The 10 percent figure is more like a tax for smugglers than anything resembling a deterrent. In total numbers, it hardly reflects anything close to victory."

Hey! Quit that! We could use those funds in the war against Islamofascism!

Link via Dadcat

Dave Winer, a pioneer of an online journal format known as Web logs, thought he was doing people a favor by hosting 3,000 of such blogs for free.

So he was taken aback this week when he endured a barrage of criticism for deciding to stop the free service - an episode that reveals deep passions about blogging.

You were "taken aback"? You don't say...

You cut off three-thousand people from their weblogs without a moment's notice--not a second's notice that they need to scramble to save their archives, to set up a new weblog at a new hosting service--and you're "taken aback" that they are outraged?

Whether "free" or not, you had a trust relationship that you cultivated with these people that you violated egregiously.

"Taken aback"...

Moron.

Senators Vote For Amendment



Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) offered, and the Senate accepted, an amendment to the Defense Appropriations Bill, that would effectively remove the one hour a day of Rush Limbaughs' radio show that our service men and women currently enjoy overseas.

The problem with all of this, is that National Public Radio has it's own section on the Armed Services Radio, where they provide 24/7 commentary, most of which is left-slanted. There is no question that Rush is already a balancing political viewpoint to this excess of liberal propaganda. Rush does not need to be balanced with "equal time". He IS equal time. Unless the Armed Services Radio Network is going to divide the time that NPR has with news commentary from Fox News or another less slanted news commentary source, there is no need to "balance" Rush with anything else.

It is clear that this is not about "fairness", given the existence of 24 hours of NPR radio to Rush's 1 hour. It is about censorship, and once again, a blatant violation by the US Senate of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America.

Face it--this is what the so-called "fairness" doctrine has always been about. Liberals are unable to compete in the arena of ideas, and so they are forced to engage in censorship to prevent their opposition from expressing their point of view. The problem with the "fairness" doctrine is that there is no objective way of determining what such a "fair" balance would be. The result is to suppress all discussion of an overtly political nature, in order to avoid controversy. Then the only remaining political bias is the more subtle leftist spin that pervades most news outlets, and the more intensely leftist spin that is inherent to NPR.

Below is a link to a statement from Senator Harkin on the floor of the Senate. Note that, while claiming to not want to dictate the content of Armed Forces Radio, he specifically targets Rush Limbaugh.

Senator Harkin

If this is not an overt attempt to censor a right-wing balance to the left-wing NPR, then it is at least a cheap attempt to push the useless and dull "Air America" crap onto our soldiers.

Time to contact your Representatives. Let them get an earful, and ensure that this amendment is stripped from the final Defense Appropriations Bill.

Insurgents go for Iraq's lifeline: oil

BAGHDAD - Recent attacks that have virtually shut down Iraq's oil industry are just the latest in a prolonged campaign to choke the country's reconstruction.

Strikes against Iraq's oil sector have averaged more than one a week since last June. Bombings Tuesday and Wednesday on the southern pipeline halted oil exports from Basra and could cost Iraq about $65 million a day until repairs are made over the next several days.

Where's the outrage on the left?!

Besides hurting the well-being of the innocent people of Iraq, every exploding pipeline just makes Haliburton richer!!

I know! Mookie Al-Sadr is secretly on the payroll of the CIA, and is blowing up pipelines at Cheney's direction!

Yeah! That's it!!

(...proudly straightening my tinfoil hat...)

Al Zarqawi is the ringleader of the Al Qaeda group in Iraq, responsible for the brutal beheading of Nick Berg. But in postings on Islamist websites, he has been appealing to Bin Laden for additional help. In fact, his tone has been becoming more desperate recently.

WorldTribune.com

"The room for maneuver has started to become smaller," Al Zarqawi said. "The grip is getting tighter around the necks of the holy warriors. With the deployment of soldiers and police, the future has become frightening." Al Zarqawi said his group was trying to organize battalions to take over Iraq before national elections, scheduled for January 2005. Once again, he raised the prospect that Islamic insurgents would fail and either be expelled or killed.

"[If we fail,] we will have to leave for another land to uphold the Islamic banner, or until God chooses us as martyrs," the statement said.

If you fail, it will be much worse for you than just needing to find a new country to infest. You will fail in Iraq. And it will be a crushing blow to your organization. Because when freedom takes root in Iraq, it will have a ripple effect throughout the middle-east.

You will fail in Iraq, because you do not act in the name of God. You invoke the name of your god, but you act as an agent of the Enemy. And his doom is already sealed, as is yours.

WorldTribune.com

The United Nations has determined that Saddam Hussein shipped weapons of mass destruction components as well as medium-range ballistic missiles before, during and after the U.S.-led war against Iraq in 2003.

The UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission briefed the Security Council on new findings that could help trace the whereabouts of Saddam's missile and WMD program.

The briefing contained satellite photographs that demonstrated the speed with which Saddam dismantled his missile and WMD sites before and during the war. Council members were shown photographs of a ballistic missile site outside Baghdad in May 2003, and then saw a satellite image of the same location in February 2004, in which facilities had disappeared.

You wouldn't know this by reading and listening to the mainstream press, would you?

Weapons of Mass Destruction facilities, rapidly dismantled and smuggled out, before, during, and after the war. They were there. They were removed before we got there. The UN has the evidence.

But will the lefty moonbats believe it?

Tigger's Song


The wonderful thing about Tigger's
Is Tigger's are wonderful thing's
Their top's are made out of rubber
Their bottom's are made out of spring's
They're bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy
Fun, fun, fun, fun, FUN!
But the most wonderful thing about Tigger's
Is I'm the only one

Do a search on "Felis desertus"...

Yup! That's the most wonderful thing!

Barking Moonbat Early Warning System: The Heavenly Poker Game, Act II: "Scene - in a small corner of Heaven, reserved for Honorable Warriors Of The US Military, a smoke-filled room with a poker table in the middle and four chairs around it. To the side, standing around the Heavenly Bar stand four shadowy figures talking to each other and puffing away on large, smelly cigars. In another corner, a figure sits at a grand piano playing beautiful songs ...."

This is worth a read. We've lost some good men lately. Kinda moving...

HampsterDance

Er...sort of...

Teresa Heinz Kerry: Her Own Woman: 'I'd like to be a dog,' she says to a group of pre-schoolers. 'Do you know why? Wouldn't you like to be a dog? I would. Dogs are friendly.'

'I mean, I'm cheeky, I'm sexy, whatever,' she says. 'You know, I've got a lot of life inside.'

Whatever...

woof.

The Picture of Bipartisan Camaraderie (washingtonpost.com)

"The occasion was the unveiling of Clinton's official portrait and one of his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), a traditional ceremony for former presidents and first ladies that amounted to a reunion for Clinton's family, staff and Cabinet.

Bush spoke first, lavishly lauding the man who defeated his father for reelection in 1992 and inspired his own campaign promise eight years later to restore honor and dignity to the White House. Bush kept glancing toward Clinton in the front row and at one point made Clinton laugh so hard, his face and neck turned red.

'People in Bill Clinton's life have always expected him to succeed,' Bush said. 'And meeting those expectations took more than charm and intellect -- it took hard work and drive and determination and optimism. And after all, you've got to be optimistic to give six months of your life running the McGovern campaign in Texas.'

Clinton, who was Texas coordinator in George McGovern's doomed 1972 presidential campaign after graduating from Yale Law School, led the applause, and not with the little golf clap that is typically heard during East Room events, but a big two-armed, two-elbowed one."

Well it was nothing if not a little bizarre to listen to, given the level of discourse we have been hearing from the left regarding Bush. But he slew them with undeserved kindness. That is because George W. Bush is nothing if not classy. Never mind the rabid frothing of the extremes, this was not an event where partisan rancor had any place whatsoever.

Bush is serious about his faith. He gives it far more than lip service. And it is much to his credit that he demonstrated a biblical principle here by heaping such kindness upon his enemies.

No "news" in that title, but this is a good article about the problem:
WorldNetDaily: Dirty blue

Link via Dadcat

Rush and Gorbachev

The Evil Emperor has certainly aged a bit since his day on the throne, no?

Link via Rushlimbaugh.com

NASA - Phoebe's Surprise

Is this not cool?



Phoebe -- a big chunk of dusty ice from the outer edges of the solar system, captured by Saturn and orbiting backwards...

Rrmmm..."Spaceman Spliff brings his craft slowly down for a closer view..."

Click image for a high resolution photo

Miniver Cheevy may have been born too late, but this Cat rather wishes he'd been born a few more decades into the future...I want to walk and work on Mars damnit! Or pilot my ship into the crevices of some bizarre ice block from the outer edges...

...sitting in his nowhere land.
Making all his nowhere plans
For nobody.

Doesn't have a point of view
Knows not where he's going to
Isn't he a bit like you and me?

Nowhere man, please listen
You don't know what you're missing
Nowhere man, the world is at your command.

The Australian: Charge or release Saddam: ICRC [June 15, 2004]: "COALITION authorities must file charges against former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein or let him go when sovereignty is transferred to the Iraqi government on June 30, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said today"

Lunacy!

These people are obviously more concerned about the niggling details of bureaucratic red tape than they are about the reality of the threat that Saddam would pose if released. The Red Cross loses credibility when they make these types of demands.

I'd say leave it up to the Iraqi interim government to decide what to do with him AFTER sovereignty is transferred on June 30. They'll have plenty of time to build their case against him and try him in sovereign Iraqi courts, as they work through the stacks and stacks of documents pertaining to the savage treatment he was responsible for in his decades as dictator.

...is that even when you try to keep a respectful distance, they can fling quills with their tails.

I have no idea how to do a "trackback", and given what I've seen in the past, I'll probably be excoriated for commenting here instead of at her site. O well. Tough cookies. I don't expect it would make it past the "troll filter" anyway.

Serenity's Journal -- Take A Stand

I think the worst thing you can do to a writer is assume you know what they are talking about. To assume you understand them. To assume you know precisely where they are coming from. To assume you know them on a deeper level, prompting you to send them emails and analyzing them yet the writer never asked for a couch and psychologist and I'm pretty sure most of the readers out there are not certified in that field. To assume that what they have written is the whole story. Basically, it's thinking you know me based on words on a site as if this were all I had been thinking about and acting on for 24 hours.

So you blog about personal tragedies and other personal issues. People empathize and sympathise and reach out to you. But you've only revealed so much. Then you get frustrated that they respond without completely understanding you?

That's your responsibility as a writer.

Back in my high school debate team days, my coach taught us that the debate judge will only hear 50% of what you tell them and only understand 50% of that. I think this applies to pretty much any form of communication, including writing.

Now you could assume that in a written form, a person could re-read it and get a better understanding. But that rarely happens. So you've got to assume that people are only getting 25% or so comprehension on a first reading. That's why a good writer or speaker will use illustrations and other rhetorical devices--including repetition--to focus attention on the important points he or she is trying to make. There's no point in getting irritated with people's "lack of reading comprehension". It's to be expected.

On top of that, why get frustrated at people if you haven't told the whole story in the first place? Why not assume their response is flawed based on what they're missing and move on. I don't know what you feel you are gaining by taking this stand.

Why waste your readers time and emotions if you're going to fling their (misguided?) concern back in their faces? Why write about a topic at all if you don't want a response from your readers? A short while ago you were bemoaning the lack of feedback on your site. Now?

Rob at Gut Rumbles gets a helluva lot of unsolicited advice in response to the personal trials and tribulations he blogs about. He thwacks the trolls and ignores the rest. Free advice may be worth what you paid for it, but what is the point of being rude and insulting in response?

I'm done giving people excuses and chances. I'm done losing my patience with people because I'm just not going to let it get to that point. There will be no more frustration with them or you or anyone else because I'm not going to stick around you long enough if you cannot act like a decent human being and to me, decent human beings subscribe to: courtesy, honor, dignity, respect and support.

I am not going to sit idly by while people subtly or blatantly insult me and attempt to cover it up as concern. I'm not going to accept rude behavior towards me just to avoid conflict. And I'm not going to excuse a comment or statement even if it feels wrong because, as I have learned, no matter how disguised it is with flowery language and double talk, if it makes me feel a sting, it IS a sting.

And to those of you who know me a little bit more than most: If you have to ask yourself if I'm talking about you, chances are, I am.

Now obviously I know nothing about the comments you receive that you never choose to post to your comment section. But I see some of what others have written, and I know what I have written and almost sent, choosing in the end not to send (remembering the quills...). Perhaps you have cast a wider net than you intended to, but I do indeed feel a STING. Why waste your reader's time and emotions if you're going to fling their concern back in their faces?

You express frustration that people assume they understand you, based on your writing. Yet you yourself seem to be assuming you understand a person's motivations based on a few lines of an e-mail that don't "feel right"?

There seems to be a bit of a disconnect here between what you expect and demand of other people, and what you seem to be dishing out to your readers and commenters. Courtesy, honor, dignity, respect and support are part of a two-way street.

If I'm sitting at a bountiful feast table, and I see you hungry, searching for sustenance, looking for something to strengthen your frame, it would be discourteous of me, disrespectful toward you, and unsupportive of me not to tell you that there's an invitation out with your name on it, cordially inviting you to join us at the feast. Right now you have been saying (edited out) that the feast table is imaginary, the stuff of fables and fairy-tales. I beg to differ of course, having sat at this table now some twenty years, having come to know better during that time, the one who loves me beyond anything I could hope to expect in this world.

Does the Emperor have no clothes? Am I eating thin air thinking it's food?

sophistry>
And anyway, isn't food merely a crutch for those who are unable to cope with starvation? Or aren't pools of cool, living water just a fairy-tale for those who cannot handle the dust they are given to drink?
/sophistry>

Who is really insulting whom? And who, in the end, is really harmed?

As long as I'm bordering on the sacreligious, I found this over at Barking Moonbat, where Allan claims there is a chapter missing from Revelations:
Barking Moonbat Early Warning System: The Pre-Apocalypse

The Four Horsemen Of The Pre-Apocalypse

1- I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the four pre-seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like fingernails on a blackboard, "Bush Lied!"

2- I looked, and there before me was a white donkey! Its rider held a microphone, and he was given a news show, and he rode out to spread lies and disinformation among the people of the Earth, for he is known as - "Confusion".

3- When the Lamb opened the second pre-seal, I heard the second living creature scream, "Yearrggghhhh!"

And with that, I'll leave it to say, "click the link to read the rest"!

Bush is Lord

Welcome to Bush Is Lord. Our purpose is to bring you documentation to our media-supported claim that George W. Bush is indeed not only our nation's leader, but our spiritual lighthouse and embodied salvation.

I don't know whether to laugh uproariously or be offended. I'm definitely trending to the former.

Link via SondraK

VOANews.com: "World leaders past and present are paying tribute to former President Ronald Reagan at a national funeral service in Washington's National Cathedral."

During the singing of the last stanza of 'Amazing Grace', "When we've been there ten thousand years...", it came to my mind a vision of Mr. Reagan's beaming face in the midst of the Glorious Splendor, beaming as only he could with that beautiful smile of his. And a voice came, saying "Well done, my good and faithful servant." Somehow I believe that the Lord permitted him to be present in spirit at this service

How very good and appropriate this funeral service was! A perfect eulogy of this man's life.

SondraK.com: Chirac attack

Another bizarre Chirac pic at the link above.

I have heard of toe-sucking perverts, but Chirac appears to be attempting to ingest the First Lady's knuckles while Bush's back is turned...

Honestly...

The Conservative Pagan

Interesting place, link via Atilla.

Also this one: SondraK

If I wasn't a Christian, I'd probably be a pagan of some flavor. Nice to know there are conservatives in their camp.

Barking Moonbat Early Warning System

I've been too lazy in adding new good sites to the roll. This one deserves a place.

U.N. Experts Find 20 Engines Used in Banned Iraqi Missiles in Jordan Scrapyards - from TBO.com

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - U.N. weapons experts have found 20 engines used in banned Iraqi missiles in a Jordan scrapyard along with other equipment which could be used to make weapons of mass destruction, an official said Wednesday.

Oh yes, my left leaning readers. It keeps showing up, doesn't it. Found this time by your precious UN Inspectors.

"BUSH LIED!!" **WHACK!** "oh, ok. He didn't..."

Gotta love that cluebat.

Link via The Emperor.

Reagan Remembered as Kind, Hopeful, Caring


June 9: A riderless horse with boots turned backwards is led forward during the start of the funeral procession for former President Ronald Reagan.


June 9: Former President Reagan's casket passes by the National Archives building in Washington during his funeral procession to the Capitol.


There is a long tradition that one does not speak ill of the dead, at least during the official mourning period following his death. The harsh critique of Reagan's life and presidency that has been pouring forth from leftist media outlets over the last few days is nothing short of totally classless.

If it is not possible to tone down the shrill rhetoric for even a week following the death of a former President of the United States, this shows nothing so much as the depth of desperation that exists on the left. They have slowly but inexorably been losing power in this country (and around the world) since 1980, and they largely blame this man for it.

They have made themselves to be despicable.

...and incredibly enough, it, um...works.
Let's Lighten The Mood

I'm still speechless...maybe moreso now than ever...

The casket of former President Ronald Reagan is led by caisson on Constitution Ave. for his funeral procession to the U.S. Capitol in Washington Wednesday, June 9, 2004. The White House is seen in background. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Ok, I finally got around to trying the "title" feature on Blogger. Kinda BIG... It doesn't appear that it's formattable...

I don't know when Blogger added this feature, or if it was there all along, but I have enabled a separate page for each post. This should make it easier for anyone wanting to quote me and link to me. The new "permalink" link at the bottom of each post will take you to a new page with just that post shown.

Comments will be switching to Bloggers new built-in comment system. Clicking on the comments line (The Sandbox) will bring you to the separate post page, with comments shown, and another link to a page to leave a comment.

I know, Haloscan is simplicity itself, but there's something to be said for making it easier for other bloggers to link to you, and having the comments on the same page is a big part of the "standard".

I will leave Haloscan up for the time being on posts with comments, for those of you who have posted and want to check back. It will be renamed something like "Haloscan comments" for now. Please don't post to Haloscan anymore, as I will eventually delete the links.

I've also been messing with the template, so if things look momentarily funky, please pardon the dust while I remodel.

I don't know...have we gone from "blogspot hell" to "blogspot purgatory" yet? I still have to check out their new photoblogging feature.

UPDATE: Ok, the new comment feature may have some downsides to go with the positive features. I'd like feedback from any readers willing to give it a spin.

Also, the new background? Yea? Nay? GACK!?

Amazing Grace
Reagan's Coffin Begins Journey to Washington for State Funeral: "After Californians by the thousands had a chance to say goodbye for two days, the body of former President Ronald W. Reagan began its journey to Washington today for two more days of an elaborate and formal state funeral.

A military band played 'Amazing Grace' as Mr. Reagan's coffin, covered in an American flag, was loaded onto a presidential Boeing 747 at a naval base in Point Mugu. His widow, Nancy, stood on the windy tarmac, along with a few relatives and close friends, and watched silently as a military honor guard performed the simple rite of transporting the president's body"

"When we've been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun,
There's no less days to sing His praise
Than when we first began."

They're tears of joy, and in a certain sense, tears of envy. No, I'm not in any hurry. But he has passed through that portal on the far side of the valley, and made his way to that shining city on a hill.

I'll see you when I get there, sir.

Perfect Example
New England Republican: Tom Brokaw Interviews President Bush

...and edits a whole lot out, distorting the message in numerous places. Click the link to read the whole transcript with the edited portions highlighted.

Link via Ith

World Leaders Meet For An...er, Summit.

Schroeder gets up close and personal with Chirac...

Gruss Gott im Himmel!! Du schtinkt!

Chirac notes the color of his nose...

You see the umber tones of my proboscis? I KNOW how to use my member..."

Chirac tries a move on Bush...

"Ah! Ah! Ah! Frenchy! Watch your hands!

Links via Allah

More Good News!

9 Iraqi militias reach deal to disband
"BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Nine political parties in Iraq agreed Monday to disband their private militias, Iraq's prime minister said, though the radical Shiite cleric who has been leading a two-month uprising against U.S. forces did not join the accord.

Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said in a statement that about 100,000 paramilitary soldiers would demobilize and re-enter civilian life or join the country's security forces. The deal was an initiative of the American occupation authorities and took weeks of strategizing."

The Security Council Is Expected to Vote Unanimously on Iraq
"UNITED NATIONS, June 8 -- The Security Council was expected to vote unanimously late today in favor of an American-British resolution to end the formal occupation of Iraq on June 30 and transfer "full sovereignty" to an Iraqi interim government.

In addition to giving international legitimacy to the new caretaker government, the resolution authorizes an American-led multinational force, now at 160,000 troops, to use "all necessary measures" in "partnership" with Iraqi forces to bring peace. It also defines the United Nations role in post-transition Iraq.

The vote will arm President Bush with a major diplomatic success as he gathers with leaders of eight world powers for a summit at Sea Island, Ga..

"There were some who said we'd never get one, and it looks like, if things go well, it will be a unanimous vote, thereby saying to the world that members of the Security Council are interested in working together to make sure that Iraq is free and peaceful and democratic," Mr. Bush said at a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi at the Sea Island summit.

A year after the invasion of Iraq caused bitter division on the Security Council, Mr. Bush will now be able to cite support for the resolution from key council countries like France, Germany and Russia that were vigorously opposed to the American campaign."

All this good news has got to be excruciating for the Democrats...

Cursing the Darkness or Lighting a Candle?

"JT", commenter at Jihadwatch wrote a great piece that I quote here (edited for grammar):

Jihad Watch: President Reagan: "I remember back in the 80's I was working two jobs paying for college. I hated those people in big houses. I blamed them for me having to pay for college--my sister go a free ride under Carter. Now she sits at home and 'can't work' because of stress, and has to watch every dollar. I am looking at buying a 400K home. To top that, I pay her for my son's afterschool to help her out.

Liberalism is all about blaming others for self-inflicted problems. Conservatism is realizing you decide where you shit and where you eat. To those who continue to hate Reagan: he didn't screw you, you screwed yourselves. Until you realize it, you will continue to do so, and the 'evil rich' will continue to support your sorry asses.

Suck it up and get a damn job, I flipped burgers, I loaded boxes at UPS. I decicided to take jobs that paid more and succeeded. Anyone that fails: it's not the evil rich, it is your own shortsightedness.

Period.

I came from a tobacco farm to well-to-do. Before you curse me, perhaps you would do well to ask me how I moved up...but if you curse me, be damn well prepared to explain your own self-inflicted failures. Unless you take a failure as a lesson to improve, you set your own future. My future is good. If yours is not, then ask yourself where did you screw up? It ain't the fault of some evil rich guy. It is your own fault. Until you eat that, well then, I hope you enjoy your doublewide and above ground pool.

And when you ride by my house, before you proclaim an expletive, perhaps you should learn the lessons I did."

Well said. This is a great example of the effect that Ronald Reagan had on this country. A bitter liberal was confronted with the fact that the world was not about to be handed to him on a silver platter. By hard work and perseverence, he obtained that which the government could never have given him. He changed his outlook, and became a productive and successful member of society in the process. And the many millions of people like him are largely responsible for the wave of prosperity that this country has enjoyed over the past twenty years.

Learn it well, young grasshopper.

Allah Is In A Pique
Allah Is In The House: "Allah should also say that the blogosphere is never, ever more grating than when it's in obit mode. And it's only going to get worse as the week wears on. Purple prose is one thing but c'mon, people: Do you really need to be the twelfth guy on your block to post the 'tear down this wall' quote?"

Ok Mr. Allah, your comments seem to be malfunctioning this morning or I'd have said this on your site:

It's not as if I refer to the rest of the blogosphere before I decide what to post. That quote, in a single line, sums up the essence of his presidency.

In other words, Bite Me, O creator of worlds...

BaneRants

Note to self: I need to start a new section in the sidebar--call it Voxbloggers?--for the regulars at Vox and Nate's sites that have their own weblogs. Bane is one I just happened to check out for the first time this evening.

Right now, Sarah and Ian's sites are languishing down in "Also Visited Places", and there have to be at least a dozen more.

A Small Victory - Celebrating Reagan

Michele has a eulogy here that is better than anything I could write. I, too grew up under the threat of The Bomb, and the dark shadow of imminent world destruction. I, too came of age during Reagan's presidency, and I, too was deeply influenced by him in the formulation of my political views. When the wall came down in 1989, it was an utter joyous surprise and welcome upset to my view of the world and of the future.

When he was elected, I called myself a "moderate". I learned in the years to come that a "moderate" is really someone who doesn't know what they believe, who has no real coherent ideology, and who therefore feels free to "pick and choose" his policies on a whim--often whatever is popular in his/her circle of friends.

I learned what is the heart and soul of conservatism from watching and listening to Ronald Reagan. He became for me and many of my generation the gold standard, to which all other aspirants to the title of 'Conservative President' will long be held.

Mister Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

Ronald Reagan, 40th U.S. president, dies at 93



Eastern Europe grateful for Reagan's work
In 1983, Reagan stunned the world by denouncing the Kremlin as an "evil empire" whose nuclear arsenal threatened the globe.

In 1987, in a speech at the Berlin Wall, he challenged Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev: "If you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization ... tear down this wall."

Throughout, the Reagan administration devoted manpower and cash to quietly expanding its contacts in East bloc countries such as Poland and Czechoslovakia.

"He is the one who allowed the breakup of the Soviet Union. May God rest his soul," said Bogdan Chireac, a foreign affairs analyst for the Romanian newspaper Adevarul.

In 1984, while testing a microphone, Reagan cracked a joke that didn't set well with the Soviets at the height of the nuclear arms race. "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes," Reagan quipped.

But his speeches, which so often sought to encourage the oppressed while taking aim at their oppressors, stirred a generation.

"For us, Reagan was important because we knew he was really anti-communist, emotionally anti-communist," said Zdenek Kosina, 65, a Czech computer specialist.

"For us, he was a symbol of the United States' genuine determination to bring communism to an end."

Laurentiu Ivan, 35, a customs officer in the Romanian capital, struggled to describe Reagan's legacy and then said: "It is due to him that we are free."

Reagan:

The West will not contain communism; it will transcend communism. We will not bother to denounce it; we'll dismiss it as a sad, bizarre chapter in human history whose last pages are even now being written.

-- Notre Dame University, May 17,1981

The march of freedom and democracy will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash heap of history, as it has left other tyrannies which stifle the freedom and muzzle the self-expression of the people.

-- Speech to Britain's Parliament, 1982

In an ironic sense, Karl Marx was right. We are witnessing today a great revolutionary crisis -- a crisis where the demands of the economic order are colliding directly with those of the political order. But the crisis is happening not in the free, non-Marxist West, but in the home of Marxism-Leninism, the Soviet Union.

-- June 1982

While (Soviet rulers) preach the supremacy of the state, declare its omnipotence over individual man and predict its eventual domination over all the peoples of the Earth, they are the focus of evil in the modern world. I urge you to beware the temptation to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of any evil empire, to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between right and wrong, good and evil.

-- Speech to National Association of Evangelicals, March 8, 1983

May we never forget you. May we never forget your struggle to free those oppressed under the tyrrany of communism.

God rest your soul, Mr. President.

Kerry "Flip-Off" at Memorial
NewsMax.com: Inside Cover Story

This story seems to have generated a substantial amount of interest since I first linked to it Monday. Since then I have been reading up on Vietnam veteran Ted Sampley, his organizations, and his activities. I followed up with an e-mail to reporter John LeBoutillier, asking for any more info about this story.

I also came upon the story linked above, where Mr. Sampley provides some additional detail on the incident, including the tantalizing possibility that someone may have captured the incident on film.

I will continue to follow this and update as I receive additional information.

UPDATE: This is the response I received from Mr. LeBoutillier, FWIW:
"James, there are 3 eyewitnesses to the Kerry flipping incident. No one has come forward with pix or video - yet- and no press has covered it.

Sincerely,
John LeBoutillier"

Nearly One Million New Jobs Created in Last 3 Months!
Jobs Momentum In May: "Employment in America continues to expand strongly and steadily, according to the May Employment Situation report released by the Labor Department this morning. Payroll employment rose by 248,000 in May, and the unemployment rate held steady at the low rate of 5.6 percent. This follows increases in payroll jobs of 346,000 in March and 353,000 in April.

In sum, the economy has added 947,000 payroll jobs over the last three months, its strongest 3-month showing since May 2000. This caps nine straight months of payroll gains, which are slowly catching up to the household survey."

And yet the Democrats continue to lie about the strength of this economic recovery. Kerry pooh-pooh'ed these figures today, saying they aren't enough. Back in October 2000 the Democrats were howling about how Bush was "talking down the economy" during the campaign, when he was sounding a warning about the impending recession. Now Kerry is trying to "talk down" the recovery, and not a peep from the same quarters.

The beginnings of the recession were well underway at the end of the Clinton Administration. Recall that the NASDAQ bubble had already burst in April 2000 when the Clinton Administration filed it's antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft. The howling in October was part of a desperate attempt to sweep the evidence of the impending downturn under the rug until after the election.

Now with the effects of the recent Bush tax cuts taking full effect--and most particularly the new depreciation rules for new capital investment--the economy is roaring back to life.

I looked over the new tax rules back in January and correctly predicted what we are now seeing incontrovertible evidence of. These depreciation rules are one juicy plum, and I could not see any business with any ability whatsoever to invest, not taking advantage of these rules. And the result is like gasoline on embers. Capital investment leads to increased output, which leads to increased employment. Employment is always the last indicator to improve in an economic recovery, and we're finally seeing it.

And as usual, good news for America means bad news for Democrats.

Sad, isn't it?

A Woman's Guide on How to Pee Standing

I'm just speechless...incredulous...

AP Hoax

Just one more little item for those concerned about the credibility of the blogosphere versus the mainstream press: take it all with a grain of salt and a generous dose of common sense.

If it didn't appear in the mainstream press, it doesn't mean it never happened. And if it does appear in the mainstream press, it doesn't necessarily mean it happened either.

I am coming to rely more and more on "alternative media" sources (including the blogosphere) when I think I'm being mushroomed by the "mainstream".

New Evidence of Iraq Connection to 9/11
Iraqi official at 9-11 plot meeting, WSJ reports

"Recently translated documents captured by U.S. forces provide new evidence of a direct link between Saddam Hussein's regime and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.

Rosters of officers in Saddam's Fedayeen list Lt. Col. Ahmed Hikmat Shakir, who was present at the January 2000 al-Qaida 'summit' in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at which the 9-11 attacks were planned, the Wall Street Journal reports."

How long will Reuters and others continue to parrot the lie that there was "no connection between Iraq and 9/11"?

Primordal Inorganic Hydrocarbon Crude Oil Source?

Wired 8.07: Fuel's Paradise
This is another article about the theory that crude oil does not have biological origins. This is pretty interesting stuff. Here is a paper by the interviewee in the article linked above.

Considering that so many of the outer planets and moons in this solar system are composed largely of methane and other hydrocarbons, is it so far-fetched to theorize that the mantle of this planet is still composed of significant masses of hydrocarbons, slowly seeping to the surface?

If true, we won't be running out of oil any time soon. In fact, we ought to be able to find crude oil at much greater depths than previously presumed, over a much larger area of this planet's surface.

Link via Vox Day comments, thanks to Athor Pel

Alan Derschowitz on Terrorists and International Law
baltimoresun.com - Rules of war enable terror: "THE GENEVA Conventions are so outdated and are written so broadly that they have become a sword used by terrorists to kill civilians, rather than a shield to protect civilians from terrorists. These international laws have become part of the problem, rather than part of the solution."

Go read the rest of the article.

I am surprised. Last I heard from Derschowitz, he was spouting some nonsense on national TV. And he certainly hasn't got a reputation as a friend of the Bush Administration. But he makes a tremendous amount of sense in this article.

Robert Moran on John Kerry & Missile Defense on National Review Online

"On Tuesday morning, John Kerry woke up to the threat of nuclear terrorism and stated the obvious, in a speech delivered in West Palm Beach, Florida: 'We have to do everything we can to stop a nuclear weapon from ever reaching our shore and that mission begins far away.'

But, as with what seems like near every other issue in this campaign, Kerry was against doing everything to stop a nuclear weapon from reaching our shores before he was for it.

The Kerry campaign hopes their candidate's long record of opposing a robust national missile defense will be forgotten. But it shouldn't be."

Not only that, but if this speech was supposed to be part of his effort to set himself apart from Bush, the best he was able to do, aside from being opposed to building "bunker buster" bombs, was to promise "more, better, faster."

Right.

Sounds like more armchair quarterbacking to me...

New Poll--Viewers see 'agenda' in war coverage
The Washington Times: Nation/Politics - May 22, 2004

A Fox News poll released yesterday found 70 percent of those surveyed say that news reports about U.S. military operations in Iraq focus only on the negative, and "leave out the positive."
That figure is up 10 points since Fox posed the same question in October.

The survey also revealed that the public can detect an "agenda."
When asked where "most problems are being created" regarding the situation in Iraq, 27 percent blamed "the news media." Another 23 percent said they were created in Iraq, 18 percent felt they originated in Washington and 21 percent in a combination of factors.
The poll of 900 registered voters was conducted on May 18 and 19.
In terms of news coverage, 34 percent said the press spent an "excessive" amount of time covering the abuse of Iraqi prisoners; 9 percent said the media had dwelled too much on the beheading of American contractor Nicholas Berg. Another 35 percent felt that both stories were in the news too often.
The poll found that 60 percent were more upset by the Berg story than the prisoner abuse; 8 percent felt the abuse was worse. Another 29 percent rated them "equal" on an emotional scale.

I'm not surprised, but it's nice to see some polling data to back up my gut instinct. What bothers me though is the advent of this "emotion" polling I've been seeing. What's with that?

In other news, 95% of those polled in a recent survey agree that the sun rises in the east in the morning, while 5% remained undecided.

Kaua'i On My Mind

I got it bad this afternoon. I'm listening to some Bill Campbell slack key guitar while working on my project. Gentle strains of melody raise wistful memories of that soft Hawaiian breeze, of warm sun and ocean, of waterfalls and forests...of that laid back atmosphere, and of wanting to be back there again.

In my mind I see the cane fields and deep blue ocean of Po'ipu, and westward along Polihale to where the long strand ends. My eyes wander over to glimpse again the crescent of sand around the blue-green lagoon that is Hanalei Bay, then course gently across the deeply folded, lush green terrain of the Na Pali coast...

Yes, she calls gently to me, the spirit of that place--"Aloha, farewell to thee...I sing to you across the sea...return again someday to me..."

It enters my mind from time to time to want to spend serious blocks of time there after my retirement. If I can get this writing off the ground by then, there's no reason I couldn't do it from most anywhere in the world. The obstacle I keep seeing is my cats. Hawaii requires a minimum of 30 days quarantine. That's crazy! That would be so damaging to them psychologically to be locked up for so long. And for what? For me to return with them to the mainland in a few months?

But for today, for this afternoon, I am back there, if only in my mind.


Opaeka'a Falls

UPDATE: I've changed the rest into links.
Sand's End

Hanalei Bay

Na Pali Coast

Forest Park

Misty Blossom

Kerry Honored at Communist Museum
Photograph hangs in section devoted to war protesters

A Ho Chi Minh City museum that honors Vietnam war protesters features a photograph of Sen. John Kerry being greeted by the general secretary of the Communist Party, Comrade Do Muoi.

A snapshot of the display in the Vietnamese Communist War Remnants Museum - formerly known as the "War Crimes Museum" - was acquired over the weekend by Jeffrey M. Epstein of Vietnam Vets for the Truth, a group opposing Kerry's campaign for the presidency.


The link has the photo. Again, I'm not surprised. Are you?

Thanks to Dadcat for the link

Senator John "F'ing" Kerry Flips Off Veteran at Vietnam Memorial

NewsMax.com: Inside Cover Story:
"Democratic senator - and certain presidential nominee - John F. Kerry gave the middle finger to a Vietnam veteran at the Vietnam Memorial Wall on Memorial Day morning, NewsMax.com has learned.

Ted Sampley, a former Green Beret who served two full tours in Vietnam, spotted Kerry and his Secret Service detail at about 9:00 a.m. Monday morning at the Wall. Sampley walked up to Kerry, extended his hand and said, "Senator, I am Ted Sampley, the head of Vietnam Veterans Against John Kerry, and I am here to escort you away from the Wall because you do not belong here.

Just then Kerry - in front of the school children, other visitors and Secret Service agents - brazenly 'flashed the bird' at Sampley and then yelled out to everyone, "Sampley is a felon!"

Ain't he just so classy?

Gawd this is good! John "F'ing" Kerry, John "Flip-Off" Kerry, John "Flip-Flop" Kerry. John "Fool" Kerry...

The Democrats just have to be so proud. Nader is looking better every day, isn't he?

Squeek!

This is the Cat's rant space,
You're welcome to disagree.
But if you're a troll,
You're a mousie to me.