The war with Iraq is well underway. The Madman reports on a highly skilled special forces unit that has already infiltrated the country.
We have a special forces unit similar to this here in Louisiana. They are designated the "Coon ass brigade", and all tremble who hear their name.
I have found 40 reasons for gun control that I am unable to argue against. Actually, I didn't find them, but followed the trail left by Rachel.
My favorite is number 40:
40. Handgun Control, Inc. says they want to "keep guns out of the wrong hands." Guess what? You have the wrong hands.
Read them all.
Best wishes for the coming year to my extended on-line family, be you a blogger, a commenter, or a lurker.
Going home to watch football, drink beer, and generally debauch. Spent the last 2 days trying to be a UNIX programmer (what a maroon), and my head hurts.
I don't even have the energy to take this on. Just go read this latest poll of our friends to the north.
The US has a responsibility as the sole Superpower, but we don't like the way they go about things. It must be pretty nice - doing NONE of the things necessary to be a "superpower", but feeling like you get to decide how one should act. I wonder what will happen when things start blowing up in Ottowa?
I wonder if you get one of these neat little game pieces when you sign up for Saddam Hussein's "Human Shields and Useful Idiots Brigade"?
RNS is having a lousy year in sports. Or, more accurately, the teams RNS supports are all having lousy years. If it wasn't for the Jets squaeking in the NFL playoffs yesterday, it would be a bleak winter sporting season indeed.
RNS Teams:
Football
-Dallas Cowboys (main NFL team since childhood)
-NY Jets (Adopted AFC team while living in New York City for 15 years)
-NO Saints (how pathetic can you get?)
Baseball
-Houston Astros
-NY Yankees (yeah, years of success, but.....)
Hockey
-NY Rangers (the team in all of sports RNS most rabidly supports)
-Baton Rouge Kingfish
Man, it is going to be tough to find any joy in that lineup.
Another atrocity in Yemen. This time, a gunman decides to kill some doctors at a Baptist hospital; a hospital that treated people of all faiths.
Hey, I wonder if there are westerners who will go to Yemen to serve as human shields for the innocent civilians being murdered? Or are they only interested in shielding a murdering madman?
Hey, Patty Murray - how come these humanitarians got slaughtered for their troubles? Moron.
Tim Blair has a question for a Westerner heading for Iraq to sign up for the Saddam Hussein Human Shield Brigade. To paraphrase Tim: Where were you on September 11th, 2001?
Just when I had begun to lose all hope for Canada, I came across Shiny Happy Gulag. Unfortunately, his weapon of revolution has to be a 34 inch aluminum bat, since the Canadian Government has confiscated all of the handguns, and forced registration of the rest. We may have to begin a Berlin airdrop style operation to keep the guy in operation!
Link, of course, via Emperor Misha, who is the proud blogfather of the Gulag
I have been very peripherally involved (as in, went to look at the cloned calves) in some of the cloning efforts undertaken at my university. There is a very high mortality rate, a high incidence of genetic defects, and many of the calves died of respiratory dysfunction. In fact, some studies estimate a 95-97% failure rate, and the failures are often pretty ugly. Furthermore, the random genetic defects generated by cloning may be manifested anytime during the life of the clone. This means that an apparently normal clone at birth may develop severe abnormalities later in life.
The claim by this group, affiliated with a sect that believes extra-terrestrials created life on Earth, that they have cloned a healthy human baby sounds false to me. I guess only time will tell, but I sure want to know where the DNA they are testing comes from.
Personally, I don't have a problem with cloning, and allegedly this group has multiple "cloned" babies due in the next few weeks. I do, however, think we should be able to do it flawlessly and repeatedly in animals before we start trying it on people.
One part of the article really did freak me out:
Two of the expected babies were, she {Brigitte Boisselier, head of Clonaid, the company that claimed success in the project-RNS} said, copies of dead children made using preserved cells.
This seems waaay to gross and freaky to me. We are a product of our genetics and our environment. Just because we clone someone that looks just like a dead child doesn't mean that it will behave like the same child, or have the memories of that child, or have the likes and dislikes of that child. This kind of thinking also makes people seem almost disposable - Little Timmy got hit by a bus? No problem, let's just order up a new one.
We get LOTS of requests to harvest cells from dead pets. There are a couple of companies that store the harvested cells in liquid nitrogen, with the promise that they will clone the pet as soon as technological advances make it feasible. One of these companies even operates out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana!
Apparently the missiles being smuggled into Yemen had a different final destination (did you guess Iraq?).
I've always wondered, if the Yemeni missiles were intended for "self defence" and legally obtained, why did they have to be smuggled into the country on board a North Korean freighter?
Wait a minute, North Korea and Iraq doing something evil? Surely it can't be so. I mean, President Bush was just being a hokey redneck cowboy when he made his axis of evil speech, there couldn't possibly be truth to the charges, right?
And how about this little report, alleging that North Korea is going to kick out all UN nuclear inspectors.
Some of these people with a "condone anything as long as it is anti-American" mentality are in for a real shock when an attack happens on US soil that makes 9/11 look like a minor traffic accident.
Just goes to show ya, you can't let down your guard, even for a major non-sectarian winter festival.
The Madman has snowballed the RNS bunker. We now prepare to retaliate with a terrible vengeance!
Snowballs? We don't need no freakin snowballs!
One of the members of Bush's "Axis of Evil" has threatened to "destroy the world" if they don't get their way.
Surely all of those people who made fun of Bush and his AoE remarks will have some scathing remarks to send towards the North Korean President, right? And everyone bashing the US for "unilateralism" will certainly condemn the DPRK in the strongest terms possible, I'm sure.
Unfortunately, I suspect it will be more a case of the apologists saying "See, Bush insulted them by including them in the axis of evil. They really have no choice but to threaten to blow up the world. It's all that damn America's fault".
In the end, nobody's evil but us. At least according to the Saddam apologists. Maybe this wouldn't have happened if we had built a few more schools and roads in Korea, eh?
Back sometime in the next few days. Everyone have a safe and happy holiday!
This one lived west of Baton Rouge, in Lafayette. Her body was found by a hunter.
and perhaps a reason to move to Brazil!
Was because of stories like this.
And don't give me the "hopeless act of desperation" crap either. Maybe that makes you mug and rob a couple of innocent people. But it doesn't make you kidnap, gang-rape, sodomize, and beat a helpless woman for 2 hours. These guys are subhuman animals, period.
Too bad the police dog didn't have a little more time to work these scumbags over. Or, too bad it wasn't attempted in a city/state that allows concealed weapons. If a gang of homeless men tried that down here, they would definitely be hoping the police found them before the woman's family and friends did.
And also don't give me any shit about how I can't possibly understand these guy's motivations/anger/despair if I've never been homeless myself. See, I went to school, actually tried to get good grades, went to college and learned a profession; all so I could take care of myself and my family. Was I priveleged? Sure, I had a stable family environment, a father that also believed in providing for his family, and who had similarly gone to college to secure his future. But so what - I know a lot of priveleged people who feel like the world owes them a free ride, and don't apply themselves one little bit.
It makes me crazy that people (you know who you are) will try and blame society for the actions of these creeps. Remember how some in Australia wondered what they had done to encourage a Lebanese gang to go around raping Aussie women? Or hey, maybe it was the woman's fault - was she pretty, dressed provocatively, or just too terrified to escape? They are bottom feeders, drain resources from other parts of society, and I bet you at least 3 of the 5 are in the country illegally.
You know, "Best 1,000 plays in Baseball", "Top 1,000 Rock and Roll songs of all time", etc.
But Right Wing News has the top 20 annoying leftists of 2002. Go give it a look, and see if you don't agree with all of the choices.
I wonder if Senator Murray knows what country spends more in foreign aid that any other country in the world?
And the spinning begins. It would look a lot more like opening a thoughtful debate if she had spent even a little bit of time thinking before she opened her mouth.
Also interesting that any criticism of Murray gets described as right wing hate mongering. Funny how hiding behind that didn't work for Lott. But, of course, only "right wingers" can be haters - just ask Hillary Clinton or Nancy Pelosi about that.
Another interesting thing I noted - many of my left leaning colleagues (I work in academia, remember) were openly dancing in the halls yesterday when Lott resigned - and pasting hard copy of the story from CNN and MSNBC all over their doors, and sarcastically asking me if I wanted a copy for my door (my political leanings being well known in these parts). Funny thing is, some of these same people were openly hostile to me after the mid-term elections (like I was personally responsible for the failure of their ideology), and I didn't gloat or post the results on my door or any such nonsense.
The Republicans did the right thing in forcing Lott out. The best way to combat the all out charges of racism that seem to form the cornerstone of the Democratic hopes for 2004 (wouldn't coming up with a platform that people actually agreed with be more effective?) is to get rid of the dinosaurs, and combat the scare tactics with social and economic programs that make sense for everyone.
In a seperate but related story to the one immediatly below, we have a report that a local grand jury will refuse to indict a New Orleans man, Sean Minor, who shot and killed a teenager who was breaking into cars in his apartment complex. When they got to his, he opened fire.
I'm not sure how I feel about this one. The guys doing the vandalizing were a couple of teenagers, and probably would have been scared off by Minor turning on his porch light and yelling at them. However, just because they were teenagers doesn't preclude them from having guns and attacking anyone they thought saw them, either. The story just sounded too much like the car owner laid in wait, and then blasted the kid once he got to his car. The reason the case went before the grand jury is that the local police decided that Minor was not justified in using deadly force, since only his property was in danger.
Apparently the New Orleans DA will pursue a prosecution for manslaughter.
A scumbag makes a really bad holiday choice. Notice how it appears that the guy with the illegal handgun didn't even give his intended victim a chance to peacefully give up his automobile. Just walked up and shot him in the face. I did like the part about shooting his assailant "multiple times", however.
So, what would have happened to the "pranksters" if they were white?
Link via Instapundit
This is why hate crime legislation is so bogus. If a white guy hangs a stick figure in effigy outside a black dorm - he deserves to be aggressively prosecuted under some hate crime provision. But if a black guy hangs a stick figure in effigy outside a black dorm, then it is just a "prank", punished by nothing more than an administrative slap on the wrist by the university.
But, didn't these merry pranksters incite hatred against whites by their actions? Didn't they accuse an entirely innocent group of people of a heinous act (and get on their moral superiority hobby horse asking for protection from "white on black" acts of hate)? Aren't these black pranksters guilty of inducing hatred against someone of another race, and just as guilty under the hate crimes provisions as if the original charges had been true?
From a reader - the latest release from the international arm of ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War And Racism)
SCENARIO & POLITICS OF JAN. 18
The world is being menaced by Weapons of Mass Destruction in the hands of a government that is openly threatening and planning to use nuclear weapons in preemptive wars of aggression against others, including non-nuclear countries. While all eyes are focused on the purported threat coming from Iraq, the Bush Administration has sharply reorganized U.S. military doctrine and strategy as it prepares to actually use Weapons of Mass Destruction in coming conflicts as a matter of declared policy.
It is for this reason that on January 18, people across the United States will converge at the West side of the Capitol Building in Washington DC and march in a mass demonstration to the Washington Navy Yard -- a massive military installation located in a working class neighborhood in Southeast Washington DC that parks warships on the Anacostia River. We will demand the immediate elimination of US weapons of mass destruction and a people's inspection team will call for unfettered access and a full declaration of U.S. non-conventional weapons systems.
Bush seeks to have world attention focused on the disarmament of Iraq as the preeminent threat to world peace, while the real threat of nuclear war and the use of Weapons of Mass Destruction arises within the U.S. Administration. This is the politics of diversion and should give pause to those who are thinking of joining in Bush's sleight-of-hand anti-Iraq chorus believing it to be a path to peace. The nuclear threat posed by the United States is neither rhetoric nor speculation, it is the now announced doctrine and strategy of the Bush White House. It represents the ushering in of a new era of unrestrained and unprovoked catastrophic violence.
"Preemptive Strikes are Part of US Strategic Doctrine," reads the headline of the front page of the Washington Post of December 11, 2002. A classified version of the new Bush Doctrine "breaks with the fifty years of counter-proliferation efforts" by planning for the use of nuclear weapons against countries that not only have not attacked the US but that do not themselves possess nuclear capability.
A.N.S.W.E.R. believes that all Weapons of Mass Destruction should be banished from the planet. But this is impossible until the biggest arsenal of Weapons of Mass Destruction -- the one at the disposal of trigger-happy George W. Bush and Co. -- is eliminated. Any other call for disarmament will not be viewed as legitimate by the rest of the world.
These war hawks are determined to breach the "taboo" against the use of nuclear weapons that grew after the world experienced the horror of the incineration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
It would be cowardly and foolish to turn our attention away from the open threats and plans to use Weapons of Mass Destruction that are issuing from the White House, not Iraq, and are embodied in the new Bush military doctrine.
We must stop the Bush Administration from threatening and killing the people of the world who are not our enemy.
https://www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/j18/j18endorse.html
ANSWER is, of course, a tool of the World Workers Party, who see North Korea as a model for the rest of us to follow.
I do agree entirely with the last sentence in their missive, however. We should not be threatening and killing people of the world who are not our enemy. We only want to kill the ones who ARE our enemy, preferably with extreme prejudice.
No wonder Gerhard Schroeder doesn't want us to topple Saddam. Who would Germany sell weapons to, then? If this report is true, I say pull the US out of Germany and let them fend for themselves. Go somewhere that our help is actually appreciated.
From the article:
The most contentious piece of news for Germany is that the report names it as the number one supplier of weapons supplies to Iraq. German firms are supposed to easily outnumber the firms from other countries who have been exporting to Iraq.
They have delivered technical know-how, components, basic substances and even entire technical facilities for the development of atomic, chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction to Iraq right since 1975.
In some cases, conventional military and technical dealings between Germany and Iraq are said to date till 2001, ten years after the second Gulf war and a time when international sanctions against Saddam Hussein are still in place.
The paper reports that the dossier contains several indications of cases, where German authorities right up to the Finance Ministry tolerated the illegal arms cooperation and also promoted to it to an extent.
Pretty amazing, eh? Perhaps it is more Iraqi disinformation. But I bet there is more than a kernel of truth to the report.
And his handlers are none to impressed with the flack he is catching for his useful idiot performance over in Baghdad. I was going to comment on it, but Emporer Misha has already scored a clean kill on the subject. Too bad we can't string the corpse up on a fence line to serve as a warning to other wanna-be "moral compasses".
And no offense, but how fucking stupid do you have to be to go to Baghdad on a self directed "fact finding tour" and not anticipate that it will be turned into a major propaganda opportunity for Saddam. Well, Penn wanted publicity, and he got publicity. Now he has to deal with the fact that most Americans think he is a jerk.
I wonder if the information the judges evaluated will ever be released for general consumption/independent investigation?
Will the Dutch authorities let these 3 guys continue to live there? Will the one deprted from Canada be allowed to return (and welcomed with open arms)? Only time will tell.
Cool. A blog with a "Boobs of the Day" feature. Gots to love a breast man, even a mad one. But be warned, "Tits of War"tm is already taken!
Heya! RNS scored a "Boobs of the Day" dedication! Gives new meaning to the term "Zips in the Wire" don't it?
I wonder what he really said? And I wonder why he would go to Iraq to be a willing shill for Saddam? It seems like all of these entertainers with sagging careers feel the need to come out firmly in stride with Saddam. I guess it is just a desperate ploy to bolster their public presence.
Just in case it disappears, here is the text from the above referenced article in the Iraq Daily.
Sean Penn condemns US threats against Iraq
Baghdad, Dec 16, INA
The American movie star, Sean Penn has condemned the US-British threats to wage war against Iraq.
He told press conference that there is no legitimate justification for the brutal campaign against an authentic state like Iraq.
He confirmed that Iraq is completely clear of weapons of mass destruction and the United Nations must adopt a positive stance towards Iraq.
He also condemned the US misleading claims arguing that it is the US and not Iraq who is practicing such illegal behavior.
Mr. Penn went on saying that he would convey to the public opinion in US the real situation that the Americans should force the US administration to stop such aggressive campaign.
Finally, Mr. Penn passed a written communiqu� in which he declared that his visit to Iraq is to evaluate the humanitarian situation of Iraqis and to reject the crippling sanctions on Iraq since 1991.
And again, why do these numbskulls always wait until they are safely overseas before they take their "high and mighty" moral stands?
Gee, I wonder if this guy is a prime example of the "moral superiority" Canada has over the US?
Maybe he can get a job teaching at Concordia University, eh?
Once again, we need to be sure that everyone's sensibilities are protected. Except, apparently, for those of Christians who actually celebrate Christ's Mass as a spiritual event, rather than a material orgy of gift giving and over-indulgence.
This behavior just makes me crazy, and I'm a freaking atheist. But, even though I don't believe that a supreme being created the physical universe, I would NEVER try and interfere with someone's right to peacefully follow their faith. Let's remove all semblance of religion from the Christmas holidays, because non-Christians will possibly feel excluded. How about this as a plan: If you aren't Christian, then you don't get to be upset about a holiday that celebrates the birth of Christ. If you want to join in the holiday pageantry, great! You bring the little Christmas tree shaped cookies for the office Christmas party. But if you don't want to participate, then keep your damn hands off of my holiday celebrations.
At some point, this freaking PC bullshit has to end.
Oh, Yeah, MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Actually, it's the mayor of New Orleans. And he's getting serious about fighting our rising murder rate.
and Columbia taketh away. The trustee's of Columbia University have voted to take away the Bancroft prize awarded to now-disgraced Emory University historian Michael Bellesiles.
It is shameful to watch all of the hard-won gains by the Republican party be put at risk by a moron, but that is exactly what Trent Lott has done. It is time for this guy to go away. Quietly.
Notice the mention of "internet bloggers' in the story. I wasn't one of them (this is the first time I have even mentioned Lott at RNS), but it is interesting that the early wave of scorn and outrage present in the blogosphere was noted and commented on by "legitimate" media.
I posted this once before, back in my Radio Userland days. It is a really cool video, so it seems like it deserves a home here on the MT site of RNS as well. This is a high bandwidth video (2MB), so be forewarned before you follow the link.
And the feeding frenzy begins. Amazing the number of people that will throw their hat into the ring when given the opportunity. It must have hurt like hell for Gore to step down, but it had to happen for the Dems to have any chance. However, I'm not sure the new line-up produces any stronger candidates than Gore:
Vermont Gov. Howard Dean has already thrown his hat in. He might be joined soon by Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri, Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota and Senators John Edwards of North Carolina, John Kerry of Massachusetts and Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut......
Should be an interesting 2 years, that's for sure.
Well, real life took over everything for the last few days. A consulting trip to Joisey, followed by the death of my wife's car and the need for an immediate replacement (hence the need for consulting jobs) have pretty much occupied all of my spare time. I hope to get in the groove over the next day or so.
And thanks to those people who noticed I was gone and asked if everything was OK. That is soooo cool. You guys rock.
Offer your own captions. Seems like a friendly bunch of guys.
Manuscript accepted! That makes 2 "novel research" papers this academic year. Maybe there is hope for me after all.
Looks like it is going to be a dead-heat. It will be amazing if Terrell can win, seeing as how she just entered politics 3 years ago. The TV ads are almost non-stop here in Baton Rouge right now. Terrell's main focus has been to attack Landrieu as the most "liberal senator in Louisiana history", and points to Landrieu's support of the "morning after pill" as being against Louisiana values.
It is supposed to be a cold but clear day here in Louisiana tomorrow. Voter turnout is a big issue, as Landrieu has about 75% of the black vote, and Terrell has about 60% of the white vote. There are still a large number of "undecideds", which could have a huge impact on the final outcome, seeing how close the numbers are right now.
This is a tough one for me. I am not a big fan of Landrieu, and wasn't pleased with her support of Clinton. But I'm also not sure I like Terrell making abortion the thrust of her attack, either. I'll try and post updates as they become available tomorrow.
Here's a story about a single engine plane that crashed into the Miami branch of the Federal Reserve Bank.
Finally, organizations that engage in anti-semitic actions are finding that there may be consequences for their behavior. Note how quickly their "convictions" to boycott Israel disappeared after their position was discovered? Is this stifling of dissent, or just another example of the far left getting dissed by "average" Americans. For me, the most telling point in the article is this:
Is Rainbow boycotting any other countries, such as that champeen of human rights abuses, China? The answer is no. Worker/owner Cyrus Heiduska explained that China sells too many products, and often much cheaper than goods from other countries.
So why the Israeli boycott? Heiduska said that store workers knew that both sides had committed atrocities, but they wanted to show solidarity with "the most oppressed party."
Do you think the Palestinians and their backers believe in freedom? I ask. "We want freedom for all people whether or not they are fighting for freedom. We believe that everybody deserves a home and a homeland and the ability to live in peace."
So, they don't boycott an oppressive Chinese regime, because they sell things cheaply. But they do boycott Israel because they are the "more oppressive" of the warring factions in the middle east. And what does that "we want freedom for all people whether or not they are fighting for freedom" statement mean? Do they actually care that Israel is fighting for much more than freedom, for their very survival? We don't care if Israel survives, as long as there is a free Palestine? Do these numbnuts even recognize that there would BE a free Palestine, if there was competent Palestinian leadership? Apparently, none of that matters.
The Rainbow Cooperative deserves to be spanked. Hard. And I hope it really, really hurts the only place they really seem to care about: in their pocket books.
I have a conference to attend. So, no posting until Monday at the earliest.
Everyone have a great week-end!
I guess Lebanon doesn't feel like it is getting enough face time in the current war on terror. Why else would you hear the leader of Hezbollah say things like:
"By Allah, if they touch Al Aqsa we will act everywhere around the world,"
and
"Martyrdom operations � suicide bombings � should be exported outside Palestine," he said.
"I encourage Palestinians to take suicide bombings worldwide. Don't be shy about it," he added.
Yep. Appeasement is definitely the way to go. I wonder if Hezbollah would have "driven the Israelis out of Lebanon" if they didn't want to go?
For keeping me safe from terrorists, that is. I work at an institution that does some BL-3 work, and has a large microbiology center. So, we were not surprised when post 9-11 changes were made to keep the building more secure. Things like swipe cards for access to the building, restricted zones for students, security controlled elevators, etc. These changes were made over the past several months, and everyone has pretty much accepted them with minimal grumbling.
A couple of weeks ago, however, I came to work to notice that a large bush that had been growing outside of my window had literally been ripped out of the ground. I was a little surprised, since the bush was healthy and seemed to be thriving. Then I thought that perhaps there was a new landscaper caring for the grounds, and that a new shrubbery would soon appear. Sadly, this was not to be. I finally discovered the horrible truth about my missing bush during a construction meeting for another project. We were talking about preserving green space around a new addition to the existing building, and one of the architects made the comment that we needed to be sure and pick "terrorist-free" shrubberies. At first I thought he was kidding. Until, that is, I was informed in all seriousness that no plant that provided a hiding place for terrorists while they tried to gain access to the building would be tolerated. With a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, I then asked about my missing bush and was told that yes, it had been determined that the bush was tall and dense enough to allow a terrorist to hide in it while accessing the building through my office window.
Now, I'm not sure where these rules came from - whether they are university mandated or federally mandated. I have, however, decided to memorialize my murdered shrubbery as a victim of homeland security. Below is a photo of the horrible sight that greeted me on that fateful day. Donations in its memory made be made directly to this site. The wake will be held at Boudreaux's drive through daquiri and fried food joint, over on Lee drive in Baton Rouge.
However, a closer look at this picture of the shrub taken BEFORE the massacre (no, really), shows that removing it might not have been such a bad idea after all:
Hmmmmm, makes ya think, don't it?
Now I am not a big fan of the Ikea "superstores". But I never considered planting a bomb there to protest their crappy, do it yourself in several hours and then it falls apart kits.
Wonder who did this - too weird for al-Qaeda. Greenies? Tranzis? Some disgruntled Ikea person? Just seems like a very strange target (and one intended to kill lots of innocent people). I guess the "random violence were people shop" MO might be some Islamist group. But in the Netherlands?
I wrote a while back about the consequences of sitting idly by while Saddam strengthens his arsenal.
If you weren't familiar with my reference to Halabja, then perhaps you should go visit this graphic site (be warned, there are some disturbing scenes here). And then let me know if you still want to let Saddam continue his activities unabated.
Link via A Small Victory
Well, the One True B!X seems to provide support for reader Sondra's description of that little corner of the US map as "Leftyville".
Link via Blogs of War
Well, the Bixster has no problems leaving self promoting comments (complete with links to his very own Leftist Utopia) in the comments section of other people's blogs. Curiously, little Bixy doesn't provide us with any way to post comments on his blog. You know, a way for people to actually tell him how they felt about his purile (or should it be putrid) musings. Ah, well, if you don't allow comments, then no one can disagree with what you've posted.
I'm going to remove comments from my site, and start posting as "The One True and Most Splendiferous Nukevet". I have found that illusions of grandeur are much easier to foster if you don't let critics have access to your little corner of the blogosphere.
OK, my bad. The Bixster does have a way to leave comments (over in the left hand frame) which I didn't see when I followed the link to his site the first time. Bix left this comment, showing me the error of my ways:
No way to comment? Funny, I've been reading user comments on my site all day.
Secondly, that "other site" I left a comment on, pointing out what I'd already written about soldiers, is a site of which I am a member and for which I have written material. I have every right to post there whatever I wish to post there, in comments or otherwise.
As for assault, I will start a list so we can keep track. You might want to consider signing up to support the reader who wishes that "Arab savages" would crash an airplane into my building, or the one who wants to take a collection to send me to tribal Pakistan, or perhaps the one who wishes to start a Jackass Internment Camp (which I'll admit, if it's run by the purile moron who created the show of that name, I would greatly fear being sent to).
Now, I do need to make a couple of points regarding this.
1) You (and anyone else) certainly do have a right to post WHEREVER you want (except the Democratic Underground if you piss them off, that is). The point of my original post was that you were posting what you knew would be inflammatory comments, and pointed back to your site, without a way for people to comment on your musings. Since you do have a way to comment, that is an invalid criticism, and I withdraw my objection. In no way was I trying to imply that you shouldn't be allowed freedom of speech, even if you go as far out of your way to make it hateful as possible.
2) As far as the attacks go, I don't condone that kind of thing for anybody. One of the worst things about blogs and e-mail is that they allow people to lose any inhibition they may have (or fear of being punched in the nose they may have), and say whatever they want, no matter how hateful or obscene. For example, I very much doubt you would tell a room full of servicemen to shut the fuck up, and lecture them on moral authority. Maybe you would, but I doubt it.
However, I still think the distinction needs to be made between "stifling of dissent", which is the current battle cry of the left, and saying something inflammatory that the majority of people DO NOT agree with. You can't be surprised that people get angry when you make intentionally provocative statements. You also don't get to claim "victim" status in this situation - you said the things that started the attacks, so either stand by your convictions, modify your stance, or run away. Your choice, just like it was your choice to make the initial comments.
We do share one common belief, however: the creator of Jackass is a purile moron.
I have had a couple of people point me to this opinion piece by Peggy Noonan, suggesting that she got it "just right". Seems that way to me, too. The obligatory teasers:
We are a big muscle-bound nation. We are so physically strong! We have muscles and missiles and more. But how did we, as individuals, get so wussy, so weak, so whiny when it comes to our ability to stand for what we stand for and take the world's blows?
Why do we celebrate those who complain? Why don't we celebrate stoics who can take it? They're the ones who move history forward.
And the Daschle segue:
Let's pick on adults. Let's pick on Tom Daschle.
He, as a leader of a great political party, is an example-setter for the young. Some of them might look to him as a famous man who knows how to be an adult. After the dreadful showing of the Democrats in the election he held a news conference in which he famously blamed Rush Limbaugh and other conservative radio talk show hosts for inciting people to . . . well, to not liking Tom Daschle. Rush says mean things about Tom. His listeners, who Tom Daschle subtly suggests are possibly unstable and insane--how could they not be, they're conservative--get a little too excited when they hear Rush, and start to make rude sounds. "The threat level goes up," says Tom Daschle.
Oh, please. Boo hoo. When people disagree with you they criticize you. When you're trying to tell an entire nation how to live, which is what big-time politics comes down to now, some people will fight back with terrible weapons such as sarcasm, irony and vulgarity. They will sometimes be mean. So what?
Tom: Grownups pay a price for where they stand! Being put down by conservatives is the price you pay. Is it really too much?
Rush Limbaugh has 20 million listeners. If Tom Daschle wants to make progress for his side why doesn't he go on his show and talk to them? Take call-ins, explain your views, be a man, move the ball forward.
Now, Noonan and I aren't "ideological clones". As I've said many times before, I am pro-choice and have to strong religious convictions. But I do agree 100% that you make your choices, you make your stand, and you take whatever comes of it. And I, like Ms. Noonan, am tired of a left leaning faction in this country trying to turn us into a nation of whiney cowards.
Have you seen this photo of a billboard congratulating Norm Coleman for his victory in the Minnesota senate race that was defaced with Nazi symbols and references to the SS?
Coleman is Jewish, so characterizing him as the "newest member of the SS" seems just a wee bit crazy. Certainly seems like as good an example of a "hate crime" as any. I wonder if NPR will do a story on it? (did anyone check Garrison Keillor for signs of white paint under his fingernails?)
And the funny thing is, the left is still yelling about how "evil" and "nasty" conservatives are, while pulling this kind of crap. I wonder if Daschle will have anything to say about this? I mean, this is WAY worse than Rush Limbaugh making fun of you, right? Surely the Democratic left, after being sensitized by Daschle to the dangers of this sort of rhetoric, would take a bold stand against this kind of activity, don't ya think? Well, you would think wrong.
Indymedia link thanks to Instapundit.
Thierry Meyssan, the author of �9-11, The Big Lie,� is currently planning a US tour to promote his book, which claims that the attack on the Pentagon was a self inflicted wound to bolster the case for a war with Afghanistan. In essence, Meyssan is accusing the US government of killing 180+ innocent civilians.
The book was a best seller in France, and has even found 5,000 conspiracy nuts here in the US willing to to purchase a copy (probably on the required reading list over at the Democratic Underground). The best paragraph?
Meyssan, an activist with his own left-wing association called the �Voltaire Network,� says he did not actually travel to the United States to investigate his theories, but had researchers working for him. He said much of his book is based on public documents, newspaper articles and the Internet.
Gee, I wonder about the credentials of those "researchers". And we all know what a reliable source of information the internet is, right?
Robert Redford is the latest actor to serve as moral compass for the good people of the USA. However, unlike Babs, Belafonte, and Lange, he actually has some suggestions that make sense, rather than just screaming about how horrible the US is. And, even though he "blasts" the Bush administration, I think he does have some valid points - we do need to become less dependent on fossil fuels, we do need to explore alternative energy sources, and we should use existing technology, wherever feasible, to abrogate our dependence on foreign energy supplies.
Maybe a few more of the "elite" will take a page from Redford's book - if you want to criticize something, it certainly helps if you supply a few alternatives to the thing you are criticizing.
I haven't had time to read anyone else's take on this, so I wonder if I'll be in the majority or minority.
Been doing frantic holiday stuff with the parentals. Lots of good stuff in the blogosphere, though.
Start with this, and work your way around the neighborhood.
Regular posting should resume tomorrow (when I am back on broadband, that is)
