Rusted Sky

8 Year Old Iranian Boy Caught Stealing Bread

It's not bloody - but...

Damn.

Cultural relativity be damned - that's wrong. How would this be justifiable? And look at the size of that kid. He's been missing meals for a while.

Damn.

J.

BruceWillis.com

So, how DO you get your News? Television? Newspaper? Online? Word of Mouth?

Whatever your preferred choice of getting YOUR news, a VERY large percentage of the News has been shown to be either biased on one side or another, Manipulated by the Powers That Be, Sensationalized, or otherwise Slanted so that by the time it gets to you it bears very little resemblance to what is actually occurring in our World today. Whether it is about Hurricane Katrina, The War in Iraq, the latest exploits of the Rich/Famous, or whatever else is current today, I completely believe that nearly ALL the news that trickles down to us is somehow manipulated. That said, I am not writing this to convince you of what I believe to be true.

I was recently sent what has come to be called a "blogspot", written by a gentleman named Michael Yon, who is currently reporting from the frontlines of Iraq. I have found his writing to be refreshing, honest, and compassionate, and anyone who has Family in Harm's Way either in Iraq, Afghanistan, at Sea, or anywhere else in the World will hopefully find his reporting to be as un-filtered and manipulation-free as I have.

I do NOT write this to try to affect your opinion of the War one way or the other. We are ALL entitled to believe what we wish. But in a World where even children can easily spot the Media's over-whelming appetite for the Sensational, I have found Mr. Yon's Site to be what feels like the Real Deal. michaelyon.blogspot.com

I remain, your pal, beedub

The CIA decides to put the hurt on the President to hide their own embarassments, so they send a guy to Niger who reports back to the CIA that Iraq tried to buy uranium ore - then tells the NYTimes they didn't. This guy they sent apparently has problems keeping the story straight - says his wife's a covert agent, yet they're behaving in anything but a covert fashion.

(First rule of security as it's taught in the military - you don't know nuffin'. 'specially if you got a TS or higher clearance - even if Jane's All The World's Weapon Systems have already published everything including the throw weight of the warhead and has pictures detailed enough that you can count the screws holding the nose fairing on the warhead shroud.)

The Senate goes into a closed session (and I can't even recall the last time they did that) over the Iraqi Intelligence flap, when they've already issued a bipartisan report. Why they need another one, I can't guess - unless they want the Reader's Digest Condensed version. And when a disaster hits in NO, all the failures there are laid at the feet of the President - DESPITE all the documented failures of the local authorities and the crappy engineering of the levees that broke.

Bird flu is apparently making its way worldwide - yet there's little attention paid to it by the media, instead the focus is on whether or not Carl Rove will get indicted for the possible outing of Joe Wilson's wife - with a sidebar spectacle of a reporter who went to jail rather than release the name of the source who supposedly did the outing - despite the permission of the source - and who's notes are supposedly startlingly inconclusive of who said what to whom, to the extent of misspelling the outed agents' name.

Iraq has elections - and they're ignored. Iraq votes on a consititution - and it's ignored... though there was breathless anticiaption on how bad the violence was going to be before the election. No violence - no story - and the passing of the Constituton was two paragraphs tucked into the 'World News' section. We're 'winning' the war in Iraq - but the media doesn't see the good stuff that's going on, just the problems. Hey, if it bleeds, it leads.

Afghanistan has elections, and that rates one paragraph in 'World News'.

In other world news, Paris has 6 straight nights of race riots - but is virtually ignored.

The headline story as of the time of this posting on MSNBC news is about a supposed CIA secret prision where a high-ranking member of Al Quaeda's being held. (They say that like it's a bad thing....) And there MAY be something new on the Natalie Holloway case. Foxnews has a two line blurb about the Paris riots.

There's something exceedingly odd about the priorities of the media these days - and about the priorities of our legislators. They seem to be too focused and intent on the easier stuff than on the hard - and are grateful for any assistance in the way of distractions from the media.

Frankly, if this were in anovel I can imagine the slush-pile reader throwing it across the room. "People aren't that stupid!" they'd shriek. "Crappy plot devices! Sheer stupdity on the part of the villans!" And the thing would never see the light of day again.

Instead, we're living it. God, I hope the writer gets a damn clue soon.

J.

US Personal Income up $173.5 billion in September: Savings negative Four Months in a row - - Dr. Peter Morici

My regular savings account with Bank of America gets a whopping 0.5% interest per anum. For every hundred bucks I save for a year, I get 50 cents. And if the balance gets below $300, you get a $3 a month service charge tacked on. If I got one of their money manager savings accounts, I'd get the increased rate of 0.55%. Woo - an extra nickle! But their minimum amount is $1000, and it's $10 a month until you get a $5k average in the account.

Wow. Such riches.

My Paypal account has no minimum amount, and pays 3.89%, with the dividend paid monthly.

Sheesh. And economists are worried because folks aren't saving. Well, there's no INCENTIVE to. Maybe they're just socking it under their matresses. Might not be getting interest - but at 0.5%, inflation'll eat up any interest you get from the bank. We've got the !st Nat. BankoDaddy rates in our house - Aaron gets his savings doubled per year. I tell him if he saves his money for flying lessons when he's old enough, I'll match whatever he has saved.

But it's not working too well... yet.

(BTW, at dinner yesterday I asked him the 4 forces that affect an aircraft. Danged if he didn't get them right!) (Lift, thrust, drag, and weight - if you didn't know. Some folks don't consider weight as one of the forces, for some reason.)

J.

Channelnewsasia.com

Iraq eyes tourism as US leaves Saddam palace

TIKRIT, Iraq : US commanders on Tuesday moved out of a complex of palaces that once belonged to ousted president Saddam Hussein, a site Iraqi officials hope to turn into a tourist destination.

The complex overlooking the Tigris River was built just outside Saddam's hometown of Tikrit in northern Iraq soon after the country's defeat in the 1991 Gulf War over Kuwait.

It served as headquarters to the 42nd Infantry Division, responsible for military operations in north-central Iraq.

Their replacement, the 101st Airborne Division, will be staying at a former Iraqi air base a few kilometers (miles) up the road, and local officials will take control of the palace complex.

The special effects should be AWESOME.

(I wouldn't recommend they contact Six Flags, though.)

J.

IBM slows light, readies it for networking | Tech News on ZDNet

has created a chip that can slow down light, the latest advance in an industrywide effort to develop computers that will use only a fraction of the energy of today's machines.

The chip, called a photonic silicon waveguide, is a piece of silicon dotted with arrays of tiny holes. Scattered systematically by the holes, light shown on the chip slows down to 1/300th of its ordinary speed of 186,000 miles per second. In a computer system, slower light pulses could carry data rapidly, but in an orderly fashion. The light can be further slowed by applying an electric field to the waveguide.

J.

Guess who wins?

BTW, that was a 1/10th inch slit in the pipe.

J.

The US media's been downplaying the riots near Paris. It took a bit of searching on CNN to find this one.

CNN.com - Paris riot: PM?cancels Canada trip - Nov 2, 2005

On Tuesday night, the sixth straight night of unrest, some 150 fires were reported in cars, buildings and garbage bins in the suburbs across the Seine-Saint-Denis region on the north and northeast of Paris, France-Info radio said.

The area is home mainly to families of immigrant origin, often from Muslim North Africa, AP said. It is marked by soaring unemployment, delinquency and other urban ills.

Police detained 34 people in the overnight violence, Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy told Europe-1 radio.

It's looking like a powderkeg over there. And the fuse is lit. How big will the bang be when it comes?

J.

And it's not looking good.

Paris-Area Riots Spread to 20 Towns - Yahoo! News

AULNAY-SOUS-BOIS, France - A week of riots in poor neighborhoods outside Paris gained dangerous new momentum Thursday, with youths shooting at police and firefighters and attacking trains and symbols of the French state.

Facing mounting criticism, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin vowed to restore order as the violence that erupted Oct. 27 spread to at least 20 towns, highlighting the frustration simmering in housing projects that are home to many North African immigrants.

J.

Big, and funny. Might take a while if you're on dialup.

CARLTON DRAUGHT BIG AD

Those Aussies - what a sense of humor!

J.

Okay, I've got to confess something here. Actually, a number of things.

When 9/11 hit, I thought that it was caused by an aberrant splinter of Islam. The Taliban and suchlike - well, they were a small group within Islam, not to be confused with the greater mass of moderate Islam.

However, I must confess to wondering just why, if the Taliban were so radical, that the other Islamic states in that area weren't doing what they could to moderate things. Destruction of the ancient Bhuddas brought no note of censure, and the treatment of women under the Taliban was documented to be insanely mysoginistic. Yet - the silence was deafening from the Islamic nations, with platitudes about how women were respected and protected in Islam. Having worked for Muslims in the past, I thought that indeed the excesses of the Taliban and other groups like that were not emblematic of Islam in general.

I don't feel that way now. I'm starting to think that the folks I worked for, Muslims in the West in general (and not in Europe, I'm sorry to day) are the abberation - are the split off from the Islamic body. The Sunni branches, the Wahhabist versions - they may not be the norm, but they've got control of the religion and I can only hope the other branches can figure out how to release that control without causing millions of deaths in the process.

I sure hope I'm wrong, but I think we're going to see things get a lot worse before they get better on that subject.

I will confess that I at one time thought the UN was a useful body. I don't much think that anymore - I see it as a boys' club for dictatorships, a facade of legitimacy that's useful to keep their sorry carcasses propped up on top of the feudal states that support them. They know sanctions don't mean anything, and if you've got any sort of pull you can get damn near any sort of aid out of the UN you might want - and if that aid never reaches the intended beneficiaries... well, that's just too bad.

I will confess to a lack of surprise that Saddam was never publicly criticised by the local regimes. Saddam was, to them, a hero. He'd taken on the US/UN, and lived - though he lost Kuwait and a lot of autonomy in the process. He got himself into a war with Iran, and didn't QUITE lose. He had his sons all primed to inherit the family business, until it was forced into bankrupcy by Bush&Coalition.

I'm also not surprised at all that the local regimes didn't want Saddam to be taken out. Their little dictatorships are dependent on two things - the appearance of overwhelming force to keep the population in control, and a lack of hope for change in the population. Shake the table, and the house of cards that's been so carefully propped up starts to quiver... and fall it did in Lebanon while Syria's shakey and Libya just plain gave up any pretense of hiding their WMD programs. With elections in Afghanistan and Iraq, with FREQUENT elections, not the 'one man, one vote, one time' variety used to maintain the illusions of legitimacy that are a staple of voting in the ME, the dictators in that region are seeing a possible end to their free ride. Soon they won't be able to blame everything on the US any more - because Iraq and Afghanistan are starting to show what a free society and capitalistic economy can provide their people. They've tried the quaint ethnic tribal customs of never-ending warfare, and they just plain don't work for larger groups.

I will confess that we're further along than I thought we'd be. I didn't figure Iraq would be ready for elections until close to 5 years after our invasion. And Afghanistan's a lot further along than that. I'm glad to see it. Things aren't perfect - but for the vast majority of the people they're better than they were.

And I'll confess to disappointment in the UN. The UN thought that harshly worded sanctions would be a good substitute for actually doing something to remove Saddam from power. We were willing to go along with the status quo - until 9/11 showed us that the status quo wasn't going to cut it any more. And we had a lot of sympathy for the attack... until we stood up and said "Okay, that's all we're going to take of THAT." When we started actually DOING something, the sympathy evaporated pretty quick. We weren't being good victims. We fought back.

I'd sure like to believe in the UN again. I'd like to believe in Islam being the 'Religion of Peace' I thought it was. But there comes a time when you've got to face reality, and one of the sad things about reality is that it doesn't care one bit about what you want to believe. YOU have to come to grips with reality and cope with it.

And I confess, that's a hard thing to do.

J.

It doesn't look like things are damping down.

Violence flares again in France, deepening sense of crisis - Yahoo! Australia & NZ News

Overwhelmed police have found themselves powerless to stop the conflagration, which has seen a total of over 1,000 vehicles torched and more than 200 people arrested.

Those responsible are groups of young Muslim men, the sons of families from France's former Arab and African colonial territories, who have said in interviews that they are protesting economic misery, racial discrimination and provocative policing.

The leader of one police union, Bruno Beschizza, has described the riots as "urban terrorism", but Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe of the opposition Socialist Party warned against hastily lumping together "one religion, Islam, and a few extremists" in apportioning blame.

I'm sure that'll make people feel kindly disposed towards them, and willing to help them out any way they can. Or are they simply trying to terrorize the government, to get more handouts and fewer obligations?

J.

No answers in sight. I'm not optimisitic there's going to be a solution without serious bloodshed.

France rioters: 'Each night we make this place Baghdad'

Paris - 'We burned 15 cars. How many do you have?' A grim contest is under way in France as kids from disadvantaged suburbs vie with each other to see who can riot the hardest.

On Internet websites, young arsonists brag about their successes. Rioting, it seems, has become a trend sport, as youths in immigrant areas of provincial cities begin to rally to the call from Paris.

While political slogans hold no sway among these youngsters, hatred for Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy is palpable. 'Now we're the ones chasing you with the Karcher (high-pressure hoses),' they say, referring to Sarkozy's pledge to clean the suburbs of 'scum'.

FOXNews.com - U.S. & World - Paris Riots Spread Throughout France

On Saturday morning, more than 1,000 people marched through one of the worst-hit suburbs, Aulnay-sous-Bois (search). Local officials wore sashes in the red, white and blue of the French flag as they filed past housing projects and the wrecks of burned cars. One white banner read, "No to violence."

J.

There's apparently been an amusement park, constructed with Coalition help, in the middle of Baghdad?

Omar over at Iraq the Model has more info. But take a look at the pictures here - الظافر - It's not Six Flags, but it's a start. And take a close look at the sign here - see any familiar logos?

No roller coasters, though. Darn.

If you take a look at the top of the inflatable slide, you'll also notice an interesting image. Wonder if it's been licensed?

More pictures of Iraq here - of the Eid celebration. And voting photos, too.

Might be worth your time...

Democratic Peace

Seeing events in the glare of the struggle between freedom and power -- between the democratic peace and a power that corrupts and kills

on Radio Blogger.

Upshot? Not good.

HH: What is your assessment of the significance of what is underway, the Francefada, or the intifada in France as we speak?

VDH: Well, there's two messages. One, that we in America can see where an unassimilated un-integrated a population goes, and where that leads to, it leads to a sort of an apartheid. And two, we can see what happens with an EU that can't create real economic growth, and has high stagnant unemployment of 10%. And three, this is I think a little bit more controversial, that we can see what happens to a society that doesn't ask the immigrant to integrate, and the immigrant doesn't feel that he has to integrate, or to learn the language, or learn the traditions of the West. So you have this Orwellian situation when thousands of people are rioting, you want to say let me get this straight. You do not want to go back to the country, an hour or two away by air, that you praise in the abstract, but you surely want to stay in a country that you want to burn down to the concrete. It doesn't make any sense, other than this strong, psychological urges of envy, jealousy, wanting something you can't have. Then, besides all that landscape, you get the impression there's something very wrong in Europe that has high unemployement and generous joblessness benefits, so that it allows people not really to have to go look for a job, because there isn't any, but to stay home and sort of nurse these wounds, with enough money to survive.

HH: Now Victor Davis Hanson, you've studied ancient civilizations, you've studied modern civilizations. When radicalization occurs, and you start having this economic dislocation, and these sorts of riots, does this provide fertile ground for the Islamist to go in and proselytize, and recruit?

VDH: Absolutely. So what's going to happen if you have a hundred thousand of these youths, there's going to be a small cohort. Who knows how many? One, two, three percent. But given the aggregate number of protesters is so large, you may find a hundred or two hundred or three hundred that will want to take this one step further. And if you're already now shooting and burning cars, what's to stop you? You've crossed that barrier, so what's to stop you from blowing up somebody in a...and it'll all depend on the reaction of the French police and the French government. If they can put this down and show that there's zero tolerance for this, then they can reverse the course a little bit. If they appease it, and try to find so-called root causes, which are there, but nevertheless, during a riot, you don't want talk about them.

HH: What's interesting is Chirac and de Villipin have not done anything significant like calling out the army. They are so far from zero tolerance. It's more like 95% tolerance.

VDH: Yeah. I was reading a lot of French papers, you know, when I was in Europe the last three weeks, and I think I would...I guess I would sum it up as just absolute bafflement. It's almost as if don't these people know that in the abstract, we help Hamas? Don't we know that we appease the Arab world? And why in the world since we are so pro-Arab, would they care whether they have a job in Paris or not? We are beyond criticism, because we're against the United States, and here they are attacking us, of all people.

I also like this line: "You do not want to go back to the country, an hour or two away by air, that you praise in the abstract, but you surely want to stay in a country that you want to burn down to the concrete. It doesn't make any sense, other than this strong, psychological urges of envy, jealousy, wanting something you can't have. " That about nails it. But the thing is, after it's burnt to the ground and the French have abandoned it... they'll still be there occupying it.

Hope like hell we aren't about to see another Dunkirk - with the French evacuating to England and letting the Arabs have France.

J.

The Corner on National Review Online

I've now heard or read bits and pieces of several Carter interviews. I am simply flummoxed by the amount time and space wasted asking him what he thinks the Democratic Party should do. Now, to be fair, I don't think his advice is terrible at least on the religious stuff. But I'm wondering: Where did Jimmy Carter get the reputation of being a savvy political operator?

His Presidency saw home loan interest rates rise to way above 15%. A severe recession hit during his time in office, and he responded by raising taxes - which prolonged the recession. He was very ineffectual as far as it came to international relations. And he was President during the disco era.

He looks good - because the others in the party look so bad....

Don't get me wrong - I've got a fair amount of respect for the man. But only a fair amount - not all that much - and having lived through his time in office I don't see him as a sucessful elder statesman in the Democratic party. He wasn't a complete disaster - though he didn't do all that much for the country - but he's pretty shiny compared to today's possibilities...

J.

J.

In the beginning, there were 2, or 3, or 4 channels of broadcast television.

And no VCRs. DVDs were a SF dream. If you wanted to watch a show, you had to plop your ass down in front of the TV (and your own rear end, too - if the ass didn't want to watch TV) at the scheduled time and actually WATCH the show.

Cable TV gave you a wider variety to choose from, but again, you had to schedule your viewing around the time the shows were on.

And then came VCRs. Suddenly you no longer needed to be in front of a TV to watch something, you could record and watch it later. Then we jump to TIVO and other such devices, and you needed them to help cull through all the stuff you might want to watch.

Now, it looks like the major broadcasters have caught on and are willing to sell you the shows directly.

My Way News

NEW YORK (AP) - CBS and NBC have announced deals to offer replays of prime-time programs for 99 cents per episode, shifting television toward a sales model that gained popularity with downloaded music.

CBS is teaming up with Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) and NBC with satellite operator DirecTV to offer the on-demand replays.

But it's good to see the broadcasters moving off their old model of layering in commercials to pay for programming. Maybe this'll be the start of a new trend, where programs that are worth paying for survive, while the ones that aren't - don't. I can't think how many times I've seen promising series die out midway through a season because they were pitted against a competitor's top-rated show and didn't get good enough ratings.

J.

Looks like Blacklight Power is getting a bit more press, and may be a bit closer to actually being a commercially feasible thing.

Guardian Unlimited | Science | Fuel's paradise? Power source that turns physics on its head

Can't say I'll be sorry to see that - and if my next car is a 'steamer', I think I could live with that.

J.

Kind of. They're paying danegeld.

ROUNDUP French PM announces raft of measures for riot-hit poor suburbs - Forbes.com

But he added that 'the reestablishment of public order is a prerequisite' to the measures being implemented -- something he admitted would 'take some time.'

The intiatives are:

- the creation of an anti-discrimination agency with special officials appointed to be in charge of certain regions, and making the fight against discrimination a national priority;

- 20,000 job contracts with local government bodies or associations paid a minimum wage would be reserved for those in the suburbs struggling to find work;

- an extra 100 million euros (120 million dollars) for associations that work in the neighbourhoods;

- 5,000 more teaching assistant posts in the 1,200 schools in districts designated as troublespots;

- the creation of 15 more special economic zones that provide tax breaks to companies that set up inside them as an incentive to boost local employment.

IT IS always a temptation to an armed and agile nation,
To call upon a neighbour and to say:—
“We invaded you last night—we are quite prepared to fight,
Unless you pay us cash to go away.”
And that is called asking for Dane-geld,
And the people who ask it explain
That you’ve only to pay ’em the Dane-geld
And then you’ll get rid of the Dane!

It is always a temptation to a rich and lazy nation,
To puff and look important and to say:—
“Though we know we should defeat you,
we have not the time to meet you.
We will therefore pay you cash to go away.”

And that is called paying the Dane-geld;
But we’ve proved it again and again,
That if once you have paid him the Dane-geld
You never get rid of the Dane.

It is wrong to put temptation in the path of any nation,
For fear they should succumb and go astray,
So when you are requested to pay up or be molested,
You will find it better policy to says:—

“We never pay any one Dane-geld,
No matter how trifling the cost,
For the end of that game is oppression and shame,
And the nation that plays it is lost!”

J.

New Scientist Breaking News - US military sets laser PHASRs to stun

The US government has unveiled a "non-lethal" laser rifle designed to dazzle enemy personnel without causing them permanent harm. But the device will require close scrutiny to ensure compliance with a United Nations protocol on blinding laser weapons.

The Personnel Halting and Stimulation Response (PHASR) rifle was developed at the Air Force Research Laboratory in New Mexico, US, and two prototypes have been delivered to military bases in Texas and Virginia for further testing.

The US Department of Defense (DoD) believes the weapon could be used, for example, to temporarily blind suspects who drive through a roadblock. However, the DoD has yet to reveal details of how the laser works and has yet to respond to New Scientist’s requests for further information.

Laser weapons capable of blinding enemies have been developed in the past but were banned under a 1995 UN convention called the Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons. The wording of this protocol, however, does not prohibit lasers that temporarily dazzle a foe.

You can employ flamethrowers, grenades, bullets, bombs and shells of all sorts of tonnages and killing power... leaving a body in bits and pieces, blowing off a hand or arm or leg, or causing severe burns - and all that's okay and acceptable according to the laws of war. But you can't blind someone.

All righty then! Everyone clear on that? Kill, but don't blind!

J.

To have China and Japan in a pissing contest.

FOXNews.com - U.S. & World - Japan Scrambles Fighters 30 Times to Repel Chinese

TOKYO — Japanese fighter jets have been scrambled 30 times to turn away Chinese planes approaching Japan's airspace in the last six months, more than twice the 13 times in the same period last year, officials said Wednesday.

The increased defensive posture reflects the growing tensions between Japan and China, which are squabbling over interpretations of their wartime past, undersea gas deposits, and ownership of East China Sea islands.

An ARABIC wedding, no less.

From what I've heard, they're his preferred target in Iraq, also - since security is such that the hard targets aren't available he has to try for softer ones. Needless to say, this is making him much beloved among the Iraqi people, and now he's trying to get that same love in Jordan.

BREITBART.COM - Just The News

Al-Qaida claimed responsibility Thursday for three suicide bomb attacks on Western hotels that killed at least 56 people, linking the deadly blasts to the war in Iraq and calling Amman the "backyard garden" for U.S. operations. Police continued a broad security lockdown and authorities sent DNA samples for testing to identify the attackers. Land borders were reopened after being closed for nearly 12 hours.

Update: Oh, the Arabic Street's feelin' the love all right.

Jordanians to al-Zarqawi: ‘Burn in hell’ - International Terrorism - MSNBC.com

AMMAN, Jordan - Hundreds of angry Jordanians rallied Thursday outside one of three U.S.-based hotels attacked by suicide bombers, shouting, “Burn in hell, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi!” — a reference to the leader of Al-Qaida in Iraq, the terrorist group tied to the blasts that killed at least 56 people.

J.

We've got a bit of tradition in our family, at least on the paternal side, of military service. Not so much so on my mother's side - we've got a distant relative who served in the Civil War, but that's about it. So let's get on with a bit of history.

My paternal grandfather died in the mid-'60s. He'd been in a veteran's hospital for a number of years and finally succumbed to lung damage from being gassed in WW1. I don't know much about his service - father won't talk about him.

My father served in WW2 - when he got a notice from the draft board for the Army he beat feet to the Navy recruiter. He got training as a radar technician, and was in the Pacific when Hiroshima and Nagasaki occurred. From what he's told me and piecing together bits of history of that time, it's pretty likely he'd have been on a ship in the flotilla for Operation Olympic. He doesn't think the Japanese were about to surrender - but it's all kind of moot now. In the last few years he's mentioned several times that he wished he'd stayed in rather than getting out when he could after WW2 - I dare say my choice of career paths would have been affected if he'd been career Navy.

My brother enlisted in the Navy in the '60s. He did 3 two-year enlistments, then just got out and bummed around in a lot of menial jobs. He's also said he wished he'd stayed in - but cleaning toilets at Wal Mart's not all that bad.

I enlisted in the AF after high school - didn't know what I wanted to do with myself, but I was pretty sure that college wasn't it. Got out after 9 1/2 years, bopped from job to job and found myself a career with computers. Got into the AF reserve just in time for Gulf War 1, didn't get activated for that. Did 13 more years... and figured that was enough. As an aging paper-pusher, it was time to step down and let someone else move up a rank.

23 years. (22 and a half.) Man, I'll tell you - it looks like a long time when it's ahead of you, but looking back - it was pretty short. Funny how that works.

I sometimes wish I could get into my 18-year old head and knock some sense into myself. I see a lot of opportunities wasted along the way, a lot of things I should have done differently. But overall, I guess I did okay. Did what I was supposed to, did my job and kept the paper flowing - and that's what really matters. (Well, at least from the standpoint of the job!)

I am hoping that when Aaron's of an age to enlist that there's no need for him to do so. It'll be his choice, however... and it is, after all, a family tradition.

On a lighter note... A tribute.

J.

Over on Instapundit there's varying reactions here and here and here.

My own take one it (and I figure you're here for my take on it all) is very slightly mixed.

I had the chance to listen to some of the speech at lunch, and it was a powerful one. He explained clearly what was going on, he also wasn't afraid (as he has been in the past) to finally start swinging at the folks who've been obstructionist in ways that hurt the country and the war effort more than help. This was very good to see and much overdue in my thinking. The historical revisionism being attempted at the present time is neither helpful or constructive, and is soley an attempt to get a political advantage later on. And I'll be honest here, I think it's a damn shabby pile of tricks that makes it much less likely for me to ever consider a Democratic candidate again, regardless of the faults of any other candidate. Enough is just plain enough - and this latest crap from the Democratic side is just too damn much.

At the same time I find myself thinking - why now? Is Bush tired of being 'Mr. Nice President' who wouldn't say shit about his opponents if he had a mouthful, while they gleefully fling any crap they can find? I'm a firm believer in the truth being the best defense against a lie, but silence isn't a substitute for truth in that conflict. Bush seemed to believe otherwise.

I'm wondering if the suicide bombings in Jordan caused the more strident tone in today's speech. I particularly like this bit:

Over the years these extremists have used a litany of excuses for violence: the Israeli presence on the West Bank, the U.S. military presence in Saudi Arabia, the defeat of the Taliban, or the Crusades of a thousand years ago. In fact, we're not facing a set of grievances that can be soothed and addressed. We're facing a radical ideology with inalterable objectives: to enslave whole nations and intimidate the world. No act of ours invited the rage of killers — and no concession, bribe, or act of appeasement would change or limit their plans for murder. On the contrary, they target nations whose behavior they believe they can change through violence. Against such an enemy, there is only one effective response: We will never back down, we will never give in, we will never accept anything less than complete victory.

There seems to be a sub-group in the peace movement that believes that we can co-exist with the radical elements in Islam. I don't agree that such a thing is possible. Attempts to appease aren't seen as anything but weakness - and weakness is seen as a lever to be used to get what they want.

And what they want is the whole ball of wax. One world, united under the flag of Islam. (Damn, where HAVE I heard that sort of aim before?)

So it seems to me there's two choices at this point. Take them on while their power and influence is low. Attempt to exterminate the movement completely, which I'll admit could take years or decades - by changing the governments in the ME to be much more democratic instead of autocratic. Or we accept the status quo, allow them to build - to influence countries to be passive when faced with violence. You've seen it in France. You've seen it in Spain. Afghanistan was ignored after the USSR pulled out - and the cockroaches moved in. We didn't do shit about them - after all, who'd believe such a screwed-up offshoot of Islam as the Taliban would exist? Nobody believed the stories... but they weren't stories, we just didn't want to believe that such unsane behavior would be tolerated.

And that's what they depend on - tolerance. It's been pretty difficult finding Imams and mullahs who've been willing to speak against the extremists. The attack in Jordan seems to have knocked some sense into them, but it's hard to tell how long that'll last. Al Quaeda could be forgiven simply by attacking some US interests - or they might be permanently on the outs - it's hard to tell.

One problem is that Al Quaeda central's planning for the long-term. This isn't a simple "Do the job and go home" sort of thing. This is something they'red dedicated to completely - and if it takes 20, 50, or 100 years to do the job then they'll move slowly. One disadvantage they've got is Zarqawi - HE wants to see the Caliphate created in his lifetime, and he's pushing the schedule.

Which brings us back to Bush's speech. He outlines what he wants to do. He's giving a clear outline for what needs to be done.

It remains to be seen whether we're farsighted enough to commit to it, or whether politics as usual will rule the day. It's hard to fight an enemy who thinks in terms of decades, when you're too busy maneuvering to get advantage at the next election. Our politicians MUST start thinking long-term - further ahead than the next election. If they don't - we're in deep trouble.

So what am I upset about with this speech? That he's taken so damn long to give it.

J.

Scotsman.com News - International - Al-Qaeda on defensive as bombs begin to backfire

Al-Qaeda's volte-face was caused by an unprecedented emotional outpouring of anger against the terrorist organisation in Jordan. On Thursday thousands of Jordanians protested across the country to denounce the head of the al-Qaeda terrorist group in Iraq, Zarqawi, America's most wanted enemy. They marched through Amman chanting: "Burn in hell, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi!"

There were even larger demonstrations on Friday after the weekly midday mosque sermons in Amman and at a mass funeral for victims. "We came to support our nation and our unity," said Ibrahim Haniya, 22, who marched with a group of friends. "These bombers didn't differentiate between Muslims, Christians or Jews. They were against the world."

And Zarqawi's bombing - well, that was all just good clean fun against the infidel (both the Coalition and the Iraqis trying to get their country back on it's feet) until he started hitting easy targets just a LITTLE too close to home.

But that may have been the straw that broke the metaphorical camel's back. We'll see - but I think that was ta real bad move on his part.

J.

Democrats Losing Race For Funds Under Dean

Now, the latest financial numbers are prompting new doubts. From January through September, the Republican National Committee raised $81.5 million, with $34 million remaining in the bank. The Democratic National Committee, by contrast, showed $42 million raised and $6.8 million in the bank.

"The degree to which the fundraising has not been competitive is obviously troublesome," said former congressman Vic Fazio (D-Calif.), who is now a lobbyist here. He expressed confidence in Tom McMahon, Dean's executive director at the DNC.

One House Democratic leadership aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preserve relations with Dean's operation, put it more bluntly: "There is plenty of time, but the red flashing sirens should be going off there."

As critics see it, Dean has disappointed on two fronts. The DNC has not replicated the success of Dean's presidential campaign two years ago in tapping vast numbers of new and smaller contributors over the Internet. And skeptics say he has not yet established rapport with and won the confidence of high-dollar donors.

DNC officials acknowledge that elements of their fundraising operation have started more slowly than expected. But they and other Dean defenders say his record should be viewed in context.

The explanation most offered by Dean allies for the sluggish start is that donors are tired of giving after watching Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.) fail to deliver the White House. Kerry's fundraising success last year raised expectations among Democrats that the days of competing at a financial disadvantage with the GOP were over. For now, they are not.

"We will have the resources to do what we need to do," said Karen Finney, a DNC spokeswoman. "We are committed to investing in state parties and rebuilding the grass roots from the bottom up."

Dean's first eight months at the committee have also been marked by the departure of several members of the fundraising staff, including finance director -- and longtime Dean loyalist -- Lindsay Lewis, who resigned in late September and has yet to be replaced.

DNC sources said the post will be filled by the end of the month and point out that Joseph "Jody" Trapasso, a longtime party fundraiser, has stepped in.

Several Washington Democrats not favorably inclined toward Dean said the party was willing to gamble on his "potential for hoof in mouth disease" -- in the words of one lobbyist -- because of the unexpected fundraising prowess he showed in the 2004 race.

I'm thinking he might have been a bad choice. But then, the Democratic Party's facing some choices right now - it'll be instructive to see how they go.

J.

Man, talk about an interesting mix.

Today was my day to come up with something for the Den. Pseudonyms will be used to protect the innocent.

I was supposed to do something on religion today for the Den. This can be pretty difficult these days, so I started out with the Cub Scout Promise.

I asked them what they thought their duty to God was - one said "Don't smoke!" The other answers were pretty good - pick up trash and throw things away properly, help other people, go to church and the like.Then I asked if anyone knew what the Golden Rule was. (And no, it's not the "He who has the Gold makes the Rules" we're used to as an adult - it was the "Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you" one.) One guy said there were '8' of them - I said I wasn't looking for the 10 Commandments!

Two raised their hands and kind of garbled the explanation. I consider the Golden rule to be a pretty decent way of living your life - if you conduct yourself honestly and with integrity, you find life's a lot easier. If you lie, you find life more difficult because you not only have to remember what you told to whom, when the lie gets found out you find it's usually better to have told the truth in the first place and take your lumps for that - because things will be worse because you lied. We talked about honesty, and treating each other right.

Next I asked the scouts what their religions are. (One was Jewish, one was Methodist-Catholic, one wasn't, and two were Christian, methodist.) Then I had the kids tell me what they want to be. Abe is going to run a big company. Bart is going to be a geologist. Carl wants to be a vet. Dan wants to be a video game tester. Evan wants to be a pilot. So then I asked them what their favorite subjects were. And I was surprised at the answers...

All 5 said "Math". Huh. At that age, it would have been reading or science for me. But, good on them if they can manage it. (We won't talk about how dismal my math skills are.)

Then I talked about how God had given them certain gifts to help attain their goals. I asked them what the 5 senses were - and then I had their parents blindfold them. We sat a moement listening (we were outside) and I asked them to tell me what they heard. They didn't hear anything at first... then I pointed out birds singing, a jet flying overhead, the air conditioner in the building next to us... then told them that their senses were a gift from God. (Actually, more standard issue than a gift.) But what they actually DID with them was up to them. I asked Bart if the senses were important - he said "No..." and I asked him if he could be a geologist if he couldn't see the rocks. THAT was something he'd never considered - and he shook his head. I asked Evan if he could be a pilot - or Dan if he could be a video game tester if he couldn't see.

The point I made was that these gifts weren't to be taken lightly, and thie gifts could get them where they wanted to go. Then I pulled out some Easy-Spins and started assembling them - which gave the guys a good ten minutes of play while the adults talked about things.

Then I pulled out a blindfold and put it on one of the boys, and we played Blind-man's Bluff. (I suppose to be PC that should be 'Visually Challenged Person's Equivocation', but what the heck.) This is something the kids LOVED.

All in all, a pretty sucessful meeting... I was really wondering if it was going to come off okay, and it seemed to.

But there was a real surprise. Bart, in the past, has struck me more as the type who'd have "First in Jail for Murder and Mayhem" in his yearbook. Want to talk about anger? The kid had it in spades last year. Today, however, he was interested, attentive and alert - and polite. I almost thought about asking his mother if she'd brought the wrong kid!

So much for handling 7-year olds and religion and ethics. Talked about how many religions there were, how they should be honest and treat others as they'd want to be treated, and had some fun. No heads epxloded - and that was a good thing...

J.

Is detailed out by the post at All Things Beautiful: "Don't Get Captured..."

Here is a proud father giving a truly amazing and chillingly 'matter-of-fact' expert account of the current situation of the war in Iraq as told by his son, whilst on his first leave since returning from Iraq. You can tell his father is a senior military man -- small wonder as a former member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- and you can also tell, no better even, you just know, it's all absolutely true.

The first thing our guys are told is don't get captured. They know that if captured they will be tortured and beheaded on the internet. [...] As such, for our guys, every fight is to the death. Surrender is not an option.

With that in mind, get a rare glimpse through this spin-free account of what is actually really going on; it's an absolute must read (the original is in the form of an email to a personal friend, published by 'Media Lies', which I have edited in lenghth and sequence in a genuine attempt to accomodate the Blogosphere's notoriously short attention span):

J.

The War - a strategic overview

Den Beste did an overview of the war a couple of years back - causes, responses and so on - and it's been shined up and re-chromed by Tigerhawk. Long, comprehensive, and pretty detailed... it's worth a read if you've got an hour or two...

(You might also find the rebuttal to it in comment #8 quite indicative of the scholarship (with annotations and footnotes) of the anti-war crowd. Telling in it's complex nuances, it's not something that should be missed.)

J.

TCS: Tech Central Station - Did Bush Lie? Ask Google

President Bush came out swinging on Veterans Day in a speech accusing his Democratic war critics of re-writing history. Some war critics have mounted a campaign against him by boiling the entire pre-war history and post-invasion violence down to a two-word phrase: "Bush Lied". They say he lied us into war by distorting intelligence about weapons of mass destruction to convince Americans to fight an unnecessary war. The "Bush Lied" accusation is, if true, an indictment of the entire war itself, and one could reasonably argue we should cut our losses and get out of it.

The president could have destroyed the entire "Bush Lied" attack a long time ago. And he could have done it in a way that showed what a wired, technologically savvy president he is; and in a way that would have simplified his side of the debate down to three words and a number:

Google "Clinton Iraq 1998"

Targeting Al Quaeda and Osama only would have been like burning a local warehouse in McDonald's supply chain – a few stores shut down for a short time, but they'll reopen soon enough. It's a quick fix, slapping on a band-aid and hoping it doesn't get worse.

Bush decided on a different tactic - dismantle the corporation. You want to end terrorism, you shut it down all over as you can manage. Build democracies instead of accepting dictatorships all over and terrorism will end. It won't be fast or easy, but it'll be sure.

The main problem is - Bush is actually doing more than mouthing platitudes and making a half-hearted token attempt at solving the problem. This just plain isn't acceptable to some, who'd prefer the status quo and would rather have problems left unsolved so they can be used for election fodder later.

And what we're seeing with this "Bush Lied" stuff, IMHO, is a group that's gotten to a point where they don't see any way to back up out of the quagmire they've slid into. They were for the war 100% when it looked like a cakewalk, despite Bush saying it wouldn't be easy. Now that it looks like it'll take time, they're saying they were lied to.

Okay, figure (just for argument's sake, because it's verifiably incorrect) that Bush lied... what does it say about how gullible they were in the first place? And if they're that gullible, what does that say about how well they could lead the country?

J.

joelshepherd.com: SF and Economics

He takes a brief look at the economics of robotics, space travel, and flying cars. (Hey, Daniel! A flying car post!)

Might have to keep an eye on this one - he thinks pretty clearly.

J.

There's apparently a 'bit' of interest in this at Disney World. But they're kind of committed to a large bus fleet and their monorail system. (They really need to expand the monorail, IMHO, but it may cost too much.) This is fairly cheap, and would be visually impressive to boot. And isn't that what Disney is all about? (Well, aside from making money. But heck, charge a buck a ride for this and you'd likely pay off the entire system in a year.)

SkyWeb Express Personal Rapid Transit - A revolution in urban transportation

J.

Or is there something vaguely unsettling about watching porn on an IPod?

Mini-porn could turn into mega-business - washingtonpost.com Highlights - MSNBC.com

Apple Computer Inc. took 20 days to reach 1 million downloads of video files from its online store; the Web site SuicideGirls, offering free videos of unclothed models, hit the mark in about a week.

One of the quickest industries to take advantage of the new video iPod, and other new gadgets, is one that has often been at the forefront of other technological innovations: porn.

However, there's something kind of, well, sad about watching something like that on a 2-inch screen. What about eyestrain? Hand-eye coordination (so to speak) juggling your Ipod and whatever else you might be doing at the time?

Guess there's a market for it, though thechnophile I am I guess I'll just have to miss out on this one...

J.

This is an interesting spoof...

Nothing for eyesight, though. Dang.

J.

As some of you know, der frau is an oncology research coordinator. Yep, she's the one who handles the studies to see whether the stuff the medical companies come out with to fight various kinds of cancer actually work. It's a damn tough job, one that I wouldn't want - because she has to meet with each patient, get consent forms signed, have all sorts of contact with the patient... and she gets to feel for them.

Most days she can leave it at the office. But some days... well, the Cheerful Oncologist has some thoughts over at The Cheerful Oncologist :: Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

Today she found out that the wife of one of her favorite doctors has ovarian cancer. He's a really nice guy, she says, and all his patients that she's worked with think he's great. (Yep, he's an oncologist also...) They don't know just how far it's advanced, they'll find out Thursday. She says he's a real family guy and they've got three kids.

The youngest one's about a year old.

So, today's been pretty rough for her. She has her ways of coping, of being detatched - but this one blindsided her. If you've got a prayer or two to send her way, well, I don't think it'd be wasted. I'm not too sure about how useful prayer is myself - but it won't hurt.

J.

I'm trying to find a source for shallow bowls (or domes) about 3 to 5 feet wide. They must be lightweight plastic, but not terribly flimsy. I've been trying Froogle, but no real luck. Anyone got any ideas on proper key words?

J.

Over at OpinionJournal - The Real World, Claudia Rosett details why she thinks it'd be a bad idea. I find her argument pretty persuasive, and have yet to see any real benefits to having the UN control things.

J.

... might just be a clue here.

Space Cadets hoax out of this world | This is London

A new reality TV show is aiming to pull off the biggest hoax in TV history - by persuading a group of Britons that they have been blasted into space

The new Channel 4 series Space Cadets has been under wraps since the idea first came about 18-months ago.

Nine people will be told they are set to visit the final frontier as space tourists and that in preparation they will undergo intensive training in Russia courtesy of the Space Tourism Agency of Russia, but in reality the groups will be "trained" for space in a disused airbase in a secret location in the UK.

Unbeknown to them, their shuttle will be a Hollywood creation, made originally for the film Space Cowboys.

J.

Or would that be 'implode'?

New Documents Reveal Saddam Hid WMD, Was Tied to Al Qaida

Recently discovered Iraqi documents now being translated by U.S. intelligence analysts indicate that Saddam Hussein's government made extensive plans to hide Iraq's weapons of mass destruction before the U.S. invasion in March 2003 - and had deep ties to al Qaida before the 9/11 attacks.

The explosive evidence was discovered among "millions of pages of documents" unearthed by the Iraq Survey Group weapons search team, reports the Weekly Standard's Stephen Hayes.

In the magazine's Nov. 21 issue, Hayes reveals that the document cache now being examined contains "a thick stew of reports and findings from a variety of [Iraqi] intelligence agencies and military units."

I think what's happened is that folks in the White House have decided to take the gloves off. They've been patiently getting all their ducks in a row, getting all the info together, waiting for the proper time. And the Democrats have given them SO much to work with. Are you a leading politician, and want to call Bush a liar? Well, that's certainly your right, but it's then fair to have Bush defend his positions, and fair to remind the public of your own opinions at the time. Was he mistaken about WMD? It's possible - but acting on the consensus of numerous intelligence agencies and using that as one factor in the myriad of reasons to take out Saddam doesn't make him a liar - it makes him guilty of acting on mistaken intelligence.

But then again, maybe he WASN'T mistaken. Let's look at the released titles of the papers, shall we?

Though the Pentagon has so far declined to make the bombshell papers public, Hayes managed to obtain a list of titles on the reports.

Topics headlined in the still embargoed Iraqi documents include:

• Chemical Agent Purchase Orders (Dec. 2001)

• Formulas and information about Iraq's Chemical Weapons Agents

• Locations of Weapons/Ammunition Storage (with map)

• Denial and Deception of WMD and Killing of POWs

• Ricin research and improvement

• Chemical Gear for Fedayeen Saddam

• Memo from the [Iraqi Intelligence Service] to Hide Information from a U.N. Inspection team (1997)

• Iraq Ministry of Defense Calls for Investigation into why documents related to WMD were found by UN inspection team

• Correspondence between various Iraq organizations giving instructions to hide chemicals and equipment

• Correspondence from [Iraqi Intelligence Service] to [the Military Industrial Commission] regarding information gathered by foreign intelligence satellites on WMD (Dec. 2002) • Cleaning chemical suits and how to hide chemicals

• [Iraqi Intelligence Service] plan of what to do during UNSCOM inspections (1996)

Still other reports suggest that Iraq's ties to al Qaida were far deeper than previously known, featuring headlines like:

• Secret Meeting with Taliban Group Member and Iraqi Government (Nov. 2000)

• Document from Uday Hussein regarding Taliban activity

• Possible al Qaeda Terror Members in Iraq

• Iraqi Effort to Cooperate with Saudi Opposition Groups and Individuals

• Iraqi Intel report on Kurdish Activities: Mention of Kurdish Report on al Qaeda - reference to al Qaeda presence in Salman Pak

• [Iraqi Intelligence Service] report on Taliban-Iraq Connections Claims

• Money Transfers from Iraq to Afghanistan

While the document titles sound stunning enough to turn the Iraq war debate on its head, Hayes cautions that it's hard to know for certain until the full text is available.

Ricin may have therapeutic use in the treatment of cancer. Ricin may linked to a monoclonal antibody to target malignant cells recognized by the antibody. Genetic modification of ricin is believed to be possible to lessen its toxicity to humans, but not to the cancer cells.

/sarcasm, if it wasn't apparent.

Look, I've got no problem with political opportunism - within limits. That limit is when it seriously affects the country, or in time of war when it affects the prosecution of the war. And that limit's been hit pretty hard and fast lately with the foolishness coming from the Democratic side of the House. Admittedly it's a lot easier to think in slogans and sound bites than it is to examine all the issues and come up with substative thoughts and a decision on all this, because it's very complex and convoluted. However, the complexity and confusion MUST be dealt with and the issues that caused the war cannot be ignored or misrepresented as non-threatening. And it's also, to my thinking, a pretty stupid political tactic to come out and say "I was stupid and gullible, and fooled into voted for this war based on the intelligence we had at the time." What does this tell you about how perceptive that politician is, and how opportunistic they are? If they're so easily fooled, would you want them in charge of the country?

As long as I'm on a rant here, it's especially frustrating to me to see the current embracing by the left of the cult of victimhood in international politics when it comes to Fundamentalist Islam, and the subsequent excusal of the most heinous acts of violence. Four years ago, I believed the RoP PC stuff. I still do, to an extent - but the terrorists are CHOOSING to be terrorists, they're not trying to work within the local governments to get what they want, and that they're targeting their own should be enough reason to target their sorry asses and not 'try to understand where they're coming from'. Make them dead, and we won't have to worry about them bombing other Muslims, burning down churches and mosques and indulging in kidnapping and beheadings.

Back on topic, more or less ...

There's certain rules to our political system, perhaps mostly apparent when they're broken for a perceived advantage, but they're there for a reason. There's no good precedent served by Clinton and Carter criticising Bush - except to please the hardcore DNC supporters - and it seriously gives aid and comfort to our enemies. THEY remember Viet Nam, and THEY know the only chance they have of 'winning' is to get the US to pull out BEFORE Iraq can stand on it's own. And the only way to do that is by slow attrition of our forces. One here, five there, they're hoping to get the US discouraged, out and then try to take over Iraq. They're not concerned about the PEOPLE of Iraq, as their targeting markets, mosques and weddings show - they just want the bloodshed.

Now Clinton's saying that the invasion of Iraq was a mistake - yet he called for Saddam's removal by force as early as 1998. Carter... well, he means well, but his presidency wasn't exactly an inspired sucess either domestically or internationally. There's perhaps a reason why past presidents should stay silent on what their sucessors do. Do they consider that the folks trying to take over Iraq might be the least bit encouraged by their statements? Or do they even care? Iraq is, you know, on the other side of the world. Can't it be safely ignored?

Afghanistan was even further East. We ignored it. Look what happened.

J.

I found a reference to this article. It's pretty interesting, in my opinion...

FrontPage magazine.com :: Where the WMDs Went by Jamie Glazov

FP: With the Democrats now so viciously and hypocritically attacking Bush about WMDs, I’d like to discuss your own knowledge and expertise on this issue in connection to Iraq. You have always held that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Why? Can you discuss some actual finds?

Tierney: It was probably on my second inspection that I realized the Iraqis had no intention of ever cooperating. They had very successfully turned The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections during the eighties into tea parties, and had expected UNSCOM to turn out the same way. However, there was one fundamental difference between IAEA and UNSCOM that the Iraqis did not account for. There was a disincentive in IAEA inspections to be aggressive and intrusive, since the same standards could then be applied to the members states of the inspectors. IAEA had to consider the continued cooperation of all the member states. UNSCOM, however, was focused on enforcing and verifying one specific Security Council Resolution, 687, and the level of intrusiveness would depend on the cooperation from Iraq.

I came into the inspection program as an interrogator and Arabic linguist, so I crossed over various fields and spotted various deception techniques that may not have been noticed in only one field, such as chemical or biological. For instance, the Iraqis would ask in very reasonable tones that questionable documents be set aside until the end of the day, when a discussion would determine what was truly of interest to UNSCOM. The chief inspector, not wanting to appear like a knuckle-dragging ogre, would agree. Instead of setting the documents on a table in a stack, the Iraqis would set them side to side, filling the entire table top, and would place the most explosive documents on the edge of the table. At some point they would flood the room with people, and in the confusion abscond with the revealing documents.

This occurred at Tuwaitha Atomic Research Facility in 1996. A car tried to blow through an UNSCOM vehicle checkpoint at the gate. The car had a stack of documents about two feet high in the back seat. In the middle of the stack, I found a document with a Revolutionary Command Council letterhead that discussed Atomic projects with four number designations that were previously unknown. The Iraqis were extremely concerned. I turned the document over to the chief inspector, who then fell for the Iraqis’ “reasonable request” to lay it out on a table for later discussion. The Iraqis later flooded the room, and the document disappeared. Score one for the Iraqis.

On finds, the key word here is “find.” UNSCOM could pursue a lead and approach an inspection target from various angles to cut off an escape route, but at some point, the Iraqis would hold up their guns and keep us out.

A good example of this was the inspection of the 2nd Armored Battalion of the Special Republican Guards in June 1997. We came in from three directions, because we knew the Iraqis had an operational center that tracked our movement and issued warnings. The vehicle I was in arrived at the gate first. There were two guards when we arrived, and over twenty within a minute, all extremely nervous.

The Iraqis had stopped the third group of our inspection team before it could close off the back of the installation. A few minutes later, a soldier came from inside the installation, and all the other guards gathered around him. He said something, there was a big laugh, and all the guards relaxed. A few moments later there was a radio call from the team that had been stopped short. They could here truck engines through the tall (10”) grass in that area. When we were finally allowed in, our team went to the back gate. The Iraqis claimed the gate hadn’t been opened in months, but there was freshly ground rust at the gate hinges. There was a photo from overhead showing tractor trailers with missiles in the trailers leaving the facility.

When pressed, Tariq Aziz criticized the inspectors for not knowing the difference between a missile and a concrete guard tower. He never produced the guard towers for verification. It was during this period that Tariq Aziz pulled out his “no smoking gun” line. Tariq very cleverly changed the meaning of this phrase. The smoking gun refers to an indicator of what you are really looking for - the bullet. Tariq changed the meaning so smoking gun referred to the bullet, in this case the WMD, knowing that as long as there were armed guards between us and the weapons, we would never be able to “find,” as in “put our hands on,” the weapons of mass destruction. The western press mindlessly took this up and became the Iraqis’ tool. I will let the reader decide whether this inspection constitutes a smoking gun.

FP: So can you tell us about some other “smoking guns”?

Tierney: Sure. Another smoking gun was the inspection of the 2nd Infantry Battalion of the Special Republican Guards. After verifying source information related to biological weapons formerly stored at the National War College, we learned at another site that the unit responsible for guarding the biological weapons was stationed near the airport. We immediately dashed over there before the Iraqis could react, and forced them to lock us out. One of our vehicles took an elevated position where they could look inside the installation and see the Iraqis loading specialized containers on to trucks that matched the source description for the biological weapons containers. The Iraqis claimed that we had inspected the facilities a year earlier, so we didn’t need to inspect it again.

Another smoking gun was the inspection of Jabal Makhul Presidential Site. In June/July 1997 we inspected the 4th Special Republican Guards Battalion in Bayji, north of Tikrit. This unit had been photographed taking equipment for the Electro-magnetic Isotope Separation (EMIS) method of uranium enrichment away from inspectors. The Iraqis were extremely nervous as this site, and hid any information on personnel who may have been involved with moving the equipment. This was also the site where the Iraqi official on the UNSCOM helicopter tried to grab the control and almost made the aircraft crash.

When I returned to the States, I learned that the Iraqis were extremely nervous that we were going to inspect an unspecified nearby site, and that they checked that certain code named items were in their proper place. I knew from this information the Iraqis could only be referring to Jabal Makhul Presidential Site, a sprawling mountain retreat on the other side of the ridge from the 4th Battalion, assigned to guard the installation. This explained why the Iraqis caused the problems with the helicopter, to keep it from flying to the other side of the mountain.

We inspected Jabal Makhul in September of 1997. The Iraqis locked us out without a word of discussion. This was the start of the Presidential Site imbroglio. The Iraqis made great hay out of inspectors wanting to look under the president’s furniture, but this site, with its hundreds of acres, was the real target.

During the Presidential Site inspections in Spring of 1998, inspectors found an under-mountain storage area at Jabal Makhul. When the inspectors arrived, it was filled with drums of water. The Iraqis claimed that they used the storage area to store rainwater. Jabal Makhul had the Tigris River flowing by at the bottom of the mountain, and a massive pump to send water to the top of the mountain, where it would cascade down in fountains and waterfalls in Saddam’s own little Shangri-la, but the Iraqi had to go to the effort of digging out an underground bunker akin to our Cheyenne Mountain headquarters, just so they could store rainwater.

A London Sunday Times article in 2001 by Gwynne Roberts quoted an Iraqi defector as stating Iraq had nuclear weapons in a heavily guarded installation in the Hamrin mountains. Jabal Makhul is the most heavily guarded location in the Hamrin mountains. With its under-mountain bunker, isolation, and central location, it is the perfect place to store a high-value asset like a nuclear weapon.

On nukes, some analysts wait until there is unambiguous proof before stating a country has nuclear weapons. This may work in a courtroom, but intelligence is a different subject altogether. I believe it is more prudent to determine what is axiomatic given a nation’s capabilities and intentions. There was no question that Iraq had triggering mechanisms for a nuke, the question was whether they had enriched enough uranium. Given Iraq’s intensive efforts to build a nuke prior to the Gulf War, their efforts to hide uranium enrichment material from inspectors, the fact that Israel had a nuke but no Arab state could claim the same, my first-hand knowledge of the limits of UNSCOM and IAEA capabilities, and Iraqi efforts to buy yellowcake uranium abroad (Joe Wilson tea parties notwithstanding), I believe the TWELVE years between 1991 and 2003 was more than enough time to produce sufficient weapons grade uranium to produce a nuclear weapon. Maybe I have more respect for the Iraqis’ capabilities than some.

FP: So do you think the WMD is the central issue regarding Iraq?

Tierney: No, and it never should have been an issue. The First Gulf War -- and I use this term as a convention, since this is actually all the same war -- was a prime example of managing war instead of waging it. Instead of telling Saddam to get out of Kuwait or we will push him out, we should have said to get out of Kuwait or we will remove him from power. As it was, we were projecting our respect for human life on Saddam, when actually, from his point of view, we were doing him a favor by killing mostly Shi’ite military members who were a threat to his regime. I realize that Saudi Arabia, our host, did not want a change in government in Iraq, and they had helped us bring down the Soviet Union with oil price manipulation, but we should have bent them to our will instead of vice versa. Saddam would not have risked losing power to keep Kuwait, and we could have avoided this whole ordeal.

We topped one mistake with another, expecting Saddam Hussein and the Baath Party, a criminal syndicate masquerading as a political party, to abide by any arms control agreement. Gun control and Arms control both arise from the “mankind is good” worldview. If you control the environment, i.e. get rid of the guns, then man’s natural goodness will rise to the surface. I hope it is evidence after more than a decade of Iraqi intransigence how foolish this position is. The sobering fact is that if a nation feels it is in their best interest to have certain weapons, they are going to have them. Chemical weapons were critical to warding off hoards of Iranian fighters, and the Iraqis knew they would always be in a position of weakness against Israel without nuclear weapons. The United States kept nuclear weapons to deter the Soviet Union, but we would deny the same logic for Iraq?

There is also the practicality of weapons inspections/weapons hunts. After seventeen resolutions pleading with the Iraqis to be nice, the light bulb still didn’t go off that the entire concept is fundamentally flawed. Would you like to live in a city where the police chief sent out resolutions to criminals to play nice, instead of taking them off the streets?

As I said earlier, I knew the Iraqis would never cooperate, so the inspections became a matter of illustrating this non-cooperation for the Security Council and the rest of the world. No manipulation or fabrication was necessary. There was a sufficient percentage of defectors with accurate information to ensure that we would catch the Iraqis in the act. UNSCOM was very successfully at verifying the Iraqis’ non-cooperation; the failure was in the cowardice at the Security Council. Maybe cowardice is too strong a word. Maybe the problem was giving a mission that entailed the possible use of force to an organization with the goal of eliminating the use of force.

On the post-war weapons hunt, the arrogance and hubris of the intelligence community is such that they can’t entertain the possibility that they just failed to find the weapons because the Iraqis did a good job cleaning up prior to their arrival. This reminds me of the police chief who announced on television plans to raid a secret drug factor on the outskirts of town. At the time appointed, the police, all twelve of them, lined up behind each other at the front door, knocked and waiting for the druggies to answer, as protocol required. After ten minute of toilet flushing and back-door slamming, somebody came to the front door in a bathrobe and explained he had been in the shower. The police took his story at face value, even though his was dry as a bone, then police proceeded to inspect the premises ensuring that the legal, moral , ethnic, human, and animal rights, and also the national dignity, of the druggies was preserved. After a search, the police chief announced THERE WERE NO STOCKPILES of drugs at the inspected site. Anyone care to move to this city?

FP: Let’s talk a little bit more about how the WMDs disappeared.

Tierney: In Iraq’s case, the lakes and rivers were the toilet, and Syria was the back door. Even though there was imagery showing an inordinate amount of traffic into Syria prior to the inspections, and there were other indicators of government control of commercial trucking that could be used to ship the weapons to Syria, from the ICs point of view, if there is no positive evidence that the movement occurred, it never happened. This conclusion is the consequence of confusing litigation with intelligence. Litigation depends on evidence, intelligence depends on indicators. Picture yourself as a German intelligence officer in Northern France in April 1944. When asked where will the Allies land, you reply “I would be happy to tell you when I have solid, legal proof, sir. We will have to wait until they actually land.” You won’t last very long. That officer would have to take in all the indicators, factor in deception, and make an assessment (this is a fancy intelligence word for an educated guess).

The Democrats understand the difference between the two concepts, but have no qualms about blurring the distinction for political gain. This is despicable. This has brought great harm to our nation’s credibility with our allies. A perfect example is Senator Levin waving deception by one single source, al-Libi, to try and convince us that this is evidence there was no connection between Iraq and al-Qaeda, as though the entire argument rested on this one source. Senator Levin, and his media servants, think the public can’t read through his duplicity. He is plunging a dagger into the heart of his own country.

Could the assessments of Iraq’s weapons program been off? I am sure there were some marginal details that were incorrect, but on the matter of whether Iraq had a program, the error was not with the pre-war assessment, the error was with the weapons hunt.

I could speak at length about the problems with the weapons hunt. Mr. Hanson has an excellent article in “The American Thinker,” and Judith Miller, one of the few bright lights at the New York Times, did an article on the problems with the weapons hunt that I can corroborate from other sources. But if the Iraqi Survey Group had been manned by a thousand James Bonds, and every prop was where it should have been, I doubt the result would have been much different. The whole concept of international arms inspections puts too much advantage with the inspected country. Factor in the brutality used by the Baath Party, and it amounts to a winning combination for our opponents.

I was shocked to learn recently that members of the Iraqi Survey Group believed their Iraqi sources when they said they don’t fear a return of the Baath Party. During my eight months of counterinfiltration duty, we had 50 local Iraqis working on our post who were murdered for collaborating. Of the more than 150 local employees our team identified as security threats, the most sophisticated infiltrators came from the Baath Party. This was just one post, yet the DIA believes no one was afraid to talk, even though scientists who were cooperating with ISG were murdered. You can add this to the Able Danger affair as another example of the deep rot inside the intelligence community.

I believe that once the pertinent sources have a sense of security, a whole lot of people are going to have egg on their face. I believe the Iraqis had a WMD program, and I am not changing my story, no matter how many times Chris Matthews hyperventilates.

J.

Iraq is stabilizing, Afghanistan just had elections which got women into high office - so the door is closing on defeat. Not to worry! Rep. Murtha has just the answer.

My Way News

WASHINGTON (AP) - An influential House Democrat who voted for the Iraq war called Thursday for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, another sign of growing unease in Congress about the conflict.

"It is time for a change in direction," said Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., one of Congress' most hawkish Democrats. "Our military is suffering, the future of our country is at risk. We cannot continue on the present course. It is evident that continued military action in Iraq is not in the best interests of the United States of America, the Iraqi people or the Persian Gulf region."

But time's getting short for the Democratic party. Another round of sucessful elections in Afghanistan and Iraq, and they're going to have a real hard time convincing folks it's all gone to hell and no redemption is possible.

J.

Or maybe not.

Townhall.com :: Columns :: What I Learned This Week by Larry Kudlow

You read, you decide.

J.

Murtha's opinion is that we can't win. We should retreat, pull back, give the Jihadis the victory they can't win militarily.

Some folks think differently.

Sgt Hook - This We’ll Defend - Blog Archive - Taste of Freedom

I received an email from a mother whose son is currently fighting in Iraq with the 101st Airborne Division. He and his platoon have penned a message to the American public that is a little different from the message we are getting via the MSM. He asked his mom to help get this message out and she asked me. Here it is from the soldiers on the ground…

Mom,

Be my voice. I want this message heard. It is mine and my platoon’s to the country. A man I know lost his legs the other night. He is in another company in our batallion. I can no longer be silent after watching the sacrifices made by Iraqis and Americans everyday.Send it to a congressman if you have to. Send it to FOX news if you have to. Let this message be heard please…

My fellow Americans, I have a task for those with the courage and fortitude to take it. I have a message that needs not fall on deaf ears. A vision the blind need to see. I am not a political man nor one with great wisdom. I am just a soldier who finds himself helping rebuild a country that he helped liberate a couple years ago.
I have watched on television how the American public questions why their mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters are fighting and dying in a country 9000 miles away from their own soil. Take the word of a soldier, for that is all I am, that our cause is a noble one. The reason we are here is one worth fighting for. A cause that has been the most costly and sought after cause in our small span of existence on our little planet. Bought in blood and paid for by those brave enough to give the ultimate sacrifice to obtain it. A right that is given to every man, woman, and child I believe by God. I am talking of freedom.

Freedom. One word but yet countless words could never capture it’s true meaning or power. “For those who have fought for it, freedom has a taste the protected will never know.” I read that once and it couldn’t be more true. It’s not the average American’s fault that he or she is “blind and deaf” to the taste of freedom. Most American’s are born into their God given right so it is all they ever know. I was once one of them. I would even dare to say that it isn’t surprising that they take for granted what they have had all their life. My experiences in the military however opened my eyes to the truth.

Ironically you will find the biggest outcries of opposition to our cause from those who have had no military experience and haven’t had to fight for freedom. I challenge all of those who are daring enough to question such a noble cause to come here for just a month and see it first hand. I have a feeling that many voices would be silenced.

I watched Cindy Sheehan sit on the President’s lawn and say that America isn’t worth dying for. Later she corrected herself and said Iraq isn’t worth dying for. She badmouthed all that her son had fought and died for. I bet he is rolling over in his grave.

Ladies and gentleman I ask you this. What if you lived in a country that wasn’t free? What if someone told you when you could have heat, electricity, and water? What if you had no sewage systems so human waste flowed into the streets? What if someone would kill you for bad-mouthing your government? What if you weren’t allowed to watch TV, connect to the internet, or have cell phones unless under extreme censorship? What if you couldn’t put shoes on your child’s feet?

You need not to have a great understanding of the world but rather common sense to realize that it is our duty as HUMAN BEINGS to free the oppressed. If you lived that way would you not want someone to help you????

The Iraqi’s pour into the streets to wave at us and when we liberated the cities during the war they gathered in the thousands to cheer, hug and kiss us. It was what the soldier’s in WW2 experienced, yet no one questioned their cause!! Saddam was no better than Hitler! He tortured and killed thousands of innocent people. We are heroes over here, yet American’s badmouth our President for having us here.

Every police station here has a dozen or more memorials for officers that were murdered trying to ensure that their people live free. These are husbands, fathers, and sons killed every day. What if it were your country? What would your choice be? Everything we fight for is worth the blood that may be shed. The media never reports the true HEROISM I witness everyday in the Iraqi’s. Yes there are bad one’s here, but I assure you they are a minuscule percent. Yet they are a number big enough to cause worry in this country’s future.

I have watched brave souls give their all and lose thier lives and limbs for this cause. I will no longer stand silent and let the “deaf and blind” be the only voice shouting. Stonewall Jackson once said, “All that I have, all that I am is at the service of the country.” For these brave souls who gave the ultimate sacrifice, including your son Cindy Sheehan, I will shout till I can no longer. These men and women are heroes. Their spirit lives on in their military and they will never be forgotten. They did not die in vain but rather for a cause that is larger than all of us.

My fellow countrymen and women, we are not overseas for our country alone but also another. We are here to spread democracy and freedom to those who KNOW the true taste of it because they fight for it everyday. You can see the desire in their eyes and I am honored to fight alongside them as an Infantryman in the 101st Airborne.

Freedom is not free, but yet it is everyone’s right to have. Ironic isn’t it? That is why we are here. Though you will always have the skeptics, I know that most of our military will agree with this message. Please, at the request of this soldier spread this message to all you know. We are in Operation Iraqi Freedom and that is our goal. It is a cause that I and thousands of others stand ready to pay the ultimate sacrifice for because, Cindy Sheehan, freedom is worth dying for, no matter what country it is! And after the world is free only then can we hope to have peace.

SGT XXX and 1st Platoon
101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)

Let's do it right the first time.

J.

For they've done good.

Michael Yon : Online Magazine: The Punishers' Ball

J.

Panama Canal Miraflores locks time-lapse, 1 week compressed into 11 minutes - Google Video

Wow. That's... impressive.

J.

Bullshit detectors go off throughout the ME.

BREITBART.COM - Just The News

Al-Zarqawi told Jordanians to stay away from bases used by U.S. forces in Jordan; hotels and tourist sites in Amman, the Dead Sea and the southern resort of Aqaba; and embassies of governments participating in the war in Iraq _ saying those areas would be targeted.

Al-Zarqawi said the bomber who detonated his explosives in the Radisson SAS hotel on Nov. 9 was targeting a hall where he claimed Israeli and American intelligence officials were meeting.

That bomb caused part of the roof to fall in the wedding hall.
"We didn't target them. Our target was halls being used by Zionist intelligence who were meeting there at the time," he said. "Our brothers knew their targets with great precision."

Al-Zarqawi accused the Jordanian government of hiding casualties among Israeli and American intelligence agents, and he insisted al-Qaida in Iraq was not targeting fellow Muslims.

"We want to assure you that ... you are more beloved to us than ourselves," al-Zarqawi said, addressing Jordanians.

HUMAN EVENTS ONLINE - Conservative News, Views & Books

Sign of al Qaeda Desperation
Zarqawi Sends Top Aide to Die
by Richard Miniter
Posted Nov 18, 2005

Dead men tell no tales, but luckily for intelligence analysts, live women do.

Sajida Mubarak Atrous al-Rishawi was not able to detonate her bomb at the wedding party and fled with the guests as her husband exploded himself. Now, she is in the custody of the GID, Jordan’s intelligence agency. By all accounts, the interrogation is going slowly. Still, enough information is emerging for us to draw some lessons for the triple bombings in Amman, Jordan, on November 9.

Mrs. al-Rishawi’s family history reveals just how effective the U.S. military has proven to be in eliminating insurgents. Jordanian intelligence has learned that three of her brothers were killed by coalition forces in Iraq. Her brother, Thamir al-Rashawi, a member al-Zarqawi’s inner circle, was killed in April 2004 in Fallujah, when a missile fired from a U.S. aircraft struck his pick-up truck. Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister Marwan al-Mu’ashir described her brother, Thamir, as “the emir [commander] of the Al-Anbar region [of the Iraqi insurgency] in the Al-Qa’idah of Jihad Organization in the Land of Two Rivers. He was the right hand of Abu-Mus’ab al-Zarqawi.”

How long before he runs out of relatives?

J.

House GOP Seeks Quick Vote on Iraq Pullout

WASHINGTON (AP) - House Republicans, seeing an opportunity, maneuvered for a quick vote and swift rejection Friday of a Democratic lawmaker's call for an immediate troop withdrawal from Iraq.

"We want to make sure that we support our troops that are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill. "We will not retreat."

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California had no immediate reaction to the idea of a quick vote before Congress leaves Washington for two weeks.

GOP leaders decided to act little more than 24 hours after Rep. John Murtha, a hawkish Democrat with close ties to the military, said the time had come to pull out the troops.

Update:

GOP forcing vote on call for troop pullout - Conflict in Iraq - MSNBC.com

WASHINGTON - House Republicans maneuvered for swift rejection Friday of any notion of immediately pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq, sparking a nasty, sometimes personal debate over the war and a Democratic lawmaker’s own call for withdrawal.

Furious Democrats accused the GOP of orchestrating a political stunt, leaving little time for debate and changing the meaning of a withdrawal resolution offered by Democratic Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania.

For those reasons, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi sent word to rank-and-file Democrats to vote — with the Republicans — against immediate withdrawal of American troops.

Again, this isn't the way I'd have liked to see this happen. It'll just increase the emnity between the Dems and Republicans. But - they upped the ante when Murtha floated out his trial balloon. Did they seriously expect it to be ignored?

This is a discussion that needed to happen, but like so many political issues lately it looks more like the two parties are battling with hand grenades than really trying to get anything resolved. It doesn't bode well for the future.

-----------

And a big welcome to any Doc Sanity readers wandering over this way! Thanks for stopping by!

J.

The Right Place: Democrats Fire Back, File Lawsuit to Stop Bush, Republicans from Using Their Own Words Against Them!

But why do I get the feeling they would try this if they thought they could get away with it?

J.

Zarqawi Killed In Mosul

The Elaph Arab media website reported on Sunday that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of the al-Qaida in Iraq terror group, may have been killed in Iraq on Sunday afternoon when eight terrorists blew themselves up in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

The unconfirmed report claimed that the explosions occurred while coalition forces surrounded the house in which al-Zarqawi was hiding. American and Iraqi forces are looking into the report.

This will certianly change the dynamic of Al Quaeda in Iraq if he's gone and splattered himself. He had name recognition, he had a following - who would be a suitable substitute?

J.

Dreams Into Lightning: Zarqawi killed? has an excellent compilation of the news and views while the blogsophere stews.

I've got to stop reading the Callahan's stories by Spider Robinson.... they're just too damn punny and full of word play...

Anyway, I hope that Zarqawi's 'paradise' is being locked in with a clapped out inflatable doll in a run-down Motel Six with a malfunctioning air conditioner, a bare trickle of putrid, sulfurous water out of the sink, and a toilet that never flushes. But I'll settle for him just being dead.

J.

And there ain't no terrorists in Gitmo...

Because we've been letting them out.

FOXNews.com - U.S. & World - Morocco Dismantles Terror Network, Arrests 17

Moroccan police have dismantled a terrorist network, arresting 17 people, including two former prisoners at the U.S. base in Guantanamo, Cuba, the official MAP news agency reported Sunday. At least some of the suspects were linked to Al Qaeda in Iraq.

Of course, their heinous (or perhaps Hanes-on-the-head-ous) treatment at Gitmo undoubtedly made them so angry at the US they couldn't wait to join Al Quaeda after they were released. Right?

J.

The idea of piercing your tounge (as well as other parts of your body) is just a trifle odd to me. That being said, the idea of piercing your tounge and getting THIS put in is even odder.

And I don't even want to think how you turn it on or off.

J.

I suppose it depends on what you mean by 'lied'.

If you want to argue that Bush went into the Iraq theater using falsified info as his excuse, I don't believe that. When the intelligence services of the West agreed that there were WMDs, when we took some pretty stringent precautions AGAINST WMDs in the the battle, then you've got to figure that there's fairly good evidence that there was.

It was also, if you'll be so good to recall, only ONE of a laundry list of reasons to go to war. Michael Barone reminds us of that.

Townhall.com :: Columns :: The (very) big lie by Michael Barone

At the same time, we must remember that the United States and our allies did not go to war solely because of weapons of mass destruction. There were other reasons, which Bush articulated at the time and which have been vindicated by events.

One of them was to remove from power one of the most brutal regimes on Earth. Mainstream media have enjoyed focusing on isolated prison abuses by U.S. forces and, in the past week, by Iraqis. (Have the media ever focused so closely on prison conditions in our past wars?) But these abuses are nothing compared with what the Saddam Hussein regime did every day. Rape rooms, prisoners fed into shredders, hundreds of mass graves: Do we really want to forget that the liberation of Iraq has vastly improved the lives of millions of people there?

Another goal was to advance freedom and democracy in the Middle East. Not just to help the people there, but to change the mindset of the region that produced the attacks of Sept. 11. Before 2003, the dictators and authoritarian rulers of the region focused their peoples' inevitable discontents on the United States and Israel.

Now, the progress toward democracy in Iraq is leading Middle Easterners to concentrate on the question of how to build decent governments and decent societies. We can see the results -- the Cedar Revolution in Lebanon, the first seriously contested elections in Egypt, Libya's giving up WMDs, the Jordanian protests against Abu Musab Zarqawi's recent suicide attacks and even a bit of reform in Saudi Arabia. In Syria, The Washington Post's David Ignatius reports, "people talk politics here with a passion I haven't heard since the 1980s in Eastern Europe. They're writing manifestos, dreaming of new political parties, trying to rehabilitate old ones from the 1950s."

Almost surely none of this would have happened without the liberation of Iraq. And there democracy goes forward: Seventy-eight percent voted for the Constitution last month, and democratic parties are contesting the elections to be held next month.

Against this backdrop, mainstream media headlined the call for withdrawal of Democratic Rep. John Murtha, who has long been skeptical about the war. The propagators of the big lie against President Bush are trying to delegitimize not only him, but also all the progress that has been made as a result of Iraq, progress both toward freedom for Middle Easterners and toward a Middle East that will no longer threaten the United States.

By trying to rewrite history so that WMD is the main and only reason ever brought up, they fly directly against the information that can be so easily pulled up on the Internet. They're depending on the vast majority of their followers to NOT examine the issues, and to take their pronouncements at face value. It'd be a mistake, of course, but that's what the DNC's come to expect. The loyal followers don't give a damn about what really happened, they'll just follow the party line.

(And naturally, the loudest supporters say that's what the Repubs do. Gee. Go figure.)

But seriously, there's political considerations here that are in action, and they're damn ugly. There's a LOT of progress being made in Iraq. Each day things get better - and we're doing it wth casualty levels that would have been undreamed of in previous conflicts.

And the Democrats would gladly label it all a failure and throw it all away to get at Bush. Is that a rational and sensible thing to do in time of war? Would they seriously like to see Iraq fall into anarchy? Would they even care, as long as it gets them what they crave?

They didn't in '74, when they pulled funding from the South VietNam government - leaving them to the tender mercies of the Communist North. Political expediency required they toss the South VietNam government out with Nixon. And that caused a hell of a lot of trouble for the people they abandoned. (This is something I'd have expected Murta, of all people, to remember and not want to see repeated.)

But it looks like he'd do it too. Damn, what a hero.

And now we've got more choruses of "Bush Lied, People Died". Seems to me the people who scream loudest about someone lying when there's proof to the contrary are themselves somewhat challenged in the 'truth' department.

J.

Closing comments - you wouldn't BELIEVE the amount of spam this one's getting.

Maybe you can win through ridicule. This is plain damn silly, though.

DRUDGE REPORT FLASH 2005?

At 11:04:45 AM ET Monday CNN was airing Vice President Dick Cheney's speech live from the American Enterprise Institute in Washington -- when a large black 'X' repeatedly flashed over the vice president's face!

The 'X' over Cheney's face appeared each time less than a second, creating an odd subliminal effect.

As this DRUDGE REPORT screen capture reveals, while one 'X' flashed over Cheney's face CNN ran a headline at the bottom of its screen: "CHENEY: I DO NOT BELIEVE IT IS WRONG TO CRITICIZE."

One top White House source expressed concern about what was aired over CNN.

"Is someone in Atlanta trying to tell us something?"

A CNN spokesman did not return repeated calls late Monday night.

If Fox did this to a Democrat, the DNC would be screaming bloody murder. But this is about the level of 'unbiased' reporting I've come to expect from CNN.

Damn shame - once they were a pretty decent news organization...

J.

Michael Yon : Online Magazine: Show and Tell: A Photo Essay

Kids...

You know, I never really gave much thought to kids until I met Sue - except in the "Dang, I had such a fun time in school that there's no way I'd ever want to inflict that on MY child" way.

Now we've got the little guy - and life is incredibly good.

(Drat. That's what comes of doing this while half-awake. I was going to save this and post it later. Oh, well.)

I would tend to think virtually all parents get a whole lot of enjoyment out of their kids - smiles, hugs, laughter, teaching them things, helping them grow and flourish. (There are, sadly, demons in human form who abuse and/or kill their kids, but that's not the purpose or point of my post.) You look at those kids in Michael Yon's photo essay, and you see joy and happiness. And when I see things like this I have to wonder at the natural resilience of the human spirit. These kids have been through a hell of a lot - and they still smile, they still trust.

Adults could learn a lot from them.

(Okay, NOW I'm done with this post.)

J.

I'll let you go and explore this - I think it'd be futile to try to describe the width and breadth of the subjects covered...

Timelines - This Day in Alternate History

Othertimelines.com puts YOU in control of Alternate History!

J.

PHXnews.com | 310 - NOT 3 - Dead in China From Flu-Thousands Quarantined

Avian Flu Statistic Published by Boxun (boxun.com) Statistic on Avian Flu, which is spreading in many parts of China, including the actual number of the infected and the dead, were published on Nov. 14 at Boxun.com, a China-related news site.

According to their expose, the number of fatalities in this year up to Nov 12, totals 310 from 13 different provinces, and the number of the quarantined people is 5,554 in total, contrary to the official announcement from Chinese authorities.

J.

"And he can't come to the phone right now."

Top News Article | Reuters.com

DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda in Iraq said media reports that its leader Abu Musab Al Zarqawi was killed by U.S. forces were a "lie", according to an Internet statement posted on Wednesday.

"The media has lately circulated this news that was announced by the Crusaders (U.S.) about the death of the leader of the group in an armed confrontation ... which was an additional lie," the group said on a Web site statement.

Come to think of it, Osama's been pretty quiet for a long time. Well, never mind. I'm sure he's just in the bathroom or something, and can't get to the phone.

J.

Iraq's a lost cause? Ask the real experts - Los Angeles Times

American soldiers are also much more optimistic than American civilians. The Pew Research Center and the Council on Foreign Relations just released a survey of American elites that found that 64% of military officers are confident that we will succeed in establishing a stable democracy in Iraq. The comparable figures for journalists and academics are 33% and 27%, respectively. Even more impressive than the Pew poll is the evidence of how our service members are voting with their feet. Although both the Army and the Marine Corps are having trouble attracting fresh recruits — no surprise, given the state of public opinion regarding Iraq — reenlistment rates continue to exceed expectations. Veterans are expressing their confidence in the war effort by signing up to continue fighting.

Now, it could be that the Iraqi public and the U.S. armed forces are delusional. Maybe things really are on an irreversible downward slope. But before reaching such an apocalyptic conclusion, stop to consider why so many with firsthand experience have more hope than those without any.

But the end paragraph is telling.

This is not meant to suggest that everything is wonderful in Iraq. The situation remains grim in many respects. But the most disheartening indicator of all is simply the American public's loss of confidence in the war effort. Abu Musab Zarqawi may be losing on the Arab street (his own family has disowned him), but he's winning on Main Street. And, as the Vietnam War showed, defeatism on the home front can become self-fulfilling.

Or does he just not give a damn about the people of Iraq, as long as Bush is weakened?

It doesn't make sense. We're winning - but the media's determined to report otherwise, and the Dems are determined to lose. Call me crazy, but that's just plain FUBAR.

J.

Wow. Who knew? One Cosmos has some interesting stuff up, in The Adultolescent Left

The problem is, in the postmodern world, reality is “ironized,” so that people are too detached and reflexive to make a commitment to it. Everything is placed in quotes, so to speak, so that sophisticated people no longer speak of patriotism but “patriotism,” not truth but “truth,” not identity but “identity.” Beginning especially with the 60’s generation, all of these and other categories were thrown so radically into question, that now they are no longer seen as quite real. I don’t want to suggest that I was unaffected by this. For example, I’m quite sure it was one of the reasons why I waited relatively late in life to have children--children represent one of our last connections to the real--they are simply “given” in the same way that primordial nature is, thereby sharply limiting one's options. Children--especially very young children who have not yet been corrupted by mediated images of themselves--simply are. Furthermore, once you are a parent, that is it. One experiences the same thing to a certain extent in getting married, because that too forecloses the limitless choices ahead of us. But nowadays, even marriage has been destabilized by the nagging thought that there is someone else, somewhere, some other choice, who will better complete the self. There are so many choices that we are affected by "buyer’s remorse" in every single area of our being--relationships, religion, career, truth. Everything can be different than it is, and we are existentially haunted by that fact. There's an old joke about there comes a time in a product's life cycle when you've got to shoot the engineers and get it into production. I think a lot of folks never manage to move out of the design tweaking stage, always trying for perfection instead of working with things as they are.

That could well be the reason why divorce rates are as high as they are. You condition folks to shop for the perfect spouse, and to begin with (while you're still in the first flush of hormones) you've got that person. But then the sex cools and reality sets in, and instead of working out the differences they look around for someone new who's 'perfect'. Gotta shop around, you know...

Me, I found the one perfect woman. Either that, or I was willing to work through problems.

Also, Gagdad Bob had this to say...

As a continuation of yesterday's post on the logopathology of the left--that is, their troubled relationship to language--I've put together a little glossary explaining the actual meaning of words and phrases used by the left.

For example, when they say ultra conservative, this actually means conservative. And when the MSM refer to a moderate conservative, they mean a liberal who is a Republican in name only, like Chuck Hagel. Of course, the MSM's favorite Republican is John McCain, because he is a maverick, meaning that he holds a lot of positions that are to the left of his party. This is in contrast to Zell Miller, who is just an angry nut for holding positions to the right of his party. The Democrats are the pro-choice party, meaning the party that wants to choose how to direct your retirement, where to send your children to school, and how best to spend your money.

When liberals accuse you of suppressing their freedom of speech, it means that you are criticizing them, or perhaps even censoring them. But when you censor conservatives or suppress their freedom of speech, it is called a speech code. Calling President Bush a liar is a courageous act of speaking truth to power, while criticizing the liberal stance on the war is questioning their patriotism.

Evil, of course, does not exist. George Bush, however, is evil. Speaking of things that don't exist, there is no such thing as the liberal media. However, the conservative media are any media that are not liberal.

J.

Doesn't look like it from this...

Health Care Cuts in Europe | The Brussels Journal

For almost a decade now, governments have been stifling medical innovation in Europe. Last month the American drug company Pfizer decided not to build a new plant in Belgium because the Belgian government has been constantly raising taxation on pharmaceuticals. The government wants to reduce pharmaceutical expenditure by limiting drugs. They reckon that by limiting supply, demand will go down. In the same way, European governments discourage young people from becoming doctors, dentists or nurses. Many countries allow only a limited number of people to study for a medical profession, despite the fact that, due to the demographic development and the growing number of elderly, more doctors and nurses will be needed in the future.

I hope like anything we don't end up going to socialized medicine. That way lies madness.

J.

What are you thinkful for this year?

I'm thankful for (in no particular order past about the first ten and off the top of my head) my family, my wife, my son, my parents, my in-laws, my friends, a roof over my head, heat, food, laughter, the internet, computers, blogs, blog software writers, and the people responding to blogs, E-Bay, doctors, nurses, and a medical system that can inflate my belly like a balloon and put in stuff to keep my hernias from bulging and causing me considerable discomfort, laser printers, schools and teachers, clean water on tap, hot water, showers, cell phones, wireless mice, Microsoft (yes, I know I'm stretching the bounds of credulity there but if it wasn't for them I'd have needed to find a real job decades ago), the U.S. military, our troops overseas, our electrical system, cable TV, satellite radio, reliable automobiles, the printing press, loratadine, ibuprofen, acetomenaphen, glasses, CDs & DVDs and their players and last (but not least) flush toilets.

Feel free to add whatever you'd like - and have a happy Thanksgiving day wherever you are!

J.

Michael Moore beams approvingly.

Iraq seizes booby-trapped toys

Baghdad - The Iraqi army said on Thursday it had seized a number of booby-trapped children's dolls, accusing insurgents of using the explosive-filled toys to target children.

The dolls were found in a car, each one containing a grenade or other explosive, said an army statement.

The government said that two men driving the car had been arrested in the western Baghdad district of Abu Ghraib.

"This is the same type of doll as that handed out on several occasions by US soldiers to children," said government spokesperson Leith Kubba.
It was not immediately clear when the find was made or the suspects arrested.

J.

The Modern Compendium of Miniature Automata

Is it possible that the revelations of modern science – condemned as materialistic and prosaic – can thus outstrip the wildest flights of the imagination?

Enjoy!

Turn it into oil!

Renewable Environmental Resources, LLC - About TCP Technology

TCP utilizes low-value waste by-products such as tires, plastics, sludge, municipal solid waste, paper, animal, and agricultural waste as feedstocks.

I cna see them starting to mine garbage dumps with this... separate out the metals, get what good you can out of the plastics, and the organics end up as auto fuel.

This might be worth watching.

J.

Which is more important?

The American Enterprise: Urban Legends About the Iraq War

Let's face it - honesty and integrity aren't something that the average politician is overly endowed with. But it's so darn easy to track back what was actually said that it's really kind of pathetic to have senior polticians completely lie and expect their fabrications to be believed - when the evidence points clearly in the other direction and their own recorded statements at the time are readily available.

Believe it or not, I've actually been a bit impressed by Hillary Clinton. She's not doing the typical Democratic waffle - I think she really does understand the threat that radical Islam poses to civilization in general.

I won't vote for her if she runs for President, mind you, unless the Republican candidate is totally feckless - and I don't think that'll happen. But it's good to see there's three people with spines in the Democratic party.

The other two? Lieberman and Zell Miller. But if Hillary keeps on the way she has, I think she'll have as much potential for President as Lieberman did - she's going against the party line and that's not going to be tolerated much by the leadership. She might run for the nomination, but watch her get slammed out early.

J.

And you've milked it for several months... there comes a time when you look around and find...

Cindy Sheehan on Yahoo! News Photos

Nothing....

J.

Would really seem to hurt the bottom line. And judging from the box office take-ins lately, there's not much that folks are finding entertaining.

Hollywood's PC perversion stifles storytelling

Of course, choking off ideas as being unacceptable doesn't help. "The Sum Of All Fears" had Arabic terrorists - that got changed to neo-nazis in order to avoid offending certain groups. By taking the measure of their fears that someone might possibly be offended, Hollywood tosses out a hell of a lot of plot lines in their quest to find villians, bad guys, and heros who don't offend anyone.

And what do you end up with? Classics such as "Dodgeball" and Stealth", "Sharkboy and Lavagirl", "Doom", "Bee Season", and anti-war fluff like "Jarhead". There's a lot of stuff out there that's not likely to even make the cost of production, much less show a real profit.

Yet films in which things aren't ambiguious, like the Harry Potter series (things might be confusing, but they aren't ambiguious) are blockbusters. Why is it so popular?

I think it's because of the following factors.

1. Protagonists we've come to know and like, even if they're whiny brats of teenagers at times.
2. An interesting alternate universe.
3. A clearly defined danger.
4. Suspense - you REALLY don't know where the plot's going.
5. Consistency and continuity, and resistance to trying to warp contemorary reality into the chronicle in a way that fits the political leanings of the day.

THAT is what makes a blockbuster, not garbage twisted into a PC mold.

(BTW, the latest release of the Looney Tunes cartoons apparently has some decidedly PC content. Imagine Whoopie Goldberg telling someone they shouldn't laugh at a cartoon. That's in the main article, too.)

But as Mr. Steyn says...

A Hollywood that's ashamed of one of its few universally acknowledged genuine artistic achievements is hardly likely to come up with any new artistic achievements. As the instant deflation of that Whoopi cushion reminds us, the movies are now so constrained by political correctness the very act of storytelling is itself endangered. That's something slightly more ominous than the feeble limousine liberalism many conservatives blame for the alleged box-office slump. Say what you like about those Hollywood writers of the '30s and '40s, but they were serious lefties. Their successors are mostly poseurs loudly trumpeting their courageous ''dissent'' while paralyzed into inanity. This year's Sean Penn thriller, ''The Interpreter,'' was originally about Muslim terrorists blowing up a bus in New York. So, naturally, Hollywood called rewrite. And instead the bus got blown up by African terrorists from the little-known republic of Matobo. ''We didn't want to encumber the film in politics in any way,'' said Kevin Misher, the producer.

But being so perversely ''non-political'' is itself a political act. If there were a dozen movies in which Tom Cruise kicked al-Qaida butt across the Hindu Kush, it would be reasonable to say, ''Hey, we'd rather deal with Matoban terrorism for a change.'' But, when every movie goes out of its way to avoid being ''encumbered,'' it starts to look like a pathology.

J.

Itr's GOOD ta be da tech! My favorite one here though is...

Calls to Tech Support - Vol. 3

HTM1 Tech: Internet Tech Support this is so-and-so speaking. May I have your username please?

Customer: I am having trouble accessing a website I subscribe to. I typed in the web address they sent me in email, but it keeps saying; "Not Found. The requested object does not exist on this server. The link you followed is either outdated, inaccurate, or the server has been instructed not to let you have it." I sent them another email about it, and they said that millions of people access that address each day, but I can't get it to work.

Tech: What web address are you trying to access?

Customer: http://www.somedomain.com/subdirectory/abcd.htm1
Tech: It's htmL not htm1. That's your problem. Just re-type in the web address except use htmL this time.

Customer: Are you sure?

Tech: Yes, that's it.

Customer: I can't connect to the Internet right now because I only have one phone line. Could you try it to make sure?

Tech: Ok..hold on.

Cindy Sheehan Claims Photos Falsely Implied Her Book Signing was a Flop

Um, so why didn't the AP show anyone buying the book, or standing in line? Or even one shot of her signing a book for someone?

Heck, with all the media adulation she's received, you'd have thought there'd have been photos of her with lines snaking out the door. But they couldn't even get ONE shot of someone getting a book signed? (The photographer says there were people coming in two or five at a time. Guess they were all camera shy.)

Man, talk about the media (especially the photographer) falling down on the job. You'd think they were in Iraq or something.

J.

Pajamas Media - Reid: Osama bin Dead

Was Osama bin Laden killed in last month's earthquake in Pakistan? So said Senate minority leader Harry Reid to a Nevada TV station (video here). More than the news itself that the No. 1 Most Wanted could be dead -it's not the first time the speculation arises, and at least until now it has been never confirmed-, it's the possibility that Reid might have disclosed classified information what is has some angry, though others say that there's not much there there since Reid was only speculating.

As has he.

Of course, I could be wrong. We might see a video in the next couple of weeks of him at a beach somewhere in the Arabic world, frolicking in the waves with a bunch of burqua'd beach bunnies (get 72 of them, and you'd have a real vision there... a dark cloud on the beach) but somehow I don't think that's gonna happen.

J.