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I'm working on a special 4th of July entry for this Blog. (Finishing a project I started some time ago regarding Democracy, Whiskey, and Sexy.) So I have little time for other posts this weekend. However, below for your consideration is the "When Bloggers Rule" series, now together again for the first time.
I wish you all a fine Sunday, wherever you may be. As always, thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy your visit to The Mudvillle Gazette.
"In the end I really don't care what I'm called, as long as it's not blogger."---MATT DRUDGE
I. THE ATTACK OF THE FIDDLING KLEAGLE
Step back a few weeks in time. In the immediate afterglow of the fall of Baghdad the President is cresting a wave of extraordinary popularity and support. The Democrats, of course, are hoping beyond hope to find some angle to take Dubya down one or two notches in the polls. Never relying on instinct or leadership ability when in unknown situations, they've always checked poll results before taking any action whatsoever. Now, however, they have a new option.
The Democratic leadership is fully aware of the Blogosphere (as are the Republicans). I've seen Capitol Hill servers on my hit lists, while big-blogger Scott Ott's Axis of Weasels comment (check the dance mix) has been quoted in the Senate. So, is it beyond the realm of possibility that Terry McAuliffe and his gang now cruise a few Blogs before taking bold decisive action?
Note this timeline:
May 1: President Bush (Commander in Chief) lands on USS Lincoln, Carrier returning from deployment during war.
May 1-5: Almost immediately, some right-leaning Blogs begin expressing doubts as to the wisdom of this event. And they raise very valid points, absolutely worthy of discussion. That discussion rages for several days through several comment sections of several very well-read Blogs. The lefty anti-Bush commenters have obvious responses deserving of immediate dismissal. But several pro-Bush types still express displeasure. Ignoring the envy-fueled hate posts from the left, the debate is actually one of the finest seen in the Blogosphere.
One week later: After consulting with polls and spin doctors, the Democrats boldly and decisively weigh in on the issue. Byrd and Waxman eventually receive a level of scorn rarely seen on the political stage. Bloggers take them to task. Having once again thoroughly miscalculated the mood of America, they rather quickly shut up and go away.
Byrd, it would seem, is the new sacrificial lamb of the Democratic Party. He can be portrayed as the "fiery old warrior going forth to battle the forces of evil" in the mainstream press. They can be counted on to enthusiastically endorse any Democratic Party idea, regardless of how utterly void of common sense or careful forethought. So Byrd gets to be the attack dog. If, as Standard bearer for the assault on George Bush, his championed cause gains the Democrats ground, then Hooray for good old Bob! He's our boy! If , however, he's shot down in a flame of public opinion, then, well, you know, he's actually kind of an out of touch old geezer anyhow, and definitely not-the-future-of-the-party, right?
Really, we're talking about the fiddling kleagle here; a man who's ready to don his drool bucket. A man who must be checked daily by his handlers to ensure he didn't put his depends on over his pants. At least the Dems can be assured of his vote. Even as he drifts into senility he'll be casting votes against Republicans, convinced they are trying to rob him of his non-existent social security benefits. And of course, once he's too enfeebled to make it to the polls he'll have lots of folks willing to vote in his name. I'm sure, long after his death Byrd will be a frequent voter for the democratic cause.
But for now, he's merely the living trial balloon. The expendable one, as one way or another he's leaving the Senate before too long.
Suppose the Democrats, in checking public opinion in order to develop dynamic leadership strategy, note the minor ripple in the Blog world and wonder if they've found some chink in the armor?
"Hey," says Terry McAuliffe, "lets get 'em!"
"Hold on Terry, " says a less bold James Carville, "we can't risk ourselves. We're too important to the cause. We need a sacrificial lamb"
"You mean a sacrificial Byrd!" Terry fires back with a gleam in his eye. And the rest is history.
All this is imaginary, of course. But the subsequent history is not. Byrd did his best to stir the pot, but no one cares. The Dems have doubly miscalculated.
One: Byrd is at best contemptable to mainstream America, and intensely despised by many; with no redeeming qualities his outcries garner sympathy only for his opponents. This will not change. It's of great benefit to Republicans that he wasn't forced out as a consequence of his racist statements; now every time he approaches a microphone decent people can cry "Look, a racist! What will it say? Let's listen so that we may gain a better understanding of wrong-headed thinking."
Two: The carrier landing was appreciated by the military and the public. And no one was overly concerned that it cost money for the commander to visit the troops. Even the moderate lefties could grasp this. "Find a real cause, please? You're embarrassing us." The sacrificial Byrd part could kick in if the backlash is strong enough, but it's not, and the issue fades.
Byrd may consider himself fortunate that there were no Blogs to call him to task for his revealing remarks. More recently there's been a bit of chest thumping in the Blog community regarding the idea that "Blogs brought down Trent Lott" - I would hesitate to go that far. But is it at all possible that Blogs are looked at by policy makers, as another entry point into the American mind? Evaluators of the collective psyche would be remiss not to look at Blogs for this purpose. Certainly not as a final solution, but as another reference point. And, perhaps, one that is growing in importance.
Note this look at the topic from London via Instapundit.
Consider the Blogosphere as comparable, perhaps, to talk radio of the 1980's - a presence on the political landscape, looked at as not too stable just yet. The difference, of course, is that talk radio of the '80s was very few people, while the Blogosphere is a modern day Wild Wild West of disparate ideas.
II. A BRIEF LOOK AT SOME BEASTIES OF THE BLOGOSPHERE
THE HABITAT (THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACE ON EARTH?)
Ancient Rome had its Forum; where people met, conducted business and debated the issues of the day. How fitting then that modern Rome has its own Forum...the Internet.
Transform yourself into a being of pure energy, pure thought, void of face and form, and travel electronically to a meeting place of ideas and expressions. What a marvelous opportunity, to have one's ideas expressed in a way that allows both criticism and support, while eliminating the potential for judgment based on the messenger; appearance and gender masked if you desire. Age? Not a factor. Fifteen or fifty, it's your thoughts and your ability to express them that matter, and nothing else. Race? Who cares? Ethnicity? Non-factor. If you come up with the solution to the crisis in Israel you can post it anonymously for the world, without being dismissed for being from Peoria.
Even those Bloggers fortunate enough to not need an assumed name are still little more then names (and sometimes faces) to the vast majority of their readers, with no real connection as corporate human beings. Proof? Those readers will say things to them via their comments or their own Blogs that they would never dare utter to a neighbor over the fence or a co-worker at an office party.
I fall into the category of "anonymous blogger." Strangely enough the reason I do this is so that I can give my real and honest opinion. I wish I didn't have to, and some day I won't, but for now such is life. You can, however, get a pretty accurate general depiction of who I am by reading my posts for a while. Many other Bloggers fall into this same category for much the same reason.
THE TROLL
Unfortunately, the anonymity of the Blogosphere opens the door for the Troll, annoying creatures who move through this system attacking and spreading hate. Anonymity in some cases foments viciousness, perhaps a trait suppressed in their corporal existence. "Troll" is just too cute a word for some of them. Read every Blog and it's comments posted on a given day (admittedly impossible) and you may swear that a significant number are written by people actually diametrically opposed to what they espouse; leading one to consider they exist merely to generate contempt for their subject matter. (Do note, however, the vast majority of Blogs and comments can be taken at face value.)
Who knows what inspires a Troll? A thrill at being annoying? A response to being ignored in the real world? Perhaps, I like to believe, though, that The Troll returns to the real world, having acted out their fantasy life in the Blogosphere, perhaps a little happier and better adjusted for having vented their frustrations here. Good for them. Maybe they won't kill coworkers now.
Of course, even the Troll can't ruin the Blogosphere as a great place to "meet" people. The desire of many in this regard is twofold; 1) to embrace those of like mind, to reinforce that you are not alone in thoughts and opinions and thus not the last sane person on earth; or 2) to understand those of differing opinion; to get some grasp, if you will, of what exactly went wrong in their developmental process, without having to offend a "real" person. Child abuse? Jilted at the Altar? What is the fundamental defect in your nature?!
(Of course, never to my knowledge has anyone in the Blogosphere convinced another to shout "Eureka! I was wrong!" on any issue of any merit. Even in the post-Iraq-war light of day the doomsayers, the "quagmire crowd," the "prophets of jihad" and the "WWIII tin foil hat brigade" are still claiming they were right all along, that there never were any WMDs!)
Ahhh...but find those like-minded individuals, your spiritual soul mates, and fly! The only people who think like me are other geniuses, don't you know?
Thus, the Blog reader is forced to become a thorough critic of new products and persona in the Blogosphere. Does this person bring something new to discuss? If not, does this person have something new and useful to add to the discussion? Does this person have a fresh perspective, an interesting voice?
Because we are all singers, after all. Some of Opera, some of Rock, some Jazz, some the Blues. Some are Rappers, and some Country. I respect the best artists of all genres. I have no time for the talentless, unless they have potential. I despise pretenders. Sing only that which is true to your heart. And practice developing that voice! Your thoughts on a topic are pointless if your voice is Roseanne's and your song is the National Anthem.
THE SIREN
The counterpoint to this of course, is the beautiful voice that spews hate. Like the Siren calling to all to come and crash on the rocks of bigoted or hateful ideologies. The Siren, then, is a nastier creature then a mere Troll. Of course, succumbing briefly to such a voice does no permanent harm to an individual, especially in the virtual forum. Perhaps the experience leaves them a bit wiser for future events, events that matter in the real world.
So what? Why care? Because the presence of the Siren, and the Troll, and the myriad of other less then savory characters that populate the Blogosphere, while providing half the "fun" are also the reason that the majority of the Blogosphere is still not ready for prime time.
Let's listen briefly then, to a Siren's song together.
The Siren, of course, can be a person or an idea, or both. An example? The Santorum case.
Many Bloggers from all over the political spectrum were quick to line up and denounce Santorum for what appeared to be a rabid anti-gay viewpoint. Santorum provided right-leaning Bloggers a chance to demonstrate their Libertarian, moderate views (since most are Republican on most other issues) and enabled them to express their unequivocal support for human rights. For Santorum bashers, however, there are three facts that are convenient to ignore.
1. At face value Santorum wasn't speaking directly about Gay Rights, he was addressing a larger legal point within the specific case. Attaching additional meaning and arguing against it is not valid debate. In fact, it's counter productive as it's just a way to avoid the real issue. This tactic is transparent to all but a few practitioners, and is unfortunately all too commonly seen here.
2, Ashcroft and Santorum are not leading death squads into peoples' bedrooms and hauling them off for unacceptable behavior.
From a Houston TV News site:
The case began in 1998, when a neighbor tricked police with a false report of a black man "going crazy" in John Geddes Lawrence's apartment. Police pushed their way in and found Lawrence having anal sex with another man, Tyron Garner.
Although Texas rarely enforced its antisodomy law, officers decided to book the two men and jail them overnight on charges of "deviate sexual intercourse with another individual of the same sex." They were each fined $200 plus court costs.
3. The entire attack on Santorum was orchestrated by the wife of John Kerry's campaign manager, and Kerry was the first to denounce his fellow Senator, thus demonstrating his unequivocal support for human rights. The last paragraph of the Fox story linked above:
Some Republican sources were quietly raising questions about the reporter who first quoted Santorum and who continued to report on the conflict it created. Lara Jakes Jordan is married to Jim Jordan, a former DSCC official who now manages Kerry's presidential campaign.
Here, for the record, is my take on the issue.
Now one would expect the left to lap this attack stuff up without question. When "centrists" or "moderates" do this it's disappointing, and leads one to question their "moderation". Expressing open mindedness by condemning people who think differently then you based on unquestioning acceptance of biased news reports is hardly the hallmark of intelligent public debate. Regardless of who's right or wrong, the questions I raised were not addressed by any of Santorum's many attackers in the Blogosphere. The shots taken at him came from the hip.
The Supreme Court, of course, is being called to consider its position on interfering with State laws as much as with the specific issue. By the way, quiz question for those who are outraged by any aspect of this case. How did the Supreme Court rule?
Sorry, trick question. They haven't yet. They are expected to any time now. If this is to be believed, two are solidly for, two against, and five justices undecided.
(Those who expressed great and terrible outrage at the behavior of a US Senator for speaking his mind can now contemplate their real motives. I give you a minute to shout Eureka! and then I'll accept your thanks.)
[Update - the Supreme Court has ruled to overturn the Texas law. The response from across the Blogosphere has been muted when compared to the attacks on Santorum during the initial wave of controversy. Many in the Blogosphere prefer personal attacks on individuals to issues of any real weight.]
In spite of much effort the Blogosphere did not bring down Senator Santorum. Shooting from the hip is rarely effective. A tempest in a teapot, and a perfect counter to those who claim Trent Lott's head is mounted on their wall. The voters of Pennsylvania will rightfully have the final say on the Senator's fate. All those Bloggers who are registered to vote there are encouraged to do so.
THE SIREN AND THE WOLF
But is the Blogosphere getting wiser? Another valid contrast point on the Siren issue may be the recent Paul Wolfowitz story. Wolfowitz is Deputy Secretary of Defense, and has served in the Pentagon off and on under Carter, Bush Sr., Clinton, and Bush. He was in the State Department for the first few years of the Reagan Administration. So his words carry some weight.
Wolfowitz has been twice mis-quoted in the mainstream media recently. First in Vanity Fair regarding WMD:
The quote (from DoD transcripts of a recorded phone interview):
...The truth is that for reasons that have a lot to do with the U.S. government bureaucracy we settled on the one issue that everyone could agree on which was weapons of mass destruction as the core reason, but -- hold on one second --
(Pause)
Wolfowitz: -- there have always been three fundamental concerns. One is weapons of mass destruction, the second is support for terrorism, the third is the criminal treatment of the Iraqi people. Actually I guess you could say there's a fourth overriding one which is the connection between the first two. Sorry, hold on again.
The third one by itself, as I think I said earlier, is a reason to help the Iraqis but it's not a reason to put American kids' lives at risk, certainly not on the scale we did it. That second issue about links to terrorism is the one about which there's the most disagreement within the bureaucracy, even though I think everyone agrees that we killed 100 or so of an al Qaeda group in northern Iraq in this recent go-around, that we've arrested that al Qaeda guy in Baghdad who was connected to this guy Zarqawi whom Powell spoke about in his UN presentation.
Q: So this notion then that the strategic question was really a part of the equation, that you were looking at Saudi Arabia --
Wolfowitz: I was. It's one of the reasons why I took a very different view of what the argument that removing Saddam Hussein would destabilize the Middle East. I said on the record, I don't understand how people can really believe that removing this huge source of instability is going to be a cause of instability in the Middle East.
I understand what they're thinking about. I'm not blind to the uncertainties of this situation, but they just seem to be blind to the instability that that son of a bitch was causing. It's as though the fact that he was paying $25,000 per terrorist family and issuing regular threats to most friendly governments in the region and the long list of things was of no account and the only thing to think about was that there might be some inter-communal violence if he were removed.
The implication of a lot of the argumentation against acting -- the implication was that the only way to have the stability that we need in Iraq is to have a tyrant like Saddam keeping everybody in check -- I know no one ever said it that way and if you pointed it out that way they'd say that's not what I mean. But I believe that really is where the logic was leading.
Vanity Fair Quote: "For bureaucratic reasons we settled on one issue, weapons of mass destruction, because it was the one reason everyone could agree on."
See the attraction of the Siren Song for the Left? But note the original quote; thought provoking and to the point. A real glimpse at how policy is made at the highest levels. Rather then debate that process openly, the interviewer twists it into something else and lets others attack. Why? Once the original un-edited quote is released the attackers look foolish. Both sides of any issue must watch for this if their debate is to have any validity.
The second mis-quote was in the London newspaper The Guardian, reporting statements made by Wolfowitz in Singapore regarding North Korea and Iraq. The actual quote (from DoD Transcripts):
Q: What I meant is that essentially North Korea is being taken more seriously because it has become a nuclear power by its own admission, whether or not that’s true, and that the lesson that people will have is that in the case of Iraq it became imperative to confront Iraq militarily because it had banned weapons systems and posed a danger to the region. In the case of North Korea, which has nuclear weapons as well as other banned weapons of mass destruction, apparently it is imperative not to confront, to persuade and to essentially maintain a regime that is just as appalling as the Iraqi regime in place, for the sake of the stability of the region. To other countries of the world this is a very mixed message to be sending out.
Wolfowitz: The concern about implosion is not primarily at all a matter of the weapons that North Korea has, but a fear particularly by South Korea and also to some extent China of what the larger implications are for them of having 20 million people on their borders in a state of potential collapse and anarchy. It’s is also a question of whether, if one wants to persuade the regime to change, whether you have to find -- and I think you do -- some kind of outcome that is acceptable to them. But that outcome has to be acceptable to us, and it has to include meeting our non-proliferation goals.
Look, the primarily difference -- to put it a little too simply -- between North Korea and Iraq is that we had virtually no economic options with Iraq because the country floats on a sea of oil. In the case of North Korea, the country is teetering on the edge of economic collapse and that I believe is a major point of leverage whereas the military picture with North Korea is very different from that with Iraq. The problems in both cases have some similarities but the solutions have got to be tailored to the circumstances which are very different.
The Guardian Quote (perhaps repeating German reports):
"Oil was the main reason for military action against Iraq, a leading White House hawk has claimed, confirming the worst fears of those opposed to the US-led war.
The US deputy defence secretary, Paul Wolfowitz - who has already undermined Tony Blair's position over weapons of mass destruction (WMD) by describing them as a "bureaucratic" excuse for war - has now gone further by claiming the real motive was that Iraq is "swimming" in oil.
The latest comments were made by Mr Wolfowitz in an address to delegates at an Asian security summit in Singapore at the weekend, and reported today by German newspapers Der Tagesspiegel and Die Welt.
Asked why a nuclear power such as North Korea was being treated differently from Iraq, where hardly any weapons of mass destruction had been found, the deputy defence minister said: "Let's look at it simply. The most important difference between North Korea and Iraq is that economically, we just had no choice in Iraq. The country swims on a sea of oil."
To credit The Guardian, they did retract the quote once it was exposed as blatant lie.
(You can read a synopsis of the Wolfowitz misquotes, and a few other recent newspaper 'gaffes', here.)
To credit the Blogosphere, the Wolfowitz situation was handled quite differently then the Santorum story; with caution at the initial reports followed by indignation and mild outrage at their exposure as almost right. Of course an argument could be made that this is because Santorum was opposed to a popular cause, while the Iraq war (Wolfowitz) was supported by most Bloggers. Thus, the Santorum Siren was much more appealing then the Wolfowitz example. This however, implies a willingness to deny truth (or at least a wilingness to accept something less; the "willful suspension of disbelief" that is the hallmark of good fiction) when it suits the bloggers purpose, or casts dispersion on the validity of claims to value the truth. This does not increase the credibility of a new medium.
III. THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY
Interesting then, that a bloggers, (of whom so many are so often so eager to accept so much that they read as being gospel, without ever considering the possibility that they are being exposed to erroneous information or outright lies) have claimed responsibility for bringing down a couple of managers at the NY Times, who were guilty of doing essentially the same thing. The claim could be made that the Times should be held to a higher standard, but then that pretty much ends the case for Blogs ever being taken more seriously then supermarket tabloids.
And some shouldn't. Sadly some Bloggers are more willing then others to blindly accept anything they read as gospel, and then pass it on. And when the truth is revealed don't retract, just move to a new "story". I repeat myself:
Of course, never to my knowledge has anyone in the Blogosphere convinced another to shout "Eureka! I was wrong!" on any issue of any merit. Even in the post-Iraq-war light of day the doomsayers, the "quagmire crowd," the "prophets of jihad" and the "WWIII tin foil hat brigade" are still claiming they were right all along, that there never were any WMDs!
Case in point: The Whiskey Bar, a Blog that repeated the original Wolfowitz mis-quote on WMDs as conclusion to a collection of Bush administration WMD statements, the desired effect being to use the Wolfowitz statement as denouement exposing Presidential hypocrisy. Obviously the truth about this quote renders the entire piece pointless; but that truth is nowhere to be found on the site. No retraction can be found, nor can any of the Democratic, Clinton administration, or "world leader" quotes on the same subject. Even so this Blog garnered numerous links and kudos for this denial of truth. A "well written" Blog, assuredly. But one that heaps scorn upon (among others) the 101st Airborne. I don't pretend to know what percent of Americans consider Jimi Hendrix' old unit to be worthy of scorn or derision, but as long as the Blogosphere embraces the behavior it certainly can't expect to be embraced by mainstream America.
I came close to not mentioning this particular site in this post on the grounds that I recognize that the author is as much entitled to his free speech space on the internet as I am. Then I read his entry about watching a young girl he sees at his kid's elementary school graduation ceremonies who is dying of cancer. Her elementary school graduation too, and as she's wheeled on the stage to get her diploma, the author describes thinking how much braver she was then President Bush or the heroes of the Iraq war.
Has it come to this - a dying fifth grader fans the flames of an author's passionate hatred of the President and military - starts him wondering how he can use her in an anti-Bush post in his blog? Politicizing a little girl dying of cancer - in a blog? Are people actually so blinded by hate, or so driven by their own self interest that this is acceptable behavior? I hope it's just another fable from a website with a proven lack of integrity. Even if it's a fabricated story, it's easily the lowest thing I've ever seen in a Blog. Politicizing Paul Wellstone's funeral was tame compared to this - Wellstone was at least a politician. And of course the Palestinians gleefully danced in the streets of his comments section on this one.
I'm a real proponent of free speech. I defend the rights of any American to disagree with me. I state only that the this kind of hateful site, regardless of how well written, gives Blogs in general a bad name. When it's embraced by a significant number of other bloggers it certainly is not a good sign for possible future respectability of blogging as a whole.
But wait! There's more! Macaroni. I've discussed that site in another post . Once again, we are talking about a "good writer". An apparently intelligent person who has garnered support from lots of corners of the Blogosphere. On false pretenses, I hope. I don't believe any rational person would support this kind of activity. In this case, the Blogosphere (at least those who are victims of the author or aware of the behavior) recognizes and rebukes racism. However, the worst of the author's race baiting and general negativity occurs in the comments sections of other Blogs; perhaps leading those who are only familiar with her Blog to sympathize with an individual who is forced to spend an inordinate amount of space defending herself against accusers. A claim could be made that this is all done for the sake of notoriety and its impact on the hit counter. As such, that behavior may well be rewarded. Once again, this does not reflect positively on the Blogosphere. There's a difference between "exposure" and "exposed."
Blogs, have an intrinsic power to unite or divide. Even the briefest insight into the minutiae of an author's thoughts may be enough to start the process of erasing a lifetime of misunderstanding. (Or at least I'm naive enough to think so.) Many, including the two above, have chosen the divisive route. However, that which was meant for harm can be turned to good; even these can provide the insight into hatred that could help erase it. (Note, however, to up and coming Bloggers: If the sites above are your examples for how to be a rising star in the Blogosphere, enjoy your trip. I'll stay right here, thanks.)
POLICING THE SPHERE?
The Blogosphere tends to "police" itself; those who are good will thrive, those who are not will fade. But "good" is an undefined quantity; Soap Operas and "Celebrity" news shows draw more audience then C-Span. Some supermarket tabloids outsell the local papers. Much of that trend holds true on the internet; any Blogger can tell you the bizarre search engine requests that lead to visitors to their sites. They know what brings the readers in.
Certainly there's room for everyone, and all with the freedom to do so should be thankful they can post their thoughts and opinions without fear. Still, when integrity and truth take a back seat to agenda, when outrage and spite are used as drawing cards, then Blogs will never be considered any more reliable then tabloid journalism.
Much ado has been made lately about how important Blogs have been in bringing down people in the public eye; Trent Lott, Howell Raines, on and on. There's probably some truth to that. And whoever looses the next Presidential election I'm sure Bloggers will take credit for that too. People do read Blogs, after all. Perhaps not as many as watch Bill O'Reilly, but a growing number. But it's interesting isn't it, that negative results are the yardstick by which we choose to measure the success of our medium?
And what of Mr. O'Reilly? His recent comments, once the initial furious response subsides, should also be considered and addressed. His remarks are open to interpretation and should be clarified. Offhand dismissal of critics is not a good practice for any business, organization, group, or individual. In the O'reilly/Internet case, this is a two-way street as each party feels slighted by the other. The response of a Blog community in search of some respectability should be moral high ground; to demand that clarification, and not to assign meaning to his somewhat blurry commentary.
Mr O'Reilly, in launching a vague attack against unspecified foes, has cast a wide net. Clarify and specify, Bill: exactly who is libeling you? Is it the same crowd that was out to get Perot in '96? Is it Glenn Reynolds, Britneyfan95, ...or both?
And is there any conclusion to be drawn from the fact that O'Reilly's comments drew more heated criticism from more Blogs then Orrin Hatch's ill-considered remarks? Once again, the Celebrity outdraws the Senator, the difference being that one can whine about perceived injustice while the other can actually perpetrate it on the American people. O'Reilly, however, received a barrage of contempt and promises to turn the channel. Hatch was commented on briefly and dismissed. Interesting priorities indeed. I would speculate that within six months only one's statements will be remembered by Bloggers, becoming forever a part of internet lore.
And what discussion of the down side of Blogs could be complete without mention of the wonderful sophomoric Blogfights that rear up now and then? When someone says something about someone else, a third party repeats it, and suddenly everyone is linking everyone as an apparent feud erupts. All involved get to relive their days as middle-schoolers; except these days the links mean swapping readers and driving each other up the ecosystem ladder to their own amusement as they cry in public for the world to see. Should have millions flocking to those Blogs in no time. Soap Opera fans have to do something in the evenings don't they?
Small wonder then, that Drudge made his "anything but blogger" comment?
Where is the blogospheric outrage at that comment? There was none of O'Reilly's ambiguity in it; to Drudge a blogger is the lowest. Was the outraged backlash stifled by a paralyzing fear of Drudge? Or is he respected to the point that whatever he says must be accepted?
Actually, Drudge's comments, like O'Reilly's, should provoke a thoughtful discusion of why? As with O'Reilly, offhand dismissal of critics is not a good practice for any business, organization, group, or individual.
The Wild Wild West Redux
So amongst all this aforementioned "negative" success, maybe some positive emphasis wouldn't hurt? I've made small positive contributions - from raising awareness of The Fallen Heroes Fund to the Senator Craig hostage fiasco to a minor part in the Boycott Hollywood story.
Bigger Blogs have done even bigger things; a couple thousand dollars raised for some GIs who lost everything in a tent fire, Troop Trax, Blog-a-thons... a great start.
Until a few months ago, I was like 279 million other Americans, ignorant of the word Blog. Once I started blogging the first feedback I got from non-blogging people who were familiar with the concept was generally negative. "Ohhh, one of those 'flame sites'?" Was a common question.
Two hundred people may read this post each of the first three days it is up. If for some reason one of the bigger Blogs in this world links it you can triple that. A link from a really big Blog (not likely- let's face it, this is not glowing with Blog love) means ten to twenty times that number. Five thousand in one day at the most.
In large American cities, infomercials and public access cable reach more people.
So yes, the top Bloggers are approaching the "power and influence" of a good editorial writer in a local paper in a mid-sized city. And Bloggers as a group should be certainly be noticed by anyone concerned with public opinion. And yes, growth can be expected. And yes, the Blogging segment of the American population will likely be comprised of a subset of the segment of the population called "voters", and thus have even more sway.
But we have a long way to go on the road to respectability.
Perhaps not the ten to twenty years it took talk radio to really explode; the world moves faster now, and the highway beckons.
It's the Wild Wild West. And likely to stay that way, for a little while at least. But the survivors, those who stick around, are in for something...
Probably a time when they'll miss the good ol' days of the Wild Wild West...
And now, to close with a happy thought.
It's one of those stories from overseas, Reuters, a London paper, vague sources quoted...the type of story to make you go hmmmmm...Mohammad Saeed Al-Sahhaf, Comical Ali, Baghdad Bob... captured. This of course, after he's been reported dead of suicide then hiding in his home. The first story, if true, negates the other two. The second begs questions like "why didn't we go arrest him then?" ('We' being the reader and a band of Navy Seals, of course, perhaps with additional gunmen to protect the reader.)
I was never in on the "Baghdad Bob" craze. The military part of my mind expects propaganda from the enemy. Given that some are shooting real bullets at soldiers while this guy was just spewing foolishness at reporters I would consider him far down on the list of things to do. "Capture fugitive Iraqi Information Minister clown" just seems like a lower priority then "restore water and electricity" or "get these weasels to stop shooting us in the back then running away."
In fact I enjoy comic relief, even in the midst of war. The tougher the times, the harder I'll laugh. And I know a stooge when I see one.
Now here's a blast from the past.
From CENTCOM Operation Iraqi Freedom Briefing ~ 11 April 2003 Brigadier General Vincent Brooks, Deputy Director of Operations
GEN. BROOKS:...I would add that information-wise, the coalition governments have identified a list of key regime leaders who must be pursued and brought to justice. The key list has 55 individuals who may be pursued, killed or captured, and the list does not exclude leaders who may have already been killed or captured. This list has been provided to coalition forces on the ground in several forms to ease identification when contact does occur. And this deck of cards is one example of what we provide to soldiers out -- soldiers and marines out in the field -- with the faces of the individuals and what their role is. In this case, there are 55 cards in the deck...Then later, in Q & A:
Q General, Jeff Meade from Sky News. You've changed regime for anarchy, it seems, in many places. And some Iraqis seem to take the view that the coalition forces are too passive in this, in controlling what's going on, because they may be liberated but they don't feel particularly safe. I wonder if you're going to use any of these prisoners -- you talked about the Five Corps surrender, or maybe get the police back on the street, some of these people who are used to following orders may now follow your orders. Do you have any plans for that?And if I can also ask a second question, your deck of 55 most wanted, does that include the former information minister -- because every pack needs a joker? (Laughter.)
GEN. BROOKS: Well said, Jeff. Well said. Well, there are jokers in this deck, there's no doubt about that. (Laughter.) And that is also there are cards that have "joker" marked on them.
And he wanted that card to be there. Every reporter in that room wanted that card to be there.
Why?
Because Mohammad Saeed Al-Sahhaf had committed the most heinous crimes against humanity possible; in time of war or not. He had lied to the press! And they believed him! He bamboozled them. And as I said, that was his job, and he did it well. To see him denying the tanks behind him will always stand in the history of corporate loyalty as the most dedicated act of total commitment to an employer that any one will likely ever perform. Expect all the really savvy management seminars to include it soon.
Laughable? Yes, the Information Minister is. He's Gimli the Dwarf in the movie version of Lord of the Rings - the comic relief amidst carnage.
The response to him by the media was not funny. It was the job of the reporters to asses his validity, and they failed utterly. He exposed them for the bumbling incompetent anti-American droolers they are. They believed him because they wanted to believe him. They wanted to believe it was CENTCOM that was lying about the amazing advance of the American Orcs Army and Marines on Helms Deep Baghdad. Even with the airport taken he was able to successfully sow seeds of disbelief amongst the most ignorant members of the press. It was only after the statues fell that the last of the stalwart lefties finally surrendered to reality - no quagmire, no refugee crisis, no thousands dead in house-to-house fighting.
Saddam's crimes pale in comparison to the brutal lies that Mohammad Saeed Al-Sahhaf sowed among our poor naive journalists, so eager to be on the front lines of the next Vietnam. Add the fact that it wasn't a quagmire, that it wouldn't result in the impeachment of the President, that the good guys would win, to the fact that they were lied to and you can probably imagine the sense of despair that must have overwhelmed the Baghdad Press corps when the first of the statues fell. A tribute to their professionalism that they persevered and reported even when confronted with the ultimate reality of such a stunning setback to their cause.
And what then of Mohammad Saeed Al-Sahhaf? His instant superstar status on the internet and late-night talk shows (now fully recognizing the clown for what he was) probably forced suppression of most of the rage that so many in the mainstream press felt for the man. That plus mis-reporting about museum looting took their little minds off the topic of forming a lynch mob and tracking him down.
And now he has turned up on Arab TV claiming to be alive. (Note to media: you can believe him this time. He is alive.) Claiming to have been questioned and released by the Americans. And looking like the supply of Clairol in Baghdad has dwindled to nil. (Note to searchers for Saddam.)
A sad pathetic man, separated by weeks of hard living (ironically while becoming a superstar via ridicule in the west) from the jut-jawed darling of the left-wing press that ranted live via satellite in our living rooms every day.
Questioned and released.
Oh how that must burn within the stomachs of his betrayed but once adoring fans.
Texas (IP NEWS)
The Mudville Gazette will always be one step ahead of the "mainstream media" in reporting on the impact of news, and not just the news itself. As soon as we heard a recent Supreme Court decision, for instance, we immediately considered the joyful impact that it would have on thousands of incarcerated sodomites in this great land of ours.
So immediately following the Supreme Court decision overturning the Texas anti-sodomy law we sent an intrepid duo of crack investigative reporters to visit a Texas State Penitentiary in order to see how many inmates could now appeal their convictions.
Unfortunately, our reporters were denied access to the facility, and prison officials defiantly claimed that none of the inmates were actually imprisoned for sodomy. However, our boys did report in via satellite link that they heard:
"sounds of some wild celebration; shouting, grunting, and cheering emanating from the facility. A few possible screams of pain may have been mixed in, but they were brief or quickly muffled. The guards were apparently unconcerned, and simply mumbled something about "I guess it's their constitutional right.""You bet your sweet bippy it is" Said a local ACLU representative from his office in the administrative section of the prison.
Although steadfastly refusing to leave, we were nonetheless escorted from the prison grounds and sent away. However, as luck would have it, we stumbled upon a semi-truck full of Vaseline and other medical necessities inbound to the prison at local truck stop just up the road. After bribing the drivers we found ourselves hidden with the cargo and about to be smuggled in to the facility. We will report more as soon as possible." - Howell Raines/Gerald Boyd out.
And it's that kind of scrappy attitude and gritty determination that will take you places in this business, kids. And The Mudville Gazette will let you know as soon as we hear more.
Dave's Top Ten List for 25 Jun 03.
Top Ten Things The Iraqi Information Minister Has Admitted Since Being Captured
#2. "I've been offered a job as editor of 'The New York Times'"
In the end I really don't care what I'm called, as long as it's not blogger. -MATT DRUDGE
PART I
PART IIa
PART IIb
Interesting then, that a bloggers, (of whom so many are so often so eager to accept so much that they read as being gospel, without ever considering the possibility that they are being exposed to erroneous information or outright lies) have claimed responsibility for bringing down a couple of managers at the NY Times, who were guilty of doing essentially the same thing. The claim could be made that the Times should be held to a higher standard, but then that pretty much ends the case for Blogs ever being taken more seriously then supermarket tabloids.
And some shouldn't. Sadly some Bloggers are more willing then others to blindly accept anything they read as gospel, and then pass it on. And when the truth is revealed don't retract, just move to a new "story". I repeat myself:
Of course, never to my knowledge has anyone in the Blogosphere convinced another to shout "Eureka! I was wrong!" on any issue of any merit. Even in the post-Iraq-war light of day the doomsayers, the "quagmire crowd," the "prophets of jihad" and the "WWIII tin foil hat brigade" are still claiming they were right all along, that there never were any WMDs!
Case in point: The Whiskey Bar, a Blog that repeated the original Wolfowitz mis-quote on WMDs as conclusion to a collection of Bush administration WMD statements, the desired effect being to use the Wolfowitz statement as denouement exposing Presidential hypocrisy. Obviously the truth about this quote renders the entire piece pointless; but that truth is nowhere to be found on the site. No retraction can be found, nor can any of the Democratic, Clinton administration, or "world leader" quotes on the same subject. Even so this Blog garnered numerous links and kudos for this denial of truth. A "well written" Blog, assuredly. But one that heaps scorn upon (among others) the 101st Airborne. I don't pretend to know what percent of Americans consider Jimi Hendrix' old unit to be worthy of scorn or derision, but as long as the Blogosphere embraces the behavior it certainly can't expect to be embraced by mainstream America.
I came close to not mentioning this particular site in this post on the grounds that I recognize that the author is as much entitled to his free speech space on the internet as I am. Then I read his entry about watching a young girl he sees at his kid's elementary school graduation ceremonies who is dying of cancer. Her elementary school graduation too, and as she's wheeled on the stage to get her diploma, the author describes thinking how much braver she was then President Bush or the heroes of the Iraq war.
Has it come to this - a dying fifth grader fans the flames of an author's passionate hatred of the President and military - starts him wondering how he can use her in an anti-Bush post in his blog? Politicizing a little girl dying of cancer - in a blog? Are people actually so blinded by hate, or so driven by their own self interest that this is acceptable behavior? I hope it's just another fable from a website with a proven lack of integrity. Even if it's a fabricated story, it's easily the lowest thing I've ever seen in a Blog. Politicizing Paul Wellstone's funeral was tame compared to this - Wellstone was at least a politician. And of course the Palestinians gleefully danced in the streets of his comments section on this one.
I'm a real proponent of free speech. I defend the rights of any American to disagree with me. I state only that the this kind of hateful site, regardless of how well written, gives Blogs in general a bad name. When it's embraced by a significant number of other bloggers it certainly is not a good sign for possible future respectability of blogging as a whole.
But wait! There's more! Macaroni. I've discussed that site in another post . Once again, we are talking about a "good writer". An apparently intelligent person who has garnered support from lots of corners of the Blogosphere. On false pretenses, I hope. I don't believe any rational person would support this kind of activity. In this case, the Blogosphere (at least those who are victims of the author or aware of the behavior) recognizes and rebukes racism. However, the worst of the author's race baiting and general negativity occurs in the comments sections of other Blogs; perhaps leading those who are only familiar with her Blog to sympathize with an individual who is forced to spend an inordinate amount of space defending herself against accusers. A claim could be made that this is all done for the sake of notoriety and its impact on the hit counter. As such, that behavior may well be rewarded. Once again, this does not reflect positively on the Blogosphere. There's a difference between "exposure" and "exposed."
Blogs, have an intrinsic power to unite or divide. Even the briefest insight into the minutiae of an author's thoughts may be enough to start the process of erasing a lifetime of misunderstanding. (Or at least I'm naive enough to think so.) Many, including the two above, have chosen the divisive route. However, that which was meant for harm can be turned to good; even these can provide the insight into hatred that could help erase it. (Note, however, to up and coming Bloggers: If the sites above are your examples for how to be a rising star in the Blogosphere, enjoy your trip. I'll stay right here, thanks.)
POLICING THE SPHERE?
The Blogosphere tends to "police" itself; those who are good will thrive, those who are not will fade. But "good" is an undefined quantity; Soap Operas and "Celebrity" news shows draw more audience then C-Span. Some supermarket tabloids outsell the local papers. Much of that trend holds true on the internet; any Blogger can tell you the bizarre search engine requests that lead to visitors to their sites. They know what brings the readers in.
Certainly there's room for everyone, and all with the freedom to do so should be thankful they can post their thoughts and opinions without fear. Still, when integrity and truth take a back seat to agenda, when outrage and spite are used as drawing cards, then Blogs will never be considered any more reliable then tabloid journalism.
Much ado has been made lately about how important Blogs have been in bringing down people in the public eye; Trent Lott, Howell Raines, on and on. There's probably some truth to that. And whoever looses the next Presidential election I'm sure Bloggers will take credit for that too. People do read Blogs, after all. Perhaps not as many as watch Bill O'Reilly, but a growing number. But it's interesting isn't it, that negative results are the yardstick by which we choose to measure the success of our medium?
And what of Mr. O'Reilly? His recent comments, once the initial furious response subsides, should also be considered and addressed. His remarks are open to interpretation and should be clarified. Offhand dismissal of critics is not a good practice for any business, organization, group, or individual. In the O'reilly/Internet case, this is a two-way street as each party feels slighted by the other. The response of a Blog community in search of some respectability should be moral high ground; to demand that clarification, and not to assign meaning to his somewhat blurry commentary.
Mr O'Reilly, in launching a vague attack against unspecified foes, has cast a wide net. Clarify and specify, Bill: exactly who is libeling you? Is it the same crowd that was out to get Perot in '96? Is it Glenn Reynolds, Britneyfan95, ...or both?
And is there any conclusion to be drawn from the fact that O'Reilly's comments drew more heated criticism from more Blogs then Orrin Hatch's ill-considered remarks? Once again, the Celebrity outdraws the Senator, the difference being that one can whine about perceived injustice while the other can actually perpetrate it on the American people. O'Reilly, however, received a barrage of contempt and promises to turn the channel. Hatch was commented on briefly and dismissed. Interesting priorities indeed. I would speculate that within six months only one's statements will be remembered by Bloggers, becoming forever a part of internet lore.
And what discussion of the down side of Blogs could be complete without mention of the wonderful sophomoric Blogfights that rear up now and then? When someone says something about someone else, a third party repeats it, and suddenly everyone is linking everyone as an apparent feud erupts. All involved get to relive their days as middle-schoolers; except these days the links mean swapping readers and driving each other up the ecosystem ladder to their own amusement as they cry in public for the world to see. Should have millions flocking to those Blogs in no time. Soap Opera fans have to do something in the evenings don't they?
Small wonder then, that Drudge made his "anything but blogger" comment?
Where is the blogospheric outrage at that comment? There was none of O'Reilly's ambiguity in it; to Drudge a blogger is the lowest. Was the outraged backlash stifled by a paralyzing fear of Drudge? Or is he respected to the point that whatever he says must be accepted?
Actually, Drudge's comments, like O'Reilly's, should provoke a thoughtful discusion of why? As with O'Reilly, offhand dismissal of critics is not a good practice for any business, organization, group, or individual.
The Wild Wild West Redux
So amongst all this aforementioned "negative" success, maybe some positive emphasis wouldn't hurt? I've made small positive contributions - from raising awareness of The Fallen Heroes Fund to the Senator Craig hostage fiasco to a minor part in the Boycott Hollywood story.
Bigger Blogs have done even bigger things; a couple thousand dollars raised for some GIs who lost everything in a tent fire, Troop Trax, Blog-a-thons... a great start.
Until a few months ago, I was like 279 million other Americans, ignorant of the word Blog. Once I started blogging the first feedback I got from non-blogging people who were familiar with the concept was generally negative. "Ohhh, one of those 'flame sites'?" Was a common question.
Two hundred people may read this post each of the first three days it is up. If for some reason one of the bigger Blogs in this world links it you can triple that. A link from a really big Blog (not likely- let's face it, this is not glowing with Blog love) means ten to twenty times that number. Five thousand in one day at the most.
In large American cities, infomercials and public access cable reach more people.
So yes, the top Bloggers are approaching the "power and influence" of a good editorial writer in a local paper in a mid-sized city. And Bloggers as a group should be certainly be noticed by anyone concerned with public opinion. And yes, growth can be expected. And yes, the Blogging segment of the American population will likely be comprised of a subset of the segment of the population called "voters", and thus have even more sway.
But we have a long way to go on the road to respectability.
Perhaps not the ten to twenty years it took talk radio to really explode; the world moves faster now, and the highway beckons.
It's the Wild Wild West. And likely to stay that way, for a little while at least. But the survivors, those who stick around, are in for something...
Probably a time when they'll miss the good ol' days of the Wild Wild West...
And now, to close with a happy thought.
Good evening to you Pig Americans! Here I am, being still Ooglay! Ooglay Hussein, the son of the rightful ruler of Iraq, cradle of all human history! Here is the thing you are thinking you would say to me if I was some place I could hear you: "Ooglay! Where is it you have been being?" And I would say that is a stupid thing to ask me when if you were where I could hear you you would be in the New Yorks Times office and would know it is I who am managing editor now because my name is on the door that says so. Stupid American.
Here is why. So you should know I was last in Hollywood and got this job as reporter because some brown skin man was fired for making up some story about a girl soldier who was invading my country but your country has laws so they had to replace him with somebody who was not a white American man and I am having experience writing here so it is me. So hey, no sooner do I come here but they fire brown skin managings editor so who can take his place? Ooglay is who!
So I start right away running things the way my Glorious Father, for whom Allah wears a smile, ran his country. "This is not so different from Mr Rain leadership" is what the workers there are saying. So it is good to know people everywhere expect a good beating when they anger their betters.
But here is a different thing I do. There was a Moose, but now there are sandals. I am having a cousin who is Al Quada guy who sells sandals in a shop near the UN building and also does interpreter thing there on the side. (One day for fun he is letting me do some interpreter on the side because I am speaker of France, English, and many dialects of my homeland. It is fonny I said wrong thing on purpose as joke but France ambassador believes it and is soon meeting me in central park with briefcase full of money to preserve oil rights with Saud family! This is easy money, the French believe anything they hear that is not American. But that is long complicated story and I am not telling it now. Next time though I am going to start a war for fun.)
Now though I am telling of getting hundreds of pairs of sandals from my cousin paid for by Times with finders fee and profit sharing for me and my cousin also gives a kickback, it is no crime if I did not tell him what he does not ask! So what I make more on sandals then him? It is proving Allah loves me more.
Now everyone who is making me happy at newspaper is getting sandals. And all are wanting them because they are not just for wearing. If you have these sandals now at NY Times you are allowed to strike anyone who angers you as often as you like. I am sure you are seeing the attraction; it is not being surprising to me that these people will do anything for the earning of sandals. Some give money so my wealth increases even more. Some do other things. A girl writer who is not to be named tried to demonstrate some talent she had but after I was finished slapping her hindquarters with sandals I was not going to give her some to use on me! Sorry Maureen!
So at first the people who had some sandals would only use them on interns and mail room types who moved a bit too slow, but soon they learned I wanted them used on reporters and others here too. I have never seen some group so eager to inflict the slappings of the sandals on one another! They are gleeful when they are applying this discipline. They call it "total cultural immersion" and "celebrating diversity", but I think they just are getting what you call jollies. And do not be the one who shows weakness! This makes the whole office come after you. And they are much worse then the crowd who smacked my Glorious Father's statue (may the pilings of one thousand camels line every path they walk) I am telling you now! The painful screams of whoever they are slapping only drive them to more frenzied smacks.
So the Publisher I am worried will not be happy to see all the slappings, but he is loving it! "You have certainly shaken the heirarchal structure here, boy!" He is saying and giving me cigar. "Let's go to my club and discuss the leadership and managment technique book we're going to write together!"
Then as we are leaving he is laughing and sandalslapping my secretary and the doorman!
Hah! Moose was stupid, yes?
Are we feeling a bit elitist today, Mr. 1.4 billion visits a year?
...a no-holds-barred conversation with media maven Camille Paglia and Radar editor-in-chief Maer Roshan. ...the interview...took place shortly after Drudge joined Paglia for a rare in-person lecture at Philadelphia's University of the Arts...PAGLIA: There's something retro about your persona. It's like the pre-World War II generation of reporters?those unpretentious, working-class guys who hung around saloons and used rough language. Now they've all been replaced with these effete Ivy League elitists who swarm over the current media. Nerds?utterly dull and insipid.
DRUDGE: But you look at these tanned, blow-dried gym bunnies like Brian Williams, NBC's next anchor?all they do is read off a teleprompter, and no one has a problem calling them journalists. In the end I really don't care what I'm called, as long as it's not blogger. As Roger Ailes told me early on, you don't need a license to report. You need a license to do hair.
But wait, poor Drudge...
...is the highest-paid journalist on the Internet?earning a reported $800,000 a year, though he coyly admits to making "quite a bit" more.
Maybe he should change the name of his Blog.
Update: On the other hand, Ann Coulter apparently doesn't mind being called Blogger. Wonder if she's been called worse?
I recently heard from an old acquaintance who's been quite busy lately running a major metropolitan daily newspaper. He's recently found himself with a bit more time on his hands and wants to begin contributing here again. Of course I told him no, but he threatened me and I still said no so he bribed me and soon you will see the return of Ooglay Hussein to the Mudville Gazette.
But it occurred to me that many people who currently visit here have never "met" the third son of a former middle eastern dictator, so with that in mind I hereby invite you to sit back, relax, and relive that thrilling first day of the Iraq war with a first-hand witness with a slightly different perspective...
OOGLAY'S HUSSEIN'S DIARY
Wear out your filthy unclean American infidel Great Satan mouse fingers! Listen I am Ooglay Hussein and the son of my glorious Father, may he give a fisted pounding to you if you are with the evil georgebush. Once I was beaten by my Father long may he reign and two of his body doubles at the same time!! This was bad for me I will tell you now but by the will of the prophet I survived and became stronger. But still this again you must know:
Here is story of first day of your immoral war, infidel pigdogs! I will stil be adding to this thing because so many things went wrong. I am telling you know by the will of Allah it was not a so good day for me...
DAY 1
Hello I am having trouble sleeping. Can I ask for planes to only be stealthy ones? Also the bomb dropping is too loud. I am angry now at stoopid GeorgeBush because I rote to him a nice letter and sed if he wanted to fight dad then he could meet dad at the bunker and i also said exactly when even though dad said he would kill me if i sent that letter i didn't tell him i sent it.
but GeorgeBush did not show up instead the planes came and george bush is a big coward because my dad could beat him up and show it on al jazeera.
Dad is a hero and one day I will be be a hero too and my older brothers will stop making me do the things they make me do that are not heroic at all so i am telling you!!!
So maybe I will give georgebush one more chance to come debate my dad just like dad sed.
And also if you are so great America why you bombs so loud? I need to sleep now. I will tell you more about the war in baghdad later for now goodby Allah be praised.
--Ooglay Hussein
Posted by Ooglay Hussein at March 19, 2003 11:40 PM
Ohh hello again i am still Ooglay and it is so very exiting what i am telling you of what i will be doing in baghdad here today by the will of Allah because the sun has come upward and george bush flew away.
Glorious father saddam for whom we will all die i said why does george bush hate us when he is a republican and we have the republican guards and then father saddam who is all wise smacked my face and spoke ill of my mother.
But then he said he was sorry and now here is what is exiting to me. Glorious Father Saddam says I Ooglay will today be allowed to drive in his fathers biggest Mercedes all around Baghdad!
This is wonderful i am not ugly like my two brothers who are older and make me do things that i think have no word for in your english i learned at university in france. I am not ugly like them i am handsome and look just like glorious father saddam and when i drive through baghdad's glorious streets the people cheer me. Allah be praised.
This way i said okay i am not angry you smacked me and he smacked me again then and now i will be driven around in Baghdad to celebrate driving off the aggressor georgebush in our triumphant victory. my brothers will feel some jealousy i am telling you now!
i will take this my laptop computer so i will tell you about baghdad in the e-mails and i am heroic.
We are triumphant!
Also it is a convertable!
Posted by Ooglay Hussein at March 20, 2003 12:16 AM
And Here i am Ooglay Hussein again and now I have finished the hearing of my glorious father who was talking on the TV but I am only having a radio in this car but still i am now more inspired. You Americans are weak and must tremble. Before he went on tv and i went on the car my father kicked me in my hindquarters and then he fell and broke his good glasses and had to wear the ones my mother bless her soul made him get. He said the kicking made me stronger.
And you are not strong you weak americans you are not even talking to me and i said why dont they talk to me and my slave said that you are all asleep. This is why you Americans are weak because you are sleeping in the daylight and we are getting some things ready hear i am telling you now.
And yes the slave i am having with me is a human shield from america and he tells me what you are like and so this is how we know you are divided coountry and we will defeat you!
Your cowrd president flew away when up came the sun and now he is not bombing on us so my glorious father for whom i cant wait to die for is letting me to drive around baghdad in his convertible mercedes.
And I will not let my slave human shield use my laptop computer to talk. I am cruel and when my older brothers do bad things to me i do bad things to my human shield.
I will make him wear the driver hat and drive me around in the convertible. My brother took my hat away and said not to wear it so everyone could see me and know how much i look like my father and so my mother is pure even if she is ugly as a camel. This is what my brother said and his mother is different. But I did not say it, because camels are not ugly. Now my laptop batery is dying!
Posted by Ooglay Hussein at March 20, 2003 12:54 AM
Okay so you know I am Ooglay and I am cheered in the streets of Baghdad! And maybe the smart ones of you say I have new battery, and I do. And here is why: My slave and I broke into the boarded up peasant store and though first the peasant said he could not help I showed him one of my brother's tricks and then he became very helpful, yes!!
So now we are driving near the Ziggurat. It is an ancient ruin and very much not good for anything because hey, it is 5000 years ago that it was built by infidels! But still the Republican Guard are getting ready to dynamite it now and they have some slaves doing the work and then we will kill them and then blow it up the ziggurat! This will be funny because then we will be blaming the Americans and British and all their other allies who are against the world in this unilateral attack with no UN improvements!
And okay now listen because with Allahs blessings this is my favorite part that my slave has called his organization in America and when we blow this up we will have your Protestors make another big parade! And in London too they will do it and the funny thing is to me that my father for whom these peasants are willing to die in flames hates their communisms!
But that is not why now I am laughing but you cant hear that. It is because i got my solid gold cigar lighter in the dash very hot to light my Cigar and then I didn't want to waste the extra hot in it so I jabbed this human shield's back part of his neck but that's not why I laugh! And he made a funny noise and almost wrecked my fathers most beloved mercedes but that is also not why I am laughing.
I am laughing because I said then "see what a fine little human shield you are" - you see I can make english language joke, eh? I am a French University graduate is why I am the smartest of all my fathers sons.
I am hearing some loud kind of noise tha
Posted by Ooglay Hussein at March 20, 2003 02:20 AM
[3/20/2003 1:52:11 AM |
Okay now yes It is Ooglay in Baghdad now okay and I will tell you the things that happened but first I must say more words about my slave who is american human shield. I enjoy him, you know, but Sean Penn the Actor was a better time I think but we had to be better to him outside but in the palace when my glorious father who gave me life turned away then we would enjoy SeanPenn some more. And we made a movie because he is a movie star and if you little funny american soldiers come to take over maybe you will give this movie to the madonna yor singing american tramp singer who will know one thousand tortues in the life hereafter. The funny part he carried me on his back like a pony but didn't laugh. When he ran off we were a long time til the humanshields came. He does not talk on the tv about the good things of my glorious father and this country now so I don't think he will come back?
So the loud noise anyway I thought it was a jet first but it wasn't and I thought I was going to die but guess what I am alive and it wasn't a jet.
They blew up the ziggurat too early and that is what I heard and my ears are ringing so it is good we talk in writing cause maybe I don't hear anything as good as that for a while. Someone said that one of the peasants did it on purpose because the guard was still there and now they are not in good shape. Some are laying now on the ground and yelling and bleeding and kicking. So I think the peasant slaves new we were going to kill them but who knows? But there is no one here to take care of the ones who are kicking because they are no doctors here because georgreBush embargo. Thousands have died like this one I'm standing over looking at him kick and now just twitch. And he is Republican Guard and they are elite and i just walked over where I couldn't see him anymore.
And I went back a little way towhere the car was and it was dirty and I knew my father for whom I would cut off my own left hand would not be happy.
But then I tell you maybe this new humanshield is more better then Seanpenn because he got out of the car and I could see that when the explosion happened it scared him and he wet his pants. I laughed at him and slapped him to make him stronger.
[3/20/2003 2:56:25 AM |
Okay I am Ooglay Hussein and I am knowing that you are not knowing about war, so here I will tell all of you friends of my glorious home country that it is a terrible thing to be relentlessly bombed by the evil georgebush and also we know it is not the american people.
Okay now i had gone from the car but while so my slave got my notebook computer but then before i slapped him he showed me he had made this web site and now i can tell you here about these things. So yes he did all that before i slapped him.
Now we are having a phone in the car so when next it was ringing i thought "oh here is georgebush or tony the jew blair and they want to ask my father to delever a pizza again" But that is what they do on fridays not today so in fact it was my righteous father from whom all blessings flow.
And his anger knew no bounds because the collection of hand blown glass that Chiraq had given to him long ago was destroyed in the raid.
But this is what so help me if he sees this ever he will have my head on a spike was funny.
He had forgotton there was a key he needed on the keyring he gave us and it was to the vault where the missles were and now we really need to get those to Syria Ooglay as if it was my fault he didn't have Blix take them with the ones they took there last week. But my father for whom I wud nail my own tongue to a door said he was not too angry but he would take another toe from my foot if I didn't have the key to the vault in a half hour.
And this was not good because we were supposed to be at the elmentary school with the human shields and Republican Guards at that same time to meet the reporter from CNN Europe.
And oh did i mention the craters in the roads?
By the tears of the prophet i have never had such a day...
[3/20/2003 3:53:37 AM |
Okay am I thinking that maybe now you are knowing I'm between Iraq and a hard place - Haha! this is a big joke i have made for you in your language!
Now here is more jokings in your language: How many Georgebush to put in the litebulbs? Oh please let it be no more then one!!!
Now you see I am not always serius. But for now no more joking! Here is what a situation i am in: I have to get to the hospital to unlock the vault so Uday can be getting to the missles, and if they are the missles i think they might be i want to go away from there real quick just throw the keys, okay?)
Then I have to get to the school where the human shields are playing in the playground with the kids while the CNN Europe people are there filming the danger Georgebush is putting the kids in and make sure none of the stoopit Republican Guards poke their heads out of the school building while this reporting person is there. Or at least bust up the camera.
So tell me why if Ooglay can do all those things he is still going to have to wash his esteemed elder brothers dirty burnoose tonight? These are things that are wrong...
And so my feeble pants wetter of a human shield starts driving slowly around one of last nights craters on the way to the hospital. Now I am thinking it is good i bought for my glorious father for whom i would cut myself up into small pieces and feed myself to a dog I bought him last fathers day the beads to go over the leather seats in this car or else he would kill me for the wetness of the infidel on the leather.
And that (i swear to you by the prophet i nearly died 5 times today) is when the F16 attacked...
[3/20/2003 8:17:45 PM |
See listen now while I reveal the miraculous story of shooting the plane down. It came screaming out of the sky and my most useful humanshield chose to run outside of my car then so never mind him for now. He did not shield me though.
So I am alone in the back seat of the mercedes and the f16 comes diving out of the sky shooting and I know some bullets got in my fathers illustrious car. So it goes i hope he does not let his anger lead to my death by a beating.
But now i think "well they forgot to give me a weapon again" but just then, and this is the part you must have some believing for, by the will of Allah I am holding a Kalishnikov.
And still the f16 is diving and i can't believe they are coming in so low and still shooting and i think my reward of 71 virgins is very close indeed. but i raised my most beloved kali and began to empty the clip. And is this the strangest thing of all that i hit the plane and then it was flaming and smoking and by the will of Allah the plane was destroyed. I know then that Allah is on my side and no virgins for me yet!
Nobody saw this thing and it makes me the greatest hero of the war! And the wreckage of the plane is nowhere to be seen, because the heat was so great it was utterly consumed!
So soon i will get my slave human shield and i wont have time to give him a beating because as it is unless Allah wills otherwise we are now to be late to meet Uday.
So now I know when i find Uday he will say "you son of a pig you are late and if the Frenchmen doesn't get these soon the deal is off!"
And I will be able to swear I was late because of the cursed plane but the best hope is that he will let me choose which bone inside my body he will break.
And then when i found the infidel he had an idea that if he gave Uday some of the drugs he brought from your decadent country that maybe i would avoid that beating after all!
I took his drugs and shoved them in my pocket, and will offer them to Uday but Allah be praised I would never touch the unclean things myself!!
And then I realized we could take a shortcut across the cemetery of the 500000 martyrs. Some may know this is the cemetery that used to be a golf course but when the French reporter said we needed some way to prove the sanctions had killed 500000 Iraqi children we made it look like a cemetery. That was Qusay?s idea and I think maybe that is why my father favors him over some.
But my beloved father, may he live 1000 years and father me 10000 brothers, will perhaps give me another medal for my bravery.
And when I beat my human shield I will use a stick no thicker then my thumb. This shows my mercy. Remember it if I am captured by the infidels you swine.
[3/21/2003 7:16:56 AM |
Okay Here then is some thinking "yes, Ooglay, you are too long taking to do this diary because still you are writing about great things that happened yesterday while now outside it is tiday! Well yes, but that is because so many things are happening in every day and that is because georgebush - I spit when saying your name and then I feel unclean - has a cowboy rush to war!!!! So now I will do some trying to catch up .
Here is a thing you must know, and I myself with all my wisdom do not know if it is true. My slave American humanshield drove swiftly though the cemetery of one half million martyrs, knocking many of the fake tombstones down on their empty graves and thinking gleefully we could blame the tanks and maybe I would be spared a mighty fisted beating this time. But I know this thing is true.
Well then is the ringing of the phone, and still it isn't Friday so I answered and it was Dicks Cheney and here are the things he was saying:
"Where is Qusay"
"I am not knowing where is my exalted brother overfed american pig heart..."
"We killed him with 1000 bombings" Is what he said. And so that is the thing i don't know if is true, even though really it is tomorrow from there when I write this down.
And if it is true then he is now my most exalted brother and Uday is my most exalted living brother and if i say it wrong i will dangle by my heels somewhere cold for some time to learn it better. And Uday will strike with his cane!
But that is not now, now I am going to meet Uday and get him his keys to the missile vault. Drive faster, pig of a human shield!!!
[3/21/2003 7:47:49 AM ]
I am telling you now the things i am remembering mostly about my good brother Qusay, who gave so much to charitable causes! But by the will of Allah I don't think he is dead, though here are things I remember fondly:
When the first of the humanshields came and we said
"what are you doing here little hairy and foul smelling infidel dog?"
"and he said 'i'm going to find myself' and we had no idea what that was, even though we all are well knowing of your english monkey language.
Then i grabbed one arm and Uday grabbed an arm and Qusay started up the chainsaw and cut his legs off then threw them out the window. And this is what Qusay said because always he had that sense of humor about things he said: 'Well, start by looking out there!' And Uday and I hurled him living out the ten story window because we were not hiding in the under-palace then i am telling you.
So that is one thing I remember about Qusay: his sense of humor!!! What will be done with his rotting corpse? I asked my wise brother and he slapped me and said"stupid! He will be found after a bombing run...that is why he came here!!
And I did not need that slapping!
Also he could eat anything but that is not something I want to talk about now. I would rather forget that part of Qusay.
So one last thing I will remember about him is his goodness to animals. Here is how i know because of his goats and sheep! No really, when we were young he had sheep and goats kept at a private oasis that was highly fenced and no one could go in under pain of death! That is how much he loved them and he went every day. My father from whom all sunlight comes said we are descended from a people who would do this as nomads. And Qusay would do this with help from no one long after he married several wives and had many children, Allah be praised! Then when he took over the secret police he was too busy there and I don't know what happened to his goats and sheep.
So also if he is dead i will never be forgetting his kindnesses to animals.
Also for a minute I am realizing if Allah has given Qusay his reward then I am third in line to be ruler, but then I stopped thinking it because we were at the hospital where Uday keeps the missiles.
[4/6/2003 1:31:06 AM]
Okay it has been very busy for Ooglay. Lately the American's are keeping everybody awake very late with not driving their tanks through town. That noise they make not being here actually being 500 kilometers away has everyone on edge.
Also I am busy writing on American internet to encourage glorious filthy pig American war protestors to make parades to support my glorious family against the evil georgesbush who is trying to take our oil. Father Saddam, creator of the Mother of all Battles is telling you protestors his thanks! Do not stop now and the Father of MOAB will give you each some of his oil. And also 10 million Iraqi Dinar.
Now I am having more time and will be writing more about your georgebush cowboy war.
Okay but first some explaining. Someone says "Greyhawk it is Ooglay. Thanks you make me laugh!" Well, no Ooglay is Ooglay. Greyhawk is not. Ooglay meets Greyhawk on ScrappleFaces. Iraqi government blocks Iraqis from having great satan American Home page. So Greyhawk says to Ooglay he wants "Americans to see how Iraqi Baath party Saddam Hussein people really are" and so he will post for Ooglay the diary. Okay? So this is why Greyhawk has his name on it. But he tells me "tell them it is you, Ooglay! Some people think it is made up!!" No, it is Ooglay. Thanks be unto you for this opportunity Mr Hawk. Aso some people write bad things about my glorious father on ScrappleFace and write your Greyhawk name there. You should tell them stop.
Now it is back to my diary. Where was I?
[4/6/2003 4:50:21 AM]
Okay so please to remember I am still telling of the first day of your American aggression.
When I get to the Hospital with my infidel swine humanshield I first put the leash and collar on him. We always do this when we are around Uday. He likes to see the dogs treated like dogs. So "come in to the hospital on your allfours" is what I tell the human shield. His knees are bloody with scabbings and his hands hurt already to where he can not hardly drive the car, but he does what I tell him.
But then I see Hans coming out of the Hospital and he says "You are late! Don't bring him in. Just take your brother the keys!" Then he is going to the cafeteria and I say "Well here, Hans, you pig, you take him for a while" and Hans says "Screw you Ooglay. I'm going to get a porkchop and then get the hell out of here."
I swear by the hump of my camel this is how Hans talks when he is not on TV. He cracks me up!
And that stupid bald headed Swede, the last time he came over to the palace he drank all the good vadkaa and passed out and puked on the good Persian rug. The one from Al-Iskanders day. So that was funny too. He can't hold his liquor.
So I am now having to tie my humanshield to the car bumper and take the keys and go into the hospital basement to find Uday.
And I go to where they store the missiles in the basement and there is waiting at the door is Uday. But also with him is the Russian and the Syrian (I never know their names but I like them not and trust them less. They have a mean streak in them.) who usually don't always work together. So who knows when a war is going what might happen?
But esteemed brother Uday shakes his cane at me saying evil curses regarding my mother and the circumstances of my birth and why am I slow? And I tell him I shot down the F16 and then yes he hits me and says "Dog! I invented that one in '91!" And to this day I have a bruise where he hit me with the cane. But he got his key.
And the Syrian laughed at me a little then but by the will of Allah he will never laugh again some day.
So those three turned to the big doors and began to open the lock and then I notice on the hospital cart is human head. It is Pierre! And he has bullet hole in forehead! And the battery with the crank and wires with aligator clips is nearby. And yes I saw the marks on his ears.
Now I don't know what is going on but Uday and the Syrian and the Russian all had pistols on, and I can't remember if Hans had one or not. But Pierre had really got someone angry I can tell you.
Then Uday is coming out of the vault and he slaps me with open hand and says "Here put that in this bag" and gives me a satchel from inside the vault that usually holds detonators. So I have to put the filthy head in the bag. And I have heard rumors about the diseases Pierre had in life and I hope it is not the will of Allah I get one of those!
Now I have a chance to look in the vault and Uday forgive me but you are a fool! (I did not say this or even think it too hard) There were some red tips, blue tips, and sheesh! Even some green tips still there! No wonder Hans was pissed! This things were supposed to be across the border three weeks ago! And now the Russian and the Syrian are arguing about who is going to do what for moving them into the truck (they would only need one truck, Uday didn't keep too many behind) and I can just see them maybe getting stupid with some of each missile here! No thank you! I need to be at least 2 preferably 5 kilometers away now if you please! And which way is wind blowing? So while they argue and Uday is drawing his pistiol and firing rounds into the floor above to get their attention, Ooglay is running like an Iranian for the door!
Goodbye!!!!
So okay, now is Ooglay running like the wind away from the vault with the missiles. Some of each! I can't believe it. We make them in 2 days if we need some. Why did he keep some? I don't know. So I am hurrying into car and starting it up and driving away. And I see Hans in the rear view and he's yelling something but he has a big mouth full of food and I don't like Hans anyhow. Not since I caught him with Arnett. But that you are saying is another story, yes?
So I have to get to the school in big hurry anyway, remember? Is school where humanshields are playing with school kids for CNN Europe reporter to film them. My job will be to kill the reporters if they catch sight of the Fedayeen Saddam using the building as headquarters. Also I have to get the humanshields back into the truck to take them back to the prison. But this is making me think I'm forgetting something.
And the people of Baghdad are all yelling and pointing as I go by. They think I am my glorious Father! This is fine! But no, that is not it, they are pointing behind me but I look in rear-view mirrors and see nothing. Then I go over a bump and Uh-oh! He pops up in the air so I can see him. My stupid humanshield! He was still tied to bumper by leash! He must have been asleep when I hurried out of the hospitol. I drove up to where I could park without worrying about the car getting scratched. Then I go look at him.
He is not dead. He was unconcious. But also he is lots of bleeding. So now I can't put him in car with blood pouring out. So when he doesn't wake up after I am shaking him then I put him in trunk. I will take the infidel to Doctor later, first the school.
And of course whenever you say "School" I think "where's my gun." so I take a little time to put this on. Then I wash my hands from having had to touch him. Then I start driving to Uday Hussein elementary school. Of us all it is Uday who has most schools named for him, including one in Brooklyn NY. We aren't going their today either.
Very strange, I am thinking.
Okay so Ooglay is driving like crazy to get to school and thinking "Hey, I never used to be in this kind of rush to go to school, you know?" Haha. One time Ooglay got an F in school. That was last time I got one or that teacher gave one, you know? I bet American kids would like to have that going for them.
So I am cutting through Shi'ite market and thinking "Hey! This market always nice and good prices and clean and almost a shame it would be to blow this up during war and blame Americans!" But Shi'ites and Kurds are ruining my homeland, I am telling you.
And now be remebering my humanshield in the trunk? Is waking up now I am guessing because I hear the thumping sound from trunk. Also some groan but not very loud to compare to what Qusay could make someone do on the really hot days. So I am yelling "hey, shut up! I am heading right this minute straight to the hospitol for you!"
And if you are soft American reading this, well maybe you think you have bad day if tire goes flat let me tell you about bad day. I am cutting through park to get to school just ahead when suddenly I am hearing that ripping sheet metal sound from first war that means inbound Tommy Hawk! Good thing I was cutting through grassy area cause I can throw door open and roll out like we learned in the class taught by the Russians while car keeps going away. Then I curl into ball as car is heading for crowd but it doesn't get there because "boom" goes missile right into it.
Now I know my glorious Father for whom we fight this victorious war will be angry! He did not give Ooglay the car just to get it blown up by American missile! And will he blame Georgeboosh? Yes, may the flies of a thousand camels plague him for the rest of his days, but it is Ooglay who will take the fisted pounding for this one thank you very much Mr Navy Battleship Missile Boat!
And the worst thing is when I am looking around a little there are no parts of the humanshield big enough to use to embarass the Imperialist American Infidel Dogs!
And curse them all now I have to walk the last half kilometer to school! And I am late!
Okay, so here I am running a little to get to school now. And very late! And I get there and it is tragedy. Here is scene:
Children from childrens prison all trying to be looking happy playing.
Human shields never before near children all stand off to one side looking disgusted because of smell. All humanshields are weak!
CNN Europe reporter and cameraman not paying attention to them, because stoopid Fedayeen soldiers have anti-aircraft missile battery right out in open on playground! This is why Ooglay was to be here, to stop just this thing from its happening. So I have blown up car and no corpse of humanshield and now this! You know Ooglay is getting pounded with many angry fists tonight!
So maybe I can make things a little better. Am drawing gun and walking over to kill reporters when he is looking at me and is hey! Pete! So all is not so bad. I don't have to be killing him unless I want to. But Glorious Father says he is "useful idiot" so then I am thinking okay, better not shoot.
So what about cameraman? This is Ooglays only good break today. He is Russian agent! A blessing from Allah! Too good to be true! They are only giving pointers to the crew for how to be shooting down the American planes.
Okay, now the lateness of the day is comming, and it has been very long of a day I am telling you the pillows in the bed in my Glorious Father's Underpalace are seeming far away still but oh so soft! So quickly we are loading Children on bus for childrens prison and humanshields on bus for hell for all I care. But only after they are driving away in foul cloud of fumes and rattles am I thinking "hey, no car!" And if Ooglay is caught out in Shia neighborhoods tonight maybe day gets very worse very quickly. Will of Allah is not to be pushed too far, yes?
So hey, Pete, Yevgeny, can Ooglay catch ride back to Underpalace?
"No. Only car is crappy little French Renault with no room for you with camera gear in back."
So first I am thinking there will be room if I put three bulletts in your brain pan infidel dog! but then I am remembering Pete is always out for number 1. And when I am reaching for gun I find humanshield drugs in pocket and say "maybe Oogly can make this worth your while?."
So then Ooglay is getting to ride shotgun with Yezgeny holding tight to top of car that day I am telling you!
Back before the Iraq war the on-line communist magazine Alternet ran a piece titled 'Bush Wins': The Left's Nightmare Scenario" I've always appreciated the insight into left-think I gained from reading that, and have always wanted to demonstrate my total commitment to fairness by balancing my mainstream opinions with some extremist thought on this page. I've invited a guest blogger, Mr Bill Terwilliger, to prepare an entry in that same spirit of that wonderfully insightful Alternet article. Mr Terwilliger is a middle school curriculum development consultant for a major textbook publisher, and is considering a run for President on the Democratic ticket in '04. We may be hearing a lot more from Bill in the near future, but for now, here are his thoughts on Iran.
IRAN: LET'S NOT SCREW THIS ONE UP TOO!
By Bill Terwilliger
This past weekend as I was toking some rather primo weed with some recent High School grads at the gay pride teach-in for more aggressive affirmative action at a local University Freshman orientation event one of the perceptive little mushrooms asked me "Dude, like what is our position on Iran?"
"Well, I said, "as yet we don't have one, since we are waiting for the shrub to state his position so that we can oppose it because it is oppressive to minorities and the poor, and is all about big oil."
Then he said "But what if.." and I stopped him by passing him the roach and it's a good thing, because I think I know what he was going to ask and I didn't have an answer. But the little snotmaker was on to something; if we don't plan our response to the Bush-wa fascista on Iran he's going to one-up us yet again. And we don't need that.
So I began to mull the possibilities and this is what I think: We can divide the situation into two main categories:
A: The US intervenes in Iran and B: the US does not intervene.
And also we can predict three outcomes: 1: prolonged bloodshed, anarchy, death, chaos; 2: Status quo, no change; and 3: relatively peaceful overthrow of the current regime (in Iran, not the US, unfortunately) and its replacement by a pro-American person or group.
Obviously then for planning purposes we can designate the possible scenarios
A1, B1, A2, B2, B3, A3 with A1 being most desirable and A3 being our most heinous nightmare. We must also recognize that these represent points along a spectrum encompassing infinite other possible points.
We could perhaps also order these points according to the likelihood they would occur. It seems just now that US intervention is unlikely, so I place all B options before any A options on this list; thus B2, B1, (with something between B1 and 2 perhaps most likely) B3, A3, A1, and finally A2. Of course this spectrum is subject to shift at any time and is purely my opinion.
Noting that B1 is both desirable for us and likely, (no US intervention, a period of prolonged, murderous, anarchy in Iran) here's my proposed response should it occur:
We must be very careful in this situation, because if we can not be seen as "pro intervention" - it could be a little too similar to the Bushy policy on Iraq. Thus our focus must be completely on how Bush "missed an opportunity" while remaining vague on just what should have been done. Since the implication will be that any intelligent person could have done better, no one will want to admit that they aren't smart enough to see the solution immediately; thus we will not be called on to provide one. It will be assumed by all that we "just know" what should have been done. As for the bloodshed, that will create great sound bite opportunities along the lines of "You have their blood on your hands, Mr Bush, Mr Powell!" I think we can all see the desirability of this course of events, though as I said, we can't sound "pro intervention." No matter what, for our side this should be a win-win.
Now consider A1: American intervention with the same bloody results as B1. Here the potential is unequaled for us, but the occurrence less likely. Consider though the obvious joy to be had denouncing the failures of the President, the fantasies we all had in the early days of Iraq finally become reality! The only area we must be careful is we can't point out that the current Iranian regime could be replaced by a fundamentalist one; the current regime is fundamentalist. We must bear this in mind, if we take this position we must state clearly that we support the Iranian people in their struggle against U.S. imperialism, and not their government (so similar to ours in its fanatic religious fundamentalism).
Anyhow I think I've given you all a good start. It's up to the entire collective to fill in the response to all the other points on the spectrum and it's crucial that this time we are prepared for every eventuality. The future of our nation is at stake, perhaps more so then any other time in history.
Imagine a real worse case scenario - a free Iran and Iraq that are peaceful neighbors because of US intervention in the region. As far fetched as that may seem, we will need apologists for that if it should occur, else our country may never again be free from the oppression and tyranny that besets us now.
Now let's get on it, people! You have nothing to loose but your chains! Let's Roll!
(WASHINGTON, IP NEWS)
According to the following WaPo headline: U.S. Troops Frustrated With Role In Iraq
Soldiers Say They Are Ill-Equipped For Peacekeeping
In a real shocker of a story, Daniel Williams and Rajiv Chandrasekaran of the Washington Post Foreign Service have located some soldiers who were willing to grumble and complain about what they were doing.
"It took some searching" said Williams, "but we knew if we kept at it we'd eventually find one who'd just finished a crappy MRE in 110 degree heat, missed his wife and family, was tired of being shot at, and ready to come home. After that we just shuffled the words around a little, exaggerated some other points and Presto! Pulitzer time!"
"Yea!" Said Chandrasekaran, "Hopefully this will start a trend. Of course, the NY Times has already done a similar story, but ours is more hard hitting and much shorter..."
Then Williams interrupted his partner. "And now that we've chimed in we expect this to be next week's official TV news theme. Soon Americans will realize we've "lost the peace" meaning we lost this war and the only way to support the troops is to bring them home. Bush and Rumsfeld are evil, bad, bad, troop haters! Also, there were no WMD!"
"That's last week!" Said Chandrasekaran, jabbing his partner in the ribs, "Stay on topic. But you know what? We should have gotten a picture of one of those really young looking soldiers too. But none of them ever walked into this bar here in Washington while we were writing up the story."
"Dude," whispered an inebriated Jayson Blair from a nearby booth, "shut up!"
For some time now I've been on the Democratic Party's e-mail list, so I'm aware of whatever issues the left wants to depict as the world-ending-crisis-of-the-moment. The volume of their e-mail has recently risen dramatically, as has the shrillness of their tone. This seems to follow fairly closely on the heels of the Democrats' failure to stop the tax cut, and much of the focus seems to be on the vast evil that said tax cut has perpetrated on the world. They've not yet provided exact numbers on how many women, children, gays, elderly, and other downtrodden minorities have perished as a result of lower taxes, but I expect those figures to arrive in my inbox soon, as the 'alerts' they've sent thus far are of no real concern for the sane and thus aren't "getting the message out™" effectively enough.
The latest barrage arrived over the past weekend, and sadly, the clueless are once again trying vainly to depict themselves as champions of the downtrodden, in this case the U.S. military, who now must suffer because of the evil Republican Overlords' efforts to protect the rich.
GOP Votes to Keep Cuts to Military HousingRepublicans proved that they don't match their rhetoric about the military with action when they refused Democrats' proposal for a minor reduction in millionaires' tax breaks to restore $1 billion in critical military housing funds cut by President Bush.
Democrats, led by House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member David Obey (D-WI), proposed cutting the tax breaks Republicans awarded to people making more than $1 million a year by just 5 percent in order to restore the funds cut by Bush to military housing.
The Democratic proposal would reduce the average millionaire tax cut from $88,326 to $83,546 in order to restore the funds for military housing. The funds would go to restore cuts that affect military housing, barracks, child care centers, schools, hangars, and office buildings.
The Bush/GOP Military Construction Appropriations Bill cut $1.5 billion from military housing and families from last year's level, in direct contradiction of Bush and other Republicans' high praise of the military after the war in Iraq. Their refusal to restore $1 billion at the cost of a small reduction in millionaires' tax breaks demonstrates the depth of their professed respect for our men and women in the military.
Hopefully the double-speak is noted: there is no "cut" to spending on military housing construction; the amount will simply be less then last year. This will not likely cause undue hardship to military families. (Who, by the way, have the option to take a housing allowance and live off-base if they find the quarters inadequate or undesirable. This is one of the many ways a military installation boosts local economies.)
And of course, since the tax cut has been approved, "reducing" it is a ridiculous concept. A tax increase is what this would be, pure and simple. Applaud the responsible forces of moderation that opposed this action.
Please also note the disconnect between the headline and the text; (which the Dems must assume will never be read anyway) housing is only a part of the military construction.
The military, of course, has no union. There are, however, several groups that (among other efforts) lobby Congress on issues of concern to military members. A look at their web pages reveals what those issues are - educational and veterans benefits being at the top of the lists of priorities. The Democrats, if they have any real concern for the well being of the troops, would do well to educate themselves on those issues, rather then dictate what they think the priorities should be.
Of course, that's not what's going on here. This is just another early volley in a multi-pronged attack from the left. Expect that in the future the far left will attempt to foist a "tax hike on the rich" at every opportunity to fund any welfare/human services-related issue beyond levels that current fiscal responsibility will allow. This will come in the form of riders to or provisions within any bill moving through Congress they can possibly get their fingerprints on. As these reckless schemes are defeated by moderates and conservatives in Congress the same type of rhetoric will follow. And those who are denied access to the re-distributed earnings of "the rich" will be depicted as victims of the heartless Republican evil.
Reports on the numbers of dead will soon follow.
Military members are as willing as anyone to tighten their belts when circumstances dictate, demonstrably more so then most. In this case, however, they won't have to. In attempting to portray themselves as protectors of the weak, the extremists in Congress have once again fallen short.
Perhaps the numbers of people willing to be taken in by this irrational rhetoric will dwindle appropriately. One can only hope.
Blogs can unite or divide. Even the briefest insight into the minutiae of an author's thoughts may be enough to start the process of erasing a lifetime of misunderstanding. (Or at least I'm naive enough to think so.) Here's three exceptionally well written Blogs that could go a long way in the "unite" direction.
An Unsealed Room: Cherry-Picking in the Golan Heights
Hi. I'm Black! :Bret Boone on Steroids?
Prometheus 6: Racism or Why They Don\'t Understand Us
As always, I link to the post but vote for the Blog. And it's great to see the increase in votes cast.
Bookstore employees around the world are working furiously to reshelve copies of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in the wake of the author's stunning revelation that the book is "completely a work of fiction."
"I made the whole thing up, every word" Said J.K.Rowlings, the series' author. Rowlings is rumored to have earned a significant sum of money from the books.
Advance orders of the fifth Potter tome have already surpassed the previous installments' sales, leading one to conclude that either a lot of people are going to read the series out of order or that mommy and daddy are each buying copies to prove they love junior the best.
"Whatever," said a bookstore employee, "we're just trying to get these books moved from the "new non-fiction" section here by Hillary's book to the "new fiction" section over here before the sales start at midnight."
Kathy Kinsley has been told to cease and desist setting up MT Blogs for other people. By way of protest, I hereby offer to anyone who wants it my assistance in setting up a Blogspot Blog.
On second thought, if you're that clueless you're probably a Democrat. Never mind. Do it yourself.
(But kudos to Kathy anyway!)
To those who've already e-mailed Senator Craig, my thanks. You made a difference. We're almost home on this one.
From Reuters:
Sen. Craig Allows More U.S. Air Force Promotions
WASHINGTON - The Senate on Monday approved 67 more U.S. Air Force promotions as Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig gradually lifted the block he put on the advancements in his dispute with the Air Force. Craig lifted the legislative block he had put on promotions of majors to lieutenant colonels and colonels, his spokesman Will Hart said, clearing the way for the Senate action.
Hart said talks were continuing over the senator's demand that the Air Force deliver four more C-130 aircraft to Gowen Air Force Base in Boise, Idaho, to fulfill a commitment Craig said it made in 1996 to provide a full squadron of eight.
Craig's legislative hold just remains on the higher level promotions. Last week, the Senate approved 127 promotions for captains and majors after he lifted his block on those.
Under Senate practice, any member can use so-called personal privilege to block action on nominations or promotions that require Senate approval.
The Guardian is now providing overseas coverage of the situation.
Craig's hold continues to delay 25 officers being promoted to brigadier general and above. Those include Maj. Gen. John Rosa Jr., who has been assigned to lead the Air Force Academy out of the shadow of a recent scandal involving allegations of rapes and sexual assaults at the academy.
The White House has pressured Craig to release the holds and sent representatives last week to meet with Craig and Air Force Secretary James Roche in an effort to broker a compromise.
Rosa was expected to be in place at the Air Force Academy early this month to help reform the military academy after allegations that the previous leadership was dismissive of cadets' reports of sexual assaults.
Of course, Mr Craig is not concerned with what goes on in Colorado, he just wants any other state to give him 4 planes and he'll release the hostages.
Now if you'd like to nudge him a little on the rest of the promotions, that would be great. We're talking about people who've worked hard all their lives to get where they are. And even after the promotion they won't be making the kind of money a Senator makes.
I did a Google Search for "Gullible" - a word that is not in any dictionary of the English language, on-line or printed - and got the following interesting result.
So I guess maybe Google's not all that great a search engine.
If you haven't seen this monstrosity yet you owe it to yourself. This is how the Democrats think these days. I wish there were two viable political parties in the US. Maybe some day there will be again.
Real Women Online host this week's Carnival of the Vanities.
Visit early and often!
Charleston, WV, IP News
KKK leader and Senator (D, WV.) Bob "burn 'em" Byrd continues to refuse to do anything to stop flooding in West Virginia.
"Only black folk and white trash live in them lowlands anyhow." Said a man in a scorch-marked white sheet and hood outside the Senator's office. "Now get on outta here! We don't know where the Senator is!"
The unidentified man then produced a key card, entered a code in a cipher lock, pressed his thumb on a reader, unlocked the door, entered, and slammed it behind him.
Baghdad, Mi, (IP News)
The governor declared a state of emergency as hundreds of people rioted for a second night over the death of a motorcyclist during a police chase. The rioters also demanded back pay for their service in the Iraqi military.
The rioters set at least five buildings and five cars ablaze in the impoverished city where allegations of military invasion have been a source of tension. The rioters shot one person in the shoulder and beat and stabbed others, police said. In all, 10 to 15 people were hurt. U.S. forces wounded two people as an angry crowd swarmed an American convoy, passing near a demonstration outside the coalition provisional authority headquarters.
"This particular convoy ... felt threatened as Iraqis swarmed their vehicles and started breaking out windows and throwing rocks at extremely close range," said U.S. Army Capt. Scott Nauman. "The personnel in the convoy who were directly being attacked did shoot two people. It did appear to be in self-defense."
"It is so unnecessary. It is unbelievable to see this in our community," said police chief Samuel Harris.
About 150 state troopers and 100 other police officers used tear gas and other non-lethal methods to quell the violence by about 4 a.m. Wednesday.
"The idea is to try not to injure anyone but cause them enough discomfort so they will leave," Harris said.
The captain said his soldiers had been pelted with rocks from the demonstrators for about an hour when the convoy passed by and was inundated by members of the crowd.
The former soldiers were protesting a lack of pay and other issues. They have not received a paycheck in three months, Nauman said. There are some 250,000 former Iraqi soldiers who no longer have jobs after being dismissed by the United States following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.
One of the burned buildings was a vacant two-story structure where Terrance Shurn lost control of his speeding motorcycle and crashed early Monday. Police say one other burned building was vacant and three were occupied.
At least two people in a car fired shots at officers as the vehicle drove through a police barricade and the officers returned fire. No one was hit, and the police arrested the shooters.
Police arrested at least seven people. The charges were not announced.
Reporters and news crews arriving on the scene were also the targets of the attacks.
"The objects hit my news vehicle, both of them shattered, I believe they might have been bottles of some kind," according to a photographer from WNDU-TV. "I saw all kinds of stuff going down last night.
In addition, the demonstrators beat passing United Nations and television vehicles with their shoes and set upon a Reuters television crew outside, witnesses said.
"It looks like a war zone. It's terrible," Said an unknown bystander, "I'm scared to go to bed."
"Not me!" Shouted a neighbor as he ran down the street, "I need a new surround sound system!"
Those who may want to sort this out for themsleves can attempt to at:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/06/18/sprj.irq.main/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/06/18/sprj.irq.main/index.html
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters06-18-010506.asp?reg=MIDEAST
http://www.heraldpalladium.com/display/inn_news/news1.txt
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,89723,00.html
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said Tuesday he favors developing new technology to remotely destroy the computers of people who illegally download music from the Internet.
During a discussion on methods to frustrate computer users who illegally exchange music and movie files over the Internet, Hatch asked technology executives about ways to damage computers involved in such file trading. Legal experts have said any such attack would violate federal anti-hacking laws.
''No one is interested in destroying anyone's computer,'' replied Randy Saaf of MediaDefender Inc., a secretive Los Angeles company that builds technology to disrupt music downloads.
''I'm interested,'' Hatch interrupted. He said damaging someone's computer ''may be the only way you can teach somebody about copyrights.''
Hatch then found himself unexpectedly accompanied by Bill O'Reilly, Fox News commentator, who also urged development of such technology, but for slightly different purposes.
"Nearly everyday, there's something written on the Internet about me that's flat out untrue. And I'm not alone. Nearly every famous person in the country's under siege. So all over the country, we have people posting the most vile stuff imaginable, hiding behind high tech capabilities. Sometimes the violators are punished, but most are not. And if there's a way to put a stop to it, I'm for it!"
O'Reilly emphasized his point by jamming a Buck Knife deep into the wooden conference room table.
Hatch in turn suddenly drew a samurai sword, flashed it swiftly through the air while uttering a bloodcurdling scream, then leapt onto the table.
"Get them reporters 'afore they hit the door, Bill!" He cried. O'Reilly was way ahead of him though, drawing twin Walther PPKs and unleashing carnage in a manner rarely seen in Senate chambers.
"Yeeeehaw!" Hatch shouted while slicing a laptop left behind by a fleeing journalist . Each man then ripped open his shirt, revealing matching chest tattoos of a computer monitor in the familiar circle with the line through it.
"And by the way, Orrin" added O'Reilly, the thrill of killing still keeping him short of breath, "I've already had Murdoch's tech weenies rig me up a device that will flat-out fry the circuits of anyone who even tries to write any mor
A CONTINUING LOOK AT SOME BEASTIES OF THE BLOGOSPHERE
But is the Blogosphere getting wiser? Another valid contrast point on the Siren issue may be the recent Paul Wolfowitz story. Wolfowitz is Deputy Secretary of Defense, and has served in the Pentagon off and on under Carter, Bush Sr., Clinton, and Bush. He was in the State Department for the first few years of the Reagan Administration. So his words carry some weight.
Wolfowitz has been twice mis-quoted in the mainstream media recently. First in Vanity Fair regarding WMD:
The quote (from DoD transcripts of a recorded phone interview):
...The truth is that for reasons that have a lot to do with the U.S. government bureaucracy we settled on the one issue that everyone could agree on which was weapons of mass destruction as the core reason, but -- hold on one second --
(Pause)
Wolfowitz: -- there have always been three fundamental concerns. One is weapons of mass destruction, the second is support for terrorism, the third is the criminal treatment of the Iraqi people. Actually I guess you could say there's a fourth overriding one which is the connection between the first two. Sorry, hold on again.
The third one by itself, as I think I said earlier, is a reason to help the Iraqis but it's not a reason to put American kids' lives at risk, certainly not on the scale we did it. That second issue about links to terrorism is the one about which there's the most disagreement within the bureaucracy, even though I think everyone agrees that we killed 100 or so of an al Qaeda group in northern Iraq in this recent go-around, that we've arrested that al Qaeda guy in Baghdad who was connected to this guy Zarqawi whom Powell spoke about in his UN presentation.
Q: So this notion then that the strategic question was really a part of the equation, that you were looking at Saudi Arabia --
Wolfowitz: I was. It's one of the reasons why I took a very different view of what the argument that removing Saddam Hussein would destabilize the Middle East. I said on the record, I don't understand how people can really believe that removing this huge source of instability is going to be a cause of instability in the Middle East.
I understand what they're thinking about. I'm not blind to the uncertainties of this situation, but they just seem to be blind to the instability that that son of a bitch was causing. It's as though the fact that he was paying $25,000 per terrorist family and issuing regular threats to most friendly governments in the region and the long list of things was of no account and the only thing to think about was that there might be some inter-communal violence if he were removed.
The implication of a lot of the argumentation against acting -- the implication was that the only way to have the stability that we need in Iraq is to have a tyrant like Saddam keeping everybody in check -- I know no one ever said it that way and if you pointed it out that way they'd say that's not what I mean. But I believe that really is where the logic was leading.
Vanity Fair Quote: "For bureaucratic reasons we settled on one issue, weapons of mass destruction, because it was the one reason everyone could agree on."
See the attraction of the Siren Song for the Left? But note the original quote; thought provoking and to the point. A real glimpse at how policy is made at the highest levels. Rather then debate that process openly, the interviewer twists it into something else and lets others attack. Why? Once the original un-edited quote is released the attackers look foolish. Both sides of any issue must watch for this if their debate is to have any validity.
The second mis-quote was in the London newspaper The Guardian, reporting statements made by Wolfowitz in Singapore regarding North Korea and Iraq. The actual quote (from DoD Transcripts):
Q: What I meant is that essentially North Korea is being taken more seriously because it has become a nuclear power by its own admission, whether or not that’s true, and that the lesson that people will have is that in the case of Iraq it became imperative to confront Iraq militarily because it had banned weapons systems and posed a danger to the region. In the case of North Korea, which has nuclear weapons as well as other banned weapons of mass destruction, apparently it is imperative not to confront, to persuade and to essentially maintain a regime that is just as appalling as the Iraqi regime in place, for the sake of the stability of the region. To other countries of the world this is a very mixed message to be sending out.
Wolfowitz: The concern about implosion is not primarily at all a matter of the weapons that North Korea has, but a fear particularly by South Korea and also to some extent China of what the larger implications are for them of having 20 million people on their borders in a state of potential collapse and anarchy. It’s is also a question of whether, if one wants to persuade the regime to change, whether you have to find -- and I think you do -- some kind of outcome that is acceptable to them. But that outcome has to be acceptable to us, and it has to include meeting our non-proliferation goals.
Look, the primarily difference -- to put it a little too simply -- between North Korea and Iraq is that we had virtually no economic options with Iraq because the country floats on a sea of oil. In the case of North Korea, the country is teetering on the edge of economic collapse and that I believe is a major point of leverage whereas the military picture with North Korea is very different from that with Iraq. The problems in both cases have some similarities but the solutions have got to be tailored to the circumstances which are very different.
The Guardian Quote (perhaps repeating German reports):
"Oil was the main reason for military action against Iraq, a leading White House hawk has claimed, confirming the worst fears of those opposed to the US-led war.
The US deputy defence secretary, Paul Wolfowitz - who has already undermined Tony Blair's position over weapons of mass destruction (WMD) by describing them as a "bureaucratic" excuse for war - has now gone further by claiming the real motive was that Iraq is "swimming" in oil.
The latest comments were made by Mr Wolfowitz in an address to delegates at an Asian security summit in Singapore at the weekend, and reported today by German newspapers Der Tagesspiegel and Die Welt.
Asked why a nuclear power such as North Korea was being treated differently from Iraq, where hardly any weapons of mass destruction had been found, the deputy defence minister said: "Let's look at it simply. The most important difference between North Korea and Iraq is that economically, we just had no choice in Iraq. The country swims on a sea of oil."
To credit The Guardian, they did retract the quote once it was exposed as blatant lie.
(You can read a synopsis of the Wolfowitz misquotes, and a few other recent newspaper 'gaffes', here.)
To credit the Blogosphere, the Wolfowitz situation was handled quite differently then the Santorum story; with caution at the initial reports followed by indignation and mild outrage at their exposure as almost right. Of course an argument could be made that this is because Santorum was opposed to a popular cause, while the Iraq war (Wolfowitz) was supported by most Bloggers. Thus, the Santorum Siren was much more appealing then the Wolfowitz example. This however, implies a willingness to deny truth (or at least a wilingness to accept something less; the "willful suspension of disbelief" that is the hallmark of good fiction) when it suits the bloggers purpose, or casts dispersion on the validity of claims to value the truth. This does not increase the credibility of a new medium.
My friend Angel, (she who helped save Boycott Hollywood) has been in a little car accident and may be in need of a little cheer. Could you all be so kind as to leave her a note at her site? (A Blog like no other you've seen, if you haven't been there before.) Thank you.
There are gunslingers in this world today. Frank is one. A warrior, a
defender; always ready for the ninja that strikes from the shadows, or the
monkey with the quicker draw. There are over 5 billion people in this world
that would love to kill me, I need Frank on my side. He's elite. His weapons
are numerous; he won't hesitate to kill; with comedy. Need a laugh? Go visit Frank. See the Ninjas and
the monkeys for yourself. Be glad he's with the good guys.
Much has been said lately about war under false pretenses; questions have been raised about intelligence failures; many are wondering what the President knew and when he knew it. The most compelling information I've seen yet on the subject is a click away. John Hawkins at Right Wing News has compiled a great list of quotes from administration officials and others regarding WMD. Those with short memories (this would include me) would probably appreciate this review. (Note, this information will pertain to a post I'll make later today.)
Good evening. Tonight I'll attempt to beat the word "clue" to a horrifying and bloody death.
Hey kids, regardless of who's right or wrong on any issue, here's some advice in clueform) to those of you who aren't independently wealthy. When you get a job, don't defecate in the company punchbowl. Don't urinate in the company cornflakes. People hate that when it happens. Mr Keating, of course is independently wealthy. Still, he gets a Free ride on the cluebusto his next job.
Mecca, what a wacky town! Here's another clueless group in action. They get a twoferclue. Clue #1: Don't become a terrorist. Clue #2: If you must ignore clue #1, then don't run from cops. They just want to kill you and then you can be with Allah. Bonus clue: If you must ignore the previous clues, don't run home! Knowing Saudi justice these people will either be servicing Mohammed in Hell by the end of the week, or "escaped." Wanna clock 'em with a Cluebat? Naah. In Mecca they thump 'em with cluestones.
Bad prairie dog!
Festus: Looky here at them cute rodents! Ma, can I keep me one o them thar prairie dogs as a pet?
(Correct answer Clue: No!)
Ma: Just one, Festus, cause you know we need the rest for the Fathers' Day Stew!
Here's a gift certificate for you from the pet section of ClueMart.
Hulk aims for young and mature audience? Crap, I'm out on both counts. Maybe if I offer them 8 dollars they'll let me in any way. I'm clueless.
Here's a simple straightforward ad: Buy a clue!
What's that you say? Enough already? Okay, I can take a hint...
PART II. THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACE ON EARTH?
A BRIEF LOOK AT SOME BEASTIES OF THE BLOGOSPHERE
THE HABITAT
Ancient Rome had its Forum; where people met, conducted business and debated the issues of the day. How fitting then that modern Rome has its own Forum...the Internet!
Transform yourself into a being of pure energy, pure thought, void of face and form, and travel electronically to a meeting place of ideas and expressions. What a marvelous opportunity, to have one's ideas expressed in a way that allows both criticism and support, while eliminating the potential for judgment based on the messenger; appearance and gender masked if you desire. Age? Not a factor. Fifteen or fifty, it's your thoughts and your ability to express them that matter, and nothing else. Race? Who cares? Ethnicity? Non-factor. If you come up with the solution to the crisis in Israel you can post it anonymously for the world, without being dismissed for being a 14 year old Guamanian girl.
Even those Bloggers fortunate enough to not need an assumed name are still little more then names (and sometimes faces) to the vast majority of their readers, with no real connection as corporate human beings. Proof? Those readers will say things to them via their comments or their own Blogs that they would never dare utter to a neighbor over the fence or a co-worker at an office party.
I fall into the category of "anonymous blogger." Strangely enough the reason I do this is so that I can give my real and honest opinion. I wish I didn't have to, and some day I won't, but for now such is life. You can, however, get a pretty accurate general depiction of who I am by reading my posts for a while. Many other Bloggers fall into this same category for much the same reason.
THE TROLL
Unfortunately, the anonymity of the Blogosphere opens the door for the Troll, annoying creatures who move through this system attacking and spreading hate. Anonymity in some cases foments viciousness, perhaps a trait suppressed in their corporal existence. "Troll" is just too cute a word for some of them. Read every Blog and it's comments posted on a given day (admittedly impossible) and you may swear that a significant number are written by people actually diametrically opposed to what they espouse; leading one to consider they exist merely to generate contempt for their subject matter. (Do note, however, the vast majority of Blogs and comments can be taken at face value.)
Who knows what inspires a Troll? A thrill at being annoying? A response to being ignored in the real world? Perhaps, I like to believe, though, that The Troll returns to the real world, having acted out their fantasy life in the Blogosphere, perhaps a little happier and better adjusted for having vented their frustrations here. Good for them. Maybe they won't kill coworkers now.
Of course, even the Troll can't ruin the Blogosphere as a great place to "meet" people. The desire of many in this regard is twofold; 1) to embrace those of like mind, to reinforce that you are not alone in thoughts and opinions and thus not the last sane person on earth; or 2) to understand those of differing opinion; to get some grasp, if you will, of what exactly went wrong in their developmental process, without having to offend a "real" person. Child abuse? Jilted at the Altar? What is the fundamental defect in your nature?!
(Of course, never to my knowledge has anyone in the Blogosphere convinced another to shout "Eureka! I was wrong!" on any issue of any merit. Even in the post-Iraq-war light of day the doomsayers, the "quagmire crowd," the "prophets of jihad" and the "WWIII tin foil hat brigade" are still claiming they were right all along, that there never were any WMDs!)
Ahhh...but find those like-minded individuals, your spiritual soul mates, and fly! The only people who think like me are other geniuses, don't you know?
Thus, the Blog reader is forced to become a thorough critic of new products and persona in the Blogosphere. Does this person bring something new to discuss? If not, does this person have something new and useful to add to the discussion? Does this person have a fresh perspective, an interesting voice?
Because we are all singers, after all. Some of Opera, some of Rock, some Jazz, some the Blues. Some are Rappers, and some Country. I respect the best artists of all genres. I have no time for the talentless, unless they have potential. I despise pretenders. Sing only that which is true to your heart. And practice developing that voice! Your thoughts on a topic are pointless if your voice is Roseanne's and your song is the National Anthem.
THE SIREN
The counterpoint to this of course, is the beautiful voice that spews hate. Like the Siren calling to all to come and crash on the rocks of bigoted or hateful ideologies. The Siren, then, is a nastier creature then a mere Troll. Of course, succumbing briefly to such a voice does no permanent harm to an individual, especially in the virtual forum. Perhaps the experience leaves them a bit wiser for future events, events that matter in the real world.
So what? Why care? Because the presence of the Siren, and the Troll, and the myriad of other less then savory characters that populate the Blogosphere, while providing half the "fun" are also the reason that the majority of the Blogosphere is still not ready for prime time.
Let's listen briefly then, to a Siren's song together.
The Siren, of course, can be a person or an idea, or both. An example? The Santorum case.
Many Bloggers from all over the political spectrum were quick to line up and denounce Santorum for what appeared to be a rabid anti-gay viewpoint. Santorum provided right-leaning Bloggers a chance to demonstrate their Libertarian, moderate views (since most are Republican on most other issues) and enabled them to express their unequivocal support for human rights. For Santorum bashers, however, there are three facts that are convenient to ignore.
1. At face value Santorum wasn't speaking directly about Gay Rights, he was addressing a larger legal point within the specific case. Attaching additional meaning and arguing against it is not valid debate. In fact, it's counter productive as it's just a way to avoid the real issue. This tactic is transparent to all but a few practitioners, and is unfortunately all too commonly seen here.
2, Ashcroft and Santorum are not leading death squads into peoples' bedrooms and hauling them off for unacceptable behavior.
From a Houston TV News site:
The case began in 1998, when a neighbor tricked police with a false report of a black man "going crazy" in John Geddes Lawrence's apartment. Police pushed their way in and found Lawrence having anal sex with another man, Tyron Garner.
Although Texas rarely enforced its antisodomy law, officers decided to book the two men and jail them overnight on charges of "deviate sexual intercourse with another individual of the same sex." They were each fined $200 plus court costs.
3. The entire attack on Santorum was orchestrated by the wife of John Kerry's campaign manager, and Kerry was the first to denounce his fellow Senator, thus demonstrating his unequivocal support for human rights. The last paragraph of the Fox story linked above:
Some Republican sources were quietly raising questions about the reporter who first quoted Santorum and who continued to report on the conflict it created. Lara Jakes Jordan is married to Jim Jordan, a former DSCC official who now manages Kerry's presidential campaign.
Here, for the record, is my take on the issue.
Now one would expect the left to lap this attack stuff up without question. When "centrists" or "moderates" do this it's disappointing, and leads one to question their "moderation". Expressing open mindedness by condemning people who think differently then you based on unquestioning acceptance of biased news reports is hardly the hallmark of intelligent public debate. Regardless of who's right or wrong, the questions I raised were not addressed by any of Santorum's many attackers in the Blogosphere. The shots taken at him came from the hip.
The Supreme Court, of course, is being called to consider its position on interfering with State laws as much as with the specific issue. By the way, quiz question for those who are outraged by any aspect of this case. How did the Supreme Court rule?
Sorry, trick question. They haven't yet. They are expected to any time now. If this is to be believed, two are solidly for, two against, and five justices undecided.
(Those who expressed great and terrible outrage at the behavior of a US Senator for speaking his mind can now contemplate their real motives. I give you a minute to shout Eureka! and then I'll accept your thanks.)
In spite of much effort the Blogosphere did not bring down Senator Santorum. Shooting from the hip is rarely effective. A tempest in a teapot, and a perfect counter to those who claim Trent Lott's head is mounted on their wall. The voters of Pennsylvania will rightfully have the final say on the Senator's fate. All those Bloggers who are registered to vote there are encouraged to do so.
TO BE CONTINUED>>>
I was visiting my brother-in-arms Sgt Hook's place and realized I'm remiss in saying Happy Birthday to the US Army! (You hardly look a day over 200!) Read all about it and add your sentiments at his site.
Happy Flag Day. Fly yours proudly.
Feeling patriotic?
Flags fly, soldiers die. But I won't let these issues fade. Thank you.
From CNN:
Financial disclosure forms released Friday by the nation's 100 senators show there are at least 40 millionaires among them -- 22 Republicans and 18 Democrats.
Those numbers make the rat race look a lot closer then it really is though. As we all know there's actually a distinct "party of the wealthy" in the Senate. See if I'm not right. I did a little fun with numbers stuff and found the following:
Total fortunes of richest members:
Party A: 527,724,842
Party B: 99,057,562
Fortunes over 50 million
Party A: 4
Party B: 0
Over 20 million:
Party A: 5
Party B: 1
Over 10 million:
Party A: 7
Party B: 2
Over 5 million:
Party A: 11
Party B: 5
Top five? All Party 'A'. Top 10? Eight from Party 'A'
Party 'A" as you no doubt guessed, is the Democrats; the party of the obscenely wealthy Senators, who could buy diapers for every unwed mother in America for the next twenty years off the interest on their regular savings accounts.
CNN also checked the genitalia of the wealthy senators and determined that all but six were men. DiFi, however, at number 5, with 26.3 mil in the purse, is wealthier then any Republican Senator. Oh, but poor Hillrod!
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, in the news with the release of her memoir, reported a net worth ranging from $352,000 to $3.8 million. While that may seem modest for a woman who snared an $8 million book deal, the former first lady also reported substantial liabilities, ranging from $1.7 million to $6.5 million. Most of these were for legal fees, an apparent result of the numerous investigations into the Clinton's during her husband's presidential administration.
Everybody go buy a copy right now! Don't forget you'll be helping three ghost writers put their kids through college. (And hey, did Hilly report all that stolen White House stuff she sold on Ebay?)
More highlights from the CNN coverage:
The Senate's majority leader, Republican Bill Frist of Tennessee, is another of the millionaires. A heart surgeon, Frist's family founded the Healthcare Company, a large hospital chain. His net worth is estimated at between $15.1 million and $42.3 million.
In comparison, his Democratic counterpart, Tom Daschle of South Dakota, comes from more modest means. His financial disclosure form shows a net worth estimated at $416,000 to $1.2 million.
Yikes! That's a long, long bunny trail to hop down for that lame comparison. What's the point?
I could go on and on, but hopefully by now you see the clear difference between the party of the wealthy and the party of the people.
I'm not against having millionaires in the senate, by the way. Sure some married or inherited their vast fortunes (and certainly some from outside Massachusetts didn't earn their money either), but I'm sure most of them worked hard to achieve success. Exactly the people I want to run the country.
I'm not against millionaires in the Senate. I am, however, against hypocrites.
Here's the original CNN story. Enjoy.
Here's some background/prep reading to a post I'll be doing tomorrow, the second part of When Bloggers Rule . It won't be about the deranged little cretin that is used as illustration in this point. Just need to establish a representative example for what I will discuss. Enjoy.
From Hi. I'm Black!!! ( A great new Blog. I'd have voted for him if he had been in long enough to notice.)
The New Blog Showcase
So, I entered the New Weblog Showcase at Truth Laid Bear.
I've come to the conclusion that I should have read the damn rules and waited until this coming week. Apparently they have a rule against entering the contest twice. Great. I signed up on Saturday, so I get 2 whole days to compete. Yea.
Anyway, at least I got some pub. Some people did find my site via the showcase and especially via Tiger: Raggin' and Rantin'.
Tiger: Raggin' and Rantin' (I did vote for Tiger.)
4.5~Hi! I'm Black: Shell Vacations Club & Their G-- D--- Salesmen!!!!!!!! ~A latecomer to the contest. I was a bit alarmed when I read the Blog title expecting some racial diatribe about victimization and was pleasantly surprised. Except for the DAILY DOSE lists to stories which point to stories regarding racism and black issues, the general tone of most of the posting are such that race issues are not of any concern. Having read the entry post prior to the remainder of the blog, I was mindful that the blog title might be soley informational. I personally did not think it mattered, as I thought this was a delightfully well written tale about being kidnapped by time-share salesmenpeople. Been there, done that, got the steak knives to prove it. I really liked what I saw in this blog.
From Mac-a-racist (http://macaronies.blogspot.com/)
The Showcase: Right Wing choices and new blogs I passed on
I did read Hi. I'm Black's entry about attending a sells talk. In fact, I wrote a review in which I said Glenn was being gutsy to use that title for his blog considering the bigotry so very present in the conservative dominated blogosphere. But, then, I looked at the entry objectively. There wasn't much of anything there -- just an uninspired description of the salespersons and their techniques. I had already hit the Publish button for that list of recommendations. I went back to Edit, opened the file and erased Glenn's entry. No link. No vote. Later, while browsing, I saw several bloggers of the Right patting Glenn on the head for being a black guy who did not say anything they found disagreeable. He achieved that by not saying much of anything, period.
Hi I'm Black Am I black enough?
I was reading a critique of my blog over atMac-a-ro-nies, and she mentioned how some right-wing bloggers were "patting me on the head" because I was the black guy who didn't pump up the black vs. white deal. I presume that he's talking about Tiger from "Tiger Raggin' and Rantin'".
Am I not black enough for you? I know I have at least one black reader, Sheila. Am I black enough?
This post really has nothing to do with the Mac-a-ro-nies site. I don't want to make it seem like I'm pissed about her post, cuz I am definitely not. Her post just raises some questions for me like:
How does one become black "enough"? (that question is akin to 'What is the meaning of life?)
Does being "black enough" mean having just enough of a hard-ass edge that white people treat you with kid gloves? Do I have to dress in designer clothes, with brand new Nikes and a doo-rag on my head? Do I have to recognize Jesse Jackson as my "leader"? Do I have to have a chip on my shoulder for hundreds of years of government oppression?
I'm sure many white conservatives would love it if blacks just "got over" slavery. It DID end 150 years ago (actually by my count defacto slavery ended 150 years ago, dejure slavery only ended 40 years ago). I think that some black people have too big of a chip on their shoulder, sure, but I don't think that racial reconciliation (pipe dream) means that we have to "get over" slavery. Forgive, but don't forget, no?
My point is this: If you're reading this blog because you think I'm some smooth-steppin', big grinnin', "Yessa Massa!", Uncle Tom kind of Negro, get the f--- out of here and never return to my blog.
If you think that you can refer me to your friends as the one black person you know of that "gets it", get the f--- out of here and don't come back.
I may not constantly talk about how my people are oppressed, yaddah yaddah yaddah, but DON'T EVER THINK that I'm some kind of apologist, wish-I-wasn't black, kind of Negro.
Uncle Tom doesn't live here.
From the comments on another thread on Hi I'm Black:
Hi, its me, from Mac-a-ro-nies. And, I am a SHE. And, Native American and African-American. I wasn't putting you down in my remark about the 'head pats' from some conservative white male bloggers. I was calling THEM on being patronizing. (Incidentally, Tiger refused to cite my blog after I won the contest. That tells ME something.)
Posted by Mac Diva at June 11, 2003 05:41 AM
(Although Tiger did review the entry, thus casting a vote for it)
And here's something from Dean Esmay, and here's more from FreeSpeech. And more from me tomorrow.
From The Emperor, who notes that Michele first reported on the same. The loony Left has finally hit on a foolproof method to gain respectability and bring Bush down!
In the coming months a black spot will pop up everywhere . . . on store windows and newspaper boxes, on gas pumps and supermarket shelves. Open a magazine or newspaper - it's there. It's on TV. It stains the logos and smears the nerve centers of the world's biggest corporations.
This is the mark of the people who don't approve of Bush's plan to control the world, who don't want countries "liberated" without UN backing, who can't stand anymore neo-con bravado shoved down their throats.
This is the mark of the people who want the Kyoto Protocol for the environment, who want the International Criminal Court for greater justice, who want a world where all nations, including the U.S.A., are free of weapons of mass destruction.
How about identifying the perpetrators with a black eye? Too good to pass up. Man, I hope they don't put a black spot on my permanent record!
Looks like us Bloggers are about to score yet another victory. After my efforts (and Misha's help) have finally put the heat on him that the White House couldn't, Senator Craig has softened his I support the war but I'm against the troops stance.
On Thursday, the senator agreed to lift his hold on promotions of 127 Air Force captains and majors.
"I'm being flexible on my end," Craig said.
But 85 Air Force promotions affecting colonels and generals remain on hold, so unlike its soaring Thunderbirds, the Air Force's senior leaders remain grounded.
I note that the numbers are different in each story I've linked on this topic, but that's because we're dealing with the mainstream press here, not quality Blogs.
Keep hammering the punk. Here's the e-mail again.
Judicious Asininity: Smoking Saves Lives
The Smarter Cop: Bush is a Genius
But of course, there's another spineless whiner in there this week who's entered their Blog URL instead of a specific post and therefore has 16 votes already. Good luck to the good guys.
Ahhh... A Monty Python-inspired Carnival of the Vanities awaits you at Overtaken by Events! Why aren't you there now?
Many of the Bloggers I read (and perhaps most Bloggers) are reformed liberals, if you will. "Granola conservatives" going "...straight from left wing to right wing without ever once passing through a phase where (they) trusted the government." Whatever you call it, the path is not the same for all of us, but certainly similar to note the parallels and feel a sense of kinship. The path is the journey from unquestioning liberal because I've always been that way to hey, wait a minute! That's not right!
I've always speculated the transition is a natural event that occurs when a person becomes more concerned about the world and its future then about their own self interests. Self-reliant people, invariably. Thus they do not need a Government to take care of them. To provide roads, yes. To tell us where to go on those roads, no. Thus people move from Libertarian/Liberal to Libertarian/Conservative.
This is an international phenomenon. And a great thing about Blogs is you get to meet folks from all over the world who are sharing (to some degree) that journey. And I mention all this just to introduce a couple guys I've read for quite some time, from two very different places looking therefore at very different things from very similar points of view. I won't pretend to have insight into the inner workings of their minds, but I do believe they think the way I would think if I were where they were - serious stuff broken up with occasional chuckles. Get it? Good, explain it to me.
Without further ado, please go visit Bernie Slattery in Australia. Bernie is a professional journalist with a Blog, thus you'll have to adjust to his excellent writing style. He does not appear to be concerned for the feelings of liberals or for political correctness.
And then, to hear a voice of reason from a really bizarro foreign land where up is down and truth is bent, go read John Lemon. John is a professor in the California University System. Talk about behind enemy lines!
These guys are top-notch bloggers and excellent writers. Perhaps the best still on Blogspot. They far outshine a lot of folks currently taking up server space with MT Blogs. Click the links and enjoy.
According to CNN ten US Soldiers have been killed in Iraq the past couple weeks. I wonder how many Iraqi's would have died in that period if they weren't there? Unfortunately, the talking head on CNN uttered this statistic in the same breath as she raised the WMD question.
The troops in Iraq know why they are there. Do not betray them. Only the reporters went home. The war is not over.
Meanwhile, a US Senator holds several hundred Air Force officers hostage, demanding Air Force aircraft for their release.
Now here are some words from 'Chief Wiggles', another military blogger in the desert:
I have a small mattress that resembles a baby crib mattress only a little longer. I keep it on the roof with the ripped side up, held in place against any windstorms that might come up by the weight of a large sand bag. I keep the ripped side up so that I can remember which side was exposed to the blown sand all day, reminding me to flip it over at night before I lay down to sleep. At least I try to keep one side away from the constant layering of sand that occurs throughout the day. It is amazing the amount of sand that can accumulate within a 24-hour period; I can only imagine how much sand I have breathed in over the last 4 months. I am surprised that I don't like cough up mud balls from the inner depths of my lungs.
The Chief is over there working with POWS (interrogations). He discusses their sleeping arrangements:
The prisoners have been really worried lately about the increase of scorpions and snakes infiltrating their area. Every time we go out there they let us know how many of each they have seen or killed, in an effort to alarm us to the point of giving them cots to sleep on, thus getting them up off the ground. You would think creatures from all directions were invading them. We did empathize with them and yes we did get them some cots to sleep on. It was nice seeing their faces when the cots arrived, you would of thought it was Christmas.
So as always, sleep well, America! And here's a letter the Chief says was sent from an Iraqi doctor to an American Colonel.
Colonel, I wan to express how I feel in my heat and if you can, I ask that you pass my words to your leaders and commanders and the marines and soldiers who suffered and are suffering for my country. I want all of you to know that the great majority of Iraqis applaud your coming, your success in battle and your efforts to be kind, decent people now.
We suffered for many years and no one would help us, not even our Arab brothers. Only America had the strength, not only in military power, but also in vision, in character, in moral authority, in love for its fellowman to come to our aid. I know it is hard for the soldiers now, they have no air-conditioning in their vehicles, they must live on our streets to protect us, and they are away from their families. I want them to know that we know the sacrifices they make for us. I pray to Allah that they will sacrifice no more: too many already have sacrificed so much.
I also want to apologize for some of our young people who are not mature enough o understand what you have done and what you have given us. We have not known freedom for a long time, so it will take time to truly appreciate what a glorious gift you have given us.
Many of us blame the sanctions for all our problems. It was not the sanctions that created what we see today, it was the regime that existed everywhere, to include this very building that I work in, the Ministry of Health. It was the regime that cheated the people out of what was rightfully theirs by God's laws.
When I talk with my family and friends, I tell them that what is going on now, with the shortages and suffering, is like a surgery for cancer. Saddam was a cancer. When one operates for a cancerous tumor, one must cut through the muscle and sometimes the bone, to get the entire tumor out. After the tumor is removed, the patient's muscles and bones hurt greatly and the pain continues while healing. Over time, the patient sees a change, the patient begins feeling and doing better. That is how it is in Iraq. The Americans came and took out the awful cancer and now we must work through the pain of recovery, but eventually we will enjoy a full life, free of pain, with no fear of cancer. I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart.
Lots of good first-hand stuff (including pictures) at the Chief's Blog. A must read.
I found the Chief through Bernie Slattery, an Aussie Blogger and real live conservative-leaning professional journalist. You should visit Bernie too.
VICTORY CAMP, Iraq ? Army Sgt. Maj. Thomas Clark didn?t know whether to laugh or cry when he saw his graduating daughter?s image flash on a makeshift screen on a palace wall at V Corps? headquarters just outside Baghdad.
So he did both.
While his daughter, Crystal, graduated Saturday from H.H. Arnold High School thousands of miles away in Wiesbaden, Germany, Clark sat in one of Saddam Hussein?s palaces surrounded by an enormous man-made lake.
The ambiance mattered not, he said.
?I?m disappointed I can?t be there because I?m so proud of her,? said Clark, assigned to the 440th Signal Battalion out of Darmstadt, Germany. ?She?s the finest young lady you?ll ever meet.?
Check the link and you'll see a picture of the ol Sar'major choking back a couple tears. I know I would be. There's a part of military life most folks are aware of, but really don't fully grasp. These are people who can't run home to see the kid they've raised graduate. The kid they helped with homework, science fair, scouts, mean kids, mean teachers, spelling tests, real and pretend sickness, first dates, drivers' ed, and on and on, for twelve years or so, graduating from High School.
These people brought their families to a foreign land, and then had to leave those families there while they went even further "down range." Some are single parents, which means they left the kids with friends to help them through their last few months of High School while dad or mom put it on the line. No stress there, eh?
And they probably feel privileged to be able to see it on TV. I would. Because most folks stationed over there won't even get that opportunity. And of course, to put even that in perspective, 18 years from now there will be kids graduating without mom or dad there because of this war. Think about it.
Senator Blocks 850 Air Force Promotions
WASHINGTON, June 8 ? Senator Larry E. Craig of Idaho is blocking the promotions of more than 850 Air Force officers, including young pilots who fought in Iraq and the general nominated to bail out the scandal-plagued United States Air Force Academy, in a rare clash between the Pentagon and a senior Republican lawmaker.
Mr. Craig's price to free the frozen promotions now awaiting final Senate approval? Four C-130 cargo planes for the Idaho Air National Guard.
White House arbitrates dispute between Craig, Air Force
The White House sent representatives Tuesday to meet with Idaho Sen. Larry Craig and the secretary of the Air Force and try to resolve an impasse that has stalled nominations of nearly 400 Air Force officers.
The Republican senator has blocked Senate approval of the nominations until the Air Force honors a commitment he said was made seven years ago to add four C-130 transport planes to complete a squadron at Gowen Air National Guard Base in Boise, Idaho.
Craig remained unwilling to budge, but his spokesman, Will Hart, saw some hope for movement after the meeting between Air Force Secretary James Roche and the Bush administration representatives.
"As talks progress, if we're able to make some progress with the Air Force, I think Sen. Craig would be willing to look at releasing at least some of these folks," said Hart, "but he refuses to get the same brick wall that he got before."
Is he that sure of his re-election? Or not running again? I see no excuse for this. I will hope the people of Idaho (or all of America) will do the right thing here.
I have no idea what this guy is thinking. But if you, like me, want to ask him real nicely to please let the people who helped secure his freedom have their well deserved promotions so they can get on with the business of the nation's defense his e-mail is here. See the title of this post? Now you get to fire.
Free the hostages, Senator Craig.
His phone is (202) 224-2752
I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o' beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:
O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play,
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play.
I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";
But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide,
The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.
Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.
We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind",
But it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind,
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind.
You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees!
-- "Tommy" Rudyard Kipling, 1892
The Mudville Gazette is pleased to present a new series from cub reporter Howell Raines. "Howell Raines' America" will focus on under-reported segments of American society, with a focus on those things that make America great. Today Raines investigates the world of Web Loggers; ironically a segment of society that some would suggest helped hasten his ouster from a previous job.
Web Logging, or "Blogging" as it's commonly called by its' practitioners, is a fast growing method of internet-based communication. And Web Loggers, or "Bloggers" as they call themselves, represent a growing and vocal segment of society. By some estimates there are 3 million Blogs in the world (or "Blogosphere") today. However, sites that track number and popularity of Web Logs (or "Blogs") rarely list more then 2 to 3 thousand.
After some little research, I discovered these blogs to be fairly evenly split, with approximately half being right wing extremist hate sites and the remainder being more moderate, mainstream pro-Al Gore sites dedicating to righting the wrongs perpetrated on this country in the wake of the 2000 election and the subsequent "war on terror". Although we were able to track down thousands of the right wing conservative neocon pro-war bloggers, we could locate very few moderates. Presumably this is due to the fact that they must remain anonymous due to fear of retribution.
After some effort and a payoff to AOL, I was finally able to set aside some time to visit with a group of these middle-of-the-road Bloggers. This past Sunday morning I found myself in the basement of a nice suburban Boston area home, being entertained by "Bill" as we awaited the arrival of his fellow internet "columnists."
HR: "Bill", you run a highly successful weblog...
Bill: Which one?
HR: Oh, you have several? I was referring to "I Hate Bush"
Bill: Yea, that one. It gets a lot of hits from people who think it's a gay porn site though. I mean, a hit is a hit, so whatever works.
HR: So you have other sites?
Bill: Oh, several. "Bushaterz," "Bushwakkerz," "Bushnazi," "Suzy Cataloni for Homecoming Queen"... A lot of people visit 'Bushaterz' because they think its anti-bus though.
HR: Suzy Cataloni for Homecoming Queen?
Bill: What? Who said that? I never heard of that.
HR: Well you sure are busy. How many Blogs do you produce?
Bill: Well...I'm not really sure. I've forgotten a few. And also it's not all about the blogging. I also go out and comment on the right wing hate Blogs. This lets the wackos know they aren't in control and also brings traffic to my Blogs.
HR: This is why you have to use a false name then, for fear of being targeted by these hate groups?
Bill: Yeah! False names, actually. If I was the only one commenting on the Nazi sites I'd look foolish, I think. So I use several different names throughout the thread.
HR: Ahhh... good tactic. Kinda like what The Party does on voting day. You'll go far. Say, when are your fellow Bloggers going to arrive?
Bill: Oh, any minute, I'm sure. Hopefully soon. My folks are due home from Church here soon...
HR: Oh, this isn't your place? I assumed you were making money with all these Blogs...
Bill: Oh no! I mean, I've got the PayPal things and all...and once someone got me an "Adult Books Online Gift Certificate" from my wish list...
HR: So how did you get started Blogging?
Bill: Mrs. Yablonski's Computer 203 class at Kerry-Heinz High. The whole class does Blogs as a graded project.
HR: Ahhhh... sounds like an excellent teacher...
Bill: She's cool. She taught us a lot about what's wrong with America today. And this one time we each entered all our Blogs in a contest, then voted for each other and ourselves in our other Blogs. It was cool. I won.
HR: Wow! With that integrity level you could go far in the newspaper business too...say, are there really any other Bloggers?
Bill: Naah. I'm the only one. Sorry.
HR: That's okay kid. You remind me of me. Hey, are there any other moderate bloggers at all?
Bill: I met one in a chat room once. But you can't believe everything people tell you on line...
HR: Wow. You really work hard at this. Do you have time for a girl friend? Or whatever?
Bill: Yea! I got a girl friend! You don't know her 'cause she goes to another school across town...
Well, Bill's folks came home and he made me sneak out because he wasn't allowed to have people over when they weren't there. But I'll always remember that I was the first to interview a possible future President of this great land of ours.
I'm Howell Raines, and that's Howell Raines' America. Good day.
Madison, Wi., IP News, Howell Raines reporting
A small but confused group of prairie dog owners today banded together and demanded free condoms and massive federal funding for research projects to cure monkeypox.
"Sure, now it's only affecting a very special breed of prairie dog aficionado," stated a spokesmutant, "but soon it will be running rampant through your heterosexual community too."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday confirmed four human cases of monkeypox, a smallpox-related virus that has never before appeared in the Western Hemisphere. No one has died, but seven have been hospitalized.
"However," stated a spokesperson for the CDC, "at no time have we ever even suggested that this was some sexually transmitted disease. It is not. This group of people is very confused."
"Well, we still want the free condoms!" responded the spokesmutant. "Very small ones!" Most members of the protest group, however, slinked quietly away.
"This is exactly what I said was going to happen." stated Senator Rick Santorum.
For IP News and The Mudville Gazette, Howell Raines reporting
This is from the NY Times, meaning The Mudville Gazette makes no claim and takes no responsibility as to the truth (or lack thereof) herein.
WASHINGTON, June 8 — Senator Larry E. Craig of Idaho is blocking the promotions of more than 850 Air Force officers, including young pilots who fought in Iraq and the general nominated to bail out the scandal-plagued United States Air Force Academy, in a rare clash between the Pentagon and a senior Republican lawmaker.
Say what? Please read the whole article. But note that the significant portions of this story are well buried. Wouldn't expect a Times hack to know better.
Military officials say to give in to Mr. Craig now would only invite more holds from other senators.
"We obviously can't operate like that," another senior military official said. "Idaho is a great state, but we can't put more planes in there without taking them out of somewhere else."
Why after seven years Mr. Craig is exercising his Senate prerogative now to delay these promotions is a bit of a mystery. The planes have not been a pressing concern for most of his constituents.
"It's not something people here are tapping their fingers over, waiting for them to show up," said Lt. Col. Tim Marsano, spokesman for the Idaho National Guard.
Mr. Hart would say only that "Senator Craig's record of overwhelming support for the military speaks for itself" and blamed the Air Force leadership for disclosing his hold "as some sort of strategy to renege on promises made to Senator Craig."
Mr. Hart is full of it. Attacking the Air Force leadership for revealing his boss's underhanded lowlife actions? We just fought a war and this sh1ts@ck wants to hold up Air Force promotions over some aircraft his Guard people don't want? (Clue: Air Force Aircraft cost money to maintain and operate, and do not generate profit. Guard units belong to the individual states. This represents a cost to the people of Idaho, not a gain.)
A buildup of the guard forces could help shield Gowen Field from a new round of military base closings scheduled to be decided in 2005. Increasing the number of C-130's at the field could make it a less attractive installation to close, defense officials said. Gowen's C-130's returned in January from a tour in Oman, where they supported operations in Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf.
Hmmmm... not sure the Feds can close up a Guard Base. Again, it's a state organization, not federal. So there's some possible bad reporting right off. And four aircraft make that big a difference? Only if their addition means the unit crosses some "magic number of aircraft to survive" threshold. Somebody may have fired from the hip here. More research needed!
Here's the deal: I am locked and loaded. Target acquired. But with regards to the potential for faulty intelligence I wait at least 24 hours for personal research and a sensible response from the subject. Then this GI opens fire right here in the Gazette. The clock is ticking.
This post has been updated. Please click here.
Can anyone explain this to me?
Arab Monitor - Sito di informazione dal mondo arabo http://www.arabmonitor.info/news/dettaglio.php
It shows up in my referrers list, but I can't find any links there to me. An Italian language site with information from the Arab world has a link to me? I fear some kind of spaghetti fatwa jihad has been declared...
PART I The Attack of the Fiddling Kleagle
Here's a far-fetched idea for your consideration. Democrats are hoping beyond hope to find some angle to take Dubya down one or two notches in the polls. Never relying on instinct or leadership ability when in unknown situations, they've always checked poll results before taking any action whatsoever.
Now, we know the Dems are fully aware of the Blogosphere (Republicans, too)
I've even seen Capitol Hill servers on my hit lists, and don't even get me started on Scott Ott's Axis of Weasels thing (but do go check the dance mix)
Is it beyond the realm of possibility that Terry McAuliffe and his gang now cruise a few Blogs before taking bold decisive action?
Note this timeline:
May 1: President Bush (Commander in Chief) lands on USS Lincoln, Carrier returning from deployment during war.
May 1-5: Almost immediately, some right-leaning Blogs begin expressing doubts as to the wisdom of this event. And they raise very valid points, absolutely worthy of discussion. That discussion rages for several days through several comment sections of several very well-read Blogs. The lefty anti-Bush commenters have obvious responses deserving of immediate dismissal. But several pro-Bush types still express displeasure. Ignoring the envy-fueled hate posts from the left, the debate is actually one of the finest I've seen in the Blogosphere.
One week later: After consulting with polls and spin doctors, the Democrats boldly and decisively weigh in on the issue. Byrd and Waxman eventually receive a level of scorn rarely seen on the political stage. Bloggers take them to task. Having once again thoroughly miscalculated the mood of America, they rather quickly shut up and go away.
Byrd, it would seem, is the new sacrificial lamb of the Democratic Party. He can be portrayed as the "fiery old warrior going forth to battle the forces of evil" in the mainstream press. They can be counted on to enthusiastically endorse any Democratic Party idea, regardless of how utterly void of common sense or careful forethought. So Byrd gets to be the attack dog. If, as Standard bearer for the assault on George Bush, his championed cause gains the Democrats ground, then Hooray for good old Bob! He's our boy! If , however, he's shot down in a flame of public opinion, then, well, you know, he's actually kind of an out of touch old geezer anyhow, and definitely not-the-future-of-the-party, right?
Really, we're talking about the fiddling kleagle here; a man who's ready to don his drool bucket. A man who must be checked daily by his handlers to ensure he didn't put his depends on over his pants. At least the Dems can be assured of his vote. Even as he drifts into senility he'll be casting votes against Republicans, convinced they are trying to rob him of his non-existent social security benefits. And of course, once he's too enfeebled to make it to the polls he'll have lots of folks willing to vote in his name. I'm sure, long after his death Byrd will be a frequent voter for the democratic cause.
But for now, he's merely the living trial balloon. The expendable one, and as a bonus he's from a state that will not likely vote a Republican into anything for quite some time. So back to my crackpot theory; bear with me.
Suppose the Democrats, in checking public opinion in order to develop dynamic leadership strategy, note the minor ripple in the Blog world and wonder if they've found some chink in the armor?
"Hey," says Terry McAuliffe, "lets get 'em!"
"Hold on Terry, " says a less bold James Carville, "we can't risk ourselves. We're too important to the cause. We need a sacrificial lamb"
"You mean a sacrificial Byrd!" Terry fires back with a gleam in his eye. And the rest is history.
All this is imaginary, of course. But the subsequent history is not. Byrd did his best to stir the pot, but no one cares. The Dems have doubly miscalculated.
One: Byrd is intensely despised across America; with no redeeming qualities his outcries garner sympathy only for his opponents. This will not change. It's of great benefit to Republicans that he wasn't forced out as a consequence of his racist statements; now every time he approaches a microphone decent people can cry "Look, a racist! What will it say? Let's listen so that we may gain a better understanding of wrong-headed thinking."
Two: The carrier landing was appreciated by the military and the public. And no one was overly concerned that it cost money for the commander to visit the troops. Even the moderate lefties could grasp this. "Find a real cause, please? You're embarrassing us." The sacrificial Byrd part could kick in if the backlash is strong enough, but it's not, and the issue fades.
Recently there's been a bit of chest thumping in the Blog community regarding the idea that "Blogs brought down Trent Lott" - I would hesitate to go that far. But is it at all possible that Blogs are looked at by policy makers, as another entry point into the American mind? I submit this for consideration: that said evaluators of the collective psyche would be remiss not to look at Blogs for this purpose. Certainly not as a final solution, but as I said, another reference point. And, perhaps, one that is growing in importance.
Note this look at the topic from London via Instapundit.
Consider the Blogosphere as comparable, perhaps, to talk radio of the 1980's - a presence on the political landscape, looked at as not too stable just yet. The difference, of course, is that talk radio of the '80s was very few (1?) people, while the Blogosphere is a modern day Wild Wild West of disparate ideas.
TO BE CONTINUED: Part Two: The most Dangerous Place on Earth?
...is still a few weeks away (from being born.)
However, ScrappleFace fans who are passing through may want to sign this "card" congratulating Scott Ott on his one millionth visitor. Scott is one of the genuine "good guys" of the Blogosphere, and runs one of the very few Blogs you could let your children read without concern for profanity, in the posts or comments. Yours truly began his blogging career in the ScrappleFace comments section. Thanks to word-of-mouth and numerous links to Scott via WSJ and other non-Blog locations I would imagine many folks are introduced to the Blogosphere the same way.
I thus submit "Gateway Blog" as a blog sub-category with few members, ScrappleFace being one. Any others?
Anyhow, take a minute if you will, to congratulate Scott. A little bit of "good vibe" wouldn't hurt the old blogworld, eh?
Note to Florida Democrats: this is not the post to sign. This is the post to sign.
Yep, had to de-link Sgt Hook. Should have done it days ago.
So I could link his great new off-blogspot site. Now go visit a real U.S. Army First Sergeant. See if he's scary.
Can somebody tell me if this guy is trying to vote for me in the Showcase? He's linked one of my posts, but it's not my entry. But it's in a post that seems to be addressing the New Weblog Showcase, and he says he can't figure out how to vote, .... ah, never mind. Do I have to go Free Republic clone and start blaming the public education system for this?
More Weblog Showcase Votes
Sanity's Edge: Top ten reasons to read my blog Because it's good and funny, that's why.
Danegerus weblog: Gary Hart Fisked A fellow member of the Emperor's Hegemony by Force group. Huaah.!
Graham Lester: A nonbeliever's defense of religion
(I don't agree with your viewpoint, Graham, but I've decided to vote for it, the irony is too good to pass up!)
Tiger, Raggin' and Rantin': There is an easy answer to the future continuation of this problem Tiger runs a nice Blog, and took the time to review everyone in the showcase. But wait...he forgot me. I'm crushed, especially since his vote for me would have broken our current tie for 4th place or something like that. (Far, far, below the MacRacist, see below) Oh well, I'll break the tie. (And so will the reciprocating votes. Nice move, Tiger. I still like your Blog.)
Freespeech.com: Bob Herbert forges forward with his class warfare Comments section includes eye opening info on this week's probable winner. A pleasant little troll, a real class act that submitted an entry ridiculing someone else's blog. Top it off, if this information is correct, it's by far the most blatantly racist individual I've seen in the blogosphere. (the MacRacist!) Can't argue with a winning strategy though. Up and coming young bloggers take note! (And tomorrow's blogosphere will surely be a better place.) Note: Freespeech, however, is a site worth reading. Check 'em out.
Back with more later if time permits!
And of course, those who wish to vote for the Mudville Gazette can do so by linking Sacred Words. http://www.mudvillegazette.com/archives/000027.html
Whether you vote for it or not, please read and consider the organizations linked at the end of the post.
Thanks, and we hope you enjoy today's visit to the Mudville Gazette!
Washington, D.C., IP News, Howell Raines reporting
In a spectacular show of solidarity a large contingent of international Rock Stars gave a joint press conference today on the topic of internet piracy and privacy issues.
Bono, speaking on behalf of the group Rock Against War (RAW), today praised the recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C., that compelled telecom giant Verizon Communications Inc. to surrender to the music industry the names of four Internet subscribers suspected of illegally offering free song downloads.
"Ze ACLU vill not be helping zem either. Now zere iz nozing shtopping us from rounding up zeese criminals und shooting zem!" Said the singer in a funny fake accent that drew a few uneasy chuckles.
"But seriously," he quickly added, "I do want to thank the suits for allowing us to keep our hands clean on this issue, and not forcing us stars to tarnish our reputations as cool, liberal, tolerant people! And thank the press for keeping this down low."
Verizon was forced to give up the names Wednesday. The Appeals Court rejected the telecom giant's request for a stay while it appeals a lower court decision won by the Recording Industry Association of America, a group assumed to have close mafia ties.
Rock Against War is an ad-hoc group formed spontaneously by all the major recording artists in the world in response to what they perceived as the "George Bush/Tony Blair/John Howard "Axis of Evil Empire Building" and resulting suspension of civil rights. Their slogan "We know who the real terrorists are!! Now appears on all members' official concert merchandise, with t-shirt sales alone meaning an incalculable exposure for the message.
Madonna, who was at the press conference via satellite from London, added "But now we're using our solidarity to fight other criminals as well, and our first target will be these slimeball internet pirates denying us huge profits by posting our copyrighted material for free downloading." The aging songstress blames dismal sales of her latest album on rampant internet piracy. "It's not the music!" she added "Because that's some of my best stuff ever. I'm still 'cutting edge', although the Bush administration's suppression by intimidation of my rights to free speech hasn't helped any!"
However, as no one was listening to her, The Fat Chick cut in. "That's right! Also, we need to do everything in our power to put a stop to the suppression of our speech and other rights by the American Government through the Patriot Act! Normal people minding their own business should not be treated like criminals!"
"Yes," concluded Bono, "that's why we've joined together to campaign to support America's Librarians in their quest to stop the evil John Ashcroft from getting in people's business!"
But the Fat Chick cut in again. "By the way, please note I'm a Rock star now. Country music sucks. Thank you."
The press conference then became impossible to understand as everyone began talking at once, completely oblivious to one another. Coincidentally the start was somewhat delayed by negotiations on order of appearance, with all participants refusing to be the "warm up act."
For IP News and The Mudville Gazette, Howell Raines reporting.
The year: 2009
Location: A major Hollywood Studio soundstage.
Scene: A movie being filmed. Camera cuts and dramatic music are intentionally done "soap opera style".
Woman (sobbing): What do you mean? What are you saying? Why did you lie to me?
Man (approaching her, arms extended): Now sugerbuns, don't get all...
Woman (sobs turning to anger): “I can hardly breathe, (gulps for
air) and you have the nerve to...
Man: Honey, now come on, you know your the only one I love!
(Man reaches woman, she smacks him)
Woman: (Sobbing but angry) Don't you honey me, you...
Hillrod: Cut!!
Mike M: Hey, I'm the director! I'm supposed to say that!
Hillrod: Shut up, you disgusting fatzoid shlob, or you'll wish you had free health care. I thought we agreed that my character would not display violent tendencies?
Mike M: Surveys of our target demographic indicate that they prefer a strong female role model who...
Hillrod: Surveys? You are polling people to see what they think? I'll tell you what they think! I tell them what they think!
Mike M: But the target demographic is young unmarried democrats, and...
Hillrod: When I want to know what young unmarried democrats think I'll call Chelsea! And by the way, you will start referring to me with some respect or I will have your fat butt right back in that unemployment line. Kapish, chubby?
Mike M: Yes, but I..
Hillrod: What did you say?
Mike M (sheepishly): Yes ma'am.
Hillrod: That's better. Now lets talk some more about casting.
Mike M: I thought we agreed..
Hillrod (through clenched teeth): You want to talk about "agreed", what did we just agree to one second ago? (A large man who had been standing near her now steps towards Mike M, while reaching under his suit coat)
Mike M: Ma'am, I'm sorry. (Large man steps back.) Please accept my apology. But on the subject of casting...
Hillrod: Listen carefully Jabba, I'm not going to have this version turn out like that Sharon Stone TV movie nightmare a few years back! That woman playing me, she's too old, she looks too plain, and she's not convincing me that she's shocked by Bill's nasty pig behavior...she sucks. She can't act to save her life. In fact, threaten her with death, maybe she'll...
Mike M: We can't do that, ma'am, she's union.
Hillrod: Okay, say no more. But I'll take care of the "union" thing soon as I get back to DC. Let me think about her fate for a while. She's not cutting it. I need to be convinced that I was shocked when I discovered my husband's treachery.
Mike M: As do we all, ma'am.
Hillrod: What was that, cretin?
Mike M: I said, "yes, she's too small" it's a Hollywood term, the roll is just too big for her. Ma'am.
Hillrod: Exactly! I knew I picked the right man to direct! Now, how about this hag you've got playing....her? The skank?
Mike M: Playing Monica? That's...
Hillrod: Do not mention that name in my presence!
Mike M: Yes Ma'am.
Hillrod: Now who is that unknown young skank?
Mike M: She's more of a has-been skank then an unknown, ma'am. An old friend from the Iraq war days who needed some work...
Hillrod: I don't care about any of that! Just give me her name, moron! She's a great actress, she's got me convinced that she's a whore attracted by my husband's fame!
Mike M: That's Janeane Garofalo, ma'am
Hillrod: I despise her completely. Have Ms Garofalo sent to my trailer immediately after shooting is done for today. But make her ditch that blue dress first!
Mike M: It's quite realistic, yes? You know that spot is actually..
Hillrod: I don't care! Keep your Hollywood secrets to yourself. Now, I've decided the fate of that no-talent hack playing me. Fire her now.
Mike M: Ma'am, this will set us back and we're already way over our budget, so maybe...
Hillrod: Listen, Moby, I've still got some campaign money from the American Muslim whosis and the Chinese just sent another briefcase full of...
Mike M: Maybe it's the script...
Hillrod: Don't know. Don't care. Haven't read it. Fire her now.
Mike M: Ms C, Ma'am, with all due respect, you can't just...
Hillrod (face completely red, spittle flying): I'm the President of this stink hole of a country, buster! Do not tell me what I can and can't do. Now if that homely no-talent hack can't convince me that I was absolutely crushed when I discovered the truth about my husband and his 'ho's then we will find somebody who can! I'll be in my trailer! (Stomps off, secret service agents in tow, stops and shouts back) And don't forget! Send me Gafugalo!
Mike M (mumbling) It's Garofalo, yer highness. (Now waddling over to actress portraying Hillrod) Hey, Ms. Streep, Meryl, ummmm...we need to talk...
This week's Carnival of the Vanities is at Drumwaster's Rants (an excellent Blog, by the way.) Go check it out, please, as both the Carnival and the host are full of good things to read.
My entry this week is Heat, Speed, and the Johnny Lightning Special.
Meanwhile, at The Truth Laid Bear, the New Weblog Showcase rolls on. The complete lack of voters from the "right wing" of the blogosphere continues. The left is exceptionally well represented as a couple Blogs from that quarter appear set to run away with the honors this week.
Here's the first of my votes, I'll likely cast more. Three is the minimum for an entrant, not the max, and there's lots of good'uns out there!
Sgt Hook Duty, Honor, Country
Mrs Pseudopsalms Israel
Serenity's Journal 100 Proof
Those who wish to vote for The Mudville Gazette can do so by linking Sacred Words. http://www.mudvillegazette.com/archives/000027.html
Whether you vote for it or not, please read and consider the organizations linked at the end of the post.
Thanks, and we hope you enjoy today's visit to the Mudville Gazette!
I've seen lots of rules to make your Blog popular. Here's a few more. I personally don't follow them all.
1. Focus on content - just content.
2. Cover all the big news stories of the day.
3. Be witty. Make people laugh and think.
4. Be "G" rated - but dont be afraid of the tough issues.
5. Police thy comments - make them "rated G" too. But otherwise let free speech reign.
6. Do not comment. Let the readers have their day. Attract a large number of readers who will be good enough to provide a share of the entertainment value on their own. They will love it.
So if you do these things will hundreds of other bloggers link you? Yes. Virtually every Blog out there will link you. Will thousands flock to your site? Yes. I've seen it happen. So why doesn't everybody do it?
Because there's only one ScrappleFace.
Congratulations Scott.
This should be your daily hit count.
Update: The on-line donation point is here.
From: "Dave Winters"
To: "J Greyhawk"
Cc:
Subject: RE: how-to donation info
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2003 12:12:25 -0400
We are currently setting up a webpage for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, and online contributions will be possible when it is up and running. In the
meantime, attached is info about our effort and how one can help.
Again, thank you so much for writing to us.,
DAVE WINTERS
_____________________
David A. Winters
Senior Vice President, Intrepid Museum Foundation
Consultant, Fisher House Foundation
Agent of the Board of Trustees, Armed Forces Foundation
One Intrepid Square
West 46th Street and 12th Avenue
New York, New York 10036
Phone: 212.957.7024
Fax 212.957.3718
Email: dwinters@intrepidmuseum.org
Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund
The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund was established by the Intrepid Foundation in 2000 to provide financial support for the dependents of United States military personnel lost in performance of their duty. This continues an effort begun in 1982 by Museum founders Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher. Between 1982 and 1999, when Zachary passed away, the Fishers made contributions of between $10,000 and $25,000 to the families of hundreds of military personnel lost in performance of their duty. These gifts were intended to assist these families through any financial hardships that might follow the loss of their loved ones. Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher personally funded this effort until Zachary’s passing in 1999.
The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund continues to provide gifts to military families that have paid the ultimate price: the loss of a loved one in defense of our country. Our goal is to provide financial support to help spouses and children of military personnel through any immediate or long-term financial difficulties they may face. This gift is made quietly and without fanfare, to protect the privacy of the families. Our goal is to support them in their time of need, and to ensure that they know that our nation appreciates the sacrifice they have made for us. The gift is made possible by contributions by Mr. Arnold Fisher, Mr. Richard L. Fisher, Mr. Steven Roth, the Stamps Family Foundation, Mr. Nelson Peltz, Mr. Thomas Lee, Mr. William Graham, and other generous supporters.
The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund is currently contributing to the spouses and children of U.S. and British military personnel killed in action, as defined by the casualty offices of the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard, and the Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom, in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
How to Help
To continue this vital service, we need your help. Contributions may be made payable to the Intrepid Museum Foundation and forwarded to the below address. 100% of contributions go to support military families. The Intrepid Museum Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization and contributions are tax deductible under applicable laws.
Contributions may be sent to
David A. Winters
Senior Vice President
Intrepid Museum Foundation
One Intrepid Square
West 46th Street and 12th Avenue
New York, New York 10036
For questions, please contact:
heroesfund@intrepidmuseum.org
Information for military families
The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund works in coordination with the casualty offices of the United States Armed Forces in determining families eligible for support. The Fund will provide support only to the surviving spouses and/or children of United States and British uniformed military personnel killed in action in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
To protect the privacy of the families we support, the Fund does not communicate directly with military families. Upon receiving confirmation from the armed forces casualty offices that a member of the armed forces has been killed in action in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and that the member has left behind a spouse or dependent child or children, the Fund will process a contribution for the family. The contribution will be forwarded to the casualty office of the members branch of service, who will in turn forward the contribution to the family.
Eligible military families need take no action in regard to this contribution. It will be delivered to them through the military casualty office.
The New Weblogs Showcase week one is complete. The winner is The Smallest Minority, congratulations to Kevin! And thanks to NZ Bear.
The New Weblogs Showcase week two has begun. My entry is Sacred Words and can be found here. (http://www.mudvillegazette.com/archives/000027.html) If you've already linked it, your link is not registering as a vote. So if you want to vote for it I suppose you must link again. This will be my final entry as The Mudville Gazette becomes too old to be new next week and repeat entries aren't allowed anyhow.
I've said this every time I've posted on this topic and will repeat it every week as I place my future votes: Vote for somebody! Vote for multiple somebodies! You can vote for every entry you like. It's that fatalistic lack of concern that got us eight years of Clinton.
Who needs BabelFish? I've found The Dialectizer!
REDNECK
OTT DEFENDS PLANS TO ACQUIRE BLOGGER.COM
(Rick Bragg, IP Noos, Warshin'ton)
Internashunal media mogul Ole Jeb Ott defended his compenny's proposed purchase of Google.com, tellyng lawmakers th' deal will not hurt competishun no' limit cornsoomr choices.
"This hyar is not annicompetitive," Mr. Ott, chairman an' chief executive of ScrappleFace, told a Senate panel, ah reckon.
JIVE:
OTT DEFENDS PLANS TO ACQUIRE BLOGGER.COM
(Rick Bragg, IP News, Wuzhin'ton)
Internashunal media mogul Scott Ott defended his company's proposed purchase uh Google.com, tellin' lawmakers de deal gots'ta not hurt competishun no' limit consuma' choices.
"Dis be not anticompetitive," Mr. Ah be baaad... Ott, chairman and chief 'esecutive uh ScrappleFace, told some Senate panel.
COCKNEY
OTT DEFENDS PLANS TO ACQUIRE BLOGGER.COM
(Rick Bragg, right, IP News, right, Werehington)
International media mogul Scott Ott defended 'is company's proposed purchase of Google.com, tellin' lormakers the bleedin' deal will not 'urt competition nor limit consumer choices, do wot guvnor!
"This ain't anticompetitive," Guvnor Ott, chairman and chief executive of ScrappleFace, right, told a Senate panel.
ELMER FUDD
OTT DEFENDS PWANS TO ACQWIWE BWOGGEW.COM
(Wick Bwagg, IP News, Washington)
Intewnationaw media moguw Scott Ott defended his company's pwoposed puwchase of Googwe.com, tewwing wawmakews the deaw wiww not huwt competition now wimit consumew choices. Oh, dat scwewy wabbit!
"Dis is not anticompetitive," Mw. Ott, chaiwman and chief executive of ScwappweFace, towd a Senate panew.
Now you can go have fun with it too. Other dialects available are Swedish chef, moron, pig latin, and hacker. I must warn you that something is wrong with 'moron', as the Mudville Gazette looked exactly the same when that dialect was applied.
(Here's the original story.)
Thanks to Serenity for the link. And great start on the new website, by the way.
Okay, very little time, but The Colorado Compound gets my vote in the Microbes on Parade. Effort+insight=great blog. Hearing to Open in Muslim ID Dispute
More on this later.
Now go vote before time runs out!
A GI's thoughts on the left's refusal to end a war...
As the left tries to salvage some shred of dignity from the train wreck of their "anti-war" rhetoric and pre-war predictions of disaster they turn increasingly to the WMD issue as one that leaves them some tiny morsel of credibility. Having gained no ground in the "It's all about the most expensive oil in the world!" argument they turn to the lack of discovery thus far and cry "See? See? We weren't wrong about everything!" Well, yes you were, so no, you don't even get this morsel, okay?
Really guys, it's way past time for you to sit down with that fresh hot cup of shut the #%&@ up. That the increase in whining about this issue comes on the heels of this, this, and this, to me just seems totally stunning. Who but the desperately brain-dead would continue to insist that it matters?
That the same spineless whiners would stoop to twisting the words of Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz on the issue to suit their agenda only adds to my sense of wonder. "I wonder how stupid these people think we are?" I asked the Mrs. mere moments ago...
Here's a great analogy everyone should read. (Thanks lgf for link.) And also consider this: Iraq could have begun manufacturing WMD whenever they wanted. There is every reason to believe they would, and that they would use them on us, most likely via terrorist type activity. Have we eliminated the threat of that? No. Have we reduced it? Yes. A lot of people know we mean business, and that we are good at the "mean business."
Recall when Reagan replaced the ineffective Carter in '81 - Iran immediately released the hostages. Some would claim this was an attempt to embarrass Carter. Others (the Ayatollah included) knew the truth; a new sheriff was in town.
But we are not a war-like people (sorry, "blame America first" crowd, it's true) and expecting that the Muslim world would leave us in peace just as we would them we didn't press that advantage. Lebanon was our first slip; not finishing the Gulf War in '91 was another, albeit a mistake vastly overwhelmed by the reality of our stunning victory. However, eight years of Clintonian running from danger resulted in complete loss of any respect or deterrent ability we had gained.
So once again there's a new Sheriff in town. And we appear to be ready to attempt to turn the tide that has seemed so inevitable over the past couple of decades. Even the most intensely hate-blinded adherents to the religion of peace must now come to grips with the fact that their actions have ended forever our "who cares?" attitude to their lives. They have gained our full attention. We are now quite obviously a force to be reckoned with in the Middle East, a role forced upon us and a mantle worn uneasily. Those who would use the term "Crusade" would be wrong. That we appear "Romanesque" in our approach to this is the more correct analogy. That this may cause some discomfort for people on both sides of the aisle in this country is certain, and healthy, and another sign of our fundamental goodness. We will not be there forever; we will not establish an empire. George Bush is not Caesar. The American people are not the Germans of 1937.
The same groups who attempted so viciously to prevent this war of Iraqi liberation are now (disappointingly but not surprisingly) trying desperately to foil the plans for a peaceful and prosperous post-war Iraq. They are without honor. Their declarations of disaster are without merit. Their spew remains poisonous and their motives unchanged; discredit Bush and get some otherwise hopeless cretin elected President in 04. Their current mantra invariably includes the initials "WMD."
This article by Mark Steyn makes the perfect final word on the subject. Unfortunately, I've no doubt the left will not "move on."
(Kathy Kinsley at On The Third Hand pointed to the Steyn article and inspired me to this result. Kathy, of course, has lots of other thought provoking entries for your enjoyment today (and always).)
