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Weather Conditions, Wish we were there... Odd things and such things, as I feel appropriate, possibly relating to the war. Email me at jll3a@hotmail.com. Look below for links to good sites, ebooks and such. Jerry Lawson, Proprietor Check out my other two blogs at: Meatblog- fighting fat with fat OilBlog- it ain't dinosaur puree after allOther Odd Links GetHighTech.Com - Palm & Handspring Parts & Accessories. Books Worth Paying For Free E-Books Project Gutenberg eBooks.com Fictionwise Baen Free Library BlackMask Memoware Non-Free E-Books Palm Digital Media Fictionwise Baen Books ElectricStory.com Reader Software Mobipocket.com - Reader & Books for Palm/Handspring ISILO Document reader Good Links Spiced Sass EJECT! EJECT! EJECT! Jake Arnsperger's Log A Small Victory The Famous Instapundit The Dreaded Purple Master Lilek's Daily Bleat Ye Olde Blogge Sgt. Stryker's Daily Briefing U.S.S. Clueless Daimnation! Travelling Shoes DailyPundit Cranky Professor Comics Gene Catlow Freefall 1/0 - has ended, dang it.. Sandwich World Archives My Popdex Game Profile Popdex Metapop |
Comments by: YACCS
Monday, March 31
Telegraph | News | Royal Marines storm Basra suburb For the Iraqis the arrival of the British also appeared to be welcome news. British troops discovered evidence of the brutality of the regime in a police station in the suburb where they found what appeared to be a torture chamber.Wait a second. I thought Basra was a quagmire! You mean - we're suceeding? What a concept! J. Sunday, March 30
Pyramid Schemes For generations of Americans, good nutrition means consuming a balanced diet from the four basic food groups, "layered" in an easy-to-understand scale within the U.S. Department of Agriculture's food pyramid. Today, however, we're seeing a multi-pronged attack on the famous food pyramid, with one activist group or another attacking nearly every layer for its own political gain.An interesting site - worth your time. Especially the ads on the home page... By the way, those ads are work-safe. Unless you work for PETA or Greenpeace... J. Tense times in a shooting gallery where civilians are the targets - War on Iraq - smh.com.au Most nights they sit out the shelling and the sniper fire; not daring to move from the room. But when the mortars work their way up the slope from the icy green river towards their mudbrick house, they abandon the room and make a dash for the mountains.And there are people who want desperately for this to continue. Why? Ask anyone in the Peace Movement. They have all the answers - it's about oil, it's about military contracts. It's about everything EXCEPT... The Iraqi people being shelled by their own government. J. Telegraph | News | Air defence head 'dismissed over market missiles' The head of baghdad's air defences has been sacked by Saddam Hussein over last week's explosions in two market places in the city, according to intelligence reports given to Tony Blair yesterday.Well. Who'd have thought it was Iraq's misses? Gee. What a surprise. I had NO idea. /sarcasm J. Saturday, March 29
Eject! Eject! Eject!: HISTORY All of these stories have a common thread: someone has gone back in time, tinkered ever so slightly, and produced a horrific world in which, for example, the Nazis and the Japanese divide their American possessions at the Mississippi. In them, something has gone horribly wrong.Read. And think about it. I have no other words. J. Anyone got any good suggestions as to glue for a sugar cube castle? Aaron and I have been building one - egg white doesn't quite cut it, and Elmer's glue seems to be doing the job - just wondering if anyone has any other suggestions... J. USS Clueless - Pandering to the membership Have you perhaps wondered why Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch is so quiet about what's going on in Iraq? We take out a television transmitter, and they call it censorship. Iraq fires on it's own people in Basra to keep them from escaping - and it's beneath their notice. Steven DenBeste has some speculations on just WHY they're silent. As the saying goes - it's all about the money. Specifically, the core supporters of AI and HRW aren't the folks in flyover country - it's the folks to whom the US can't do a damn thing right, no matter what. So a dead transmitter by the US is FAR more important than a couple hundred dead civilians who were killed by Iraq. Read the whole thing. It'll likely make you as mad as I was. J. Headline news from Sky News - Witness the event New intelligence suggests a series of Iraqi missiles have mis-fired and hit residential areas of Baghdad, Downing Street says.Things that make you go "Hmmm...." Remember that market explosion a few days back? There was another one yesterday. Hmmmm..... And apparently the commander of Iraq's air defence force has been... removed. Here's hoping he hasn't gotten a bullet in the head for non-performance. J. Wierd Spam: "Receive large breasts, securely and suddenly!" Heh. You find your amusements where you can. J. Friday, March 28
Truth in History We'll try it again. I didn't include any text in the image identifier - so the link didn't show. Enjoy. J. AP Wire: British: Iraqis Fire on Basra Residents CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar - Iraqi paramilitary forces in Basra fired mortars and machine guns Friday on about 1,000 Iraqi civilians trying to leave the besieged city, forcing them to retreat, British military officials and witnesses said.Now - remind me again how we're targeting women and children? How we're doing everything possible to commit genocide in Iraq? How we're dropping thousands of bombs, and have only managed to kill about 300 Iraqi civilians? Now, can you possibly explain WHY the Iraqi paramilitary thugs are shooting AT THEIR OWN PEOPLE? J. Thursday, March 27
The Black Hills Pioneer, Newspapers, South Dakota, SD SPEARFISH -- Stepping back from comments he made last week that President Bush failed "miserably" in diplomatic efforts to avoid war with Iraq, Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D. said Thursday, "My timing wasn't the best."Yeah. Your timing wasn't the best, but you spoke from the heart. That said, I'm still not going to vote for you. (Not that he's from Georgia. But if he were, I'd still refuse to vote for him.) J. Dreaded Purple Master I'll suggest that Iraq is fighting out of its weight class. The only reason we haven't glazed Baghdad is that we actually don't want to hurt them. And this does handicap us somewhat: Word is, the only reason Iraqi TV is still on the air is that their broadcast tower is on top of a daycare center and hospital. (Or so I've heard: Still searching for confirmation.) If true, I can't think of any way to read it other than to conclude that Iraqi children's lives mean more to the U.S. Army than they do to the Iraqi government.Yep. I think the following articles graphically illustrate how the Iraqi goverment views the lives of the children. Why am I reminded of madmen who take hostages and threaten to kill them if their demands aren't met? And of course, it's not THEIR fault that the hostage is dead, it's the fault of the police. Headline news from Sky News - Witness the event During General Vincent Brooks's briefing in Qatar, he told reporters that Iraqi forces are becoming increasingly desperate in their actions.All violations of the Laws of War. But you won't hear many of the peace folk protest that, I think. Headline news from Sky News - Witness the event US: MARKET WASN'T TARGETThere's an article that has the opposite take. Edinburgh Evening News - Top Stories - US says its jets probably hit market US says its jets probably hit marketAnd please note, I haven't seen the above confirmed anywhere else. I don't put it past the Iraqi forces to put a bomb into the marketplace. I'm sorry - it's just too unlikely that we'd: 1. Miss that badly. 2. Miss that badly it drops RIGHT into a market. While people are there. Car bombs, however, can be placed where you want them, and timed to go off when you want them to. And if you're grabbing kids out of their homes and threatening to shoot them if they don't fight - it's not a far step to killing your own folks when you know it'll gain you a propaganda victory. And, judging by the way it's trumpeted, it's a big one. And then there's ... France. Headline news from Sky News - Answer the Question! During a question and answer session at the end of his speech he refused to answer the question: "Who do you want to win the war?"Guy? Listen - France was weilding a pretty mean hammer there. But we're starting to find out why... Military Balance in the ME. You hear a fair amount about how much we sold Iraq as far as weaponry went. On page 22 of the linked article, you find a chart of arms sales before 1991. The following figures are the TOTAL purchases from each country by Iraq.Now - who was it who vetoed the UN resolution? And made it clear that they'd countenance NO action against Iraq, no matter the provocation? Russia was kind of hemming and hawing, but I'd say most of it was sold by the USSR. As far as France goes, if Saddam is deposed they can kiss their $9 billion goodbye. The Soviet Union is essentially gone - they aren't going to be sending bill collectors to Iraq for the money. But France - that $9 billion would help a LOT. And then there's the oil contracts they stand to lose. You know the saying - "follow the money" - and the money trail points pretty hard at France. And they won't say which side they want to win. You know, you straddle the fence long enough, and you get split down the middle. And this is it for the day! My eyes are starting to cross, I need to get off this thing...Busy today - maybe tomorrow I'll have time to blog more. J. Wednesday, March 26
Truth in History We'll try it again. I didn't include any text in the image identifier - so the link didn't show. Enjoy. J. Tuesday, March 25
CBS News | U.S. Drops 'E-Bomb' On Iraqi TV | March 25, 2003 22:27:57 (CBS) The U.S. Air Force has hit Iraqi TV with an experimental electronmagetic pulse device called the "E-Bomb" in an attempt to knock it off the air and shut down Saddam Hussein's propaganda machine, CBS News Correspondent David Martin reports.Hmmm. The shows were BAD, but not THAT bad... So now we wait and see. (See what? Heck if I know! That's why we've got to wait and see!) J. Way back HERE I posted an exchange on Indymedia where two people were discussing freedom for Iraq. I heard from the gentleman today who posted something rather unkind to a gentleman looking for support for the Iraqi people. At the time, I posted the following. Compassion, thy name is the peace movement. So, it's BETTER for the Iraqi people to be under a dictator, because they're unable to get out of his tyrrany through their own efforts, than be liberated by the US or UK.Apparently, sometimes seeing ourselves as others see us has a sobering effect on our excesses. Alex posted the following in the comments. I am the same person who posted that.I commented back the following. Alex:To which he replied... I'd be happy to see my post on your main page, as long as you don't change it or use parts of it.I have a great deal of respect for Alex. When faced with information that didn't match his worldview, a lot of people go into denial, get angry or defensive or what have you. Alex considered the information, and decided he was wrong on an issue - it takes a great deal of courage to examine yourself like that, and even more to admit you can be wrong or that you hurt someone else. Like Alex, I wish that war wasn't necessary at this point. However, there doesn't look to be any reasonable alternative, and leaving things as they are is not acceptable. If we must go to war, it looks like we're doing it as well as we can, with as few casualties as possible. And that is, at this point, the best we can do. By the way, Alex, I'll be e-mailing you later this evening (my time) - can't do it from work. And, thank you. J. From Indymedia - bottom photo... See the losers, how big they've grown. They think society should be overthrown, Because they're not valued for what they are, Spoiled nuts from a pickle jar... They hate the US, they hate the cash, that they need to use to buy their stash - "Agrarian is what we want to be!" - with a life expectancy of forty-three? "Rip it down, let anarchy prevail!" A stupid refrain, a nightly wail. They don't understand what keeps them alive Is a society rich enough for them to thrive. Hand to mouth, and they'd starve fast. They're nowhere near smart enough to last. Hatred and anger - they've got plenty But it doesn't put food in an empty belly. J. P.S.: BTW, are those sneakers you're wearing, guy? Real sneakers? Made in Indonesia? Or maybe Taiwan? Heck, I can't tell - are they Nikes maybe? Oh, you got them from Sears. Hmmm. Rage on against the machine, man. J. Monday, March 24
Beautiful day yesterday - much better things to do than sit in front of the computer. Hammock - little boy - large chunk of meat on the grill - yeah, much better things. However - today there's a few things I'd like to mention. Media reports that there's resistance aren't surprising. What IS surprising is the type of resistance - that we're seeing reports that Iraqi units surrender - and then when they can they attack their captors. This is flat-out WRONG according to the rules of war. It makes the Iraqi Army look like criminals - which may not be far off from the truth. Geneva Convention be damned - once you surrender, you SURRENDER. You don't use surrendering as a ploy to get where you can do damage to the enemy. And as far as prisoner treatment goes, are the folks who were hopping mad about our putting prisoners in Camp X-ray in Guantanamo outraged over the POW shots on Al-Jazeera? (Crickets chirping) Well, at least you aren't REJOICING over them. At the very least, you damn well better not - because it shows that you don't give a damn about the Geneva Convention protocols, you'd rather see dead or tortured Americans. And understand this - if WE are being held to the letter of the law on the Geneva Convention, you'd BETTER not give a pass to IRAQ on it. On other aspects - the media is trying to portray us as being at the brink of losing the war, because the Iraqi army hasn't given up. Ah, excuse me? We HOPED they'd give up - that they didn't isn't unforseen or unexpected. We've got a LONG way to go yet. WW2 wasn't won in a day, you know, and this is AT LEAST as vital as that was. On the fragging incident - this has pretty well eroded my belief that Islam is a peaceful religion. Apparently this scum 'got religion' a couple of years back, changed his name to an Islamic name - and then tossed grenades into the tents of the commanders of the 101st Airborne, and tried shooting them as they came out. The military has a term for people like that. (Fucking traitor. Excuse me - fucking ALLEGED traitor. Until the court martial convenes. Even Johnny Cochrane couldn't get him off.) And there's a medical term for what he should soon be. (Dead. Excuse me - Metabolically Challenged.) I just can't WAIT to see the excuses on that. And of course, Indymedia's got some prime shit on it. They're happy - it fits with their perverted worldview. Of course, there's folks who aren't quite so... willing to accept that particular viewpoint. Gotta go. Support our troops! Give blood, give to the USO - it's for the good of all! J. Sunday, March 23
Two Jewish youths hospitalized after being attacked in Paris WTF is going on with France? It looks like they're starting to implode, and anarchy is the norm. J. Saturday, March 22
Telegraph | Opinion | I was a naive fool to be a human shield for Saddam It hit me on visceral and emotional levels: this was a real portrayal of Iraq life. After the first conversation, I completely rethought my view of the Iraqi situation. My understanding changed on intellectual, emotional, psychological levels. I remembered the experience of seeing Saddam's egomaniacal portraits everywhere for the past two weeks and tried to place myself in the shoes of someone who had been subjected to seeing them every day for the last 20 or so years.It's easy to ignore a situation that's been going on a long time. It's easy to think it's not as others are telling you it is. But when you're immersed in it, when you can actually SEE it, when you can SEE that the people involved are frightened and cowed, virtual slaves - you get a different perspective on things. And you wise up. J. Saddam Meets Top Officials, Praises Army -Iraq TV (washingtonpost.com) BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi state television said President Saddam Hussein chaired a meeting of his top officials on Saturday and said he was satisfied with the performance of Iraqi soldiers facing a U.S. and British invasion.Hmmm. Must be some definition of "performance" and "satisfaction" that's exclusively Iraqi... Unless he's happy that they're surrendering, and not putting up much of a fight. J. Times Online IRAQI conscripts shot their own officers in the chest yesterday to avoid a fruitless fight over the oil terminals at al-Faw. British soldiers from 40 Commando’s Charlie Company found a bunker full of the dead officers, with spent shells from an AK47 rifle around them.Shame these guys aren't Iraqi, then... J. The War Machine - The military's laptop of choice provokes shock and awe. By Paul Boutin Just as Desert Storm boosted the sales of Hummers and GPS handhelds, Gulf War II will spawn its own crossover hits, pieces of military equipment that become civilian fetish objects. A prediction: One of the war's big winners will be Itronix's GoBook MAX, a sort of Windows laptop on steroids. The GoBook MAX has already been spotted in video from the front, and Air Force firemen deployed in Turkey have them. If Gulf War II is the first Internet war, then a computer should be its first piece of military chic.And with that - goodnight! (Hey, sweetie? This is what I want for Christmas...) J. Friday, March 21
Al Qaeda's Fantasy Ideology My first encounter with this particular kind of fantasy occurred when I was in college in the late sixties. A friend of mine and I got into a heated argument. Although we were both opposed to the Vietnam War, we discovered that we differed considerably on what counted as permissible forms of anti-war protest. To me the point of such protest was simple — to turn people against the war. Hence anything that was counterproductive to this purpose was politically irresponsible and should be severely censured. My friend thought otherwise; in fact, he was planning to join what by all accounts was to be a massively disruptive demonstration in Washington, and which in fact became one.Ah. This is it - this is what I remembered. THIS is why the violent protestors are doing what they're doing. And why they'll fail. They aren't trying to win support. They're just doing it for the thrill they get. Other people be damned - THEY are all that matters. J. The Intellectual Origins Of America-Bashing by Lee Harris - Policy Review, No. 116 Those who, speaking in Marx's name, try to defend the fantasy ideology embodied in 9-11 are betraying everything that Marx represented. They are replacing his hard-nosed insistence on realism with a self-indulgent flight into sheer fantasy, just as they are abandoning his strenuous commitment to pursuit of a higher stage of social organization in order to glorify the feudal regimes that the world has long since condemned to Marx’s own celebrated trash bin of history.Long, but worth reading. It may well explain why the protestors are doing what they're doing. J. KTVU.com - News - SF Police Find Cache Of Molotov Cocktails SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco arson investigators removed 12 Molotov-type cocktails on Friday from a backpack discovered by a groundskeeper cleaning up debris left by anti-war protesters in a downtown alley way.A violent group of peace demonstrators? No! Say it ain't so! Read the whole thing. These people are doing a Real Good Job of alienating any support they may have from the general public and the media. Consider the critical tone here - and this is a San Francisco station! They piss off the media, and they'll really lose the PR battle - if they haven't lost it already. As it is, they're not paying attention to what's coming out of Iraq. One of those arrested was Vanessa Acosta, 45, of Highland Park. She knelt in the street and prayed the rosary. She held a sign saying "Peace is the first casualty in war." She held her hands together in prayer as she was led away.And they would think you a fool for doing what you're doing. No, I take that back. Saddam would be cheering you on. J. A group of American anti-war demonstrators who came to Iraq with Japanese human shield volunteers made it across the border today with 14 hours of uncensored video, all shot without Iraqi government minders present. Kenneth Joseph, a young American pastor with the Assyrian Church of the East, told UPI the trip "had shocked me back to reality." Some of the Iraqis he interviewed on camera "told me they would commit suicide if American bombing didn't start. They were willing to see their homes demolished to gain their freedom from Saddam's bloody tyranny. They convinced me that Saddam was a monster the likes of which the world had not seen since Stalin and Hitler. He and his sons are sick sadists. Their tales of slow torture and killing made me ill, such as people put in a huge shredder for plastic products, feet first so they could hear their screams as bodies got chewed up from foot to head." So. Are we doing the right thing? J. From IndyMedia UK Regarding an article about a 'Peace' protestor who got on a RAF base and bravely took a hammer to an un-guarded Tornado, there were a number of interesting replies. The most interesting was this little exchange...
Compassion, thy name is the peace movement. So, it's BETTER for the Iraqi people to be under a dictator, because they're unable to get out of his tyrrany through their own efforts, than be liberated by the US or UK. Damn. This is the caring 'Peace Movement"? The folks who 'Care' about women and children? The people who don't want any blood spilled in war, but don't seem to care at all about blood spilled by dictators? Morally bankrupt doesn't come CLOSE to describing them. But Iraqi Exile does have an additional comment or two... From Iraqi Exile to AlexMore like in his head - but that's as may be. Here you see a fine example of the moral center of the peace movement. It's not about the people who need peace, it's about the people who are protesting. They're 'for' the victims - but don't want to see the victims escape their chains. Pathetic. J. Thursday, March 20
And I think I shall follow the good advice of Captain DenBeste. There's nothing I can do, and I'll get all wound up following the war - so I might as well go to sleep. Goodnight! J. >bt: Protesting the Protesters II << Video Oh, man. You can't make this stuff up. Requires Quicktime... J. San Francisco protesters stage a 'vomit in' 08:41 PST -- In a unique form of opposition, some protesters at the Federal Building staged a "vomit in,'' by heaving on the sidewalks and plaza areas in the back and front of the building to show that the war in Iraq made them sick, according to a spokesman.Oh yeah. THIS will really get you support. You want to make a difference? Try apologizing to the poor wage slave that has to clean up your barf. I'm sure HE will be cognizant of the essential rightness of your cause. Or did you clean up after yourselves after the protest? (Which would have been the MORAL thing to do. Problem is - I think you've only got a nodding acquaintance with morality and civic responsibility in the first place. But hey - although I find you morally lacking and publicly disgusting - I wouldn't puke on your shoes for it.) J. USS Clueless And in particular, when you hear any kind of hot report of critical breaking news, take a deep breath. Breath it out. And then try to cultivate philosophical patience. If it's really true, in a few hours it will become apparent. And if it's a distortion, you won't hear much more about it. The more important it seems to be, the longer you should wait before reacting.Very good advice from Captain DenBeste - there's going to be a whole lot of stuff flying through the media. Some will be right, some will be wrong - but just because you agree or disagree with something doesn't make it automatically right or automatically wrong. So, as he advises, take a deep breath - and wait. The fog of war eventually dissapates. J. $2 at Taco Bell On my way home from the second job I've taken for the extra holiday cash I need, I stopped at Taco Bell for a quick bite to eat. In my billfold is a $50 bill and a $2 bill. That is all of the cash I have on my person. I figure that with a $2 bill, I can get something to eat and not have to worry about people getting pissed at me.Of course, is life ever that simple? And a tip of the hat to the Dreaded Purple Master who had this via Instapundit, via South Knox Bubba. J. Daily Pundit Archives 2. It is important for the lessons of the Iraq campaign to sink into countries like Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iran. If the campaign goes well, two points will sink in: First, that the international system, alliances and institutions cannot contain American power; there is no protection there. And second, that the American ability to exercise warfare at extreme distances is overwhelming. Therefore, resistance to the United States is less rational than accommodating the United States. Since Washington seeks a change of behavior -- and war is merely a means toward that end -- time must be taken to allow the lessons of Iraq to be absorbed.Stick - or carrot? We'll see which one wins. J. Wednesday, March 19
Air raid sirens in Bagdad. Nothing on-screen yet - CNN is doing the usual wall to wall coverage. AA firing - nothing visible in the sky. No detonations on the ground. Good luck, Salam Pax and Raed - wherever you are. Signing off for the night. J. Lt. Smash is down. A very good blog, the Lieutenant's been posting from a very sandy place, close to where the action will be. I'm hoping it's a temporary thing. Godspeed, Lieutenant. And God bless. J. For 12 years, Saddam ignored 17 UN resolutions calling for his disarmnament. He hemmed and hawed and stalled and finally kicked out the UN inspectors. He thumbed his nose at the international community, and played the UN like a violin. Well, time's up. THESE inspectors aren't going to be stopped. Kick ass, guys - and don't stop to take names! J. France and Germany think they may have gone too far. (File this under the "No shit, Sherlock" category.) J. Now, we've been hearing on occasion about how 'non-violent' the peace protestors actually are. How they're not the ones doing the break&entering stuff on businesses, smashing windows and the like. Why, they're peaceful. They wouldn't hurt a fly. Right. They're clueless. Worse yet, they're VIOLENTLY clueless. black bloc for the night the war starts. SFPD has red squads with cameras everywhere. do you trust john ashcroft? wear a black mask, shirt, pants, etc so that we can be ANONYMOUS ON THE STREETSIt's all about the OOOIL to them, supposedly - but they're looking to PAR-TEE! And what sort of things do these 'peaceful' protestors intend to do? But there ARE voices of sanity on Indymedia. They're rare, but they're there. I just don't get itYeah. Violence and riots are going to get support for you? Slicing tires? Smashing windows? Being a rampaging punk? This will HELP the anti-war movement? Don't think so, bub. And if you were bothering to think about what others might be thinking of your little 'actions', you'd probably realize it too. J. Tuesday, March 18
The Palistinian Peace community has significant problems. An member of the 'International Solidarity Movement' holds a portrait of Rachel Corrie and a wreath of flowers as he stands in front of an Israeli army armored vehicle in the Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip.Uh, guy? That ain't the front... Better hope the backup lights work. Or there's a beeper. J. Times Online - First shots fired at sea as allied battle plan unfolds THE first shots of the war have been fired, killing at least one Iraqi during a suspected operation to mine the waters off Kuwait. But that opening skirmish is about to be dwarfed by the most formidable military assault in modern warfare: 250,000 British and American troops — backed by more than 1,000 aircraft, 400 tanks and a 110-strong armada — are poised to unleash their awesome power on Saddam Hussein’s Iraq the moment the order is given.And so - it starts. J. In the category of "Too Little, Too Late" our winner is - FRANCE! - WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Despite French opposition to a war in Iraq, the French military could assist a U.S.-led coalition should Iraq use biological and chemical weapons against coalition forces, the French ambassador to the United States said Tuesday.Gee. Thanks for the HELP, guys. You wouldn't HELP before, but you're willing to HELP now. Now, that we've told you to go piss up a rope. Now that you've said you'll block any military action with a veto. Now that it looks like you're going to have all your oil contracts with Iraq VOIDED - (Hmmm. The peacenicks are right - it WAS all about the "ooooiiilll" - only not the way they figured) you indicate you're willing to HELP. Go away. The time to offer your HELP was months ago. Now it looks like you're desparately trying to maintain your 'relevance' in the world. But Chirac's already blown that for you. And an official in the French president's office referred to statements made Monday by French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, who said, "If the U.S. and our allies face a new and unforeseen situation in a new crisis, France would obviously be on their side to show solidarity in the face of an exceptional crisis."Oh. Really? You missed your chance to show the 'solidarity', guys. Now you're going to try to pretend that 'veto' crap wasn't serious, that it was all good diplomatic fun and games? That you didn't really mean it? That you'll be there when the chips start flying? Forgive my skepticism - but we've seen what your 'solidarity in the face of an exceptional crisis' is worth. That plus a buck and a nickle will buy a McChicken sandwich. J. Monday, March 17
CNN.com - Bush previews speech for congressional leaders - Mar. 17, 2003 But Daschle, who voted for the October resolution, lashed out at President Bush on Monday, saying he had "failed so miserably" at diplomacy in the crisis with Iraq that the United States now stands on the brink of war.No thanks to you, asshole. Run for President - you've got about the same chance as Al Sharpton after that. There's no way diplomacy would work. Diplomacy requires both sides to give and take - and Saddam wasn't giving more than a very small token amount. And now - he's moving chemical weapons up. The weapons he swore he didn't have. Diplomacy Did Not Work. Unless you were hoping Saddam would expire from old age - in that case, it MIGHT have worked - but the costs in the mean time would be HORRENDOUS. I don't like the idea of war. But there's a shitload of things I like even less. Saddam continuing in Iraq and building WMD is one, Saddam funding Palestinian suicide bombers is another, Saddam giving aid and comfort to Al Quaeda is a third. Saddam defying 17 UN resolutions for 12 years is a fourth. And the French - they've shown the UN has no teeth, and it has to borrow them from the US whenever they've got to bite someone. Daschle needs to immigrate, IMO. He and the French would happily blame that damn simplesme' cowboy Bush for cleaning out the nest of snakes that's Iraq. You can talk at a snake all day. But it doesn't have ears. Diplomacy is wasted on snakes. J. FOXNews.com - Iraq Arming Troops With Chemical Weapons Senior Defense and other U.S. officials confirmed that intelligence reports indicate that Saddam Hussein's troops are armed with chemical munitions.Now, tell me how Saddam's a poor, innocent humanitarian just concerned with the welfare of his people? Who wouldn't even THINK of using chemical weapons? You believed him when he said he didn't have any, right? Saddam's the good guy, right? We'll see. J. WE SUPPORT OUR TROOPS WHEN THEY SHOOT THEIR OFFICERS. This pisses me off so much... THAT sort of sentiment from the "Peace" crowd? On the main page there's a picture of the banner - not in the other pictures of the demonstration. What's the matter - didn't they make the cut? These people don't have a clue - not a single clue. Saddam, to them, is a side issue. Disregard the fact the man's killed over a million of his people - this is an Anti-Bush demonstration dressed up as an anti-war rally. It's all about how MEAN GWB is. And of course it turned violent. Man, I'm SO glad I don't live in California. It must be something in the damn water or something... J. Sunday, March 16
Israeli Bulldozer Kills U.S. Woman, 23 (washingtonpost.com) Rachel Corrie, 23, a college student from Olympia, Wash., had been trying to stop the bulldozer from tearing down a building in the Rafah refugee camp, witnesses said. She was taken to Najar hospital in Rafah, where she died, said Dr. Ali Moussa, a hospital administrator.And a human shield fails. Pause your mouse cursor on the photo above for the caption. Just your standard anti-war protestor, against the evil US. So reasonable looking, so willing to look at both sides of any issues that concern her. So dead. I'm sorry if I don't sound sympathetic here, but the human shield fantasy is just that - a fantasy. You have someone going and protecting the Palestinians - a group that's so well-loved in the Arab world that NOBODY wants them on their land (See their record in Jordan) and that gets pushed hard against the Israel people at every opportunity. It's a win-win for the Arab world - if the Palestinians actually win and destroy Israel, the Arab world will displace the Palestinians and nobody will object - if the Palestinians are destroyed by Israel, then it's another reason to hate the Jews, but no real loss as far as the Palestinians go. But be a human shield for them? Its like being a human shield for a bunch of folks in a crack house who are shooting at everything that moves in the street. You don't want the cops to roust out the crackheads, so you try to block a cop car - and get run over. Regrettable - but the crackheads wouldn't give a shit. And the Palestinians won't mourn her for long - if they did at all. J. Guardian Unlimited Sport | Special reports | India v New Zealand Meanwhile, have you ever thought WHAT SORT OF LIFE IS THIS AND WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING BOARDING A TRAIN FOR MOORGATE AT 6.30 IN THE MORNING AND THEN STANDING AROUND FOR AGES WAITING FOR A TUBE WHILE STARING AT A SIGN TELLING YOU THAT IF YOU WAIT FOR FOUR MINUTES YOU CAN BOARD A TRAIN TO UXBRIDGE I'D RATHER WAIT FOUR HOURS FOR A JOURNEY WITH THE GRIM REAPERThoughts of a Cricket Reporter. The game will drive you mad. J. YETI@Home YETI@Home is a scientific experiment that harnesses the power of hundreds of thousands of Internet-connected computers in the search for giant ape-like creatures (YETI). We, the YETI team members who founded this experiment, are experts in the field of cryptozoology (the study of animals that do not exist).First, SETI@Home. Now, for those a bit more down-to-earth (so to speak) you can search a bit closer-to home. Enjoy! J. FrontPage magazine.com - A Grateful Briton Dear America, you quirky mix of 280 million misfits that have somehow blended into the strongest nation in the world, I write to offer you four apologies and two vows.It's rather unfortunate that sometimes one's preconceptions can take precedence when you're trying to sort out what ACTUALLY is from what you THINK is. It's been pretty easy to go "Well, Bush is just a simplese' cowboy" and discount and denigrate his efforts to take care of what actually IS a problem, but maybe it's finally it's starting to sink in that the US isn't the problem here - no more than Britain was the instigator of WW2. J. Saturday, March 15
Telegraph | News | Iraqis launch campaign of sabotage and defiance to undermine Saddam Open acts of defiance by opponents of Saddam Hussein's regime have intensified in the past week, with saboteurs carrying out attacks against Iraq's railway system and protesters openly calling for the overthrow of the Iraqi dictator.The Iraqi people aren't stupid, by any stretch of the imagination. They KNOW they've got a madman as their leader - but without the external support it's been pretty difficult to get a rebellion going. A failed one would be death to them all. But now, with Saddam otherwise occupied... they're starting to move. They know they've got external support - they know that although the French, Germans, and Russians are for Saddam, no one else is. The Iraqi battle has started. J. Unified Theory of Liberal Stupidity - or - Why does the Left hate Western Civilization? The reality of the poor being better off in America (or other Westernculture societies) than anywhere else in the world does not phase their arguments. It's a moot point to them. Ditto the others. The communist countries had the worst environmental record in the world; the only saving grace was that they were so inefficient they couldn't do more damage. Orphans in America get clothing stipends and Christmas gifts that when Karin and I were "just making it" often had us green with envy. In Romania they were chained to their beds and fed a bowl of gruel a day. The reason you don't see "homeless" in Iraq is that they are all in prison or murdered by the government.John Ringo's been a lot of places, done a lot of things. (He's also the author of the books to the left - hint, hint.) And he's not ashamed to call it like he sees it when it comes to stupidity on either side. In the above referenced article he asks "Why do they hate themselves?" when it comes to the Left - and has some surprising (well, somewhat surprising) answers. Enjoy. J. Friday, March 14
The Sun Newspaper Online - UK's biggest selling newspaper A SCHOOL has banned the Three Little Pigs story from classes — in case it offends Muslims.Pre-emptive PC Strike! It MIGHT be offensive, so let's ban it! J. Movie Poop Shoot - Monkeyman Monkey ManOr - what would happen if Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly took over from the Charles Shultz estate. A hat tip to Amygdala for the link. It's his fault. J. United Press International: Kurd PM: French, Russians to lose Iraq oil French and Russian oil and gas contracts signed with the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq "will not be honored," Barhim Salih, a leading Iraqi Kurdish official, said in Washington Friday, just before a series of high-level meetings with Bush administration officials.Whoops. France and Russia may have backed the wrong horse. J. Thursday, March 13
Times Online THE message scrawled on the side of an American bunker-busting bomb being wheeled out into the desert was blunt: “Fuque the French” had been scrawled on the side by a member of the US Air Force.Oh, the sheer HORROR! Why, France might cease exporting escargot in protest of such villification! (Is it okay to make fun of the French?) J. ABCNEWS.com : Saddam Could Launch First Strike Specific new evidence indicates that Iraqi activity in the Western desert shows the strong likelihood Scud missiles are hidden there. These missiles could easily reach Israel carrying chemical or biological warheads which could draw Israel into any war.But, but, I thought he said he didn't have any poison gas! Or other WMD! Damn - could he have been... LYING? (Sigh. You know, it's hard to make fun of something like this. All along he's been saying he's innocent and unarmed and the inspectors haven't beena ble to find anything - and now he's pulling stuff out of his sleeves like a magician. Goes to show, you have twelve years to hide stuff with a virtually unlimited budget and the prediliction of killing whoever knows where the stuff is except for a VERY trusted few - and you can hide a LOT of stuff.) Well, about all I can say is he may get the first punch in - but in war it's not who gets the first punch. The last punch, however... that's another story. J. Tuesday, March 11
davidwarrenonline.com - ESSAYS ON OUR TIMES The gap is now clearly unbridgeable. Those not already onside with the U.S. are opposed to war under any circumstances at all. The revelations of the last few days -- including the discovery by U.N. inspectors in Iraq of such "smoking guns" as a gas-spewing air drone, and delivery devices for chemical and biological bombs; the revelation on Al-Jazeera TV of one of Saddam's suicide-terrorist camps; the public threat by a member of Iraq's cabinet to gas the Kurds again; multiple reports of the placing of explosives in Iraqi oil wells both north and south; the allegation that France has been shipping spare parts for the repair of Saddam's air fleet through third parties in the Gulf -- such overwhelming evidence of the true state of affairs is ignored alike by media and diplomats. They have reached their decision, to isolate and damage the United States as much as possible, and grant Saddam a pass. They don't want to know about anything that doesn't advance their argument, just as the appeasers of Hitler in a former generation did not want to know.This just pisses me off. J. Well. This and This have gone unidentified. I suppose it's not too surprising. That's a pretty old base, and no longer an active one as far as the AF is concerned. There's a number of things going on there, but from what I was able to find a lot of the dorms have been torn down, and although I spent about three months there, it's not one I ever really plan on going back to. But for hints - technicians learned about Quail there - and other things like the LGM series deployed in the US. Will that help? If you give up, that's okay. Just tell me what THIS is... Enjoy! J. U.S. Halts Surveillance Flights in Iraq The U-2 planes were flying missions at 2 a.m. Iraqi time for the U.N. weapons inspectors when Iraq launched fighter jets. According to U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, the threat was directed against one of the planes.Two U-2 planes over Iraq at once - and they throw a hissy-fit. The UN immediately apologizes. They're telling Iraq what the schedules are that the U-2s are flying... What's wrong with that picture? You'd almost think they were trying to hide something. But wait a sec! They don't have anything to hide! They don't HAVE any WMD! Hmmm. What's wrong with the ENTIRE PICTURE here? J. You know, I'm getting a bit tired of the anti-war stance of "We've got to do everything possible, exhaust all diplomatic possibilities before war should be considered as an option." We've been DOING that. We've tried containment, sanctions, and shaking our finger sternly at Saddam. We've tried the occasional cruise missile, overflights, and trashing any radar site that locks on to our planes. We've tried 17 UN resolutions - that would seem to have all the effect of toilet paper. (And, indeed, may be used by Saddam FOR that - for all the good they've done) We have him saying they've got no WMD, then threatening us with the same. And it's like every moring the clock starts fresh for the anti-war crowd. Don't they have ANY idea what's gone before? Don't they CARE that he's killing his own people? That although HE is free to disregard the UN's pronouncements with NO repercussions - even a stern scolding from Amnesty International or other anti-war folk, the US is held to a higher standard and severely criticized if ANY civilians get hurt? Apparently, it doesn't matter and doesn't register worth spit. (And speaking of that, if you're tired of spitting it's possible to get artificial spit. Ewww.) And it's no longer looking like reasoned anti-war debate, but unreasoned anti-American sentiment. You know, I don't want to see war happen. But there's worse things than war - and we're headed right into that scenario. And it's going to be costly. J. Sunday, March 9
Times Online - Blix 'hid smoking gun' from Britain and US BRITAIN and the United States will today press the chief UN weapons inspector to admit that he has found a “smoking gun” in Iraq. Such an admission could persuade swing voters on the Security Council to back the March 17 ultimatum.Sigh. Bury it deep in the details and hope nobody notices? Or was it just an 'inadvertent' mistake that he didn't mention it? Either way - there's something pretty darn fishy about all this. I'm thinking we're going to find some pretty damning stuff in Iraq, and there's going to be European labels on an awful lot of it. The UN may be about to self-destruct, too. You can't have inspectors hiding their findings. That's almost as bad as having UN troops stand by while Muslims were slaughtered in Serbia. J. Microsoft TerraServer Imagery Ah, the good old days. Can you identify this? Two points if you can. And for an extra "5" points, you see the two water towers. What is the small building directly to the southwest of the bottom tower? Why 5 points? Because there's very few cues to the function of that building. The building to the west of the water towers was at one time the Class 6 store, IIRC. The one to the southwest of the towers had a vital purpose, too. Just trying to make it a bit harder for you! J. http://terraserver.homeadvisor.msn.com/image.aspx?t=1&s=10&x=2007&y=22309&z=16&w=2 Sunday_Mirror.co.uk - SADDAM'S SOLDIERS SURRENDER TERRIFIED Iraqi soldiers have crossed the Kuwait border and tried to surrender to British forces - because they thought the war had already started.Ummm, aren't you're supposed to wait until the war actually starts? But it does show just how the average Iraqi soldier may be feeling. J. Saturday, March 8
NewCrusader.com-Freedom in the Middle East! - French complicity What happens when we fail to act against evil?Sometimes - war isn't the worst thing that could happen. J. Mean Mr. Mustard: Job Opportunities Apparently, Al Quaeda's having a few... recruitment problems. J. Pyongyang: We'll put a torch to New York - smh.com.au North Korea would launch a ballistic missile attack on the United States if Washington made a pre-emptive strike against the communist state's nuclear facility, the man described as Pyongyang's "unofficial spokesman" claimed yesterday.Okay - here's a question for you. What sort of leader of a communist regime would WANT to start a nuclear war? Someone who knows he's got little or nothing to lose, whether they go to war or not. Let's face it. The Socialist paradise of North Korea has failed big-time. Their people are starving, Their economy subsists by selling war materials to other semi-socialist countries, and they're not doing much business there. In other words, their econopmy isn't tanking, it's hit the bottom of the tank and dug it's way a couple hundred feet further down. They'd need an economic miracle to get UP to Great Depression levels. The Leader of the country is a narcissictic SOB who's so ingrained in the "I can do no wrong' method of leadership that he'd destroy his country before admitting he's wrong. He figures he can get whatever he wants by threatening to go to war - and the less attention we pay him, the more extreme the threats get. Well, guess we'll see what happens with North Korea... J. Okay. It's pretty obvious that I'm making this stuff WAY too easy. Firstly, I'm using the images off TerraServer - which gives the game away as far as location goes. After all, you've got the location at the top of the screen, for crying out loud. Second, I think I'm giving you too many hints. I'm gonna have to think on this. (Evil grin.) J. Friday, March 7
Buildings From Above! What's their function? And how tall are they? And for an EXTRA point - What's This? I'm not sure I should give any further hints.. Enjoy! J. Thursday, March 6
Russian Information Agency Novosti TEHRAN, March 6, 2003. /from RIA Novosti correspondent Nikolai Terekhov/. - Iraq has dropped bombs hitting 2,500 oil fields that cover a vast area.Hmmm. Wonder how long it'll be before Saddam loses the support of the environmentalists.... J. Okay - were you wondering what THIS is? It's the place where final checkout is done on THESE. As far as scale goes, the base of the bus module is a bit under five feet in diameter, and the shroud is about eight feet tall, IIRC. Okay. That was pretty good. Two identified it as a Minuteman related facility, and one thought it was Thiokol, who makes the solid fuel stages that the Minutemn III uses. Now we'll go with something a bit easier. You've likely seen facilities like this in a number of movies. This one doesn't seem to be used so much any more. Two points for identification of the purpose, and an EXTRA point if you can identify the three short linear things to the left of the building. Enjoy! J. Wednesday, March 5
Monday, March 3
Power Line: Antiwar Movement Exposed It isn't clear whether the Washington Post reporter who authored this piece, Glenn Frankel, realizes to what extent he exposes the "antiwar" movement as a fraud. On its face, the Post article seems admiring of the "antiwar" movement. But the key paragraphs are buried in the story:So - their principled stand against war isn't so much a stand against war itself, as it is a stand against AMERICA going to war. Gee. Who'd have thought? J. New Scientist - China plans three-phase Moon exploration China has revealed further details of its plans to explore the Moon - the first unmanned probe could be launched by 2005, say officials. They also hinted that the motivation for the missions is to mine the Moon's resources.Maybe this will re-ignite NASA's creativity, and the US space program. Let's face it - for too long they've been hamstrung by Proximire-types chipping away at their budget. Maybe this will be a technological kick in the pants that gets us going seriously in space again. J. |