Links
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Happy May Day.
May Day was born in the struggle for the implementation of an
eight hour work day. That's funny, because I don't remember
the last job in which I only worked eight hours a day.
Standard white-collar salary job is nine hours. Considering my
last place of employment enjoyed scheduling noon-time "working
lunch" meetings, I stand by that statement.
But I digress.
Recently a lot of anti-Bush Hollywood types ("We're against
war but in order to keep our popularity from suffering we'll still
say that we support the troops!") have claimed that they we're
being "censored" because they came out publicly with
unpopular opinions, and their livelihood was affected when the
people they insulted stopped purchasing their products. The
verb "Dixie Chicked" was born at this time. These
celebrities are crying to everyone who will listen that reduced
album sales and and poor ratings in their made-for-TV movies is a
violation of their 1st Amendment Rights of free speech.
\ You
can see in this photo how they express their outrage at their
perceived oppression by taking off their clothes and...ummm...well,
I'm not sure what their point is. One would think that if they
were truly being oppressed and their freedom of speech denied that
we'd actually hear about them a lot less than we do. To be
honest, though I was aware of their existence, I never heard much
about them until they started being silenced. Now I can't turn
around without hearing them claim they aren't allowed to speak their
minds. In fact, I'd say that I would never have known their
politics unless they had forbidden to express them. Being
silenced by the government is probably the best thing that could
have happened for their political careers. Oh, wait, they
aren't politicians, they're musicians, and their careers are
suffering because they decided to be politicians. Ok, maybe it
was a bad move. So, we have Sarandans and Robbinses
and others getting Dixie Chicked, and they're are all crying about
how wrong it is that people decide to like them less, and that album
sales and box office receipts should never have any connection to
their public soap box spew. They claim they should be allowed
to piss off any and all of the people who spend money on them
without facing the repercussions of their actions. However, it
isn't allowed to work both ways. As soon as someone else
organizes to speak out in favor of their beliefs, in the following
example that of a website, Hollywood forgets all about the 1st
Amendment Rights they claim to embrace. The website Boycott
Hollywood is being lawyered out of existence by the William
Morris Agency, which represents most big-money actors in
Hollywood. Because some readers of that website allegedly
emailed the agency with threatening emails, William Morris unleashed
their lawyers on the ISP hosting the website, which immediately
caved. In case the website is gone before you have a
chance to read what is probably their final update, here's what they
said:
May 01, 2003
Our own personal wind chill (Follywood)
Well, folks - it's been a blast and
it's been fun.
Apparently, our domain registrar (namesdirect.com
- subsidiary of Dotster.com) have caved to the pressures of
the William Morris Agency giant. On April 29, 2003,
Dotster.com received a letter from the William Morris Agency
in regards to this website. Their complaint accused us of
liable and potentially other civil and criminal offenses.
This is another fine example of how
Hollywood feels that their opinion and view is the only one
that matters. Average citizens are disallowed the free
expression of our point of view because they don't like
being challenged for their views. I stand firm on the belief
that we have done nothing wrong at this website - - The
celebrities have expressed their views, and we have
responded in kind by expressing our views regarding the
thoughts and ideas that they have, publicly, expressed.
Dotster.com has suspended our
update information at this domain and have informed us that
the DNS information of this domain has been changed and the
website will be down within the next 24 hours and our
contract with them is now null and void. They are doing this
because we did not provide accurate contact information in
their public database.
When I explained that the reason we
did not provide accurate contact information is because we
have received multiple death threats and I did not wish for
just anyone to have my personal information - and asked them
for suggestions on what to do - Dotster was unmoved. They
did not give me the chance to update the information with
accurate information and keep the domain. That's not an
option - - they are just simply going to shut down our
domain - no explanation needed.
Further questioning of Dotster
brought me a copy of the letter sent to them by the William
Morris Agency and reads as follows: |
We, in fact, recieved no such email
from the William Morris Agency.
I can say only this - - the fact
that we're being shut down because of the William Morris
Agency tells me that we truly touched a raw nerve in
someone, somewhere. At the very least, it tells me that our
message was recieved by the people that it was intended for.
The very fact that we cannot express our opinions regarding
the views of these stars/celebs shows me, yet again, the
double standard that exists in Follywood.
Thank you all for your support at
this website - it appears my hands are tied in keeping it
open. Dotster will be closing down our site within the next
24-48 hours. I appreciate the hard work that Chris and
Reilly have done at this site and appreciate the ongoing and
intelligent, provoking discussions held here.
Warm Regards.
Posted by LisaS
|
In summary, celebs are whining that their 1st Amendment rights
are being suppressed, which they aren't. Those who would speak
out against the celebs are being silenced.
I've always known that the law favors those who can afford the
most lawyers, it's just rare that it is illustrated to brightly.
GORDON |
11:35 pm CDT | Feedback
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Link to: http://www.dtman.com/archives4.htm#20030501_1 |
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SARS.
Awhile back when SARS was the new buzzword, we discussed on the
forum whether the entire thing was being over hyped, like the shark
attacks were the summer before 9/11. It was questioned whether
it was more fatal than the annual influenza epidemic, and it was
decided that SARS was about 300% more likely to kill you than the
flu...at the time it had an approximate 3% morality rate.
New news today:
THE DEATH RATE appears
to have risen to 10 percent from 6 percent, said Mark
Salter, who heads the clinical network of the Geneva-based
WHO.
MSNBC.com |
Just to get a little perspective, 10% of the population of China
is about 110 million.
The Gulf War II may end up being overshadowed by SARS in the
history of the world.
GORDON |
11:35 pm CDT | Feedback
|
Link to: http://www.dtman.com/archives4.htm#20030430_3 |
The poor, abused RIAA.
The RIAA today sent messages to users of a couple P2P
applications. All the news stories I'm reading about this are
using the term "hacked" when describing what the RIAA
did. Last July I wrote about a new bill being debated in
Congress which would legally allow the RIAA to hack into
systems....the post is here.
Today's article makes a few interesting points:
“COPYRIGHT
INFRINGEMENT WARNING,” the message reads. “When you
break the law, you risk legal penalties. There is a simple
way to avoid that risk: DON’T STEAL MUSIC.”
At the same time, the
industry is collecting the user names of people suspected of
illegally offering copyright material with the file-sharing
services Kazaa and Grokster, but it doesn’t intend to
pursue legal action, said Recording Industry Association of
America President Cary Sherman.
MSNBC.com |
Wont pursue legal action, right. They'd never go after individual
users.
Kazaa owner Sharman
Networks likened the RIAA campaign to spam meant to confuse
users. Grokster Ltd. President Wayne Rosso called it “a
death rattle.”
“It doesn’t bother
us, because we are very anti-copyright infringement
anyway,” Rosso said. “They think they’re harassing us.
No. What they’re doing is declaring war on our users.” |
Yep. And this could have
repercussions.
Media analysts estimate
that as many as 61 million Americans use Internet services
such as Kazaa and Grokster to download copyright material. |
I have a very hard time believing this. 1 in 4
Americans? Aren't a big chunk of Americans 60+ year old baby
boomers? Is P2P popular among retirees? Though a poll of
"people you know" isn't statistically viable, only about
one person I know in 20 use P2P. I can see that ratio being
valid on college campuses, but not outside of them.
The RIAA, meanwhile,
plans to send out about 1 million messages per week, Sherman
said. |
Wonderful, more internet congestion. I wonder how this
little tactic will be viewed in light of existing and emerging anti-spam
laws?
GORDON |
4:33 pm CDT | Feedback
|
Link to: http://www.dtman.com/archives4.htm#20030430_2 |
Someday I'll figure out why these discussions always involve food.
I don't eat a lot of fruit, but a couple
weeks ago in the grocery store I was mysteriously drawn to the fruit
area. I had a craving for some peaches and plums, and picked
up a few of each. By the time I got home the mood had passed,
and they rotted in the fruit drawer.
Today the wife and I were at the grocery
store picking up a few perishables. Bread, tomatoes,
etc. Watermelons are now in season, and they had some
scrumptious looking watermelon quarters on display.
Me:
Damn. That watermelon looks good.
Woman:
You didn't eat the last fruit you bought. You've lost your
fruit privileges.
Me:
Yeah, but this time I'll actually eat it.
Woman:
Right, sure you will. And Dr. Pepper is root beer.
Why
that is funny (forum registration required).
GORDON |
3:27 pm CDT |
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Link to: http://www.dtman.com/archives4.htm#20030430_1 |
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Maybe the Palestinians have a point.
Maybe Israel really should just cease to
exist. The only reason it exists in the first place is because
the United Nations is a puppet of the United States, which in turn
is a puppet of the Zionists.
I think the argument that really swayed my
opinion of this issue was
TEL AVIV, Israel - A
huge explosion rocked Tel Aviv early Wednesday, and police
said it was a terror attack.
Tel Aviv police spokeswoman Shlomit
Hertzberg said, "There has been a terror attack on the
seafront walkway." She gave no details.
The walkway lines the Tel Aviv
beach from the southern edge of the city leading north
several kilometers.
There was no immediate word of
casualties.
Israeli radio stations reported
that a bomb went off in a restaurant on the seacoast, and
there were a number of injuries.
washingtonpost.com |
I especially like the part about how it was a beachfront
restaurant. Nothing says "we were wronged" like
taking out a bunch of random people eating lunch.
How could I have been so blind. Those poor, poor
Palestinians.
GORDON |
7:06 pm CDT | Feedback
|
Link to: http://www.dtman.com/archives4.htm#20030429_3 |
W00+.
Hey, anybody know what's being televised this
Friday night?
I don't care because I just picked up tickets
for X-Men 2.
GORDON |
7:06 pm CDT |
|
Link to: http://www.dtman.com/archives4.htm#20030429_2 |
An MIA I didn't even know was M.
Today on the forum a regular pointed us at
the Computer Gigalo.
He's a serviceman in an undisclosed country somewhere in the
neighborhood of Iraq, and is in the Army...but we wont hold that
against him. He just probably had a poor upbringing, and was
never instilled with character nor strong moral fiber. Don't
blame him...blame The System.
Go visit him and say hi. I have to stop
writing now before I italicize again.
Oh, and the Feedback thread is a rare one
that you'll have to register to see. Crap, I did it
again.
GORDON |
12:51 am CDT | Feedback
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Link to: http://www.dtman.com/archives4.htm#20030429_1 |
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Slow News Day.
American Greeting is suing Penny
Arcade, and Penny Arcade sniped
back at them (read it before it gets cease and desisted). And
Apple just launched an online
music download site...each song $.99. $10 to $13 for an
album still seems a little pricey to me, though.
But the best thing I read today was this open letter to Jacques
Chirac over at L.T.
Smash:
To
M. Jacques Chirac
Monsieur President,
It has often been said that
Americans take a short view of History. This American does
not.
This American remembers that France
was the first nation to recognize our Independence, in 1778.
French soldiers fought side by side
with Americans in our Revolution. Without the aid of the
Marquis de Lafayette, Count Rochambeau, and Admiral Comte de
Grasse, we might have lost the struggle. These men are
considered heroes in our country. Their names adorn our
streets, our warships, and our public squares.
The treaty that sealed our
Independence was signed in 1783, in Paris.
Our nations were born of the same
Age of Enlightenment.
Liberté --“Give me Liberty or give me Death!”
Égalité – “all Men are created Equal”
Fraternité – E Pluribus Unum
We are spiritual siblings.
This American recalls that a French
architect, Pierre L’Enfant, designed our capital city. He
is buried within sight of that city, in Arlington National
Cemetery.
Our largest territorial expansion
occurred in 1803, when Napoléon Bonaparte sold the vast
Louisiana Territory to the United States for the bargain
price of 80 million francs.
This American remembers that it was
a Frenchman, Alexis De Toqueville, who penned the first
definitive analysis of “Democracy in America” in 1840.
Two talented Frenchmen, the
sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and the architect
Gustave Eiffel, designed and constructed one of our most
treasured icons, the Statue of Liberty. Dedicated in 1886,
it was a gift from the people of France to the people of
America, acknowledging our lasting friendship.
This American recalls that in 1917,
when Paris was in danger of being overrun by the Kaiser’s
armies, President Woodrow Wilson sent two million men and
pledged ten billion dollars to save France. Over 30,000 of
those men did not return home.
Twenty-eight years later, American
forces, side-by-side with Free French forces, liberated
France from the scourge of Nazi occupation. Cemeteries full
of tens of thousands of American soldiers who died in that
struggle dot the French countryside.
This American remembers that France
was present at the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization in 1949.
When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait
in 1991, French forces joined America in the coalition to
reverse his unprovoked aggression. French aircraft
subsequently participated in the enforcement of the no-fly
zones over Southern Iraq.
After the horrific attacks of
September 11, 2001, France lent material and intelligence
support to the American campaign against the Al Qaeda
terrorist network.
For well over two centuries, we
have been friends and allies.
So how, sir, do you explain your
recent behavior?
It is not unprincipled to be
opposed to war. War is terrible.
But we have been in agreement, for
over twelve years now, that Saddam Hussein must cooperate
with the United Nations and abandon his weapons of mass
destruction. Together, we passed seventeen resolutions in
the Security Council demanding as much.
The last resolution, which was
approved unanimously, called for “serious consequences”
if Iraq failed to disarm. But the regime of Saddam Hussein
continued to play games of obfuscation, denial, and
deception.
We all know what “serious
consequences” means, sir.
Yet, when the United States and
United Kingdom presented an eighteenth resolution with
concrete deadlines for compliance, you opposed it. When some
of our allies expressed support for our position, you called
them “infantile” and “reckless.” You actively
lobbied nations in opposition to our efforts.
Had we presented a united front
against Saddam Hussein, armed conflict might not have been
necessary. But your intransigence has made that outcome
impossible. In the process, you undermined the very
foundations of NATO and the United Nations.
Your actions have grave
consequences, sir. Like so many others, this American had to
leave his home and family and go to war – a conflict from
which over one hundred Americans will never return.
Today, in a newly liberated Iraq,
we are learning the true extent of your betrayal.
Damning documents have been
discovered. Reputable media outlets have reported that your
government provided intelligence assistance to Saddam
Hussein. This assistance allegedly included briefings
covering confidential conversations between yourself and
President George W. Bush.
These are not the actions of a
trusted ally, much less a friend.
You, sir, have no honor.
- LT Smash |
So there you go.
GORDON |
7:11 pm CST | Feedback
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Link to: http://www.dtman.com/archives4.htm#20030428_1 |
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Fred on France.
Since this webpage is pretty much my new full time job, I decided
to not worry about it on the weekends. Considering this week's
down time, however, I decided to make a post today to make up for
the lost days. But as a new rule, no more weekend updates.
++++
"Fred
on Everything" is one of the oldest links in the left
column. Written by Fred Reed, it is a weekly rant about, well,
everything Fred deems fit to rant about. Sorry about that
preposition-closing sentence...if I'm writing about Fred Reed, I
need to watch the grammar. He notices things like that.
Today I got an email notification of a new article, so I grabbed
a frosty beverage and sat down to read it. Fred
tongue-in-cheek apologetically explains why he supports the
French. He goes on to explain why Americans are pretty much
not worthy to look down on the French. He gives examples I
don't think I agree with showing why our military history isn't as
grand as we believe, and goes on to share anecdotes about how
friendly they were when he visited Paris.
In former years I often
went to Paris for the Air Show. Always the French were
tiresomely civil. I had expected the heathen rudeness one
associates with moral crusaders. I considered bringing a
case at law: I had spent all that money in expectation of
gorgeous churlishness, and didn't get any.
Confessional |
I don't need to reprint most of what he said; to make my point,
and to understand his, you really need to go there and just read the
entire thing.
I wrote Fred once before asking a few details of his becoming an
expatriate in Mexico and received a polite response, so I know he at
least sometimes answers reader mail. As such, I just sent the
following:
To:
fredreed@laguna.com.mx
From: gordon@dtman.com
Subj: Your recent column....
....in which you are
embracing the French while at the same time belittling
Americans.
Questions. You are pretty
much "siding" yourself with France against the
U.S. in this instance. What are your thoughts on the fact
that as more evidence is uncovered, it looks like France
aided Saddam in every way except actually giving him a
couple French infantry divisions? And why are you able to
highlight isolated incidents of Americans being crass, but
completely overlook isolated desecrations of Allied WW2
graveyards in France?
Just curious. I've
disagreed with some of your arguments before, but this is
the first time I've seen you be so one-sided.
Cheers,
GORDON |
So, no real news, here. I'll be
sure to repost a reply, if any, in the Feedback thread.
GORDON |
7:11 pm CST | Feedback
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Link to: http://www.dtman.com/archives4.htm#20030427_1 |
|
North Korea.
What to do, what to do. The United States is establishing a new
foreign policy based on preemptiveness against crazed wacko
dictators who want to dabble in the trade of weapons of mass
destruction. Actually, I'm tired of hearing that phrase.
For now on when I mean ""nuclear, chemical, and
biological weapons," I'll say "Fluffy Cuddly Kitten
Bomb." Or, "FCK Bomb," for short.
As in, "We're about to get FCK'd." As evil wack
dictators go, Saddam was average. His main political tactic
when a policy was questioned was typically death, if the dissenter
was lucky. If he was unlucky he might get to watch his family
tortured, raped, mutilated, and finally, mercifully killed.
But at least he kept the power on and water running, and allowed a
bought and paid for global news network to report from
Baghdad. On the scale from 'Benevolent' to 'Absofuckinglutely
Crazy,' Saddam was only about 70% toward the deep end. Kim
Jong-il, on the other hand, anchors the radical side and is the
standard to which all crazies strive. He's the epitome of
batshit in the belfry nuts. For example.
- He once kidnapped a South Korean movie director and forced him
to make a North Korean monster movie.
- He supposedly has a "Pleasure Squad" of kidnapped
women of all types from around the world. Word is that he
likes blondes.
- He thinks Madalaine Albright had a thing for him.
- Refers to himself in he third person, "The Peerless
Leader," "The Great General," etc.
- Pines for the Clinton Administration, a time when he was
breaking treaties and still getting respect.
- Has been linked to the 1987 Korean Air bombing in an attempt
to scare people away from the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.
- Likes Daffy Duck.
- And the usual things like eating steak and cognac while his
starving people eat tree bark to survive.
M
y
s
o
u
r c
e
s.
So, we've established that he has the "Mad Dictator"
thing happening. But, joy, he just announced what we've all
known and he's denied, he has nukes. That's more than Baghdad
ever admitted, and we went after them.
In "North Korea II," I'll delve into NK's military
potential.
GORDON |
5:40 pm CST | Feedback
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Link to: http://www.dtman.com/archives4.htm#20030425_1 |
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Here.
We
did the right thing.
GORDON |
10:18 pm CST | Feedback
|
Link to: http://www.dtman.com/archives4.htm#20030424_2 |
Bush's Tax Cuts. Nasty Tax Cutses. Tricksey.
False.
So Bush is getting all kinds of flack for wanting to cut
taxes. The opposite flack his father got when he said "No
new taxes" and then made new taxes. Opponents say that
tax cuts will hurt the country and economy, specifically one of the
bigger problems of unemployment. I started writing this post
with the intention of being cocky and challenging the world to tell
me what was wrong with tax cuts, but in doing some research I may
have answered my own question, to a degree.
I still like the tax cuts, but like most of the tax cut opponents
I have a problem with the frivolity of spending. The
conservatives on the hill don't seem to be fiscally
conservative.
This week, President
Bush will sign into law a $397.5 billion omnibus
appropriations conference bill that, when combined with the
defense and military construction appropriations that were
agreed on last year, will increase federal discretionary
spending 7.8 percent over 2002 outlays. When the bill is
enacted, it will cap a two-year spending spree in which the
federal budget grew by 22 percent. Astonishingly, the only
time the federal budget grew larger – 24.5 percent – was
between 1976-1978 when Democrats controlled both the
Congress and the presidency.
[...]
Two things were truly objectionable during the entire
procedure to pass the conference bill through both chambers
– both of which belie the Republican dogma of fiscal
discipline. First is the shear amount of pork projects that
Republicans countenanced. Secondly, the decision by House
leaders to waive the procedure that allows legislators three
days to inspect a spending package’s content – in this
case, legislators would have had to trawl through a massive
3,000 page, 30 pound document – is extremely worrisome.
[...]
Taxpayers should be furious at
Congress for appropriating funds for objectionable projects.
These include: $1 million for the Iowa Historical Society;
$1 million for bear DNA sampling in Montana; $405,000 to the
Staten Island Soccer League of New York for facilities
construction; and $725,000 for the “Please Touch” museum
in Philadelphia. The Baseball and Cowgirl halls of fame both
received $750,000 and $90,000 respectively. Sure, these are
small peanuts, but along with funding requests that
perennially cost taxpayers billions (AMTRAK), they all add
up nonetheless.
Citizens
for a Sound Economy
Other projects included $50,000
more for research on shiitake mushrooms at the South Central
Family Farm Research Center in Booneville, Ark.; $45,000 for
a Korean War memorial in Athens, Ala.; and $400,000 to help
the Nevada Wildlife Division return displaced wildlife to
their natural habitats.
Fishing interests on both coasts, the timber and energy
industries, and farmers north and south also benefited.
Democrats complained that obscure provisions helped a
Georgia chicken producer that wants to label its products
"organic" even though they don't meet required
government criteria, and provided $15 million to 10 Texas
diary farmers who stood to lose money because their herds
were ill.
CBS
News
The money surprised even the
congressman who asked for it.
Rep. Terry Everett, R-Ala., figured
his request stood little chance in a year Congress was
trying to cut domestic spending to pay for war. Instead,
Everett learned the day after the bill was approved that the
project had received $2,500 more than even he requested.
SignOnSanDiego.com |
In summary, I support income tax cuts on principal, but I
strongly believe they need to be balanced with cuts to stupid
projects. But I'll take the tax cuts for now.
Oh, and France still sucks.
GORDON |
8:46 pm CST | Feedback
|
Link to: http://www.dtman.com/archives4.htm#20030424_1 |
|
Another babe I like.
Tina Fey from SNL. Head writer, actually. Heh, I said
"head." My
wife thinks I'm crazy for finding her attractive, but I think she
has that sexy-thinky thing going on. Speaking of
which, here's the list of famous women I'm allowed bed if I ever get
the chance....without incurring the penalties of cheating while
married.
1. Salma Hayak.
2. Laura Prepon (Hot Donna).
3. Tina Fey.
4. Britney Spears (Don't care at all for her music, but she's
a little hottie.).
5-6. Both Olsen twins (When they turn legal....AND, both or
neither. Who wants only one Olsen Twin?).
7-8. The Bush twins.
9. Denise Richards.
10. Liv Tyler. A last minute ruling on twins
counting as two people (stupid rule) meant I had to drop a couple
off. Like Halle Berry and Reese Witherspoon. Here's
my wife's list.
- Orlando Bloom.
- George Clooney.
- Oded Fehr.
- Ewan McGregor.
- Dominic Monaghan.
- Brad Pitt.
- Sean William Scott.
- Casper Van Dien.
- Noah Wylie.
- Prince William.
She's such a whore.
Oh, and the French are still assholes.
GORDON |
8:56 pm CST | Feedback
|
Link to: http://www.dtman.com/archives4.htm#20030421_2 |
Army Sergeant Paul Smith.
I've been trying to make this post all day but
stuff kept coming up. ++++ After
9/11 I made a series of posts here about American military heroes in
the past. From Smedley Butler to Audey Murphy to Chesty
Puller, all were absolutely inspiring in their actions in the face
of death. Here's
one a little more recent.
Smith's
bravery in saving his troops is a story worth repeating. He
was leading two dozen engineers building a prison at Baghdad
International Airport when the contingent was attacked by
100 elite Republican Guards. As his soldiers fell around
him, outmanned and outgunned, Smith dodged snipers and
rocket grenades to tend to the wounded. He ran to a Humvee,
grabbed a grenade and blew back the charging Iraqis. Then
Smith climbed atop his armored vehicle and manned the
.50-caliber machine gun, emptying four boxes of ammo over
90-minutes.
Witnesses
said he killed 30 to 50 Iraqis and stopped the enemy from
overrunning his post. When the firing stopped and the
Americans regrouped, his men found Smith shot in the head.
St.
Petersburg Times |
30 to 50 bad guys. I may be wrong, but I
don't think 95% of the soldiers in World War II had that kind of
number of confirmed kills. Salute.
GORDON |
8:28 pm CST | Feedback
|
Link to: http://www.dtman.com/archives4.htm#20030421_1 |
|
The
Onion Incident.
Last night the little women and I are
preparing dinner. We decided to have an omelet night, and she
started cutting the omelet fixins while I peeled and grated the
taters for hash browns. Woman:
(Head in the refrigerator) Where's the onion that was in here?
Me:
I have no idea. I wasn't tracking onion statuses.
Woman:
Well, there was an onion in here, but it isn't here now.
Me:
Are you suggesting I did something with the onion that I'm trying to
hide from you?
Woman:
Well, did you?
Me:
........
Me:
Didn't you use onion on the sub sandwiches a couple nights ago?
Woman:
........
Woman:
You know, if you're going to finish something off you should let me
know so I can get more. I
just let it go at that point.
GORDON |
3:26 pm CST | Feedback
|
Link to: http://www.dtman.com/archives4.htm#20030418_1 |
|
Reminder.
For quite a while and often currently
I've been a supporter for American military intervention in the
middle east. I've done my part for the cause by cheerleading
Gulf II from my little corner of the internet, and possibly even
persuaded a person or two that I was right. I've ridiculed and
mocked peace activists for their views, and shoved the uncovered
horrors in Iraq in their faces to shame them and point out their
lack of sense and logical argument. I've argued that the
American military was so advanced that the ability to minimize
civilian casualties was one of the traits that separated us from the
enemy, who often used civilians as human shields and coerced human
bombs. I do feel that those who
actively opposed the overthrow of the Iraqi regime should be ashamed
of themselves. To stand by and do nothing while millions are
oppressed and tortured is as bad as doing the oppression yourself. However. Supporting
violence against your fellow man, no matter how noble the cause, has
its price, too. Those who fight the battles and those who support
them surely pay the ferry-man, in the only coin he takes; a little
piece of your soul.
Ali Ismail Abbas. The critically ill
12-year-old lost both his arms and suffered horrific burns when his
house was destroyed in the Allied bombing of Baghdad. Sixteen
members of his family were killed in the raids on the Iraqi capital.
Bless
the free Republic of Iraq, but never forget those who paid the price
for that freedom.
GORDON |
5:08 pm CST | Feedback
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Link to: http://www.dtman.com/archives4.htm#20030417_1 |
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Linkdumpus
Giganticus.
Activities in Iraq wind down, and
things to talk about become fewer and farther between. Before
the Linkdump begins, I would like to say though that we need to get
the utilities on pretty quickly over there. It doesn't help
that power and water stations were looted, but I do feel that
they're our responsibility until they become self sufficient
again. Getting the power and water back on will do tons for
the mood in Baghdad. Let us
begin: The
Greatest Jeneration. I'm liking that page. Funny
title. ++++ The
Ornery American, Orson Scott Card's page. I'm presently
undecided on what I think about it. ++++ France
and Belgium pay the price for backing Saddam.
BRUSSELS--"How
did we get here?" asked a former French minister in a
newspaper column recently. "Here" is a situation
in which French Jews are being beaten up in the streets of
Paris and in which President Jacques Chirac has to write to
Queen Elizabeth to apologize for the desecration of British
tombs in France, and in which one-third of the French have
been pulling for Saddam Hussein to win.
An even
better question is who brought us here. The former
environment minister, Corinne Lepage, lays the blame on the
government and an obeisant media for "having wanted to
stigmatize American policy in excessive fashion." But
it's time to name names.
Mr. Chirac
brought us here, as did his foreign minister Dominique de
Villepin. In Belgium the foreign, defense and prime
ministers--Louis Michel, André Flahaut and Guy Verhofstadt--have
brought their country to shame too. And that's just the
start.
Opinion Journal |
There's more. Go read it.
Or not. Whatever. ++++ Go
here and
register your blog....after you link Damn the Man, of course.
DTMan.com is currently ranked 1616....not even on the rank scale
yet. I may suck, but at least I don't have horrible bandwidth
charges. ++++ The
majority of Americans oppose tax cuts?
With
the country at war and facing budget deficits, six in 10
Americans say this is not the time for more tax cuts, an
Associated Press poll finds. Still, half say their taxes are
too high.
FresnoBee.com |
Half say taxes are too high, but some
of those people think their taxes shouldn't be lowered....implying
that they aren't currently too high.... It
makes my head hurt. We should
just follow the trend some surly governors are doing....cut taxes,
but add a voluntary "tax me more" line on tax forms if you
think you should be paying more. ++++ American
companies pay paltry fines for trading with the enemy.
The
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) released heavily
redacted documents briefly outlining penalties levied
against 51 companies, according to the publication Corporate
Crime Reporter, which said it had been making inquiries for
nearly a year, and the corporate watchdog group Public
Citizen, which filed a lawsuit seeking the information.
According to
the two organizations:
• ChevronTexaco
traded with Iraq, and paid $14,071 in fines.
• Wal-Mart,
the New York Yankees, ESPN and Caterpillar traded with Cuba,
and settled for $50,000, $75,000, about $40,000, and $18,000
respectively.
The Yankees
had no comment on the report, but a source said the team's
infraction involved negotiations with Cuban baseball
players. Attempts to get comment from other companies have
been unsuccessful.
• --
ExxonMobil and Wells Fargo Bank traded with Sudan and
settled for $50,000 and $5,500 respectively.
• Fleet
Bank traded with Iran and paid $41,000 in fines.
All of the
countries are listed as sanctioned under the Trading With
the Enemy Act or the International Emergency Economic Powers
Act.
CNN.com |
This angers me. This is one of
the reasons we may be going to war with Syria... it really angers me
to see a light slap on the wrist for these companies. Spread
the word; give them bad publicity. ++++ Revoke
Michael Moore's Oscar Here's
a grass roots campaign to revoke his Oscar for he piece of fiction
called "Bowling for Columbine." Arguments, emails,
addresses, phone numbers, and sample letters provided. I
don't care when someone with opposite views from me says
something....but when it's fiction they need to be called to the
carpet for it. ++++ Still
no justification for the war.
The
Marines found 123 prisoners, including five women, barely
alive in an underground warren of cells and torture
chambers.
Being trapped
underground probably kept them safe from the bombing of
Baghdad by the coalition.
Severely
emaciated, some had survived by eating the scabs off their
sores. All the men had beards down to their waists, said
onlookers.
The
Straights Times |
Maybe soon we'll find some evidence
that doesn't make America look like horrible Imperialists. ++++ And
finally, the next bit speaks for itself.
"France
wants to give peaceful disarmament every possible
chance."
– French
President Jacques Chirac, March 4
"We are
more than ever convinced that Iraq's disarmament can and
must be achieved by peaceful means."
– German
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, March 14
"US
forces discovered 51 Roland-2 missiles, made by a partnership
of French and German arms manufacturers, in two military
compounds at Baghdad International Airport."
– Newsweek,
April 21
The
Bulletin |
GORDON |
5:43 pm CST | Feedback
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Link to: http://www.dtman.com/archives4.htm#20030416_1 |
|
Well,
that's one way to think.
Over at One
Hand Clapping I was directed to a really amazing....ly stupid
op-ed piece from a writer from the tennessean.com,
the major newspaper in Nashville. You can read OHC's
assessment of it, which I happen to agree with, so I won't repeat
what he already said. Just to give
you an idea, the author, Tim Chavez, says, amongst other things:
The U.S. military's
2001-2003 tour of Arab capitals has drawn rave reviews from
Kabul to Baghdad. America is replacing regimes in the Middle
East faster than Cher changes hair colors during a concert. |
To be fair, I didn't think what he had to say was that stupid,
but I was in a caustic mood this weekend, and I let him have both
barrels:
From:
Gordon [mailto:gordon@dtman.com]
Sent: Sunday, April 13, 2003 10:12 PM
To: tchavez@tennessean.com
Subject: Bush Doctrine changes tune on the good of war
Your op-ed
piece of the same title is being pretty well lambasted on the
internet at the moment.
"The U.S.
military's 2001-2003 tour of Arab capitals has drawn rave
reviews
from Kabul to Baghdad. America is replacing regimes in the
Middle East faster than Cher changes hair colors during a
concert."
FYI, Kabul
isn't an Arab capital. I had to stop reading at this point
because I felt like the proximity of your ignorance was making
me stupider.
www.dtman.com |
"Ha!" I thought to myself.
"Owned!"
Then I got a response this morning...the first time this has
happened. Usually I'm putting the emailic smackdown on people
in the national news, and I never get a response. Here's his:
From:
Chavez, Tim [mailto:TCHAVEZ@nashvill.gannett.com]
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2003 10:59 AM
To: Gordon
Subject: RE: Bush Doctrine changes tune on the good of war
Thanks for the feedback. Can you
give me the internet site where I can read the other
feedback?
Thanks.
Tim Chavez |
Damn it! He didn't lose his cool. Gordon = owned.
From:
Steve Gordon [mailto:gordon@dtman.com]
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2003 2:37 PM
To: Chavez, Tim
Subject: RE: Bush Doctrine changes tune on the good of war
I hate it when I write an acerbic
email to someone, and they act gracious.
Here's where I was directed to your
article:
http://donaldsensing.com/index.html#200142517
The author is a Tennessean. His
page is fairly well known, as far as blogs
go.
Cheers,
Gordon
www.dtman.com |
I know what you're thinking...and yes, I used the word
"acerbic."
His final response:
From:
Chavez, Tim [mailto:TCHAVEZ@nashvill.gannett.com]
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2003 10:59 AM
To: Gordon
Subject: RE: Bush Doctrine changes tune on the good of war
No, thank you for correcting me. I
needed it.
Tim Chavez |
Nothing takes the wind out of your sails like someone who can
take criticism. There's a lesson there.
GORDON |
3:20
pm CST | Feedback
|
Link to: http://www.dtman.com/archives4.htm#20030414_1 |
|
Linkdump.
I need to stop book marking things.
VEILED4ALLAH!
Yes. "Veiled for Allah," but in d3wd-speak.
Actually a somewhat interesting page....the author describes it as
"The occasional thoughts of a Muslim woman. Islam, current
events, my life, and whatever else interests me." I find
it sadly intriguing to find a blog written by a Muslim person that
isn't ranting and/or raving. Good read if you want to learn
about how the side of Islam culture we never hear about
thinks. ++++ Here's
an entry from Sgt. Stryker
the other day....an email from a Marine at the front. To
summarize....they are in daily combat, they are getting shot at all
the time, he's had to kill a bunch of bad guys, they could die at
any moment, and they're having a great time. Only a Marine
could have a great time while being shot at, FYI. ++++ Take
One. The rumor is that this guy is blogging from
Tehran. I have no evidence to confirm nor discredit his claim,
but here he is. ++++ "U.S.S.Clueless."
This is a commentary page that has an excellent chance of making the
permanent links in the left column. Mostly because I agree
with their views. ++++ Russian
President Putin thinks the United States failed to meet its
objectives in Iraq.
ST
PETERSBURG, Russia -- Russian
President Vladimir Putin has accused the U.S.-led coalition
of having failed to achieve its war aim, to disarm Iraq.
As television pictures showed the
collapse of Saddam Hussein's vestiges of power, Putin was
quoted by Reuters as saying: "The goal of war -- to
disarm Iraq -- has not been achieved. ... We must never mix
notions. No one liked the Iraqi regime apart from Saddam
Hussein, but this is not the point."
CNN.com |
Hey Vlad....puff, puff, give, buddy.
Don't bogart the doobage. ++++ Well,
that's one way to do it.
FIDEL
CASTRO's government sent three men who hijacked a ferry to a
firing squad, quickly executing them in a chilling message
to anyone else who tries to commandeer a boat or plane to
the United States.
The
Australian |
Aren't the people who typically protest
U.S. sanctions against Cuba the same people who typically protest
the death penalty? Just curious. ++++ And
finally, it looks like CNN may have been aiding Saddam's regime for
years, in order to keep their Baghdad Office open. Good
commentary has already been written here.
What happens when the newscasters become
the news? That's
it for today's edition of Linkdump.
GORDON |
3:17
pm CST
|
Link to: http://www.dtman.com/archives4.htm#20030412_1 |
|
11:38
pm CST - GORDON
- Linkdump,
al-Jezeera style.
I finally found the English
language version of al-Jazeera dot com (under maintenance at the
time of this writing...probably hacked again). I read through
a few of their "objective and balanced global news coverage and
analysis" stories and picked out a few to discuss. This
story highlights the story of the statue that was briefly
adorned with the American flag before it was toppled. The bent
of the story is, basically, everything the western media says is a
lie.
Despite
constant discussion of "precision bombing," the US
invasion has produced so many dead and wounded that Iraqi
hospitals stopped trying to count.
Red Cross officials have
labeled the level of casualties "incredible,"
describing "dozens of totally dismembered dead bodies
of women and children" delivered by truck to hospitals. |
In the first place, hospitals "don't
stop counting." Additionally, the Red Cross described
dozens of bodies? Wow, that many? And I wonder if this
includes the women and children forced into car bombs at gunpoint at
the risk of their families' lives...by the Iraqi regime. Nah,
couldn't be. The only women and children killed in this war
are those who are purposely targeted by Americans while trying to
eat fried chicken and pumpkin pie in the parks that are really far
away from any military targets for no other reason than our racist
wish to cause an Iraqi genocide on purpose.
Cluster bombs,
one of the most indiscriminate weapons in the modern
arsenal, have been used by US and UK forces, with the
British defense minister explaining that mothers of Iraqi
children killed would one day thank Britain for their use. |
I have to call SHENANIGANS on this
one. Reference, please. In the context in which it was
said, if it was said at all.
The
presence of US troops in the streets of Baghdad means the
end of the shooting war is near, for which virtually
everyone in Iraq will be grateful.
It also means
the end of a dozen years of harsh US-led economic sanctions
that have impoverished the majority of Iraqis and killed as
many as a half million children, according to UN studies,
another reason for Iraqi celebration. |
No mention that the U.N.
sanctions were the U.N.'s idea in order to keep the war from flaming
back up. No mention that more than enough money was made by
the "food for oil" program that was funneled straight to
Saddam and his "Palace for Every Day of the Year"
program. No mention that now that the U.S. is in charge in
spite of the U.N.'s resistance that the country will be better off
than it has been for, well, EVER.
Perhaps they
watch Afghanistan and see how quickly US policymakers
abandoned the commitment to "not walk away" from
the suffering of the Afghan people. |
Oh, wow....we left Afghanistan? I
thought we were still having some pretty big battles with the
anti-Democracy folks. But al-Jazeera said we walked away, and
they claim to objective and unbiased. Oh wait...they never
claimed not to be stupid. ++ This
next
article claims that all evidence of weapons of mass destruction
found in Iraq will have been planted there by America.
“The
United States is now embarrassed because it could not
confirm the presence of WMD in Iraq,” said Dr. Hassan
Krayyim, a professor of political science at the American
University of Beirut.
“The
concern lies in the possibility that the United States would
present false evidence to prove that its decision to go to
war was right,“ he said.
|
The U.N. inspectors were there for years
and found nothing. American troops have been there for three
weeks and every other day are finding some banned thing or
another. We probably smuggled all those kids in from outside
the country and planted them in that children's prison, too.
And Jessica Lynch shot herself as well as broke both her legs and
one arm so we could "prove" Iraq breaks Geneva Convention
rules. The proof is that she wasn't able to break her own
second arm with the first one already broken (I just made that
up...watch for it soon in this propaganda rag)
In
the meantime, US President George Bush has authorised the
use of tear gas in Iraq, which could be a violation of the
Chemical Weapons Convention that states that “each state
party undertakes not to use riot control agents as a method
of warfare.”
|
Even if that's really a rule, and I doubt
it, I say to hell with it. If the Arabs have a problem with
non-lethal methods of riot control, well, they're just as crazy as
everyone says they are. They need to make up their minds as to
whether or not they want us killing citizens over there. That's
about all the "objective and balanced global news coverage and
analysis" I can take for now. Be sure to peruse their
"news" stories and see for yourself why the United States
is the most evil place in the universe. Oh, and you may need
to hit refresh a few times to get their hyperlinks to work, because
apparently Allah smiles on crappy HTML and web servers. No
America THAT'S A BAD AMERICA.
3:44 pm EST - Leisher - The
Winds of Change?
Yesterday,
Gordon posted a picture of an American soldier hanging the U.S. flag
on the head of a Saddam Hussein statue. In the forums, while discussing
the issue, I explained that the soldier’s commanding officer
ordered him take it down almost immediately. The commanding officer
is obviously following orders that we present ourselves as a
liberating army, not a conquering army. Gordon stated that not
displaying the U.S. flag on land we spilled blood is almost a crime.
I agreed, however I see the point of making sure the people of Iraq
and the entire Arab world fully understand our motives. I believe if
the U.S. shows itself as a world power that is not intent on global
conquest, but global freedom, it will start to change minds. A flag
flying over a U.S. embassy in Baghdad would mean a lot more in
future Arab-U.S. relations than any flag over a liberating tank now.
The Arab
world isn’t exactly a haven of free speech and ideas. Many
dictators and corrupt governments have kept their power by keeping
their people uneducated and misinformed. People of the Middle East
are taught to hate outsiders and their lives are heavily dictated by
religious beliefs.
Examples of
the misinformation were recently very available to the whole world.
We all saw the Iraqi Information Minister broadcasting such enormous
lies that most Americans thought of him as a comedy skit and wanted
to see him on Saturday Night Live. Well, it turns out that many in
the Arab world believed his lies. We’ve also seen a strongly
biased Al-Jazeera, the Arab world’s main source of news,
broadcasting images of dead American soldiers and P.O.W.s.
Al-Jazeera heavily slanted their war reporting as anti-American and
downplayed our advances.
Following
yesterday’s historic events in Baghdad, images that could not be
“spun” or hidden, people are changing. They are starting to
question their sources of information and even their governments.
Some quotes:
"We
discovered that all that the (Iraqi) information minister
was saying was all lies," said Ali Hassan, a government
employee in Cairo, Egypt.
"Now
no one believes Al-Jazeera anymore," he said, referring
to the Arabic-language television news channel.
However,
Tannous Basil, a 47-year-old cardiologist in Sidon, Lebanon,
said Saddam's regime was a "dictatorship and had to
go."
"I
don't like the idea of having the Americans here, but we
asked for it," he said. "Why don't we see the
Americans going to Finland, for example? They come here
because our area is filled with dictatorships like
Saddam's."
"This
is a message for the Arab regimes, and could be the
beginning of transformation in the Arab region," al-Absi
said. "Without the honest help of the Western nations,
the reforms will not take place in these countries."
"I'm
49, but I never lived a single day. Only now will I start
living," Yussuf Abed Kazim, a mosque preacher, said as
he whacked tile and concrete off the pedestal of the toppled
statue.
"I
don't like to see a foreign army in Iraq," said Abed,
the mother who watched the statue come down. "But all
those who tried to get rid of him were killed. We have no
choice, we lived in so much fear," she said.
These
quotes came from 1,
2,
3,
4
articles. |
After
the last scraps of Saddam’s regime are mopped up, the U.S. should
concentrate on helping a new Iraqi government start up and then get
the hell out of dodge. Showing that we truly were there to liberate,
will send yet another blade into beliefs and misinformation about
our intentions. Thus changing more minds. Hopefully, enough minds
will change so that other dictators fall without our help.
A
couple of quick notes:
-Screw
the BBC and their slanted anti-war coverage. Not showing the
liberation of the Iraqi people in favor of earthquake coverage ranks
up there with the Iraqi Information Minister’s version of events.
It’s a disgusting way to try and save face in light of your
accusations being false.
-On
a related note, where are all the anti-war people? Iraqi-Americans
in Dearborn, MI had a large parade yesterday to celebrate Baghdad
falling, but not one anti-war person showed up to protest the war. I
wonder why…
-Don’t
you want to smack this
idiot?
On
a final note, my prayers go out to the families of these
people. I hope they return home safely.
Feedback.
|
8:17
pm CST - GORDON
- This must
have been cool.
Family cheers as 'their
Marine' leads statue's destruction
From Rose Arce and Dana
Garrett
CNN New York Bureau
Wednesday, April 9, 2003 Posted:
6:58 PM EDT (2258 GMT)
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Cheers
erupted Wednesday morning as a Brooklyn family watching
television recognized their son and brother as the Marine
who played a lead role in toppling a statue of Saddam
Hussein in a central square in Baghdad.
The image of Cpl. Edward
Chin, 23, of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines Regiment, was
broadcast on TV screens around the world as U.S. troops
joined a crowd that was attacking the statue.
CNN.com |
What I find even cooler is that the guy is only a 2nd generation
American.
Feedback.
5:25
pm CST - GORDON
- The bologna détente.
I swear I can't make this stuff
up. Today for lunch I had a
bologna sandwich. The brand of bologna we buy is packaged in a
self-sealing container. My wife, however, always wraps the
self-sealing bologna container in yet another zip-lock baggie....a
practice that has always bugged me. It just adds another layer
of complexity in an already complex world. Anyway,
she gets home from work a few minutes ago: Woman:
What did you have for lunch today?
Me:
A bologna sandwich.
Woman:
I see. Did you wrap it in a baggie?
Me:
No.
Woman:
Great. So it's in there getting all slimy now.
Me:
No it isn't. The package is self-sealing.
Woman:
Yes it is, it's getting slimy.
Me
(pitch of my voice rising): Look. When we go grocery shopping
tomorrow we'll buy two identical packages of bologna. We'll
open each at the same time and consume one slice of bologna, after
which we'll wrap one package in a baggie, and leave the other with
only its self-sealing mechanism in place. One week later we'll
take a bacterial culture from both our control and experimental
packages of bologna, and my hypothesis is that there will be no
significant variation in the population of bacteria between the two.
Woman:
. . . . . . .
Woman:
You know, I ask you to do just one thing around here, and you can't
even wrap up the bologna..... I'm
not sure who won. Feedback.
4:10
pm CST - GORDON
- Another link
dump..
Time to clean out the bookmark list
again. Getting unwieldy.
WEST
OF BAGHDAD, Iraq — U.S. troops have not yet cooked Saddam
Hussein’s goose, but they’ve eaten a lot of his son’s
chicken.
The
opportunity for the unexpected feast, all the more welcome
for exhausted soldiers who have eaten little but MREs for
the last two weeks, came April 4 when soldiers from 3rd
Infantry Division (Mechanized)’s 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry
Regiment happened upon an estate owned by Hussein’s eldest
son, Uday. The troops were trying to locate the source of a
mortar that had shelled the squadron’s tactical operations
center about 9 miles southwest of Baghdad. Locals told them
that a nearby estate belonged to Uday, a man with an
international reputation for combining a playboy lifestyle
with thuggish brutality.
[....]
There were no
Iraqi troops or weapons on the estate, which covered
hundreds of acres, but there was much to hold the
cavalrymen’s interest. Part of the property was given over
to a chicken farm, one of Uday Hussein’s numerous
commercial interests. The soldiers found hundreds of pounds
of frozen chicken in one building, and proceeded to cook as
much of it as possible over an open fire. “We ate the hell
out of some chicken,” said Staff Sgt. Rodney Trotter, a
26-year-old operations non-commissioned officer from
Gadsden, Ala.
Navy
Times |
I remember in the Marines you always
wanted to be in the field with Staff Sergeant Johns. He grew
up in the swamps of Florida, and was the guy who knew how to make
a feast from the critters you found in the woods. I imagine
these guys had their equivalent of SSgt Johns. The
turtle soup in France after two weeks straight of MRE's was
excellent. +++++++++++++
US $80bn war chest
'for allies only'
The US House of Representatives has approved almost $80bn
(£51bn) in financing for the war in Iraq and the start of
reconstruction.
But in a controversial
amendment, congressmen insisted that none of the money for
rebuilding should go to companies from France, Germany,
Russia or Syria - countries seen as implacable opponents
of the US pursuit of the war.
BBC
News |
Heh. I wonder how much complaining
there will be. "It's not fair because we want that
money too even though we opposed the war and did nothing to aid
it." The same argument is used for these countries who
want a piece of the rebuilding pie. The U.N. and various
Saddam-supporting countries want in now, even though they did
nothing and incurred no expense to stop the regime. They
must be wanting compensation for the Iraqi contracts they lost
when going behind the U.N.'s back. +++++++++ Here's
a funny little thing I was directed to. Funniest if you're
actually an ex Marine. ++++++++ New
links in the left column. Right
We Are - Apparently written by a couple of
conservative-leaning chicks. Good page. And they
linked us back! The
Bitch Girls - Same as above, but a little harder to pin down
due to the greater number of authors. Still worth reading,
from what I saw...will stay linked as long as it remains so. Backfeed
|
8:30
pm CST - GORDON
- Back to
reality.
The first archive page was getting a little
long, so I added a new archives page and did some reshuffling to
even things out. In doing so I found a post
I made years ago about a guy in Europe who wrote an entire
webpage based on the arguments/battles between him and his
girlfriend.
Sometimes I think I have him beat, so I'm
going to start doing the same here, when it is warranted. The
other day while packing boxes for our upcoming move, my wife drew a
smiley face on the top of my bare foot with a permanent
marker. Eyes toward my toes, smiling mouth toward my
ankle. She thought it was pretty funny. Now when I'm
sitting there taking a #2, I stare at the floor between my legs, and
my eyes are irresistibly drawn to the face on my foot staring back
at me. It's very disconcerting. Feedback.
5:05
pm CST - GORDON
- Al-Jazeera.
If you've watched the news at all in the
last 12 hours you've seen the "dramatic" footage of an
al-Jazeera cameraman filming war stuff and getting taken out.
Facts nobody denies:
- Iraqis put a lot of military hardware
around and in close proximity to al-Jazeera headquarters.
- Al-Jazeera reporters are currently
embedded with coalition combat units.
What the U.S. claims:
- The cameraman was standing directly next
to an anti-aircraft gun. (Hearsay.)
- We never purposely fire on
non-combatants, which includes the press.
- In spite of the fact al-Jazeera is often
a thorn in our sides with regards to anti-American propaganda,
airing footage of American P.O.W.'s, etc, they are also a great
source of intelligence. Remember, it was al-Jazeera
through which Bin Laden was communicating.
What Al-Jazeera claims (and I got this from
both analysts last night and an interview this morning by a
representative of al-Jazeera):
- The Americans apologized, but they don't
have enough evidence to say it wasn't done on purpose.
- Actually, they've broadcasted that it
was on purpose, the talking head was just playing both sides of
the fence while speaking in English. This is a game Arafat
plays well.
Actually, that last one kind of departs
from "fact" to my personal opinion.
Here's my personal thoughts:
- It's hard to believe they could be this
stupid. It is my opinion that they aren't 100% objective,
a claim I can make for most major American media. Face
it...when America screws up, we tell everyone. If anything
sometimes events showing America's greatness are often overlooked
by American media.
- I have perfect eyesight, but I think I'd
have a hard time distinguishing between a camera and a portable
missile launcher on a guy's shoulder while doing 400 knots in an
F-18.
- If there really was an anti-aircraft gun
on the roof of Al-Jazeera HQ, I think that's a problem.
- If al-Jazeera is going to play as an independent
pro-Iraq propaganda machine, they need to be treated as
such. I can't remember any other instances of enemy propaganda
ministers being let off lightly.
I really want to believe that a major
Arab-based media outlet can be unbiased, but when they still run
stories about how America is trying to exterminate Iraqis, it makes
me think it may be impossible....at least in today's world.
There's only one major reason the Islamic
world hates the west: people tell them to.
As
always, correct me if I'm wrong.
1:17
am CST - GORDON
- BOOM.
Let's hope we got him. Somehow, it
feels right this time. Is it possible the world is a little
less evil, tonight, and it's palpable? Maybe I'm just feeling
a great disturbance in the Force. The
real reason I'm posting tonight is because of an article I saw on Sgt.
Stryker, who saw it on "This
is London." I'm even going to quote the same bit he
did, because I find it quite poignant.
As of last night, the
airport is once again receiving flights but it remains a
risky business to fly here. The first incoming flight, organized
by the CIA, was welcomed with desultory bursts of
anti-aircraft fire. Half-a-dozen Iraqi artillery shells have
hit over the past 24 hours.
But things are changing and, as the
days pass, minds are changing too.
A captured Iraqi colonel being held
in one of the hangars listened in astonishment as his
information minister praised Republican Guard soldiers for
recapturing the airport.
He looked at his captors and, as he
realized that what he had heard was palpably untrue, his eye
filled with tears. Turning to a translator, he asked:
"How long have they been lying like this?" |
Someday, this war's going to end. Feedback
thread already in progress.
|
6:15
pm CST - GORDON
- Now for an
important announcement from Iraq's Minister of Silliness.
I was recently in on a press conference
with Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, Iraq's Information Minister.
Mr. Seed as-Hasselhoff: do you still deny the existence of
coalition troops inside Baghdad?
They are sick in their minds. They say they
brought 65 tanks into center of city. I say to you this talk is not
true. This is part of their sick mind. There is no
presence of American infidels in the city of Baghdad at all.
But Mr. Hasselhoff, there is overwhelming
evidence to the contrary. Have you been to your airport,
lately?
Their forces committed suicide by the hundreds. ... The battle is
very fierce and God made us victorious. The fighting continues.
Yesterday, we slaughtered them and we will continue to slaughter
them.
I...see. General Franks, have you anything to add?
Dumbass.
We killed most of them and we will get of rid of them soon. Baghdad
will be their graveyard....
*knock knock*
Who is there?
*Candygram*
Candygram? I know of no such thing. American lies and
deceptions.
*Pizza*
Did anyone order a pizza? No? No one ordered a pizza,
here!
* . . . . . . *
*Landshark*
Oh, my old friend the land shark. Allah be praised. Come in, come in!
U.S. Marines. We heard there was someone terminally stupid in
here.
Mr. Al-Saharamadan, you may want to think about surrendering.
I have no need. American forces are not within 100 miles of
here.
Have you been to Saddam's palaces lately?
Because the Marines have.
I realize the guy is
only doing his job, but he has two problems. Firstly, the
people he is trying to convince are the ones who aren't receiving
television signals right now and only see American armor rumbling
through their neighborhoods. And secondly, those who are
seeing his statements are already seeing (and often protesting) the
same occupation images. He needs to give himself up,
quickly. The National Minister of Silly will soon end up the
Minister of Deader than Dogshit, otherwise. And he's kind of
funny, in a goofy sort of way. Nothing to see here.
|
11:59
am CST - GORDON
- Yay, United
Nations!
Maybe they should have allowed inspectors
more time.
Survivors of a massacre
in north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have told UN
human rights investigators that nearly 1,000 civilians were
killed last Thursday on the eve of talks to bring peace to
the war-ravaged Ituri district.
The investigators from the UN
peace-keeping mission in Congo (or Monuc) flew into Drodro -
near the border with Uganda - on Saturday where they
interviewed eyewitnesses and visited mass graves.
BBC
News |
Since this is considered "Human
Rights" abuse, should they get the esteemed gentleman from
Libya to sit in on this one? If the
United Nations were actually effective, nothing like this would
happen, ever. As it is, the UN is just sitting back with their
list saying, "Well, looks like we don't need to send as much
food aid from America to Africa this month." The
United Nations: When you Absolutely, Positively Need to Delay
Action as Long as Possible.
|
3:00 pm
CDT - GORDON
- U.S. troops definitely
aren't in Baghdad..
More bits and bobs (instead of boobs)
today.
CENTRAL
IRAQ (CNN) -- U.S.
Marine Cpl. Jim Tomlin has gotten to know the subtle signs
that might indicate if an Iraqi man dressed as a civilian
might be a soldier or Fedayeen Saddam member. But the sign
he saw Friday was anything but subtle.
A bus full of men in civilian
clothes had been pulled over at a checkpoint. While one man
was being questioned, he drew a finger across his throat,
Tomlin and others on the bus said. Asked what that meant, he
responded with a glare.
Tomlin, from Minneapolis,
Minnesota, learned Arabic in a year and a half of training
at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California.
He was helping Charlie Company, a light armored
reconnaissance unit with the 2nd Marine Division, interview
Iraqis suspected of being possible paramilitary fighters
about 60 miles south of Baghdad.
"What you're saying is you
want to kill me," Tomlin said to the man.
The Iraqi nodded.
"You're saying you want to
kill me?" he asked.
The Iraqi grinned and glared.
At that point, a gunnery sergeant
grabbed the man, threw him to the floor and bound his hands
behind his back with plastic handcuffs.
The Iraqi was "crying like a
baby," the sergeant said, and Tomlin said the other 30
men on the bus "knew we meant business."
CNN.com |
I really can't blame the guy for
"crying like a baby." A Marine Gunny can do that to
most people. Another interesting
thing mentioned in that article is that typically, these Fedayeen
assholes have tattoos. In the first Gulf War when Iraqi troops
hadn't yet met US Marines, they were fed the line that for every
tattoo an American Marine had, he had killed one member of his own
family. I don't remember the Marines doing a lot to discourage
that rumor. ++++++++++ Is
"because they're assholes" a good enough reason to take
over a country?
CAIRO,
Egypt (Reuters) -- Arabs
called on Iraqis to fight on Saturday after reports U.S.
troops had entered Baghdad, but were torn between wanting
Iraqi resistance and fearing more harm to civilians caught
up in the battle.
"I hope the Iraqis stick it
out just to humiliate the Americans and force a debate about
whether the Iraqi people really wanted their so-called help
anyway," said Mohammed, a 25-year-old graduate student
in Beirut.
"But in another way I hope
it's over quickly, otherwise so many Iraqis will die and
America will win anyway. Either way Iraq loses."
CNN.com |
The story goes on quoting
all kinds of people from around the Arab world with less grasp on
world events than your average six year old girl in Iowa. They
all admit the the USA will win, but all of them want lots of dead US
soldiers. Everyone wants to go to
Baghdad. Real men want to go to Tehran and Damascus. ++++++ Here's
an interesting story linking Saudi money...yet again...to a
terrorist act, this time in the Army asshole who rolled the grenade
into his unit's command tent.
With
the Islamic connection virtually undeniable in the Asan
Akbar grenade case, the question inevitably arises: Where is
the Saudi money?
Akbar is the
black Muslim Army sergeant who, after killing two and
wounding 14 of his fellow soldiers when he hurled a grenade
into a tent in Kuwait, ranted, "You guys are
coming into our countries and you're going to rape
our women and kill our children." So, what about
the Saudi money? It's not so much a case of paranoia, as it
is a realization that Saudi money has an eerie habit of
popping up around Islamic extremism the world over. And in
the case of Akbar, the answer is: everywhere.
National
Review Online |
Indirect connection, yes. Why couldn't Gandhi have been a
little more land-hungry? At least when he professed peace he
didn't do it by killing as many people as he could.
+++++++
And, last but not least, let's cast some dispersions on our own
government.
I can't really think of any commentary for this except
"bad."
Airline and government
spokespeople have attempted to calm
fears about CAPPS II, saying airlines will only provide
the government with the limited data they already collect
from passengers. But the information contained in airline
databases isn't limited to a passenger's name, address and
phone number, Hasbrouck said during a panel discussion at
the 13th annual conference on Computers,
Freedom and Privacy here on Thursday.
He pointed out that travel industry
databases contain a wealth of information, including but not
limited to whom travelers have shared a room with, what
movies they watched, what they ate, and even whether they
are grumpy or easy to get along with.
The information CAPPS II would use
as a starting point will be gleaned from the passenger name
records, called PNRs, maintained by airlines, computerized
reservations systems and travel agencies.
A PNR can provide very specific
information about a traveler's habits. It can also show
whether a person requested a king-size waterbed in the
honeymoon suite on her last business trip or the
single-occupancy super-saver room. PNRs can record the
in-room movies a hotel guest ordered. They can list special
meal requests, which may indicate a traveler's religious
affiliation.
Wired
News |
The privacy of millions and millions of people will be
invaded in order to track a relatively small handful or terrorist
assholes. Generally, I'm against it.
+++++
Know what? I've changed my mind. I hope we topple the
Saudi monarchy, next.
Oh how I wish I was there.
3:31 pm
CDT - GORDON
- Calm before
the storm.
Been wringing out the internet like a wet
rag trying to find something going on today that hasn't already been
covered eight ways from Sunday on other websites, but it seems like
after Iraq's "Get ready for something unconventional
tonight" statement, everyone is holding their breath. As
such, two things... Here's a pic I
liked: And
here's a woman I've been having recurring dreams about:
That's
"Donna" from "That 70's Show." I never
have recurring dreams about women, and I've never really gone in for
redheads. Weird. I kept the images small since they're
borderline NWS. They're clickable, though... So
there you go.
|
8:26 pm
CDT - GORDON
- More Stuff.
For the last three days I've been book marking
things that I wanted to discuss or post in the forum or something,
but I never got around to it. So, here's their own post so I
can clean out my bookmark list. Right
after 9/11 there was an incident in which a German
destroyer came alongside the USS Winston Churchill upon which
the German sailors held up a sign proclaiming, "We stand by
you." I guess my point is that while the German
government is full of shit, the regular Germans are 'ok.'
Feel
free to remind me of any French
shows of solidarity I may have forgotten. ++++ Know
what you don't want to do? Have a bunch of Marines holding a
grudge against you.
US Marines moved into
the southern Iraqi town of Shatrah today to recover the body
of a dead comrade which had been hanged in the town square,
officers said.
Hundreds of troops were dispatched on the operation after
intelligence reports indicated the body of a dead American,
who was killed in a firefight last week, had been paraded
through the streets and hanged in public.
news.com.au |
It happens every time, and yet I never understand it. What
level of subhuman do you have to reach to desecrate the dead like
that?
If I saw a buddy treated like that, it would probably add a
little more resolve in my will to kill bad guys. I wonder if
that was the desired effect.
+++
In case you ever wondered, here's the Code of Conduct American
fighters are expected to adhere to.
1. I am an
American, fighting in the forces which guard my country and
our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their
defense.
2. I will never surrender of my own free will. If in
command, I will never surrender the members of my command
while they still have the means to resist.
3. If I am captured I will continue to resist by all
means available. I will make every effort to escape and aid
others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special
favors from the enemy.
4. If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith
with my fellow prisoners. I will give no information or take
part in any action which might be harmful to my comrades. If
I am senior, I will take command. If not, I will obey the
lawful orders of those appointed over me and will back them
up in every way.
5. When questioned, should I become a prisoner of war,
I am required to give name, rank, service number, and date
of birth. I will evade answering further questions to the
utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or written
statements disloyal to my country and its allies or harmful
to their cause.
More
in-depth explanation here. |
++++++
Hey look, more bullshit from the French.
French Prime Minister
Jean-Pierre Raffarin has pleaded for trans-Atlantic
tolerance after graffiti was daubed on a British war
cemetery in northern France.
Slogans reading "Death to
Yankees" and "Rosbeefs (Brits) go home" were
painted on the central memorial in Etaples, near the Channel
port of Boulogne in northern France.
BBC
News |
I'd been against the idea of digging up the cemeteries in France,
but if this kind of thing keeps happening I can't see how we'd have
a choice.
"Enlightened," indeed.
++
Here's
a good "what if" scenario that I thought was a good
read. Too long to post and impossible to paraphrase.
+++
Awhile ago in the forums I expressed a fear that Saddam would
adopt a scorched earth policy if it looked like his defeat was
imminent. Coalition forces are now in Baghdad. I can't
find the link right now, but word has it Al Jazeera reporters were
told to get out by the regime. Our forces are reporting (as of
right now) that resistance is light...they aren't meeting the forces
they expected. Is this what would happen in Saddam set a timer
on a nuke?
+++
I embedded a secret code in this post. Five points to
anyone who figures in out.
My
bookmarks are now cleaned.
3:45 pm
CDT - GORDON
- Stuff.
"The Americans definitely aren't
anywhere near Baghdad." - Iraqi government officials. Meanwhile,
we just took
Saddam International a few miles from downtown. From
the Quran:
Surah al-Hujurat verse
6:
O you, those who have faith, if a wrongdoer comes to you
with news, verify it, lest you strike somebody in ignorance
then regret what you have done. |
|
What that means is that people who follow
the Prophet (pbuh) are supposed to not believe rumors. They're
supposed to verify on their own before they act on bad
information. Which, apparently, very few of them are doing,
like good Muslims are supposed to. They get stuck on "Kill
the Zionists," I guess. Question: why does the
entire Arab world get into such an uproar over a plot of land the
size of New Jersey? +++++ PFC
Lynch: Hard core. As the story
is coming out, it seems that when her vehicle was ambushed, she
fought until she ran out of ammo. Word is she took out at
least two bad guys....imagine the shame an Islamic male died feeling
when he was out-fought by a little American girl. Lynch was
fighting to the death. Good show. I'll be honest...being
that they were Army, I had envisioned a fast surrender. I
gladly stand corrected, and impressed, if what I've heard is true.
Pfc. Jessica
Lynch, rescued Tuesday from an Iraqi hospital, fought
fiercely and shot several enemy soldiers after Iraqi forces
ambushed the Army’s 507th Ordnance Maintenance Company,
firing her weapon until she ran out of ammunition, U.S.
officials said yesterday.
MSNBC |
A nineteen year old girl from West Virginia
named Jessica. God I'm glad to be an American.
Salute.
Yeah.
|
3:40 pm EDT - Leisher - My turn.
Gordon has been doing a lot of
posting on the war lately, so I thought I’d give him a break and
write a post of my own on this conflict.
Let’s start off with something a little
different and put the anti-war protestors in the spotlight, shall
we?
Let’s allow the protestors to speak their
minds and intelligently explain why they’re against the war:
(For the two links below, just select the video
format and speed you’d like to view)
New
York Protestors
San
Francisco Protestors
For full information on the videos, please
visit http://www.brain-terminal.com.
Now let’s move on to the most publicly
recognized peace protestors, Hollywood celebrities. We’ve all seen
and heard certain celebrities speaking out against the war and
President Bush, so let’s examine these celebrities’
qualifications to discuss international affairs:
Barbra
Streisand : Completed high school
Career:
Singing and acting
Maybe
her porn video makes her an international expert?
Alec
Baldwin: Dropped out of George Washington U. after scandal.
Career:
Acting
Wait a minute. Weren’t Alec and Barbra going
to leave the country if Bush won the election? How can two people
with this much integrity possibly be wrong?
Cher:
Dropped out of school in 9th grade.
Career:
Singing and acting
Jessica
Lange: Dropped out college mid-freshman year.
Career:
Acting
Sean
Penn: Completed High school.
Career:
Acting
Susan
Sarandon: Degree in Drama from Catholic University of America in
Washington,
D.C.
Career:
Acting
Susan has an anti-war commercial out asking,
“What did Iraq do to us?” Hey Susan, I’ll answer that question
for you as soon as you tell me what Germany did to us. Apparently,
in Susan’s mind we were wrong to save Europe and liberate the Jews
because Germany didn’t do anything thing to us just like Iraq
hasn’t.
George
Clooney: Dropped out of the University of Kentucky.
Career:
Acting
Michael
Moore: Dropped out after his first year at the University of
Michigan.
Career:
Movie Director
Michael Moore just won the Oscar for Best
Documentary for Bowling For Columbine. One little problem, it
doesn’t qualify in the official Oscar rules as a documentary. It
just so happens that Mr. Moore likes to lie
and edit video/speech to fit his needs.
Janeane
Garofelo: Dropped out of College.
Career:
Stand up comedienne
I’ll cut Janeane some slack if she apologizes
to Bush after the war is over and we find out that horrible things
have been occurring to the Iraqi people and Saddam has weapons of
mass destruction as she promised during an interview with Bill
McNeil.
Jennifer
Anniston: Completed High School.
Career:
Acting
I’m
not sure why Jennifer is on this list, but I’ll bet if she truly
is anti-war then she’s probably got a problem with her husband
Brad Pitt coming out in favor of the conflict.
To
see the full list of celebrities and their international diplomacy
qualifications versus our political leaders’ qualifications in a
fantastic article, please go here.
One
question I haven’t heard a single anti-war celebrity or current
peace protestor answer is where they were when Clinton was bombing
people in the Middle East/Africa and invading Bosnia…
Ok,
I’m doing a lot of mocking here, but let me get serious for this
last part.
It
absolutely amazes me that some of the anti-war people are as
ignorant as they are and judging by the last guy in the Protesting
the Protestors II video I linked to above (San Francisco), some of
the anti-war people are amazed by it too. Please understand, just
because someone is anti-war does not mean I think they’re an
idiot. Its when you ignore the facts, call Bush “Hitler”, act
like the U.S. is a bully, etc. that makes me believe you’re an
idiot.
Has
it ever occurred to you morons that the reason you have the right to
say what you want without being tortured or killed is because you
are an American. The last time I checked, this country and your
freedom was built on the bodies of U.S. soldiers. Do you believe
that life is like this around the world? Do you think the Iraqi
people are better off without our help? Do you idiots actually
believe that a man who has used weapons of mass destruction in the
recent past, who has invaded neighboring countries TWICE, and told
the U.N. inspectors to go screw themselves, will peacefully disarm
and put himself at the mercy of the people he’s been oppressing
and killing for years?
So
maybe you need a wake up call? The audio clip below is a call made
to a talk radio show in Chicago. This woman called after the hosts
read an email written by an anti-war listener wishing that their
son, who is currently flying an F-18 in Iraq, would die.
By
the way, the caller is an Iraqi and that makes her opinion 100% more
informed than your emotional, and frankly uninformed, judgment on
the war.
Listen
to the truth.
Talk
back.
|
4:12 pm
CDT - GORDON
- Weekend off.
Spent the weekend in Sioux City visiting
friends, and took a road trip 70 miles farther north to see Sioux
Falls. Biggest city in South Dakota, you know.
That's me sitting there. I have a jacket on; I'm not
actually quite that round.
Anyway, I thought I'd make a light post and take a little break
from the political vitriol I've been spewing.
More spewing tomorrow.
"Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs
through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs
over rocks from the basement of time . . . I am haunted by
waters."
|
10:28 pm
CDT - GORDON
- Props to the
artist.
3:08 pm
CDT - GORDON
- Serenity now.
Columbia University professor Nicholas De Genova.
A Columbia University
professor told thousands of students and faculty that he
would like to see "a million Mogadishus" _
referring to the 1993 ambush in Somalia that killed 18
Americans and inspired the movie "Black Hawk
Down."
The professor, Nicholas De Genova, also called for the
defeat of U.S. forces in Iraq and said, "The only true
heroes are those who find ways that help defeat the U.S.
military." And he asserted that Americans who call
themselves "patriots" are white supremacists.
Newsday.com |
A few days ago I suggested that if you were protesting the war,
that you were essentially providing support to Saddam. Let me
qualify that a bit. Protesting government actions is what
America is all about. There's really not many more poignant
ways to celebrate freedom than by dissenting against the country
providing it. Here's my clarification: if in protesting
you deny someone else their freedom, block off a city intersection
and disrupt commerce, or abuse your position of authority to suggest
to impressionable teens that the death of American soldiers is the
best thing that can happen, then as far as I'm concerned you're a traitor.
Date: March 28, 2003
To: bollinger@columbia.edu
(University President)
Re: Nicholas De Genova
Regarding Mr. De Genova's comments at the recent anti-war
teach in.
I'm sure you've been inundated with
correspondence concerning this incident, so I'll be brief:
If you keep this person on your
payroll, in my mind I will always associate Columbia
University with encouraging the death of American
servicemen. I'll ensure the readers of my webpage know the
facts as well.
Sincerely,
GORDON
www.dtman.com |
Date:
March 28, 2003
To: npd18@columbia.edu
(Nicholas De Genova)
Re: Your statements at the recent anti-war teach in.
You're an asshole.
Sincerely,
GORDON
www.dtman.com |
Here's the
Columbia University faculty directory if you want mailing addresses
or something.
What
an asshole.
|
3:05 pm
CDT - GORDON
- Smart broad.
I found a good op-ed
piece by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice on the state
or the coalition. Here's a bit I liked.
Months ago, the prime
minister of Estonia told President Bush that he did not need
an explanation of the need to confront Iraq. Because the
great democracies failed to act in 1930s, his people lived
in slavery for 50 years. |
A bit about Condi from an email that made
the rounds and the forums:
National Security
Advisor Condoleezza Rice: Earned her Bachelor's Degree in
Political Science, Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from the
University of Denver in 1974; her Master's from the
University of Notre Dame in 1975; and her Ph. D. from the
Graduate School of International Studies at the University
of Denver in 1981. (Note: Rice enrolled at the University of
Denver at the age of 15, graduating at 19 with a Bachelor's
Degree in Political Science (Cum Laude). She earned a
Master's Degree at the University of Notre Dame and a
Doctorate from the University of Denver's Graduate School of
International Studies. Both of her advanced degrees are also
in Political Science.) She is a Fellow of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences and has been awarded Honorary
Doctorates from Morehouse College in 1991, the University of
Alabama in 1994, and the University of Notre Dame in 1995.
At Stanford, she has been a member of the Center for
International Security and Arms Control, a Senior Fellow of
the Institute for International Studies, and a Fellow (by
courtesy) of the Hoover Institution.
Her books include Germany Unified and Europe Transformed
(1995) with Philip Zelikow, The Gorbachev Era (1986) with
Alexander Dallin, and Uncertain Allegiance: The Soviet Union
and the Czechoslovak Army (1984). She also has written
numerous articles on Soviet and East European foreign and
defense policy, and has addressed audiences in settings
ranging from the U. S. Ambassador's Residence in Moscow to
the Commonwealth Club to the 1992 and 2000 Republican
National Conventions. From 1989 through March 1991, the
period of German reunification and the final days of the
Soviet Union, she served in the Bush Administration as
Director, and then Senior Director, of Soviet and East
European Affairs in the National Security Council, and a
Special Assistant to the President for National Security
Affairs. In 1986, while an international affairs fellow of
the Council on Foreign Relations, she served as Special
Assistant to the Director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In
1997, she served on the Federal Advisory Committee on Gender
-- Integrated Training in the Military. She was a member of
the boards of directors for the Chevron Corporation, the
Charles Schwab Corporation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the University of
Notre Dame, the International Advisory Council of J. P.
Morgan and the San Francisco Symphony Board of Governors.
She was a Founding Board member of the Center for a New
Generation, an educational support fund for schools in East
Palo Alto and East Menlo Park, California and was Vice
President of the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula. In
addition, her past board service has encompassed such
organizations as Transamerica Corporation, Hewlett Packard,
the Carnegie Corporation, Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace, The Rand Corporation, the National
Council for Soviet and East European Studies, the
Mid-Peninsula Urban Coalition and KQED, public broadcasting
for San Francisco. Born November 14, 1954 in Birmingham,
Alabama, she resides in Washington, D. C. |
As one person in that
thread pondered, "Is it just me, or does anyone else find
Condoleezza Rice's brain sexually exciting?"
You can advise my National Security any time,
Condi. (I call her Condi.)
She's no Salma
Hayak, but then Salma is no Condi Rice.
Not really a lot
to discuss, but here's a thread anyway.
|
5:09 pm
CDT - GORDON
- Opposing the
war.
Protesters. Even in World War II, which
everyone these days considers to be "The Last Good War,"
some were opposed to American involvement. Europe was in
flames, England was months away from being overrun in spite of
America's shoring them up with supplies through the Lend-Lease
Act, and still there were those who felt one American casualty
was too many, no matter what the cost to the world of our
neutrality. There has been much speculation about what would
have happened if the G.I.'s hadn't gone to Europe, almost all of it
concluding it would all be Germany.
Before you think I'm about to compare Hitler's
1940-1941 European tour with Saddam and Iraq, stop. I'm about
to discuss the dangers of sitting back and doing nothing because
"It isn't our problem."
Contrary to what many may think, I think war
sucks. I also think chemotherapy sucks, but I'm not saying it
isn't sometimes necessary. Many protesters bandied the phrase,
"Bush's
Rush to War." Rush? What constitutes a
rush? Saddam ignored U.N. resolutions for 12 years. Then
there was almost a year of public discussion before any Iraqi
liberation began. A "rush" would have been "We
took out Baghdad last night" instead of, "Saddam has just
6 more months to be forthcoming." As our troops are
uncovering chemical weapons plants, it's obvious Saddam never was as
innocent as anti-Bushies claimed. Protesters were wrong, but
there's not a lot of people talking about that.
I've heard President Bush called a dictator,
recently. He's been compared to Hitler quite a bit. I
find it hard to address this at all, it is so asinine.
America's military budget is bigger than the next six largest
countries' budgets combined. If we wanted to take over a
pissant desert country, we could do it at any time, for any reason
we wanted to. And we are. But are we keeping it and
setting up regional governors, ala Rome? No. We provide
a stable platform for economic growth and the blossoming of a
population having human rights for the first time. When
America rebuilds a government, you get places like Japan and
Germany. When those who oppose us rebuild a government, you
get places like Congo
and Chad. Not exactly hot tourist destinations, unless
you're into cannibalism.
I've heard dissenters claim, "not one
innocent Iraqi life is worth a war." They show pictures
of women and children
in hospitals. Pictures generated by the Iraqi propaganda
machine, with no evidence of when or from where the pictures
came. Of course, more innocent women and children have been
killed by the government during Saddam's reign that will ever match
any collateral damage we will inflict. Why is this
ignored? Yesterday Iraqi soldiers in Basra fired rockets into
a crowded marketplace to make it look like American soldiers did
it. I'm sure the protesters will ignore this.
And P.O.W.'s. Unlike the dirt bags in
Guantanamo Bay, uniformed Iraqi soldiers who are captured/surrender
are afforded every right under the Geneva
Convention. They are searched and deloused and bundled off
to a different patch of sand from whence they came and are given the
best food and medical treatment they've probably seen in
years. Despite footage of the soldiers initially being
captured, American media has not shown images of these prisoners or
otherwise exploited them. Unlike poor, innocent Iraq. I
will not post the link, but I saw images of some of our dead POW's
with their pants down, with mutilated genitalia. Put that on
your anti-Iraqi liberation signs.
Today there's concerns that Iraqis may have
acquired American
uniforms and are using them to make us look brutal.
In World War II, the "last good war" I mentioned earlier,
the Germans tried this during the Battle of the Bulge. English
speaking German troops in captured Jeeps tooled around behind our
lines and wreaked quite a bit of havoc before we rounded them
up. In that "good war," they were all shot as
spies. Iraqis who fake surrender and fight in American
uniforms deserve no less.
I think a lot of this comes down to what a lot
of people call "American arrogance." We think that
our way is the Right way, and we're too eager to whip our liberty on
others whether they want it or not. I can see the point.
People say this is a bad thing, though. They think these
ancient cultures are somehow just as valid as an American way of
life, for what reason I don't know. I suppose in some century
in the past it was fine to order the rape of a woman in an opposing
tribe. Or force women to keep themselves hidden as second
class citizens. Or kill everyone and their families who might
not like your style of government. But not this century, and
not this country.
This post is a lot longer than I planned.
|
5:39 pm
CDT - GORDON
- Attention
Mister and Missus America, and all the ships at sea.
I'm sure that by now everyone in America who
has come within 10 feet of a television or an internet connection
within the last few days has heard of the blog, "Where
is Raed?" probably written by an actual Iraqi citizen in
Baghdad. I mean no disrespect by using the term,
"probably." I personally believe he's there, but due
to the fact he is an outlaw in his country, his identity must remain
anonymous.
He has some interesting things to say.
He says, "I am opposed to war, but not to regime change"
(paraphrased). Interesting. The fact that he gets a
little condescending when talking about Americans leaves a bit of a
bad taste in my mouth, but I still respect what he's doing.
What he never addresses is that revolution comes from within, by
definition. If they'd washed their own dirty laundry, we
wouldn't have to do it for them. I tried emailing him for some
comments, but his inbox was full.
What I've not heard anything about on mass
media has been blogs written by folks who either support the war, or
are reporting directly from it as a participant. Here's a few
that I was directed to by a forum
regular:
Lieutenant
Smash. As much as I can make out, he's a soldier currently
in the war. These people can't give their
names/units/locations, obviously, but if he's not actually in the
thick of it, he has a hell of an imagination. Here's his post
from March 20th:
Saddam fired a couple of those
Scuds that he doesn't have at me this afternoon.
He missed.
TRANSMISSION FROM L.T. Smash
|
Another good one is "Kim
du Toit" I haven't figured out who he's supposed to
be yet, but on his page he has an interesting series of articles
called "From the Sandbox" authored by someone calling
himself "Capt. Steve." As far as I can tell, Captain
Steve is either a pilot or crewmember of a plane currently on duty
in Iraq. Excellent reading. Here's a good aside in one
of the postings:
The news
gave way slowly, almost imperceptibly, to commentary until
newscaster became commentator and began complaining about
the cost of the weapons we are expending and the debt we are
accruing. "How," he wailed, "are we going to
pay for all this when the President is asking for tax
cuts?"
It's a simple fact of life that those who don't know right
from wrong shouldn't dabble in economics. They could hurt
themselves. If you doubt me ask the French.
And there's news about the French here. Or I shouldn't say
news, as at the moment it's only barely more than rumor. But
sometimes rumor carries such illicit pleasure that it cannot
be suppressed, so I'll tell you what they're saying here. A
crew member of mine caught a ride back to our compound with
two British airmen who work in a center where some of the
war planning and directing takes place. The Brits gleefully
told him that the French had been escorted from the premises
after being caught trying to hack our secret computer
network. In what seems to be a corroborating story, someone
else was told by one of the noncomms working in housing that
people who'd been living in tents were finally getting moved
into dorms -- rooms that had previously been occupied by the
French. Take it for what it's worth. Rumor? Yes, but some
rumors end up being true. Even if this one doesn't, it's
made a lot of people smile. Those French who are still here
probably wonder what we're grinning at. (There do seem to be
fewer around, but who can tell? Tonight is Steak Night at
the chow hall, and that's the best time to take a French
census. They come out of the woodwork on Steak Night.) |
And, there's The
Primary Main Objective, a name that's kind of funny in
itself. As far as I can tell, it's written by someone a little
lower in the ranks. Just a hunch. The March 22nd entry:
Road
Trip!!
Woo hoo! Dude it was
sooo awesome. We loaded up the SUV and hit the road. Just
like a beer commercial
Eh.. it wasn't that
awesome. Drove about 50 miles to pick up some new people. We
loaded up the SUV with chem suits, MRE's water, cell phones
and of course... guns.
No booze. No babes. No
beach. Lots of sand though.
Damn this is a barren
country. Imagine the california desert with NO vegetation
and NO changes in elevation.
On the upside, the
sand is so fine it doesn't really hurt when there's a storm.
It just coats everything and everyone.
Most amusing moment of
trip: A freeway sign pointing to Insert city here in
one direction and Desert in the other. Nothing like
stating the obvious.
It was a fun trip
though. My first trip off base and I've been here almost
exactly 1 month. |
Be sure to look at the "No Shit
Sherlock" entry from March 16th.
These pages have more links to more kindred
spirits; be sure to explore.
Talk
about what an evil war mongering baby killer I am, or post more
links.
|
3:41 pm
CDT - GORDON
- Howdy.
Y'all.
Everyone sing with me:
War! (Whoa-oo-whoa-oo-whoa-oowhoa...)
What is it good for?
Ending the regimes of evil dictators in
backwards third world countries that still have the ability to reach
out anywhere in the world with terrorists and kill civilians.
Good god, y'all.
Maybe those aren't the exact words, but close
enough for me.
It may be a little cliché now, but I'm going
to jump on the running board of the "slam the celebrities"
bandwagon and poke some fun at some "No war for oil"
peeps.
It may not be how the protesters see
themselves, but it seems to me if you're speaking out against Bush,
you're speaking out for Saddam. You're helping him out.
Ask Jane Fonda what she thinks about it. So here we
go...photoshop your favorite anti-war celeb in this Saddam photo
op. Here's some source material.
And
here's my first contribution.
|
11:38 pm
CDT - GORDON
- "Capitulation."
Saddam's agreed to
allow weapons inspectors in, in order to keep his ass from
getting kicked.
Here's a challenge: pretend for a moment that I've got a
ten by ten foot room in which I'm producing sarin
gas, one gallon at a time. It is definitely within the
Lincoln, NE city limits. Assemble a team and find it.
Time is a factor, because I'm getting close to producing a long
range delivery system.
The next challenge will be to find a warehouse somewhere in a
desert country twice
the size of Idaho. I'll even make it easy for you.....I'll
have 25 large factories, but I won't tell you where they are, and
most will be underground. Now go find them!
You may try to stop me by imposing massive economic
sanctions. That will, you say, keep me from being able to
purchase anything that might be used to rearm or research. So
I'll just develop a "very
active" black market with neighboring countries. At
that time you'll catch me about every 10th time I try to buy parts
for a nuclear reactor capable of producing enriched uranium.
But I'm not a madman, you'll say. I'd never use weapons of
mass destruction against
civilians, because it would always have a calling
card with my home address on it. But hey....there won't be
a thing to stop me from developing the weapon, and handing it off to
some well
funded terrorist asshole. Anonymously. My hands will
be clean.
So welcome, inspectors, welcome! Iraq is about the safest
place in the world to be right now. Nobody will be setting off
bombs here, not with the U.N. in charge. Have fun in the
desert. I just need a little more time to finish my little
project.
Discuss.
|
8:20 pm
CDT - GORDON
- Justification?
The world is claiming that the United States is acting
unilaterally, in our own interests, and decrying our takeover of
Iraq before it's even happened.
They need a mushroom cloud before they can decide action is
justified.
But even if the ultimate goal of the outlaw states isn't to build
a nuke, in spite of the destruction of infidels being built right
into the national constitutions, consider this:
Somewhere in Iran, a little girl is about to leave her house, and
she puts on her burqua. Deep inside her is the knowledge that
the men in her country don't want to see her.
Someday she'll fulfill her womanly duty and bare a son. She
will be a dutiful wife; one of a handful. She will
unintentionally transfer her bitterness to her son, for he is, in
fact, the only male she has any power over.
One day that son will become a man and take wives and father
children and help shape his country and government. How much
of the bitterness from his mother will be factored into the
decisions he makes? How much more will he restrict the rights
of women living under Islamic law?
Somewhere in Iran, that man's little girl is about to leave her
house, and she puts on her burqua. Deep inside her is the
knowledge that the men in her country don't want to see her.
It's a self perpetuating cycle of self loathing and oppression with
an outlet of anger being directed at the west.
No, not all civilizations
are, in fact, equal. And yes, this American isn't afraid to
apply a fix. Peace in the name of a steady flow of oil is not
peace at all. It's tolerance of evil. No moral person
with strength of character can ignore it. Disagree all you want,
but you'll still be wrong. Evil
is evil, whether it's the support of terror, or looking the other
way and ignoring it.
|
5:04 pm
CDT - GORDON
- Whirling
Dervish.
So, more often than not lately my posts, nay, my infrequent
posts have not been dedicated to Damning the Man. Most of the
front page updates have been various travelogues of my
adventures. Does this mean I've lost the will to Damn the
Man? No. It means that sometimes I get weary of railing
against stupidity, and my brain takes a break. It's easier to
talk about things and events than it is to think about ideas and
motives. Until I get a refreshed brain, most the the raging
against the machine will be done in the forums.
++++++++++
Been to the Music
Page lately? Updates galore....if by "galore"
you mean about once a month for the last few months.
+++++++++++++++
Hey, are we hitting Iraq in 4 days, or what? I halfway
expect W to get on TV at 8pm Eastern Time and proclaim that bombers
left the Midwest 8 hours prior, and are about to hit Baghdad.
Nice way to commemorate 9/11.......take out an Arab capital.
+++++++++
Hey kids: THIS is an idiot:
How much of a closet homosexual do you have to be to
get so uptight about tiny little vegan Moby?
Marshal should just admit to loving the dick. He'd feel
better, and the secret would stop eating him up inside. When
asked about M&M at the MTV VMA's, Moby answered, "the truth
is that i honestly, in all sincerity, thought that the whole eminem
thing was done in some semblance of humor until eminem called me a
pussy (that was off camera) and then threatened to beat me up. ah
well."
So, in summary, Eminem, King of Morons, has some
serious sexuality issues.
++++++++++++++
So let me get this straight: police
departments around the country and the world are putting up
automatic speeder-catching cameras, and then they whine about people
countering
their new technology? Are they daft? It's like
they're going out on the river to fish, and crying about not being
able to catch every last fish.
I've said it before, I'll say it again: if ticketing
speeders was really done to promote safety and not fill government
coffers, then the penalty wouldn't be cash. It would be
Saturday traffic school.
++++++++++++
http://www.wtam.com/local_news.html
An Akron man may want to
stock up on condoms, or prepare to take lots of cold showers.
The man, a father who owes over $40,000 in back child support,
won't go to jail. Instead, 30-year-old Shawn Talty is being
put under court supervision for five years, and being ordered
during that time, to not concieve any more children. That
unusual sentence was handed down Friday by Medina County
Common Pleas Judge James Kimbler. Talty owes the child
support to five women with whom he has fathered seven
children. Talty's lawyer says he will appeal the ruling. His
girlfriend is incensed, saying the ruling is also a sentence
on her, since it also takes from her the option of having a
child. |
"His girlfriend is
incensed, saying the ruling is also a sentence on her, since it also
takes from her the option of having a child."
Now there's a smart gal.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Well, that's enough spew for now. As usual
I'll promise to try and update more often. And I'll mean it.
Speak.
|
9:59 pm
CDT - GORDON
- Capstone.
My last couple weeks in western Nebraska. In pictures.
There is more military history to western NE than just missile
silos. Dotted amongst the plains are also numerous "ant
hills," which used to be bunkers to store ammo. They look
like ant hills. Word has it that these days farmers dry grain
in them. Here's one of those landmark sign thingies:
Here's a jackrabbit that was playing in the parking
lot where I was working. There was two others, but they
wouldn't hold still for the picture.
The aforementioned missile silo. I watched this one
everyday on the way to and from work. I sped past the Air
Force security patrol SUV that drives between them at least once a
week, and rumor has it that if you linger near the silos, they show
up with the black helicopter.
Jackasses!
This is, supposedly, the "best steakhouse in
town." It is where I ate the bull balls. Rumor has
it the cook, Dude, will walk out if you order a
hamburger..."This is a steak house, damn gum it." I
found their steaks to be merely adequate...but then I've traveled
enough to know the difference:
This is a view from what I consider to be the best
steakhouse in town, which was actually in the middle of nowhere 15
miles west of town. It is called "Buffalo
Point." It is adjacent to the main east-west railroad
lines. Nonstop trains. American commerce. I liked
the landscape.
This is either a deer farm of an elk farm.
Probably elk. They had that pivot sprinkler on, and the herd
has prancing through the spray with their heads in the air:
This is what I consider to be the dividing line
between eastern and western Nebraska. It is a corny arch that
actually straddles I-80, commemorating the settlers who passed
through this area going west.
Thus ends the chapter of my life called "The
High Plains." I was sick of it, but now that I've been
away for a month and settled into the new house I actually miss it
and am looking forward to business taking me back there for a few
days.
Of course, I'll take the camera.
|
2:31 pm
CDT - GORDON
- Thanks, music
industry.
They got AntiMTV.com.
Like Napster and internet radio before it, AntiMTV has gone the
way of the Dodo (that can't afford a team of lawyers).
I first discovered AntiMTV about 3 years ago. I was living
in South Dakota and had very little access to music programming
outside of the local radio stations (we play both kinds of
music....country and western), and the extremely dumbed down
MTV. It was then I started exploring alternatives to the sucky
corporate music by way of net radio, and AntiMTV. com.
I can't even begin to guess how many cd's I've purchased because
of a band I discovered on AntiMTV. "Static X" comes
to mind, specifically with the "Wisconsin Death Trip"
album. I was perusing the video library there and decidedly to
give the video "Push It" a listen. I loved it.
Bought the CD within a week. Recently in the Music Forum I was
suggesting "Inkubus Sukkubus." Discovered them on
AntiMTV.
A couple years ago, when the RIAA was cracking down on websites
that hosted music (PinkFloydRadio.com getting shut down pissed me
off), I emailed the man behind AntiMTV.com. I asked him if he
ever got any flack from the record companies about his hosting of
videos for download. He responded that they actually supplied
him with the videos, and considered it free advertising.
Hey, that actually makes sense.
But last night, doing my weekly new music search, I found this on
AntiMTV.com:
AntiMTV
Wrongfully Shut Down by XO Communications and the Thugs at
BMI. Master calling it quits.
As
many of you noticed this weekend,
AntiMTV
was shut down and inaccessible for about 60 hours. My odyssey
into a first degree migraine started at 6 AM Saturday morning.
The site was down and I called XO to see what was wrong. I was
put on hold by the tech guy, and after 5 minutes, he informed
me that the site was shut down due to "violations".
I asked for specifics, but the admin didn't know. He also
informed me that there is nothing he could do and that I were
to call the "abuse" dept. and 9AM, Monday.
This
I thought was outrageous. I received no e-mail, phone call or
mail to inform me of any "alleged" wrong doing and
Anti was shut down without notice or reason.
After
calling "abuse" this morning(Aug 5th), and giving
them an earful of abuse of my own since my first and seventh
amendment right were trampled, the "abuse" person
told me they tried to call(a lie) and sent a letter(another
lie). I was then put in touch with XO's lawyer handling the
case. (This was all about a complaint from BMI. I had
received shakedown letters via e-mail from a John
Colletta, telling me to pay "fees" for these
videos I play or else. Videos that no one will see except on
the net. Videos I make no profit from)
This
is were it gets interesting.
The
lawyer, named Allison, said she found my address and phone
number, not by asking the people at XO, for whom she works,
but rather to to a "whois" search at
Networksolutions. the place I originally bought and registered
the domain name over 3 years ago. Instead of making a quick
call to the people at XO for the correct information, Allison
figure her duties were complete and didn't care that I was
uniformed to the harsh action XO was contemplating.
But
wait, it gets better.
The
video files in question weren't even on the server!(Five
Minutes Alone(Pantera), Pull the Plug(Death) and Hnager
18(Megadeath) just to name a few.) I took them down over a
month ago. One of them is on another company's server so it's
out of XO's hands. So XO not only didn't do any homework in
finding my contact information, but they didn't even check the
legitimacy of the complaint.
AntiMTV
was wrongfully shut down.
So
where do we go from here? Well my friends, after about a year
and a half of running this site out of my pocket's money and
being harassed by legal pond scum who have their own best
interests in mind and not the band's, I've decided to call it
quits. I've had it. I've said for the longest time that
lawyers are killing this country and now, lawyers have finally
killed
AntiMTV.
I
would like to thank the over 5 million people who have
supported us over the last three years. I love you all. I will
keep the site up for another month or so, at which time, my
newest site, newsfilter.org, will be fully functioning. It
will be a news site with social and political commentary and
political humor. Anyone wishing to purchase
AntiMTV,
email me.
I'll
keep you guys posted.....take care. |
So there it is. Yet another way for
people who don't fit the RIAA's targeted demographic, teenagers
with rich parents, to find music shut down. More money the
companies compromising the RIAA will never receive, because I
don't know about the bands. More money the bands will never
receive because it is illegal to advertise them.
If Congress can keep themselves from passing
more anti-consumer laws, maybe the RIAA
will lawsuit themselves out of existence, and be replaced by an
actual viable business model that is good for everyone, and not
just the brain dead.
Baby
Jesus cries when a good website gets shut down by The Man.
|
9:49 pm
CDT - GORDON
- We interrupt
the regularly scheduled conclusion to the travelogue....
I have the denouement to the High
Plains Chronicles almost ready, but something came to my attention
today.
The actual price to buy a law was
revealed, which gives us a goal:
Let's Buy our Right to Keep our
Privacy Fund!
In the never-ending battle to rid
the internet of pirates (users), the RIAA has bought the help of a
Representative from California, HOWARD L. BERMAN (D-CA)! He
"formally proposed legislation that would
give the (entertainment) industry unprecedented new authority to
secretly hack into consumers' computers or knock them off-line
entirely if they are caught downloading copyrighted material."
(MSNBC.com)
The article goes on to state that
"Records show Berman received at least
$186,891 from the entertainment industry during the 2001-02 election
cycle, including $31,000 from The Walt Disney Co. and $28,050 from
AOL-Time Warner Inc."
Putting together the facts, it
seems we (internet pirates users) can buy our own
lawmaker for merely $200k.
So what do you say, people?
How can we keep Big Entertainment from poking around our
networks? Bake sales? Pledge Drives? Donating lots
of semen? If any of you can figure out a way, lets get a
account started and buy our way to better
government. Just like everyone
else does.
We
now join a feedback thread already in progress.
|
5:54 pm MDT - GORDON
- Oh, the sights
you'll see.
So.....don't you love sentences
that start with the word "so?" So I was driving from
work last Friday. Don't really need to follow my landmarks
anymore, but I was at the grain elevator near the train tracks where
I have to turn right. I'm coming out of the s-curve and up to
the train tracks when I hit my brakes and yelled with a laugh,
"My sweet Jesus God in Heaven!" For there, ahead of
me in the road, were cows.
Cows and two cowboys.
I had a
weekend bag packed in the passenger seat as I was headed for the
interstate and east....so I scrambled for the digital camera.
I was amazed I was able to find it as fast as I did, and started
snapping through the windshield. I had my radio loud, so I
killed it as to not spook the cows.....
Why did the cows cross the
road? Because the cowboys made them.
I pulled off the road a bit to
give them a wide berth. My camera is a cheapie, and one of the
characteristics is that when you snap the picture, there's an
approximate 1.5 second delay while it captures the image.
Meaning, the picture you end up with is what you clicked at two
seconds ago. And I'm laughing at how weird this all seemed...
Oh my god! They're coming
right at me!
By the next
picture the cowboy on the right was at bearing 3-2-5 and he waved at
me, but I was polite and waved back instead of taking a
picture. Stupid me...should have gotten the picture.
This was actually a picture
of a calf out my driver's side window, but I didn't adjust for the
delay.
So, that's my first cattle
drive. And I even had the presence of mind to call, "Moo
cow! Moo Cow!" in my head, City Slickers-style.
On a completely unrelated note,
here's a picture of my Second Auxiliary Cat on top of the bathroom
door.
His name is Korben Dallas
GORDON. A negative of this image shows the Satan aura all cats
have.
He's full grown but somewhat
diminutive. I believe he weighs between seven and eight
pounds, which is but a fraction of my Large Main Cat who weighs in
at over 16 muscular pounds.
Have
a nice day. All these pictures of cows has made me hungry.
|
| | AND
YET MORE archives!!!!!!!!!! |