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Jul 29, 2006

As much as the French annoy me... 

... I still thought that changing the name of sliced potatoes to "Freedom Fries" was stupid. But apparently the Iranians have upped the ante.

Iranian Leader: 'Pizza' to Be Called 'Elastic Loaves' in Foreign Word Ban

I fear what kind of future impact this may have on other fast foods worldwide...
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Jul 26, 2006

Today's moment of zen 

In an attempt to take a small break from the giant pileup of shite that's going on in the world today, I took a little test...

And wouldn't ya know it...

You Are Animal

A complete lunatic, you're operating on 100% animal instincts.
You thrive on uncontrolled energy, and you're downright scary.
But you sure can beat a good drum.
"Kill! Kill!"

Hat tip to Cacciaguida


UPDATE: Two-fer!
You Are 54% Evil

You are evil, but you haven't yet mastered the dark side.
Fear not though - you are on your way to world domination.
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Jul 24, 2006

Anxiously anticipating 

Remember, how I wrote a review of Gunner Palace? Remember how I said it would be a wholly different movie if it were Marines on film instead of soldiers? Well, somebody is making the movie I was talking about. His name is Pat Dollard, and actually it's more than a movie… it's supposed to be a 20 hour documentary series.

The title is "Young Americans" and you should do yourself a favor and check out the website. Watch all the videos, which include super-salty-speak that is not safe for your workplace… unless, of course, your workplace is like MY workplace - in which case, crank the volume. Some include a bit of graphic video, but trust me - if you want to brighten up your day, seeing an Iraqi interpreter call Michael Moore a "little bitch" is just the way to do it. And dig through the rest of the site, too. Make sure you read the "Dollard Dispatch," and then check out the comments to see some fine examples of the exact jackasses this film is aiming to hit right between the running lights.

I can't wait for this thing to drop like a bomb on the "peace activists" out there who don't have clue-one what the hell they're talking about.

Hat tips to Froggy and Blackfive. Go read their posts for more info about Pat.
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Jul 20, 2006

The MSM: Always happy to not give you the answer 

As News Busters points out, and a Google News search confirms, at the time of this post FoxNews is the only one reporting this story.

Marine Cleared in Shooting Death of Iraq Ambassador's Relative

Did I, or did I not, say that we'd be seeing bunches of these "atrocity" stories and that better than 99.9999% of them would turn out to be false? Here's a hint: I DID. And not only was this story crap, it was complete crap - so worthless, in fact, that it was even unsubstantiated by the accuser himself, a man who was not there, did not witness anything, and who made the claim based on nothing more than his "believing" it had to be true. Seriously. I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.

The accusation:
BLITZER: But even months before the incident in November, you lost a cousin at Haditha in a separate battle involving United States Marines.

SUMAIDAIE: Well, that was not a battle at all. Marines were doing house-to-house searches, and they went into the house of my cousin. He opened the door for them.

His mother, his siblings were there. He led them into the bedroom of his father. And there he was shot.

BLITZER: Who shot him?

SUMAIDAIE: A member of the Marines.

BLITZER: Why did they shoot him?

SUMAIDAIE: Well, they said that they shot him in self-defense. I find that hard to believe because, A, he is not at all a violent -- I mean, I know the boy. He was [in] a second-year engineering course in the university. Nothing to do with violence. All his life has been studies and intellectual work.

Totally unbelievable. And, in fact, they had no weapon in the house. They had one weapon which belonged to the school where his father was a headmaster. And it had no ammunition in it. And he led them into the room to show it to them.

BLITZER: So what you're suggesting, your cousin was killed in cold blood, is that what you're saying, by United States Marines?

SUMAIDAIE: I believe he was killed intentionally. I believe that he was killed unnecessarily.
He was killed intentionally? You're damn right he was! The reality:
Maj, Douglas Powell, a U.S. military spokesman, said the Naval Criminal Investigative Service determined that the Marine "acted properly in self defense in response to unexpectedly encountering a man pointing an AK-47 at him."(emphasis mine - Mike)
So, the ambassador of our newest ally makes charges that we're mindless killers, which are - of course - seized upon by the press. Then, when these charges are proven to be completely without foundation… silence.

I understand that the news operates on a cycle. I understand the concept of the "flavor of the month" when it comes to stories. And I understand that Israel is this month's flavor. But with the vast options nowadays to push information to the people, be it print, television, radio, or internet, ONLY ONE story - ONLINE - about this has been put out in the last 24 hours.

ONE.

I watch news all day. I haven't seen this. I listen to radio news most of the day. I haven't heard this. I surf internet news sites at work constantly... nada.

How hard is it to lay the crap question to rest once you have a legitimate answer? Apparently, according to the MSM, the whole thing was a figment of your imagination… there was no answer. So the only thing that will linger in the public consciousness will be the question itself.

Oh, and I just realized this is an AP story, so it's not like all the media behemoths haven't seen it. Go ahead… ask me if I'm surprised...

UPDATE - Noon, 23 July: The story has been out on the wires for 4 DAYS. No further dissemination than FoxNews, according to the Google News search. In fact, if you go to Yahoo News and put in the same search, you don't even get THAT story. Just awesome...
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Jul 18, 2006

An offering to Davy Jones and King Neptune 

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Just got these pictures of the 14 July sinking of the USS Belleau Wood today as they made the rounds on the email at work. I hadn't realized that the Belleau Wood had been slated for this treatment, although I recall having heard about it being decommissioned. This seems to be the new Navy thing - sinking old ships to make them reefs… how very environmental of them. I wonder how Flipper here feels about that?

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What's dolphin for "Dude, SWEET!"?

Although, it would look like there's some confusion on the whole reef thing…
In July 2006, the BELLEAU WOOD - which was the first TARAWA - class amphibious assault ship to be decommissioned - was sunk as a target off Hawaii to become an artificial reef.
VS.
Votaw said a ship like the Belleau Wood isn't used for an artificial reef because of the depth in the target area and because "it's not going down in one piece. It's going down, hopefully, in a lot of little pieces."
But either way, it seems a good "death" I guess... as opposed to becoming razor blades.

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I was on the Tarawa last year, an even older ship of the same class that is still in service. There were issues with the ship - most of which I think were crew based, quite actually. But unquestionably, there's some really old gear on board that needs to be replaced. The LHA class is old and worn. The LHDs are up and coming... and doing a hell of a job - what do you think is headed to Lebanon right now? That's right - LHD-7, the Iwo Jima… and the 24th MEU. [/shameless Marine Corps plug]

Truth be told, the sea-going life is not for me. While I'm not entirely opposed to it, let me just say that it's not at the top of my list for how I'd like to deploy again. Yet, coming from the deep Naval Services background that I have in my family, I find myself extraordinarily sad when things like this are done.

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Five years ago, I was on base at NAS Cecil Field in Jacksonville, Florida. This was after it had been shut down as a naval facility. It still operates as a civilian field, and though most of the buildings were vacant, from the outside they didn't look bad. Ironically, quite a few of them were pretty new when the base closed. The barracks for instance, looked better than some of the ones I've seen on bases that are still open. It basically looked like everyone just got up and left on Friday and didn't come back to work on Monday. The place was a ghost town… lots of old stories blowing around in the wind, but nobody there to tell them. For whatever reason, I found it pretty depressing.

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When the USS Oriskany was sunk a couple months ago to become a reef I kinda felt the same way. But she was an old boat, and hadn't been in "reporting status" in decades. The Belleau Wood, on the other hand, was launching missions into Iraq and taking part in the GWOT until last year. That's a pretty quick turnaround from warfighter to missile sponge. Kinda sucks. But like any old sailor, she said "Yes, sir" and did her duty to the end, although hesitantly. The email with the pictures had obviously been forwarded around a bit, and though the last line on it was unattributed, it said it all:
"Sank by the USS Mobile Bay... They fired the first Harpoon at her yesterday and today EOD set off bombs. It only took an hour but she had been taking hits since yesterday from the other ships... she just wouldn't sink.
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Click the picture for appropriate music, courtesy of here.
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Wizbang sez... 

Jul 13, 2006

Unfiskable? 

You have NO IDEA how deeply it pains me to say this… but I actually read an insightful and mostly accurate description of the current situation in Israel written by… deep breath… ROBERT FISK.

Yes, THAT Robert Fisk. He of "fisking" fame. The inspiration for the annual "Fiskie" Idiotarian of the Year Award. Robert freaking Fisk.

25 times out of 100, someone "fisks" Fisk, and 74 times out of 100 Fisk manages to basically "self-fisk." But that leaves 1 remaining... and this is it. I'll give it to him on this article. Kind of. My reservations will be made clear at the bottom. This is from the pay version of "The Independent," which I don't have an account with, and requires a login that I can't seem to beat, even with help from bugmenot. But no matter… I have my sources…

Beirut waits as Syrian masters send Hezbollah allies into battle
It's about Syria. That was the frightening message delivered by Damascus yesterday when it allowed its Hizballah allies to cross the UN Blue Line in southern Lebanon, kill three Israeli soldiers, capture two others and demand the release of Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails.

Within hours, a country that had begun to believe in peace - without a single Syrian soldier left on its soil - found itself once more at war.

Israel held the powerless Lebanese government responsible - as if the sectarian and divided cabinet in Beirut can control Hizballah. That is Syria's message. Fouad Siniora, Lebanon's affable Prime Minister, may have thought he was running the country but it is President Bashar al-Asad in Damascus who can still bring life or death to a land that lost 150,000 lives in 15 years of civil conflict.

And there is one certain bet that Syria will rely on; that despite all Israel's threats of inflicting "pain" on Lebanon, this war will run out of control until - as has so often happened in the past - Israel itself calls for a ceasefire and releases prisoners. Then the international big-hitters will arrive and make their way to the real Lebanese capital - Damascus, not Beirut - and appeal for help.

That is probably the plan. But will it work? Israel has threatened Lebanon's newly installed infrastructure and Hizballah has threatened Israel with further conflict. And therein lies the problem; to get at Hizballah, Israel must send its soldiers into Lebanon - and then it will lose more soldiers.

Indeed when a single Merkava tank crossed the border into Lebanon yesterday morning, it struck a Hizballah mine, which killed three more Israelis.

Certainly Hizballah's attack broke the United Nations rules in southern Lebanon - a "violent breach" of the Blue Line, it was called by Geir Pedersen, the senior UN official in the country - and was bound to unleash the air force, tanks and gunboats of Israel on to this frail, dangerous country. Many Lebanese in Beirut were outraged when gangs of Hizballah supporters drove through the streets of the capital with party flags to "celebrate" the attack on the border.

Christian members of the Lebanese government were voicing increasing frustration at the Shia Muslim militia's actions - which only proved how powerless the Beirut administration is.

By nightfall, Israel's air raids had begun to spread across the country - the first civilians to die were killed when an aircraft bombed a small road bridge at Qasmiyeh - but would they go even further and include a target in Syria? This would be the gravest escalation so far and would have US as well as UN diplomats appealing for that familiar, tired quality - "restraint".

And prisoner swaps is probably all that will come of this. In January 2004, for example, Israel freed 436 Arab prisoners and released the bodies of 59 Lebanese for burial, in return for an Israeli spy and the bodies of three Israeli soldiers.

As long ago as 1985, three Israeli soldiers captured in 1982 were traded for 1,150 Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners. So Hizballah knows - and the Israelis know - how this cruel game is played. How many have to die before the swaps begin is a more important question.

What is also clear is that for the first time Israel is facing two Islamist enemies - in southern Lebanon and in Gaza - rather than nationalist guerrillas. The Palestinian HAMAS movement's spokesmen in Lebanon yesterday denied that there was any co-ordination with Hizballah. This may be literally true but Hizballah timed its attack when Arab feelings are embittered by the international sanctions placed on the democratically elected HAMAS government and then the war in Gaza. Hizballah will ride the anger over Gaza in the hope of escaping condemnation for its capture and killing of Israelis yesterday.

And there is one more little, sinister question. In past violence of this kind, Syria's power was controlled by the Hafez al-Asad, one of the shrewdest Arabs in modern history. But there are those - including Lebanese politicians - who believe that Bashar, the son, lacks his late father's wisdom and understanding of power. This is a country, remember, whose own Minister of Interior allegedly committed suicide last year and whose soldiers had to leave Lebanon amid suspicion that Syria had set up the murder of Rafik al-Hariri, Lebanon's former prime minister, last year. All this may now seem academic. But Damascus remains, as always, the key.
Fisk's assertion that it's "all about Damascus" is not entirely true. Where does Damascus take most of their cues from, after all? Ahhhh… Fisk can't quite make the leap to Tehran, but the fact he managed to get his brain moving this far is striking.

His continued reference to the UN Blue Line is comedic more than anything else. Since when has the UN mattered in all this? They are not respected by the Palestinians, even though they'll run and cry to the UN about "abuses" of any sort, and the UN will always weigh in on their side. Meanwhile, the US is constantly bending over backwards to conform with UN edicts and then getting shafted by them. All the way around, the UN is no true friend to anyone but the UN, and this mythical Blue Line that Hezbollah was supposed to respect is a joke to begin with.

This situation has the potential for greatness or disaster. After last year's "Cedar Revolution," I - along with many others - was inspired and overjoyed to see Lebanon kick Syria to the curb. "Here's somebody that may become at least a 'neutral' in the region, and maybe even a friend," I thought. But that's going to be a hard sell if Israel and Lebanon go head to head. That's probably not what Israel wants. They want the terrorists. And while the Lebanese government has very little real power right now, it IS in charge of the country and it HASN'T done anything to get rid of Hezbollah within it's own borders. Are they "terrorist supporting"? Possibly. "Terrorist allowing," on the other hand - definitely. Hezbollah has operated openly in Lebanon for over two decades. And that tolerance is now going to bite them in the ass.

In a perfect world (aka - one run by me), what you'd see would be a mutual effort by Beirut and Jerusalem to root out Hezbollah (AND Hamas) from the region. The Israeli army would move north, the Lebanese army would move south, and they would squeeze Hezbollah until their eyeballs shot out of their skulls.

Sadly, what's more likely is a shooting match between two nations that really don't have a beef, and while I don't think that this is going to end in a release of prisoners by Israel like Fisk asserts, it will probably end short of where it really needs to - Syria. When Fisk mentioned the US and UN "appealing for that familiar, tired quality" called "restraint," I was floored. Did he just say that "restraint" is a pain in the ass that needs to be abandoned? Did he actually go so far as to assert that it's time for the gloves to come off and for the punches to start flying in the direction of the 'head' of the enemy? Maybe he meant something else, but that's how it came across. Although, on a second reading, I think maybe he's just saying that Israel should "save lives" by skipping over the whole messy shooting part and just go straight to the prisoner exchanges. And if THAT'S what he actually meant, THAT would be the Fisk that we all know and love, because it would help restore the "peace"... and then it would start the whole cycle over again, leading right back to where we are today.

So, was Fisk "unfiskable" on this one? Not totally, but it'll take someone with more ability than me to really pull it off with style.

And the real issue here is bigger than Fisk could ever hope to be. Israel will try to focus itself like a laser beam on Hezbollah . They're already dropping leaflets over southern Lebanon telling the populace to take cover or take flight, because they don't want to hurt anybody that's not connected to the bad guys. But what's one sovereign nation to do when another one starts dropping bombs on it's territory without permission? Does the Lebanese army shoot at Hezbollah, or at the Israelis? Here's hoping that Lebanon knows who it's real enemy is. If their message to Syria last year is any indicator, maybe they do. But with the Lebanese Interior Minister calling the strike on Beirut Airport "a general act of war" that had nothing to do with Hezbollah and only aimed at hurting Lebanon's "economic interests" - namely tourism - maybe they don't...

Israel claimed the strikes to be necessary to keep the kidnapped Israeli soldiers from being taken to Iran. Maybe yes, maybe no. That would be the fastest way to do it, but it's not like those guys couldn't get smuggled overland into Syria and flown out of there… WITH SYRIAN GOVERNMENTAL HELP. And so, Fisk's point that it all comes back to Damascus is valid, even if he doesn't carry it through to it's obvious Iranian conclusion. Of course, that won't stop the shooting match that's about to go down, and sadly won't involve Syria feeling any of the pain they so rightly deserve.
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Jul 12, 2006

If this doesn't get you choked up a little bit 

Jul 11, 2006

The problem and the solution 

This is the single most graphic thing I have ever linked to, but I feel it necessary for some people out there who are not familiar with the enemy yet. Rusty over at My Pet Jawa has jihadi video posted of the bodies of soldiers Tucker and Menchaca. It IS NOT for the faint of heart, and if you are anything like me, it will damn well infuriate you.

Click here and read. The pictures and video are down the page a good bit. I point this out not only for the terrorist apologists - who would never lurk around here to begin with - but also for those who think they know the enemy. After you see this, you may well reevaluate your initial analysis... for the worse.

These jihadists are animals, pure and simple. They speak of honor while possessing none. They are liars of the first degree and killers of the worst kind. And we're helping them...
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- All detainees in U.S. military custody at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are to be granted all the privileges of the Geneva Conventions, sources have told CNN.

This is the first time the detainees -- including those suspected of being members of al Qaeda -- will have the full protection of the international conventions on holding prisoners of war.
This is the problem.

The solution? Ralph Peters has it:

Kill, Don’t Capture
Violent Islamist extremists must be killed on the battlefield. Only in the rarest cases should they be taken prisoner. Few have serious intelligence value. And, once captured, there's no way to dispose of them.

Killing terrorists during a conflict isn't barbaric or immoral - or even illegal. We've imposed rules upon ourselves that have no historical or judicial precedent. We haven't been stymied by others, but by ourselves.
THIS is how we should avoid the "horrors" of Abu Gharib. THIS is how we should put Gitmo out of business.
Isn't it time we gave our critics what they're asking for? Let's solve the "unjust" imprisonment problem, once and for all. No more Guantanamos! Every terrorist mission should be a suicide mission. With our help.
I'll just bet that Pfc Tucker and Pfc Menchaca would have liked to have been treated in accordance with the Geneva Convention. I'll bet they'd have liked to sleep in their own air-conditioned rooms, get fed hot chow every day, and take a stroll once every 24 hours around the exercise yard down in Cuba. I'll even bet they'd have preferred to have polaroids taken of them with panties on their heads and dog or two barking at them, over the treatment they ended up getting. But I could be wrong. As any good jihadi will tell you, beheading is far preferable to any of those options, right?

I've said it before and I'll say it again: if these assholes want to be martyrs, we'll be happy to assist. We should be putting up stats that'll make the ticker those jackasses have over at the "Iraqi Body Count" website look like a vast understatement. And NO, I DON'T MEAN WE SHOULD BE KILLING CIVILIANS, YOU ASSHOLE. But I damn well mean we should start taking this war seriously here at home, because it's lethal damn serious on the front. Apparently, we think this is just a game. Too bad the other side doesn't see it that way.

We used to see the enemy for who they were. We need to start doing it again.

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Jul 9, 2006

Now, THERE'S an idea! 

Sadly, there's no mention of actually STOPPING beheadings in the name of jihad yet... but we'll go with the 'baby steps' approach on this, I guess.

Head on over to MEMRI and read about a great idea that will NEVER - sadly - come to fruition...

Muslim Intellectual Calls for 'Protestant Islam'

Interesting short read.
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Jul 7, 2006

From the "Just who's side are you on?!" file... 

In the continuing saga of "Hadji Girl," hope remains. Cpl Belile may not record the song, but a talk show host says he'll do it instead, and Cpl Belile may stand to receive royalties.

Ooh-rah.

As good as all that sounds, here's the REAL reason for this post: Check out the Marine Corps Times lovely little MSM-esq slant that they throw at the story. The title is bad enough:

Talk show host to record Marine’s song about killing Iraqis

Nice... no mention of the fact that the lyrics clearly outline these Iraqis as the ENEMY. But the real kicker is the last line.
The debate over the song comes as details emerged of a former Army private accused in the horrific rape and killing of a young Iraqi woman and the execution-style slaying of her family.
Umm... what the holy hell does one have to do with the other? These are two totally separate stories. The MSM did it with Haditha, and now they are trying to do it with this Army thing. Yet the Marine Corps Times runs the AP story unchanged, with the MSM "throw 'em all under the bus" mentality. And don't give me that crap about "just running the story AS IS from the AP."

Go online and look at any news story that has a common source (usually the AP) and you'll see that news services often cut and paste parts of the article to make it fit their bandwidth, page space, or - worst case - agenda. Story titles will change, information will fall out, but ALL the stories have the same byline and obviously came from one larger, overarching document. Check it out for yourself. I promise you it's true. Any story you want. The bigger the better.

So what in the hell is the Marine Corps Times doing, letting this MSM-led, guilt-by-association ploy slide? Who's side are they on? My confidence in their product has been sliding for some time now, and this is not helping their case.

And maybe the best question of all: they couldn't write their own report? They're the MARINE CORPS Times, fer chrissake. They're supposed to be ALL OVER a story like this, but they run with the AP story instead? What's up with that?
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Jul 5, 2006

Fun with referral logs 

To the person who somehow got here by using a "Dell myway" search for

Wha happen if I decide to walk away from the military services "Navy"

I'll tell ya...

First this:
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Then, if you're gone for more than 30 days, THIS:
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Well, not quite THAT particular cell... but I think you get the point.
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Jul 4, 2006

The American Way 

230 years of FREEDOM.
Happy Birthday to us all.

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Jul 1, 2006

Now THAT'S funny 

Anything that manages to rake both Al Gore and Stephen Hawking over the coals at the same time strikes me as hilarious. No good explanation why... guess I'm just wired that way.

Go read this, and then tell me you don't agree.

(hat tip to WuzzaDem)
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