You all know how much I love blatant hypocrisy on the part of anyone.
Really. I do.
This particular example, though, is a bit much even for me; I had a tough time believing that this was a serious news story, but apparently it is.
San Francisco State University's Associated Students group has passed a resolution banning flag burning.
You're thinking "HUH!?!"
But just wait.
It's not the U. S. flag they're worried about.
It's the HAMAS and Hezbollah flags they're concerned with. See, desecrating the U. S. flag is "protected free political expression," while desecrating the flags of known and acknowledged terrorist groups is "hateful religious intolerance" which is not ok, at all.
I'm not sure how supporting known terrorist groups is supposed to NOT be offensive to the huge, overwhelming majority of Americans, but somehow, it's ok.
I'm not sure how desecrating the United States flag is supposed to NOT be offensive to the huge, overwhelming majority of Americans, but somehow, it's ok.
Some days I wonder why we persist as a nation at letting the fucktards rule us all.
Monday, December 4, 2006
Yet Another Doubleheader, Part 1
So, today we went to the baby doc.
The good news (#1 of 2) is that the baby seems to be doing fine, and objected to the ultrasound wand being pressed against Tara's belly by kicking the crap out of the doctor. Way to go, kid! You're learning already.
The bad news is that we couldn't find out which it was, boy or girl. The doc just couldn't get a good enough look; not because the baby's shy, but just because of the way it's facing.
The good news (#2 of 2) is that he winked, nudged us, and said he's gonna get us an appointment at the medical center in Hershey, to get the super-ultra-really-wacked-out-crazy-cool ultrasound that's all like 3D and shit.
So, no news really for now, BUT, in a couple more weeks when we go to Hershey, we should hopefully have a really kickass not-at-all grainy very very clear pic of the baby to post.
And we should know which kind we're getting, blue or pink.
Ain't it grand? Remember, patience is a virtue.
The good news (#1 of 2) is that the baby seems to be doing fine, and objected to the ultrasound wand being pressed against Tara's belly by kicking the crap out of the doctor. Way to go, kid! You're learning already.
The bad news is that we couldn't find out which it was, boy or girl. The doc just couldn't get a good enough look; not because the baby's shy, but just because of the way it's facing.
The good news (#2 of 2) is that he winked, nudged us, and said he's gonna get us an appointment at the medical center in Hershey, to get the super-ultra-really-wacked-out-crazy-cool ultrasound that's all like 3D and shit.
So, no news really for now, BUT, in a couple more weeks when we go to Hershey, we should hopefully have a really kickass not-at-all grainy very very clear pic of the baby to post.
And we should know which kind we're getting, blue or pink.
Ain't it grand? Remember, patience is a virtue.
Sunday, December 3, 2006
Fine, Damn, I'll Do Your Stinkin' Survey...
...since I've been tagged twice for it.
Ok, let's see.
1) Where were you 1 hour ago? Trying to survive the OMGWTF that is inventory.
2) Who will be your next kiss? Tara is making smoochy lips at me right now. I'm guessing that's a hint.
3) Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you? Yes. I have a wife, you know. She has girly things.
4) When is the last time you went to the mall? WTF is this "mall" of which you speak?
5) Are you wearing socks right now? Yes, long grey ones that seemed like a great idea in my combat boots but suck in my hikers. OMGWTF@ my huge, immovable ankle roll.
6) When was the last time you went out of town? Define "out of town." Around here, that's a five minute drive.
7) Have you been to the movies in the last 5 days? "Been to?" HELL no. "Had a momentary urge to violate international copyright law?" I'm not saying.
8) What was the last thing you had to drink? Water. I'm too sick right now to chance anything else.
9) What are you wearing right now? A t-shirt and jeans. I am dead sexy, boy.
10) Have you been in a car wash? Somehow I read this question differently than Sheila did. *pictures her in a bikini covered with soap.* *Pictures himself in a bikini covered with soap.* GOOD GOD NO.
11) Last food you ate? PIZZA!!! And it was pretty damn good, too - I've finally got the pizza shop properly trained to manufacture a pizza the way I like it.
12) Where were you last week on Saturday? I AM ALWAYS AT WORK.
13) Have you bought any clothing items in the last week? There are places where clothing is sold?
14) When was the last time you ran? I don't "run." I either charge, or chase. There is no third way.
15) What's the last sporting event you watched? I dunno, but I listened to the Saints pwning the Niners with violence and hatred last night. I thought, "poor Sheila. But wait, I hate both those teams. HAHA!"
16) What is your favorite class? I have no class.
17) Your dream vacation? OKTOBERFEST IN GERMANY. Bring on the brew.
18) Last 3 people's houses you were in? Ummmmm... Tara's sister's, Tara's grandma's, and errrrrr.... I don't get out much. Ask me this again on Saturday.
19) How old are your parents? My mother is old enough that she doesn't want to admit it and still passes for 45. My father died last year, at 72.
20) Do you miss anyone? Yeah. I miss my father - who is pretty much irretrievable - and my brother, who thankfully isn't. HEY JON!! GET YOUR ASS UP HERE FOR A VISIT BIOTCH!!
21) Last play you saw? Die Fledermaus. Definitely brings the LOL.
22) What are your plans for today? I am going to produce as much OMGWTF as I possibly can, then sleep like the dead. Until my phone rings at 3 am.
23) Who is the last person that commented on your page? Sheila! (In quick comments. Renee hit my blog last.)
24) Ever go to camp? OMGWTF@ Paesano Baptist Encampment for the win!
25) Were you an honor roll student in school? When I wasn't stoned, yes. Believe it or not, I actually was.
26) What do you want to know about the future? I had a really good idea that Tara started yakking right through and erased completely from my consciousness. So, you are deprived of my wit and wisdom of this one. Everybody, on three, one, two, three, "THANKS TARA!!!" (Yes, she stuck her tongue out at me for that. I am considering it an invitation to be taken advantage of at a later but as yet unspecified time.)
27) Are you wearing any perfume or cologne? Brut aftershave. Later probably Drakkar, though.
28) Where is your best friend located? Aside from Tara, who is the titleholder, California. You know who you are.
29) Do you have a tan? I have the pasty complexion of every gamer who's ever lived. And freckles. Go figure.
30) How old do you want to be when you have kids? Somehow, I'm counting on "31" being a big winner here.
31) Do you collect anything? Do video games and books count? I have huge quantities of both.
32) Last time you got stopped by a cop or pulled over? Got hit by a swoop and scoot while driving a cab, that was the last time I was actually even really spoken to by a big-city cop. Our one cop says "Hi!" and waves when he passes, though, so if that counts, about a week ago.
33) Have you ever drank your soda from a straw? Why in the hell would I want to do that?
34) How do you like your drinks? Loaded with alcohol.
35) Do you like hot sauce? HAHAHAHAHAHA. I peel fresh habaneros and eat them raw. Hot sauce is my bitch.
36) Last time you took a shower? About nine hours ago.
37) Who do you have a crush on? I have no crush. My wife is my one true love.
38) What is your mood? "OMGWTFLOLZ!!"
39) Are you someones best friend? Anyone who counts me as a friend. There must be at least three of you by now.
40) Are you rich? OMGWTF WE AER TEH BROEK!!1! LOLZ1! But, I have massive genitalia, so that makes up for it.
SO OK THEN ARE YOU SATISFIED CHRIS AND SHEILA?!?! I DID YER STEENKENG SURVEY!!!
Ok, let's see.
1) Where were you 1 hour ago? Trying to survive the OMGWTF that is inventory.
2) Who will be your next kiss? Tara is making smoochy lips at me right now. I'm guessing that's a hint.
3) Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you? Yes. I have a wife, you know. She has girly things.
4) When is the last time you went to the mall? WTF is this "mall" of which you speak?
5) Are you wearing socks right now? Yes, long grey ones that seemed like a great idea in my combat boots but suck in my hikers. OMGWTF@ my huge, immovable ankle roll.
6) When was the last time you went out of town? Define "out of town." Around here, that's a five minute drive.
7) Have you been to the movies in the last 5 days? "Been to?" HELL no. "Had a momentary urge to violate international copyright law?" I'm not saying.
8) What was the last thing you had to drink? Water. I'm too sick right now to chance anything else.
9) What are you wearing right now? A t-shirt and jeans. I am dead sexy, boy.
10) Have you been in a car wash? Somehow I read this question differently than Sheila did. *pictures her in a bikini covered with soap.* *Pictures himself in a bikini covered with soap.* GOOD GOD NO.
11) Last food you ate? PIZZA!!! And it was pretty damn good, too - I've finally got the pizza shop properly trained to manufacture a pizza the way I like it.
12) Where were you last week on Saturday? I AM ALWAYS AT WORK.
13) Have you bought any clothing items in the last week? There are places where clothing is sold?
14) When was the last time you ran? I don't "run." I either charge, or chase. There is no third way.
15) What's the last sporting event you watched? I dunno, but I listened to the Saints pwning the Niners with violence and hatred last night. I thought, "poor Sheila. But wait, I hate both those teams. HAHA!"
16) What is your favorite class? I have no class.
17) Your dream vacation? OKTOBERFEST IN GERMANY. Bring on the brew.
18) Last 3 people's houses you were in? Ummmmm... Tara's sister's, Tara's grandma's, and errrrrr.... I don't get out much. Ask me this again on Saturday.
19) How old are your parents? My mother is old enough that she doesn't want to admit it and still passes for 45. My father died last year, at 72.
20) Do you miss anyone? Yeah. I miss my father - who is pretty much irretrievable - and my brother, who thankfully isn't. HEY JON!! GET YOUR ASS UP HERE FOR A VISIT BIOTCH!!
21) Last play you saw? Die Fledermaus. Definitely brings the LOL.
22) What are your plans for today? I am going to produce as much OMGWTF as I possibly can, then sleep like the dead. Until my phone rings at 3 am.
23) Who is the last person that commented on your page? Sheila! (In quick comments. Renee hit my blog last.)
24) Ever go to camp? OMGWTF@ Paesano Baptist Encampment for the win!
25) Were you an honor roll student in school? When I wasn't stoned, yes. Believe it or not, I actually was.
26) What do you want to know about the future? I had a really good idea that Tara started yakking right through and erased completely from my consciousness. So, you are deprived of my wit and wisdom of this one. Everybody, on three, one, two, three, "THANKS TARA!!!" (Yes, she stuck her tongue out at me for that. I am considering it an invitation to be taken advantage of at a later but as yet unspecified time.)
27) Are you wearing any perfume or cologne? Brut aftershave. Later probably Drakkar, though.
28) Where is your best friend located? Aside from Tara, who is the titleholder, California. You know who you are.
29) Do you have a tan? I have the pasty complexion of every gamer who's ever lived. And freckles. Go figure.
30) How old do you want to be when you have kids? Somehow, I'm counting on "31" being a big winner here.
31) Do you collect anything? Do video games and books count? I have huge quantities of both.
32) Last time you got stopped by a cop or pulled over? Got hit by a swoop and scoot while driving a cab, that was the last time I was actually even really spoken to by a big-city cop. Our one cop says "Hi!" and waves when he passes, though, so if that counts, about a week ago.
33) Have you ever drank your soda from a straw? Why in the hell would I want to do that?
34) How do you like your drinks? Loaded with alcohol.
35) Do you like hot sauce? HAHAHAHAHAHA. I peel fresh habaneros and eat them raw. Hot sauce is my bitch.
36) Last time you took a shower? About nine hours ago.
37) Who do you have a crush on? I have no crush. My wife is my one true love.
38) What is your mood? "OMGWTFLOLZ!!"
39) Are you someones best friend? Anyone who counts me as a friend. There must be at least three of you by now.
40) Are you rich? OMGWTF WE AER TEH BROEK!!1! LOLZ1! But, I have massive genitalia, so that makes up for it.
SO OK THEN ARE YOU SATISFIED CHRIS AND SHEILA?!?! I DID YER STEENKENG SURVEY!!!
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
...But TWO Blog Posts Today!
This one is straight-out opinion, with which you are free to disagree.
Be warned, though, that in the event of disagreement I will reply with a huge volley of facts and figures. The only reason I'm not trotting them out is because I'm currently exhausted and therefore lazy. (BAD blogger! BAD!!!)
So, ok.
Is there an actual REASON that so many people are retarded over power generation?
I'm referring to electrical power, of course. The overwhelming majority of our power generation, not just in the U. S., but globally, is oil-based.
For those of you "the sky is falling EVERYBODY PANIC" eco-warriors, you really ought to be hot on this.
Why, oh why, are we all so terrified of nuclear power?
When I ask this question, usually I get one of two responses. Either my victim says "because of the danger of meltdown," or, and sometimes ALSO, "nuclear waste."
Mmmmmkay.
First: meltdown has happened in the past. OOOOooooooo, scaaaaaary. However, the terror and hysteria over the half-life of radioactivity and its horrible legacy... has simply not been borne out by fact. Three Mile Island is not only inhabitable, but INHABITED, today. Those folks aren't scary Hills Have Eyes twitchy mutant freaks, either.
However, this isn't really relevant. If we had spent the intervening years developing reactor technology instead of spending time with our heads in the sand, our reactors would be safer, more efficient, cheaper, and smaller, by a huge margin, than they are today.
Maybe we'd be better off trying to solve safety issues than screaming that they exist and using them as an excuse not to use a proven technology.
Secondly, there's reactor waste.
This is a problem that utterly mystifies me.
Not as to how to solve it - I'll explain that in a second - but as to WHY IT'S A PROBLEM AT ALL.
Here's how to deal with nuclear waste, guys.
Take solid rocket boosters - cheap and easy to build, especially if they don't need a WHOLE lot of guidance. Or a huge railgun, but rockets would be easier.
Load your toxic OMGWTF reactor crap into them.
Shoot them bitches into the sun.
OMG! WTF! THERE ARE NO MOER TOXIC WAEST!!
If you are REALLY WORRIED that we might figure out how to recycle the stuff at some future day and be desperately in need of it, try shooting it at, say, Mars, or Venus, or even the Moon - somewhere where we can still go get it if we REALLY REALLY NEED IT but otherwise can safely ignore. None of the three places listed above HAVE ecosystems; no known forms of life exist on any of them. We can contaminate to our hearts' content.
Suddenly, you've reduced petrochemical pollution, averted the dangers of peak oil ("Everybody panic!!!!1!") and prevented radioactive leaks into our ground water.
At the same time, you've reduced our oil consumption by a huge amount, created much more stable, long-term generating capacity, and since nukes like the pebble-bed reactor can be clustered, done so much more cheaply than you might expect.
So why the hell aren't we using more?
The Governator - Arnold Schwartzenegger, for those of you not pop-culture literate - was presented with this problem when he took office in California. The eco-warriors had prevented any nukes for decades because of the "danger" and the radioactive waste, and yet demanded reduction in petrochemical pollution from conventional power stations. The result? Rolling blackouts. Waaaaaaay to go.
In California, the land of never coming to their senses, they still haven't come to their senses.
Hopefully we can manage it in the rest of the United States, at some point. Just think, if we close the oil-fired and coal-fired power plants in favor of nukes, prices at the pump will drop, because they will no longer be propped up by gigantic bulk purchases of oil by the power utilities.
Maybe it's time someone with some sense had a look at the problem, you think?
Be warned, though, that in the event of disagreement I will reply with a huge volley of facts and figures. The only reason I'm not trotting them out is because I'm currently exhausted and therefore lazy. (BAD blogger! BAD!!!)
So, ok.
Is there an actual REASON that so many people are retarded over power generation?
I'm referring to electrical power, of course. The overwhelming majority of our power generation, not just in the U. S., but globally, is oil-based.
For those of you "the sky is falling EVERYBODY PANIC" eco-warriors, you really ought to be hot on this.
Why, oh why, are we all so terrified of nuclear power?
When I ask this question, usually I get one of two responses. Either my victim says "because of the danger of meltdown," or, and sometimes ALSO, "nuclear waste."
Mmmmmkay.
First: meltdown has happened in the past. OOOOooooooo, scaaaaaary. However, the terror and hysteria over the half-life of radioactivity and its horrible legacy... has simply not been borne out by fact. Three Mile Island is not only inhabitable, but INHABITED, today. Those folks aren't scary Hills Have Eyes twitchy mutant freaks, either.
However, this isn't really relevant. If we had spent the intervening years developing reactor technology instead of spending time with our heads in the sand, our reactors would be safer, more efficient, cheaper, and smaller, by a huge margin, than they are today.
Maybe we'd be better off trying to solve safety issues than screaming that they exist and using them as an excuse not to use a proven technology.
Secondly, there's reactor waste.
This is a problem that utterly mystifies me.
Not as to how to solve it - I'll explain that in a second - but as to WHY IT'S A PROBLEM AT ALL.
Here's how to deal with nuclear waste, guys.
Take solid rocket boosters - cheap and easy to build, especially if they don't need a WHOLE lot of guidance. Or a huge railgun, but rockets would be easier.
Load your toxic OMGWTF reactor crap into them.
Shoot them bitches into the sun.
OMG! WTF! THERE ARE NO MOER TOXIC WAEST!!
If you are REALLY WORRIED that we might figure out how to recycle the stuff at some future day and be desperately in need of it, try shooting it at, say, Mars, or Venus, or even the Moon - somewhere where we can still go get it if we REALLY REALLY NEED IT but otherwise can safely ignore. None of the three places listed above HAVE ecosystems; no known forms of life exist on any of them. We can contaminate to our hearts' content.
Suddenly, you've reduced petrochemical pollution, averted the dangers of peak oil ("Everybody panic!!!!1!") and prevented radioactive leaks into our ground water.
At the same time, you've reduced our oil consumption by a huge amount, created much more stable, long-term generating capacity, and since nukes like the pebble-bed reactor can be clustered, done so much more cheaply than you might expect.
So why the hell aren't we using more?
The Governator - Arnold Schwartzenegger, for those of you not pop-culture literate - was presented with this problem when he took office in California. The eco-warriors had prevented any nukes for decades because of the "danger" and the radioactive waste, and yet demanded reduction in petrochemical pollution from conventional power stations. The result? Rolling blackouts. Waaaaaaay to go.
In California, the land of never coming to their senses, they still haven't come to their senses.
Hopefully we can manage it in the rest of the United States, at some point. Just think, if we close the oil-fired and coal-fired power plants in favor of nukes, prices at the pump will drop, because they will no longer be propped up by gigantic bulk purchases of oil by the power utilities.
Maybe it's time someone with some sense had a look at the problem, you think?
Not One...
There are a lot of charities vying for your attention come holiday time.
There are a lot of them that purport to be supporting our troops.
A lot of those, like the Red Cross, accept donations, and after paying their executives huge sums of money, dole out supplies to the troops, for which the troops are often charged.
Fuck all that.
There's a charity _I_ want to tell you about.
It's small. It's in fact run by two people, both of whom work for free. Their total "for the expenses of the charity" expenditures in six years has been the cost of a single laptop computer to track what they do.
In that six years, they've grown beyond their own wildest expectations. When LBEH started, it was just one guy, a gentleman named Ernie Stewart.
Ernie runs a frequently raunchy, always sarcastic, often hilarious website called EHOWA, short for Ernie's House Of Whoop-Ass.
I know; "oh, THIS sounds like a legitimate charity, and stuff." Oh ye of little faith.
Ernie is a veteran. Like many veterans, he remembered many holidays when he could have taken leave to go hang with his family, but was unable to go due to transportation expenses. Now, the military IN THEORY provides transportation to G.I.s for free, via MAC flights, but in reality those are what's called space-available transportation. Which means if there's no room, you're outta luck. What's worse, you can get stuck on the way BACK, and come in late - and that's against the UCMJ - you can get in serious hot water for it.
Not many G.I.s chance it. Especially with the ever-increasing stretch on the Military Airlift Command.
So, six years ago, Ernie decided that he had gotten enough emails from G.I.s complaining about being unable to take leave, and set up a Paypal account. He posted initially just within the forums of his own website, asking for donations to buy tickets for G.I.s stationed overseas to get home for the holidays.
Let's Bring 'Em Home was born.
Ernie got a wake-up call. The first time - December, 2001 - that he had the PP account open, he got $13,000 from his readers, and was suddenly totally out of his depth. Which brings us to the second member of LBEH - Kathryn Jensen. Kat works in the reservations department of Continental Airlines, and totally saved Ernie's bacon.
The second year, they had so many ticket requests that Kat took a week of vacation time to process them all; Kat and Ernie managed to produce 161 tickets for deployed military personnel.
They also got noticed, a little.
This year, they've received - so far - donations of $25,645.74, and 75,000 frequent flyer miles. They're accepting donations of cash or miles, and donations are tax-deductible.
They've already completed 45 tickets this year, and it's just starting the first week of December.
I can understand if you've never heard of them.
But if there's a charity that deserves our attention this year, guys, it's LBEH. ESPECIALLY all you Democrat "bring home our troops at any cost OMG" folks. You REALLY ought to be giving Ernie a hand.
I damn well will be.
[*Edited to add: I, clearly, am not the only one talking about this. This is good; more people need to be talking about it.*]
There are a lot of them that purport to be supporting our troops.
A lot of those, like the Red Cross, accept donations, and after paying their executives huge sums of money, dole out supplies to the troops, for which the troops are often charged.
Fuck all that.
There's a charity _I_ want to tell you about.
It's small. It's in fact run by two people, both of whom work for free. Their total "for the expenses of the charity" expenditures in six years has been the cost of a single laptop computer to track what they do.
In that six years, they've grown beyond their own wildest expectations. When LBEH started, it was just one guy, a gentleman named Ernie Stewart.
Ernie runs a frequently raunchy, always sarcastic, often hilarious website called EHOWA, short for Ernie's House Of Whoop-Ass.
I know; "oh, THIS sounds like a legitimate charity, and stuff." Oh ye of little faith.
Ernie is a veteran. Like many veterans, he remembered many holidays when he could have taken leave to go hang with his family, but was unable to go due to transportation expenses. Now, the military IN THEORY provides transportation to G.I.s for free, via MAC flights, but in reality those are what's called space-available transportation. Which means if there's no room, you're outta luck. What's worse, you can get stuck on the way BACK, and come in late - and that's against the UCMJ - you can get in serious hot water for it.
Not many G.I.s chance it. Especially with the ever-increasing stretch on the Military Airlift Command.
So, six years ago, Ernie decided that he had gotten enough emails from G.I.s complaining about being unable to take leave, and set up a Paypal account. He posted initially just within the forums of his own website, asking for donations to buy tickets for G.I.s stationed overseas to get home for the holidays.
Let's Bring 'Em Home was born.
Ernie got a wake-up call. The first time - December, 2001 - that he had the PP account open, he got $13,000 from his readers, and was suddenly totally out of his depth. Which brings us to the second member of LBEH - Kathryn Jensen. Kat works in the reservations department of Continental Airlines, and totally saved Ernie's bacon.
The second year, they had so many ticket requests that Kat took a week of vacation time to process them all; Kat and Ernie managed to produce 161 tickets for deployed military personnel.
They also got noticed, a little.
This year, they've received - so far - donations of $25,645.74, and 75,000 frequent flyer miles. They're accepting donations of cash or miles, and donations are tax-deductible.
They've already completed 45 tickets this year, and it's just starting the first week of December.
I can understand if you've never heard of them.
But if there's a charity that deserves our attention this year, guys, it's LBEH. ESPECIALLY all you Democrat "bring home our troops at any cost OMG" folks. You REALLY ought to be giving Ernie a hand.
I damn well will be.
[*Edited to add: I, clearly, am not the only one talking about this. This is good; more people need to be talking about it.*]
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
If This Is Where Political Correctness Takes Us, I'm In If It Ends In A Threesome
...And you will understand the title in juuuuuust a minute.
\r\n
\r\nWith me now?
\r\n
\r\n[*Edited to add: after viewing, Samara B. pointed out that at no point did either "legal team" mention possible pregnancy. LMFAO.*]
\r\n
\r\nWith me now?
\r\n
\r\n[*Edited to add: after viewing, Samara B. pointed out that at no point did either "legal team" mention possible pregnancy. LMFAO.*]
WOOHOOO! MORE FAKE NEWS!!! YOU LOVE IT, I KNOW YOU DO!!
...But this time, it's REALLY fun.
See, in the past, I've made a bit of a stink about so-called VNRs - "video news releases," which same are video segments bought, paid for, and usually filmed by big companies, or the government - and then aired by news stations as though they were legitimate news stories, often without attribution of any kind.
This isn't those.
Oh no.
It's MUCH better.
See, for the past several YEARS now, the West has been inundated by a flood of propaganda from the news media about how much the war in Iraq sucks.
Not that this counts under evidentiary rules, but every friend I have, which is quite a few, who has come back from Iraq, has said the same thing: "They're full of shit."
And now we know why.
The fauxtography and "rocket ride" scams in Lebanon weren't enough.
Nooooo.
The Associated Press has just been caught falsifying whole news reports specifically to make the U. S. look bad. Not "some," dozens and dozens. And this is only the ones we know for sure about.
Now, the lefty cookie-cutter reply is "So? That doesn't make things over there any better."
But it does mean there's doubt.
The comments on the blog I found this on originally are interesting; somehow, the fact that the AP got caught falsifying news stories was deemed irrelevant by the lefty posters, who immediately started their fingers-in-ears chanting of "Bush lied! Bush lied!"
Let's clear this up. No he didn't. The world community, and its various intelligence apparata, as well as the Clinton administration, all reported that Saddam had WMDs.
Our Congressmen - practically all the Republicans, and at least half the Democrats - voted to go to war based on this resolution, which features 23 separate points justifying the war.
So far, NONE of them have been proven wrong.
There's been a whole lot of yelling, and much is made of unsubstantiated STATEMENTS that various points were wrong, but no actual evidence whatsoever.
There has, however, been a flood of evidence that they weren't. Let's see. We FOUND chemical weapons over there. FIVE HUNDRED of them. There've been eyewitness reports that the bulk of the stockpiles were simply moved. We know for a FACT that huge stocks of military hardware were simply buried - because we've been digging them up. We don't know where most of it is, either; they'll be combing that crap out of the sands for generations. EVEN THE NEW YORK TIMES admitted Saddam had a nuclear weapons program.
The evidence that there were terrorist links is equally compelling. If there wasn't any kind of connection, then why is there a leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq to issue statements?
Saddam's own rhetoric stated his intent to destroy Israel, and attack the West.
Yet somehow, the chanting of "Bush lied!" keeps on, and on, and on.
Let me just drive a stake through its fucking heart right now. If your notion is that Bush lied, and your source is an industry that openly falsifies even the most routine domestic coverage, you simply have no evidence whatsoever.
Are we clear on this? There is such a thing as FACT. There is such a thing as FICTION. The FACT is that the war resolution was fully justified as voted upon. The FACT is that a huge coalition of international forces aided and participated in the invasion. The FICTION is that we went in alone - leaving France and Germany out does not equate to "alone," sorry. The FICTION is that Bush lied about anything. The FICTION is that the AP and Reuters produce a product that can be used to substantiate, well, anything.
In reality, the situation in Iraq is shitty. This is not because we went in for no reason; it's because we went in with insufficient forces, and have since day one allowed our troops to be controlled by opinion poll, rather than military reality.
In reality, the coalition of nations that went to Iraq this time around was one of the biggest alliances of nations ever forged. 41 countries contributed troops and support to the invasion of Iraq. Woooo, we were sure fucking lonely.
In reality, the biggest detractors of the efforts in Iraq have been its biggest payees: Chirac, Annan, and all those who stole from the "oil-for-food" program.
In reality, we - none of us, lefty, righty, wingnut, moonbat, centrist, libertarian, NONE OF US - actually have any idea what's going on over there, aside from those with their boots on the ground, by which I mean actual ground troops. A general in the States is what we used to call a REMF - rear-echelon motherfucker. A RETIRED general, who has not served during this conflict, is ten times worse. And yet, this is the type of commentator the media is presenting to us: not troops, not the Iraqis, but retired officers who have never even served in the theater of operations.
WE HAVE NO IDEA what's going on in Iraq. What we do know is that our news organizations are deliberately falsifying their coverage to make the situation appear MORE, rather than LESS, dire. We do know that every report carried by Reuters or the AP is suspect; we do know that those opposed to the war have consistently falsified their data, or just outright made shit up, to "justify" their views, and then chanted in circles about it as loudly as possible, as though saying something over and over means it's true.
It doesn't. And we ought to stop letting them get away with it.
See, in the past, I've made a bit of a stink about so-called VNRs - "video news releases," which same are video segments bought, paid for, and usually filmed by big companies, or the government - and then aired by news stations as though they were legitimate news stories, often without attribution of any kind.
This isn't those.
Oh no.
It's MUCH better.
See, for the past several YEARS now, the West has been inundated by a flood of propaganda from the news media about how much the war in Iraq sucks.
Not that this counts under evidentiary rules, but every friend I have, which is quite a few, who has come back from Iraq, has said the same thing: "They're full of shit."
And now we know why.
The fauxtography and "rocket ride" scams in Lebanon weren't enough.
Nooooo.
The Associated Press has just been caught falsifying whole news reports specifically to make the U. S. look bad. Not "some," dozens and dozens. And this is only the ones we know for sure about.
Now, the lefty cookie-cutter reply is "So? That doesn't make things over there any better."
But it does mean there's doubt.
The comments on the blog I found this on originally are interesting; somehow, the fact that the AP got caught falsifying news stories was deemed irrelevant by the lefty posters, who immediately started their fingers-in-ears chanting of "Bush lied! Bush lied!"
Let's clear this up. No he didn't. The world community, and its various intelligence apparata, as well as the Clinton administration, all reported that Saddam had WMDs.
Our Congressmen - practically all the Republicans, and at least half the Democrats - voted to go to war based on this resolution, which features 23 separate points justifying the war.
So far, NONE of them have been proven wrong.
There's been a whole lot of yelling, and much is made of unsubstantiated STATEMENTS that various points were wrong, but no actual evidence whatsoever.
There has, however, been a flood of evidence that they weren't. Let's see. We FOUND chemical weapons over there. FIVE HUNDRED of them. There've been eyewitness reports that the bulk of the stockpiles were simply moved. We know for a FACT that huge stocks of military hardware were simply buried - because we've been digging them up. We don't know where most of it is, either; they'll be combing that crap out of the sands for generations. EVEN THE NEW YORK TIMES admitted Saddam had a nuclear weapons program.
The evidence that there were terrorist links is equally compelling. If there wasn't any kind of connection, then why is there a leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq to issue statements?
Saddam's own rhetoric stated his intent to destroy Israel, and attack the West.
Yet somehow, the chanting of "Bush lied!" keeps on, and on, and on.
Let me just drive a stake through its fucking heart right now. If your notion is that Bush lied, and your source is an industry that openly falsifies even the most routine domestic coverage, you simply have no evidence whatsoever.
Are we clear on this? There is such a thing as FACT. There is such a thing as FICTION. The FACT is that the war resolution was fully justified as voted upon. The FACT is that a huge coalition of international forces aided and participated in the invasion. The FICTION is that we went in alone - leaving France and Germany out does not equate to "alone," sorry. The FICTION is that Bush lied about anything. The FICTION is that the AP and Reuters produce a product that can be used to substantiate, well, anything.
In reality, the situation in Iraq is shitty. This is not because we went in for no reason; it's because we went in with insufficient forces, and have since day one allowed our troops to be controlled by opinion poll, rather than military reality.
In reality, the coalition of nations that went to Iraq this time around was one of the biggest alliances of nations ever forged. 41 countries contributed troops and support to the invasion of Iraq. Woooo, we were sure fucking lonely.
In reality, the biggest detractors of the efforts in Iraq have been its biggest payees: Chirac, Annan, and all those who stole from the "oil-for-food" program.
In reality, we - none of us, lefty, righty, wingnut, moonbat, centrist, libertarian, NONE OF US - actually have any idea what's going on over there, aside from those with their boots on the ground, by which I mean actual ground troops. A general in the States is what we used to call a REMF - rear-echelon motherfucker. A RETIRED general, who has not served during this conflict, is ten times worse. And yet, this is the type of commentator the media is presenting to us: not troops, not the Iraqis, but retired officers who have never even served in the theater of operations.
WE HAVE NO IDEA what's going on in Iraq. What we do know is that our news organizations are deliberately falsifying their coverage to make the situation appear MORE, rather than LESS, dire. We do know that every report carried by Reuters or the AP is suspect; we do know that those opposed to the war have consistently falsified their data, or just outright made shit up, to "justify" their views, and then chanted in circles about it as loudly as possible, as though saying something over and over means it's true.
It doesn't. And we ought to stop letting them get away with it.
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