Home on the strip - The Battalion - Opinion

Home on the strip - The Battalion - Opinion: "By Will Llyod

Last week, Hezbollah announced the release of a new computer game in which players attempt to detonate hand grenades in Israeli towns and assassinate Israeli leaders. The game's box reads: 'Be a partner in the victory. Fight, resist and destroy your enemy in the game of force and victory.' Enemies like these, whose ruthless hatred horrifies every civilized person, have threatened Israel since its inception. Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East, and America's most loyal ally in that region, is only about 5 percent the size of California, and is surrounded by hostile dictatorships. Since 1948, Israeli leaders have sought military and diplomacy as means to survive in a region that does not welcome their existence. Unfortunately, their latest attempt at peace by withdrawing from the Gaza Strip and most of the West Bank will only exacerbate tensions and debilitate Israel's defensive capability. "

We report bad news - - even if we have to make it up

"NBC News reported that on April 10, 2003, its crew was embedded with the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division when troops arrived at the Al Qaqaa storage facility south of Baghdad.

While the troops found large stockpiles of conventional explosives, they did not find HMX or RDX, the types of powerful explosives that reportedly went missing, according to NBC"

This is not news, according to the MSM, which continues to tout the allegations that the material came up missing after the invasion - - despite reporters on the scene the day after!

CNN.com - Report: Explosives could not be found when U.S. troops arrived - Oct 26, 2004: "Baghdad fell on April 9, 2003. According to NBC, troops from the 101st Airborne arrived the next day and could not find the material.

At the Pentagon, officials said that the site had been repeatedly searched but the high explosives the IAEA described were never found.The Pentagon said the Al Qaqaa facility was a 'level 2' priority on a list of 500 sites to be searched and secured. U.S. officials say it was visited dozens of times by U.S. troops in the months following the invasion, and -- after searching 32 bunkers and 87 other buildings -- they never came upon the stockpile."

The claim that the explosives were missing after the war is made up - - yet you will find it displayed prominently all over the MSM.

WMD's

"[T]he aim of the strikes was 'to degrade Saddam's capacity to develop and deliver weapons of mass destruction, and to degrade his ability to threaten his neighbors'"

The above quote is from President Clinton, in the Dec 28,1998 U.S. World and News Report, about operation Desert Fox - - the missles he shot off during the vote on his impeachment.

Why have blogs gained so much power?

Diana West, in an op-ed piece for the Washington Times, entitled 'The Media for Kerry,' points out that the MSM has failed to ask:

• Why he missed 3/4 of his public Senate Intelligence Committee hearings
• About the $900 million contract his cousin's company was awarded in Vietnam after Kerry pushed to normalize relations
• How he parlayed with the enemy while an American Officer
• Christmas in Cambodia "seared, seared" in memory but not in the MSM's questions
• His record shows he was on "the wrong side of history, favoring appeasement and disarmament" - have his views changed?
• His place of honor in a Vietnamese war museum dedicated to American defeat
• Does the anti-war movement bear any moral responsiblity for the mass brutality that N. Vietnam inflicted on the people of the south after the fall?
• Does he still consider the Reagan years as a "moral blackness?"

West concludes, "We don't know because no one in the MSM has asked him. This glaring failure makes a mockery of the media. It leaves us gasping for facts. It also explains the volcanic eruption of alternative sources of campaign information like the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the newsies of the blogosphere, and a slew of independent ads and documentaries, including 'Stolen Honor.' Such activity has injected vital blasts of oxygen into otherwise stilted coverage. "

I agree that the MSM itself is responsible for creating the vacuum that allowed the blogosphere to 'erupt.' In fact, though I'd heard of blogs for at least a year or so before first searching them out, it wasn't until I got fed up with the laziness or downright bias of any MSM to report anything but doom and gloom about our efforts and brave soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan that I began looking for something different. In turn, it seems the MSM has gone completely off the deep end in reaction to this new medium, and they get weirder all the time, as evidenced by the above article, Rathergate, the accelerating slide to the left by the Associated Press, etc.

Re-enact Kerry's Silver Star Mission

KumaWar is a new single player or online computer wargame that has gained some opprobrium as being "too realistic." It uses actual (raw) film footage as part of the game. Now, they've added a mission from 1969 in Vietnam - the mission in which John Kerry earned his Silver Medal. So, you can re-enact that mission yourself!

They also begin each mission with a news type introduction. You can view this without downloading the game, here . This also includes a cameo from Thomas Forrest, of the Swift Boat Sailors Association (not the same as the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth), as well as footage from the time period and a few shots of the game.

Check it out!

Capitalist Liberal

I received the following email from my Son:

I'm too captialist really to be cut out for being a register Liberal. I've been listening to a lot of those Left wing Liberal bleeding hearts and most of them just get on my nerves. They way they just kind of mope around going "Oh we have to help these poor people and give them money, and those people, and those misunderstood murders that killed our soldiers, and loosen immigration laws". Like you said "Feel Good" Politics, rather annoying. Is it possible to be a Capitalistic Liberal?

And my reply may have been too rambling. Ya think?

Well, its possible to be an independent, which is probably what you're describing.

Also libertarian, which I would consider myself except for a few strange positions they hold. Libertarians believe that the constitution should stand just the way it is, and shouldn't be interpreted any way a judge wants to. I agree with that. They also believe that government should completely and absolutely stay out of peoples lives and business. Government is suppost to defend us, and that's about all. I agree with that for the most part. But they take it to real extremes, like heroin should be legalized, and let people deal with the problems that would cause themselves - its not the government's business. Unfortunately, people coming to work, or even just driving to work, on heroin is a disaster waiting to happen, so I can't join this party. I stick with republican, which also say that government should stay out of our lives - though they don't always do what they say in this matter.

Also, libertarians really have no chance of winning any election at this point in time. So its sort of a wasted vote.

IMO Democrats are the party of 'feelings.'

It feels bad that people are poor. It feels bad that people are shot with guns. It feels bad that people die in war. So we should stop doing all these things. They don't stop to think a second time about what will happen next. ie: give everyone welfare, then they have no incentive to work, become lazy, become dependent on the government, remain poor forever, and the country suffers. Take away guns and only the criminals have them. Never go to war, then if a really bad country will not be deterred by negotiations, then what? That would be like saying lets get rid of the police. Then if someone is going around murdering, just pretend it isn't happening and don't do anything. That's what France wants to do. Sometimes war is the moral thing to do, the right thing to do, in order to have peace. Just like sometimes it is necessary for the police to shoot a bad guy in order to stop him from killing more.

As much as I wish there were more viable alternatives than just democrat or republican, at least the republicans are the party of 'thinking' instead of just feeling. IMO that's why there aren't any real democrat talk radio shows; because that medium requires debate, argument, ideas, and thinking. You can only spout liberal slogans for a couple of days, and then the radio show just starts to repeat the same slogans over and over. And you have to shut down anyone who starts to give good arguments as a caller.

So liberal talk radio doesn't work.

But liberal T.V and Newspapers do work - and they dominate. Why? Because you can have a sound bite slogan, and then move on to the next story. You can pretend to have debate, but stack the panel with 3 democrats and one republican, and only allow four minutes for the whole story. In newspapers, you write your 'news' with a slant, and of course there's no way for anyone to comment except in letters to the editor, but you control which of those letters get printed.... See how they work it!

Thats why the media hate Fox news so much. Because its the only one that goes against their domination. So they call it biased. When in fact, they are biased, and they hate that Fox is breaking their hold. Not to mention that Fox zoomed up in viewership, because Americans are not nearly as stupid as the main media believes, and they recognized their bias, and their choice quickly became this upstart Fox against the giants of ABC, See-BS, CNN etc.

I didn't start out to write this much; I just got on a roll, I guess... :)

Military Poll Favors Bush

Under the heading of "not likely to be reported in the MSM" - or at least not in any prominent way - the National Annenberg Election Survey polled 655 military service members (or their familiy members) between 9/22 and 10/5 and found some interesting results:

"94% of the military sample said they intended to vote in the presidential election, compared to 85% of the civilian population" [A seperate poll of 2,436 adults from the general population was polled nationally from September 27 through October 3 and used for comparison with this military poll.]


"A variety of measures showed that they preferred Bush to John Kerry. 69% had a favorable opinion of Bush and 23% an unfavorable opinion. But only 29% had a favorable opinion of Kerry, while 54% were unfavorable."

"When asked whom they would trust more to handle the responsibility of commander-in-chief, 69% of the military sample preferred Bush to 24% for Kerry. The civilian group also preferred Bush, but by only a 50 to 41 percent majority.
When asked if the country was “going in the right direction” or was “seriously off on the wrong track,” 64% of the military sample said “right track” and 31% said “wrong direction.” In the general population a majority said “wrong track”; 55% took that view compared to 37 percent who said “right direction.”

"On particular traits, the military sample gave Bush an advantage on caring, leadership, sharing their values, knowledge, consistency and optimism. They did consider Bush more stubborn.

On personal traits, the military sample gave Bush the advantage on several points where the general public sees Kerry better. 59% of the military respondents said the term “cares about people like me” fit Bush better, while 30% said Kerry. In the general public, 46% preferred Kerry and 39% Bush.

Another consistent Kerry advantage in the general public, being considered “knowledgeable,” also went to Bush among the military. 50% said the term fit Bush better, while 33% said Kerry. In the general public, 45% preferred Kerry while 38% chose Bush."

"[Only] 18% of the military sample said Kerry had a clear Iraq plan, while 72% said he did not have one. In the general public, 34% said Kerry had a plan and 54% said he did not"

"When it came to the war in Iraq, 64% of the military sample said the situation had been worth going to war over, while 32% said it had not. Of those who served in Iraq, Afghanistan or nearby, a smaller share, only 55%, said the war had been worth it; 40% said it had not. In the general population, 45% said the war had been worth it and 51% said it had not."


"Two members of Bush’s cabinet also drew positive balances from the military sample. (Thegeneral population was not asked about them.) 53% said they had a favorable opinion of Donald H. Rumsfeld, secretary of defense, while 24% said they had an unfavorable view.
But the strongest rating of all went to Colin Powell, secretary of state. 80% of the military sample had a favorable opinion of him. Only 7% had an unfavorable view."

Note that the survey included more Republicans than Democrats. However, even among each of these groups the support was higher than for the respective groups in the civilian population. Details on these breakouts are available on the link above.

No comment is even required here

Down home on the farm

Here's a letter written to my friend Dave, who can't contribute to this blog because he's a high falutin writer for a magazine and has to watch what he might say online (LOL - just giving you a hard time, Dave). It may not interest you, but is here only as part of my journal:

Well I've been busy myself - - hard to believe you wrote to me going on a month ago.

During that time I've been to Philadelphia for a week, assisted my general contractor Brother-in-law in nearly completing construction on another house on our property (well, a studio apartment with 1 1/2 bath & walk in closet), trimmed a bunch of trees back for fire protection and esthetics, set up a wireless network so that we can all work at home more seamlessly, got laid a few times (probably more info than you need to know - - uh, with my wife only, by the way), completed my second compost pile, watched as our youngest horse was broken in, planted a test run of lettuce and peas, caught a tarantula with my 4 yr old, as well as hid some polished rocks around for him to find (he has developed a keen interest in rocks for some reason, so I bought these during my flight to Philly) etc...

Speaking of kids; you've never had any, correct? I know its not for everyone, but at the same time I do recommend it, as it causes one to grow in ways that I think are impossible otherwise. The same is true with marriage. In fact, I like to listen to Dennis Prager on AM 870 between 9 and noon, who makes the case that marriage civilizes boys to become men. I don't know if that's as true as the children issue, though marriage does force you to learn to compromise, and provides heaps of humility! I do know that I've found having a child at this age much easier than at 22. Part of that may be a stable marriage, and knowing from prior experience that stages are just that, and will pass, but the other part is that I'm not as self-absorbed, and much more intrigued by the steps of development, the curiosity, the wonder, the joy...

Stephany is now 19, and in the Army. She's stationed in Korea, where she's having a hard time being so far from home in a male environment, and doing much less than the promises made by her recruiter. She is also married. Hmmm... question to self: any significance to my mentioning that fourth in line? She notified me at 6:00 PM the day before leaving for Korea that she was getting married -- at 9:00 PM. My choice if I wanted to attend the ceremony to be held 1 1/2 hours away. And it should be mentioned that her fiancé - now husband - was multilaterally disliked (nay - despised) on my side of the family as well as among my ex-wife's family. Oh well, I haven't lost a daughter, as the saying goes.

Chris (yes - the Hemingway namesake) is now 18 and studying to be a computer game graphics designer. He's really excelling at this, I note with a tremendous sigh of relief. Just between me and you, I had questions as to his biological father (never had DNA tests, and never will, but my wife's escapades during this time of coming home after sunrise lead to our divorce) and to her probable cocaine usage during pregnancy. He was a difficult child for many. Not so much for me. I always saw him as super-super smart, and figured that would end up in him being able to handle anything that came his way. But as early as 2nd grade he had already been suspended from school; contemplated suicide some time after that (don't remember exactly when, but prior to the teenage years, which is too young); struggled in every grade getting along with teachers and making friends; and much more. And yet, sort of like all of us in the Hill Street Nerds (do you remember that? Do I have it correct?), he never had to study to learn his work, loved to read, taught himself to type with all ten fingers after just an hour or so of me showing him where the home keys are and how your fingers move to the other keys - to the point where he types almost as fast as he thinks at this point - and now he's the focal point of a cliche of good kids, much like his namesake, and he's at the top of his class at this computer graphics, and will probably get scholarships, and desires to study in Japan!

Ah well, I had no idea I was going to ramble like this. It went in a completely different direction than from where I planned. So I guess I'd better quit at this point, especially considering that you may have zero interest in any of this.

Oh, to answer your question - yes, there is a local tavern, which was probably first built when the gold rush was starting to reminisce about the good old days. Its wooden floor creaks and groans, and there's a stuffed bear in one corner. At quitten' time, half the folks wear dirty jeans and straw hats colored somewhere between white and fading yellowish-brown sweat. And while there isn't a place to hitch a horse, my brother and brother-in-law have asked and received permission to put one up, figuring they can't get a DUI returning at 2AM on horseback - not to mention that the horses will probably have a better sense of direction!

Babies found in Iraqi mass grave

Women and children's bodies bulldozed into a mass grave after being shot in the head. Some of the toddlers still clutching toys, some of the women still holding their dead babies.

You might think that this would be front page news everywhere, but I would be surprised if you had even heard of it. It isn't reported, and we might have a clue as to why when we read that the work of uncovering the mass graves located in many places in Iraq is "slow, as experienced European investigators were not taking part.

The Europeans, [Mr. Kehoe] said, were staying away as the evidence might be used eventually to put Saddam Hussein to death."

Further evidence that in the European mind the world would be better off with Saddam still in power - - even in the evidence of (or in denial of the evidence of) mass graves.


BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Babies found in Iraqi mass grave