THIS DAY OFF HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO YOU IN PART BY...

*GORDON, GARY I.

Rank and organization: Master Sergeant, U.S. Army. Place and date: 3
October 1993, Mogadishu, Somalia. Entered service at: ----- Born: Lincoln,
Maine. Citation: Master Sergeant Gordon, United States Army, distinguished
himself by actions above and beyond the call of duty on 3 October 1993,
while serving as Sniper Team Leader, United States Army Special Operations
Command with Task Force Ranger in Mogadishu, Somalia. Master Sergeant Gordon's
sniper team provided precision fires from the lead helicopter during an
assault and at two helicopter crash sites, while subjected to intense automatic
weapons and rocket propelled grenade fires. When Master Sergeant Gordon
learned that ground forces were not immediately available to secure the
second crash site, he and another sniper unhesitatingly volunteered to
be inserted to protect the four critically wounded personnel, despite being
well aware of the growing number of enemy personnel closing in on the site.
After his third request to be inserted, Master Sergeant Gordon received
permission to perform his volunteer mission. When debris and enemy ground
fires at the site caused them to abort the first attempt, Master Sergeant
Gordon was inserted one hundred meters south of the crash site. Equipped
with only his sniper rifle and a pistol, Master Sergeant Gordon and his
fellow sniper, while under intense small arms fire from the enemy, fought
their way through a dense maze of shanties and shacks to reach the critically
injured crew members. Master Sergeant Gordon immediately pulled the pilot
and the other crew members from the aircraft, establishing a perimeter
which placed him and his fellow sniper in the most vulnerable position.
Master Sergeant Gordon used his long range rifle and side arm to kill an
undetermined number of attackers until he depleted his ammunition. Master
Sergeant Gordon then went back to the wreckage, recovering some of the
crew's weapons and ammunition. Despite the fact that he was critically
low on ammunition, he provided some of it to the dazed pilot and then radioed
for help. Master Sergeant Gordon continued to travel the perimeter, protecting
the downed crew. After his team member was fatally wounded and his own
rifle ammunition exhausted, Master Sergeant Gordon returned to the wreckage,
recovering a rifle with the last five rounds of ammunition and gave it
to the pilot with the words, "good luck." Then, armed only with his pistol,
Master Sergeant Gordon continued to fight until he was fatally wounded.
His actions saved the pilot's life. Master Sergeant Gordon's extraordinary
heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest standards
of military service and reflect great credit upon him, his unit and the
United States Army.

 

*ANDERSON, JAMES, JR.

Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps, 2d Platoon,

Company F, 2d Battalion, 3d Marines, 3d Marine Division. Place and date:

Republic of Vietnam, 28 February 1967. Entered service at: Los Angeles,

Calif. Born: 22 January 1947, Los Angeles, Calif. Citation: For conspicuous

gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the

call of duty. Company F was advancing in dense jungle northwest of Cam

Lo in an effort to extract a heavily besieged reconnaissance patrol. Pfc.

Anderson's platoon was the lead element and had advanced only about 200

meters when they were brought under extremely intense enemy small-arms

and automatic weapons fire. The platoon reacted swiftly, getting on line

as best they could in the thick terrain, and began returning fire. Pfc.

Anderson found himself tightly bunched together with the other members

of the platoon only 20 meters from the enemy positions. As the fire fight

continued several of the men were wounded by the deadly enemy assault.

Suddenly, an enemy grenade landed in the midst of the marines and rolled

alongside Pfc. Anderson's head. Unhesitatingly and with complete disregard

for his personal safety, he reached out, grasped the grenade, pulled it

to his chest and curled around it as it went off. Although several marines

received shrapnel from the grenade, his body absorbed the major force of

the explosion. In this singularly heroic act, Pfc. Anderson saved his comrades

from serious injury and possible death. His personal heroism, extraordinary

valor, and inspirational supreme self-sacrifice reflected great credit

upon himself and the Marine Corps and upheld the highest traditions of

the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

 

*SIJAN, LANCE P.

Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Air Force, 4th Allied POW Wing,
Pilot of an F-4C aircraft. Place and date: North Vietnam, 9 November 1967.
Entered service at: Milwaukee, Wis. Born: 13 April 1942, Milwaukee, Wis.
Citation: While on a flight over North Vietnam, Capt. Sijan ejected from
his disabled aircraft and successfully evaded capture for more than 6 weeks.
During this time, he was seriously injured and suffered from shock and
extreme weight loss due to lack of food. After being captured by North
Vietnamese soldiers, Capt. Sijan was taken to a holding point for subsequent
transfer to a prisoner of war camp. In his emaciated and crippled condition,

he overpowered 1 of his guards and crawled into the jungle, only to be

recaptured after several hours. He was then transferred to another prison

camp where he was kept in solitary confinement and interrogated at length.

During interrogation, he was severely tortured; however, he did not divulge

any information to his captors. Capt. Sijan lapsed into delirium and was

placed in the care of another prisoner. During his intermittent periods

of consciousness until his death, he never complained of his physical condition

and, on several occasions, spoke of future escape attempts. Capt. Sijan's

extraordinary heroism and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty

at the cost of his life are in keeping with the highest traditions of the

U.S. Air Force and reflect great credit upon himself and the U.S. Armed

Forces.

 

*BENFOLD, EDWARD C.

Rank and organization: Hospital Corpsman Third Class, U.S. Navy, attached to
a company in the 1st Marine Division. Place and date: Korea, 5 September 1952.
Entered service at: Philadelphia, Pa. Born: 15 January 1931, Staten Island,
N.Y. Citation: For gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and
beyond the call of duty while serving in operations against enemy aggressor
forces. When his company was subjected to heavy artillery and mortar barrages,
followed by a determined assault during the hours of darkness by an enemy force
estimated at battalion strength, HC3c. Benfold resolutely moved from position
to position in the face of intense hostile fire, treating the wounded and lending
words of encouragement. Leaving the protection of his sheltered position to
treat the wounded when the platoon area in which he was working was attacked
from both the front and rear, he moved forward to an exposed ridge line where
he observed 2 marines in a large crater. As he approached the 2 men to determine
their condition, an enemy soldier threw 2 grenades into the crater while 2 other
enemy charged the position. Picking up a grenade in each hand, HC3c Benfold
leaped out of the crater and hurled himself against the on-rushing hostile soldiers,
pushing the grenades against their chests and killing both the attackers. Mortally
wounded while carrying out this heroic act, HC3c. Benfold, by his great personal
valor and resolute spirit of self-sacrifice in the face of almost certain death,
was directly responsible for saving the lives of his 2 comrades. His exceptional
courage reflects the highest credit upon himself and enhances the finest traditions
of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for others.

 

*LORING, CHARLES J., JR.

Rank and organization: Major, U.S. Air Force, 80th Fighter-Bomber Squadron,

8th Fighter-Bomber Wing. Place and date: Near Sniper Ridge, North Korea,

22 November 1952. Entered service at: Portland, Maine. Born: 2 October

1918, Portland, Maine. Citation: Maj. Loring distinguished himself by conspicuous

gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the

call of duty. While leading a night of 4 F-80 type aircraft on a close

support mission, Maj. Loring was briefed by a controller to dive-bomb enemy

gun positions which were harassing friendly ground troops. After verifying

the location of the target, Maj. Loring rolled into his dive bomb run.

Throughout the run, extremely accurate ground fire was directed on his

aircraft. Disregarding the accuracy and intensity of the ground fire, Maj.

Loring aggressively continued to press the attack until his aircraft was

hit. At approximately 4,000 feet, he deliberately altered his course and

aimed his diving aircraft at active gun emplacements concentrated on a

ridge northwest of the briefed target, turned his aircraft 45 degrees to

the left, pulled up in a deliberate, controlled maneuver, and elected to

sacrifice his life by diving his aircraft directly into the midst of the

enemy emplacements. His selfless and heroic action completely destroyed

the enemy gun emplacement and eliminated a dangerous threat to United Nations

ground forces. Maj. Loring's noble spirit, superlative courage, and conspicuous

self-sacrifice in inflicting maximum damage on the enemy exemplified valor

of the highest degree and his actions were in keeping with the finest traditions

of the U.S. Air Force.

 

*MUNRO, DOUGLAS ALBERT

Rank and organization: Signalman First Class,
U.S. Coast Guard Born: 11 October 1919, Vancouver,
British Columbia. Accredited to Washington. Citation:
For extraordinary heroism and conspicuous gallantry
m action above and beyond the call of duty as
Petty Officer in Charge of a group of 24 Higgins
boats, engaged in the evacuation of a battalion
of marines trapped by enemy Japanese forces at
Point Cruz Guadalcanal, on 27 September 1942.
After making preliminary plans for the evacuation
of nearly 500 beleaguered marines, Munro, under
constant strafing by enemy machineguns on the
island, and at great risk of his life, daringly
led 5 of his small craft toward the shore. As
he closed the beach, he signaled the others to
land, and then in order to draw the enemy's fire
and protect the heavily loaded boats, he valiantly
placed his craft with its 2 small guns as a shield
between the beachhead and the Japanese. When
the perilous task of evacuation was nearly completed,
Munro was instantly killed by enemy fire, but
his crew, 2 of whom were wounded, carried on
until the last boat had loaded and cleared the
beach. By his outstanding leadership, expert
planning, and dauntless devotion to duty, he
and his courageous comrades undoubtedly saved
the lives of many who otherwise would have perished.
He gallantly gave his life for his country.

 

*JACHMAN, ISADORE S.

Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company B, 513th Parachute

Infantry Regiment. Place and date: Flamierge, Belgium, 4 January 1945.

Entered service at: Baltimore, Md. Birth: Berlin, Germany. G.O. No.: 25,

9 June 1950. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above

and beyond the call of duty at Flamierge, Belgium, on 4 January 1945, when

his company was pinned down by enemy artillery, mortar, and small arms

fire, 2 hostile tanks attacked the unit, inflicting heavy. casualties.

S/Sgt. Jachman, seeing the desperate plight of his comrades, left his place

of cover and with total disregard for his own safety dashed across open

ground through a hail of fire and seizing a bazooka from a fallen comrade

advanced on the tanks, which concentrated their fire on him. Firing the

weapon alone, he damaged one and forced both to retire. S/Sgt. Jachman's

heroic action, in which he suffered fatal wounds, disrupted the entire

enemy attack, reflecting the highest credit upon himself and the parachute

infantry.

 

*FLAHERTY, FRANCIS C.

Rank and organization: Ensign, U.S. Naval Reserve. Born: 15 March 1919,
Charlotte, Mich. Accredited to: Michigan. Citation: For conspicuous devotion
to duty and extraordinary courage and complete disregard of his own life,
above and beyond the call of duty, during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl
Harbor, by Japanese forces on 7 December 1941. When it was seen that the
U.S.S. Oklahoma was going to capsize and the order was given to abandon
ship, Ens. Flaherty remained in a turret, holding a flashlight so the remainder
of the turret crew could see to escape, thereby sacrificing his own life.

 

*STOCKHAM, FRED W. (Army Medal)

Rank and organization: Gunnery Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps, 96th Company,
2d Battalion, 6th Regiment. Place and date: In Bois-de-Belleau, France,
13-14 June 1918. Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Birth: Detroit, Mich.
G.O. NO.:--. Citation: During an intense enemy bombardment with high explosive
and gas shells which wounded or killed many members of the company, G/Sgt.
Stockham, upon noticing that the gas mask of a wounded comrade was shot
away, without hesitation, removed his own gas mask and insisted upon giving
it to the wounded man, well knowing that the effects of the gas would be
fatal to himself. He continued with undaunted courage and valor to direct
and assist in the evacuation of the wounded, until he himself collapsed
from the effects of gas, dying as a result thereof a few days later. His
courageous conduct undoubtedly saved the lives of many of his wounded comrades
and his conspicuous gallantry and spirit of self-sacrifice were a source
of great inspiration to all who served with him.

Medal of Honor citations from The US Army Center for Military History

Also check out Doug Sterner's Home of Heroes.

MEET THE NEW BOSS. SAME AS THE OLD BOSS.

        Well, though Mitt won, despite the best efforts of the Jamaica Plain voting authorities. However that still does not mean that the Bay State overlords will respect the voters. Another initiative representing the Will of the People has run smack into the Won’t of the Legislature.

        The legislatures do not respect the voters because they do not fear them. In Massachusetts, the Democrats run a veto-proof and the Republicans could not send challengers against six of the four Representatives, nor John Kerry. All the incumbents won anyhow.

        In the State Senate the situation is far more dire. So long as the incumbents are reflexively retained by the voters, the apparatchiks will continue to do as they please.

ELECTION ANALYSIS

        This is what the voters did to the Democrats. Any questions?

VOTING EARLY AND OFTEN IN THE BAY STATE

        Courtesy of Howie Carr. A voter gets help.

        Video here. The Boston Police spring into action.

        I wish I could mock this more. I wish I could be surprised. Boston authorities claim this was an isolated case of translation assistance. Mitt Romney's (Republican for Governor) campaign has dropped a threatened suit.


        If he were a Democrat, he would not have dropped the suit. The Dems stay true to their Tammany Hall roots.

        UPDATE

        Article here.

IF I CAN'T SAY ANYTHING NICE...

        My current squeeze has put her foot down. No more self-deprecating humor in her presence. There goes 35% of my schtick.

        A whole slew of Jewish holidays have just passed us by: Rosha Shanah, Yom Kippur and Shavout. Chanukah is coming soon. But right now I am thinking about Passover- specifically one part of the seder service. The reason why I am thinking of it is because of the 'anti-war' or rather 'pro-surrender' meme 'Not in our names.' This pisses me off something fierce and has since I saw the damn thing for the first time after the atrocity on 9-11-01. First off, its the damned presumption and hubris It's not about these Warty Bliggens (2 point ref).

        "Oh," they would whine, no doubt in an irritating nasal voice. "I meant in our names as Americans."

        So now we're back to the Passover seder. During the seder, a tale about a man with four sons is recited. One is wise, one is wicked (or contrary), one is simple and one does not even know how to ask a question. Growing up the competition for the wise son among my two brothers and myself was (and is) fierce for the wise son. The wicked son was the next best. Our dog was the silent son.

        Okay, enough nostalgia. The point I am heading towards is the scathing text on the wicked son, who asks, "What does this service mean to you." By saying 'you' and not 'us,' he excludes himself.

not be redeemed." He earns his wickedness by his smug isolationism. "Had he been there,' the Haggadah notes, 'he would not have been redeemed."

        The idiotarians sin in a similar manner, but from the opposite end. By saying they are the world in their expansive solipsism, they are denying the martyred dead of September 11th.

        So here is my reply to this crowd.

It's not about you. It's not about natural gas pipelines. It's not about oil. It's not about out our alleged racism. It's not about imperialism. It's about making sure the next smoking gun is not a mushroom cloud. It's about the 3,000 of my fellow citizens who were murdered. And yes, I meant 'my fellow citizens.' Had you been the ones murdered would not be worth avenging.

        Link thanks to Damian Penny.

TEXT OF AN EMAIL TO MSNBC ON ITS IMPLICITLY ACCUSING CHARLES JOHNSON'S LITTLE GREEN FOOTBALLS BLOG OF BEING A 'HATE SITE.'

Sirs, I for one am appalled by the fact that you swallowed Anil Dash's nonsense allegations that LGF is a 'hate site.' Like many on the left, Dash is terrified by the sight of powerfully argued opposing viewpoints, which is what LGF has in spades. LGF is brutally honest and relentless in showing the ugly face of Islamofascism and the discussions are often barbed and freewheeling. He may not bother to hide his contempt for terror's cheerleaders, but that is borne out of intellectual honesty, not bigotry.         I suggest you change the label immediately.

        Again, here is the email to complain to MSNBC and here is the blogburst.

ADVANCE AUSTRALIA FAIR

        In memory to the Australians, New Zealanders, Indonesians and others foully murdered by Islamofascist terrorists in the Bali bombing.

        Image thanks to Justin Weitz

        Some people have taken this as a sign of a resurgent Al-Qeada. I think that is a mis-reading of the terrorists. They are not an octopus, with tentacles everywhere, but a school of piranha. Much of the school is dead already, including the larger fishes that were in the Afghanistan part of the river, but there are more of these mindless killers swimming about.

        Remember, they are all the enemy and to them a maternity ward is as good a target as a bunker. Better even because they are more likely to succeed in their atrocities against the helpless.


        Unfortunately, the USAin press has been focusing on the Beltway Sniper- essentially a local story, but one that affects their parochial selves intently. But Al-Qeada terrorist, or ordinary serial killer who is happily 'hunting humans,' the publicity is this guy's oxygen. The wall to wall coverage is what he lives for.

RITTER'S MELTDOWN CONTINUES

        Major Scott Ritter has caught onto the 'chickenhawk' meme. Seth Gitell of the Boston Phoenix bore his angry brunt.

When I asked, "Why not war?" Ritter all but exploded. "First of all, to hell with you and that question, " he said, arguing that concern for "over a million American servicemen" and "tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians" dictates doing everything possible to avoid war. "'Why not war?' My God, what a question." Pressed on the point that to "exhaust all the possibilities" would only result in keeping Hussein in power, Ritter dismissed my "interpretation" and turned the tables again. "Before we talk about going off to war and having people die - other people by the way, you're not going to die, you're not going to die ..."

        Gitell, though disturbed by this example of the "[D]isturbing ad hominem twist to the debate over Iraq right now," gamely tried some reporter's judo.

"How do you know I'm not a member of the Reserves?" I asked Ritter, challenging his assumption (which was correct, by the way, at least in my case) that a journalist of my age would not be in the service.

        Ritter was not fooled by this attempt at creating a real debate. He's to clever for that, so he turns to the puerile insults.

But Ritter mocked this suggestion: "Okay, you and I. We'll go. Go sign up."

        Ritter did not just attack the reporter...

Last month, I wrote a short piece about Ritter, in which I quoted his former superior, Ambassador Richard Butler, on Ritter's impassioned opposition to the position that Hussein might still have dangerous unconventional weapons and possibly even nuclear weapons. This is what Butler told me: "On Ritter, it's simple. Either he misled me when he worked for me, as he utterly insisted that Iraq had WMD [weapons of mass destruction], or he's now misleading the public when he says there were no weapons left in Iraq at that time. The facts make clear that he did not mislead me. I don't know why he's saying what he is saying. I'm not a psychoanalyst."         Right out of the box - with two other reporters present - I asked Ritter his response to Butler's comment. (He was traveling abroad and didn't have time to respond to my inquiries for the original article.) And right out of the box, Ritter almost bit my head clean off: " I don't understand the allegations. Misleading about what? What specifically did he say? " I explained, and Ritter turned his ire on Butler. " It's very clear, never once in any of the documents that I submitted to Richard Butler did I say that Iraq retained ... weapons, " Ritter said. His version is that he merely told Butler that " we have information that basically there might be documents or some other evidence existing in certain sites that could lead us to the ability to account for this material, and therefore I believe we should go off and do this inspection. "         So now, it seems, it's a question of credibility between Ritter and Butler.

        My money is on Butler.

CROW: PART OF THIS NUTRITIOUS BREAKFAST.

        I have made two major pronouncements which I have to recant. The first, and more trivial, relates to my football team. The first player I drafted was Shaun Alexander. Because he had been almost completely unproductive, I benched him this week.

        AAAAAAIIIIIIIIEIEEEEEEERRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!

        Glad I got that out of my system.

        I had previously ranted against the senile delinquents- er- wise elders- of 60 Minutes. This week they kicked butt and took names. First was the devastating hatchet job about Yasser's papers with Leslie Stahl playing Lizzie Borden. Being associated with CAMERA, I could not help but to be amused but to think how pissed off I would be if I were an idiotarian propagandist. The main Israeli spokesman (sorry, no gender neutral taurine poopie on this blog) was an attractive, articulate and eloquent woman who was a colonel in the intelligence service. To add injury to devastating insult the PA did not have an official reply. But you might say one of their officials spoke. Stahl went to an Israeli prison and met with a leader of Islamic Jihad, who was wide eyed and asked how did CBS get those secret documents.

        Even more significant was the link between Palestinian Authority terror and the rouge regimes of Iran and Iraq.

        The other segments were also excellent. The second segment was a thoughtful analysis of the mania among TV executives for younger demographics. While I agree with the inherent skepticism of the piece a TV executive did get off a good zinger, asking Ed Bradley if the past weekend he at any fast food, went to a movie, bought a soft drink or had a six pack of beer. The answer was 'no.' Still, the thirtysomethings and twentysomethings the marketers crave watch less TV than their elders. After all, they have more entertainment options than suckling on the rancid milk of the boob tube.

        The last segment was about the children of Saudi fathers and American mothers who are being held forcibly in that loathsome regime. Maybe we need to start a propaganda move to warn young college girls that the debonair and dashing man could easily turn into a snarling abuser when he gets you back to his misogynistic medieval monarchy.

INTO ACTIVISM!

        Sorry for this report's lateness...

        Well, I've recently finished my first political campaign as a volunteer... and we lost! I worked for Jim Rappaport, a GOP nominee for Lieutenant Governor. Sadly the handpicked (and inferior) candidate won. Now a lieutenant governorship on its face may look as if it is worth a bucket of warm spit, sans bucket, but GOP governors in the commonwealth tend to vanish with Blair Witch regularity. They get taken up by the inhabitants of the White House (both parties. Mass GOP is more liberal than Missouri Democrats. Except we would rather not let the dead run for office.)

        I stuffed envelopes and delivered signs. On election day, I spent the better part of the afternoon near my polling place with a sign. I waved to the passers-by while listening to Howie Carr on my walkman. Across the street were a couple of sullen campaigners for a Democrat candidate for State Treasurer. They had the typical snottiness of young people convinced of their moral superiority. One of them asked me how long I was staying around. I said "Until I get bored." Then I asked them the same question. "Until you get bored," was the snarky reply. They sat on a concrete wall that surrounded the elevated garden of the polling place (an apartment complex) far back from the street. The two chatted among themselves, ignoring the passers-by.

        In contrast, I stood on the opposite side of the fairly busy road, waving at passers-by in their cars, smiling and holding my sign prominently. I may not have influenced many votes, but the response was overwhelmingly positive, including the cyclist who swung by to give me five! A great many motorists waved or shouted encouragement. Of course there were a bout a half-dozen thumbs down and one or two derisive snorts and dirty looks, but that was a small percentage of the passers-by.

        Around 6 PM, I left. One of the slacker activists shouted 'Hey, Rappaport, Democrats don't quit!"

        I replied, "Yeah. They just steal the elections."

        Jerks. At least their candidate went down to defeat.

        Sadly, though, too many Democrats will win offices Massachusetts because there is no opposition. We have no Republican representative in the house (expelling the last two in 1994- talk about crappy timing) and the Republicans could not even get a senatorial candidate to run against Kerry. The state GOP may hold the corner office (There's no governor's mansion in MA) but they only have six of the forty state senate seats and 22 of the 160 representative districts. With no fear of retaliation, the power goes to the legislative bosses, Speaker of the House Thomas M. Finneran and Senate President Thomas Birmingham (who will, thankfully, be departing after a failed gubernatorial run). Ensconced in their rotten boroughs, the two terrible Toms are able to cow their party underlings into line, destroying any and all initiative. They trample on the rules to kill bills, or even debate on things they oppose, like campaign reform, the death penalty, opposition to gay marriage or domestic partner benefits and, most of all, term limits.

        As long as a disproportionate amount of power in the Commonwealth is held by a legislative leadership who need not worry about his constituents, let alone any other voters in the state, responsive representative democracy will be but a dream. Nevertheless, we will continue to fight for freedom and democracy.

PRESTIGE PRESS BASHING

        I was damn lucky I didn't have a car accident driving home from the Cape the night before Labor Day. Not that I was driving any more like a manic than I usually do. (Hey, for a Bostonian, I'm pretty good. I am almost never the last person to run a red light.) I was furious about what I was hearing on the radio.

        WBZ, a Boston area news station, broadcasts the 60 Minutes audio feed. And what were the issues of the day according to the elders of Black Rock? Well the two segments I caught were about the [alleged] spousal/girlfriend abuse epidemic in the armed services (reported by Ed Bradley) and a warm and fuzzy piece on the Al Noor School, an Islamic school in Brooklyn as parroted by Morley Safer.

        This was what the doddering wrinklies chose to air this ten days before the anniversary of the 9/11 atrocities, demonstrating why they remain among the leading lights among reactionary liberalism in America. Certainly the Department of Defense understood, pointedly refusing to co-operate. So the usual parade of 'activists' and other axe grinders did not have anyone to riff off of for the solicitous talking heads- all designed to make the armed forces . (Don't get me wrong- spousal abuse is always serious and perhaps the DoD isn't doing enough. However, there were questions that Ed Bradley could have asked that would have actually challenged the critics. And that would have required some empathy with the servicemen, or at least the ability to think outside the proverbial box- something unthinkable from the pressiods.)

        Ann Coulter the Madame Defarge of the conservative movement, vivisected the second piece including how CBS let the school soft-pedal the student's (especially the female students) adoration for homicide bombers.

The students instantly and enthusiastically agreed with the proposition that a "Muslim who becomes a suicide bomber goes to Paradise for that action." "Definitely," one student said, calling a female suicide bomber "very brave."         "Do you believe they are martyrs? Holy martyrs?" Again, without hesitation, the students affirmed: "Yes" and "of course."         As to whether suicide bombers would go to Paradise, the students said they earnestly hoped so. "I mean, they're doing it for a good cause," one boy explained. "I pray that they go to Paradise," another said. Not only that, but one student said, "I think we'd all probably do the same."         Weeks later, at the urging of the principal, the students modified their answers slightly. But according to CBS, "None of them changed their view that suicide bombers in Israel would go to Paradise." The Islamic studies teacher at Al Noor claimed the students misunderstood true Islam: "If you go to chapter 4, verse 29, it says so clear, 'Do not kill yourself.'"

Emphasis mine.

        What's really pathetic is that the Morely could have burst the jihadettes' fantasy pointing out the homicide bombers tend to target civilians. But emphasizing their glorious warrior went into a service full of elderly people would have soiled their precious young minds.

        Maybe Morely should have done some research... But I guess he didn't want to be confrontational.

        However, as loathsome as the saurian newsmagazine reporters are, they positively outshine the boobs at the Beeb. Anti-Idiotarians have long reviled the Limey louses... OK Limey lice and Brit nits... for their anti-American, anti-Israel, anti-common sense reporting. But it's not only in the foreign policy field we see their perennial perfidy.

        Theodore Dalrymple noticed firsthand after writing about a trip to Blackpool; formerly the Cape Cod of the British working class that has fallen victim to a Spring break atmosphere.

On the day after the publication of my article, I appeared briefly on the BBC's main breakfast-time radio program, which has an audience of several million. The interviewer was an intelligent and cultivated woman, and having briefly and accurately summarized for the readers my account of what I saw in Blackpool, she then asked me, "Aren't you being a toff?"-that is to say, a social and cultural snob.         The question was, of course, a loaded one, with many layers of deeply derogatory implication. I in turn asked her whether she would herself bare her buttocks to passing strangers, and if she wouldn't, why not? She declined to answer this question, as if it were not serious-just as a future government minister with whom I once appeared on the radio, after asserting that one of the tragedies of some recent urban riots was that they had taken place in the rioters' poor inner-city neighborhood, refused to answer when I asked her if she would rather the riots had taken place in her own rich neighborhood.         Not long after the interview about my experiences in Blackpool, the BBC broadcast letters from a few listeners, who charged that I had failed to understand the nature of working-class culture...         The liberal assumption, in this as in most things, is that to understand is to approve (or at least to pardon), and therefore my disapproval indicated a lack of understanding. But strangely enough, the letters that the BBC and the newspaper that published the original article forwarded to me-those they hadn't broadcast or published-wholly endorsed my comments.

        Not so strangely, for Dr. Dalrymple points out...

The deliberate exclusion of these voices from public expression provided a fine example of how the British intelligentsia goes about its self-appointed task of cultural destruction.

Emphasis mine.

        By excluding dissent or differing opinions, the intelligentsia can deny they exist, or if press, are anything but the fringe. So, how does the denial work? Back to the good Doctor...

A BBC television producer recently outlined the phases of liberal denial for me. His colleagues, he told me, regarded him as a maverick, a tilter at windmills, almost a madman. And what was his madness? He wanted the BBC to make unvarnished documentaries about life in the lower third of society: about the mass (and increasing) illiteracy, the mass (and increasing) illegitimacy and single parenthood, the mass (and increasing) hooliganism, violence, lawlessness, drug taking, welfare dependency, and hopelessness, so that the rest of the population might begin to take stock of what was happening on their very doorstep. And he wanted, in particular, to concentrate on the devastating effects of the fragmentation-no, the atomization-of the family that liberal legislation, social engineering, and cultural attitudes since the late 1950s have so powerfully promoted.         His BBC superiors greeted his proposals with condescension. First, they denied the facts. When he produced irrefutable evidence of their existence, they accused him of moral panic. When he proved that the phenomena to which the facts pointed were both serious and spreading rapidly up the social scale, they said that there was nothing that could be done about them, because they were an inevitable part of modern existence. When he said that they were the result of deliberate policy, they asked him whether he wanted to return to the bad old days when spouses who hated each other were forced to live together. And when he said that what had been done could be undone, at least in part, they produced their ace of trumps: the subject was not interesting, so there was no point in making programs about it. The British public would be left to sleepwalk its way undisturbed through the social disaster from which a fragile economic prosperity will certainly not protect it.

        The BBC do not limit their one-sidedness to foreign policy or social engineering. The gun issue is so important that the censorship is extended to sports and entertainment. (Thanks to Libertarian Samizdata).

You can watch firearms being misused in soap operas and on television news, but you will rarely see an image of a happy, healthy sportsman bagging a pheasant, powdering a clay or punching a hole in a paper target.         Shooting men and women, denied any positive role, have long since been tele-morphed into ‘gun owners’: beer-bellied pervs in camouflage or heartless toffs blasting fluffy bunnies and Bambi’s mum...

        Not that the journalists let the propaganda to others. They upheld their perfidious traditions.

Pilloried in the press and on television, shooters had no proper chance to explain why they were guiltless. Acting as a spokesman for the sport, I can remember being given a 16-second prerecorded slot on the Nine O’Clock News to ‘balance’ more than two minutes’ live hysteria from the opposition.

        And if you can't spin reality to fit your views, hide it!

The BBC policy was to barely mention the sport (the third biggest at the Games) in their national coverage. They have tried to excuse this appalling record by saying that Bisley was on 'the periphery' of the Games and that there were 'logistical problems'. Such tosh bears no scrutiny. There were 70 BBC accredited people at Bisley. Some of them were so frustrated that their material was not being used that they openly criticised the policy-makers in Manchester. Logistics had nothing to do with it, of course: viewers in Australia and India managed to see their shooting athletes winning gold. We did not, because some priest of political correctness had decided it was bad for us.

        "The very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common; they don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter the facts to fit their views" (2 point ref).


        Of course the lumpen of the scepter'd isle are not entirely fooled and more than a few age getting tired of it. See here and here (via grand daddy Glen, please, oh please link to me Reynolds) for the real opinion peeking up among the cracks in the asphalt of noxious official thought.


        A brief digression: the way I see the UK's current situation is that they are at where America was during the 70s. The elites are driving the car of state off the road and into the sidewalk, smashing everything in its path. (You think that's a tortured analogy, wait until I compare certain commentators to great NFL offensive linemen...) The leftist intelligentsia has complete control of the major avenues of debate and policy and the intellectual counter movement has yet to begin. Yes, there was a political conservative renaissance in the 80s (Thatcher and Reagan), but what is called for is for one in the infotainment sphere, such as the one that preceded Gingrich's rise. Because they do not encounter any opposition, the intelligentsia assume they are completely successful and never question the results. Even when the opposition can no longer be ignored, they are never debated on the merits. And that is why the current state of the intellectual left has given rise to the term 'idiotarian.'

        Speaking of which, here's some antipodean groupthink among the nattering nitwits of negativism, thanks to Tim Blair.




        Speaking of over-rated lefties, Norman Mailer, arising like a somnolent sauropod raising its wrinkly neck out of the Jurassic slime, blearily blinked and made these fatuous pronouncements. (Check out Scott Ott's take).

"Clinton made a point of surrounding himself with people who might be 90% as intelligent as himself, but never his equal. Bush is smart enough to know that he couldn't possibly do the same, or the country would be run by morons."

        How shallow is Mailer? His x-ray vision could not penetrate Saran Wrap! He swallowed the JFK marketing campaign and regurgitated it as 'Superman in the Supermarket' and now he rehashes the media cliches and shorthand of the smug schmucks of the Upper West Side Salons that have clearly been out of date for the past year. Of course I would love to see Mailer try to pass the entrance exam for the Harvard Business School. I don't think calculus is his forte. Civics sure the hack ain't. Mailer further in confirmed his utter cluelessness by adding this vapidity.

"The notion that we have an active democracy that controls our fate is not true. Was I ever able to vote on how high buildings could or should be? No. Was I ever able to say I don't want food frozen? No. Was I ever able to say I want aeroplanes to have half as many seats? Nobody's ever been able to vote on anything that really counts in terms of how our lives are led."

        Did I get to vote whether or not to put this broken down nag out to pasture or to the literary glue factory? Did I ever get a chance to vote to replace overblown 'Naked and the Dead' with James Salter's 'The Hunters?'

        Not only does the emperor go around stank naked, waving his shriveled genitals to the nausea of all, but he expects us to pay homage to his literary empire, gone the way of Ozymandias' mighty works. Ron Martinetti targets Mailer in an essay appropriately titled 'Advertisements For Himself'

When it became known that Mailer's book on capital punishment (The Executioner's Song) had been based upon another's research, Truman Capote commented that Norman "...was just a rewrite man like you have over at the Daily News."

        I should check out his ex-wife's book.

Norman Mailer was insecure, sadistic, twisted, a spoiled mama's boy who was troubled by his background and wanted to have been born a rich WASP...         Adele writes with total frankness of her storybook romance and marriage to Mailer, then at the height of his early fame, and the descent through hell their marriage became--with bouts of drunkenness, orgies, and emotional and physical abuse that ended in Mailer's attacking her with a knife that was front page news in 1960. The tragic and bizarre stabbing incident took place after Adele had allegedly called Norman "you little faggot" at a party celebrating his abortive campaign for mayor of New York City.

        Speaking of violence and Norman Mailer, has he ever apologized to this man's family?



        Well, I could go on. I mean if I wanted to include the New York Times I'd have a Robert Jordan sized book. All these institutions and men were formerly prestigeous and now they are squandering thier reputations to advance their ill thought out partisan agenda. They have occupied the limelight too long. Other vices will be heard. Their day is ending soon.

        The blogsphere is kniting the names...

WINE, WOMEN AND SONG

        Latest news from science, courtesy of Tim Blair.



        Some folks may find this to be blindingly obvious. Personally I find it heartening, because if I can ply my latest lust object with enough adult beverages...

        Here she is... Tiffany Limos

        I'm a MSTie, so I was overjoyed when I heard that Showtime was remaking a number of Roger Corman schlock classics. Among them was Teenage Caveman as re-interpreted by Lenny Clark (her boyfriend and elder by 37 years. The phrase 'dirty old man' does spring to mind. 'Lucky SOB' follows soon after...). Now I'm not a fan of his films, but I gave it a look. And am I glad I did.


        Miss Limos is, to coin a phrase, seriously yummy. She gave this interview to the New York Observer where she, regrettably, demonstrated, she's a gutter-mouthed little twerp. But as long as she appears scantily clad (or unclad) repeating lines written by professional writers, it's fine by me.



        (I had a big backlog of materiel to go through, but this entry came first because I've already started getting Google searches for her. I guess my readers, such as they are, are more interested in this starlet than my scintillating commentary. Here's her official website, BTW.)

RADIO SILENCE

        I have a few frivolous posts on tap. Bashing the prestige press, week one in the NFL, salacious comments on actress Tiffany Limos, a tortured analogy comparing various writers to great offensive linemen and I do need to do a Captain Euro story. But following the examples of Vegard Valberg and Letter from Gotham I will maintain a respectful radio silence on 9-11. Those who should be heard do not need my frivolity distracting from their message. Those who should be ignored won't stop, but they will never learn.


        Before I depart, I will leave you with a few thoughts. Bloodthirsty barbarians committed a terrorist atrocity, killing thousands of my fellow countrymen. I will never forgive, nor forget. I will not moderate either my anger, nor desire to see their vile ideology wiped out and their supporters and cheerleaders reap their folly with interest. And I have no patience for those who follow either the spirit of Neville Chamberlain or the Vichy. Accommodation, appeasement and equviocation with evil is objectively siding with it. Ultimately, you can not be neutral between the arsonist and the fireman.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST

        Society A was built on the idea that a homeland would emancipate a dispossessed people. Regrettably, they did not consider the current inhabitants.


        Society B put their homes at risk in order to exterminate the uppity dhimni. They lost the gamble and blame everyone but themselves.


Medicine in society A:

Downstairs, before we left, the head of the hospital, an Israeli named Audrey, was showing me the children's waiting room. I couldn't help but notice, all around, an Arab woman with her son, an Arab family over there checking in, Arab children playing with the toys while waiting. The doctor saw the look on my face and laughed. "Oh, yes, we treat everyone." I guess I was astonished. She just shrugged. "We're Jews. This is how we live. It's also for the future. They're not going anywhere, and we're not going anywhere. There will eventually be peace. There has to be." When? A month? A year? A hundred years? More? She didn't know. I had to say it. You're incredible. You take everyone, you treat everyone, no one goes first, no one goes last, you just go in order of who needs help. That's, like, Mother Teresa stuff. "We're not saints, we're just doing our jobs. It's not easy, I admit. And it gets hard when they cheer when the bodies are brought in."

Medicine in society B:
        (Thanks to Charles Johnson)

A Hamas cell in Jenin was planning a double suicide bombing in Sheba Hospital in Tel Hashomer with the help of a doctor from Jenin, and a massive truck bomb that would blow up a Tel Aviv skyscraper, according to several indictments filed recently in the Samaria military court.

        Emphasis Mine.





        Society A is regularly condemned. Society B is the darling of the tout le monde.


        Those in Society B had better hope that Society A never follows their example.

THE NEW PHRENOLOGY

        From Little Green Footballs. The ever dangerous Robert Crawford comments on a bit of Paliswine onanistic fantasy.

The booklet, which sells for only NIS 2, is entitled The Koran Anticipates the Destruction of the US and the Sinking of the American Army. I'm planning a pamphlet entitled: "My Ass Predicts the Death of Thousands of Islamic Fascists". In ten years we'll come back and compare results. I bet my ass predicts the future better than the Koran.

        I've heard of talking out of your butt...

        It does put an interesting light on the saying 'never write a check with your mouth your ass can't cash.

KNOW WHAT I MEME?

        Folks, here's an early alert for the next idiotarian conspiracy bullshit meme down the pike. I spotted this posting on Free Republic of this Ha'aretz article.

The Bank of Israel has obtained information that several accounts held in Israeli banks may have been used to fund terrorist activities. However, because of banking secrecy laws, the central bank has not handed details over to the Justice Ministry.

        OK, looks pretty straight forward. There are a few ways to look at it. Israel is, contrary to the idiotarians' propaganda, not quite the police state they portray it if the bank secrecy laws protect the terrorist. Also terrorism needs cash. During the post 9-11 investigation, ATM surveillance footage of Atta was uncovered. On at least one occasion he was glaring into the camera as an expected transference of funds failed.


        Also Arab Israelis have been caught aiding the Palestinian terrorists. So it is likely this is one of the accounts used. Even more interesting, when you think about it, is that the terrorists do not trust Arab financial institutions, preferring to use Western conduits.


        Why bring this up? Well, here are the money paragraphs.

In October 2001, in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United States, the Supervisor of Banks, Yitzhak Tal, ordered all banks in Israel to screen their customers' bank accounts and reports to him any account or financial activity of persons suspected of terrorist activity or connections with terrorists. The accounts were screened for persons and organizations appearing on a list published by U.S. authorities in accordance with a presidential decree issued shortly after the attacks.         After completing screening of the accounts at the end of 2001, the banks handed over their findings to Tal. Several suspicious accounts and financial transactions were found. The Bank of Israel has confirmed the existence of accounts believed to have been connected to the financing of terrorist operations but refused to state how many suspect accounts had been uncovered and to which terrorist organizations they were connected.

        Now, look again at the FR posting. The person who posted the article is a well known Israel basher on FR who delights in finding anything either negative or misrepresentable about the Jewish state. And who has comment number 3? Yep. Justin Raimondo of 'antiwar.com.' In other words an underboss in the neo-isolationist wing of the 'hate America and death to Israel' mafia.


        If you re-read carefully the two paragraphs above, you will notice the dog that did not bark which in Justin's ears sounds like the hound of the Baskervilles. (2 point ref, but only for the first part of the analogy). There is no mention of which groups were involved or who they were targeting. It is as likely, if not more so, that these accounts, if they were for terrorism, were against Israelis, not Americans. As my contracts professor loved to say, 'There's less here than meets the eye."


        Of course, such inconvenient reality means little to Justin, who, when last heard from, was making an ass out of... well, not you and me, because we know he's a clymer who is full of chomsky, but himself and his fellow lemmings over the 'Israeli art student spy ring.' (Oh, by the way, the real story is not spying. It's about young Israelis, who have a free year after serving in the Tzahal, travel abroad. And they need money while travelling, so they sell artwork. Years before I heard of antiwar.com, I read an article about Israeli tourists in Japan who sold paintings to the locals. Sorry I can't quite recall where I saw the article, but it was either in the Jerusalem Post Magazine, or Jerusalem Report. But I digress.)


        You know he's going to spin a sinister involvement of Sharon sending money for nefarious, cabalistic schemes in the US. Why, in Justin's fevered mind, he's already writing this up as the smoking gun! They'll want to create some excitement since their beloved 'martyrs' have been conspicuously unsuccessful in murdering Israelis lately. So get ready for the next round of taurine scatology from these freakaziods.

OH GODS, BOOK 1!

        Congratulations to Neil Gaiman for winning the Hugo for best novel for American Gods.  If Bujold's Curse of Chalion had to lose, at least it lost to the best.  Anyhow, as Tyler Stewart, proprieter of Pandemonium, pointed out, Lois has enough Hugos as is!

        I was at the Millenium Philcon, when the Hugo went to the Harry Potter book. People left the presentation snarling with anger. I’m glad to see a winner everybody can get behind.

        Analogy time. American Gods is to Neverwhere as Casino is to Goodfellas.

        And speaking of movies, Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings won Hugo the Best Dramatic Presentation.

        Gee. What an upset.

FIGHT FEEBLEY HARVARD!

        Schadenfruede unbound!  Harvard Law has just discovered the joys of discovering Uncle Sam's purse strings tend to turn the recipient into a marionette.  The school has been forced to allow military on campus.  Previously, the services were barred from Harvard, ostensibly to protest the 'don't ask don't tell' policy.  This replaces the earlier bans, ostensibly because of the Vietnam War, the Cold War, etc.

        So, what changed their minds?  Two words: 'Filthy lucre.'  See, there's a 6 year old federal statute, known as the Solomon Amendment (Look for Pub. L. 104-208), which cuts off all of f all of Uncle Sam's do-re-mi if a college or university discriminates against military recruiters or ROTC. As the amendment says...

"None of the funds made available in this or any other Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for any fiscal year may be provided by contract or by grant (including a grant of funds to be available for student aid) to a covered educational entity if the Secretary of Defense determines that the covered educational entity has a policy or practice (regardless of when implemented) that either prohibits, or in effect, prevents . . . access by military recruiters for purposes of Federal military recruiting. . . ."

        From the article...

        In an emotional letter to students and faculty, Clark wrote that under the threat of enormous financial loss, the greater good of the university would have to override the law school's stance against discrimination and the military's ''don't ask, don't tell'' policy. The decision is expected to influence policy at other law schools.


        "I have personally struggled with this issue," Clark wrote. "At the same time, most of us reluctantly accept the reality that this University cannot afford the loss of federal funds.... To say that this decision is just about money trivializes the significance these funds have on students' educations, faculty careers, and scientific research that can lead to cures to life-threatening illnesses and debilitating diseases."

        To coin a phrase... BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

        Sorry, Dean, but the PC movement has done a tremendous job in trivializing education. And frankly I don't respect your trivializing the services merely because you and your narrow minded ilk disapprove of their policies.



        Of course the trivials are not taking this lying down. The Harvard hooligans want to keep discriminating to protest discrimination. According to the Crimson...

"Lambda board member Lindsay Harrison said last night that the group will protest the Defense Department policy by, for example, filling all interview slots with its members when military recruiters come to the campus."

        Heaven forbid students should be exposed to actual diversity.

        But it's not only in Cambridge that the Soloman Amendment is desipsed. South of the Charles in Boston College - the Jesuit institution historically best known for point shaving, a misandronist professor and drunken louts staggering out of off limit bars, has an orbaization dedicatied to the repeal of the amendment.


        And then there is this article by Sean Roaney a Washington School of Law 2L.

Further clouding the amendment's future is the fact that certain states, including virtually every state in the northeastern United States, have enacted state civil rights legislation banning discrimination against gays and lesbians. Compliance with the amendment, therefore, requires that law schools in these states directly contravene their own state law.

        Sean clearly needs to re-check his Con Law notes. There's no conflict. When a state statute and a federal law are at loggerheads, Uncle Sam wins.

As Representative Solomon opines, however, these laws are of little importance. These states, he reasons, can merely amend their legislation to allow for military recruitment. Amendment opponents do not find this a palatable option, however, and continue to hope that the Supreme Court will eventually overturn the military policy.

        Highly unlikely. The 'don't ask, don't tell' policy is itself a compromise and the current court makeup will not interfere so deeply with military policy during wartime.


        Anyhow, as a wise man said, every doctor needs to be a patient at some point, every law professors need to know what it feels like to be smacked with the club of laws used for social engineering ends. If it's good enough for the high school students of Southie and Roxbury, it's good enough for the law students in the Ivies.

        Still, with apologies to Tom Lehrer...

        Fight feebly Harvard! Faint, faint faint!

        Impress them with our cowardice... do!

        Faint in Harvard's disgrace and shame!

        We're just unworthy of your name!

        (Oh poopie!)

        Okay. Weird Al, I ain't.

UPDATE

        Maggie Gallagher chimes in, unfavorably comparing craven Crimson to the Augusta National Golf Club’s defiance in turning down advertising revenue rather than acceding to the National Council of Women's Organizations’ demands that they grant immediate membership, to women in their club. William ‘Hootie’ Johnson declared, "We are sorry, but not surprised, to see [the sponsors] drawn into this matter but continue to insist that our private club should not be 'managed' by an outside group. "

DRAFT BEERS AND DRAFT PLAYERS DO NOT MIX!

        One note on my fantasy draft. While I firmly believe my team is solid, I darn near made a fatal error thanks to the quintet of Yuengling beers I consumed that afternoon. I drafted two quarterbacks (Donovan McNabb and Jim Miller) with the same bye week. Fortunately I traded Miller for a pick I used on Mark Brunell.

I'M SO SORRY!

        You kinda noticed the lack of updates... Sorry. I have an excuse, or rather a whole slew of them. Most of them are not very good.

        First was the bar. I stopped blogging while cramming my skull full of relevant information. Then came the period of recovery.

        As soon as my brain recovered, my body took a blow as a persistent flu bug knocked me out for a week. Then weekends at the Cape with my family, job hunting and drafting my fantasy football team came into play. Oh and three dates in as many weeks with three different women.

• I rendezvoused with Margaret in NYC while traveling down to State College PA for the draft.
  
• Ashi, a graduate student in Rhode Island; we spent an afternoon in Providence.
  
• Linda whom I took out to 'Blue Man.' (Of course, the next day she sent me a 'You're nice, but not that interesting' email. I guess flying toilet paper and Captain Crunch do not a romantic evening make.)
  
  

        Sadly, a good many of my comments have fallen by the wayside. Some were overtaken by events. Others have been dealt with far better by others, like Howard Bashman's excellent attack on the egregious use of polling data by the majority in ATKINS v. VIRGINIA. The Court is supposed to be isolated from the passions of the populace! That's the way the founders designed it!

        I also was thinking of writing about how many Congressional liberals are exceptionally wealthy and relating it to an article in USA Today regarding a disturbing trend of the children of the wealthy eschewing traditional summer jobs for glamorous internships. These kids will become the next ruling class without having actually known what drudgery for an for a dollar is like. Call it cliched, but they do build character.

        Speaking of character, there was this little bit of horror that appeared in the Boston Globe. (It's at the very bottom and I read the article when it originally appeared, wiseguys!) Folks, I've read too much about my representative and the function of male member, thank you very much.

        One incident I do need to relate. Here in Boston we are extremely fortunate to be a regular port of call for the Navy. When the ships are in port the Navy lets visitors board and see what Uncle Sam uses their tax dollars for. I have toured a frigate, a cruiser and destroyers. (The line for the aircraft carrier John. F. Kennedy was too darn long.)

        This time I went to see the USS Kearsarge, a Wasp class amphibious assault ship. Now I always carry my Swiss Army knife, but I am prepared to ditch it as needed. So I come to the ship and see they have a metal detector and a warning that anything they find that violates security will be confiscated. I asked if I could check my knife. The guard was angrily adamant. Even if I voluntarily gave them the knife with no prompting, they would confiscate it. Now I remember being able to carry the knife around the Capitol dome, with the full knowledge and blessing of the security people therein. But that was long before 9/11 empowered the 'tweezer people.' Now I couldn't leave the knife in my vehicle because I did not take any vehicle down. My bike was in the shop and I didn't want to drive downtown. So I took my knife and hid it in some weeds. The guard did not want to know and I was passed through without comment.

        I could forgive the guard for being curt. Unlike the mental midgets of the airways, they were doing their jobs in a reasonable manner. I had a problem with a specific rule. So I was not going to give him any unpleasantness, even if he were not well armed and backed up by grim faced sailors toting M-16s.

        The tour was well worth the trouble. I climbed aboard an LCAC, looked at guns and other equipment and talked to sailors and marines. I especially want to thank Private Goldman (USMC) for answering my idiotic questions, especially about the grenade launchers. And I did find the discussion about whether a sniper rifle could take out windows of the planes at Logan to be fascinating.

        Oh yeah. It was a guy thing.

        Two more notes before I vanish. Despite my absence, my page has been getting regular hits. But most of them have been about 'Frontier House' or Ben Grimm's recent revelation. Go figure. But I do need to update Jewish Marvels soon.

        Also here's my fantasy team lineup- current as of this writing.

COOL FACTOR NOTED; LET'S PROCEED. (3 point ref)

        Japanese engineers testing a new supersonic jet design encounter a minor setback.

NASTY COMMENTS

• Not with a bang, but a whimper.
  
• Senator McCain is never afraid to be the only Republican standing among Democrats. Witness the Keating five.
  
• Daltrey and Townshend are releasing a new album. Its title is Who’s Left?
  
• When anyone says we can not define terror or that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter, I will suggest they're against the law. Literally. 22 U.S.C. 38 §2656F(d)(2)
  
  

TORO! TORO! TORO!

        “For there is surely nothing more beautiful in this world than the sight
of a lone man facing single-handedly a half a ton of angry pot roast!”

Tom Leher.

        The photographer was never in danger, apparently. But nobody seems to care about the poor schmuck whose shirt the bull has on its horns!

QUALITY, NOT QUANTITY.

       One reason my blogging is minimal (aside from time constraints) is that I want to try to be at least minimally original, instead of citing the same articles the rest of the warblogers do. And I care that I say things well. So that means I do bupkus.

        Here was one overdue issue posting. Prior to the speech where Bush called for Yassir to take the golden handshake, my main worry was not necessarily what he would say, but how the world would interpret his words. Specifically, I was afraid the Palestinians would see it as a vindication of their terror tactics.

        Judging from the snarls, yowls and whines from the Arabs and their chattering class enablers, I need not have worried. The Guardian, New York Times, Washington Post and Saudis all hate the president's declaration. Obviously it's a winner.

        As the cliché goes, "When you're up to your ass in alligators, it's hard to remember the first objective was to drain the swamp." Well, the Palligators (unique among crocodilians for their venomous nature) are distracting Bush's corps of engineers from draining the Axis of Evil Swamp. Were I a more conspiratorially minded man, I would say the House of Sod financed this upswing to distract from their 79% responsibility for 9/11. They point to their beloved homicide bombers and say to the US 'Solve this first.' (And it helps to distract their souk suckers from the debacle in Afghanistan as well.)

        So, Bush offered a solution. That the solution is unacceptable to anyone in position to negotiate is immaterial. No longer will they sell the same camel for new concessions. No more will their constant bad faith negotiations continue. Even if they do reject Bush's conditions for statehood, it is clear he is washing his hands of the Pals and moving on.

        The Palestinians should take a cue from the ideals of Zionism. Hetzel wanted to make the Jews 'A nation like any other. That dream must become their reality. No more disproportionate attention to the Pals and no more special leeway given to aid their genocidal quests. Let them deal with the consequences of their folly or reap the rewards of their courageous change. Either way it's long past time to move on

THE BEST THING ABOUT THE WORLD CUP....

HECKLER'S VETO OVERRIDE

        Cant Watch needs to learn to enjoy schadenfreude. Noting, and approving of, the suspension of the organization of the kaffeya wearing brownshirts at San Francisco State University, Erin O`Connor decries the removal of their hate filled web site from the server.

My point? We have to defend the expression of groups like GUPS if we want to be sure our own expression is protected. These are tough truths to swallow when one is on the wrong end of bigoted and nasty expression, but they are the truths we have to swallow if we are to preserve the liberty that makes our lives so preciously free.

        Well, the way I see it is…

1. Speech codes are wrong.
   
2. The campus left supports speech codes.
   
3. The speech codes are not applied to the campus left, or anyone who is not white and straight
   
4. We (meaning the non-PC crowd) need to apply the speech codes to the PC gang with the vigor of Vern Schillinger initiating his newest prag. (2 point ref)
   

        This way, you assail their hypocrisy, while forcing them to chose between their causes and censorship. These Hamans built the gallows. Let their sorry hides swing from it.


        The free speech of the General Union of Palestine Students is a modest sacrifice for a world with no speech codes.

INSIDE BASEBALL AND NOT THE BOSOX

        Here in Massachusetts, the Dems control the state, even with a GOPer in the corner office (meaning Governor. There is no governor’s mansion here in Massachusetts). Though we’ve had a run of Republican governors, they’ve been either had one eye on a better job, or a head firmly up their butts. Most of the GOP establishment in the Commonwealth consists of what I call ‘Vichy Republicans’ who try to out Dem the Dems.

        Now with Mitt Romney seeming to revive the Mass GOP, plus dissatisfaction with the two Toms (Birmingham and Finneran) who essentially run this state, the Dems are getting desperate and nasty, trying to beat him in the court house and not the ballot booth (usual Democrat tactics). All I can say is the people who scream about Mitt’s working in Utah have driven many people to New Hampshire.

        At least is has been hurting them in the polls.

UPDATE: The panel has ruled the Romney meets the residency requirements! Now if we can only get democracy into the State House of Representatives and Senate.

ARRRRGGGGHHH!

        Bush tries to appease the jackals again. How many times will we fall for their bait-and switch before saying 'screw `em.' and leaving them to rot in their cesspool.

        One in his speech I found particularly risible.

The Palestinian people are gifted and capable...

        Yeah, but only when it comes to murdering children.

        Update: The Pals and their Arab bretheren are not happy with the speech, which, on second reading and more careful consideration was much better.then I had believed. More later. (Hopefully)

OVERDUE UPDATE

        Sorry, but between work and the bar review class, I've not been able to do squat. Sunday is my one free day and last Sunday I was comatose and this one I had a wedding (and the less said about that, the better...). Gomen, Gomen!

AN APOLOGY IN ADAVNCE

        Folks, blogging is going to be erratic at best, non-existent at worst for the next month or so. See, I'm studying for the bar. That means four hours of classes Monday through Friday 6-10 PM. Plus I work Tuesday through Saturday on the night shift 11 PM -7 AM. Sunday I sleep.

        One incident I should mention. The lecturer on Contracts is a blond guy from the University of Alabama who speaks with a broad southern accent. His name is David Epstein. I am not joking. Professor Epstein used some quintessentially Dixie illustrations as examples. Any time Uniform Commercial Code Section 2, which as we all know deals with the sale of goods, was discussed, the sale of grits would be involved.

        The problem was when he had to use an example for consideration with a preexisting statutory or contractual duty rule. He used a Kinky Friedman concert for his example. Now I'm not a huge fan of 'The Kinkster,' but I have heard of him. However, during a break, apparently (I saw the taped lecture), several people went up to complain about the example, convinced that he was using an anti-Semitic slur. The professor assured the listeners that the Kinkster was a real person. He also added that he was glad he did not mention the singer's backup band 'The Texas Jewboys.'

        Some people.

SKAKEL THOUGHTS

Even a Kennedy is not immune to justice, unless his last name is Kennedy. Then he’s scot free!

SINCE I CAN'T DO A REAL UPDATE...

Someone needs a leave desperately!

JEWS OUT IN SPACE! [2 point ref]

        A Jewish Astronaut is asking about Shabbos in orbit. Reminds me of the panel I attended at the Arisia S.F. convention whose topic was Judaism in SF. We soon digressed into questions of observance in space and SF settings. The only issue we discussed that I can recall in any detail was the Centauri brit. Let's not go there.

        Speaking of which, spoliers for Fantastic Four #56. (The current relaunch.)


SPOILERS….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        So, the ever loving, blue-eyed Thing is Jewish. Heh. I once listed all the last names of the founding Marvel characters. (Founding Avengers, X-Men, and major independent heroes) at it read like a county club roster. Only Daredevil (Matt Murdock) had a remotely ethnic name. Of course, despite the names, Stan Lee imbued many of his characters with a New York Jewish sensibility- especially the neurotic Spider Man.


        Time for two lists. First the surnames of the original Marvels, including the major Golden age characters. The other list is of Jewish or half-Jewish superheroes and villians.

Founding Marvels Dr. David Banner- The Hulk Dr. Donald Blake- Thor Robert Drake- Iceman Colonel Nick Fury James Hammond- Human Torch (I) Jean Grey- Marvel Girl Benjamin Jacob Grimm- The Thing Henry McCoy- Beast Namor McKenzie- Sub-Mariner Matt Murdock- Daredevil Peter Parker- SpiderMan Dr. Henry Pym- AntMan/Goliath Reed Richards- Mr. Fantasitc Susan Richards (neè Storm)- Invisible Woman Steve Rogers- Captain America Anthony Stark- Iron Man Johnny Storm- The Human Torch (II) Dr. Stephen Strange Scott Summers- Cyclops Janet Van Dyne- The Wasp Warren Worthington III- Angel Professor Charles Xavier- Professor X

Marvel's Jewish Supers Justice Legion Magneto Quicksilver Sabra Doc Samson Scarlet Witch Shadowcat Songbird The Thing UPDATE! Achillies of the Pantheon Bermuda Schwarz Brightsword The Golem Iceman Moon Knight Sasquatch

ANOTHER HOMER FOR PIPES

        Daniel Pipes vivisects Foggy Bottom, accusing the sleazy Arabists of malfeasance by understating the breadth and depth of Islamofasict terror in general and Palestinian terror in particular.

State pretends the vast majority of Palestinian terrorist incidents simply did not happen. It defines "significant international terrorist incidents" as ones involving major property damage, abduction or kidnapping, loss of life or serious injury, or the foiled attempt at any of these, and in 2001 it found 123 incidents worldwide that meet this criteria. Of those, a mere 11 concerned violence against Israelis. But when the Independent Media Review and Analysis applied State's criteria to anti-Israel violence, its scrupulous research found 97 attacks on Israel that fit this definition. The U.S. government asserts that Palestinian atrocities against Israel made up just 9 percent of the world's serious terrorist incidents in 2001, but in fact they constituted 46 percent of them.

        Seems as though our Arabists want to place a disproportionate emphasis on non-Arab terror. Yes, we need to extirpate FARC. But they are not the true threat. Except for Sri Lanka, all cross-cultural conflicts involve an Islamic society as at least one of the protagonists. India vrs Pakistan, Israel vrs the Palestinians, Indonesia in the South Moluccans and East Timor, Abu Sayeef in the Philippines, Egypt against its Copts, the Sudanese regime against the Nubians and the Albanians against the Serbs in the Balkans.

        I know that Islam per se is not the enemy and all that PC garbage. Yes, the Turks are on our side, as is the Northern Alliance. Plus the Jordanian leadership does not seem to have its head up its ass.

        Meanwhile the State Department is busy sucking up the Saudi princelings. Colin Powell may know there is a war on. I'm not sure he knows precisely who our enemies are.

        Chris Hitchens does, however. He takes time off assailing American bureaucrats to slam Pakistan and the Saudi royals. He says a lot of unpleasant things about the State Department, but no one has ever accused them of patriotism! [4 point ref]

LOST PARIDISES

        A recent note in the Wall Street Journal's Tony & Tacky caught my eye.

NO GUNS, NO GLORY: The Clunes of "Frontier House"--the PBS "reality" miniseries chronicling three families attempting to live the life of 1883 Montana homesteaders--may not win any popularity contests. But patriarch Gordon Clune said things would have been better if public television had been more realistic about one of the biggest realities of pioneer life: guns. Not only did the producers turn down Mr. Clune's request to be allowed to hunt for meat to feed his family, they imposed strict limits on using guns to ward off hostile varmints. "We were supposed to give a predator two warnings," Mr. Clune told the Los Angeles Times. "'Excuse me, Mr. Coyote, please don't eat my chicken. Excuse me, Mr. Coyote, please don't eat my chicken.' Then, you were supposed to fire a warning shot."

        So, what does it mean beyond the chattering classes' prejudice against the 2nd amendment? In a sense it is the equivalent of a Freudian slip, revealing the underpinnings of intellectual thought. As far back as Roseau dreaming of the noble savage, liberalism has pined for an Eden before the corruption of modernity. Ever since there has been an effort to fabricate such paradises either by forging new societies like communes and kibbutzes or by false interpretation of history. Indeed Marx and Engels seemed to be harkening back to the earlier societies before the Middle Ages- supposedly before classes were formed. Using Native Americans as an example, Engels wrote…

The division of labor is purely primitive, between the sexes only. The man fights in the wars, goes hunting and fishing, procures the raw materials of food and the tools necessary for doing so. The woman looks after the house and the preparation of food and clothing, cooks, weaves, sews. They are each master in their own sphere: the man in the forest, the woman in the house. Each is owner of the instruments which he or she makes and uses: the man of the weapons, the hunting and fishing implements, the woman of the household gear. The housekeeping is communal among several and often many families. What is made and used in common is common property - the house, the garden, the long-boat. Here therefore, and here alone, there still exists in actual fact that "property created by the owner's labor" which in civilized society is an ideal fiction of the jurists and economists, the last lying legal pretense by which modern capitalist property still bolsters itself up.

        Liberalism's fantasies of the past are not harmless, despite, or perhaps even because of, their Utopian nature. The Golden age never existed and can never exist. Well, outside of comic books. Anyhow, attempts to forcibly create Utopia have been an engine for misery and destruction throughout the 20th century, with Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot and Lenin. And it continues with Islamofasicsts trying to make the kingdom of Allah on Earth.

SPORTS NEWS OF THE DAY

        When I head the Germans were playing the Saudis, after the Kissinger ‘can’t they both lose’ moment of thought, I decided I wanted the Jerries to win over the Jihad screamers. I got my wish. Big time. In American football that’s danm near the 1940 NFL championship.

        Looks like the Arab sports highlight remains the 1972 Summer games.

NASTY THOUGHT DU JOUR.

        If I were not afraid of the fallout (literally!) I’d want an all-out war in the Kashmir so India could pound Pakistan’s jihad supporters flat.


        BTW, first was the massive upswing in terror against Israel. Then comes the increased tension in the sub-continent. If I were conspiratorially minded, I’d say the House of Sod is using its Al Qeada catspaws to distract everyone from their complicity in 9/11.

WILLOW THE VAMPY FLAYER

        A quick note on the 'Buffy' season finale. It redeemed this uneven season. Buffy has always been a show about ethics, choices and morality. There have been clunkers this season (aside from the musical episode) but the last 3 episodes gave it a meaning and set things up well for next year. Even Spike.

        BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!


        Let the implications hang menacingly.

DINNER AND MOVIE, PART DUEX

        Actually, it was movie and dinner. AA (a blind date I met via the Net) and I went to see Episode II. My opinion is... mixed. (Spoilers below)

 

 

 

        The Good: Ewan McGregor pulls off the complex task of portraying Sir Alec's youthful precursor. Christopher Lee rocks. Period. End of discussion. as Temuera Morrison Jango Fett was also fun.

        Then there was Yoda and the rest of the special effects. Yes, I cheered at his kung-fu pose before using the Force and his lightsaber to go upside Count Dooku's head. And of course there were the jaw dropping tableaus of massive armies, amazing planetscapes and fantastic cities come to life as never before possible.

        Just as important as the sweeping vistas are the slices of Star Wars Universe life the FX helped to create, from the BladeRunner like traffic jams of Couriscant. Remember the 'Creature Cantina?' Never mind what happened there… it was an alien bar… with a band!

        The Bad: Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen are the acting equivalent of the Sphere of Annihilation. And neither the spirit or soul can be resurrected, even with a wish spell. (1 point ref) Their screen time positively sucks the life out of the movie. Yes, they positively suck. Never mind the implausibility of a princess falling in love with a whiny killer, I can't see his past passion surviving three minutes with her! Portman was wooden in EP1. As for Hayden, I know the surfer dude worked in 1977, but Luke was meant to be a tabula rasa. Anakin is supposed to have hidden depths- the darkness within seeping out. Chirstansen only manages petulance. Lucas should have cast Jonathan Rhys Meyers in the role instead. Witness his work in Gormenghast. Of course I still say they should have cast an older actor in Episode 1, but that's water under the bridge.

        Of course the emotional high points were all mishandled. The revelation that he killed the Sand People left me thinking how a better director would handle both the confession and the massacre themselves. Lucas is too enamored with the 'gee whiz' and forgets basic storytelling. I would have cut after showing Anakin activating the light saber and turning menacingly to the tent opening.

        Lastly, Threepio's presence on the farm raises the question WHY DIDN'T OWEN OR BERU recognize him in Episode IV?

        What Lucas needs is someone to tell him when the ideas are stupid. As glad as I am that he's independent from Hollywood, I wish he paid a bit more attention to other views

        The Ugly: I was one who missed the alleged racism in Episode 1. The whiners attacked Ep II. One idiot complained that Jango was Latino because he has a dark complexion. Never mind the actor is Maori. Delicate PC folks get the vapors at the thought of swarthy villains. Aren't all bad guys blonde haired and blue eyed?

        That having been said, I was bugged by Watto. The blue creature returns. But now he wears a Tommy style helmet and has what seems to be a two-day's growth of a beard. Unfortunately it all makes him look like a caricature from Der Strumer or WAFA.

        I doubt that intended deliberate offense. He is merely oblivious. Still, it points to the need for him to have other voices, even if it is his baby.

JUST ANOTHER BRICK IN THE MALL

        Now I'm pissed. The bastards have finally crossed the line. No, this is not the Middle East, nor the Taxachusetts kleptocracy that has me fuming. This is about toy stores and it's real personal.


        I read this article in today's Boston Globe.

The Children's Story will soon close. About a year ago, Imaginarium, an upscale toy store chain owned by Toys ''R'' Us, opened a few blocks away on Harvard Street in Coolidge Corner. In a scenario reminiscent of the Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan movie ''You've Got Mail,'' the big chain threatened the livelihood of the independent. And like the movie, the small bookstore tried, but simply couldn't compete.

        I love The Children's Story. In a world of cloned mall stores, it was nice to have this funky store that sold unique items. The proprietress knows me by sight (hey, three nieces and two nephews. Gotta indulge them!) and was always friendly and helpful. Oh, and the selection! They have a variety of wood toys and a brigade of plastic animals- especially dinosaurs. There are Groovy Girls, finger puppets and high-end plushies. I can spend hours there. Heck I HAVE! Just about every gift I've gotten (save for books) has come from that store.


        As for the Imaginarium, it's a mallrat's parody of an 'upscale' toy store. Though the floor space is far larger, the selection is not as good and I am not enamored with the items they do have. They have a poor selection of plastic animals and not much in the way of wood toys besides trains.


        There is one item they have that really angers me. They sell a prefabricated lemonade stand. Yep, instead of the tedious process of actually LEARNING how to use tools and writing the sign yourself, have Mommy and current Daddy load you up into the SUV and drive to the mall or the Harvard Street Imaginarium and buy the prefabricated lemonade stand. And in a week, it'll gather dust as you discover how unrewarding having something handed to you is. But hey, Mommy will find you some new creativity-stifling toy keep you distracted so she can tend to her busy social life.


        Normally I have little patience for those who scream about Walmarts moving in. Hey, root hog or die. However, to me the difference is that the Imaginarium may drive out the Children's Story, it will not replace it.


        Well, all I can do is buy as much stuff for their upcoming birthdays and next holiday season. Thankfully there are a few other stores around- mostly in Harvard Square- where I can find the unique gifts that make 'Uncle Totoro's' presents unique.