They're summing up some of my thoughts over at the Christian Science Monitor:
"[Schiavo] is what some people may call a 'nondead, nonperson,' " says D. Dixon Sutherland, a bioethicist, theologian, and director of the Institute of Christian Ethics at Stetson University in DeLand, Fla. "Her personhood is gone, but by medical definition, she's still alive."
There sure are a lot of people you could fit into that category. There are the usual suspects- the retarded and the insane. Who else? Surely Alzheimer patients with their Swiss cheese for brains would be on that list.
How about winos and crackheads? Didn't they sell off their personhood bit by bit for a high? If that sounds too much like morality, how about biology? Winos have organic brain damage. That should send them stumbling out of bounds into nonpersonhood, if nothing else does. This CAT scan shows that the porchlight's on, but nobody's home.
Or I could just say we're all made in the image of God and leave it at that.
Which view is supposed to be the scarier again?
The News-Press has an interesting article on police tasering in Southwest Florida. As opposed to its intended use, which is stopping short of deadly force; most people get tasered for not listening:
No longer reserving Tasers for hulking criminal suspects with murder on their minds, authorities are using the powerful stun guns on drunks, mental patients, suicidal women and argumentative men of all races, even teens and adults in their 60s, according to 407 Lee County sheriff's and Cape Coral and Fort Myers police reports involving the weapons. In Cape Coral alone — the sole agency in Lee keeping such statistics — use of Tasers rose 1,000 percent from 2002 to 2004.
Local police say they are expanding its use because it works better than batons and doesn't break any bones. Critics say it's a new toy and police are taser-happy.
I'm inclined to the taser-happy theory, myself. They've been used on some people upon whom by no stretch of the imagination they would have used a baton.
Tasers probably do save lives. Right now though, I think they're being over-used in piddly confrontations that don't warrant them.
In a goat-rope, the UN's WHO is working on containing the contagion. I say send in the boys from the CDC in their moonsuits.
Crime Library has a detailed write up on the BTK killer. I think it's very interesting it was the killer's daughter who put things together. I remember how David Kaczynski read the Unabomber's manifesto and had to admit to himself that it was written by his brother.
Thank goodness for the rest of the public that these people didn't mull over the ethical dilemna too long and came forward.
UPDATE:
In fairness to the Wichita police, who are receiving a lot of criticism for it taking decades to catch this guy- if they hadn't faithfully preserved crime scene evidence for all these years, even things for which the technology didn't exist to do anything with, they wouldn't have been able to match the killer's DNA now to those long-ago crimes.
His wife has been arrested as well, it's being said. Don't know what that means.
Get to it, Egypt:
In his surprise announcement, Mubarak said the country needed "more freedom and democracy," responding to critics' calls for political reform in Egypt. The possibility of a democratic election comes shortly after the historic elections in Iraq and the Palestinian territories that brought a taste of democracy to a region the United States has urged to reform.
I hope this is a sign of things to come.
UPDATE:
Egyptian blogger Big Pharaoh has more thoughts on this.
This witholding of food and water is actually getting pretty common. I was reading about a man named Hugh Finn whose wife had him starved to death even though his family wanted him. His family had to pay her court costs for the legal fight too.
Rather than eye Mr. Cracker with suspicion, I did a living will saying I want my food and water any way I can get them. It's not too much to ask that you be fed and watered twice a day.
The things you have to do these days to protect yourself from hearsay.
As far as societal opinion goes, I would say that people will pity you so much they'll kill you- but I don't think that's the case. I think there are new rules being formed as to who is and who is not a person. More accurately, I think these are just the old rules that are making a comeback.
The Ancient Greeks and Romans would recognize them: Expose the elderly and infirm on mountainsides, put the unwanted baby on the dungheap. The pre/post-Christian lifestyle choices.
So now the Schindler family gets three more weeks to try to rescue their daughter. Good luck to them. I think only Governor Bush taking some dramatic and drastic measure on their behalf will do the trick. That, or Michael Schiavo getting hit by a bus.
Two pieces of great writing I ran across today are from Are You Conservative? and Liberal Larry. One will make you laugh, then think; the other will make you laugh, then run out and lick a toad.
(AYC? link via WuzzaDem.)
Michael Schiavo's lawyer on the intervention of Florida's Department of Children and Families:
The lawyer leading the battle to remove Terri Schiavo's feeding tube said the agency's sudden interest at such a late stage in the case ``reeks of the intervention of politics.''
``It's no secret that the politicians were saying yesterday in Tallahassee that if there was anything they could think of [to keep Terri Schiavo alive] they would,'' said George Felos, who represents Michael Schiavo in his quest to remove his wife's feeding tube.
``The DCF is part of the executive branch and Jeb Bush heads the executive branch,'' Felos said.
Everyone who has criticized Governor Bush for not doing enough to help the Schindler family should take it back. The guy is damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. I think just about every newspaper columnist in Florida hates his guts for trying to help Terri Schiavo and her parents. The man is trying to do what he can within the limits of his powers. If Terri were a prisoner about to be executed, just a word from him could halt it; in this situation he has to use other methods.
Sometimes art can make you say both "Hmm" and "Mmm."
(Thanks to contributor Salt Lick.)
When you look at this famous picture of Minamata, do you see (a.) Love or (b.) Someone who clearly wouldn't want to be alive?
Don't make me come over there, Dickie.
Wail on, Skydog!
Roger Boyes of the Times seems disappointed that German anti-American protesters won't be able to rip President Bush to pieces during his visit to Mainz. He details security measures and how inconvenient that are to people while at the same time describing how anger has united all the "tribes" in Germany for a "huge, swelling protest" in Mainz.
Ten minutes down the road from Mainz is Russelheim. Security is having the Opel factory there shut down for the visit, and the spokesman is complaining of lost output. I don't know if the Opel factory was shut down on August 26, 1944, when six American airmen were executed there after first being marched through the gauntlet where the locals beat them senseless.
Evidently, despite the request of President Bush to have a walking tour and a town meeting, German authorities are keeping things tight. Maybe they have a reason for doing this.
Maybe it's less about the policies of the President than it is about the vicious character of the local mob.
It's amazing that a guy with a "fiancee" and two kids gets to say whether the old ball and chain lives or dies.
More at Blogs for Terri.
Janette's doing some terrific posting on the subject, as well.
The ABA has a good tool kit so you can get an idea of the kind of input you can have with a living will and the Living Will Registry allows you to register the will/Advance Directive with your health care provider, local hospitals, etc.
However it is that you feel about these things, get it put in writing.
If you haven't seen the Daily Show's "Fact-Obsessed Bloggers" segment, check it out. It's pretty funny.
(Via The Corner.)
Last Saturday night was my town's yearly homage to our patron saint, Thomas Edison.
"You thought of it all, Mr. Edison."
The business partnership between Edison, Ford, and Goodyear consisted of Ford and Goodyear putting up the cash, and Thomas Alva ponying up his brainwaves.
Is there an Edison, New Jersey edition? Nope.
My high school's marching band strutting their stuff.
The pretty majorettes have to be there.
It's whispered that only after reaching a certain secret level do you get to drive the Shrinermobile.
More pics here.
In keeping with the trend of declaring a dead celebrity the greatest thing since somebody who actually was great, I've decided to be the first on the bandwagon by showering with hyperbole some celebs who haven't died yet:
Paula Abdul, the greatest choreographer since Twyla Tharp.
Jonathan Frakes, the heir to Olivier.
Gary Coleman, a veritable two-eyed Sammy Davis, Jr.
Spandau Ballet's Gary Kemp, the best crooner since Der Bingle.
Johnny Lee, the torch passed from Hank Williams burned bright.
Roseanne Cash, her one hit managed to kick her father's entire lifetime of work to the curb.
Goldie Hawn, she alone was able to overtake Lucille Ball in the Great American Comedienne stakes.
Wasn't it silly enough seeing the media's rush to canonize Johnny-one-note playwright Arthur Miller?
Hunter S. Thompson is dead. He wrote one interesting book. No, he wasn't Mark Twain.
As said Balki, a character brought to life by the wonderful, stupendous, reincarnation-of-John-Barrymore-himself, Bronson Pinchot: "Don't be ridiculous."
UPDATE:
An excellent and very apt obit by Stephen Schwartz.
Like a lot of people, I've ended up with the flu. I learned a new word, though: presenteeism.
Somehow I don't think this will ever be frowned on as much as calling in sick does. Most people would gamble that they won't catch anything from a co-worker versus having the certainty of a heavier work load.
Hand-held jammers that counter rude cellphone use are bringing smiles to people's faces.
I love technology.
Penny Patterson's organization is being sued by two female employees who claim that Patterson tried to force them to expose their breasts to Koko, the sign language-speaking gorilla:
The suit claims Patterson pressured the two women on several occasions to expose their breasts to Koko, a 33-year-old female — sometimes in situations where other employees could potentially view their bodies. The women never undressed, said their attorney, Stephen Sommers of San Francisco.
They were threatened that if they "did not indulge Koko's nipple fetish, their employment with the Gorilla Foundation would suffer," the lawsuit alleged.
The lawsuit claims that on one occasion Patterson said, "'Koko, you see my nipples all the time. You are probably bored with my nipples. You need to see new nipples.'"
Penny's been immersed in the gorilla world for a long time. It might help her to take some refresher training in human behavior. And employment issues.
It a shame to have her good work harmed by her poor judgement in dealing with people, if indeed she did the things claimed.
The mother of former Florida Marlins closing pitcher Ugueth Urbina has been rescued by police commandos in Venezuela after being held captive by kidnappers for five months:
"You can't say they treated me either well or poorly. The most hurtful thing was having to bear them saying that my son didn't love me because he didn't pay," Villarreal said.
Ugi's not a closer for nothing.
No mention of her just sitting in the dark and eating wet cigarette butts, but I think she's got the leverage to make Urbina pay for a long time.
I'm glad his mom was rescued safe and sound.
The State Supreme Court of Nebraska granted clemency today to Murphy the dog.
Four years and I don't know how much money the state of Nebraska put in on prosecuting and trying to kill a dog that did very little harm to anyone. You'd have thought this dog was slaughtering babies. What a misuse of prosecutorial and judicial power.
(Other interesting news over at Doglaw.com)
There can be so much drama in being a waiter. This fellow handles it well and writes about it beautifully.
I would say that his restaurant really needs the enlivening presence of a public Xerox machine- the shrieks and curses of those incapable of figuring out how to use it would add ambiance; but that vision, I suppose, is from my own special hell.
On the beginning of the 60th anniversary of the battle for Iwo Jima, the Sun-Sentinel interviews veterans who fought there:
"It helped me appreciate what I have, define who and what I am, that you never fear living or dying," said Coster, an engine designer at the Sparrows Point shipyard who was among the 70,000 Marines to fight for a desolate, but strategically important, Pacific isle. "After Iwo, what could be worse than that?"
The Philadelphia Inquirer also has an article on the anniversary, this one with veterans' very intense memories of the landing itself:
Other troops followed. Myers, part of the fourth wave, recalled the tension in the landing craft.
"We were only kids - 18 and 19 - and there was no cutting up, no carrying on," said Myers, 79, a retired Pennsylvania welfare caseworker. "I remember a sailor hollering insults at us. We said, 'What the hell is the matter with this guy?' I think he was trying to make us angry so we would take it out on the Japanese."
Myers saw an amtrac next to his take a direct hit from a mortar shell. "I saw four or five Marines floating," he said. "The rest went down with the amtrac. After that, the guys were praying."
Jumping from his amtrac, Szostek said, he immediately saw "five or six dead Marines lying in the sand" and was soon shooting back at the Japanese, including four - all on fire - as they charged from a pillbox. One, an officer, was "waving a sword and hollering, 'Banzai!,' " Szostek said.
By the end of the first day, 30,000 Marines had landed. Part of an airfield was captured, and Mount Suribachi was isolated.
"It was 40 or 50 degrees in the day, and cold and damp at night," Perry said, also recalling a heavy rain on the second day that added to the misery. "I started to cry because it was so disheartening, and this fellow with me hit me with a helmet and told me, 'You son of a bitch. You better not crack up on me.' That saved me."
Some of them seem to think nobody remembers Iwo Jima. I don't think that's something they need worry about. When you think of the American warrior, it's this image that comes to mind:
If Major League Baseball were like the International Olympic Committee, there'd be a lot of awards changing hands, with Pedro Martinez picking up an extra three.
On second thought...
Greenpeace activists intent on paralysing trade at the International Petroleum Exchange building in London, got more than they bargained for when the oil traders whose building they were storming kicked the snot out of them.
This reminds me of the happy time when the Scottish children launched a wee counter-protest on the PETA milk protesters outside their school.
Shouting "Milk for the masses!", the students held the protesters down and drenched them with milk. The protesters had to be rescued by the police.
Good job to all the people standing up to these bullying activist groups.
This just in: Sand-kicking beach bully gets his 'nads handed to him by former 98-pound weakling.
(Via Tim Blair.)
You've heard about Aladdin and his magic lamp, but how about Omar and his magic pajamas?
Hometown baseball hero and retired Boston Red Sox outfielder Mike Greenwell lost out on the 1988 American League MVP Award to Jose Canseco, who, it turns out, would have better suited to playing the glockenspiel rather than the Great American Pastime but for that silo of steroids he kept in the backyard. Since Canseco was a big fat cheater, Mike figures it's only fair the record be amended.
Even though Canseco unrepentantly details his rampant steroid use in his new tell-all book, I don't think Mike will get his wish. He's going to have to be satisfied with being the unofficial winner and leave it at that. Baseball just doesn't clean house like that. Too bad.
Mike Piazza also lost out to a steroid user, with the 1996 National League MVP Award going to juicehead Ken Caminiti.
UPDATE:
Reuters has picked up the article. Still no feedback from Canseco about Greenwell.
He's spouting off about Cal Ripken, Jr, though:
"I can just throw up watching the total phonies go to work, guys like Cal Ripken or Alex Rodriguez; everything out of their mouths sounds like it was tested by some kind of focus group beforehand."
I defy even Mr. and Mrs. Cobb to produce a child as poisonous and unlikeable as Jose Canseco.
"A guy don't come to my band
to show off his fancy duds; he come to pick."
Wail on, Skydog!
Mexico might have more trouble than it can handle in the form of the Zetas, former anti-drug commandos who have switched sides:
Whether the government can beat the Zetas is an open question. Many think the Zetas are better trained and better armed than their government opponents.
When 100 soldiers encountered a reported eight drug traffickers Jan. 28 in the state of Sonora, the troops withdrew. News reports quoted army commanders as saying, ``They have better weapons. We could do little.''
In the last six months, 21 Americans have gone missing while visiting Mexican border towns, mainly Nuevo Laredo, causing the U.S. Consul there to issue a warning. It's believed the Zetas are now using kidnapping as a sideline, to generate funds to cover losses from unsuccessful drug deals.
Family members of some of the victims have put up a website, called Laredo's Missing, to publicize the kidnappings.
The Australian has an interesting article on what should be done about a nuclear North Korea. It involves China straightening out the NORKS before George W has to. Eek.
Also check out the blog The North Korea Zone. It has news and information on the situation there, and will keep you up to speed on mad dictator, hamburglar, and sushi-lover extraordinaire, Kim Jong-il.
Tonight I had a man curse me out for about ten minutes. He really threw everything everything in there, checked the list twice, then started over again. I think he was looking for some reaction from me. I think I was supposed to curse him back, or cry. He didn't yell. It was just a steady stream of abuse.
I should have called the police, but whenever I do that, they just get louder, and always are gone before the cops get there anyway. It's really the best thing to do, though, and I'll take that route next time.
It kind of tickles me in an odd sort of way, and it usually goes through my mind during one of these episodes: after the drill sergeants get done, there's nothing that a non-family member can say that will really zing you. You're like armor-plated for life.
According to the Florida Statutes, it's illegal to kill an animal by withholding its food and water. I guess we need a judge to declare Terri Schiavo an animal. It wouldn't be the first time that had to be done in order to protect someone who couldn't protect herself and whom the law had failed.
Dag, her husband sure does want her dead.
Janette of Common Sense Runs Wild has more.
My friend's daughter learned a lesson about protesting. She was one of a group of Hillel members at Carnegie-Mellon who went to protest Mr. Electronic Intifada, Ali Abunimah. Their signs were too generic, saying only "Stop Terrorism." Abunimah came over to them before the lecture to thank them for their support. "No!," they said. "We're not supporting you. We're pro-Israel."
Recognizing the opening they'd given him, during his speech he said, "I want to thank the crowd of students outside for coming and lending me their support," referring to them. That made the Hillel kids weep and wail a tad.
Not an effective protest, but certainly an educational one.
Meanwhile, today's Haaretz has the lowdown on some interesting pamphlets Saudi Arabia distributes to American mosques.
When somebody's entire blog becomes NSFW because their hoochified blog ad causes my boss to do a double-take and ask me what the hell I'm looking at, it's time for me to change the channel.
Me and the folks that come here can catch the link somewhere else, if that's what we care to do.
Now this is how it's done.
Tim Blair writes an outstanding response to a NYT article on the role of blogs in the fall of Eason Jordan.
This is why Tim's is the first site I check in the morning.
The internet has changed things for the news industry. It's amazing that the idea of journalists being answerable to the public for what they say is causing them so much consternation. Most of us get held accountable for our work all the time.
UPDATE:
From a New York Sun staff editorial today:
If one is an incident, two is a coincidence, and three is a trend, feature this - top news executives at the New York Times, CBS News, and CNN, all toppled in the past two years by scandals that were heightened by pressure from new journalistic outlets. Taken in isolation, the departures of the New York Times's executive editor, Howell Raines, and his managing editor, Gerald Boyd; the managing editor of the CBS Evening News, Dan Rather, and three other CBS executives; and the executive vice president and chief news executive of CNN, Eason Jordan, would each be big events. Taken together, they suggest a news industry in the midst of a stunning revolution.
'Bout damn time.
(Sun article via commenter Fausta on Buzz Machine.)
Take a break from Eason Jordan and the year-old-but-suddenly-resurfaced news that he's nailing Daniel Pearl's widow, and enjoy Badcat triumphing in a step-aerobics day dream.
Teresa Heinz Kerry, dropping both the pretense and her husband's last name, has reverted to being once again Teresa Heinz.
You've got to feel for John Kerry that his wife so obviously prefers the dead husband over the live one. Then again, John Heinz didn't lose the presidential election. It's probably not a good idea to disappoint Teresa like that.
She could barely tolerate slapping on the name 'Kerry' even to help him campaign: "Now...it's going to be Teresa Heinz Kerry, but I don't give a s***, you know?"
On the bright side, John Kerry can console himself with her money, so there's a comfort on those long, cold, cojonesless nights.
Russell Means: Ward Churchill is a fake Indian, but he's our fake Indian.
The Sun-Sentinel is keeping the heat on FEMA, detailing stories of some of the people who've called the Florida Attorney General to report fraud, and the runaround they've received.
This is how lawyer's get a bad name. Stealing a little boy's dog and refusing the family's entreaties to return it is just low.
It took the efforts of Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass and his readers to get Ariel, a Lee County dog help captive by a Chicago lawyer, back home to his boy in Florida.
This is something I'll never have to worry about as I have canine Red Chiefs.
Looks like Commander Mooney, of the nuclear submarine the USS San Francisco, is in trouble after all.
He's been sent before the Admiral's Mast for endangering his ship. While it is true that the newest map did not show the underwater mountain, it appears that aboard the submarine was an older map that did. As an outcome of the Masting, he's been relieved of command.
A Mast is the Navy's non-judicial punishment, equivalent to an Article 15 in the Army. These are internal military punishments for infractions that don't reach the level of criminal. Basically, they're formal spankings.
CNN is reporting that a Masting usually ends an officer's career, but I can only speculate. It certainly wouldn't end an enlisted's career.
Wouldn't the being relieved of command be the career-killer and not the Masting itself? You can get Masted for just about anything. Any Navy guys out there to clarify? Chad?
(Via the unsinkable Gmac.)
Lilly's Behavioralist was here today. Thanks to his help, she's doing excellent and is no longer threatening to exterminate the human race one bloody chunk at a time.
Next up: other canines! He'll be bringing in guinea pig dogs to serve as learning aids in Lilly's introduction to the social graces.
Clicking and treating is awesome. I never imagined that one day the stuff from Psych 101 would be so important to me.
Like Dan Rather before him, CNN's Eason Jordan has discovered he no longer controls the horizontal and the vertical.
UPDATE:
Now having lots of free time on his hands, Eason Jordan is considering authoring a book on bloggers:
Eason Jordan resigned from CNN tonight, saying he hoped to avoid further "tarnishing" CNN's reputation by his presence there.
He says he plans to spend "more time with his family." He also says he's considering co-authoring a book with former NYT Editor-in-Chief Howell Raines and departing CBS News achorman Dan Rather. The book is tentatively titled, Bloggers: Why Do They Hate Us?, and will explore the "root causes" of the blogosphere's disatisfaction with, and rage against, the Western media.
"Hopefully, our book will be a sensitive exploration of the differences that separate bloggers and the legtimate professional media," Mr. Jordan said. "We intend to explore these issues with the characteristic objectivity we're famous for. Our take is that bloggers don't like us because they're all stupid and jealous right-wing mouth-breathers and troglodytic wack-a-doos, but that's just a working premise at this point. We're open to other theories, like that they're simply all mid-functional retards."
Disturbing pics of gun violence.
Looking foofoo shouldn't get you shot.
UPDATE:
Another disturbing pic, this one from INDC Journal.
Here's a Colonel who's on his way out. The 160th's commander, Colonel Isadore Rommes, didn't decide to look into the shenanigans of his Florida MP unit at Camp Bucca until everybody was home and mustered out. Cute. Now the Army is launching a full investigation.
The 160th was also at Gitmo. Do you think they had leadership and discipline there?
Despite the Safe Haven law, sometimes it's just easier to toss the baby right out of a car window.
After the initial bummer of who the baby has for parents, it got lucky. The newborn survived the impact and had a rescuer in a lady who'd been driving along and witnessed the crime. She got the baby out of the road, and took it to a nearby police station, from whence it was choppered to the hospital.
Yay, observant, Good Samaritan lady.
UPDATE:
The Good Samaritan lady is described as being "very distraught, very upset."
I bet.
The baby was less than an hour old and was inside a plastic bag. He is in good health. The Broward Sheriff's Office thinks they've found the mother and will hold a press conference later this afternoon.
UPDATE II:
Twists and turns! Soon to be an upcoming Law & Order episode.
(Via Gmac.)
Geez, North Korea likes to yank our chain:
North Korea on Thursday announced for the first time that it has nuclear arms and rejected moves to restart disarmament talks any time soon, saying it needs the weapons as protection against an increasingly hostile United States.
The communist state's pronouncement dramatically raised the stakes in the two-year-old nuclear confrontation and posed a grave challenge to President Bush, who started his second term with a vow to end North Korea's nuclear program through six-nation talks.
"We ... have manufactured nukes for self-defense to cope with the Bush administration's ever more undisguised policy to isolate and stifle the (North)," the North Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
The claim could not be independently verified. North Korea expelled the last U.N. nuclear monitors in late 2002 and has never tested a nuclear bomb, although international officials have long suspected it has one or two nuclear bombs and enough fuel for several more.
Paul of Sanity's Edge can't even eat a pizza roll without hurting himself. I'm waiting for his next post, where he talks about the time he swallowed his tongue. It may well be that the Lake of Fire in Hell is filled with flaming pizza roll juice, but I doubt it.
All of my suppers have been relatively mishap-free, minus the time I drooled into a plate of spaghetti. It was only natural though, as I was very hungry and my spaghetti quite tantalizing.
Mr. Cracker, on the other hand, has had several eventful dining experiences, including one that was life and death. I walked into the kitchen once to find him bent over going "Whoop, whoop, whoop" just like Ripley did in Aliens after they'd uncoiled the alien from around her throat.
He'd been reading and eating a peanut butter sandwich, when he realized he hadn't breathed in a while. After worsening things with a nice big swig of acidic, throat-constricting lemonade, and feeling himself running out of options, a self-administered Heimlich using the edge of the sink finally put him to rights. After a brief, refreshing lie-down on the kitchen floor, he went back to his book, and I got to call him "Ruprecht" for a while.
Here's a couple of soldiers from Castle Heights Military Academy who would have fit right in at Camp Bucca. They'd have probably sprung for the Rid. Second row from top, all the way to the right; amused: Duane. Third row from the top, two from the left; mopey as usual: Gregg.
Wail on, Skydog!
If you haven't heard Mortaritaville yet, give it a listen.
The troops are getting to enjoy lots of tastes and sights from home. The Burger King opened in Baghdad before the chow hall did. Also there are Pizza Hut and Subway, with Popeye's and Taco Bell being added next month:
"This generation of soldiers has grown up with name-brand fast food," [said Terry McCoy, food program manager for Iraq]. "It's the taste from home that they're missing. It not only gives them that little moment of comfort, I like to think it ... takes them back home for just the 15 minutes they are enjoying a Whopper."
Business at the Camp Liberty PX is booming. It's second in world sales only to Camp Kadena Air Base in Japan:
Spc. Rakesh Pal, 23, from Modesto, Calif., said he likes to walk through the PX when he has free time, even if doesn't intend to buy anything. "It reminds me of being back home at the mall," he said. "It doesn't feel like I'm in Iraq when I'm in the PX."
Come back safely to the Land of the Big PX. The burgers are on us.
Regarding the Camp Bucca fiasco:
These Reserve and National Guard units have a serious problem.
NCOs and officers were present when female soldiers stripped to their bras and panties and had a mud-wrestling contest. There were officers there; they did not intervene. The NCOs there not only did not intervene, they organized it.
A unit cannot function when military discipline breaks down. All the petty, seemingly illogical little tasks that they have soldiers do- the hated "chickenshit", forces the maintaining of discipline. What happened here was not even a case of soldiers shining their boots with bricks or wearing Baker's whites: this was a total breakdown in military discipline and the authority of the chain of command.
The officers need to be removed. The NCO's need to be busted all the way back down. The investigation is still ongoing. These things may well occur.
And we need to take a good look at what we can expect from Reserve and Guard units that are left to their own devices.
I'm seeing headlines where they're calling these people ARMY. They're not in any Army I've ever heard of, unless the National Pan-Hellenic Council has formed one.
I said this before, when Abu Ghraib came out: my sergeant would have took my head for even thinking of doing something like this. We were all young when I was in, too. The military is always young. What makes it work is the quality of the leadership. I see no leadership at Camp Bucca at all.
Man, having to get polygraphed on your fish story. Is nothing sacred?
Soon the only person who won't get called out for telling a whopper is Eason Jordan.
Bill of INDC Journal has a great post on the Iraqi police using the terrorists' tools against them.
Some of the terrorists who kidnapped people and then videotaped their captives' appeals before killing them are doing a bit of their own snot-snivelling for the cameras these days, and everyone's getting to watch. The police videos are being broadcast on television with a telephone number on the screen so the public can call in with tips about terrorist activity.
Way to get all John Walsh, guys. Here's to the Iraqi police catching lots of scumbags.
While I admire the sentiment behind the Anheuser-Busch company's Super Bowl tribute to the troops ad, the ad itself was way too PC, with all the female troops getting singled out for the close-ups.
I say this as a former female troop. You'd think that with the bulk of the Army being white males that they'd rate some face time too.
Watch it again and tell me it's not excessive.
I hope Jay Tea, who'd get a thumbs-up from reporter Scott Lindlaw for his attitude, never has his community get the living snot kicked out of it by a hurricane. May he never have his home destroyed. May he never live for weeks without electricity or telephone service. Hopefully, the worry that his town's entire sewage system might quit functioning and he'll have to start dealing with his own crap will never have to cross his mind. May he only have a theoretical knowledge that seeing a convoy of trucks can make people cry because it means help, hope, and protection from criminals who want to rob what little you have left while you're down on your knees. May he never know that one of most important things on God's green earth is ICE.
If he had experienced these things, he would understand what it means to have the President of the United States come down here and look at your world of shit with his own eyes. Floridians were nothing but GRATEFUL that he came here. It was a huge psychological boost. It meant all the resources of America were open to us. Jay says the President's visits interrupted real disaster relief. Pray, tell me, what real disaster relief did he interrupt? Did his walking through shredded orange groves while his opponent was preparing for a debate interrupt disaster relief? Or did it just say, "Yes, I understand that Florida lives and dies by citrus, an industry worth billions of dollars. I'll make sure you get as much help as possible"?
The President didn't run and have a gander because somebody's barn burnt down- he was looking at areas being declared National Disasters.
If he hadn't have come, he'd have been torn to living hell for being an unfeeling, uncaring jerk. You know, like what happened when his daddy, an unfeeling, uncaring jerk, had to be frog-marched down to Miami by his son Jeb after Hurricane Andrew. Less than three months later, I helped vote him out of office.
The cavalier attitude toward Florida's people ticked me off. It ticked off the Floridian who sent me the post-link too. It's not every day of the week a state takes a direct hit from a hurricane; much less four of them in six weeks. Yes, it rates the President's coming.
History shows that people in general don't take lightly the appearance that their rulers don't care for their plight. If President Bush hadn't come down here, we'd probably all be blogging about President Kerry right now.
President Bush in Punta Gorda after Charley.
President Bush in Fort Pierce after Hurricane Frances.
President Bush in Pensacola after Ivan.
President Bush in Stuart after Jeanne.
(Via Doyle.)
UPDATE:
He gets it now.
Congrats to Dan Marino for making into the HOF in his first year of eligibility. His golden arm made his career, his character made his life. In an age of selfish, crybaby millionaire-athletes, Marino was Dudley Do-Right. He has demigod status in this town because he earned it- not just from what he did on the field, but from his generosity with his time and money for the benefit of his community off the field; and not just every once in a while, but day in, day out, year after year.
We just got back from the wedding of my niece, Miss Cracker. She's a pretty girl and was wearing a stunning wedding gown, but we were all trying to figure out who was prettier: her or the best man, Jose, a Marine in dress blues. That uniform was gor-ge-ous.
The other groomsman was also military and in dress uniform, but his was just Air Force. It's not as bad as an Army pickle suit, but it's still totally lacking in pizzazz.
Jose had served in Fallujah, so my little romp in the sandbox might as well have taken place on an elementary school playground in comparison. He'll be heading back to Iraq for another rotation in seven months.
I'm sending off a donation to Adopt a Sniper to help make those boys' job a little easier and to atone for even haven mentioned my Gulf War service to a Fallujah Marine.
I find it a whole lot easier to have casual chats with other Army people. Even beyond interservice rivalry, the branches of the military each having its own unique culture can make things difficult.
Plenty of one-legged skiing going on up in New York state. The part I like most about this article on soldier-amputees learning to ski, is that they are being ferried around by members of the NYFD, who are volunteering their time.
They, more than anyone else, understand that if the soldiers don't fight the terrorists over there, the police and the firemen will be fighting them here.
Thank you, soldiers.
Darn it, the Diplomad is putting out a permanent "This line closed" sign. Just when I got to the front, too!
Note to Alanis Morissette: This is coincidence, not irony.
Valentine's Day sure isn't easy for a fella who wants to make a gesture, yet maintain plausible deniability. It pays to be bold.
About the most timid gesture I experienced on a Valentine's Day was when I was a teenager. I was getting ready to go somewhere and as I walking by the front window saw a car that was slowing down out by the mailbox. The driver, a young Japanese guy from Hawaii that I would see in church, put something in my mailbox and drove off. I went out and got it- a box of Hawaiian candy. It didn't even have a note on it saying who it was from. I went back in the house and said to my dad and brother something along the lines of "So-and-so just stuck this in the mailbox." I set it down on a chair and went back to my room to finish what I was doing. When I came back out again, the box was open and...EMPTY. My dad and brother were sprawled around the livingroom, chewing. They had gorged on the whole damn thing.
If I had eaten a piece of that candy, I might have had to ponder that guy for a moment. Instead, I looked at the chewing pie-holes of my dad and brother and pondered why the guys in my family were such pigs.
He should have been a little bit bolder.
UPDATE:
Forget candy. All and Sundry has found the perfect gifts for your Valentine! Men: what says "boldness" like a "Vagina Warrior" knit cap?
Lots of dolls in the news these days. This time it's a hate crime doll.
An inflatable Spider-Man doll found hanging in a tree on the campus of the Austin Peay State University has caused both the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the FBI to come running. Catherine Davila, president of the Timbuktu African-American Studies Minor Association is pleased with the response, commending them for making it a "federal issue."
Their quick appearance on the scene will also prevent a doll hanging cover-up:
Many on campus initially thought the doll was black, said Richard Jackson, APSU's senior adviser to the president for diversity, affirmative action and legal affairs."The initial rumor was that the doll was an African-American doll," he said. "What we wanted to make sure we avoided is the possibility that anyone would say that there was a campus cover-up.
Although Spidey is normally considered to be Caucasian, perhaps some racists believed that the doll had been passing and sought revenge.
My wish is that these intelligent, well-educated people use their voices to speak up for Cody, the African-American soldier doll kidnapped by terrorists. He's still missing.
It's too late for Spidey, but it's not too late for Cody.
(Via Lucianne.)
The Question Fairy has an interesting story out of Denver of two girls who baked cookies for the neighbors and got a legal smackdown after one neighbor sued them. They delivered the cookies late at night, knocking on doors and leaving before the homeowners answered. One lady panicked at there being no one at the door and scared herself into a trip to the emergency room. She sued them and won.
The girls meant well, but their parents must not have told them to leave people the hell alone after 10:00 p.m.
I used to bake cookies for the neighbors too, but I delivered them during daylight and didn't knock on the door and run. I started it because of the neighborhood crazy lady who lived all alone. She took the first batch from me, but thereafter whenever I'd come to her door with cookies, she'd send me away. A fourteen-year-old's version of a basic sugar cookie recipe is probably not so hot, but I think it was the human contact and friendliness that bothered her. Maybe she thought I would poison her. Reading the article on the girls, I was trying to imagine how my crazy lady would have reacted to a late-night knock on the door. No doubt she would have found it upsetting. Maybe she would have freaked.
The girls did show poor judgement, but I do think the Denver lady should have accepted payment of her hospital bill from the families of the girls and left it at that. Instead she took them to court for payment, which she won. She also sued them for damages. She won that too, but the judge awarded her exactly $1.00, because at that point she was just being nasty.
The Oil for Food scandal has taken a personal turn. It now has a face. One of the men who got payment from it was involved in the assassination of the father of the Iraqi lady, Safia Taleb al-Souhail, who was at the State of the Union address the other night.
Kofi Annan's saying he's going to "discipline" Benon Sevan, the man in charge of the program, sounds to me like he's going to give him a time-out. There should be a Senate inquiry into this mess, prison terms for the corrupt UN officials involved, and compensation to Iraq from the UN for the money stolen:
[Iraq's Human Rights Minister] Amin said beyond bringing those responsible to justice, it was essential that Iraqis who suffered under Saddam's regime and never benefited from oil-for-food as was intended, should be recompensed.
"The money that has been stolen from the oil-for-food program is Iraqi money and has to be paid back to the Iraqi people," he said. "There are too many victims of Saddam who suffered and they need to be paid compensation.
"These people shouldn't get away with the money and live the rest of their lives in luxury. A lesson needs to be made of them. They benefited by stealing the bread of others."
Amin said the Lebanese who helped organize his father-in-law's killing was granted rights to seven million barrels of oil through the oil-for-food program as payment for his services.
Amin's father-in-law, a renowned tribal sheikh who was opposed to Saddam, had gone into exile in Lebanon and was assassinated in Beirut.
If I were in that lady's shoes, I might do a Rumplestiltskin and tear myself in two from anger. I can't imagine having to go through life with such an injustice.
If you haven't seen the video of Patches the horse, go watch it. It's amazing what all stuff an animal can be trained to do. Plus, Patches just has flair.
Speaking of training, Lilly is doing fabulously with hers. We must have seen 30 different people on our walk this morning, including one group of 15 or so teens waiting for a schoolbus, and she didn't go off on any of them. At one point my heart seized up because people were moving in our field of view on three different sides. We got through it with no incidents, though. Strangely enough, when we were opposite the group of teens, she even layed down on her side in the grass and wiggled around, acting silly; that's how at ease she felt.
It's such an incredible change of behavior, and all from just using a clicker and a pocketful of treats.
(Video via Maxed-Out Mama.)
After the November depantsing of the Democrats, Senator Skip Campbell, Broward Democratic chairman, pronounced the Florida Democratic Party dead and in need of CPR. He also said, "We've got to win back those folks who say they are Democrats but they're voting Republican."
I don't think the Florida Democratic Party throwing its support to Howard Dean for chairman of the DNC is what he had in mind:
It is not like that there were not other candidates for Democrats to support - Tim Roemer and Martin Frost with moderate positions both come to mind. Rather, Florida Democrats like Democrats in the United States Senate who fought Condoleezza Rice's nomination as Secretary of State, are showing voters that moderates and conservatives are not wanted. In their twisted logic, it is the voter's fault and not their fault that they lost the election.
They just don't get the message that voters sent them - you are out of step with us and just being against Republicans is not a reason to vote Democratic. Supporting Howard Dean (who likely will be elected DNC Chair) will reinforce that message in voters' minds. Maybe after suffering another punishment in 2006, Florida Democrats will begin to get the message. But maybe not, rather they will probably endorse the ticket of Barbara Boxer and Michael Moore in 2008.
Some folks simply cannot be turned from their folly.
Supposed grown-up bloggers savage a 13-year-old over a stupid-ass toy soldier pic.
"Thirteen? What difference does that make? NO...WIRE...HANGERS!"
Uncool.
(Via Protein Wisdom.)
Interesting moments in tonight's SOTU:
Dennis Kucinich was in the photo-op alley where the President enters the hall.
Syria is now on notice, no ifs, ands, or buts. They better straighten up because Bush doesn't kid around. He was really sharp in his remarks about that country in particular.
I loved the two ladies Laura had with her as her special guests. One just voted in Iraq, the other in Afghanistan. The Iraqi lady looked overwhelmed from the moment she came in, and it looked like Laura was steadying her.
When the parents of fallen Marine Byron Norwood stood for their honors, the Iraqi lady hugged the mother. That was so lovely. They're saying on television now that Mrs. Norwood gave the Iraqi lady her son's dogtags. Her right to vote was paid for in American blood and both women recognized this.
It was a great speech. The only part I disagreed with was immigration. Don't put me in charge because I'd mine the US-Mexican border and send those new drones to patrol it- and I'd equip those drones with death rays.
Special guest Safia Taleb al-Souhail hugs the mother of a fallen Marine Janet Norwood while first lady Laura Bush applauds and William Norwood, shakes hands with Marine Staff Sergeant John Manuel Martinez during U.S. President George W. Bush's State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, February 2, 2005. Norwood's son Marine Corps Sergeant Byron Norwood of Pflugerville, Texas was killed during the assault on Fallujah, and he was honored during President Bush's speech.
Go, Bobby Jindal.
He'll be inking up tonight for the State of the Union address and will bring a pot of ink for other lawmakers to do the same.
It would be the coolest thing if President Bush inked his. He did hook 'em horns for the University of Texas, so he could do this. He'd then have to have a purple finger throughout the whole speech, however, and the SOTU address isn't so lighthearted an occasion as an inaugural parade, so maybe not.
In any case, I'm looking forward to seeing a whole passel of inky fingers tonight.
Duane was surely hitting a very good note here.
Wail on, Skydog!
Happy first blogiversary to Bill of the marvelous INDC Journal. He got 900 Trillion visits in his first year alone. Pretty darn good.
Keep that good stuff coming.
Some on the left are decrying the disenfranchisement of one group of Iraqis during the polling:
It's easy to hail the courage of the purple-fingered sheep who sashayed to the voting centers under the protection of armed U.S. soldiers. However, a great number of Iraqis weren't so privileged, and were turned away from the polls on the simple grounds that they had 75 pounds of explosives strapped to their bodies. Many were forced to explode outside, where temperatures are currently in the low 30's and even the most stalwart Freedom Fighter risks severe frostbite.
Why risk frostbite when you can send the retarded to do your exploding for you?
All kidding aside, I'm wondering if Michael Moore still thinks these guys are like the Minute Men.
We build Florida boys tough. Marine Lance Corporal Tony Stevens gets the Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore award for invincibility.
He's very short- about twelve days and a pop-tart. Come back home to Jacksonville safe, Tony.
I was purple-fingered at work all day yesterday. Two of the ladies in my conversational English class who are from Hungary asked about it and then wanted to know why we didn't come help them in 1956. I explained as best I could what the situation was as I understand it.
I've enjoyed watching these long pieces of raw footage of the election, filmed by soldiers at one polling station. One woman who spoke English summed it up fairly well by saying that they want to choose their own leaders and not have one man force himself on them.
Democracy is a pretty simple concept. No one tell me again that Arabs are incapable of appreciating it.
(Footage via F.R.)
