COLLECTIVE MADNESS
“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."
DR said, "It is the meaning, not the spelling that carries the contextual substance."
ReplyDeletenot really...Repeated malapropism etc could suggest an underlying pathology, either physical or emotional. Misuse could additionally be indicative of an immature, lazy intellect.
Now, DR, get yourself off to a rousing day: Go to the bathroom, stand in front of the mirror and view yourself (use a chair if necessary) and say three "zeig heils".
While she is apparently not Jewish, it will be entertaining to watch DR, make some connection, in his own special way.
ReplyDeleteNo, she's not Daniel Lapin
As your speling of G-d for GOD so amply exemplifies you have a mental disorder, as you yourself have diagnosed.
ReplyDeleteDear DR,
ReplyDeleteIf you knew anything about Judaism, you would have nailed me long ago, and rightly so.
You see, if you are mentally deficient, I have sinned in goading you. On the other hand, if you are merely a fool, I have sinned by engaging in lashon hora.
Bye, DR, it's been real.
FOX News reporting that there is a audio recording of the arrest of Professor Gates.
ReplyDeleteThat ought to be easy listening.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Supporters say the white policeman who arrested renowned black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. in his home is a principled police officer and family man who is being unfairly described as racist.
ReplyDeleteThe Associated Press
The officer had his radio keyed, the entire episode recorded at the Cop Shop.
The professional victims, living in their own little world.
ReplyDeleteSeeing everything as being about them, always.
The arrest report is pretty revealing. Gates should be mad at his neighbor, not the police.
ReplyDeleteI think Obama should resign for calling the police Stupid.
So far, Obama has claimed to be a: Banker, CEO, Doctor, and now a Police Commissioner.
I didn't know you could learn so many things from being an Acorn.
Doubt he'd resign, for any reason, gag. Not in this life time, anyway.
ReplyDeleteIf that tape was damaging to the officer, it'd have been leaked. That it has not been, indicitive of it substantiating the officers' report of the entire incident.
As seen from here.
OK, if he won't resign then, OFF WITH HIS HEAD!!!
ReplyDeleteOK, if he won't resign, then OFF WITH HIS JIVE ASS HEAD!!!
ReplyDeleteLive it!
ReplyDelete...probably the best living free-style flamenco artist...
La Malagueña
ReplyDeleteLink
It's clearly racism that the overwhelming majority of "no hitter" games (263 total) have been pitched by people without color..
ReplyDeleteIn fact only ONE has been pitched by a "black" man
I demand President "Let me fix that" Obama start an investigation asap...
statistically there should be an additional 28.93 "no hitters" if there were not a bias against blacks in america
Barry suggested that it was perhaps HIM wearing his Chi-Town outfit that was responsible for the dorks good luck.
ReplyDeleteBUT IT's NOT ABOUT HIM!
(OR GATES)
Gag,
ReplyDeleteNow he's come out against the word "victory."
Why?
"It evokes memories of Emperor Hirohito"
Savannah. For a week.
ReplyDeleteYou. Lucky. Bastard.
I suspect Mr. Gates has been using the race card successfully for many years and probably knows nothing else.
ReplyDeleteI suspect his lectures at Harvard are insufferably boring.
I suspect he is a first class asshole on his best day.
Professor Gate's Harvard Educated Turds do not smell.
ReplyDeleteCops are low-class redneck scum.
"Don't you know who I am ???"
President Nifong
ReplyDeletePresident Jive Ass
ReplyDeletetrish said,
ReplyDelete"You. Lucky. Bastard."
Yes! ...and most of it is being paid by the company...It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it ;-D
Did I mention that Tybee is just down the road and the weather is perfect? No. Well, it is.
Then, of course, there is Hilton Head, where I just happen to have a very good friend. There is a great stable there and the beaches are perfect.
Yes, I am a lucky bastard! (or a blessed one)
Allen
ReplyDeleteI will take Blessed over Lucky any day...the experience seems to last longer.
Los Angeles Times - Borzou Daragahi - 1 hour ago
ReplyDeleteA Russian-made airliner skidded off a runway and hit a wall at an airport in eastern Iran, killing at least 17 people, Iranian state television and official news agencies reported.
Tony Alamo, a one-time street preacher who built a multimillion-dollar ministry and became an outfitter of the stars, was convicted Friday of taking girls as young as 9 across state lines for sex.
ReplyDeleteAlamo stood silently as the verdict was read, a contrast to his occasional mutterings during testimony. His five victims sat looking forward in the gallery. One, a woman he "married" at age 8, wiped away a tear.
"I'm just another one of the prophets that went to jail for the Gospel," Alamo called to reporters afterward as he was escorted to a waiting U.S. marshal's vehicle.
Shouts of "Bye, bye, Bernie" — Alamo was born Bernie Lazar Hoffman — came from a crowd gathered on the Arkansas side of the courthouse, which straddles the Texas-Arkansas border.
Get your Kidneys Here!
ReplyDeleteSweeping federal probe nabs crooked politicians & alleged black-market kidney peddler
Do you KNOW what the weather's like here, allen?
ReplyDeleteDo you?
It sucks.
It's a little known fact that the reason FARC isn't particularly active in Bogota anymore isn't because there are now huge gaps in their capabilities. No, it's because they can't enlist ten guys to give up the soul-sucking heat and humidity of the jungle for day-in, day-out conditions that drive even those of normally sound mind to contemplate sticking their head in the oven.
Weather that only a New Englander could be impervious to - which is additional reason to despise New Englanders. For their haughty imperviousness to weather that for the rest of us requires psychotropic therapy or the pricey accumulation of frequent flyer miles.
That's right. Tybee, too. Beautiful weather and some of the best eatin' on the face of the planet.
I hate you, allen.
My husband (a New Englander constitutionally incapable of really, truly appreciating fine weather) was in Tampa last week. I hate him, too.
I am not to be humored.
Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano: I didn't take bribes and I'm not resigning in wake corruption probe.
ReplyDeleteBY Edgar Sandoval, Jamie Locher and Samuel Goldsmith.
A day after the feds carted him away in cuffs, Hoboken's young mayor showed up to work defiant Friday morning and said he has "no intention" of resigning.
"I want to state categorically that the charges that have been leveled against me in federal court are completely baseless, and I deny any wrongdoing," said Mayor Peter Cammarano, the 32-year-old rising star who's been in office just 24 days.
Outside Hoboken City Hall, Cammarano said he's innocent until proven guilty.
"I look forward to a day in court where I can vigorously defend against these charges... and clear my name," he said, refusing to take questions from the crush of media around him.
Cammarano was accused Thursday of taking $25,000 in bribes from a federal snitch posing as a developer.
It was all part of a massive scandal that ensnared rabbis and politicians in New Jersey and Brooklyn. He posted $100,000 bail shortly after he was arraigned.
Until July 1, Cammarano was on the Hoboken City Council.
He won a runoff election three weeks ago by a razor slim 161 margin to rival City Councilwoman Dawn Zimmer.
Reverend Nifong has now equated Gates with the Policeman.
ReplyDelete"Two Good People"
We should learn from The Messiah.
PBUH
We should all learn from
ReplyDeleteThe Messiah.
(he evidently called Sgt.Crowley)
Two Good Men
My Ass
USO Girls
ReplyDeleteThe takedown can be traced back to one man, a confidential informant identified in published reports as developer Solomon Dwek, who was charged with defrauding a bank of millions in 2006.
ReplyDeleteDwek apparently offered the feds to turn on rabbis - who stunningly still dealt with him even though it was well known in their community that he had been charged by the government.
Dwek told the targets he was in bankruptcy and interested in hiding his assets. He laundered $3 million since June 2007.
One of the launderers introduced Dwek to a Jersey City building inspector who, authorities say, took a $20,000 bribe and kicked off the public corruption portion of the probe.
Read more:
Meet the flimflamming informant, Solomon Dwek, behind the busts
BY Adam Lisberg.
The son of a prominent New Jersey rabbi, Solomon Dwek brought shame on his tight-knit Syrian Jewish community when he was arrested for bank fraud in 2006.
That pales next to the shocking mission he undertook - exposing his community's top rabbis as a ring of accused money launderers and bringing down nearly two dozen Jersey pols as corrupt.
For years, Dwek, 36, had his hands in hundreds of real estate deals and get-rich schemes.
His empire included a gambling boat, estates in Jersey and Florida, office buildings and plans to build high-rises just across the river from Manhattan.
It all came tumbling down when he was accused of bouncing a $25 million check.
He appears to have gone from full-time mini-mogul to a very busy federal snitch after that - even as he filed bankruptcy and was besieged by creditors.
Dwek is the observant son of Rabbi Isaac Dwek, leader of the Syrian Jews who turned a summer getaway in Deal, N.J., into a wealthy sanctuary of Mediterranean-style mansions for their Brooklyn-based community.
Do you KNOW what the weather's like here, allen?
ReplyDeleteDo you?
It sucks.
---------
Bogota, Colombia
Temperature 63 °F
Humidity 59%
Pressure 30.29 in
Wind ESE at 17 mph
1:45 PM COT
---------
What's not to like about that? Great for LL Bean flannel shirts and Wranglers, if you ask me.
---------
Cool nights = great sleeping.
A little rain now and again to freshen the air...
trish said,
ReplyDelete"I hate you, allen"
You, dear lady, will have to take a number ;-)
Over the years, I have discovered there are few troubles that a good bottle of wine can't "even out"...a fine smoke compounds the effect...a willing companion...priceless.
gag said,
ReplyDelete"I will take Blessed over Lucky any day...the experience seems to last longer."
Amen! ;-)
- 'Afghan Star' -
ReplyDeleteIf you believe that bringing the questionable virtues of "American Idol" to Afghanistan would do that beleaguered nation no favors, the remarkable documentary "Afghan Star" will change your mind in an instant.
---
In the process of letting us in on all that, "Afghan Star" also tells us considerably more about the current state of that country -- where the only known pig is in a zoo and women in burkas rush to take cellphone photographs -- than a more sober-minded film could manage.
Let me enlighten you, linear.
ReplyDeleteGray, wind, rain. Almost every mo-ther-fuck-ing day. And the temperature drops by ten degrees every goddamned afternoon and I can't even remember the last time I went out at night without a goddamned coat on.
If I had to design a travel poster for Bogota it would say, "Stay Where You Are!" Or "Come For The Bounty Of Boob Jobs, Just Remember The Weather's Nicer In The Goddamned Shetlands."
(There's gonna be knock on the door any minute and they're gonna take my black passport.)
I have discovered there are few troubles that a good bottle of wine can't "even out"...a fine smoke compounds the effect...a willing companion...priceless.
ReplyDeleteFri Jul 24, 03:04:00 PM EDT
All I'm going to say is that if that willing companion doesn't cough up a week of leave and a couple of tickets to anywhere the sun is shining - toot sweet - I'm going at him with a claw hammer in his sleep.
I think he knows this.
You could be here:
ReplyDeleteStanley, Falkland Islands:
39 °F
Light Rain Drizzle
Windchill: 32 °F
Humidity: 93%
Dew Point: 37 °F
Wind: 13 mph from the West
Pressure: 29.36 in (Steady)
Visibility: 3.1 miles
UV: 0 out of 16
--------
Another spa for hardy lovers of fresh air.
UV: 0 out of 16.
ReplyDeleteNo freckles on those folks, I'd guess. Bracing weather. Takes years off just thinkin' about it.
Keep Digging
ReplyDelete"Because this has been ratcheting up and I helped contribute to ratcheting it up, I want to make clear that in my choice of words I unfortunately gave an impression that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department or Sgt. Crowley specifically and I could have calibrated those words differently."
"My sense is you've got two good people in a circumstance in which neither of them were able to resolve it the way they wanted to resolve it,"
Obama added.
---
Community Organizer Outs Self
"You could be here..."
ReplyDeleteYeah, well, I could be overwintering at McMurdo and I daresay my disposition would not be far worse.
On a brighter note, Trish:
ReplyDeleteYour skin is not suffering any UV Damage.
I'd trade weather with you if I could have new epidurum on my arms.
---
While trying to figure how to spell epiwhatever, I found:
---
BlyssfulStorm04-24-02, 16:10
there is this japanese movie called "naked blood" aka splatter, and that was the most fucked up thing i have ever seen.
it was about this boy whose mother was a scientist, as was he, and his mother had these 3 women as test subjects for something or other, and he was making this syrum that increased the production of epidurum in the brain (for those of you who don't know what that is, it's the chemical your brain secreats whenever you feel pain and it dulls it a little) so what his syrum did was the more pain you got, the more epidurum was released, basically instead of pain they felt pleasure. so to test his syrum called "my son", he switched whatever his mother was giving the girls with his chemical and monitored them. it took effect for two of the women and that was freaky shit. one of them always had to look beautiful and she ended up cutting herself and sticking knives and shit threw her skin cause it felt good. the next women was the most fucked up, she was a cook and while she was cooking she burned her hand and then deep fried it in oil while it had batter on it then ATE HER FINGERS, she even ate one of her nipples and and some parts of her groin and...just thinking about it is screwing me up. *shudders*
i could stand all of the movie but that scene, it just blew out my senses. not only is that scene stuck in my head, so is the "squel like a piggy" thing from deliverance.
A continental spa for your getaway:
ReplyDeleteBaumholder, Germany
Neunkirchen/Nahe, Germany (PWS)
Updated: 9:31 PM CEST on July 24, 2009
Mostly Cloudy
60.8 °F
Mostly Cloudy
Humidity: 47%
Dew Point: 40 °F
Wind: 8.0 mph from the SSW
Wind Gust: 15.0 mph
Pressure: 29.91 in (Steady)
Visibility: 6.2 miles
UV: 0 out of 16
--------
Meet Locals!!!
Read their travel tips for Baumholder hotels!
[link provided upon request]
-------
Plus, there's bound to be a PX and Class VI store.
Well THERE'S a selling point for Bogota. Perfect for those anxious to avoid melanomas. I, on the other hand, would at this point sell my own mother for the opportunity to spend a weekend in shorts and a tank top.
ReplyDeletePredictably?
ReplyDeleteHonduras imposes daytime curfew for border.
Jul 24 02:03 PM US/Eastern
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) - Honduras' coup-installed government has ordered people off the streets along its border with Nicaragua as the country's deposed president prepares to return home.
The administration of Roberto Micheletti says all people must stay indoors starting at noon Friday until 6 a.m. Saturday "to keep the peace."
The restriction applies only to the region along its border with Nicaragua, where ousted President Manuel Zelaya has set up a base to plan an attempt to return home and reclaim the presidency...
..."I am on my way to Honduras, and I hope most Hondurans can overcome the checkpoints, that they head to the border, and that they not fear the soldiers," Zelaya said at news conference at the hotel late Thursday. "I am strong, I do not fear, but I know that I am in danger"...
I, on the other hand, would at this point sell my own mother for the opportunity to spend a weekend in shorts and a tank top.
ReplyDelete------
And I would get rich selling tickets to the event.
Stay in touch. Please.
Free passes to patrons of the bar.
ReplyDeleteObama 'Victory' Not Necessarily Goal in Afghanistan
ReplyDelete"I'm always worried about using the word 'victory,' because, you know, it invokes this notion of Emperor Hirohito coming down and signing a surrender to MacArthur,"
Obama told ABC News.
When we went to Melgar (once an Escobar stronghold and now a weekend resort area and joint SF base) we forgot sunscreen. So on the first morning there we walked over to a little gift shop/convenience store to buy some. Now, Colombians don't really use sunscreen and we knew that if they had any the pickings would be slim.
ReplyDeleteBut the moment we informed the shopkeeper of what we were hoping to purchase she led us without further ado over to a locked glass cabinet - the Gringo Cabinet - and pulled out an SPF 5000 (selling of course for about twenty bucks.)
Were we really that pasty? Yes, yes we were.
Isn't kind of ironic that those who decry folk being "PC" get there knickers in a knot over Obama calling actions of the Cambridge police stupid? Not the most diplomatic phrasing fer shore but who here is in favor of diplomatic pc talk? oh, ya, Doug is.
ReplyDelete...for all willing, Shabbat Shalom!
ReplyDeleteJingo
Closer to home...
ReplyDeleteAgents seize $1.2 billion worth of pot in Calif.
Photo Caption: A Fresno County Sheriff's department investigator stands with his AR-15 in front of an illegal marijuana garden found by officers on Monday, July 20, 2009. Officers moving in to shut down such gardens never know what they will be walking in on. Sometimes the suspects are armed and waiting. Other times, the sites are vacated upon arrival. Illegal pot gardens scar Sierra landscape...
...Mims said many cartels are involved, but she would not name any because the investigation is still under way. All but one person arrested was from Mexico, officials said...
...One hundred growers may still be on the loose, said Fresno County sheriff's Lt. Rick Ko. Many may have gotten rides out of the area, but some could still be in the Sierra, Ko said.
------
Many strange faces were noticed last evening at my favorite restaurante. None looked like feds. A lot of lingering was happening in the parking lot. Casual waiting...as if for friends to arrive on holiday.
This is a stone's throw from home. USFS agents been prowling around for a month, brought in from as far afield as Montana. Local stimulus at work?
Ash
ReplyDeleteIt's not that he called them stupid, it's that he commented without knowing the facts. Which was really stupid. I guess he didnt have his telepromter loaded properly.
Does your ass ever get sore from sitting on the fence?
"And I would get rich selling tickets to the event."
ReplyDeleteAnd...someone would lose their job.
Don't think for a minute that The Suits back home don't wake up in a cold panic every other night wondering what fresh Diplomatic horror awaits them in the morning. They do.
"USFS agents been prowling around for a month, brought in from as far afield as Montana."
ReplyDeleteYou know, I didn't realize until recently that the focus of those employed as National Park Rangers is shifting to something more akin to that of DEA agents.
Via con D--s, Allen.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I didn't realize until recently that the focus of those employed as National Park Rangers is shifting to something more akin to that of DEA agents.
ReplyDeleteYep. And stove-piped, to boot. At least they were when I retired. Giving more latitude for local action, unfettered by potential conflict of interest. Large scale timber theft was alleged in the nineties. Hard to imagine my old colleagues involved in more sinister pursuits now. Know many of the boys and girls in law enforcement. Good folks, for the most part.
And stove-piped, to boot.
ReplyDeleteRemark applies only to USFS. I cnn't speak to NPS or BLM rangers.
We know a guy, former SF, who retired to be a national park ranger and loves it. His dream job.
ReplyDeleteI really don't know anything about corruption in that system (NPS, BLM, or USFS) as a whole. I know it's always seemed to me a wholesome endeavor.
But you never know. I've heard horror stories regarding US ICE and the Mexican cartels. From a former ICE guy who switched agencies.
Just one more reason, to me, to legalize and be done with the whole sordid affair.
Prohibition gave us the very nightmare it was intended to prevent and this isn't terribly different.
The question:
ReplyDeleteWho hasn't Obama (PBUH) apologized to?
Earlier in the day Friday, the Cambridge and area police unions voiced their support for Crowley and called for an apology from Obama for his statement.
The answer?
Crowley
I know it's always seemed to me a wholesome endeavor.
ReplyDeleteIt is, and they are. The overwhelming majority, when it comes to issues of law 'n order. I don't want my remarks to overreach.
The Forest Service used to take great pride in their "family" orientation. Just like any family, there are always some black sheep.
Don't get me started on my conflicts with their rabid environmentalism and political correctness run amok, though. This has been a nice Friday, so far.
Ousted Honduran Leader Arrives at Border, Steps Across.
ReplyDeleteMANAGUA, Nicaragua — Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya stepped Friday across the border into Honduras in a symbolic return home despite the threat of arrest.
Zelaya arrived Friday at the land border of Nicaragua and Honduras in an attempt to retake power after he was overthrown in a military coup.
Meanwhile security forces clashed with supporters of Honduras' ousted president on Friday as the government ordered everyone along the border off the streets in an attempt to block his return...
...Soldiers and police fired tear gas at the crowd near the El Paraiso crossing as a noon curfew went into effect — just minutes after it was announced in a national broadcast.
Witnesses told local Radio Globo that police also fired live ammunition at the crowd and that there were an unspecified number of injuries. Police spokesman Daniel Molina confirmed tear gas was fired but said he had no word of injuries.
The administration of Roberto Micheletti said all people in the border area must stay indoors until Saturday dawn "to keep the peace."
Stay tuned...
"I don't want my remarks to overreach."
ReplyDeleteMe either, and for all I know there's some poor individual at ICE reading this and getting themselves screwed into the ceiling.
Black sheep. Bad apples. Roger that.
Nice Friday so far. Roger that, too.
Wouldn't it be hilarious if Zelaya had pulled a Python and stepped across the border as one of the most hormone-challenged women the Honduran soldiers had ever seen?
ReplyDeleteTegucigalpa probably sent out a BOLO for that one.
"Don't be fooled!
"This is Zelaya.
"This is Zelaya in a dress and heels.
"This is Zelaya dressed as the Bishop of Rome.
"This is Zelaya as a lumberjack.
"This is Zelaya with phony conjoined twin."
A mustachioed nun...
ReplyDeleteRemember the report of that Israeli missile defense weapon that could kit a mortar round with a kinetic intercept. The one they wanted US to further fund?
ReplyDeleteWell Small Wars mentions it, in their daily brief.
US, Israel Abort Missile Test -
Margaret Coker and Joshua Mitnick, Wall Street Journal.
Israeli and US military officials this week aborted a test of a missile-defense shield under development by the two countries, raising questions about the reliability of Israel's defenses against a potential Iranian attack.
A Congratulatory Letter
ReplyDeleteAfter the president has been in office for 6 months it is customary for the last president to send a note of congratulations to the new one.
So yesterday when the note came from Bush to Obama, the president was somewhat troubled because it was written in code and all it said was:
370H-SSV-0773H
This troubled him as he had always heard from his peers how former president Bush was perceived to have been scholarly challenged.
So he took the note to his wife. She was unable to decipher it.
They called in the VP, and he was unable to decode the message. They called in the chief of staff and the head of Secret Service detail and they were unable to determine the meaning of the note.
Next he called in the head of the Senate and Speaker of the House. They both were mystified by the meaning of the coded message.
Now there was complete panic in the oval office.
They called all of their contacts in the media and sent copies of the note to all of them, and not one was able to come up with an answer
A special emergency meeting was called by the staff.
All branches of the military, counter intelligence, CIA, FBI were called in, and the best minds were unable crack the code.
After a sleepless night, a now humbled President picked up the phone and called the former president, and asked him the meaning of the note.
Bush chuckled and replied:
Dude .............Your holding it upside down!
While in Afpakistan ...
ReplyDeleteCounterinsurgency in Afghanistan Requires New Thinking
By John House
WASHINGTON, July 23, 2009 – International forces in Afghanistan must garner popular support among residents to defeat the insurgency, the director of counterinsurgency training there said yesterday.
“This is different from conventional combat, which is terrain or enemy focused,” Army Col. John Agoglia, director of Counterinsurgency Training Center Afghanistan, said during a “DoDLive” bloggers roundtable.
“Counterinsurgency is population-focused,” Agoglia said in his update on the center’s doctrine, curriculum and methodologies. “How we operate in and amongst the population will determine the outcome more than traditional measures, like capture of terrain or attrition of the enemy.”
Making sure all involved in the war see counterinsurgency “as a mindset, and not just a training event, … and that this mindset permeates all actions they take,” is one of Agoglia’s guiding principles.
A counterinsurgency mindset that encompasses prevention of civilian casualties, fosters public trust in the government and establishes conditions for economic growth is necessary to win the war, Agoglia said.
He talked about the judicious application of military force, and emphasized that preventing civilian casualties is a priority.
“It’s getting people to understand that sometimes it is better to back away from a fight than risk killing civilians and alienating those who you are supposed to be protecting,” he said. This can be complicated, he acknowledged, “especially when you are dealing with an enemy who’s intentionally putting themselves in with civilians.”
Wanat (VIII): An Army Report Finds a Major COIN Failure - Tom Ricks, Best Defense at Foreign Policy.
ReplyDeleteThe Army's study of what happened in the Wanat battle a year ago in eastern Afghanistan is even harder on senior U.S. military commanders than I was in my series on it back in February, saying that they didn't understand counterinsurgency doctrine and also that some of their statements about the fight were misleading at best.
The report, which is still in draft form, contradicts a few aspects of the accounts provided by some of the senior officers involved, implicitly raising integrity questions. That's especially significant because two officials at Fort Leavenworth have told me that the Army inspector general's office is investigating how the Wanat incident was reported and reviewed. I also hear that congressional interest in the situation is growing.
The report, which has not been released and was written for the Army's Combat Studies Institute by military historian Douglas Cubbison, finds multiple failures by the battalion and brigade commanders involved...
... The report also is in awe of the bravery and persistence of the 42 soldiers and 3 Marines who fought at Wanat, as I am. I knew that some continued to fight after being hit several times. But I didn't know that one continued to pass ammunition even when he was mortally wounded.
I also think the Army deserves praise for having the honesty to have this report done. I am told that the final version will be released soon. Let's hope it isn't thrown out the back door at 5 pm on a Friday afternoon in August.
Linearthinker said:
ReplyDelete"A Congratulatory Letter..."
A sly and very amusing joke.
Drop over sometime.
Viktor
The comments at the SWJ piece, quite interesting. The Commander of the troops attacked, LTC Gentile, wades into the discussion.
ReplyDeleteDrop over sometime.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Viktor. I'll do that.
Black officer at scholar's home supports arrest
ReplyDeleteBob Salsberg
A black police officer who was at Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s home when the black Harvard scholar was arrested says he fully supports how his white fellow officer handled the situation.
Sgt. Leon Lashley says Gates was probably tired and surprised when Sgt. James Crowley demanded identification from him as officers investigated a report of a burglary. Lashley says Gates' reaction to Crowley was "a little bit stranger than it should have been."
Asked if Gates should have been arrested, Lashley said supported Crowley "100 percent."
Testify
ReplyDeleteFor Viktor, et al
Corby's a good friend of my son, won the international Jimi Hendrix award while still in high school.
Amazing that some people, like Corby, can do that, oh so well.
ReplyDeleteWhile others ...
Here, wait one second, let me go get my guitar.
ReplyDeleteThere is a real difference in tone and talent, let me tell you.
Wait a sec, the string's broken.
Just gotta wait until next time, if you're really unlucky.
July 24, 2009
ReplyDeleteMcCain Lawyers Investigated Obama Citizenship
As we asked earlier this week, if questions over President Obama's citizenship were valid, wouldn't they have come out during the presidential campaign?
David Weigel talked with Trevor Potter and other lawyers for Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign who said that they did look into the Obama citizenship rumors and found them without merit.
Said Potter: "To the extent that we could, we looked into the substantive side of these allegations. We never saw any evidence that then-Senator Obama had been born outside of the United States. We saw rumors, but nothing that could be sourced to evidence. There were no statements and no documents that suggested he was born somewhere else. On the other side, there was proof that he was born in Hawaii. There was a certificate issued by the state's Department of Health, and the responsible official in the state saying that he had personally seen the original certificate. There was a birth announcement in the Honolulu Advertiser, which would be very difficult to invent or plant 47 years in advance."
Meanwhile, keeping things moving at Doug's end of the bar...
ReplyDeleteFriday, Jul 24
Man Bites Dog: U.S. Navy Commander Files Sex Complaint Against Female Miami Herald Journo...
...The complaint outlines examples of Rosenberg's alleged "abusive and degrading, comments of an explicitly sexual nature."
Gordon writes:
To me, in front of another journalist with reference to why 9/11 co-defendant Mustafa Al Hawsawi was seated on a pillow in court:
"Have you ever had a red hot poker shoved up your a**? Have you ever had a broomstick shoved up your a**? Have you ever had anything in your a**? How would you know how it feels if it never happened to you? Admit it, you liked it? No wonder why you like to stay in South Beach on your Miami visits."
Rosenberg, to CNN's Jamie McIntyre in front of roughly 15 journalists in the Guantanamo Commission's press center:
To Jamie - "Aren't you in the BOQ (Bachelor Officers Quarters)? I didn't think you were in tent city because these people (military public affairs escorts) are so far up your ass that I figured you must be in the BOQ."
To Me [Gordon] - "Why isn't he in the BOQ? You're kissing his ass so much that I can't believe that you're letting him stay with the rest of us. Do you love him?"
-----
Competition heats up for the Sounds Like Janene Garofolo Award.
Just does not pay to be rude.
ReplyDeleteBut despite our best efforts, we do get to see those angels lose, more often than not.
Friday, July 24, 2009
ReplyDeleteHonduras Update
The deposed President was sitting on the border between Honduras and Nicaragua, and briefly stepped inside Honduran territory for reasons that are inscrutable. He then walked back over the line, reporters in tow.
Meanwhile, the current Honduran government has a curfew set in the border areas.
As the talks to settle this dispute have collapsed, I don't see a possible endgame, though I assume more sideshow activity like "I'm in Honduras, now I'm not" will probably be in order.
The next election is in October.
ReplyDeleteThen what does Mannie do?
There's about a sixty day window, before the election campaining normally begins. They ought to lengthen the campaign season down there.
120 days would be now, and timely enough to take the pressure off the Government.
Embrace an extended campaign, with the current president figureheading until the votes are counted and their newly elected democratic President takes office.
Leaving Mannie in the jungle, with a rash on his ass.
Inscrutable? He had REPORTERS IN TOW.
ReplyDeletePretty scrutable to me. He's tomorrow's above-the-fold all over Latin America and he knows it.
Linearthinker said:
ReplyDeleteTestify
"For Viktor, et al
Corby's a good friend of my son, won the international Jimi Hendrix award while still in high school."
Thanks, Linear, the kid can play, that's for sure.
I tried playing the guitar when I was young. I'm so old that, back then, guitars only had one string. Still, I found it too complicated.
Seriously, though, my hat's off to the kid. You don't get that good without putting in a lot of mileage.
I have to go to bed now. I'm drag racing all weekend and I need to top up my wits (or at least to the 50% level).
Commander Gordon's blunt language is contained in a personal letter to the reporter's publisher. I wonder what the transcript would read like in a hypothetical world where this was a filing under UCMJ?
ReplyDeleteAll our transcripts were bowdlerized for some reason known only to the battalion XO, e.g., ...Private Green then called Sergeant Oikle a mother-loving honkie, or words to that effect.
Testimony always seemed to suffer in translation. As did justice, given that junior 2LTs were often appointed as trial/defense counsel in special courts martial.
Good luck, Viktor.
ReplyDeleteWe'll no doubt have a playlist up for your return.
Rat
ReplyDeleteSomething to listen to tonight.
If Doug behaves he can listen, too. Ditto for Linear.
He'll find himself a hobby as a political activist and perpetual victim in a like-minded country. He'll go bowling with every creepy Bolivarian cultist who finds him useful. There's new fame and notoriety to be mined. It's a living. And it sure as hell beats having your ass hauled before the magistrate and being thrown in the pokey.
ReplyDeleteThat's called "a deal he can't refuse."
Viktor's hobby.
ReplyDeleteAnd they call 'em funny cars, rails and slingshots? There's probably something profound contained in that video that needs to be said to potential enemies of the USA.
ReplyDeleteLike, are you sure you want to take these boys on, motherfucker?
Chavez will invite him to sleep on the pull-out sofa in the rec room and the two will stay up late nights watching the complete Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley collections. Zelaya will occasionally appear as a prop in one of Hugo's five-hour speeches to The People that every television station in Venezuela is required to broadcast.
ReplyDeleteLinear:
ReplyDeleteKilgore: "I love the smell of napalm in the morning."
He really meant nitromethane.
The summer nights have seen queer sights,
but the queerest you ever did see
Was that night on the edge of the Sardis Flats
that I broke three hundred and three.
Burnout, Viktor!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteA Robert Service fan!
ReplyDeleteSorry, yes, viktor's hobby. I discovered that when I went to his website. Very cool, as hobbies go. And though viktor is a happily married man of a certain age, I imagine chicks really dig it.
ReplyDeleteTrish said:
ReplyDelete"Very cool, as hobbies go. And though viktor is a happily married man of a certain age, I imagine chicks really dig it."
71 on Sept 18, Trish. Married 38 years. Second marriage. Looks like this one might work out.
There are strange things done
ReplyDeletein the midnight sun
by the men who moil for gold.
The arctic trails
have their secret tales
that would make your blood run cold.
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights
but the queerest they ever did see,
was that night on the marge of Lake LeBarg I cremated Sam Magee.
Some night in the distant future, "Bones" Mccoy will be looking down at me and saying, "He's dead, Jim. He worse than dead. His brain is gone."
ReplyDeleteNite.
Nite, Viktor.
ReplyDeleteGood luck, tomorrow and always.
38 years, that's really wonderful.
ReplyDeleteWe're going on twenty-five and it's nothing short of a miracle.
Good luck this weekend, viktor, and enjoy.
For Doug...
ReplyDelete70. linearthinker:
I once had a telephone conversation with Sara in which the subject of toilet paper orientation came up. She must have been prompted by a recollection of ‘Bill from Oregon’ during our conversation, because it was she who brought up the subject, and I don’t recall her interrupting the chat to run to the bathroom for a refresher on her own MO, although I occasionally fell asleep during our conversations, so I guess she could have.
It’s gratifying to learn that Buddy agrees with me, however the rest of this spins out.
Sara’s a nice lady who deserves to be remembered for more profound contributions than a toilet paper controversy, but then it was she who spun this first.
Click to Edit
Jul 25, 2009 - 2:03 am.
Are you sure you're not 'Bill from Oregon', Doug?
...and it's nothing short of a miracle.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that calls for an "Amen".
Just kidding....
Fats Domino
ReplyDelete