BunkBlog

Yet another person who seems to think that attacking Iraq is defending ourselves or taking revenge for the 9/11 attacks.

Repeat after me, “There were no Iraqis among the hijackers.”

Maybe you’d also like to remember, over half the hijackers were Saudis, but Saudi Arabia is our friend so it’s impolite to mention.

This story, which is rather short on details (thankfully you may think), gives a quick reason for why anyone who is concerned with human rights and the suffering of innocent people should be involved in the current conflict.

I’m still not thrilled with the run-up to the war, and I think we’re going to be reaping the fruits of our ill-conceived methods of slapping our long-time friends around, but there are good reasons for going in. Resolution 688 is one.

Another case of rural folks losing sight of reality. I know it’s not a Texas thing, but big cases like this don’t come up often. I’m sure many of those arrested were guilty. But what undercover cop is allowed to work with no backup or wire? What judge is happy to convict people with no evidence beyond a cop’s word? Not to mention that cop was not the most upstanding in the world anyhow.

Iraq History and Culture from Noah to Present
Seems if we’re going to try to bomb them back a couple thousand years, we should at least understand a piece of the rich history of the region. Can we say Sumeria? Writing? Accounting? Trade? Hammurabi? Cradle of Civilization?

When a Gun Is More Than a Gun – One of the more extreme DARPA funded projects, I’m thinking.

Wouldn’t the shells need to be somewhat larger than a 20mm round to really be scary?

World braces for Iraq war – I hope the attacks always favor the US and that we avoid civilians (and those stupid human shields) whenever possible. If it is to be done, it is best to do it quickly and cleanly.

Leaking secrets will gain you jail time. Just something to remember if you have a clearance…

I’m sure there will be many people debating the various points of the speech last night. I’ve only got two points to make:

1. Nuclear – not only should you pronounce it correctly, you should not invoke the specter of nuclear weapons as a “one day” thing when we’re talking about this week.
2. Hitler – As anyone involved in online debate knows, using Hitler as an analogy (even obliquely) is a sure way to remove any rational debate from a discussion. Bad form. The word “appeasement” is generally linked with the disastrous choice that Chamberlain made to let Hitler take a little so there would be “peace in our time.”

I actually wrote this before the president’s speech, but didn’t get it posted until after. Timing is everything.

One should never discuss politics or religion unless prepared to have a battle of wills. I suppose sexuality could be added to that old axiom, but that tends to be either political or religious depending on your point of view.

The USA certainly is embroiled in a real battle royale between peace-loving hippies out of touch with reality and the gun-toting neanderthal warmongers. That should offend just about everyone.

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Charlie Daniels has a “soapbox” article up, which is an open letter to his entertainment compatriots. He takes them to task for, among other things, offering aid and comfort to the enemy. Fun read.

The fake documents that Secretary Powell presented to the U.N. in February have not been getting much airplay. Wonder why?

Dixie Chicks Pulled from Air After Bashing Bush – guess Texan radio stations never heard of Edmund Burke.

According to a Congressional panel, downloading a pirated MP3 or copy of Photoshop may be putting money in the hands of Al Qaeda. Yeah, right.

What are they smoking up there?

Although it’s not a done deal yet, according to this article, TV and newspapers may be deregulated just like radio stations were in 1995. Don’t you just love the nearly-identical radio stations you can pick up all around the country today, courtesy of such lovely people as Clearchannel (motto: Payola? We don’t know about payola.)? I particularly love all the “Kiss FM” stations you can pick up, with Rick Dees in the morning. Or, the oh-so-creative “Best of the 80s 90s and Today” breed, which is like quaaludes for the mind.

Strangely, the companies likely to be affected by this, the big networks, are not really covering it at all. What a shocker. If you appreciate having local news that is local, if you like the idea that your local newspaper is not just a satellite-cloned copy of USA Today, perhaps you might want to let your voice be heard? The FCC is soliciting comments from the public.

CNN.com – Court bans Turkish Kurd party – Mar. 13, 2003

I swear, I first saw the headline as dealing with Kurdish Turds.

Re: the resignation of career diplomat John Brady Kiesling from the U.S. Embassy in Athens, Greece, which was recently made public. His resignation letter is worth quoting:

“The policies we are now asked to advance are incompatible not only with American values but also with American interests. Our fervent pursuit of war with Iraq is driving us to squander the international legitimacy that has been America’s most potent weapon of both offense and defense since the days of Woodrow Wilson.

We have begun to dismantle the largest and most effective web of international relationships the world has ever known. Our current course will bring instability and danger, not security.”

Kiesling later asks: “Has oderint dum metuant really become our motto?”

This phrase, now quoted regularly among the most militant denizens in the White House, means, “Let them hate us so long as they fear us.” It was penned by Lucius Accius, the Roman poet (170 B.C.), and was said to be a favorite phrase of the emperor Caligula.
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NASA has posted an updated archive of info regarding Columbia, especially in regards to the FOIA requests.
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You’ve just got to love these women: get nekkid for peace!
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Saddam denies weapons of mass destruction – well, guess that finishes that then, eh?

Norwegian MP plays while debate rages. The debate, of course, being whether Norway would send any of their crack troops to help out in a coalition attack on Iraq. Once again, the public (outside Norway anyhow) lets loose a collective, “so what?”

I wish I could get Metalion for my Palm, though. It looks sweet, but it’s PocketPC only for now.
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