Letter to NBC News Staff on Cho footage

NBC News Staff,

When an idiot runs on a baseball field the camera pans away and looks at the numerous other things going on so as to 1.) not give the jackass a stage 2.) not give others a reason to do the same thing.

You spent hours thinking on this decision? Couldn't resist the opportunity to score some cheap ratings could you?

By airing and disseminating the materials sent to you by that sick depraved monster you have condemned others in the future to the same fate as those students and teachers of Virginia Tech. Shame on you, shame on your industry. You aren't alone in showing it but you alone had an opportunity to do the right thing. Your callous disregard for the society you live in sickens me nearly as much as what this monster has done. At least he was insane, what's your excuse? A few more dollars in your pocket?

Over the coming months you'll surely also take this horrid opportunity to cast aspersions on other groups movies, the police, the government, games, guns, colleges, creative writing etc. You can't argue these industries share blame in this awful event and not look at your own impact. You can't simultaneously argue that all those industries have control over such a sick mind and your relentless coverage of negativity has none. If you can explain with a straight face to the family of one of these deceased how this was done for the good of the country and the betterment of all more power to you. I imagine if you had the personal courage to actually start a conversation of that nature your words would turn to ash in your mouth.

At some point people will wonder why such a sick fool sent the video to you. One need only ponder that for a moment to know why. We all suffer for your arrogance. -AB

How does the MSM cover a hero?

Simple, they don't

84 hits on Google News? Are we kidding?

The story of Marine Major Chesarek can be found here.

The media is the enemy

This time an OIF vet explains some deficiencies in BBC reporting.

Related

Be thankful for the Diggers

If you have 3 minutes watch this video.

I'm reminded of this Krauthammer column for a bit ago.

Response to a random email

This is a response I wrote to a random email I recieved from the UK about of all things The Da Vinci Code...

Fascinating but you're barking up the wrong tree mate, I'm a yank. You make some great points but I'd add one thing.

They're paintings not pictures anybody who says they know exactly what happened at that supper is a little too certain of themself. I don't know exactly what happened at supper last night let alone 2,000 years ago. To my mind the details are not all that important just Jesus' core messages like, love thy neighbor as thy self, etc.

What's always been interesting to me in this kerfuffle is that as most say the Da Vinci Code is a cleverly insulting fiction of the Catholic Church and everyone is mostly okay with that. My wife attended the boarding school (public/boarding are opposite of how you Brits call them) that Dan Brown taught at. I can safely say it is a very anti Catholic climate. For reference I don't attend church my last interaction with the church was when I left for a different boarding school in 8th grade after nine years of Catholic school.

So I have no dog in this fight beyond the truth. And the truth is that Catholics and religious people in general are one of the only groups in America that it is okay to be bigoted about. Looking around Europe I'd say if anything it is worse there. Universities, the press and Hollywood keep up a constant drum beat about how backward and stupid Christians are. As an agnostic I feel like I'm in a unique position to watch all sides. Pope Benedict is spot on when he says moral relativism and worship of the post modern are having a corrosive effect on our societies. We can't clearly see right and wrong anymore as a society. I disagree with Christians and the various churches about many, many things but nobody can argue that in the last several hundred years that the Christian church has been anything other than a positive influence, on balance, in the societies it is harbored in. The same can not be said for some of the other faiths.

For example try and point out that Muhammad took a 7 year old wife or even that they have a wee bit of a violent history and you'll be called an inveterate religious bigot. Just ask the current pope.

The elephant in the room is this misogynistic, anachronistic, homophobic, violent, dishonest, stifling ideology of Islam. Harvard school of government recently had Mohammad Khatami the former president of Iran (his wiki is good for a laugh) over for a chat and someone asked about the status of gay people in Iran and if it was true gays were punished with death. Khatami "the moderate" launched into an explanation of how it was a crime in Islam and thus Iran to be gay and it was punishable with death but it rarely happens. Rarely happens, but this learned philosopher and moderate muslim is at best okay with murder for the crime of sexual orientation! How did the progressives at Harvard react? Silence! No hissing or boos, or follow-ups, nothing to see here move along. As Pope Benedict has said the Koran is a book that is the literal word of their god and thus cannot be reinterpreted in a reformation. My point? Heaven help us if Dan Brown instead wrote a book and made a movie trying to "cleverly" critique Islam. But why would he do that? Then he'd actually really be taking a dangerous stand, which illustrates the difference starkly to my mind.

I was watching a debate between the head of the ACLU and Antonin Scalia the other day. What I found interesting as a subtext in the debate was what the future holds for my country. Scalia has nine children the president of the ACLU has none. The moral relativists seem to be breeding themselves out of the argument.

I believe Mr. Brown has no offspring.

The ironies of life? Or the inevitable result of their ideology?

Patriotic media

A Marine is awarded the Navy Cross and the MSM writes two stories on the event according to Google news.

Read what that one young Marine named Robert J. Mitchell Jr. did to deserve that award here.

Certainly the near silence on this story in the media has nothing to do with their bias or their relative level of patriotism. None of us should be so foolish as to denigrate our courageous press corps. They have only our best interest at heart right?

Juxtapose how the media covers our troops to how the LA Times refers to a mass murdering dictator. Castro is an "icon"? I'd be lying if I said I was surprised the LA Times would phallate Fidel in this way.

Question if Fidel is an icon why do many of those that live in his shadow flee on boats built of refuse?

The stupidity of the Times buggers reason.

Have you forgotten?

They would do this again and worse given the chance.

International Soccer an analog for international "diplomacy".

I used to watch a lot of soccer but I got away from it. Over the past several months I’ve had two periods of time were I watched a good deal of international soccer, or as everyone outside of America calls it football. During a trip to Bermuda one of the primary bars we hung out at had soccer 24/7 and most recently the world cup. I should back up. I’ve played soccer. I like soccer. I think soccer can be a great game but it has certain structural deficiencies.

But after this recent world cup I’m wondering how I ever liked soccer.

My biggest complaint about soccer is how often players are allowed to take a dive. This is not encouraged but happens in US play, however, in international play they raise it to high art. It is absolutely pathetic. Two guys running down the field playing for the ball. Guy one loses possession and then throws his hands up and begins flailing to the ground. We then have the international symbol for a soccer injury he grabs his shin except his shin was never touched. Rolling back and forth on the ground the ref calls forth four stout lads with “DOC” on their light blue pinnies who come running out to carry the stricken player off the field. At this point the player is holding his head as though it may explode, no longer his shin. At brief intervals he peaks to see if the ref has pulled a yellow, or even better a red card against his opponent who in point of fact did nothing more malicious than out play the stricken euro weenie.

The kabuki continues as the player is carried off the field on the stretcher attendants trying to drop warm or cold compresses, the kind you’d see in 50’s hospital drama, on top of him as the all lope off the field. Water may even be poured over the boo boo.

And then as soon the entire retinue crosses the magic chalk out of bounds line our fallen hero jumps up and runs perfectly back into the action. Nary a sign he was recently at death’s door.

We have a name for all that in this country and it’s called BS.

International soccer is a bunch of BS. The refs are arbitrary and capricious with the calling of fouls and cards. Taking a dive is not only rewarded it is required to win. And worst of all the entire world loves it, can’t get enough of it.

Americans don’t like soccer not because of the game but because of how it is played internationally. And I could fix most of it with two rules. If every time you fell to the pitch for more than 5 seconds you had to leave the game for 10 minutes how many fake injuries would there be? How about if it was a yellow card for taking a dive?

Before the fakery and crying was simply annoying but now the world has found a way to make soccer even more boring to watch.

In this tournament the world teams decided that even less scoring would be more fun by only playing one forward! (Think playing an entire real football game without a QB on offense) Hey boys how about we dispense with any forwards and the regular game entirely and just settle everything in a 10 minute shoot out. That would save 3 hours of my life watching you make total asses out of yourselves. That’s what you’re playing for 90 minutes to do anyway right? It would be like deciding an NBA game on sudden death free throws, or baseball with a homerun contest or real football with sudden death extra point attempts. That all sounds pretty lame right? That’s because it is.

I often wonder at why certain things seem so obvious to me and not to a European or Latin American colleague. I believe part of the answer is how we view soccer. Were they see competition, virtue and excellence I see corruption, whimpering and perfidy.

It is in the same in how we view life, love and foreign policy.

The world thinks American players and people are crass did they see what France’s best and brightest talent did yesterday? At the end of his career? In the biggest game of his life? He does this? I’d say I was at a loss to explain but the French have been doing that to us since the end of our revolution.

No my friend, we are not crazy, the world is and soccer proves it.

The only good thing about the world cup was seeing Mr Chirac and his wife slink away in the aftermath of their team’s performance. Ainsi Français, non?

Update:As to Zizou I'm not sure what to say, I know what I'm thinking. That's pretty much france distilled into a moment. The stupidity, self destructiveness and condescension of a people manifest in the actions of one foolish man. All of his amazing contributions negated in a moment of utter selfishness.
Or should I say should have been negated. Zizou was voted best player of the tourney today.... It buggers reason.

A letter on D-Day to my family

Today 62 years ago far away from friends and family young Americans struck a decisive blow against the fascists of that time on a beach in France. We are lucky enough to be able to tell one of those men how much we love, honor and respect him. How much we all owe him.

To give you a sense of what that one day was like 4,500 American and Allied men lost their lives on the beaches and in the hedgerows. Regardless of our personal politics that number represents more US fighting men dead in one day than in five years fighting the war on terror. It is difficult to wrap one's mind around the scale of that so I enclosed a picture of a section of the cemetery at Normandy. We are now aware of what happened on those beaches but the days that followed are just as harrowing and important to learn about and remember.

Ultimately over 400,000 American boys would die defeating Germany and Japan and a mere 5 years after the end of WW II we would find ourselves defending Korea at a cost of over 54,000 dead. Our recent allies the Stalinists would swallow eastern Europe and kill 50 million. Similarly the Maoists would do the same in China at a cost of another 50 million dead plunging us almost immediately into what would be known as the Cold War. We often look back and think success was preordained, our enemies easily identified, operations easily planned and victory a bright line event for our progenitors but the reality is they had things as hard or harder than we do. The numbers I just outlined should give you a sense of the tide men like Gram fought against and the personal courage and fortitude it would take to strive on.

Gram speaks little of what he did which I have found is not only his way but the way of so many that deserve our thanks. How close did this family come to never existing on that day 60 years ago as Gram made his way to the beach in a Higgins boat and ran ashore? Let alone those days that followed? From what little I have gleaned from Gram we should be very thankful to be here. Gram has always maintained he is no hero but he went, he fought, he survived, he came home and he thrived and therefore I would maintain that this family is a testament to his heroism. I am humbled to live in the shadow of this good man. A man I feel lucky to call my grandfather.

How the media shapes a story

Google News searches as of 7:30 am est

Haditha – 10,900 hits
Canada terror – 4,130
haditha massacre - 3,910
Canadian terror – 3,610
Canadian terrorists – 2,050
Canadian Muslims – 1,760
haditha atrocity - 768
Canadian Muslim terrorists – 463

Why are these suspects not called what they are? Why do more news sources use the word atrocity with Haditha than use "canadian muslim terrorists"?

Our loyal media

Two things I would note critics of Iraq say that war drives Muslims to commit terrorist acts but Canada sat out Iraq so what caused these young men to turn?

With all the coverage of Haditha much of it patently false, why so little coverage of a multinational terrorist plot with an epicenter in Canada? A Google News search on Haditha produces over 11,000 hits but the Canadian terrorists only 2,000? I checked on front pages for the major news outlets for the Canadian terror story. Nothing on Google News frontpage or NPR and only small bottom of the page links at ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and Fox. ABC had it as a top story when I started writing this but quickly changed it to a story about Ivy League self mutilation, seriously I couldn't make this sort of thing up. A plot to make a truck bomb as big or bigger than Oklahoma City isn't a bigger story than Haditha? Or even Ivy League self mutilation? WTF?

Rumsfeld

Is doing this country a great service and anyone calling for his resignation doesn't know the facts or is a complete Pollyanna about what would happen after he leaves. The Sec Def job is the last political position Rumsfeld will ever occupy and as such he is uniquely situated to get the job done. Who exactly do these people calling for Rumsfeld's resignation think would do a better job? Someone younger who has to worry about their political future?

(sound of crickets)

Okay then, as others have said this situation is much like Lincoln and Grant. The fact is not only does Rumsfeld bring the fight to the terrorists but a traitorous press and "allies" as well. You think if Rumsfeld was gone tomorrow that suddenly the MSM would honestly cover the war in Iraq and Afghanistan? Or France and Germany would suddenly start helping us? Yeah right, I have a bridge to sell you in Alaska.

I won't be buying from Borders

I was buying some books in Borders the other day when I realized that a.) these guys had pulled magazines over the mohammed cartoons b.) the place was infested with latte sipping hippies at 2pm who obviously don’t work.

When I got up to the counter the dreadlocked hippie asked, "If I found everything I was looking for?" I explained that I had not and asked where I could find a copy of the magazine “Free Inquiry”. He was confused I explained why it wasn’t there his manager started hovering behind him he explained that I must be mistaken I assured him I was not. Then I said, “I won’t be purchasing these books today because your company has decided not support free speech.”

The hippie went ape-sh*t, ‘We do too support free speech! I know for a fact we have many subversive books!” I said “that was roughly my point” and left. He was yelling that I was wrong as I walked away. His manager put a hand on him to calm him down.

I think he was most irritated that the books I left behind were large tomes on computer programming and networking. (They hate restocking, maybe that's what I should do continually go in and bring books I would have bought to the counter and leave them.)

“We have many subversive books” I wasn’t expecting that kind of confirmation but I found it illuminating. I have no problem with his “subversive books” I have a big problem with the hypocrisy of stocking them and not the magazine. Borders claimed they were worried about safety? Who threatened them? About what? Imagined threats are enough to crush free speech? They cave on the mere impression they could be attacked?

They actually did this because while this issue is barely on the radar of your average American so called moderate Muslims would stop shopping Borders if they stocked the mags. Which makes their betrayal that much more disgusting. And tells you another thing about our moderate muslim population, they value their religion over a fundamental American belief. An overstatement? Maybe, but I think so less and less every passing day.

Flight 93

Last week I was thumbing through trailers online and I came across this for "United 93".

It is affecting.

Predictably Newsweek thinks "we aren't ready for this" and "nobody wants to see it".

I would reword the Newsweek piece and say Newsweek doesn't want you too see this. Also think about Newsweek's sudden circumspection regarding what films should and should not be made. Why include the following?

"Should the film have been made at all? More to the point, will anyone want to see it?"

Certainly that sort of analysis isn't applied to films like Fahrenheit 911 or Brokeback Mountain. Suddenly when a film challenges their editorial point of view they go all jello legged and question if the film should even be made?


And in case you missed it since Newsweek and much of the MSM have lot's of things they don't think you need to see or know about I'd encourage everyone to get up to speed on this.

To be fair the press and the left have always insisted there was no "evidence of an operational link" between Saddam and al Qaeda. Because they knew the import of the word "operational" would be lost on their readers. We have known about ties between Saddam and terrorism for years, as well as ties to al Qaeda. Now we are finding out that there were operational links. Did Iraqi agents hijack any of those planes? Nope. Did Saddam and Iraq provide money, training, sanctuary and operational aid to al Qaeda? Yes. What should we have done about that? Well that is a debate we are having but the above begs a different question.

Why isn't evidence of an operational link trumpeted in the news?

If I didn't know better I'd say the press is selectively reporting fact to better craft opinion for the American public.

Think I'm crazy? How are casualty rates for US troops in Iraq this month? You haven't heard? They're down dramatically. Hmmm must have missed that on ABC, NPR, NY Times, et al. Why wouldn't the MSM report on that? Why lower casualties for the US when the press is reporting chaos? Because as was stated from the beginning Iraqis are taking over security for the country. Of course the press spins that as civil war. But lunch is over and I digress.

Update: The LA Times stakes out a position about (Warning graphic) what they will show you. Make no mistake the MSM is on the side of the terrorists. Whether the media understands that or not is another question. Should we all know the price of war and what we ask of our soldiers? Absolutely. But why is the LA Times running a story about soldiers injuries from November in a month that sees the lowest casualty rate since the beginning of the war?

Tangentially Related: Nearly 500,000 new jobs is good news for our economy right? Not if you are ABC news. He has a link to some more notable quotes of the week. When the MSM can't hide news, they spin it as bad. Think about it if the press can dissemble this blatantly about news happening in this country and get away with it.... What hope do have of knowing exactly what is going on in Iraq? At least what hope if we listen to only them...

Truth stranger than...

So I'm reading "State of Fear" by Michael Crichton this past weekend and I have to say it is a really enjoyable book. But imagine my dismay when Crichton's fictional wrongdoers find corporeal form!

If you have an ill formed opinion on global warming I recommend you read State of Fear. Like all debates global warming’s facts have been twisted all out of joint by the left.

Ah Eastern Europe

How cool are my coworkers that they are nice enough to bring me back a mace from our recent endeavor in the former Warsaw Pact!

 

Hanson

Like I need to tell you?

Staged?

Maybe the funniest thing I've seen in weeks.

So they beat up on the administration about a "staged" event and then the very next segment has this. Tells you everything you need to know about our news media.

Of course nobody in the media actually talked to any of the soldiers involved.

If they can't properly cover a hurricane in our home country...

How can they cover a war thousands of miles away? How accurate is the reporting? Here is a round-up of the more blatant mistakes and outright lies during Katrina that made it through the massive editorial controls of our vaunted MSM.

Couple the media’s stupidity and sloth with their bias and what do you get on the Iraq war?

How it all works

Alan Greenspan, the man who oversaw the transformation of the US in ways that won't be properly appreciated for decades had a moment of candor about how the US economy has developed and is functioning of late.

Interesting stuff indeed.