As such we owe our fighting men and women the benefit of the doubt. We cannot excuse cruel or abhorrent actions of the misguided few but we can give the military as a whole a little leeway. The recent events in Haditha, Iraq bring that home. We have seen instances like this in every war. When people are put under the stress of combat and witness the killings of their comrades in arms, things can sometimes snap. We have no way of knowing what went on in Haditha and should wait for the whole story to come out before passing judgement. Congressman John Murtha (D- Pelosi) appears to be enjoying his role in the publicizing of this story a little too much and should be ashamed of himself, especially as a former Marine.

Every war has had such tragedies that while not excusable, are at least understandable. I have linked a recent finding about such an incidence at No Gun Ri during the Korean war. A recent AP story chronicles how it was US policy at the time to fire warning shots at refugees attempting to cross the lines and of they did not heed the warning, to shoot the refugees themselves. A big worry was that the North Korean soldiers would be hiding among the civilians.

[Discuss over at Biloxi]

| Trackback URL | Comments (1 Comment)

Update: It Appears that the Post Changed the headline from “Canada’s Oil Sands Earn Big but at High Cost” to its present form, “Canada Pays Environmentally for U.S. Oil Thirst” as noted on Technorati. But there is no bias at the post, right?

Original Webloggin Article Below
==================================

I knew it was too good to be true when I saw John Stossel’s report on the abundance of oil in the Canadian sand-tar pits. The obstructionist left has launched their latest anti-U.S. crusade at yet another source of oil that might very well reduce our dependence off of the Middle East.

Take note of the Washington Post article, Canada Pays Environmentally for U.S. Oil Thirst.

Huge mines here turning tarry sand into cash for Canada and oil for the United States are taking an unexpectedly high environmental toll, sucking water from rivers and natural gas from wells and producing large amounts of gases linked to global warming.

The digging — into an area the size of Maryland and Virginia combined — has proliferated at gold-rush speed, spurred by high oil prices, new technology and an unquenched U.S. thirst for the fuel

Yup, that’s right, it’s official, the Kosification of the left has completed its weed like growth into the wacko WAPO. There we are again, front and center, the bad boys of the world. The evil U.S. empire.

My main problem with environmentalists boils down to their anti-U.S. rhetoric as a method used to energize their base; that and the fact that they are hypocrites.

Everybody wants a pristine environment contrary to the portrayal. But you must separate reality from fantasy when considering this debate. The world we live in is fueled by energy. It is that plain and simple. From the ipods that sit on your heads to the DVD’s that fund the Hollywood left, energy, based primarily on oil, is the catalyst that keeps it all going.

But that doesn’t defer the left from attacking the rest of us Americans as if they are not complicit in the use of fossil based fuels. Worse, they seem to target the United States regardless of the efforts we put into our standards; because they don’t agree with the standard. For instance, the left is quick to take issue and attack the United States for the evils of global warming yet they are willing to give China and India a pass on the Kyoto treaty. Should we assume that China meets the same emission standards as the U.S.?

You should also note that China has taken an active interest in Canada’s oil reserves. Thus it will be an issue even if the United States is not the main consumer.

I also find it interesting that the writers at the Post failed to take note of Canada’s other exports. Canada exports over half its coal production to Asia (57%), with the rest going chiefly to Europe and Latin America. Canada also imports thermal coal from the U.S. for making steel, another process that is sure to damage the environment in some way. Where’s the outrage?

Overall the environmentalist movement is burdened by ancillary anti-U.S. and anti capitalist sentiment that diminishes the stated goal of their cause. For them to be successful we must fail. This simply will not do.

You should also be interested to note the placement of the ad for the Al-Gore Global Warning movie, An Inconvenient Truth, that frames this and many other articles in the Washington Post (see image at left). I believe that the timing is not as much of a coincidence as it is a by-product of the self loathing scare mongering that energizes the crazy base of the left.

First off, the phrase “Al Gore” is becoming synonymous with con job. The guy has reached the status of Michael Moore. We will be certain to see Hollywood nominate this movie for an Academy Award in the “false documentary but who cares as long as it furthers my political agenda” award of crapulence.

I wonder how much oil is necessary to mass produce those DVD’s and fuel those movie screens and TV’s. Hmm, it’s kind of a perplexing hypocritical paradox. But, as the left says, I digress

I would recommend that the rational thinkers cut back on the use of oil and oil byproducts to help the left out. Think of how much energy we could save if everyone simply tuned them out. Unfortunately anti-U.S. sentiment spreads like wild fire if the flames are left to smolder; they are too dangerous to ignore.

The anti-U.S. venom that spews from the left should be something of alarm. The rhetoric goes beyond the liberal pie in the sky utopian fantasy because its intent is something more dangerous. Their goal is to change world wide policy by vilifying the U.S. in international opinion. The terrorists couldn’t have a better ally.

| Trackback URL | Comments (No Comments)

The following is from a Reuters news article. Here’s a paragraph from about two-thirds into the article:

The Netherlands, which already has liberal policies on soft drugs, prostitution and gay marriage, was shocked by the plan.

Here’s the issue that so shocked the Dutch:

Dutch pedophiles are launching a political party to push for a cut in the legal age for sexual relations to 12 from 16 and the legalization of child pornography and sex with animals, sparking widespread outrage.

I freely admit that the slippery slope argument is a bit silly because just about anything that is appropriate can also be taken to illogical extremes. That is, the threat of a slippery slope is seldom a justification, on its own, to stop a proposed policy. However, some slopes are anticipatable (is that a word?) and I’m not surprised at the latest extreme in Holland.

[Discuss this article with BookWorm]

| Trackback URL | Comments (No Comments)

Reid Accepted Free Boxing Tickets While a Related Bill Was Pending

By John Solomon
Associated Press
Tuesday, May 30, 2006; Page A03

Senate Democratic Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) accepted free ringside tickets from the Nevada Athletic Commission to three professional boxing matches while that state agency was trying to influence him on federal regulation of boxing.

Reid took the free seats for Las Vegas fights between 2003 and 2005 as he was pressing legislation to increase government oversight of the sport, including the creation of a federal boxing commission that Nevada’s agency feared might usurp its authority.

This story from the Associated Press reflects incompetence at the highest levels of the organization. Someone screwed up. The mainstream press is only supposed to print negative items about Republicans. Did they miss the “culture of corruption” memo from the DNC?

[Discuss this topic with the Machete of Truth]

| Trackback URL | Comments (No Comments)

I’m not quite sure what the point of this article is other than to portray “the Jews” in an otherwise poor light.

I will have to research it more but my gut is telling me that the article is more than presenting a biased point of view. First of all, the article is told like a story, with heart wrenching anecdotes that only elevate one point of view. It is not exactly coming off like an objective report. This is a typical approach taken by the left when they want to stir up emotions for a sympathetic boost to one of their agenda items. Thus I am getting red flags here.

Another red flags for me is the tone with which they speak of “the Jews”

“”The Jews told us we had no building permits,” said Shawarwa, a cousin of Mahmoud and a distant cousin of the Darawis. “But no one here does.”

Yeah I know, the author is quoting a Palestinian so what should we expect? The only thing is that I don’t see is anything in this 5 page article that discusses or even mentions “the Jews” point of view or rationalization.

I do believe that some people will never be satisfied that Israel is protecting themselves with a wall. Could it possibly have something to do with the fact that the wall works? Or perhaps it is purely an extension of the anti-Semitism that is so prevalent on the left?

Reader’s take on the article would be much appreciated.

| Trackback URL | Comments (2 Comments)

No pontification or long-winded, breezy speeches. Remember those we memorialze today. Memorial Day is a remembrance of those who have served a bravely and dutifully in the service of their country, in service to us. It is their sacrifice that allows our freedom to live and breathe in a free society and it is imperative we remember their ultimate sacrifice and the cause of American liberty for which it was offered. It’s not a car sale or an extra school day off in a calendar year with too many. It is to honor our heroes. God Bless them and their families.

| Trackback URL | Comments (No Comments)

I’d earlier vowed not to see Munich because I can’t abide Steven Spielberg movies. My husband, however, had ordered it from Netflix and, when he begged me to watch it with him, I yielded. I managed to last for an hour an a half (just a little more than half the movie). Sitting down to watch the movie, I knew all about the reviews pointing out the myriad historical inaccuracies. What none of them prepared me for, though, was that the movie, qua movies, is really, really bad.

Tony Kushner may be an award winning playwright, but all I could think from the very first minutes of watching was that either standards are lower on Broadway, or he really slipped up here. His dialogue was appalling — wooden, banal, hackneyed, trite, vague, polemical, leaden and boring. Every Jewish character sounded like a bad send-up of a cheap movie about Jewish characters from Brooklyn. What this meant was that the “balanced” point of view he was trying to achieve ended up being merely laughable as the characters vanished beneath the burden of dialogue a high-schooler would be embarrassed to own up to.

Speaking of characters, blech. For me, the movie jumped the shark at about the 15 minute point when the film introduced Avner, the leader of the Israeli team assigned to hunt down the terrorists whom the world had moved beyond Israeli jurisdiction. While it would make perfect sense for Israel to chose someone nondescript (James Bond is a bit too visible), it was inconceivable that Israel would choose a neurotic schlemiel for this important mission. It became even more ridiculous when we met his “team,” a collection of itches, twitches, and (with one laughable Australian exception) bad Yiddish accents. I suspect Kushner was trying to show these men’s humanity, but they just looked like cowards and idiots who, by mere happenstance, managed always to get their man (and their man, terrorist though he was, was always a monument to sophisticated kindness and bravery). Aside from my ideological problems with these characterizations, it made for an unusually stupid and unbelievable movie.

[Read more and discuss...]

| Trackback URL | Comments (No Comments)

Have you ever had someone ask you if your children were “real” brother and sister? Perhaps you’ve been questioned if you know anything about their “natural” parents, as if you are their unnatural set. Maybe you’ve heard how lucky they are to have you. If you have, then chances are you are an adoptive parent.

Adoption is a different way to make a family but it doesn’t make a family different. There are all the necessary ingredients found in any family; patience, perseverance, dedication, kindness, discipline, worry, and most of all, love. Adoption is not settling for something less, as some may believe. We are talking about children, little human beings endowed with the same human rights bestowed upon the rest of us, you don’t settle for children that you adopt; you are blessed by having them.

abortion

[Join the Debate]

| Trackback URL | Comments (No Comments)

New word from the watchers of things greater than all of us indicates that the deserts are expanding. THE DESERTS ARE EXPANDING!!! We are all going to die of thirst.

So break out the booze and have a ball. And vote democratic!

[Comment here ==> tell Machete the Doom and Gloom predictions You have heard Recently]

| Trackback URL | Comments (No Comments)

It’s not uncommon to liken the world envisioned by Islamic fundamentalists to a medieval world, where women are shrouded in heavy draperies and are second class citizens; where beheading and torture are the punishments of choice; and where there is supposed to be one universal religion (with Jews as the universal scapegoat). Just recently, though, in Iraq, the fundamentalists outdid even the medieval world. They killed people for wearing the wrong clothes:

The coach of Iraq’s tennis team and two players were shot dead in Baghdad on Thursday, said Iraqi Olympic officials.

Coach Hussein Ahmed Rashid and players Nasser Ali Hatem and Wissam Adel Auda were killed in the al-Saidiya district of the capital.

Witnesses said the three were dressed in shorts and were killed days after militants issued a warning forbidding the wearing of shorts.

Other Iraqi athletes have been targeted in recent incidents.

In this case, according to accounts, the men dropped off laundry and were then stopped in their vehicle by gunmen.

Two of the athletes stepped out of the car and were shot in the head, said one witness. The third was shot dead in the vehicle.

“The gunman took the body out of the car and threw it on top of the other two bodies before stealing the car,” said the witness, who requested anonymity.

He said leaflets had been recently distributed in the area warning residents not to wear shorts. - BBC News

In the Middle Ages, sumptuary laws, which were enacted to ensure that people wore the right clothes (although for social status, not religious reasons) were punished by fines, not death.

[Leave a Response and Join the Discussion]

| Trackback URL | Comments (No Comments)