Perspectives of war

We are at war and we should thus read, watch, and listen to mainstream media accounts of the war. It pays to apply critical reading, viewing, and listening skills to that news, but the media does provide a very basic line of information on the war. You are doing yourself a disservice if you are not following what the embeds are writing, photographing, and video taping, though. Take this piece by Michael Fumento for example. You will learn more about the environment on the ground in Iraq from his one piece than you will in ten MSM pieces. Do yourself a favor and read it, and if you can, talk with a couple of soldeirs or former soldiers who have been in Iraq. While the mainstream media has provided a basic foundation of information on the Iraq war, they have been horribly negligent in actually helping the public understand what is going on over there. These embeds and soldiers who have returned home will teach you what you need to know just through their stories.

A voice of clarity in confusing times

If there is one voice out there that the West should be reading and listening to right, it is that of a classicist, Victor Davis Hanson. If you want to maintain your moorings in Western Civilization during this time of onslaught, keep up on what Hanson has been writing on the issue. Today's column is no different. Here is the money paragraph:

In the end, the Islamicists' best way to blow up the world's Starbucks or to turn off freewheeling American television is ultimately with a whimper, not a bang. They need not plant a hundred thousand bombs across the Westernized globe, but simply to cauterize its very spinal cord in the United States--the willingness of the American public, as in the past, to confront only the latest challenge to their freedom and all the ripples from it.

The sad part is that they've been succeeding at that, Hanson knows it, and that's why he wrote the above. On 9-11 Islamists slapped us in the face hard. As the sting faded, so did our stomach for the fight. Unfortunately, the battles are still being waged against us, and pulling the blanket over our heads and pretending that they aren't may be the biggest threat to the way of life we and our predecessors have been building since 1776.

Hubris

Hubris: Excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance.

Example: Charlie Rangel calling for the reinstation of the draft and other proposed legislation by the new Democrat Congress that will only prove to be wildly unpopular.

You never want to be the minority party, but it sure is going to be fun to watch the Democrats destroy their majority and recreate themselves as the minority party again. They are acting with the confidence of a party that just won an overwhelming landslide, which they dd not. At this rate, they are going to burn through their political capital faster than President Bush did. And I'm really going to enjoy tossing their rhetoric back at them.

RSS reliance

Over the years I have become heavily reliant on an RSS feed reader. I have enough news and blog sources on it that I usually only have to visit a handful of additional websites. The service I use, Bloglines, has been mostly down this weekend, and I find that I feel a little lost. Sure, I could start clicking through my blogroll, but all of that effort somehow seems daunting now. I have been spoiled and have become lazy in my news gathering, to the point that I find actually visiting different websites to be laborious. Shame on me.

1st Annual Talk Like a Yooper Day

Ya der hey. Today is dat der first Talk Like a Yooper Day. Most youse are out der teer huntin' right now, but da Pack is on. And holly wah, der gettin' der butts whoomped on. Ja, Favre is getting up der, but ooof, his passes are terbel. Sit back, take off yer chook and choppers, have a brandy and a wurst, en talk yer best yooper today, eh?

Aww, dem sum'da birches yust knocked out Favre! Git me da Jagermeister!

A Comic Relief joke

I am watching the opening of Comic Relief for New Orleans, and in their opening they made a FEMA joke. Ha ha. Do you want to hear a joke? Okay, here's a joke-the Comic Relief crowd was so concerned that they got right on top of the ball to plan this event...a year and two months after the hurricane. Damn. They make FEMA look lightning quick.

I loathe urban planning

I've long had the perception that urban planning is a very fad driven endeavor. I don't know enough about urban planning to say that with certainty, but I'm still pretty damn sure that is the case. Take this as an example...twice this week I've gotten lost driving around shopping centers built hap-hazardly on many small, curvy streets. Now I'm sure some urban planner can tell me why planned disorganization is theoretically a good idea, but I'm going to tell you why it is a bad idea in reality. I almost passed up on two restaurants and a bookstore this week that I knew were supposed to be in certain retail areas but I couldn't find them. If I were slightly less patient, those three businesses would not have my money tonight. I could go on and on about the topic of urban planning, but I'll save some of that for another day.

Flavored golf tees

This is so going on my Christmas list.

Seeking the perfect holiday gift for the golfer who has everything? Try flavored golf tees.

U.S. inventors John Packes and Ramon Peralta have come up a product line called Tasty Golf Tees in various flavors including mint, cherry, strawberry, and grape.

Mint is the strongest-tasting flavor in the range.

"It will knock out the foulest of cigar, beer breath within five seconds," Packes of Norwalk, Connecticut, told Reuters on Tuesday.

I go through more tees by gnawing on them then hitting them. If you saw me golf, you'd know how many thousands of dollars in dental work those tees save.

Wii don't got no stinkin' Playstations

Okay, with people lining up again for the release of new video game systems, I have a story to relate. I used to work in retail. I cannot remember if I was a supervisor or an assistant manager at the time, but the release of Playstation 2 had the same kind of anticipation that Wii and Playstation 2 do now...and the same limited supply. In fact, we didn't have a single unit in our store opening morning. Our parent company had doled the supply it had to large market stores. I opened that morning and didn't expect many people, if any, but by 5:30 am a crowd had developed inside our foyer and also outside the front doors. We decided we would have a riot on our hands if we let them stand out there until the store opened at 8 am and then we told then that we didn't have any. So we told them. Some people looked like we had just killed their puppy with a spoon and some piano wire...it was a kind of deep sadness and yet complete disgust and hatred for us. Some people didn't believe us. Some got angry. Eventually we cleared them all out, but people just kept gathering in the foyer. It got to be fun to watch their faces light up as they thanked their lucky stars that there was no line at our store, only to then see their entire day ruined when we told them of our non-existent supply. Retail is a thankless profession, and I'll admit that I took a small amount of perverse pleasure in breaking their hearts knowing the hell they were going to put me through in that upcoming Christmas shopping season.

Huh?

Let me get this straight. The United States Marine Corps Reserves runs Toys for Tots, and organization that makes sure that poor children get toys for Christmas. A big controversy blows up because a toy manufacturer wants to donate 4,000 Jesus dolls to Toys for Tots for them to give to children for Christmas. People are upset over how poor Jewish and Muslim children and families might feel if they get a Jesus doll for Christmas. Toys for Tots turns down the toys. Now Toys for Tots has decided to accept the donation.

I still don't get the entire story.

And then goes the memory

Yesterday I told of my weakening eyesight. Today it is my memory. I spent a lot of time driving today, and that meant I heard a lot of talk radio. A couple topics of the day seem to revolve around the same arguments on all shows, and I was getting tired of it when I finally got 30 minutes out from my hotel. At that moment I had a thought on one of those topics which I believed to be unique and which, at the time, I thought really cut to the bone of that issue. I wanted to write a post on it, but do you think I can remember my thought or the topic of discussion now to save my life? At this rate I'm going to lose bladder and bowel control by Wednesday of next week.

I blame the new Democrat Congress.

The joys of travel

I am staying in a hotel that I don't think is more than half full. Somehow I manged to get the room next to the three guys in this place that just came back to their room blitzed out of their freaking minds. They are yelling, rough housing, and laughing loud. I only have one question-why are they sharing a room with one king sized bed?

Nevermind, I don't want to know. But I will probably will know. I should have brought earplugs.

Glenn Beck special on Headline News

If you are going to be awake from 11 to 12 CST tonight, tune in Headline News. Glenn Beck has an excellent special on what frightening things are being said in the Middle Eastern media. It is terrifying at times.

Tommy for President in '08?

Maybe.

Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, who served as Health and Human Services Secretary in President Bush's first term, said Wednesday he intends to form a committee to explore a possible run for the White House in 2008.

"I intend to do so after the first of the year," the Republican said in reference to establishing an exploratory committee.

This is why he wouldn't run against Herb Kohl this year? Clearly his ego knows no bounds.

Blogging ruined my eyesight

Okay, I can't prove that. It could just be one of those signs of age, like the occasional silver hair that my non-graying wife loves to find. Just the same, for the first time in my life I have glasses. The lovely Mrs. Jib thinks I just got them so I could look smart, but I've been cultivating that look for years. Truthfully, I got them to punish her. Now she can't deny that she's married to a nerd. Next up, a pocket protector.

*Side Story*
I have been considering putting my picture up on this blog, and I was debating whether I'd use a picture with or without the new glasses. Then I got freaked out because while my identity is no secret, it is still not obvious. I was getting comfortable with that until a search result came to this site that freaked me out a bit because of the IP and the exact words used-Jiblog and my full name. That search string and that IP address shouldn't have happened together. So for now, no picture. Perhaps soon, though.

Travel bleg

I'm going to be in the Twin Cities for a few days. I'm quite familiar with the cities, but just the same, can anybody recommend something interesting to do in the evenings, besides finding a sturdy beam in my hotel room and affixing a reliable noose to it? (For my Minnesotan readers, that was a rip. On your state.) Oh, and no Mall of America and no casinos.

What the hell happened to me?

I can't say that title above without breaking into Adam Sandler songs, but I mean as a little piece of introspection. Seriously. What the hell happened to me? I read Lance's post on Talk Like a Yooper Day (I'll have a post on that later in the week) and went digging into my archives from last year. I found that I used to get off a chuckle worthy post from time to time. I've been too dour and sour lately. I blame the new Democrat Congress.

Silence is golden for Mullahs

If you had any hope of internal unrest shaking up the Iranian government, then this isn't very good news.

Iran's university campuses are falling silent. Student activists, once at the vanguard of a movement seeking political and social change in the Islamic Republic, say they are increasingly afraid to speak out.

"I used to take part in so many protests. I was arrested twice, once in 2001 and once in 2003," said student Mehdi Aminzadeh, describing his role in rallies during the tenure of pro-reform former President Mohammad Khatami.

"The situation has changed a lot since that time. The pressures have pushed us to be more cautious," said the 29-year-old, who says he has been barred from registering for a masters in political science.

Casuality perspective

I do this from time to time, comparing our current number of troops lost in Iraq to past wars. I do not do it to diminish the sacrifice of our troops today but rather in an attempt to sturdy the resolve of some of my fellow Americans. Whether that is possible any longer is up for debate, but I'll post the comparison anyway. In 1966, near the beginning of full hostilities in Vietnam, we lost 3373 American troops. That is one year, one year that was nowhere near the deadliest for our troops. In the three and a half plus years we've been in Iraq, we've lost 2838. Now keep in mind, in our history there have been battles where we've lost more than either of those numbers.

I no longer do this to sturdy resolve. I'm beginning to think we are past that point. Instead I do it to illustrate how unwilling and unable we are to wage war anymore. Don't get me wrong, our troops are amongst the most able and willing soldiers this world has ever seen. It is here at home where we are lacking. I don't think we understand what war is anymore, and I don't think we will again until something truly stomach turningly devestating happens to us. And unfortunately that day will come, be it tomorrow, 100 years from now, or a thousand years from now. History is replete with days such as that, and we are not an exception, contrary to popular belief. My concern is that we are hastening that day with our weakness here at home.

A split, or the beginnings of good cop, bad cop?

The Times Online says split.

The first cracks in the united front over Iraq between Tony Blair and President Bush appeared last night as the Prime Minister offered Iran and Syria the prospect of dialogue over the future of Iraq and the Middle East.

I'm not so sure. These four paragraphs are why.

Mr Blair said that Iran’s “genuine fear” that America sought a military solution was “entirely misplaced”. It did not, he said bluntly.

Mr Bush ducked any direct confrontation with Mr Blair, saying that he had not read the speech. But, in a White House press conference alongside Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, he gave warning against cracks appearing in the united front with which the West has approached Iran.

“I think it’s very important for the world to unite with one common voice to say to the Iranians that, if you choose to continue forward, you’ll be isolated,” Mr Bush said.

Although Robert Gates, the new US Defence Secretary, is also among those who have advocated a more open approach to Iran, Mr Bush said that the regime’s nuclear ambitions were a “threat to world peace” and went on to discuss the prospect of economic sanctions against the regime.

President Bush has nominated a man to the post of Secretary of Defense who believes in dialogue with Iran. I don't approve, but this was not a mistake. The decision has been made to engage Iran. Blair is paving the way and the Baker Commission will provide the cover. There is no split here, just an evolving game of good cop, bad cop.