That Thing Called 'Morale'

Morale is the greatest single factor in successful wars. ~ Dwight Eisenhower

I've never served in the Armed Forces so I can't know for certain what promotes good morale among the troops. However, I imagine getting jerked around by your commanders is bad. The troops were told they would serve 12 months in Iraq. Now, they are being told - We lied to you. You're staying a few extra months. Have fun getting your ass shot at. Strike me this is a good way to get your commanding officers fragged.

History of Terrorism Part 5 - One Man's Terrorist Is Another's Freedom Fighter

It is one of the dirty little secrets of history - whether you are a terrorist or a freedom fighter often depends solely upon your point of view.

ETA - Basque Separatists
Basques believe their existence as a separate race can be traced to 10,000 BCE. The Basque language is one of the oldest extant tongues. It has no roots in Spanish or Latin. Scholars date it to Neolithic times. Basques live in a region along the Pyrenees Mountains including four provinces in Spain and three in France. There has not been a separate Basque country for nearly 500 years.

As a terror organization, ETA (Basque Fatherland and Liberty) dates to 1959. They are agitating for a free Basque state through bombings, kidnappings, and assassination. Since the fall of fascism in Spain, Basques have had a level of autonomy that has softened but not extinguished the separatist movement.

PKK - Kurdistan
Another ancient culture that dates back to 6,000 BCE. Kurdish independence has been an infrequent and haphazard affair for thousands of years. Occasionally, a Kurdish principality would form and survive for a few decades before it was invaded and conquered. The Kurds have never assimilated with the Turkish, Arab, or Persian cultures that dominate them.

The PKK, Kurdish Worker's Party, was in part a Russian, cold war creation to disrupt Turkey. It's goal was, and is, to create a soverign Kurdistan from parts of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. Their tactics include roadside bombs and attacking tourists visiting Turkey.

The creation of an autonomous Kurdistan in post-Saddam Iraq has complicated regional politics. The PKK has safe haven with Iraqi Kurds. The US military considers the Kurdish Peshmerga elements to be the Iraq Army's only effective fighting force. So, while the United States supports its ally Turkey in their struggle against Kurdish terrorists, we also support Kurdish freedom fighters as our strongest allies within Iraq. Although most Kurds are Sunni Moslims, in the spirit of the enemy of my enemy is my friend, Israel is an active supporter of Kurdish separatists. Both Turkey and Iran have attacked United States allies in Iraq with no American response. For all things Kurdish, visit the Kurdistan Shop.

French Resistance
Following the German victory over France in World War Two, French "dead-enders" organized into terror cells. They opposed German efforts to help the French people with food depots and soup kitchens. Their crimes included truck bombs, poisoning the food supplies of German soldiers, blowing up bridges, derailing trains, assassinating Germans and killing innocent French citizens accused of collaboration.

See the difference. To Germans the Resistance were terrorists; to us they were heroes deserving plastic action figure dolls. The photo is of matchbooks with instructions on how to derail trains. This article is a socialist comparison of French and Iraqi resistance tactics.

Irgun - The First Palestinian Terrorists
The photo at right is of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem after the 1946 bombing by the Irgun designed to kill British civilian and military personnel. Formed in 1931, the Irgun disliked the socialist tendencies and peaceful nature of mainstream Zionists. They believed that if Arabs killed Jews then Jews should kill Arabs in greater numbers. They felt that only bloody retaliation would stop the Arab pogroms.

The events at Deir Yassin in 1948 are the perfect example of how the difference between terrorist and freedom fighter is who is telling the story. From the Arab point-of-view, Deir Yassin was a massacre where more than one hundred women, children, and elderly were butchered by the Irgun and Stern Gang. The Israeli point-of-view is that it was a military action to protect the Jerusalem Road against well armed fighters where Jewish soldiers went out of their way to protect innocent lives. What is the truth? Perhaps there is no truth, only perspective.

Christian Jihadists

You have heard it said of old, Do not kill, and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, that every one who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment....
You have heard it said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, Do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also....
You have heard it was said, You will love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. ~ Jesus Christ, Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:21-22, 38-39, 43-44)

For those of us living in the United State to realize that there are people out there teaching their children that God wants them to kill innocent people is more than a little disconcerting. The realization that even in this age of the global village precious few of them will ever have the opportunity to practice what is preached to them is not very reassuring. It is more than disconcerting to know that right here in the United States there are devout, mainstream Christians teaching their small children to be "warriors for Christ."

Jesus Camp documentary clips are so ubiquitous a link is sufficient. Becky Fisher, head of the camp, is quoted saying she wants to "see them radically laying down their lives for the gospel as they are over in Pakistan and Israel and Palestine and all of these different places." There is no need to wonder how this is different than Islamic jihadists because Fisher is clear that there is no difference. Kill and be killed for Christ.

Using Jesus to Justify Killing
I never cease to be fascinated by the ways Christian jihadists parse the words of Jesus to "prove" He really, really supported killing people in a Just Cause. (Just Cause being defined as "the reason I want to kill you.") A common twisting of Jesus' words, sampled here, is to take the "turn the other cheek" statement and perverting it so it only refers to personal insults. Throughout His Sermon Jesus was laying down impossibly strict rules along the theme of peace and love, even to those who hate you. Yet, here, He suddenly gets all trivial and is just talking about getting slapped on the cheek. The form of the Sermon is consistent - don't do the greater violence and don't even do the lesser violence.

It is ludicrious, of course, but these are fanatics who want God on their side while they practice their hatred. Whether they are Muslim or Christian, their bloodlust exceeds their faith. They are more than willing to twist the teachings of their religions into unrecognizable knots to justify violence upon anyone who does not share their perversions.

Walter Wink on Jesus' pacifism.

The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts. ~ Bertrand Russell
Fanaticism is religion caricatured; bears, indeed, about the same relation to it that a monkey bears to a man; yet, with many, contempt of fanaticism is received as a sure sign of hostility to religion. ~ Edwin Percy Whipple
Fanaticism obliterates the feelings of humanity. ~ Edward Gibbon

The Vanishing Ice Caps

From a South African news source (via ThinkProgress) is news that the Artic ice is disappearing faster than anyone imagined. The photo to the left shows the effect of 24 years of global warming. The report that shocks scientists is that the ice pack has shrunken nearly in half in just the last three years. The waters from Sweden (the land at the top of the photo) to the North Pole is now ice free.

I know what my right-wing friends (acquaintances ... annoying neighbors) will say. They will say that global warming will be the greatest thing to happen to the Earth since pre-packaged spinach. Here is a Cato Institute love fest for heat.

What's the downside? This is a slide from a University of Florida "Biology for Engineers" lecture. If all the polar ice melts, Florida and Louisiana will disappear. The Mississippi River will flood to and consume Memphis. Eleven of the country's 25 largest cities will be inundated, including Washington D.C. Maybe this will catch the President's eye, a quarter of Texas will be underwater. To balance Cato, here is a National Resources Defense Council article.

Suffering the Little Children

As a tactic, using small children to hector an occupation army is contemptible. As a harbinger, it is a sign that the U.S. war in Iraq is a lost cause. This AP story tells of children as young as six and seven throwing rocks and firebombs at American troops patrolling Baghdad. The U.S. officials are correct that the tactic is designed to induce American soldiers into committing an atrocity. It is also a sign that a tipping point has been passed. When children begin doing this it is because it has become the common currency of the realm. Opposition to U.S. troops has become universal. We may continue to die, they may continue to die, but the war is lost.

More on the plight of Iraqi children is reported here.

The Problem With Infallibility

When Pope Benedict quoted that 12th Century Byzantine emperor he made a mistake. As top diplomat for over a billion Catholics he should have chosen his words more prudently. It happens. He is, after all, only human. Humans make mistakes and they apologize.

Unfortunately, the Pope is annointed by God; he is supposed to be infallible. The best Benedict could manage was to express sorrow at the reaction to his talk. If I accidently hit you in the nose, I say "I'm sorry." I don't say, "I'm sorry you're still crying because I hit you."

That last one doesn't cut it. It lacks compassion. It's not good, being a Pope without compassion.

The History of Terrorism Part 4 - America's Legacy

There is something about the American Spirit, perhaps a curdling in the Melting Pot, Americans terrorizing other Americans is a recurring theme in our history.

Ku Klux Klan
At its apex in the 1920's, the Klan had four to five millions of members. Founded after the Civil War by former Confederate soldiers to resist post-war Reconstruction it quickly resorted to terrorist acts aimed at suppressing the freed slaves. Northern whites who organized schools for the freedmen, blacks who tried to start businesses, vote, or bear arms were targeted for intimidation or murder. People would be roused from their sleep at gunpoint by hooded raiders. The lucky ones would be threatened; the unlucky ones would be lynched or burned alive. One of the first anti-terrorism laws passed by Congress was the Klan Act of 1871.

The Klan faded in the 19th Century only to be reborn anew in 1915, in part due to the film Birth of a Nation. The new Klan expanded its hate list to include Jews, Catholics, unions, and Hispanics in western states like California, as well as black Americans. It grew to immense strength. In many areas of the country you could not get elected without ties to the Klan. Lynching and burning again became their terror weapons of choice. There has never been a larger, more successful, or more deadly terrorist organization operating within the United States.

Other sources: the mid-west's Black Legion, the African American Registry article, ADL.

Lynching
Not a group but a tactic, lynching has been the preferred tactic in America for spreading terror in a population. Killing someone by hanging - men and women have both been lynched - was more than just murder. Often the victim would be tortured or burned while still alive. The bodies would be left hanging for days and even weeks while they rotted and were eaten by animals. The point was to terrorize.

The Klan in the south used lynching to punish blacks who tried to register to vote and as an object lesson to any who might consider voting in the future. As can be seen in this picture, lynching black Americans in southern states was a family recreation. Native Americans were frequent victims. In California lynching Hispanic Americans was so common Spanish slang in the state called American democracy "linchocracia."

There is still a lingering affection in some circles for lynching. In 2005, the Senate voted on a symbolic resolution condemning more than a century of the lynching of black Americans. Ten Senators, all Republicans, voted against the resolution.

Other sources: the American Institution of Lynching, Bob Geiger on the relationship between historical lynchings and modern Redstaters (scroll down to 6-16-2005).

Puerto Rican Nationalists
Pop quiz: What is the only organization to stage an armed assault on Congress? Who tried to assassinate President Harry Truman? Easy answer, just look up a couple of lines.

In the Twentieth Century the Puerto Rican nationalist movement was subject to draconian measures. Summary arrest and executions by colonial police of advocates for independence was common. As part of a coordinated rebellion in 1950 designed to forstall commonwealth status, two men were sent to Washington D. C. to kill the president. The Truman family was living in Blair House while the White House was being renovated. Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola tried to shoot their way into the presidential residence. They got as far as the steps of the house.

In 1954 the diminutive Lolita Lebron lead four Puerto Rican gunmen in a bold attack on Congress. Shouting Puerto Rico Libre! they unfurled a Puerto Rico flag and fired automatic weapons from the visitors' gallery. Five congressmen were wounded, none killed. Lebron continues to be a heroine to Puerto Rican nationalists.

Other sources: Art, Puerto Rico independence movement, FBI kills an independence leader in 2005

And So Many Others
I could keep going. The terrorism practices by union busters in the Nineteenth Century, Tim McVeigh, the many groups like the Weather Underground who blew up ROTC offices around the country during the Vietnam War, the current Minutemen. I could go on forever. In this land of the Second Amendment and a dyspeptic melting pot, terrorism fueled by race, creed, or political impotence is as American as apple pie.

Poisoning Our Food Supply

I've sometimes wondered why Al-Qaeda keeps trying complicated airplane attacks when it would be much more effective and a lot easier to poison our fruits and vegetables which are sitting out in the open in every supermarket in the country. Then news like the nation's entire supply of spinach has been compromised by a deadly e-coli bacteria comes across the Internet. I realize, how would we know if Al-Qaeda poisoned our food?

Nary a week goes by that there isn't some report about salmonella in croutons, shigella in resturant food, enough mercury in fish to make a thermometer, hepatitis diseased food handlers, and bad mushrooms. Well, I never liked mushrooms anyhow. Then there are the reports that an unapproved genetically modified rice manufactured by Bayer has contaminated a quarter of the United States rice supply - Bayer has asked the USFDA to approve the rice for human consumption because it is already in America's food supply. And the USFDA has begun allowing companies to deliberately add viruses to food.

Our food supply is so badly contaminated by greedy businesses, general incompetence, and Food and Drug Administration corruption, anything Al-Qaeda could do would be a drop in an already foul, stinking bucket.

Freedom of the Press Is an Individual Right

The First Amendment's protection of Freedom of the Press was not intended to protect newspapers and news reporters exclusively. Pamphleteers like Thomas Paine and Ben Franklin spread political news and dissent, often anonymously, that would never have found its way into the Mainstream Media of the Eighteenth Century. The First Amendment was intended to protect anyone with and idea, some ink, and a few sheets of paper from government censors. The Internet is the Twenty-first Century version of the wood hand press.

This is why the Federal Election Commission's ruling freeing "uncompensated Internet activity" from campaign financing laws is in the tradition of the Founding Fathers (note to self: I can praise the government, wow!). Campaign financing limits are an attempt to slow the legalized bribery that wealthy contributions to political campaigns have become. The heavy hand of government was never intended to restrict the common American from freely sharing his opinions with the public.

Not So Starry Nights Now Adays

When I was a kid I loved star gazing. My brothers and I would take a telescope into the backyard and spend hours looking into the night sky. Currently I take some time most evenings to meditate outside. I've noticed that there aren't as many stars as there were in my youth and what is there are not as bright. Now, my eyeballs are 45 years older but I don't think that's it. There is a not-at-all-subtle glow on the horizon (San Diego City) that was not there when I was young. The visual noise of urban lights are obscuring nature's glory and we are all the worse for that.

History of Terrorism Part 3 - The American Civil War

There are so many examples of terrorist activity in the United States during the past 200 years choosing which ones to highlight is a difficult task. Which acts during the genocide of Native Americans that was the Indian Wars could be described as terrorism? Burning homes and killing noncombatants, women and children, was featured on both sides. I'll dedicate two postings to American terrorists and still no listing can be complete because terrorism is as American as apple pie.

John Brown, William Quantrill, and
Bleeding Kansas
The use of terrorism during an insurgency can rightly be said to have been invented in the mid-1800's in Kansas. In the years before the Civil War, Kansas was to determine through plebiscite whether it would be a slave or free state. Pro-slave Bushwackers and abolitionist Jayhawks pulled out their guns, intending to influence the vote by scaring their opponents out of the state. Murder, kidnapping, and arson abounded as both sides tried to kill the other. Whole families, including women and children, were killed because one member of the family was suspected of being an abolitionist (or pro-slaver). In 1856, when John Brown was just a mad preacher (see picture above) and not a national icon, he led a raid on three families along Pottawatomie Creek in Kansas. Under his leadership, five men were hacked to death with sabres because they were pro-slavery. William Quantrill rode on the other side of politics. Leading a gang of raiders that included the Jesse and Frank James and the Younger brothers, Quantrill killed over 150 men and burned 200 homes and businesses on his raid on Lawrence, Kansas in 1863.

Mosby's Raiders
John Mosby led a Confederate cavalry troop, the 43rd Virginia Cavalry. He and other Confederate Partisan Rangers developed many of the tactics still used by guerrillas around the world. They raided soft (unprotected) targets, worked in small units, and melted into the civilian population when challenged. To skedaddle was to scatter and run instead of fighting. The Union Army hated this cowardly tactic as much then as the U.S. Army hates it now in Iraq. Painting source.

Confederate Bombers
Who masterminded the first terror attack upon New York City? Nope, not Bin Laden. It was in 1864 when Confederate Secretary of State Judah Benjamin sent eight agents into New York with dozens of fire bombs. They set fire to nineteen hotels and P. T. Barnum's museum. The goal was to incite a rebellion in the Northern city that most hated the Civil War. With all the optimism of Donald Rumsfeld at the gates of Baghdad, the plan predicted that the Confederate flag would be flying over the city by nightfall. The fires went off; the rebellion didn't.

It's All Just Fiction - Or Plagiarism

Huff Post's Eat the Press caught something that would be silly if it didn't explain a lot. The poster art for ABC's "Path to 9/11" is the spitting image of the the poster art for a 1996 NBC series called "Dark Skies." What is weird is the eerie similarities between the plots of the two works.
Dark Skies was an X-Files type show that posited evil space aliens are hiding among us and that there is a vast, government conspiracy covering it up. Historical events and figures are woven into the plots, such as alien involvement in the assassination of President Kennedy.

Evil outsiders hiding among us. Government conspiracies. Historical figures woven into a fictional story. Substitute Bin Laden for the space aliens and "Path to 9/11" is a blatant rewrite of "Dark Skies."

tag: path to 9/11

Seeking Reality in the Shooting of a San Diego Footballer

San Diego Charger linebacker Steve Foley was shot in front of his home by an off-duty police officer last weekend. That is the undisputed fact. But what caused the confrontation? What really happened?

The Policeman's Story
The twenty-three year-old Coronado policeman was driving home after work at 3 am last Sunday out of uniform and in his personal car. He saw a car driving recklessly, he followed at speeds up to 90 miles-per-hour, and he tried and failed to pull the car over three times. When Foley stopped in front of his house, the officer felt threatened by Foley and his female companion who had moved into the driver's seat of the car. As Foley approached the officer, the policeman fired a warning shot. This caused the woman to drive the car towards the officer. The policeman shot at the woman in the car. This caused Foley to run towards the officer. And, this caused the officer to shoot Foley.

The Linebacker's Story
At 3 am, someone they suspected to be a carjacker or obsessed fan began following Foley and his companion. Foley drove slower then faster, trying to get away. Three times this suspicious person tried to pull them over. When they got to Foley's home, Foley started walking towards the unidentified man while the man was still in his car. The man now obviously scared got out of his car, said he was a cop, pulled a gun, and fired it. Trying to protect Foley, the woman drove Foley's car towards the unidentified man. The man then shot at the car and Foley.

Some Perspective

• Steve Foley was unarmed.
• The policeman was in civilian clothes driving a civilian car. There was nothing to indicated he was a cop.
• Foley is big (6 foot-4 inches, 265 pounds), black, and as any NFL running back will tell you, scary.
• The policeman was just a kid, 23 years old. Veteran officers will tell you that young cops run out of confidence quickly. They get scared and pull their guns where a veteran wouldn't.
• Foley has been in trouble before. He had drinking problems in the past and was accused of battery on a police officer this April although no charges where filed.
  

Other Facts Worth Noting
San Diego has a history of excessive police officers shootings. In the past, police have shot people "armed" with rocks, bottles, bricks, sticks, tree branches, and a pen. One naked guy who was caught masturbating by a bikepath was shot while armed with his wanker. Several years ago police shot and killed another NFL player, Demetrius DuBose, who had allegedly taken a policeman's nunchukas but was otherwise unarmed. I don't remember the last time San Diego police shot someone who actually had a gun.

Coronado, where the young policeman works, is populated mostly by old, white retired naval officers. Stuck out on an island (well pennisula), there is only bridge and causeway access, it is isolated from the rest of San Diego. It is not a place where young, hip, black folk are seen.

Driving While Black has long been a crime in San Diego. There was a classic case where police were looking for a stolen Honda and arrested Charger football player Shawn Lee for the crime; he was driving a Jeep Cherokee. Add together Driving While Black with black guy driving nice car, black guy with white woman in the passenger seat, and black guy in an upscale neighborhood. Steve Foley broke at least four unwritten laws that get people arrested in San Diego.

So, What Do I Think Happened
Foley was probably driving drunk. He's done it before. The policeman looked like some college kid stalker; the kind of guy NFL player are always getting harrassed by. Some kid saying "I'm a cop" in a frightened tremolo is not going to cut it. When Foley stopped in front of his house the wise move for the policeman would have been to wait until a uniformed officer arrived. But this young cop was angry. Here was some black guy dissing him. He was with a white chick in a nicer car in a nicer neighborhood than the cop had. He was going to teach that nigger a lesson. But the cop got scared, scared shitless real fast. How do I know the cop was scared? Foley was shot once in the hand and twice in the leg. Police are taught to shot the torso. That gun was waving around like it was at the end of a willow branch.

I'll be interested whether the truth comes out but the early money is against it. San Diego district attorneys always cover for trigger happy cops. Foley will probably not be charged. He survived the shooting, that is usually considered enough punishment. The one who will get screwed is Foley's companion. She has been charged with assault on a police officer for driving her car towards the crazy kid with the gun. She broke another unwritten San Diego law, it is still taboo here for white women to date black men.

The Ugly American Award Winner - Ralph Peters

Ralph Peters is a retired Lieutenant Colonel, FOX military consultant, and a writer of fiction and non-fiction who has a hard time distinguishing between the genre. Ralph feels everything in Iraq is tickety boo and once wrote this ode to the concept of permanent war and US hegemony:

At any given moment for the rest of our lifetimes, there will be multiple conflicts in mutating forms around the globe. Violent conflict will dominate the headlines, but cultural and economic struggles will be steadier and ultimately more decisive. The de facto role of the US armed forces will be to keep the world safe for our economy and open to our cultural assault. To those ends, we will do a fair amount of killing. ~ Constant Conflict, 1997

'Ethnic Cleansing Works'
Ralph's latest bon mot was published in the Armed Forces Journal last month. He proposed the wholesale redrawing of the map of the Middle East. He would carve up Turkey, Pakistan, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia to build several new countries. He justified his meat-cleaver approach to regional politics with the pithy observation, " Oh, and one other dirty little secret from 5,000 years of history: Ethnic cleansing works."

Ralph is silent about who would do the most ambitious redrawing of the globe since the colonial powers cut up Africa in the Nineteenth Century although, given his target audience, I suspect he envisions the United States military will get to do most of the killing.

Peters' new map of the Middle East.

As much as any American with an IQ above a turnip would hope that Ralph kept his insanity private, he was published and he was read abroad. Yassar Latif Hamdani, writing for the PakTribune, exposed Ralph's grand scheme to his countrymen.

Unfortunately, American attitude historically has always favored wrong turns and a foolhardy belief in the notion that two wrongs make a right. This is precisely why Mr. Peters says so openly "Ethnic cleansing works!"

For enhancing every notion of America's over preening arrogance and for making diplomatic efforts throughout the region, even among allies like Turkey, a thousand times more difficult, Ralph Peters is awarded the first Ugly American Award.

The Ugly American Award is given monthly to someone who has tainted us all throughout the world with his or her supercilious gall and general, all around, assholery.

tag: ugly american

Thoughts on Courage Upon the Death of Steve Irwin

Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, has died at the age of 44. He chose a life of adventure with the mission to teach people to love the Earth and its creatures with the same intensity he had.

Any coward can sit at home and criticize a pilot for flying into a mountain in a fog. But I would rather by far die on a mountainside than in bed. ~ Charles Lindbergh

In the coming days I expect some critics to say that Irwin took too many foolish chances. He took chances, yes, but they were courageous, not foolish. Irwin knew the risks of his chosen life's work and faced the risks with unbridled joy. His was the rarest of lives, one well lived.

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you’ve imagined. ~ Henry David Thoreau

He could have become your average zoologist, standing safely in front of the cages of the animals he studied. No one would have criticized him for that decision, it is the quiet path many thousands of others have chosen. But Irwin had a vision for his life and he bravely marched into the unknown to pursue his dream. That he became famous is far less important than the fact that he lived his dreams.

After reading about the death of Steve Irwin I saw this item.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Air passengers from Charlotte to Little Rock, Arkansas, had to hurry off their plane Friday after someone found a suspicious liquid on board.

The suspicious liquid, by the way, was a bottle of water. What small, pitiful creatures are terrified by a bottle of water. What sort of country have we become that we have chosen these tremorous beings as our leaders. And that we follow them in fear.

Cowards die many times before their death; the valiant never taste of death but once. ~ Shakespeare

In his 44 years, Steve Irwin experienced more love, more joy, more fulfillment and more excitement than most of us who survive twice as long. I grieve with his family but I will not mourn his death. Rather, I celebrate his life. This was a man who had the courage to chase his dreams and bravely faced his life with all its attendant dangers. We should all be a tenth as brave.

The History of Terrorism Part 2 - Racks and Spikes in the Middle Ages

The Middle Ages were the Golden Ages for religous terrorism. The Christian church was determined to stamp out heretical thought. Many of the techniques used during this time to terrorize commoners into being devout Christians still stand out as the most fiendish torture devices every created. Christianity was also at war with Islam and Judaism and had no qualms about how it fought those wars.

Vlad Tepes
AKA: Vlad III, Vlad the Impaler, Son of Dracul (the Dragon), Dracula. Vlad is known to literature as a vampire but he is known to history as a terrorist par excellence. Ruler of Wallachia, now Romania, in the 15th Century, his favorite form of torment was the spike. In 1459 he had 30,000 merchants impaled on spikes; he had his dinner served so he could watch them died. He would impale Turkish invaders, nobles, and commoners with equal aplomb. While a captive in Hungry, Vlad amused himself by impaling birds and mice on sticks.

Stating that none should go hungry in his kingdom, Vlad invited the poor and sick to a grand feast in his capital. He locked them in a great hall and burned it to the ground. His terrorism was effective. It is said there was no crime in Wallachia because of fear of the spike. Mohammed II turn back his invasion force when he encountered 20,000 impaled Turkish prisoners on the banks of the Danube. I've sometimes wondered if Dick Cheney had lived in a less civilized time how like Vlad Tepes he would have been.

The Historian is an excellent novel that bridges the history of Vlad Tepes with the legend of Dracula. It is a worthy read.

The Inquisition
The link above is interesting because it is from a modern Catholic scholar who has a neutral to positive view of the Inquisition. Just as there are Holocaust deniers, the Catholic Church is rife with Inquisition deniers who claim it was really a good thing (Prof. Thomas Madden).

The Inquisitions, there were several in different European countries, was designed to root out Jews, Muslims, and heretics and terrorize them through the threat and act of torture into becoming True Christians. The process was simple, people in a city would denounce their neighbors and the accused would be interrogated using torture devices that have not been improved upon in over 600 years. Those few who did not admit their heresy and repent were turned over to the local government to be burned at the stake. Hundreds of thousands of innocent people were tormented in the name of God.

The Inquisition from a Jewish perspective. If you are of a morbid mind, here are drawings of the tortures used. For a little comedy, Monty Python's Spanish Inquisition skit.

Malleus Maleficarum - The Witch Hunts
"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." (Exodus 22:18) This one sentence has been responsible for the torment and death countless people - the estimates range up to nine million. The killing continues to this day. Over 800 killed for witchcraft in the Ituri province of the Congo in 2001. In Tanzania in the 1990's, 20,000 people were slaughtered as witches. The killing continues in much of Africa and rural India. Over the past two decades, more people have been killed through witch-hunts than were killed by Al-Qaeda. The west isn't immune. Last January in the United States a woman was fired on suspicion she was a witch. In my California Assembly district, Steve Baldwin won an election in 1994 running on an anti-witchcraft platform. The campaign against witches is mostly an attack upon independent women (Jerry Falwell calls the National Organization for Women the "National Organization of Witches."). The goal is to terrorize women into obsequiousness.

The Malleus Maleficarum was an instruction book on how to find, torture, and kill witches. Here is an archive of European witch-hunt texts.

Next time, America's surprising contribution to terrorism.

tag: terrorism

Sleep Is Overrated

I only had a couple of hours of sleep last night and I'm absolutely fine. I know that some scientists believe that sleep ix nezitary por a helty life but I', licing prof that ix nonesence. All my higher fnctns ar wking finne.

Art is Sleeplessness by Vera Asiadouskaya.

Answering a Friend - What Is There to be Terrified Of?

Fear-mongering….. is there not a legitimate threat? .... There is a real threat, and the Democrats don’t take it seriously. There are millions of people determined to kill me and other Americans. THAT IS REAL.

JB at TalkArena was expounding on the comparative virtues of his hero, Newt Ginginch, verses his villian, Nancy Pelosi when he wrote that. I am not interested in his main thesis but on the above thoughts.

"There are millions of people determined to kill me..."

Millions? Kill you? Ya sure?

There were 3,000 to 5,000 members of Al-Qaeda in August 2001 and, according to President Bush, substantially fewer now. By all accounts, the Iraq insurgencies (Shi'ite and Sunni) are about fighting each other for control of the country, although they are united in their desire to drive out the U.S. occupation. But, none of them give a crap about you or me.

The Iranian leadership that might specifically want you dead number at most a few thousand, the Iranian people have no such bloodlust. At most there are a few hundred North Koreans, probably only a few dozen, who are well fed enough to be interested in killing anyone whatsoever.

That someone as intelligent as you believes that there are millions of folk out there actively trying to kill you is ipso facto proof of successful fear-mongering.

There are dangerous people in the world, there always have been and always will be. As always, caution and due diligence is required. But, they are not out there in anywhere near the numbers that terrify you so. Perverting our democracy to defend against these Ghost Legions is a gift to Bin Laden.

Like any boogieman, it is only our fear that makes this pathetic little man big.

tag: terrorism

Quoting Two Presidents

The words of a great president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt:

the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. ~ March 4, 1933

The words of a small, frightened little man who would have us all quaking in the same nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror that consumes his life:

we will face the terrorists in the streets of our own cities....If we leave, they will follow us....our children will face a region dominated by terrorist states and radical dictators armed with nuclear weapons. ~ George W. Bush, August 31, 2006

tag: george bush, terrorism

Rumsfeld Should Read What His Own People Have Published

As Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld should be reading the research coming out of the U.S. Army War College. It should be basic, required reading for a man in his position. But, maybe I'm expecting too much. When Rumsfeld compares opposition to the Iraq War as equal to appeasement of Hitler prior to World War II, he is contradicted by research published by the Army War College just last year.

A reassessment of the history of appeasement in the 1930s yields the following conclusions: first, Hitler remains unequaled as a state threat. No post-1945 threat to the United States bears genuine comparison to the Nazi dictatorship. Second, Anglo-French security choices in the 1930s were neither simple nor obvious; they were shaped and constrained by factors ignored or misunderstood by those who retrospectively have boiled them down to a simple choice between good and evil. Third, hindsight is not 20/20 vision; it distorts. We view past events through the prism of what followed. Had Hitler dropped dead before 1939, there would have been no World War II or Holocaust, and therefore no transformation of the very term “appeasement” into a pejorative. Finally, invocations of the Munich analogy to justify the use of force are almost invariably misleading because security threats to the United States genuinely Hitlerian in scope and nature have not been replicated since 1945. ~ Appeasement Reconsidered, Jeffery Record, U.S. Army War College, August 2005

Dr. Record cautions that invoking Munich comparisons limits strategic thinking and tends to skew policies towards military actions. Seeing every problem as a reflection of Hitler is lazy thinking and leads to

the presidential tendency since 1945 to overstate threats for the purpose of rallying public and congressional opinion, and overstated threats in turn encourage resort to force in circumstances where deterrence, containment, even negotiation (from strength) might better serve long-term U.S. security interests.

American policy under Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld is driven by rhetoric instead of research. It results in actions that are ill-conceived, at best ineffective and at worst counterproductive.

We are not fighting fascism, using the word does not change the fact. We are faced with Islamic religious fundamentalists who are using the only force available to them, the weak force of terrorism, to change the course of Islamic countries. We have found ourselved in the firing line because our cultural, economic, and political tentacles touch every nation.

It is a stupid hunter who declares a goose is an elephant and then shoot the goose with a 50-caliber gun. It is a stupid politican who says everything he sees is fascism and declares war on a quarter of the world.

Rummy's Brain

"What bothers me the most is how clever the enemy is." ~ Donald Rumsfeld during a speech, August 29, 2006

To an idiot, an average person seems incredibly clever. What bothers me is that it doesn't take a genius to exploit the strategic blunders that Rumsfeld and his cronies habitually make. Any halfway resourceful squirrel could make Rummy look like a dolt.

tag: rumsfeld

The History of Terrorism Part 1 - Ancient Terrorists

The Global War on Terror or GWOT (trademark pending) has been going on since the beginning of civilization. When the Marines began forcing retired members back into active service a spokesman said "The authority is until GWOT is over with." They had best prepare for perpetual servitude.

For the purposes of this exercise I will define terrorism as the act of waging systemic asymmetrical warfare against noncombatants for the purpose of creating intense fear in a population either to foment rebellion against an established authority or to instill domination over a people. Terrorism is as much a part of civilization as agriculture. In ancient times terrorists walked with Jesus, fed on the collapsing Roman Empire, and killed millions.

Zealots and Sicarii
History records at least two of Jesus' disciples were terrorists - Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot. Both were from small Jewish groups in the First Century AD dedicated to driving the Romans out of Judea. The Sicarii got their name from the small knife they used to murder Jewish leaders who worked with the Romans. These groups used atrocities to foment a Jewish rebellion which the Romans crushed in 70 AD.

Vandals and Huns
These barbarian hordes gave English a word, vandalism. As armies they could never have brought down the mighty Roman Empire had it not been weakened by centuries of corruption. When these uncivilized Germanic tribes enforced their will by killing noncombatants and burning cities they used tactics we today call terrorism.

The Hashshashin - Assassins
Another English word was created because of these Islamic terrorists. During the time of the Crusades an Islamic cult grew in what is now Iraq and Iran. Named after their found, Hassan-i-Sabah (not for the hashish they allegedly used to glimpse Paradise), the Assassins spread havoc through the Middle East for two centuries, using suicide agents to publicly execute Arab rulers. Truth about this cult is clouded by legend. It is known they attempted to kill Saladin the Great on several occasions, renounced Islamic Sharia law in 1164 AD establishing their own version of the religion, and as they were being hunted to extinction by the Mongols considered converting to Christanity - an offer rejected by the Knights Templar. In many ways, Osama Bin Laden's Al-Qaeda cult resembles the Hashshashin.

In part 2 I'll examine the Middle Ages, the heydays of religious inspired terrorism.

tag: terrorism

Explain This, Christian Fundamentalists

It's all about the stars. Skippy gets to the juicy parts of a long Mockingbird's Medley post. The Republican Party logo contains Satanic symbolism.

The five pointed star on the United States flag is an upright pentagram, kinda looks like a little person. The upright pentagram is a Wiccan symbol and has been used as a symbol of Christ on the cross.
The star on the GOP logo is an inverted pentagram. Maybe it looks like a drunken person falling down. My research shows the inverted pentagram has only one meaning, to symbolize the goat head of Satan. Upright points to Heaven; inverted points to Hell.
The Republican logo has its stars point to Hell.

Credit where it is due, Frog Style Biscuit discovered this little homage to the Prince of Darkness last month.

I caught Republicans pledging allegiance to the elephant flag with the Satanic stars back in April. At the time, I didn't notice how truely demonic that act was. It makes me wonder what other rituals they preform around that flag. I am looking again at this site which, in great detail, exposes George Bush as the Anti-Christ.

Another intestesting thing I found in my digging is the report that Russian scientists drilled a hole all the way the Hell. They know this because they dropped a microphone down the hole and heard the souls screaming in torment. If you like symbols, are a Da Vinci Code freak, here is a comprehensive listing of symbols and their meanings.

Leave It to the Mythbusters to Wake Me Up

Mythbuster Kari Byron gets painted silver.

Ever have one of those days when absolutely nothing catches your fancy? I considered writing about how Joe Lieberman is completing his transformation into the Republican senator from Connecticut. But, Jane Hamsher at Firedoglake has an excellent article on Joe's decision to do joint campaign appearances with Republican congressional candidates.

I thought I should write about the neocon wet dream, war with Iran, and how the chance of war is high while the chance of a successful war is nil. But, that requires gobs of research and, didn't I say, I'm feeling lazy today. I'll get to it because it is important, just not today. I've been toying with the topic "Are Terrorists Worth Getting Terrified Of," but there is that whole research-lazy thing going again.

There are lots of interesting things in the news - Pluto had been de-planeted; the Feds have removed evolutionary biology from the majors that can receive undergraduate SMART grants; Louisiana has noticed that Rosa Parks is dead, a school bus driver forced nine black students to share two seats at the back of the bus to make room for white children.

But nothing sets me atwitter. So, I'll just offer some sound advice.

If you missed Mythbusters on the Discovery Channel last night make a point of catching it at 7pm this Saturday. It was one of their best ever. The gang put modern, high-tech security systems to the test. They challenge motion detectors, heat sensitive infrared alarms, and the latest in biometric fingerprint scanner locks. No spoilers but a hint, don't put all your faith in technology. Oh, look for the CIA recruitment advertisement. It's a hoot.

tag: mythbusters

Update: So, the Discovery Channel web site was wrong, they showed a different episode this evening. The episode worth watching is titled "Crimes and Myth-demeanors-2." If you can find it, congratulations.

It Is a Crime for the Poor to Have Cash

This is an era when the rich never carry cash. Even checks have been replaced by endless variations of plastic and electronic blips. In such a time possessing cash is immediately suspect. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has gone that next step farther, declaring that the posession of cash is, in itself, sufficient evidence of criminal acts.

The case was the quaintly named United States of America vs. $124,700 in U.S. Currency. Emiliano Gomez Gonzolez and friends had pooled their savings and he had traveled to Chicago with the money, intending to purchase a refrigerated truck to start a produce business. He traveled with the cash because none of them had the good credit needed for electronic wealth. By the time he got to Chicago the truck had been sold to someone else, so Gonzolez rented a car to return home to Nevada.

Gonzolez was pulled over by the Nebraska Highway Patrol for speeding. Since Gonzolez had violated the unwritten law enforced in many states (Driving While Hispanic), the police searched the car and discovered the cash hidden in a cooler. A drug sniffing dog alerted on the car but no evidence of drugs was found. Gonzolez has no criminal history except a single drunk driving arrest and, in fact, was not charged from this encounter. However, the state of Nebraska confiscated the money, claiming it was drug related.

A trial court ruled that the money should be returned to its owners. The Eighth Circuit in a 2-1 vote overturned that ruling. The majority stated that the "Possession of a large sum of cash is 'strong evidence' of a connection to drug activity." Note, the man was not judged guilty of anything because there was absolutely no evidence of guilt. It was the money that was found guilty.

People who live on the fringes of society of necessity live according to different rules. People of property don't need to carry cash. People at the fringes do. On March 28, 2003 the Nebraska Highway Patrol committed highway robbery. Aided and abetted by the Learned Judges of the Eighth Circuit, they have stolen the life savings of humble men just trying to earn an honest living.

My thanks to Midtopia for finding this. Art is Diego Rivera's Night of the Poor.

So, the President Said; then I Said

We’re not leaving (Iraq) so long as I’m the president. ~ President George W. Bush, August 21, 2006

This is the best argument for impeachment I've ever heard. By his own words, impeaching Bush is the only way to prevent countless unnecessary deaths.

What If Flight 93 Is a Myth?

"Let's roll!" The story of Flight 93, the passengers who fought back on 9-11 and crashed in a Pennsylvania field the plane destined to slam into the White House, has become an iconic American story, It is an image of pure, selfless courage on par with Davy Crockett standing on the battlements of the Alamo swinging his empty musket like a bludgeon, fighting the Mexican Army to his last breath. In the wake of 9-11, I was like every other American. I hoped, if I had found myself in that situation, I would have had the courage to face certain death by fighting the evil before me.

But, what if the passengers efforts were a meaningless gesture? What if Flight 93 had been shot down?

British author Rowland Morgan has made a second career investigating the 2001 terror attacks. I haven't read his first book, 9-11 Revealed. His second book, on Flight 93, is due out next month and was previewed by the author in the London Daily Mail last Saturday.

The Case For Myth
It is clear that the Boeing 757 broke-up prior to impact. The impact crater is too small, there was too little debris at the crash site and too much debris scattered miles away. Why did it break up? The official story that the plane disintegrated on impact is unbelieveable given the other evidence.

Numerous eyewitnesses reported a "white plane" following Flight 93. No pilot has ever come forward and the FBI instructed at least one witness to change her story.

The official time of the crash, according to the 9-11 Commission, is 10:03. Seismographic evidence puts the time of the crash at 10:06. That gap is suspicious.

The last phone call from Flight 93 is curious. Passenger Ed Felt was calling from the toilet. He told Emergency dispatch supervisor Glen Cramer that that he heard an explosion and was seeing white smoke. The FBI confiscated the tape of that call and ordered Cramer to keep silent.

Two years ago, Donald Rumsfeld said the plane had been shot down.

So What?
What difference does it make if the Air Force shot down Flight 93? It was a decided threat and it would have been irresponsible not to shot it down. It is possible that the heroic "Let's roll" story had become established before the facts were known and it was officially decided not the let the truth get in the way of a good, patriotic fiction. Certainly, the Bush Administration has lied about more substantive matters than this. The truth would even make the government look a little better. They did something on that day, not just sit around with their collective thumbs up their noses.

People who know me know I love a good conspiracy theory but I won't wrap my life around them. For me this is just further proof our government lies reflexively. Every myth told to make America look good makes true stories of goodness and heroism less believable.

The Research List
Kiltown's comprehensive look.
What Really Happened.
A right-wing wacko proves conspiracy theorists are non-partisan.
Eight unanswered questions.
Think and Ask.
Accuracy in Media from December 2001.
A FAQ.
YBBS discussion.
Flight 93 crash.

tag: flight 93

If You Were Wondering What a Kleptocracy Looks Like...

Interesting ruling from U. S. District Court Judge T. S. Ellis (Reagan appointee), it was perfectly legal to defraud the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq because, apparently, it never legally existed.

Parsing a legal decision from a newspaper report is always dicey, but here goes. Custer Battles LLC contracted with the CPA to create a new Iraqi dinar, something without Saddam's picture on it. Using shell companies and fake invoices, they defrauded the CPA out of millions of dollars. A jury found Custer Battles guilty and fined it $10 million.

The Custer Battles attorney argued that the CPA was not a United States government agency and, hence, no fraud was done to the United States. Now, the CPA was created by the Department of Defense, funded by the United States Treasury, and headed by a Bush appointee, L. Paul Bremer. Still....

Blame the Justice Department
It would be wrong to blame the judge in this. The Justice Department created a unique definition for this case. According to the Justice Department, the CPA is a government agency for the purposes of the whistleblower law but is not a government agency for any other purposes. The reason for this twisted logic is the Justice Department's desire to defend the numerous companies that defrauded the CPA. If the Justice Department claimed the CPA was not a goverment agency for all purposes then whistleblowers could challenge the ruling with standing as injured parties. By allowing whistleblowers to sue only as whistleblowers, their status is treated differently from the greater fraud. The Justice Department's position means that American citizens, taxpayers, have no standing to sue. Even though we were defrauded billions of dollars by numerous corrupt contractors the money was laundered through the CPA before it was stolen. Since the CPA was an outlaw organization, we are screwed.

Thinking about this has given me a headache. Must lie down.

The Fraud that keeps on taking
The Iraqi dinar is still ripping off Americans. There is a bustling cottage industry selling dinars as a currency investment. I won't call it a scam because I don't want to defend a libel suit, I am certain they are all perfectly legal ventures. But anyone who exchanges American greenbacks for dinars thinking they will be making a fortune in the currency market needs to get the word "Sucker" tattooed on his forehead.

tag: iraq

Any Excuse to Show the Most Beautiful Woman in the Cosmos

Xena is declared a planet. I know some scientist with more graduate degrees than good sense will change the planet's designation to something more classical, like Hippolyte, but we will all know the real name of the tenth twelfth planet in the solar system.

tag: xena

Does He Kiss His Mother With That Mouth?

"Global War on Terrorism"

"Islamofascists"

and now

"an extremist group of folks"

Gad, the rhetoric from President Bush is really getting sharp now.

Winner and Losers - Lebanon War

Biggest Winner - Iran
At the start of the war Iran was under intense pressure for its nuclear program. Because of this war, that pressure has substantially shrunk. Their support for Hezbollah, at almost no cost, has been seen as decisive in aiding a small terrorist organization to fight the most powerful army in the Middle East to at worst a draw.

Other Winners - Hezbollah, Syria
Surviving to fight another day is often a victory (see Dunkirk). Hezbollah survived. All Syria had to do was stand on the sidelines and watch and they have seen their influence grow exponentially.

every hand's a winner
And every hand's a loser
And the best you can hope for
Is to die in your sleep. ~ Kenny Rogers, The Gambler

Biggest Losers - Civilians on both sides
Women, children, non-combatants died by the hundreds. Tens of thousands were driven from their homes on both sides for a hellish month. For what?

Other Losers - Israel
When you are supposed to win by a knockout in the third round, getting beaten bloody while going the distance to take a narrow split decision feels a whole lot like losing. Ask Apollo Creed. Does anyone remember why Israel started the war? They wanted to force the return of two soldiers captured by Hezbollah. What is the fate of those two men? I don't know, but they haven't been returned.

Art is Winners and Losers by Arnold Friberg.

The Emperor Wastes Our Clothing Allowance

We have all heard it ad nauseam, George Bush is the only thing standing between us and a horrible death at the hands of Islamofascist terrorists. Yada, yada, yada. This is how much he cares.

• The Department of Homeland Security has failed to spend over $200 million in research funds.
• Bush quietly tried to cut $6 million for airliner explosive detection technology.
• The Scotland Yard investigation into the British bomb plot has been ongoing for six months. The FBI must have been briefed.
  
• Al Qaeda tried the plans for the British bomb plot before, in 1995.
  
• Readily available liquid bombs detection technology is not and will not be used in American airports.

The arrests in Britain has revealed the dereliction of duty of the Transportation Security Administration, DHS, and President Bush. The Administration knew the propects of these types of bombings was eminently possible yet it did little to nothing. The money has been there for our protection and not used. Bush would rather we go into the skies naked.

Sources: AP on budget cuts, the bomb plot from LA Times and CTB, technology not used.

We Can't Know Peace Without War

The pre-ceasefire flurry of killing is one of the oddest tactical quirks of modern times. Between the time the United Nations votes on a ceasefire and the time it is implemented both sides get in their final orgy of death, trying to squeeze a month's worth of war into a few hours.

Art is The Bombing of Beruit by elin o'Hara slavick.

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

The bombing plot broken up by Scotland Yard was classic Al Qaida. It was going to be big, flashy, terrorizing. It wasn't like those sad jokes the American government claims to have broken up. This one had potential. If successful, it would have been horrible. The thing people forget about Al Qaida is that they are pretty much a one-trick pony. Al Qaida has never displayed any skill at multi-tasking or the tactical feign. They plot an operation. If it works, it works; if it doesn't they have shot their load. They never have a backup plan. The world is never safer than after an Al Qaida plot has fizzled.

No. Be afraid. Be very afraid. ~ Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis), The Fly

The British, with the help of the Pakistanis, stopped a serious plot. Good on 'em. All the fear mongering that is following has nothing to do about security and is all about political manipulation. The Bush Administration is going to resort to their favorite practice of spreading terror. For the next two months, our government will do all it can to scare us. Bush will continue to preserve Al Qaida and refrain from attacking them because he needs them as the focus of the fear he wants to spread.

Al Qaida, like the Irish Republican Army, the Red Army Faction, and the Ku Klux Klan before them, deserve a watchful defense. But, only a craven coward would be afraid of them.

Lieberman Running As a Republican

I know that Holy Joe is calling himself an Independent, even an "Independent Democrat," but the fact is that Lieberman is the Republican candidate for senate in Connecticut. He has been endorsed by Dick Cheney, George Bush, even Anne Coulter and Sean Hannity. Connecticut's Republican Governor Jodi Rell is urging the Republican candidate to withdraw. This will leave the field open for Lieberman to claim all of the right-wing voters. To complete Lieberman's conversion into a traitor, Republicans are hoping a big turnout for Joe will sweep other Republican candidates into office.

Holy Joe says he will caucus with Democrats if he wins. I don't believe him. The Republicans will offer a committee chairmanship and he will jump for it like a trained seal. The bitter truth is that Joe Lieberman is cutting-and-running from the party of his youth. He has sold his soul for the price of a kiss.

These Are the Dog Days

I could write about the ongoing craziness in the Mideast - Lordy, there is enough insanity there to fill a thousand blogs. There is the Connecticut senate primary on Tuesday, but better writers than me have been opining on that for weeks. The weather is Southern California Normal, so I can't write about that. These are the lazy, Dog Days of August.

Dog Days
Go back over 3000 years to find the origin of the Dog Days. We call the brightest star in the sky Sirius. The ancient Egyptians called it the "dog star." For the Romans, too, it was the brightest star in the constellation the Great Dog (Canis Major). The greatest scientific minds of their time concluded that when the "dog star" rose in conjunction with the sun, as it did every August, their combined brightness made for the hottest weather. Hence, these are dies caniculares, Latin for "days of the dog."

Homeland Security
The department dedicated to protecting our cities and homes from attack is featuring Responsible Dog Ownership Day as part of National Preparedness Month in September. Glad to see they are focused like a laser beam on their mission.

Mad Dogs and Englishmen
Or, more accurately, Americans. U.S. servicemembers will be patrolling Baghdad in temperatures ranging from 113 to 117 degrees. In the old days, British colonial masters from India to Iraq and into Africa lacked the sense to avoid the boiling heat of summer. Now it is American colonial masters leading our new sepoys, the Iraq Army, into the midday desert frying pan. Is it any wonder they give us so little respect.

Not Believing It

Claude Allen, domestic policy advisor to President Bush and almost a judge, says the reason he turned into a petty thief stealing from Target stores was the long, 14-hour work days associated with hurricane Katrina. I don't buy it. (Actually, neither did he) When I worked 20-hour days during a political campaign in the 80's the worse thing that happened to me was developing the habit of having breakfast at Denny's at 2am.

I suspect the self-loathing of being a lifetime token Nigra who started his career as an aide to the racist Jesse Helms had more to do with it.

The Deplorable State of Intelligence

United States intelligence has determined that Abu Ayyub al-Masri has taken over leadership of Al-Qaeda in Iraq from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Little problem, al-Masri is not in Iraq leading Al-Qaeda. He's been in an Egyptian prison for the past seven years. The United States government isn't even trying to be competent any longer. They don't have a clue what they are doing and they seem proud of their stupidity.

If Bush had been president during World War II we would have attacked Nazi Germany with a cunning invasion of Bolivia. Republicans would have denounced as traitors anyone who questioned why we were in Bolivia when we should be fighting the Nazis. Oh, and Boliva would have beaten the shit out of us.

tag: Al Qaeda

What an Awkward Silence

The tragic news that Marine Cpl. Phillip Baucus died Saturday during combat operations in Anbar province is a day old. He is one of the 2,812 coalition troops to have died in the Iraq War. Cpl. Baucus was the nephew of Senator Max Baucus of Montana. Many liberal bloggers of have given their respectful condolences for the family's loss. Liberal Doomsayer and My Left Wing are just two of scores of examples.
From the right wing, almost complete silence. Talk Arena has a slightly snarky take while Lifelike Pundits does a cut and paste. That's it. An extensive search using Technorati turned up no other right wing reference to the death. Their silence is so complete I can't even guess why they are avoiding the topic. Perhaps they are afraid to acknowledge it for fear people might begin to realize that Democratic families are patriotic too.

Small Minds; Small Businesses

The March of Science Goes Forward Again
The neolithic majority on the Kansas Board of Education that believes Biblical myths should be taught in the state's science classes suffered electoral defeat yesterday. Two of the 6-person majority that ordered creationism be taught as science were defeated in primary elections by pro-evolution candidates. It was a small victory for the latest in 20th century scholarship. Art is from 1925, the American Experience.

The Incredible Shrinking Business Giants
Or, maybe, the economy is worse than I thought. The Bush Administration is padding mandatory small business contracting rules by defining Microsoft, Northrop Grumman, and the New York Times as "small businesses." This fries me because I spent a couple of years working for a small business development center and I respect the struggles of real small businessmen. Either the economy has tightening so far that Bill Gates is back working out of the garage where he started or George Bush has a liberal, expansive definition of the word "small." Art is the logo for one of my favorite, genuine, small businesses. Snow Business specializes in making fake snow.