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The group formerly known by some as “Pajama Media” have finally decided to bring their concept on-line and a strange piece of cognitive dissonance it is.

Steve at The Modulator puts us on a path to The Talent Show where you find the door to the “rabbit hole”.

They have decided to call themselves Open Source Media, which strongly conflicts with their privacy and use statement that attempts to copyright everything that exists in their world. They have even trademarked their initials. This is a bit odd as Open Source Media, Inc. is an established enterprise and might have something to say about that.

Their Universal Resource Locator is osm.org, which doesn’t seem to show much confidence in their profit potential.

They apparently found out that osm.com belongs to Oregon Steel Mills,
opensource.com belongs to Red Hat, and opensourcemedia.com is the property of Zope Corporation.

Of course pajamamedia.com is also taken, but a few searches might have led them to a better name choice, one that is not so at odds with their concept.

I didn’t link to them because they apparently don’t want me to, so this will be my last mention of the existence of the group, unless an interesting set of court cases ensues.

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Clif over at Ouside The Tent has what he considers the best Brooks quote ever, and I would certainly concur.

I would wonder how anyone who claims to have read Edmund Burke could support the Shrubbery. Burke supported freedom for the American colonies because of the actions of the British government, so how can Brooks the anti-democratic acts at home and imperialism abroad that characterize the current administration?

One must conclude that Brooks still dwells in the deep end of the pool of “ignorance”.

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It is with deep sorrow that I note the passing of Saddie, the friend of Old White Lady, Cotton, and Sergeant Mango.

Dot, Sox, Ringo, and I extend our condolences to them.

This has been a sad week for those of us with feline friends.

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In the grim, black humor of the military “shake and bake” refers to alternating white phosphorus rounds [WP – “Willy Pete”] with high explosive rounds [HE – “Ham and Eggs”]. The WP forces the enemy out of their positions increasing the likelihood of their being killed by the HE.

The WP rounds are normally used to mark locations for air strikes, to provide illumination, or to generate smoke screens. Many would be familiar with the use of “tracer” rounds in machine guns to assist in aiming the weapon, especially when used against aircraft.

Ever since the battle of Falluja there have been reports from various source that the United States forces had used incendiary weapons in the battle. Many said that napalm or the reformulated MK 77 Mod 5 bombs were used in the city. Some of the reporting was based on the appearance of burns on the bodies of the dead from city.

After more than a year of denials the BBC now reports:

The Pentagon has confirmed that US troops used white phosphorus during last year’s offensive in the northern Iraqi city of Falluja.

“It was used as an incendiary weapon against enemy combatants,” spokesman Lt Col Barry Venable told the BBC – though not against civilians, he said.

The US earlier denied it had been used in Falluja at all.

Col Venable denied that the substance – which can cause burning of the flesh – constituted a banned chemical weapon.

Washington is not a signatory of an international treaty restricting the use of white phosphorus devices.

Col Venable said a statement by the US state department that white phosphorus had not been used was based on “poor information”.

I heard the interview with Lieutenant Colonel Barry Venable, US Army, Pentagon spokesman and certified obnoxious twit. Some of the BBC correspondents have the demeanor of a rabid pit bull when questioning people, for example, I’m sure that the Oxford English Dictionary has a picture of Jeremy Paxman in its entry on obnoxious, but the individual interviewing Venable was just trying to get a straight answer.

Venable spent the entire interview playing with definitions. Somewhat like a cat who has had an “accident” on a tile floor, Venable was “scratching” for cover. If Venable and other spokesweasels would really like to improve the image of the United States in the world community, they might try giving straight answers to questions. The “poor information” the State Department had was a Defense Department lie. The truth is a powerful weapon that the Pentagon might want to consider for inclusion in the American arsenal.

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Mustang Bobby has a Good Question.

The question is contained in a Josh Marshall post of a reader’s e-mail:

“…When did it become appropriate for the Commander-in-Chief to go onto a military installation before a military crowd and denounce the opposition party?…”

Josh notes: “…it’s also on the eve of a trip abroad.”

Bobby picks up the point and posts about the speech the Shrubbery gave at Elmendorf AFB while flying to Asia for several meetings. In the speech to Air Force personnel he repeats his denunciation of Democrats.

Read the founding documents. Show me where in those documents there is any support for a President making blatantly political speeches to the military of the United States. Show me the references that say the military isn’t required to be apolitical and non-partisan. Show the Department of Defense directives or articles of the Uniform Code of Military Justice that encourage partisan political activity by active duty members of the military.

I want some demonstration of anything in the traditions, customs, rules and/or regulations that would make anyone believe that partisan political activities are acceptable on the installations of any of the Armed Forces of the United States.

If you can’t leave your political rhetoric outside the main gate, don’t enter the installation.

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