Category — Uncategorized

Via Oliver Willis: Countdown has a blog: The News Hole.

Via Laura Rozen: a piece in The Forward, Iranian Scientist’s Death Stirs Talk of an Atomic ‘Whodunit’, that I probably wouldn’t have read if Quiddity at UggaBugga hadn’t mentioned someone was talking about sending in assassins to take out Iranian atomic scientists. While this is indeed a developing story, I wouldn’t read too much into it. Just a coincidence. No need to send agents to the campus and ask about it. No need to tap phones, read mail, etc. I mean putting a keylogger on his computer would be over the top.

First people should take a look at the Iranian government’s power structure at the BBC.

Then you can read about the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to understand that they are really the Iranian equivalent of America’s original militias, except they never went back to their day jobs. They consider themselves “protectors of the Revolution,” not just part of the Iranian military.

The money issue also comes into it, as at the Wikipedia entry on the Military of Iran it is reported:

Iran’s 2005 defence budget was estimated to be $6.3 billion by London’s International Institute for Strategic Studies. This was $91 per capita, a lower figure than other Persian Gulf nations, and lower as a percentage of gross national product than all other Gulf states except the United Arab Emirates. Still, Iran’s military was called the Middle East’s most powerful by the senior U.S. commander in the region.

At that rate, the US defense budget would be $27.3 billion, not the $400+ billion it actually is.

So, they are the biggest threat in the area, and they manage to do it on the cheap. Maybe someone should find out how they do it?

Over at Candide’s Notebooks Ohio Dave and Pierre have a conversation, What Is a Blog? An Exchange, which is interesting in both form and content.

At some point every blogger looks at their inner reason for writing, and it is an individual reason. There is no one-size-fits-all, [or even -most], when it comes to blogging. Blogs disappear for personal reasons, at the point at which they no longer satisfy the inner reason.

If getting a job with a political campaign is not part of your reason, being offered such a job creates a problem. Accepting a political job requires that you abandon your personal voice for the voice of the campaign. If you were hired because of your personal voice, the campaign kills what they value.

There should be a way of supporting voices on the left, as the voices on the right are supported. The funding requires a cut-out that allows for deniability, because unless the voices are truly independent they will not ring true.

You may have heard about that Fake Lincoln Quote that Frank Gaffney had in a column in the Washington Times, and Rep. Don Young [R-Alaska] read into the Congressional Record during the House anti-surge debate.

“Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military are saboteurs and should be arrested, exiled, or hanged.” — President Abraham Lincoln.

I seem to remember in my reading about the Civil War something similar, perhaps a believable quote would be:

“Journalists who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military are saboteurs and should be arrested, exiled, or hanged.” — General William Tecumseh Sherman.

Actually, “Uncle Billy” Sherman had the power to do it, and was on the verge of doing it several times. Of course, he would have actually used much stronger language, but his attitude was remarked on by journalists of the day, like Henry Villard.

In his most frequently quoted comment Sherman said: “I hate newspapermen. They come into camp and pick up their camp rumors and print them as facts. I regard them as spies, which, in truth, they are. If I killed them all there would be news from Hell before breakfast.”

I tend to be behind the curve on some topics because I want open source information before I discuss them. The problem with ever having worked in a classified field is that you don’t want to reveal classified information [unless you are an unprincipled political hack, who wants to smear people who expose your lies] even by accident.

The other problem is that I don’t want to give information to whackos who would use it to hurt people, even themselves. If some things don’t seem clear, it is because I don’t want them to be clear [or I messed up, which is possible].

A cannon is nothing more than a pipe that is closed at one end, filled with a chemical that burns or explodes, and has an object jammed down the open end. When the chemical is ignited, the pressure created pushes the object out of the pipe with a good deal of force.

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Driftglass is right: I am Spartacus.

I wouldn’t mind joining major media outlets and Nobel Prize winners on DonoWho’s enemies list, although the list does include the Left Behind books. I wonder if saying that I preferred the Latin mass is enough.

There is another issue to be considered aside from this hate-monger, and that is the character of candidates. Backing down, or even being conciliatory when faced with attacks by this weevil doesn’t bode well for a candidate’s ability to govern or judgment.

As Mustang Bobby of Bark Bark Woof Woof points out in The MauMauing of the Blogosphere, at least Amanda and Melissa can now defend themselves as the effluent from the settling pond that is DohoWho’s base flows in their direction. The small example that Culture Ghost provides is not exactly a testament to the education they presumably received at Catholic schools.

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The only place Bill Donohue deserves to be seen is on a milk carton. The MSM continues its race to the bottom with the National Enquirer. I call it the Murdock effect: when a guy makes obscene amounts of money from tabloids and uses it to buy a media empire, he’s going to use the techniques that made him money. If he makes more money, all of the other media companies will copy the concept.

As Clif of Outside the Tent and American Street points out in Lies and the Lying Anti-Semites Who Tell Them, a minimum of checking would show the man isn’t much of a liar. But the MSM does no fact checking.

Trex at Fire Dog Lake demonstrates in Get Thee Behind Me, Demon Onion Dip!, the man attacks commercials.

Think Progress notes in Bill Donohue Defended Bush Catholic Outreach Staffer Who Was Outed As Sexual Predator, that if you are a male Catholic authority figure, you can expect Bill to be on your side, even if you are creep. This attitude has cost the Catholic Church millions in payments for lawsuits.

The media doesn’t mention any of this when they give Donohue access to the airwaves, nor do they address the real question: What gives William Donohue the right to speak for the Catholic Church, especially on matters of doctrine?

Update: I can’t believe that I forgot to include Echidne of the Snakes and her extensive research on Donohue’s enemies list.

Something other that Peter Pan or Great Value [WalMart store brand] peanut butter with lot numbers that begin 2111, unless they believe that salmonella is one of the required food groups.

They may also choose not to watch NASCAR unless they want to reward cheating. What a surprise, a bunch of G-d fearing, Shrubbery supporting, good ol’ boys are adding illegal chemicals to their fuel.

For those who know nothing about stock car racing, criminally and rule breaking are part of the mystique of a sport started by people who made their seed money by transporting moonshine.

[Slide One]

1. This is known to be a mosque.

[Slide Two – map of Iran]

2. This mosque is known to be in Iran.

[Slide Three – stock photo of Muslims praying]

3. Muslims are known to worship in mosques.

[Slide Four – stock photo of Moqtada al-Sadr]

4. Moqtada al-Sadr is known to be a Muslim.

[Slide Five – Iran map with MaS in label and arrow]

5. Moqtada al-Sadr is in Iran.

[February 18th is the last day of the Islamic month of Murharram which commemorates the martyrdom of Husayn, and during which the Koran forbids killing. Of course, the US forces in Iraq are prepared for all hell to break loose as the Madhi Army takes to the field again on the 19th, right?]

Well, the MSM rushed to report on the US seizing sniper rifles in Iraq that an Austrian company had sold to Iran. Too bad they didn’t think to ask the Austrian company about the report.

Agence France-Presse in Vienna reports ‘No Proof’ That Arms Found In Iraq Were Austrian: Weapons Firm

Austrian arms manufacturer Steyr-Mannlicher insisted Feb. 13 that there was no proof that sniper rifles recently seized by U.S. troops in Iraq were the same ones it had sold amid controversy to Iran in 2004.

“We have not been contacted by the Americans. Usually one would ask us to verify the origin of a weapon through its serial number, something that is not the case here,” Franz Holzschuh, the new owner of the more than 100-year-old weapons company, told AFP.

They are subject to being copied. The serial numbers would tell the tale, but no one from the US government checked them. So far, the media only has the word of unidentified US officials and has not seen the weapons, which are extremely exotic looking and very expensive. Your average Iraqi could live very well, for a very long time, selling a rifle that costs thousands of dollars when purchased legally.

There are a lot of less expensive sniper rifles available that are not as distinctive looking, nor as easy to trace as an HS50.

Today on an NPR newsbreak there was a sound clip from the Shrubbery’s press conference:

“My job is to protect our troops, and when we find devices that are in that country that are hurting our troops, we’re going to do something about it, pure and simple.”

Let’s climb in the Wayback Machine and return to December 8, 2004 and a Q&A that the Secretary of Defense had with troops in Kuwait.

CNN reported:

One soldier, identified by The Associated Press as Army Spc. Thomas Wilson of the 278th Regimental Combat Team, a Tennessee National Guard outfit, asked Rumsfeld why more military combat vehicles were not reinforced for battle conditions.

“Why do we soldiers have to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass to uparmor our vehicles?” Wilson asked.

Donald Rumsfeld responded with the immortal words:

“As you know, you have to go to war with the Army you have, not the Army you want…”

If the Shrubbery is so concerned with protecting the troops, why in February of 2007 is the Washington Post [via Lambert at Corrente] reporting that the troops still lack vehicle armor?

Virgo Tex at First Draft notes Al-Quaida #2 takes Bush’s inventory:

“Bush suffers from an addictive personality, and was an alcoholic. I don’t know his present condition … but the one who examines his personality finds that he is addicted to two other faults — lying and gambling,” al-Zawahri said in the audiotape.

While I realize that Sheikh Dr. Ayman Muhammad Rabaie al-Zawahiri has the academic and professional credentials to make these statements, I think that he should examine the ethics of long distance diagnosis. Just because Republican Senators and ringwing pundits do it, does not make it moral or ethical. Even murderous terrorists need standards.

First off, I was wrong about the Iranians not using English. Dave Bell, in comments, has found the export division of the Iranian arms industry that does indeed use English and provided a link to their export 81mm Mortar Round which is the bomb on the right. The “CTG M43A1” tells Dave what he needs to know before he drops it on the tube.

Dave then demonstrates a knowledge of mortars, noting that the round is designed for a WWII M-1 81mm mortar and talks about why the markings are important.

Talking Points Memo provides the PowerPoint slides from the Baghdad briefing which is the source of the picture of the 81mm Mortar Round on the left.

[Aside: this is why it is important to have comments, so others with specific knowledge can clear up questions, and it isn’t painful to admit you were wrong about something.]

As Dave points out, there isn’t enough information on the mortar bomb the Americans displayed. I would point out that it is printed on the bottom and lacks the clear contrast of the Iranian bomb. Oh, the American exhibit uses a serif font, while the Iranians apparently use sans serif. [Hey, if it was good enough to get a CBS news team fired and net a “blogger of the year” for the wingers, I might as well go for it.]

Regarding the RPG-7 munitions in the American exhibit, the Iranian site doesn’t list the ordnance in their catalog, although they sell the launcher. The labeling “P.G.7-AT-1” and “LOT:5-31-2006” don’t seem military, there’s too much punctuation. The round pictured is generally labeled “PG-7V” and requires a launch charge to be useful.

You have to wonder if the reason this was done in Baghdad was because of the US law against the government spreading propaganda and misinformation in the United States. It didn’t convince the Chairman of the Joints Chiefs, so why should anyone else buy this?

For whatever reason the proprietor of Bark Bark Woof Woof has tagged my dismal effort as a blog that makes him think. This is may be a result of so many years spent writing in Russian, or writing official reports, which makes my syntax “unusual.”

The participation rules are simple:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote

While “I don’t need no theenking blogger award,” I’m including it for completeness [and the cheap joke].

I believe everyone on my blogroll makes me think, but five people who lead me to stories I might not otherwise notice would be:

Andante of Collective Sigh
Michael of Musing’s musings
Karen of Peripetia
Jams of Poor Mouth
Ellroon of Rants from the Rookery

They are free to post or no, based on their own inclinations.