Orbit Rain
Tuesday, December 30, 2003
What are the roots of French corruption?
"Corruption exists in all countries, rich and poor. Does it have distinctive roots in France? According to the writer Edmonde Charles Roux, 'the Mediterranean people have a conception of honesty which is peculiar to them.' In the case of France there are two aspects of all this which seem to be fundamentally different from life in Britain.
The first is the attitude to money. The British have a fairly clear view (which has been called Protestant) that money is a tool. There is nothing wrong with it in itself, but there is good money, earned by hard work, and bad money gained through greed or dishonesty. At the root of the French attitude is the Catholic view that money is tainted by sin. Yet money is necessary and since corruption is only an abuse of something already sinful, it doesn't matter too much. "
Monday, December 29, 2003
Telegraph | Opinion | The pundits in love with doom and gloom
"For a significant chunk of the British establishment and for most of the governing class on the Continent, if it's a choice between an America-led West or no West at all they'll take the latter. That's the trend to watch in the year ahead."
...shit, I've been watching this "trend" for a couple a years now.
good article btw
Michael Knox Beran on Founding Fathers National Review Online
You mean to tell me that historians can lie too?! You mean to tell me they too might be human beings with ajendas of their own?!
Beware people who like to sell you their "historical perspective" on current events.
Journalist fired for book critical of French newspapers
"The newspaper's management justified the dismissal, Hertoghe said in an interview, by contending that the book demonstrated his opposition to La Croix's editorial line, damaged the reputation of the newspaper and the authority of its chief editors and questioned the professional ethics of some of the paper's staff members."
That's what I like, a commitment to "the editorial line" over "the truth."
WorldNetDaily: Gadhafi armed al-Qaida with bio-chem weapons
...interesting...part of the implication I see is that we now have to help kadafi protect himself...
...irony...
Sunday, December 28, 2003
We Hate Spam, Congress Says (Except Ours)
"'The core value is that you don't want to leverage technology to increase incumbent advantage,' "
HERE HERE!
Gentlemen, let your message be stronger.
WorldNetDaily: Dean not sure Osama's guilty
"'I've resisted pronouncing a sentence before guilt is found,' Dean said. 'I still have this old-fashioned notion that even with people like Osama, who is very likely to be found guilty, we should do our best not to, in positions of executive power, not to prejudge jury trials. So I'm sure that is the correct sentiment of most Americans, but I do think if you're running for president, or if you are president, it's best to say that the full range of penalties should be available. But it's not so great to prejudge the judicial system.' "
If you were to be president, you would represent 1/3 of our government. You're hte one who needs to make decisions in a snap, YOU must decide in an instant whether to go to war or not. You must decide innocence and guilt in those moments.
Thank the Lord your party isn't in power.
Two charged in Wal-Mart beating
"'I think it's not right because I'm a little girl going Christmas shopping for my father,'' the girl said."
Hiding behind Jesus doesn't excuse your father's actions.
Ruling on saying �We are the children of Allaah� - Q&A Library- Islam Q&A
"The Christians do not say that the angels, the Children of Israel and the Disciples were sons of God in a literal sense, or that God was their father in a literal sense, rather they interpret that in a metaphorical sense, i.e., that He is a father to them in the sense of blessing them, being kind to them, protecting them and taking care of them, and they are His children in the sense that they worship Him, need Him and are dependent upon Him. "
This would be classic mind-reading, or as i like to say: attributing thoughts to others...
...too tired to explain the difference atm
Attitude of Islam towards other religions - Q&A Library- Islam Q&A
"You are my share among the nations and I am your share among the Prophets.” (Narrated by Ahmad, 15437). "
interesting...
...they seem pretty whigged out by mason's though...quite the conspiracy theory there!
mots
could they make the text any smaller?
“Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allaah has
made one of them to excel the other, and because they spend (to support
them) from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly
obedient (to Allaah and to their husbands), and guard in the husband’s
absence what Allaah orders them to guard (e.g. their chastity and their
husband’s property). As to those women on whose part you see
ill?conduct, admonish them (first), (next) refuse to share their beds, (and
last) beat them (lightly, if it is useful); but if they return to obedience, seek
not against them means (of annoyance). Surely, Allaah is Ever Most High,
Most Great”
[al-Nisa’ 4:34]
I'm taking the above is from the Koran...my mom likes to say: The Pope is just a man (my capitalization btw)
I'm wondering where I've intersected Mohammed...interesting...and here I was thinking this was a ...'s opinion.
Her husband wants to move far away from her family, and she does not want to go - Q&A Library- Islam Q&A
4. "Good treatment of wives is a duty enjoined upon husbands by Allaah, when He said (interpretation of the meaning): “… and live with them honourably…” [al-Nisa’ 4:19]. The husband does not have the right to treat his wife badly. If he sees her doing something that goes against the sharee’ah, he should follow the steps laid down by sharee’ah to put the matter right. Firstly, he should exhort her in a good manner, and if that does not work, he should adopt the method of forsaking her (i.e., not having marital relations with her). If that does not work, then he may strike her, in a manner that does not cause pain or injury."
Interesting questions and answers here...Read a bunch and you find out a lot about where this guy is coming from, religion and all...Some may find that they differ enough on the fine points so as to define the diference in one's own belief systemc compared to anothers. How much this man's opinion defines his society's opinion is still a matter to explore...(for me anyway)
I first thought to quote this to point out the "If that does not work, then he may strike her, in a manner that does not cause pain or injury." i figured that would have to get some people riled up. But then I noticed an earlier much more fatal flaw in this man's reasoning:
and if that does not work, he should adopt the method of forsaking her (i.e., not having marital relations with her).
Does this guy really think withholding sex works for a man? It's a woman's tool. I'm betting (and hoping) he isn't married. If witholding sex worked for guys like it does for women....well...I can only imagine the consequences ;)
Saturday, December 27, 2003
Palestinian Authority Sermons 2000-2003
" Shame and remorse on whoever refrained from raising his children on Jihad… Blessings to whoever waged Jihad for the sake of Allah; blessings to whoever raided for the sake of Allah; blessings to whoever put a belt of explosives on his body or on his sons' and plunged into the midst of the Jews, crying 'Allahu Akbar, praise to Allah, There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His messenger'… Allah, show us a black day for the Jews, like the day of 'Aad and Thamud. [14] Allah, turn them into pillage for us. Allah, we strive for martyrdom for your sake..."
...wake up and smell the coffee peeps...
Ahhhh... unpublished reply to arsclanners of lesser intellect
so...I had this sitting in a file, the thread was moved to drama queens, releasing me from the obligation of explaining to those of lesser intellect where the truth is...in other words:
I WIN!
here it is, unedited, I was not looking forward to cleaning it up. I wonder if the sponsors that be can't handle the truth? This seems to be a theme that runs though ArsT and ArsClan imho: you can't get an honestly moderated debate. Fortunately my world doesn't revolve around arguing with children, I can find idiocy everywhere!
:D
______________________________________________________________
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by jxl [/i]
[B] champ. [/B][/QUOTE]
I'll take this an an ad hominem attack of sorts. Should I pity you for being unable to add to this conversation?
.....hmmmm....let me think about this....should I respond to this fewl? perhaps when he has something to add to the conversation:
[i]"Assuming you had a point, what would it be? You don't need to link or cut 'n paste to answer this,"[/i]
wow, I am stunned by your supar-powars of rhetoric....
There is no way the...lemme see....must count...43 lines I wrote with these little fingers...to your two lines you wrote with your 2 fingers...I don't see how I can compete with your towering intellect....In the mean-time, I will assume that all you write might very well be so beyond my unterstanding that I would be better served to keep my mouth shut...eh?...Oh towering mastar of knowledge?
"So Jacques Chirac and Donald Rumsfeld both hung out with Saddam once upon a time."
I don't know which way I want to go on this one....should I skewer Chirac for having a questionable economically intertwined rise to power of two men, one willing to give nuclear technologies to a dictator...
______________
(10 hours later)
or should I blow it all off...after all what kind of unreasonableness prevailed at that moment in time where who knows why they were getting together...and who was it bitching that we should ease up on Iraq, give them more economic leeway to feed themselves...and yet this madman kept murdering innocents by the truckload...how many palaces did he build my dear fellows?...and how good were his people eating?...What kind of economic structure exists in a country where the assets of the public were at their leader's disposal? And public assets isn't even the worst...private assets too, were at their disposal...want a Bently? NO PROBLEM! Come on down...Want to eat on the house? COME ON DOWN!!!...want some heroin...COME ON DOWN!!!!!!
[URL=http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=drugs+palaces+saddam+heroin]drugs palaces saddam heroin[/URL]
I'll take a bit out of an Australian paper...I have no idea what their bias is ;-)
[URL]http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/15/1050172588471.html]There were posters of university graduating classes, lending some credence to accusations that Uday scoped out female graduates so he could order them abducted for his sexual pleasure.[/URL]
Oh taking your private property doesn't even compare in the depravity of this regime any more. Should we dig out and parade around the names of the victims...would it even matter, would anyone listen, let alone believe these victims? Or would they keep their heads in the sand, bringing them up just to check the political winds...
And here I was, thinkin that the left was the party that championed the freeing of the [i]oppressed[/i]
...
The left had a hand they never played...they pussed out, which is what they seem to do now...This isn't my granfather's democratic party "...Democrats want to free people from oppression..." "...Republicans are the party of business people, of rich people..."
how naieve
...and here I deal with naifs and knaves.
where was I?
oh, what's is name....jxl...You are hereby excommunicated until you add sometheing non-bombastic...or as I recall daremyth saying:
[i]Maybe his point was that you should not post in a thread where every single one of your half dozen or so posts contributes nothing more than a one or two line smart-ass quip, meant to show off your ever-so-scathing wit and/or political insight. [/i]
bravo...
[i]Or maybe his point was to address the fact that many people are using, as primary evidence for making for their arguments, sources which may or may not be biased, and to present some evidence supporting claims of bias against said sources. I'll let you be the judge there...champ.[/i]
Thank you for using your brain and articulating your understanding of where I'm going here and what I'm saying. The fact that you have given it back so well tells me you care enough about what you are saying that you .....*snif* *snifff* heehee
I find those that give the [i]shallowest[/I] (shall we say) replies are often the most bombastic, and sure to explode with, not only rage....but outright ignorance. I could go back to the south and turn back to Cockney ad nauseum.......retarded line of reasoning if you ask me...assuming the ignorance of a mass of educated people...a connected people...people that are people...that are people blah blah (train is off the tracks)
I say again, some of you have no clue about what "everyone" thinks or "everyone" knows...even though it can be proudly stated....proudly said....oh such patriotic words they, who are elite...above the pleibs...above the common man...those who know all...
...puhlease...
where was I? ahh yes....BD6 :-)
[i]"In other words - you don't use media to argue that the media is biased."[/i]
Can anyone tell me what is wrong with this statement? It's a free shot I'm going to pass on for the moment.
"ps. The National Post has repeatedly attacked the CBC but then again when your parent company also controls a private national TV network it would be in your own interest to attack Canada's largest publically accountable TV & Radio network."
funny enough...I wanted to google some random media bias article...there not that hard to find...shit, they're everywhere if you ask me...people point them out all the time...but I don't think people, the general public....really knows....(please leave out that part of the public that lives blissfully free of the grand idiocy of politics, and continues to live their lives working their jobs, paying their houses off, and on and on.... it's not exactly a slam that last bit....THose people are the beneficiaries of those paying attention)
Is that great sacrifice democrats ask of their fellow man in the name of the war on terrorism be the punishment that we have to pay attention to the constant bullshit that they try and pull over on people....(tangent fulfilled)
[URL=http://www.washtimes.com/national/20031115-121140-2918r.htm]In one memo to Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois obtained by The Washington Times, Washington lawyer Miguel A. Estrada is singled out as "especially dangerous" because "he is Latino." Mr. Estrada, born in Honduras, withdrew his nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in September after being filibustered for eight months. [/URL]
oops...did I say bullshit, did I offend your ears, or did you get my drift? Are you going to argue semantics with me? Are you going to argue on the grounds we battle...are we going to talk about the rules under which we play?...Do you want to hear the truth?...
[i]"you don't use media to argue that the media is biased."[/i]
indeed....I agree...I was expressely NOT using the media to bash the media. The Canadians got it because Google is my friend :p Perhaps I tried to lead you to water and made it too fine a point to reach...that chief wiggles and Zeyad...on the ground...are better sources of the truth in Iraq is...that the mainstream media, for whatever reason, choose to portray it differently. I would implore you all to take a look at what soldiers and citizens of Iraq are saying about the happenstance of daily life in Iraq...and you can easily find people on both sides of the issue...(take a look for Iranians too while you are at it...yes...your foot dragging in the war on
Dictation...dictator...dictaphone...DICK!!!
gee...wonder how I got there...
Take a look at what they say...then take a look at what the media says...I can lead you to water, but I can't make you drink. (Too "cowboyish" for some of y'all?) You can determine very well for yourself which wells are poisoned...
Why do I need the media, when I can read for myself what someone has said...I can get the whole thing myself....I am connected...I can read...The sad thing is that the media's "summaries" of news events around the world are laced with projection and blame...they take a side, to be sure...and I can't say I am suprised....for no man is free from bias...eh? ;)
And they feed those "ignorant masses" the elite would say....those who take 30 minutes a day to take a look into what's going on in the world that day...and the picture they are painted by this -unbiased-...
[size=8]UNBELIEVABLE[/size]
The shit they're feeding grammas is unbelievable.
Ask Reuter's if terrorists exist...
I'm goign to start a "tradition of the other side" to put it diplomatically...I'm going to throw out shit out there I believe to be true, with no links...I'll let YOU prove my statements untrue (I don't think I'm talking to bd6 btw)
...hey bd6, the short of it is....Chief Wiggles is a National Guard guy serving over in Iraq, you can read his blog about what he does over there....lemme put it this way...he isn't in the media...(duh, reading skeelz)
Zeyad is a 24 year old dentist who resides in Baghdad...tell me how he is "media" again? (Can we cut the "your gramma is in the media since she has a blog" line of reasoning? How many other dumb arguments must I cut short? And do you really want to read it, and I really don't always want to have to write it)
So how is [i]HonestReporting.com[/i] "the media" again? (Can we not slip down the "because the Mormons advertise, they're a media conglomerate" fallacious line of reasoning) How is it that an organization can be immediately discounted?
I think BD6 just showed us how...
[SIZE=1]sorry[/size]
The Canadian example: I found after googling for media bias or somesuch...I could put the link for every google I do to support my arguments, but then how fn would that be...oh yeah...I'm not supposed to be justifying (dare I say attempt to "prove"...or is that too non-detemanistic a word for some of you? )...any of the BS I spew.
Anyway, I have little idea what way the media in Canada goes...I can't say I'm suprised after reading that article what the answer might be, but let's admit it, I saw "Canadian" and jumped on it ;)
where was I?
jxl..I've decided just to not read your crap...oops...I responded...I just don't feel like dealing with your next spew atm...(no guarantees) actually...could you give us more than two lines at a time so we can decipher what the hell you are saying? Oh wait...
...sorry about that your excellency...
"Lets bring Canada into this. Canada sucks. Begin."
mwuaahaahaaahaaaaaahaaaaaaa
lmao at the "I Hate Hippies!" I'm too tired to make a witty retort to my cs buds who call me a "damn dirty hippie" (oh wait, you think I'm a brainwashed neo-con!)
...little do you know...
[SIZE=1]as they say[/size]
Ahhh....I've finally reached variables comments...reading....
"but, if people didn't know that, were having the wrong conversation."
ahh one thing we can agree with (of course it will likely turn out to be that string of words which lead to differnet meanings...)
Well I look at the references sited...it's getting late and I'll be short (IOW blunt)
The sources for your link are full of shit...Bob Woodward...puhlease...The New York Times? puhlease....you've given me a summary of "history as fact," quoting lefties interpretations of events....why am I not suprised when I go and take a look to see it is the:
[b]Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq[/b]
...website...oh no possible bias at all there....variable, you're insulting your own self by using what some might very well consider incredibly biased interpreters of history. C'Mon, you can do better than that....and it's not like you've even really put forward a strong case in your quotes:
"Theres a lot of stuff on that page that I didn't have a chance to read through"
Then you'll forgive me for not tking the time to rip apart your biased source of "facts" since you don't even care enough to find the more outrageous claims in your link.
"but to just give some counter weight to your stats Orbit Rain"
So what are we talking here? Two ounces versus two tons?
"later on, even a day before they invaded kuwait, we were still selling them advanced technology devices that had dual use's in both civil, and military roles. ?
Yes, the day Iraq officially turned "out of control and must be stopped" You have to draw a line somewhere...but honestly your pittances tire me...that or its 4 in the morning...
[i]As shown perfectly by your story about the small bomb out side of that one families house, the american media plays off of danger and fear to drive up ratings.[/i]
[SIZE=8]OH MY GOD!!![/size]
Can you hear yourself? Please, when you type things out, take a look at what you write to see if ther eare any factual errors in there...it wasn't the American media there, that would be my
"How about Arab media? "
example...there were four examples btw
1) American Media Bias - "political bias or personal agenda "
2) Anti-Israel Bias - "slanted against Israel"
3) Bias in support of Islamic Extremism - "Slanted against peace"
4) Free Shot at Canada l-)
no my friend, people really don't know what's going on out there...and the mainstream media isn't giving an accurate let alone optimistic vision of what is going on it this world...blah blah vlah..."not their jobs...blah blah blah...
[i]"On the long term, the proven and document history of american interaction with iraq paints a much richer and truer picture of what we are really doing there, and what the real implications, and plans are for the future."[/i]
Please re-write that so an English speaker can understand it. And do tell, what are the "real implications, and plans are for the future."
Or are we still entertaining vacuous unsubstantiated implications as "facts" ?
If anyone has replied after variables post, my apolgies, I'll have to refresh that page tomorrow.
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"my story" ? I'll let that slide...It was Zeyad's story (this line goes somewhere "up there")
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The above is pretty much what I've written, rough and obviously unedited...
Friday, December 26, 2003
Foreign Affairs - A Strategy of Partnerships
"'America must stand firmly,' the president wrote, 'for the non-negotiable demands of human dignity: the rule of law; limits on the absolute power of the state; free speech; freedom of worship; equal justice; respect for women; religious and ethnic tolerance; and respect for private property.' "
AYE!
Thursday, December 25, 2003
Wednesday, December 24, 2003
Amir Taheri: Has France shot itself in the foot?
"The fact that France was not even informed of the Kaddhafi deal is seen in Paris as particularly painful. "
so good I had to blog it...
I'm pondering what the proper level of blogging is....or is this just a dire habit one must succomb to...I wonder....
Somewhere between "nothing" and "too much"
and it's not like Im still not reading...and I've been keeping myself prolix entertainment at arsclan.
Saturday, December 20, 2003
ArsClan.net Forums - Saddam Captured...
I'm only going to hit one point at a time if this thread keeps getting play, there's too much misinformed opinion trying to parade itself around here as fact to tackle it all in one post. I'm loathe to go back and counter all the BS prior to my last post. I got about three pages written down, then decided to hold it, and throw something out I think we might all agree on. Something I will endeavor to continue.
Does anyone here disagree with the removal of Hussein at this point?
Should he have been left in power?
I'd like to build from concensus and discuss the differences in opinion. I'm sure some of you will say "[URL=http://www.portal.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2003/12/17/do1702.xml&sSheet=/portal/2003/12/17/ixportal.html]Yes, but ...[/URL] "
-------------------------------
And please don't give me the opportunity to make an ass out of you because you assume you know my level of knowledge about what's going on in this world. I can make an ass out of myself very well on my own, thank you.
-----------------------------------------
[b] Media Bias[/b]
"but theres a lot more to this story, as there is any story that the mass media isn't covering."
There's a statement I can agree with. What follows is what I wrote a few days ago regarding the NYT: (ok, I cleaned and added a bit more.)
__________________________
The New York Times is a crock of shit. [URL=http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=9350_NYT_Bias_Watch ]Yesterday's Example - New York Times Bias Watch[/URL]
Relying on the New York Times for your news of the world is folly. In fact I regard Reuters, AP, the BBC, ABC, CNN, et. al. with great suspicion. I have no fuzzy lenses on my glasses that tell me that these words come from anything other than a person, sitting down in front of their keyboard, seeing the world through their own glasses. A world that differs from my perception of reality. Some of you have great misperceptions about America. I've no great new news for you: You create your own reality. Hey, it's your mind. If you choose to fill it with suspicion, pessimism and evil that's your choice. Its not going to stop me from moving my optimistic vision of America and the world forward.
It doesn't make your incorrect assumptions match reality
Start looking around for primary "news" sources. I've become particularly addicted to blogs the last few months. You can find first-hand "reporting" of what is going on at the ground level. I have found that I am often a day or two ahead of the DrudgeReport from all the blogs I read (on some things I'm a few months ahead) Did you hear about the marches in support of democracy and against terrorism across Iraq on the 10th of December? I heard about them forming in November. How can I take the "Paper of Record" seriously as it makes excuses about how it didn't even know about these demonstrations formed all over Iraq. How is it that *I* knew about these forming, while the NYT with its resources failed to even know about that event?
In a New York Post editorial, John Podhoretz writes:
[quote]
Unless you spend your days and nights trolling the Internet, you probably know nothing about this wondrous and hopeful event - for which the lion's share of the security was provided by Iraqi police.
The New York Times buried a paragraph on the march deep inside its daily Iraq story, giving far more prominence to a bank robbery in a Baghdad suburb. Nothing in the Washington Post.
Fox News Channel did a story, but the other cable channels, and the three national newscasts, said nothing about it.
...
We knew about the march beforehand, and about what happened at the march afterward, [b]from the most important "weblog" in the world right now[/b] - a blog called Healing Iraq. (You can find it at healingiraq.blogspot.com.) Its author is a 24-year-old dentist named Zeyad who lived as a boy and briefly as a teenager in London, which explains both the fluency of his English and his endearing lapses of grammar and spelling.
[/quote]
Go to HealingIraq and do a search for the text "Orbit Rain"
(I'’ll save you the trouble, Zeyad the author of HealingIraq writes:
[quote]::I would also like to thank the following people for their support, advice, encouragement and contribution to the blog which without I would never have been able to keep it up so far:: [/quote]Orbit Rain is one of the people thanked, oh yes, that IS me...
(his comments seem to be broken atm btw)
To those of you with thousands of posts here and there, I ask you this: What are YOU doing to make this world a better place for humanity? How involved and commited are YOU to solving the world's problems. How much do you Love this creation, mankind, and God? Sure, you're free to shoot your mouth off and spew utter nonsense all you want. But if you think you're making the world a better place, you're a clueless n00b...don't even get me started on "Patriotism"
[b]How many of those "facts" you know, match reality? [/b]
Bitching is easy (you can refer back to "Match play on Ars" and other threads for my views on bitching) But it all comes down to coming up with solutions instead of bitching, looking for blame, and despising each other's opinions. Some of your opinions are wrong, but I refuse to hate you for being a dumbass. ;-)
I'm tired of hearing "ya, but what about" after every fallacious charge I dispell, only to hear another line of bullshit. Have you heard this: "If you repeat a lie enough it becomes the truth." I get this feeling that some of you have heard the "truth" for so long that you can sing it in your sleep.
[b]What is true and what isn't?[/b]
Can you withstand the crucible?
_________________
But back to my point... The mainstream broadcast media is slanted to the left, big time.
From [URL=http://chiefwiggles.blog-city.com/read/229660.htm]Chief-Wiggles, Straight from Iraq[/URL]
[QUOTE]During the course of my daily activities I often take time to glance through the headlines of the so-called news being reported by our own media back in the states. The constant barrage of negative news the media chooses to report on bothers me, depicting quite a different view of what is transpiring over here.
I am forced to ponder the value of a news-media that only reports a distorted view of events based on what they determine will sell papers and magazines or news that supports their own biased political attitudes. What is the value of news that doesn't tell the true story, but only a one-sided biased interpretation predetermined before the news events even occur. Why should the political bias or personal agenda of the news agency be so intertwined with the facts of the event, so as to purposely influence the attitudes of the reader?
I personally do not want my news to be contrived or purposely limited so as to sway my own political views, in order to achieve someone else's own personal agenda. I am disturbed by this attempt by the media to deliberately direct the attitudes of the people of America and the world by preconceiving the interpretation and selection of what they determine to be news worthy. [/QUOTE]
slanted against Israel
[URL=http://www.honestreporting.com/articles/critiques/Security_Fence_Distortions.asp]Security Fence Distortions[/URL]
[QUOTE]Photos portraying the Israeli security fence as a massive wall, towering over hapless Palestinians, are in news outlets everywhere these days ¯ these are from AP and Reuters this week:
This wave of pictures distorts the physical reality of the security fence. While nearly all news photos show an enormous concrete structure, in fact only 3% of the security fence will be constructed from concrete. Such sections are in high terror-risk locations such as eastern Jerusalem (above) and adjacent to Kalkilya, where in June Palestinian snipers burrowed under the fence, shot and killed 7-year old Noam Leibovitch in her family car.
Fully 97% of the barrier will be a chain-link fence:
[/QUOTE]
Slanted against peace
How about Arab media? This from healingiraq.blogspot.com Sunday, October 19, 2003 (I'd link directly but its unpossible)
[QUOTE]Most of the attacks are overrated. I know this. The following story is an example:
One afternoon I had just got back from work and was going to change my clothes when suddenly *BOOM* The windows shattered all around me in pieces, there was a smell of something like gunpowder. I looked out but there was dust everywhere. I remembered that my brother was outside. I carefully opened the door, and to my surprise found 4 American soldiers in our garden, they were knocking on my grandmothers house door, I worriedly asked them what happened. They told me to stay away. I offered to open the door for them, which I did. They entered and went upstairs all the way to the roof, I stood in the hall with one of them who informed me that a bomb exploded behind their humvee just in front of the house, no one was hurt. They were suspecting someone attacked them from this house. The others came down, apologized to me and my grandmother (who didn't understand what was going on anyway) then left the house.
I went out to find a crater in front of the house. My god that was close. By a miracle nobody in the street was hurt. The idiots who planted that bomb were dumb enough to put it inside a sewers drainage which absorbed the shock of the blast. The only damage was the sound it made. Most of our windows were shattered.
After a while the soldiers left the place. Suddenly a reporter and a cameraman from Al-Arabiyah station appeared, they were so fast. I crossed the street to take a look. They were talking to some bearded guy who I hadn't seen before in the neighbourhood. He was enthusiastically talking about the humvee that flew in the air, and the 4 injured soldiers. I didn't see any of that. I was bewildered. Someone next to me told me that nothing like that happened at all. My brother and a couple of friends of his started to chant in front of the camera: LIAR, LIAR,... Everyone laughed at this, but the bearded guy started to swear by Allah. Someone pointed out that the bearded guy wasn't even in the area when the bomb exploded. Uh oh, I thought, he seemed to know about it before it happened. The cameraman violently shoved my brother and his friend aside telling them to shut up. I stepped forward and gave hime a push from behind. He almost fell over. I warned him that the camera he was holding would be in a thousand pieces if he dared touch my brother again. He backed up. A neighbour of ours hollered them to come and see the damage in their house. They refused to do so and left.
In the evening, Al-Arabiyah reported the following: 3 Americans badly injured and one Jeep damaged at .... in Baghdad. They showed the bearded guy talking and edited the rest of it.
Thats the way media in present day Iraq works.
[/QUOTE]
Canadians Too?!
[URL=http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/comment/story.html?id=35097563-510d-400e-92b7-31e0eed99180]CBC Bias?![/URL]
[QUOTE]To summarize, here are the impressions a casual viewer might have taken from Monday night's CBC news: (1) Iraqis still love Saddam, and so his capture has only enraged them; (2) Despite Mr. Bush's "gloating," things will get worse; (3) Saddam's trial will be a propaganda trick engineered to re-elect a Republican president; (4) To the extent Saddam did anything bad, America was the real villain; and (5) Saddam's capture is meaningless anyway because Osama is still on the loose.[/QUOTE]
The media can say whatever the hell it wants, and you can too...doesn't make it right or true. It goes on and on...some of your minds are poisoned by this bias...
I bet you can guess who I'm talking about ;-)
....but I'll stop here and let someone else pick the next bit of misinformation to dispell.
Orbit Rain
[I]...call my tittie Ars Prolix...[/I]
[SIZE=4]Coming Soon to a Thread Near You[/SIZE]
[IMG]http://216.93.175.73/images/uploads/ChiracSaddam.jpg[/IMG]
[SIZE=1](image bandwidth with courtesy and permission from right-thinking.com)[/SIZE]
French Premier Jacques Chirac and Vice President Saddam Hussein of Iraq
in
[SIZE=7]A GAY DAY IN PARIS[/SIZE]
aka [I]crooked arms[/I]
The Countries who sold conventional weapons to Saddam Hussein from 1973 to 2002:
USSR (UNSC Member) -- 57%
France (UNSC Member) -- 13%
China -- 12%
Czechoslovakia -- 7%
Poland -- 4%
Brazil -- 2%
Egypt -- 1%
Romania -- 1%
Denmark -- 1%
Libya -- 1%
USA (UNSC Member) -- 1%
[URL=http://projects.sipri.se/armstrade/Trnd_Ind_IRQ_Imps_73-02.pdf]source[/URL]
Who wants to lose an argument (or come to agreement) step up! It's a shallow mind that can't be changed ;-)
OpinionJournal - Best of the Web Today
"His arrest 'has stirred unrest and embarrassment in Belgium,' the paper adds. Enlightened European opinion, after all, can understand why Arabs would be eager to murder Jews, but blowing up a European post office is another matter entirely. How embarrassing for the Belgians that al-Nawara apparently doesn't share their finely tuned sense of moral nuance."
Damn fine writing Taranto.
Friday, December 19, 2003
Al-Ahram Weekly | Special | Close encounter with a US diplomat
"I only ask you to read my words when I say them. I have this funny feeling that lots of people here do not read what we say and do not look at what we do; they only hear the views of others about what we have said, or what we have done, despite every effort we make to propagate our views. "
Excellent reading...I should be blogging more
Monday, December 15, 2003
OpinionJournal - Best of the Web Today
A million Saddams? All we can say is bring 'em on! Come out of those holes with your hands up!
TIME FOR AN OPINION POLL!
All of the Arab world...statistically, western run. Herro ?!
;-)
Sunday, December 14, 2003
Saturday, December 13, 2003
testing 123
I continue my machine moving endurance test...making sure all blogging machines are functional.
wish me luck ;-)
MEDIA VS. HOPE - New York Post
"We knew about the march beforehand, and about what happened at the march afterward, from the most important 'weblog' in the world right now - a blog called Healing Iraq. (You can find it at healingiraq.blogspot.com.) Its author is a 24-year-old dentist named Zeyad who lived as a boy and briefly as a teenager in London, which explains both the fluency of his English and his endearing lapses of grammar and spelling. "
True true true, MY emphasis added.
European Union Constitution Talks Fold
"'This is not about national interests,'"
oh yes it is you silly person.
Friday, December 12, 2003
puffy and itchy and red
Ponder this...I didn't grow up reading the newspaper.
My eyes would get all puffy and itchy and red .
Thank You Lord,
For protecting me from that habit.
Constitution Deadlock Plunges EU Summit Into Gloom
"The summiteers briefly put aside wrangling over the constitution to adopt a security strategy which is designed to make the EU a more effective actor in world affairs and prevent divisions of the sort that rocked it over the U.S. war on Iraq."
How 'bout a security strategy that actually prevents genocide, and keeps one group from killing the other...one that includes enough balls for you fuckers to get off your asses and do something in a timely manner when mass slaughter might be going on in or near your borders...
...is that too much to ask?
L:/
Thursday, December 11, 2003
Lessig Blog: Comments on post "speaking of new speak, a report from the Archives"
light blogging of late, moving the content of my machines around a bit...Here's an amusing bit I posted in response to Lessig's blog...in case he deletes it ;-)
____________________________________________________________________
Were you being “too subtle” or are you changing your story? And I note a bit of (comment-order) editing yourself Larry…Why did you move my opening comment down, I wonder. At least you got it before the way back machine could cache it! Take a look in the mirror as you cast your stones.
I don’t think you were being subtle at all. I certainly wasn’t. The “subtlety” of your original post shines through with your follow-up: “especially in this case where the president’s position about the “end” of the war has evolved significantly.”
And how has it evolved? Do tell…please illustrate with primary sources. I’ll take Bush, Fleischer or McClellan to make it easy on you. But just because *you* say it doesn’t make it so….
…but hey, why not take a “too subtle” partisan stab hidden in a message pondering software configuration management issues in web publishing? Oh wait, got those two reversed…not too subtle, eh? So in your response to my first post to your blog, I’m thinking you’ve cast yourself as either a liar or a poor communicator.
“Blogs have such a convention — update notices. The same should exist here.”
Is there a parity in purpose shared between blogs and whitehouse.gov? Would you be happy with a notice “last updated Aug 18, 2003” or are you looking for redlining? I imagine whitehouse.gov serves to get the president’s message out as accurately as possible, while a blog serves whatever purpose its author(s) desire. (An update notice is a feature, not a convention by the way, whereas your spinning is a distraction and not a feature.) Are you positing the presentations must be equivalent? Refinements and corrections in should be made easier for critics to find and pull apart, to accuse conspiracy and cast aspersion? I don’t think that’s the purpose of whitehouse.gov.
I still don’t see where the _content_ of the president’s speech changed on those two web pages…dare I say I’m not surprised we’re picking apart the form of these two pages and not the content?
I really shouldn’t have pared my first reply down to one paragraph. It dripped of “subtlety.”
p.s. Yeah SeanB, you’re a Republican…suuuure…the lying continues…like flies to…
____________________________________________________________________
Thursday, December 04, 2003
The Arab's 'Berlin Wall'
"
There is an old Arab saying “My brother and I against our cousin, but my cousin and I against a stranger”. That reveals a great deal about Arab culture. There are multiple layers and degrees of loyalties isolating Arabs from the outside world. What matters is blood relationships, ancestry, tribalism and nationalism. To Arab/Moslems the rules on the inside differ from those on the outside and what they tell themselves in private differs from what they tell the rest of the world. To them this is not lying, it is simply the other face presented to the non-Moslem world.
The invisible wall protects dictatorships breeding fear in their citizens and abusing religion for political gain and power. Arab news organisations are the propaganda machines of the power hungry leaders who work their people into a frenzy of anger, envy and paranoia against the West and Israel. Many of these leaders have more love for their Swiss bank accounts than for their people, who on every occasion have to express their adoration and loyalty to these dictators. Pictures of these dictators are everywhere and songs praising them on every radio station.
Inside the wall the warrier mentality and the glory of battles are put on a pedestal, but in public they say theirs is a religion of peace. The result is a militant population ready to sacrifice their lives and that of their children to Jihad. The militant factions and warlords could threaten the leadership from within; more than what Arab dictators ever bargained for. Thus, the people’s urge for war is redirected against the West and non-moslems. Truth, logic, fairness, appreciation of humanity as a whole and striving to find one’s own identity is not of value and practically non-existant. Loyalty to the clan is number one and it does not matter how good or bad your clan is. If Saddam Hussein is head of your clan, you have no choice but to abide. If you dissagree with and abandon the clan no other one would take you in. Membership is strictly given through blood relations and the fact that both clans are Moslem does’nt help much. Discention guarantees being ostracized.
When Arabs/Moslems face the World arena, they find their internal views in conflict with international law and values, and have to put on a different face. Changing one’s religion from Islam to, say, Christianity, is punishable by death. In 1981, Moslem countries pressured the United Nations to water down a declaration on the elimination of religious discrimination, in order that the language used not embarrass them as violators of human rights laws. The original language declaring the right “to adopt” or “change” ones religion was removed and only the right “to have” a religion was kept. The United Nations can be corrupted just like any government; food for thought for those who think one world government is the solution.
"
________________
and no...I don't remember how to indent.
Wednesday, December 03, 2003
Chinese military ready for "necessary" casualties over Taiwan
"If they refuse to come to their senses and continue to use referenda as an excuse to seek Taiwan independence, they will push Taiwan compatriots into the abyss of war,' he said."
Hey, we're ready to die...
Premier Wen Jiabao has indicated China was willing to "pay any price" to deter Taiwan independence, and these prices were outlined by Major General Peng Guangqian, also with the Academy.
I guesss you are too!
:D
"They include boycotts of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games"
oh please
decreasing foreign investment, worsening foreign relations, economic recession, and "necessary" casualties of the PLA, he said in the magazine.
Worsening foreign relationships? Gimme a break...we aren't fucking blind over here...they're already -not- good over here for those of us paying attention. You're lucky public populations are mostly indifferent to the plight of your citizens.
"All these prices are bearable when compared with the Taiwan issue, which is of the highest interest for the Chinese nation," he said
...keep cryng over that spilled milk.
"If Taiwan separatists want to gamble on it (by pushing for independence), they will pay a heavy price and be defeated with shame. We will definitely intervene."
...as will we...
China, which regards Taiwan as part of Chinese territory awaiting reunification, has repeatedly threatened to attack the island should it declare formal independence.
Hey, tough shit...changes in government (yours in this case) usually results in changes of territory...be glad you have so much and stfu.
Tuesday, December 02, 2003
WorldNetDaily: Palestinian people do not exist
"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct 'Palestinian people' to oppose Zionism.
For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan. "
"drive them to the sea"
So is turnabout fair-play then?
WorldNetDaily: A U.N. grab for Internet control?
"Developing nations said their interests would be better served if the Internet were managed by an intergovernmental group, such as the United Nations or one of its arms. "
Bullshit, the oppressive regimes of the world would have an easier time controlling their populations if they can get control of domain names under the umbrella of the UN.
Supreme Court sidesteps politically charged gun rights case
"Gorski said he was surprised by the court's action Monday. 'I guess the Supreme Court thinks its acceptable to deprive 20 percent of the people of a major constitutional right,' he said."
Every fucking day we hear a story about young women geting raped, kidnapped or murdered. Convicted sex offendenders walk the streets around us. Our country is coming under the rule of lawyers and not of its citizens. These minorities of the population have too great a sway over the direction of our country.
(I'm talking about numbers of people, not persons "of color", in case you are so thin skinned and so sensitive that you think I happen to be talking about your cultural heritage....to you I say "fucking grow up dumbass" We are *all* cultural minorites. If you don't believe me, then tell me what culture is in the majority. The correct answer is "American" by the way)
When did we empower the courts to make law?
What can we going to do about officers of the court who fail to uphold their oath to uphold the constitution?
Monday, December 01, 2003
