aid and comfort to the enemy

Jane Fonda, Cindy Sheehan, and other anti-war protesters are often accused of giving "aid and comfort to the enemy", and "demoralizing our troops" with their unsupportive stance. If that is so, then how would one suppose the fiasco in New Orleans will be viewed by both the Enemy and the Troops.
The enemy cant help but be thrilled. If there would be any doubt about the effectiveness of an attack on the U.S., the mis-handling of Katrina by just about everyone involved will have laid that to rest. Make no mistake, the country will be feeling the effect of this disaster viscerally for months to come, and New Orleans will probably never recover (unless one considers strip-malls, luxury vacation condos, and the inevitably Disney-fied rebuilding of the French Quarter to be recovering).
As for the troops, how many National Guardsmen are watching the disaster and thinking, "if disaster hits my hometown and I'm not there, who will help my family"? To say nothing of what Guardsmen from Lousiana must be feeling right now.
So, who's been more damaging to the security of the United States? Cindy Sheehan (who, however she felt before, during, and after, did sacrifice a son) or George W. Bush (who has sacrificed nothing but partisanship, scientific credibility, our nation's reputation, the goodwill of the world, and 1887 soldiers who were not his children).

Ask yourself this question: Do you feel more secure now than you did 4 years ago?

BushCo stock - falling?

I havent been paying attention to the news about New Orleans, getting most of the details second hand from my wife, and most of the opinions about the flooding from various blogs. But now I read a BBC report discussing how the U.S. Media is finally getting some backbone in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the massive governmental incompetence that accompanied it (before, during, and after). Lets hope it's true, because it's about time. The Press has been letting the Neo-Cons walk all over them for years, blithely accepting almost everything they have said at face-value, never asking the hard questions, even when handed the most obviously egregious falsehoods.
If you want to hear reporting the way it ought to be done, listen to the BBC sometime, and realise what you're missing.

an article on flooding in New Orleans

I got this link from Ran Prieur, who says it's from four years ago. It's written in past tense, and makes no mention of anything past about 2001, so I guess it could be. If it is, then Scientific American ought to do a better job with their documentation. Still, whenever the date, it's an interesting piece.

Just one view from the inside

Faiza is the mother of a family of bloggers from Baghdad. She has appearantly left Iraq recently, the last straw being the abduction of her son, Khalid.
She has a very low opinion of the current process of drafting the new Iraqi constitution. Most of her concern revolves around the American interference. I myself have questions about the reports that we recieve even here in America. For instance, why are there "deadlines" that "must" be met for completing it? Why do pundits and officials keep talking about elements that could be included in the draft but "shouldnt", such as creating a tripartite federation in Iraq? Shouldnt these questions be left to the Iraqis?

Additionally, her son Raed posts a piece of information on the recent tragedy on the bridge in Baghdad that I hadnt heard from the news (though he cant do it without first pooh-poohing the New Orleans tragedy as compared to the ongoing situation in Baghdad). According to Rael, the bridge where the stampede occured was the only open bridge to a shrine which thousands of people were making a pilgrimage to. I have to wonder if American ignorance (or prejudice) led to the closing of the bridges (even during a time of pilgimage), and so to the deaths. No doubt Security will be cited, but Americans do not make pilgrimages like Muslims do, and few can conceive of thousands of people walking to a single place at the same time. (A visual helper: Imagine the Million Man March, and then imagine that it's moving.)

Finally, a caution: This is, of course, the Internet. You can find almost anything on it. Some of it it true, some of it is definitely not. I dont know whether these people are real, or some sort of propaganda machine cooked up by "anti-American" forces. I do, however, believe that it is real. Just as in religion, Faith must substitute for Fact here. And like religion, my faith does not diminish yours.

how to catch a fly (well, maybe)

this little piece is from a much larger piece at Milan's Daily:

"When a housefly lands on a surface, do not infect your brain with any of hatred, frustration, or pity. Assume a cold, calculating mode. Remind yourself that you are doing this just because you can. Alternatively, you can adopt the Matrix philosophy and chant on: 'There's no housefly.' However, I doubt that you'll look cool with that chant, because:

1. you're not Neo
2. you dont have cool shades
3. Neo is too cool to be bothered by flies, and
4. There IS a housefly.

When you have calmed your mind, and that your intentions are not impured by your emotions, lower your cupped palm on the surface near the fly, although sufficiently far enough so that it does not realize that it is about to get Schnooked. You are now going to sweep across the surface, and jerk your palm fully closed just as you are about to touch the fly. Almost always, it will notice your movement, and will take a flight. Therefore, you should estimate the displaced position the fly will be in."

I just thought it was funny.

Justice dies

Sigh.
I cant say as I liked the man, but you had to respect him. And now he's gone.
BushCorp has issued a statement expressing sadness at the death Saturday night of Chief Justice William Rehnquist.
He knew he was going to get to fill the chair anyway, so I suppose there's not too much elation on Pennsylvania St. tonight. Are y'all in America ready for a sea change in court decisions?
John Paul Stevens, Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy, David Hackett Souter, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer. Soon, most likely, John G. Roberts, jr. These people, plus whatever horror BushCo puts in charge of the court (all thinking beings must fear and reject a Scalia Court) will be the future Supreme Court of the United States of America.
These people (or more likely, five of these people, with Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer dissenting) will be making decisions that will change everything.
Soon the country will be humming to the tune of activist judges making decisions that will set the social achievements of this country back (assuming the continued power of the Neo-Cons for even another three years) to pre-Roosevelt days (I'm talking Franklin, but I fear Teddy).
Maybe I'll let someone from The Nation say it:

The truth is, there is hardly an area of life that will not be affected by the judicial appointments made in the coming years. Will the courts continue to dismantle your right to sue state governments in federal courts? By 5 to 4, the Supreme Court decided that federal protections against age discrimination don't apply to state workers. (More recently it upheld the Americans with Disabilities Act--insofar as it applied to the right of citizens not to have to crawl up the courthouse steps.) On the same states' rights theory, by 5 to 4 it threw out parts of the Violence Against Women Act. The Patriot Act? Immigrants' rights? The environment? Ballot issues, à la Florida? Whom do you want in charge of choosing the men and women who will decide the big questions sure to arise? (from the Nation, October 25, 2004)
(that last line refers to the then-upcoming Presidential election. We all know how that turned out, dont we)

If this doesnt keep you awake at night, then consider this: the man who is about to choose two Supreme Court judges, one of whom will be the leader of that court, is a man who thinks Intelligent Design should be taught in schools! I find myself missing Dan Quayle.
And he's got three more years. THREE MORE YEARS!!!

That's enough for now, I'm too filled with despair to go on.

anarchy in the NO

I'm reprinting this verbatim because it might be hard to find on the blog page it's actually at:

The View from the Hampton Inn
Heard just now from an old journalism school friend, now living in Atlanta, who sent the following desperate message by e-mail:

I am hoping you can help. I am friends with a NOPD police officer Elizabeth Garcia. Things are MUCH MUCH worse in New Orleans. The inmates took over Central Lock up in New Orleans and took over the armory. They are targeting police and the police are under seige. She and 9 other police officers are running out of ammuntion and are being held down at the Hampton Inn across from the Convention Center. She just got her cell phone access and is calling everyone she knows to get out the information. They need assistance immediately. Please help in any way you can.

I called my friend just now to verify this. She said things have improved a bit since she sent the mail earlier this morning. She said that she got it to CNN, who relayed it to New Orleans authorities -- Ofc. Garcia couldn't even call the people across town to let them know. My friend, Lee, said that she spoke by phone to Officer Garcia (who, again, can't call anybody locally, but who can call out of the 504 and 225 area codes), who said the criminal gangs have automatic weaponry because they looted the police armory. According to Lee, Ofc. Garcia told her that the police can't help people because "anybody in a uniform is being targeted" by these gangs. NOPD is receiving reports of children being raped and killed by these thugs, but they are outgunned and powerless. "It's complete and total anarchy," Lee quoted Ofc. Garcia as saying.

I ask you: WHERE IS THE ARMY? WHY ARE WE LEAVING THESE AMERICANS TO SUFFER AND POSSIBLY DIE? Honestly, folks, I cannot believe federal authorities are leaving these police officers and civilians to this. Is this America, or Somalia? The government has failed. Is failing. It is an outrage. I promise you this: two weeks from now, two weeks from now, when the immediate crisis has passed, and the people who have had to live in the Superdome and Convention Center, and the police officers get out and tell their stories, we are all going to be thunderstruck by what our state and federal government allowed to happen because it did not respond quickly with a massive show of force to prevent anarchy. And the politicians will have hell to pay. I honestly think we can scarcely grasp how much Katrina will change American politics and society.


posted by Rod Dreher @ Sep 2, 1:28 PM

Normally I would consider Rod too conservative for my tastes, but he does at least try to be balanced, for which I'm willing to forgive a lot. Here though, I think he's nailed things dead on.

I may just have to hang loose here for a while, posting interesting stuff, not commenting too much. I find it ridiculous that we are even in the situation experienced in New Orleans, and I dont know if I can discuss it with the rational level required.
I will say this; it's obvious that the level of preparedness here has not been good; not only before the storm, but in the ability to react to it afterwards. I am beginning to become worried about the ability of our disaster relief forces to respond in the event of another terrorist attack. It's not like no one knew this could happen. I remember talk of this scenario last year. So a levy broke, rather than a surge overtopping it. The result is the same either way: a flooded city, misery, and death.

well, obviously they deserved it

At least, that's according to one Christian organization. In an e-mail received by Eve's Apple New Orleans is merely paying for it's unGodly crimes. Yep, abortion clinics, homosexual gatherings, jazz. It's all right there in New Orleans, or was until this week.
Seriously, what is the matter with these people? They sure arent my mother's Christians. The lesson that I remember most from church was that of the Casting of the First Stone. Judgment is reserved for God, as I recall.
Personally, I like to think that God, whatever form He may take, would be less petty than any human being, including, say for instance, myself. That He would not crush lesser beings simply because they displeased him. Such behavior would certainly provoke fear, but unless Might Makes Right, then it would only qualify to produce the Worship of a Bully.
I left the fold of the Church because I could not stand to see the hypocrisy in so many of it's members. I sometimes think, "if only God would come down and explain things, preferably in a parental-spanking kind of way, to these folks." Of course, he hasnt, any more than than he has punished "sinners". My little wish is a human wish. I am not God. I have opinions on the subject, but no one has anything like Truth to offer, only Faith. And however powerful faith may be, your right to swing your faith ends at the tip of my nose. You are not God either.
Katrina is no more God's wrath than is the death of anyone who has been mourned with the cry, "why must the good die young?" They mustnt die young, any more than sinners must. And if there is a plan, how arrogant is it to assume that you know what that plan is, in any detail?

The Phantom Prof's Word Exercise #2

Do this thing here, it's from the Phantom Professor:

1. In August 2005, Dallas was as hot as _________.


2. She was as nervous as ___________.


3. Slow-talker? Conversation with him is like __________.


4. Watching them exchange vows, she couldn't help but think they were as compatible as ______and _______.


5. Her eyes were as ________ as _________.

Here are some of my answers:

1. In August 2005, Dallas was as hot as _________.
   • a habañero milkshake.
   • a Baptist preacher's ire at a gay Wickan wedding.
   • bare thighs on an open convertable's vinyl seat


2. She was as nervous as ___________.
   • Karl Rove in a room full of Frenchmen.


3. Slow-talker? Conversation with him is like __________.
   • a foot-dragging contest at a turtle round-up


4. Watching them exchange vows, she couldn't help but think they were as compatible as ______and _______.
   • communion wafers and jism
   • a soldier and a plow.


5. Her eyes were as ________ as _________.
   • damning as a street preacher's rhetoric
   • dull as a webcam on a houseplant
   • red as an Oklahoma mud pie

I havent yet sent my answers to the prof herself (which she asks you to, actually), but I'm not yet totally satisfied with mine yet.

Know when to hold'em

So, was everybody impressed by Hurricane Katrina? I know I was. Are you ready for more? Well, of course not, who is. I suppose the obvious rant for this entry is global warming. Now, dont start thinking, "Oh boy, here goes Dave again, stupid Liberal!"
Quit that! Take your fingers out of your ears and stop that damn humming! I'm not yet convinced that this is a case of global warming, or that global warming is even happening (in a man-made sense). I say this because there's still a lot of debate going on (even though it seems to be pretty lopsided),and because this is a global question. In case no one noticed, the globe is a really, really, really big place. I'm not sure that 5, 10, 20, or even 100 years is enough time to tell what's going on.
No, my problem is not with the science, which I'm still waiting on, but the policy.
Imagine this: You're cold, and you need a sweater, so you go to the store to buy one (this is America, after all). They have two choices. One is wool sweater. It'll keep you warm, but you know it's going to be a bit itchy. The other is incredibly, magically soft, and is guaranteed never to be too warm or too cold; the drawback (and you knew there was one) is that there's about a 50/50 chance that the sweater will suddenly sever your head from your neck. Which sweater do you choose.
Personally speaking, I'm wearing wool.
Maybe politicians are made of sterner stuff. After, almost nobody (except maybe really rich kids) ever get to the heights of power without taking a few big chances. Maybe they would take the magic sweater. But in theory, this is supposed to be a representive government. If they want to wear the magic sweater, fine with me, a 50% decrease in politicians would suit me fine. But I dont appreciate them making me wear it, too.
Too much analogy for you? Okay, here it is in a nutshell: If there is a chance that we are making life unlivable on this planet (the only one we have so far), wouldnt it be wise to stop doing the things that may be destroying it?
Years from now, if further studies show we're wrong, that we havent been warming the planet, then we can all slap ourselves on the forehead and have a good laugh with our grandchildren. Then we'll all go out, get into our electric hum-vees (charged with renewable resources) and go have a picnic someplace in the clean air.