The other day Pakistan's Gen. Pervez Musharraf took time off from his hectic schedule of trying to survive assassination attempts to pay tribute to someone who, alas, had been less successful at dodging the attentions of his killers: A week ago, during the cricket World Cup, Bob Woolmer, the coach of the Pakistani national cricket team, was murdered in the Pegasus Hotel in Kingston, Jamaica, in what Mark Shields (not the American TV pundit but the veteran Scotland Yard man leading the police investigation) called extraordinary and evil circumstances."
"This nation will always remember him for the joys he brought into the lives of millions of Pakistanis," said Musharraf, awarding Bob Woolmer posthumously the Sitarae-Imtiaz, or Star of Excellence. "The cricketing world and Pakistan, in particular, will find it extremely difficult to fill the void Bob's death has left behind."
Unless you're one of America's many cricket fans pause for sound of crickets chirping you probably didn't even notice this news. When Anna Nicole meets an untimely end in the Caribbean, there's 24/7 coverage. But in Pakistan, the West Indies, Britain and many other places, Woolmer's death is Anna Nicole multiplied a gazillionfold. I was talking to a prominent London journalist in Chicago the other day when his cell phone rang and he was told to hop on a plane to Kingston and get cracking on the murder.
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#2
thx ryuge, re Murder of Bob Woolmer; quite the who done it.
be nice if the dicks [detectives] were to winnow out the facts in this case, the conspirators and perp/s, assuming he was murdered for knowing too much or gambling.
There's this guy on the case now, Mark Shields former Scotland Yard detective superintendent leading the investigation. But You have to wonder if the Jamaican authorities didn't destroy any evidence. considering..
In Japan, there is nothing unusual about the most popular boy in school waxing his eyebrows to have defined, pencil thin arches. No looks sideways at a grown woman in pigtails or a businessman with a snoopy charm dangling from his cell phone. Indeed, the ultimate compliment is to be kawaii, or cute. Thanks to the iconic status of cuteness, a multitude of companies and government agencies capitalise on it by using cuddly cartoon characters to gain mass appeal. Recently, the Japanese military introduced Prince Pickles, an adorable wide-eyed mascot who shakes hands with grateful -- and, of course, cute -- Iraqis, to win public support for the transition to a more active military role.
In an ironic twist, it is this same culture of cute that seems to have bred a phobia of that epitome of cuteness: babies. Since the 1970s, the birth rate has dropped significantly in industrialised countries throughout the world. Japan, however, stands alone with the lowest percentage of youth and the highest percentage of elderly. . . .
Japans dwindling population is not due to a cultural fear of babies as I initially -- and absurdly -- suggested. Of course, the Japanese coo and caw over babies as much as any other society. Indeed, it is a universal trait for adults to find babies adorable, as this is an infants natural defence mechanism against being abandoned in times of distress. Instead, Japans predicament is due to a complex combination of socio-economic and psychological factors. These include the sexual revolution, the introduction of the birth control pill, increased independence for women, long working hours, small living quarters, the lingering effects of economic recession, and the exorbitant costs of having and raising a child.
One of the most controversial reasons advanced is the trend of "parasite singles", or young adults who continue to live with their parents into their 20s and 30s. As their name implies, parasite singles leech on their parents, typically paying no rent and contributing little to household duties. These young people typically work at part-time jobs and then fill in their time with shopping, eating out and, if they are so inclined, partying with friends into the wee hours of the morning. Academics are engaged in an ongoing debate concerning whether parasite singles are the cause or the consequence of Japans economic and societal problems.
I imagine the truth lies somewhere between the two extremes, but the result is the same in any case: many young Japanese find lifestyles involving large disposable incomes and little responsibility too enticing to give up. Therefore, they put off marriage and children until much later in life or forgo them completely. Yet, none of these factors are unique to Japan. Even parasite singles exist in other nations . . . .
Why, then, is Japans youth population so uniquely low? The cause is not so much a baby-phobia as it is a fear of the sacrifices that accompany babies and children. As a parent, it becomes increasingly difficult to present yourself as cute when you spend your money on diapers instead of on designer clothing. Not only does a parent have less disposable income, but also significantly less time to go to the gym and lose those pregnancy pounds or sympathy weight. There is nothing cute about cellulite. Cuteness is a charming and apt attribute of puppies, babies and children, but it is something that we are intended to mature beyond. Beauty, on the other hand, is something that that we spend our entire lifetimes striving to achieve. While I would not describe most parents who sacrifice their money, time, and appearance for their children as cute, I would certainly describe them as beautiful.
Jennifer Van House Hutcheson is a freelance journalist living and working in Okayama, Japan.
Posted by: Mike ||
03/26/2007 11:52 ||
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#1
But the original Hello Kitty vibrator is no longer being manufactured.
#3
"The cause is not so much a baby-phobia as it is a fear of the sacrifices that accompany babies and children."
Learned this from the best at it - the Euros.
If the West can't come up with a solution for this in the next 100 years it is finished.
If you craft a society (the modern socialist welfare state) which essentially takes over the role of families, why would you be surprised if people stop having them?
It's true that most people will have families whether or not they will need kids to for care them when they get old and infirm. It's also sadly true that a vast chunk of humanity will NOT have kids without this motivation. What is needed, then, is for the West to craft its society so that those that fall into the second category are given a VERY powerful incentive to be procreate.
Eliminating the socialist welfare state should be job #1. Reestablishing the family as the basic social unit, instead of the state, is a close second.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
03/26/2007 15:09 Comments ||
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#4
The Japanese abortion industry is the cause of Japan's decliing birth rate. The other reasons are irrelavant as long as you don't look at this. Japan has a massive number of abortions a year. Japanese men just will not wear a condom so it's "birth control".
The moon people are a strange xenophobic bunch. They think and act in strange ways. Their materialism and concern with "face" doom them to screwed up and unhappy lives. This is just one facet of it.
#5
While living in Japan years ago, I heard about an advertising campaign for a web browser, for which they had licensed the use of Woody Woodpecker. A software company was about to launch a media blitz, when a native English speaker brought the whole thing to a screeching halt. The advertising slogan they had chosen was "Touch Woody, The Internet Pecker."
#8
RUSSIAN WOMEN = IRANIAN WOMEN, etc. > stop having babies becuz they no longer trust Society = the State = State Welfarism to make life easier andor wealthier in order to have large families. Socialist convenience was at best TEMPORARY - now LIFE/QUALITY-OF-LIFE IS GETTING HARDER WID NO CHANGE IN SIGHT, AND NOT EVEN OWG = SUPER-SOCIALISM/WELFARISM/GOVTiSM IS GONNA HELP. Commies = Jihadis, etc > despite being aware of the Nation-Society getting poorer andor demographically suffering, THE COMMON ANSWER IS MORE AND BIGGER GUBMINT + GUBMINT-CENTRIC CONTROL - MORE BUREACRACY, MORE WELFARISM, MORE REGULATIONS AND ANTI-LIBERTARIAN CONTROLS. There's always the AK behind the [womens]head(s).
#1
I read the piece by Halleh Ghorashi. Total multiculti pop-trickcyclist bullcrap. The mean old Dutch just have to allow the Other to have its own space... They did. That's how come Pym Fortune and Theo Van Gogh are dead and Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a refugee now living in America.
Islam is a violent disease that needs to be eliminated from Western society and people like Ghorashi who spout this kind of nonsense are fellow-travelers at best or practicing taqiyya. She, and her coreligionists, need to be shipped back to country of origin posthaste. They bring nothing but trouble and religious murder to Holland.
Posted by: Mac ||
03/26/2007 10:39 Comments ||
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The link goes to Democratic Underground, make sure you have all your shots. But apparently it's not all sunbeams and lollipops in the Workers' Paradise, and the far progressive wing ain't happy. Money quote: "Funny, I would think a grassroots org would focus more on representing its members than supporting politicians."
#1
Maybe heard O'REILLY's rants agz the Far/Hard Left using the WOT as cover to impose an anti-American Seculqr Socialist Progressive agenda on America; or HANNITY'S AMERICA this AM, where Juan Williams' slight comments [in response to Mark Levin] have IMO seriously damaged the credibility of the Dems.
#2
Seems to have alot of effet on the foreign powers in congress for such a crazy place. It is like letting a rave party control the country. So befitting.
Not too many redeaming qualities does this web site for the lurid bring forth.
But if you are going to have a web site solely dedicated to bearing false witness and hatred, I guess this would be the model to chose.
They actually think we have something to talk about.
#5
Damn! Sucha cool site, gottem animater .gif and emoticons going big time. Gotta like that.
I need an animated .gif of a Unicorn turning into a VietNam Service Metal turning into a Peace Symbol turning into a rolled $20 Bill turning into a massive outbreak of gray hair in a mirror.
#6
I need an animated .gif of a Unicorn turning into a VietNam Service Metal turning into a Peace Symbol turning into a rolled $20 Bill turning into a massive outbreak of gray hair in a mirror.
#7
"I need an animated .gif of a Unicorn turning into a VietNam Service Metal turning into a Peace Symbol turning into a rolled $20 Bill turning into a massive outbreak of gray hair in a mirror."
...turning into a bottle of /iagra, and finally fading into a box of Depends.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
03/26/2007 20:21 Comments ||
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#8
That left a mark, Ship.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/26/2007 20:47 Comments ||
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#9
2138 Hours. "24"
If the recent introduction of Jack Bauer's philosophically-opposed brother and weird-O Papa-san episodes didn't "jump the shark", then tonight's smoldering Nadia/Milo kiss in the sexy-dark OP Center surely did. "That's a wrap!" IMHO
Posted by: Asymmetrical T ||
03/26/2007 21:52 Comments ||
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March 26, 2007 -- THE U.S. military has now made over 2 million individual deployments to Iraq and or Afghanistan. The preponderance, of course, has been our "ground-pounding" soldiers and Marines - many on multiple tours.
This high ground-force operational tempo ("ops tempo") has led some to declare our military nearly broken, incapable of handling another major conflict - that is, lacking in what military planners call "strategic depth."
Legit concerns. But we're not at "mission impossible" - yet.
Yes, our active-duty and reserve ground forces are tired - and understandably so. So is their equipment after four years of wear and tear in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker has issued strong warnings to Congress about repeat deployments and their toll on the army's health and welfare. The Marines, ever reluctant to complain, concur. The Army/Marine ops tempo should give us pause. But that doesn't mean Uncle Sam can't handle another fight if necessary - thanks to the Navy and Air Force.
Sure, it would be tough, but let me explain:
Outside of Iraq/Afghanistan, the three conflicts most likely to involve America are a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, a China-Taiwan dust-up and another Korean-peninsula war. The old "Axis of Evil" trick!
Not minor military matters, but with the arguable exception of Korea, they could all be fought using heavy doses of sea and air power, which, fortunately, aren't stretched as thin as our ground forces.
Iran: An attack would likely be executed by U.S. air and sea strikes, not ground forces (but don't count out special ops).
Air Force B-2 bombers and F-117, F-15 and F-16 strike fighters would drop GPS-guided JDAM and gravity bombs on Iranian air defenses, nuclear facilities and retaliatory forces such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The Navy would chime in with carrier-based aviation and surface ships orsubmarines in the Persian Gulf and the North Arabian Sea, dropping bombs and firing cruise missiles at Iran's nuclear sites, air defenses and naval assets.
China-Taiwan: While the chance of a conflict across the Taiwan Strait is remote, China's defense buildup and recent Taiwanese rhetoric about "independence" keeps this possibility at the front of war planners' minds.
Fortunately, a Chinese attack on Taiwan must navigate the 100-mile-wide Taiwan Strait. China doesn't have the air- and sea-lift capability to support a full-scale invasion of Taiwan - so it would have to rely on ballistic missiles and sea and air power.
The U.S. objective would be to protect the political status quo, using air and naval forces to break Chinese naval blockades, counter air or missile strikes and vanquish sea- or airborne invasion forces as they cross the strait.
Korea: A Korean contingency would normally call for significant U.S. ground forces. But the 28,000 American and 650,000 South Korean troops now "in country" could fight a holding action until the U.S. cavalry - forces not deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan or the Persian Gulf - arrived.
South Korea's ground forces alone are more than a match for the North Korean People's Army - which, while still dangerous, is a shell of what it was back in the days when Pyongyang was getting military aid from the Soviet Union. The United States would quickly add naval and air assets to throw the fight in our direction.
Missile defenses are already deployed for dealing with North Korea's long-range missile and nuclear capability. These - and theater missile defenses - are constantly being developed and improved.
But, while the Navy and Air Force can respond, we shouldn't feel comfortable with the way things stand. We're looking down the barrel of a "hollow force" if trends in defense spending and ops tempo for all services don't change.
The Army and Marines are finally adding troops after 1990s cutbacks. But at the same time, the Navy and Air Force are cutting personnel in a "rob Peter to pay Paul" strategy to finance needed weapons systems.
It's hard to believe, but U.S. defense spending remains at historic lows as a percentage of gross domestic product, despite the large budgets since 9/11. This isn't good for our national security - or fair to our fighting men and women. It's encouraging to adversaries.
There's plenty of blame to go around. Finger-pointing makes for good political sport, but fixing the problem instead of assigning blame is what counts. Congress needs to act quickly. Raising and maintaining our armed forces is its constitutional duty. Anything less than giving our military the wherewithal to take on the challenges to our national security in unacceptable - and dangerous. "Provide for the common defense". I read that somewhere.
Heritage Foundation Senior Fellow Peter Brookes is a retired Navy Reserve commander and former deputy assistant secretary of defense.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/26/2007 06:36 ||
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#1
Raising and maintaining our armed forces is its constitutional duty.
[rolls eyes] Yeah, as if that's a motivating factor for more than a handful of Congresscritters.
/apologies for my bitter cynicism, but I've seen precious little to dissuade me lately.
#2
Iff what the Russians and others claim that Iran's war agz the USA-West has "already begun", then it is doubtful Iran will be stopped from dev nuke arsenal vv LIMITED AIR STRIKES regardless of magnitude; CHINA-TAIWAN > besides eveything else, CHINA [however politely/PC] has publicly/overtly professed its national need for EXPANDED, CHINESE-CENTRIC "LIVING SPACE", thus a regional "final conflict" btwn China-India-Paki, etc. cannot be discounted. ALSO BEAR IN MIND THAT BOTH RUSSIA-CHINA [includ Radical Islam] HAVE PREMISED THEIR FUTURES ON AMER BECOMING WEAKER, NOT MERELY ONLY "PARITY" vv USA. As for NORTH KOREA, NK is quietly controlled by CHINA - the irony here is that for the starving desperate Norkies to end their starvation + desperation, etal. THEY MUST GENUINELY HAVE RAPPROCHEMENT VV CHINA + DE FACTO END CHINA'S PC CONTROL OVER THEM, read - UNLIKE RADICAL IRAN, US-WEST MAY HAVE TO ALLOW NORTH KOREA TO DEV NUCLEAR WEAPONS. IOW, a CHINA-NORTH KOREA INTER-COMMIE WAR SCENARIO. Presuming the Norkies don't starve to death first, NK's only manifest destiny as an alleged "sovereign nation" is be mil destroyed en masse by either China or the West. The above, etal. being said, will say again the greatest threat to the USA in 9-11/WOT is from WITHIN, as Amer's enemies includ anti-Amer Americans desire = first priority is to defeat and suborn Amer to OWG-SWO/CWO wid out resort to world-destroying, mutually destructive global nuke war [2015-2020]. WOT > WAR TO THE DEATH > also WAR FOR GLOBAL ANTI-DEMOCRACY, amongst other premises. A WAR AGZ FORMS OF "FASCISM" IS IN ANTITHESIS WAR FOR COMMUNISM, WAR AGZ FORMS OF STATE-SPECIFIC NATIONALISM IS IN ANTITHESIS WAR FOR GLOBAL ANTI-STATE + GLOBAL ANTI-NATIONALISM, .........................etc.
Remember Rocky Anderson, the nutjob mayor who was running with Cindy Sheehan, and speaks at ANSWER rallies demanding the impeachment of Bush, withdrawal from Iraq, and appeasement of Iran?
Well those Romney folks have thier work cut out for them.
This is Romney's political endorsement of that guy.
Hit the article link, it goes to youtube
(http://tinyurl.com/2ydz7r)
Poor guy. His liberal past is going to eat him alive as "flipflop" accusations start to rain in.
Pat quotes no sources, but he's usually right. May be why all those ships have moved into location.
For close to a month now, certain pockets of the U.S. intelligence and military communities have been deeply focused on a few key developments in the Iranian front of the War on Terror. When Iran declared war on America a few years ago (without a suicidal public announcement of course ) the entirety of the burden of execution fell on the shoulders of its Revolutionary Guards. No other military units in Iran are competent enough for any type of engagement with Western forces.
The Guards were to do what they always do. Operate in the shadows, provide weapons, munitions, training, cash, personnel and other sundry types of support to a proxy army in Iraq. This proxy army would wage Irans war with enough distance to allow for Iran to avoid an open conflict with superior American forces, essentially by providing it plausible deniability to the charge that it was waging war against America in the first place. S.O.P. - same deal as in Lebanon where Hezbollah fronts Irans war on Israel.
In the modern age, it is critical to enemies such as Iran that they never openly declare war on us, or we shall clearly have the right to annihilate them as we can. Plus it provides a critical weapon in their campaign to prevent American popular support for any U.S. military action against them. By never openly declaring war, they fool the American people into believing that they are indeed not waging war on us, so that when a President should call for military action against them, Iran is in the position to, and indeed does, say: Who us? We aint doing shit. Your Presidents a warmonger. With the sounds of their IEDs and RPGs exploding in the background.
One of the key developments that has absorbed Washingtons attention deeply, and resulted in the very significant personal involvement of Vice President Dick Cheney, was the fact that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards have invaded and seized almost all meaningful control of the strategic Masandam Peninsula in Oman - a peninsula that covers the Southern mouth of the Straight of Hormuz.
Occupying this peninsula solidifies Irans complete control of the straight. The Northern chokepoint has long been Irans; the Southern chokepoint has long been Omans. They are now both Irans. The Revolutionary Guard also decided to make this area their own, because it makes for a smugglers paradise. And smuggling is one of their #1 jobs. A priority for the Guard is to engage in as much profitable illegal activity, on a global scale, as they can, in order to pay for their very existence, and help bankroll the countrys nuclear program.
And, long anticipating the oncoming sanctions, the Guard has kept an eye on various ways to keep goods flowing into the country. Their new stronghold in Oman, with such control over the Straights, provides for just that.
And Oman, terrified of the direct confrontation with Iran that our military has planned and suggested, has decided to do nothing.
Cheney visited Oman on Feb. 26, and discussed these plans for joint Omani and U.S. forces to lay seige and slowly eject the Iranians from Masandam. The Omanis ultimately got cold feet. And Tehran remains in positon to use the peninsula to threaten tankers, American supplies and reinforcements, and even American troops as they leave.
#2
Historically, Oman was close to the Brits with Brit Officers and NCOs seconded to their ranks, and are one of the politically closest Arab country to the West. I am sure we are aware of anything like this going on.
#4
It sounds like we should arrange fora total envelopment of all Iranian forces on that peninsula - isolate them with a naval blockade, cut off the land escpe routed with a heavy force, and then send in tactical air to destroy anything that canb be identified. Then use the peninsual as a live-fire joint training exercise - send in a MAB over the shore, and drop a couple of Ranger battalions inland. Give the Brits a piece, too - let them add a few bargaining chips to their plate.
Oh - and keep a couple of carrier based strike wings nearby, in case Iran has ides about interfering with the "cleansing" of the Masandam Peninsula.
#6
There have been vari unconfirmed Net reports on this for approxi one month now - the rough consensus is that this may had been done to induce the USN to move its heavy CBG's + Amphibs further out in the Gulf, out of range from Iranian missle batteries. NET > IRAN WANTS TO PURCHASE THE RUSSIAN "SIZZLER" NUKE-CAPABLE ANTI-CARRIER MISSLE. Iran in simple terms is a High Ridge-Mtn line(s) flanked in front and rear by lowlands - as far as I've read or seen on the Net/Web, IRAN'S "LAST-RESORT/FINAL DEFENSE" STRATEGY > FIGHT vv "ASYMMETRIC PEOPLE'S WAR", FROM THIS CENTRAL HIGH RIDGE-MTN LINE(S) WHILE ALLOWING SUPERIOR WESTERN ARMORED FORCES TO OVERRUN THE LOWLANDS, i.e. SHOOT DOWN AT ENEMY FORCES FROM THE HIGH GROUND [e.g. CHINA looking down at INDIA vv TIBETAN PLATEAU]. From the "high ground" Iran intends to utilize TACTICAL MISSLE ARTY INCLUD NUKES-WMDS, OUTLAST the USA-West politically, HOPE FOR FOREIGN MIL INTERVENTION, + let the UNO-UNSC decide when to surrender. By going after OMAN + other small Muslim Gulf-States, besides simul engaging in the National-Regional destabilization of the ME's large States, IRAN HOPES TO KEEP THE WEST AT AN EXTENDED MIL DISTANCE WHILE STILL DOMINATING THE REGION. *KOMMERSANT > even the Russians = Rus Medias have reported IRAN'S WAR AGZ THE USA-WEST HAS ALREADY BEGUN. IRAN = CHINA > MAO TSE-TUNG/ZEDONG > "SHOW THE STRONG WHILE HIDING WEAKNESS" + MAO [paraphrased] >"The Oceans of Chaos and Anarchies [by extens ANTI-US/WESTERN WAR] will NOT end UNTIL CHINA = COMUNISM CONTROLS".
The book, "Why I am not a Muslim" was written after the Rushdie fatwa. Chapter 2 of the book is about the Origins of Islam. Ibn Warraq (not his birth name, it means 'son of bookseller') has become more public lately (he chaired the Secular Islam conference). His books have sold fairly well and while not rich he is well off enough to give away this chapter for free.
here is a sample:-------------
Muhammad was not an original thinker: he did not formulate any new ethical principles, but merely borrowed from the prevailing cultural milieu. The eclectic nature of Islam has been recognized for a long time. Even Muhammad knew Islam was not a new religion, and the revelations contained in the Koran merely confirmed already existing scriptures. The Prophet always claimed Islam 's affiliation with the great religions of the Jews, Christians, and others. Muslim commentators such as al-Sharestani have acknowledged that the Prophet transferred to Islam the beliefs and practices of the heathen or pagan Arabs, especially into the ceremonies of the pilgrimage to Mecca. And yet Muslims in general continue to hold that their faith came directly from heaven, that the Koran was brought down by the angel Gabriel from God himself to Muhammad...
#2
One of the great probs of Islam as an organized mainstream religion is that, for many Sutras etal., there is no scientific, realistic, or absolutely credible verifiable way of determining which words/lessons were Muhammad's/Mohammed's, versus the subjective desires or interpretations of his successors or other, not necessarily self-less or God-centric, wannabes.
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
One of the unique qualities of Internet discourse is its freewheeling, no-holds-barred nature, where passionate arguments are often accompanied by some choice expletives and a virtual finger in the eye. But what happens when the talk turns ugly, racist and violent? We drop 'em into the sinktrap here. Very occasionally they get flushed outright, but not often, and that's still too often for my taste.
In recent weeks, some of those who post comments on the conservative blog Little Green Footballs have said they wished that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed had succeeded in what the Gitmo prisoner says was a plot to kill Jimmy Carter. And some who posted comments on the liberal Huffington Post have expressed regret that the suicide bomber at a military base in Afghanistan failed to take out the visiting Dick Cheney. We all get dipshits. We had one here last night. The question kinda revolves on what you do with them, though. If you dump them, then they've got nothing to do with you. If you use them for chew toys, then they can be kinda fun. If you clutch them to your bosom and whisper sweet nothings to them then you become one with them. People assume they're your friends and companions, that you hang around together, maybe even belong to the same bowling league. Pregnancy's always a danger, and you could find yourself alone, raising a passle of nasty little bastard offspring, destined for the Juvenile Court of Public Opinion system.
No corner of the Net is safe from this bile. The Washington Post's Web site has been grappling with a surge in offensive and incendiary comments. Get yourself a sinktrap. I'll be happy to design one for you, for a moderate fee.
The really gruesome stuff represents a tiny minority of those online. But is there a way of policing the worst stuff without shutting down robust debate? Of course there is, though you have to give it a bit of thought. But that's always the problem, isn't it?
I keep thinking about the CB radio phenomenon of the 70s, where suddenly millions of honest citizens were using CBs because of the national 55 mph speed limit. Beside performing the valuable service of keeping points off citizens' licenses and dollars in their wallets, CB also allowed people to chat while eating up the miles, thereby keeping them awake and reducing the accident rate. CB died when the anonymity of it all brought out the foul-mouthed and abusive, who proceded to poop in the common punch bowl.
The same happened with email, once a valuable tool for communication, now a tiresome chore that means wading through spam until we find the occasional nugget of message from someone we want to hear from.
Blogs, with their comment sections, make a target just as tempting for those pushing herbal viagra, various types of sluts, financial schemes designed to separate us from our earnings and/or identities, and fraud, which is why the 'Burg has devolved from a thoughtful, weighted spam filtration system to a brute force arrangement that doesn't need any subtlety.
The comments about Cheney at the Huffington Post included: "You can't kill pure evil." "If at first you don't succeed . . . " "Dr. Evil escapes again . . . damn." Founder Arianna Huffington wrote that "no one at HuffPost is defending these comments -- they are unacceptable and were treated as such by being removed." I'll set aside political antagonism and sympathize for a moment... Okay. Time's up.
The comments about Mohammed and Carter at Little Green Footballs included: "Can we furlough him -- just so he can realize the Carter plot? Please?" and "Even this schmuck had some good ideas." The site's founder, Charles Johnson, wrote on Little Green Footballs that such comments "reflect only the opinions of the individuals who posted them" and doubted that they "rise to the level of hatred that showed up in Arianna's readers' Cheney-related comments." Usually I agree with Charles, but in this case I don't. Those comments would have been sinktrapped. Feel free to wish the Carter will keel over in the near future from natural causes. That's your right. Advocating murder isn't.
Some conservatives and liberals seized on the incidents to denounce the other side, but no conclusions should be drawn from wack jobs on the fringe. You can't stop the dipshits from showing up without banning their IP addresses at the server, and it's easy enough to change or cloak your IP address. All you can do is dispose of them, whether discretely or publicly. I'm in favor of publicly, because if you dump them without fanfare often people have noticed their presence, assumed they're associated with you, and don't notice when you take out the garbage.
Since last summer, washingtonpost.com has allowed registered users to post comments on any news story. A recent report about New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, who said the slow recovery of his city was part of a plan to change its racial makeup and leadership, led to a number of offensive or inflammatory remarks: "Some Black politicians are [expletive] idiots." Not too sure why that one's "offensive or inflammatory," unless there's an implication what white or otherwise other than black pols aren't. Nagin's a blackbelt bufoon.
"IF a white MAN were to speak as you do, you'd look for a lynching party." One person described Nagin as a racist and a women's sanitary product. I consider him a racist. I'm not sure he's a tampon.
Washingtonpost.com Executive Editor Jim Brady says he does not have the resources to screen the roughly 2,000 daily comments in advance. That's why God created software, isn't it?
He has one staffer deleting offensive comments after the fact, and banning the authors from further feedback, based on complaints from readers. Cumbersome, isn't it?
Brady plans to devote more staff to the process and to use new filtering technology. "The medium allows for readers and journalists to engage in conversation, and to say we're not going to take advantage of that doesn't make a lot of sense to me," he says. "I'd rather figure out a way to do it better than not to do it at all." Gimme a call, Jim. I promise we won't discuss Ray Nagin or ladies' sanitary products.
But Post reporter Darryl Fears is among those in the newsroom who believe the comments should be junked if offensive postings can't be filtered out in advance. I guess that's why Darryl's not the executive editor, isn't it? Perhaps someday he'll have the wisdom not to toss the baby with the bathwater.
"If you're an African American and you read about someone being called a porch monkey, that overrides any positive thing that you would read in the comments," he says. If that particular phrase was used seriously in Rantburg comments it'd go on the list and future comments containing it would disappear and perhaps earn the commentors a trip to visit Muffler Man. Assuming no sink trap, a reference to porch monkeys in one comment could very well be balanced by a few references to the presence of subnormal intellects in the comments section overall and perhaps an invitation here or there to the porch monkey poster to go have sex with himself. It sounds like Darryl's still trying to work out the relative amounts of damage involved in sticks and stones versus words.
"You're starting to see some of the language you see on neo-Nazi sites, and that's not good for The Washington Post or for the subjects in those stories." Does anyone have the mother wit to suggest the "neo-Nazi" maroons get bent? Or are you too busy swooning? Perhaps a whiff of smelling salts or asafoetida would help?
After Post reporter Darragh Johnson wrote in February about a Northeast Washington teenager who was fatally shot while being chased by police, some readers posted comments, including racist comments, criticizing the boy. Johnson says the 17-year-old's father cited the comments in declining to answer most questions about his son. What is spreading this Web pollution is the widespread practice of allowing posters to spew their venom anonymously. If people's full names were required -- even though some might resort to aliases -- it would go a long way toward cleaning up the neighborhood. I like the sink trap. It turns their venom against them by putting them on display.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/26/2007 11:39 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
women's sanitary product.
I'm think it was more of a douche-bag, as that's the only one I've seen used to refer to a person.
(C.F. Lord and Lady D, Saturday Night Live skit from the early 80s, IIRC.)
Naggum on comp.lang.lisp ("Crap, did he really say that? Now, where's that screen cleaner?")
Usenet was/is an interesting sociological exercise in controlling a discussion by sheer force of intellect. Nice idea, but it doesn't work if there's no intellect. A race to the bottom follows shortly.
I've got to congratulate Fred on striking a successful balance. Rantburg works, and his previous experience shows through.
HP, LGF, and WaPo are years behind. I hope they all read Fred's comments / instruction manual.
#6
I agree KBK. Sinktrap is a totally efficacious solution. Great job with the in-line comments as well Fred - informative, humorous and chock full o' common sense.
#1
I haven't even read the article yet and so I'm not surprised by headline. NYSlimes are nothing but kneejerk reactionaries. However, having said that, what does that make me since I haven't read the article and therefore don't know what his/her points are?
"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn!" Thank you, Rhett.
In Israel, as in the rest of the free world, we are witnessing the death by a thousand cuts of free thought.
Last month, two students at Cambridge University's Clare College became victims of this state of affairs. The students dedicated an edition of their satire magazine to the one-year anniversary of the global Muslim riots which followed the publication of caricatures of Muhammad in the Danish Jyllands Posten newspaper. As the students recalled, those riots led to the deaths of more than a hundred people.
Although the British media refused to republish the caricatures, British Muslims held terrifying protests throughout the country where they called for the destruction of Britain, the US, Denmark and Israel and for the murder of all who refuse to accept the global domination of Islam.
Continued on Page 49
#2
"Leftist-Islamist Front is eroding the free world's sense of justice" - BUT THE RADICAL ISLAMISM-SUPPOR LEFTIES, SOCIALISTS, and ANARCHISTS , etc ALREADY KNEW. ANCIPATED, AND PRE-PLANNED FOR THAT. * WAFF.com > WORLD SECURITY INSTITUTE > OSAMA BIN LADEN has already WON the War On Terror against the West. Indecision, Nepotism, wilful preplanned anarchy and chaos, US unilateralism and of course PC/PDeniability has led to decline not only in US-specific credibility, BUT ALSO TO DE FACTO DECLINE IN DEMOCRACY AND PERSONAL RIGHTS EVERYWHERE AROUND THE WORLD.
#3
It is time to target and kill the Left. We've tried the Soap Box and the Ballot Box, and it would be insane to think the Jury Box would bear results. So, all that leaves is the Ammo Box.
Although I think we'd be better served by using small unit tactics against certain elements of the enemy. Highly focused, in and out. Obviously they (Leftists & Islamists) are better organized, funded and prepared than we are. Time for that to change.
Adopting a John Wayne bunkered down on the ranch type mentality will only insure that we die piecemeal. What to do?
#4
As long as we have free speech and the rule of law, we can still turn the tide.
But if the McCains, Feingolds, NYTs, and Clintons have their way and prevent the people from speaking, petitioning, attacking, suing, electing decent representatives, etc. -- then the time will have come for the fourth box. Another trigger would be them reaching for our guns.
#5
CT8956, pipe down! The time has not yet come to throw down the gauntlet nor is it a good idea for you to advocate such ideas here on Rantburg as it simply serves to give us all a bad name in the eyes of anyone else who might surf by idly.
Honestly, things are not at CW2 levels yet as much as some of our membership might want it to be. The kind of comment made by CT8956 does nothing except to draw unwarranted and unwanted attention in the direction of honest and intellectual thought and discussion (and perhaps that was the intention of the comment?).
The perception of right wing conservatives among much of the rest of the world is already bad. Such comments just make it worse. They make it worse by deliberately advocating the murder of US citizens which is something I personally will not stand for.
Mods, please review CT8956's comment for potential sinktrapping. This kind of thing is not needed here and you have mentioned this before.
#6
"Mods, please review CT8956's comment for potential sinktrapping. This kind of thing is not needed here and you have mentioned this before."
Maybe one of the other mods will choose to sinktrap it, but I'll just say the following:
Do not advocate murder on this website.
"It is time to target and kill the Left."
It's one thing to wonder out loud whether the Left constitutes a menace for which no non-violent solution exists, or to express doubts about whether the menace can be eliminated without violence-- as I myself have done here on Rantburg.
But that's about where the line is drawn. Crossing that line, and advocating murder, creates problems for the people running this website. Don't do it. Please.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
03/26/2007 17:47 Comments ||
Top||
#7
oy vey.
Feith, Wolfie, and Rummy were fired cause they messed up the war. Hopefully Gates and Petraeus can salvage it.
I doubt very much that Am Friends of Peace Now will join a Soros coalition, though im sure the money is tempting.
If you want to use ammo when you cant win at the ballot box, you justify attempts to stop you.
McCain Feingold wont stop anyone here from saying anything about anything. Unless youre buying TV time during election season.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The other day Pakistan's Gen. Pervez Musharraf took time off from his hectic schedule of trying to survive assassination attempts to pay tribute to someone who, alas, had been less successful at dodging the attentions of his killers: A week ago, during the cricket World Cup, Bob Woolmer, the coach of the Pakistani national cricket team, was murdered in the Pegasus Hotel in Kingston, Jamaica, in what Mark Shields (not the American TV pundit but the veteran Scotland Yard man leading the police investigation) called extraordinary and evil circumstances."
