5 years ago
Monday, October 25, 2004
I've been busted
Pusillanimous Wanker caught me in a falsehood in the immediately preceeding article. No SCUD missiles have been found or launched at Kuwait. The missiles launced at Kuwait were either Silkworms, Seersuckers, Ababil-100's, Volga/SA-2's, or Al Samoud variants.
Of these types, Al Samoud variants are the only types capable of going over the 150KM, UN mandated, launch distance. They were known to be in country with some of them being destroyed, but I confess that I do not know if any of them escaped destruction and were subsequently launched. We had verification of half of them being destroyed but I have no proof of the second half. If Pusillanimous Wanker would like to go for broke and pull that rabbit out of a hat I'll change my blog name to PUSILLANIMOUS WARWANKER III for the rest of the week. (This whole link challenge thing is getting kind of fun. I got him last week on one here.)
(comments a page below, as per the deal)
Why Attack Iraq?
Many people have made mention that the real threat is either Iran or North Korea (from here on out called the DPRK) since they do have nuclear weapons. After a bit of thinking, a couple beers, some web surfing and a few shots of Woodford Reserve I've come to the conclusion that anyone who believes this are a bunch of asshats. Not just asshats but the magic Kool-aid drinking asshats; the tin-foil hat wearing asshats; the...well, you get the idea, its a conspiracy theory. Just like "we could have caught Osama in the foothills of Tora Bora if Bush hadn't gone after the oil" kind of conspiracy theory. If this is your kind of thing, here's the site for you. All other please read on.
What alot of people tend to forget about the "axis-of-evil" was the assumption that all three had nuclear proliferation capabilities. Those that argue that Bush was proven wrong by the fact that no nuclear weapons were found in completed form Iraq miss many key points. The first and foremost being that everyone, including Kerry and Edwards, believed that Saddam had nuclear capability. Both of them signed a document and forwarded it to Bill Clinton (yes, Bill not George) that said Saddam had nuclear weapons and needed to be stopped. This is the same kind of proof that we have from Iran and DPRK today. Take a look at Iran; they say they don't have nuclear weapons or are trying to make them but no one believes them; sort of like how no one believed Saddam. DPRK on the other hand screams it from the highest monestary bell tower "Hey, look over here! We've hot nukes so give us what we want or we'll use them!" Maybe they do and maybethey're just trying to put a deal on the table for a bit of cash. The reality is that we do not really know if they have nuclear proliferation capabilities or not. The only way we can know for sure is to go in and find out for ourselves. This puts all three nations on the same playing field; they all have/had the potential.
Now lets look at what made Iraq the target country. I feel that the best way to explain this is to give a bit of a demographic of each country as well as pros and cons to invading each one. This, in my opinion, will allow you to think for yourself, or at least through my eyes.
DPRK
DPRK has the biggest case of short man's syndrome in the world. They will stop at nothing to proliferate their position so they may have a better standing in their deals and treaties. They are, in fact, so bad about doing this that the first deal that was to be brokered during the Korean war caused it to be delayed because they offended the U.S. negotiators enough to have them walk out in the middle of negotiations. It's almost like Kabuki theater, with the exception that they are Korean and much worse actors. They have always tried to posture this way when they were going to ask for a big favor of aid and/or support.
If you've been watching the news, DPRK has agreed to continue peace talks in exchange for assurance that they would not be attacked and compensation for relinquishing their current nuclear ambitions. That sounds like they're just asking for a hand out to me. This is not a nation trying to kill us with bombs, they just want some payola. For those that haven't noticed, DPRK has always had a food shortage. I remember when I was stationed in Sout Korea reading about a new DPRK book explaining the best way to cook grass. They have nothing to eat up there. This is one of the few times where sanctions have actually worked.
♣ As a side note, the big boom everyone heard in North Korea a couple of weeks ago was more than likely their first nuclear test. This is just my theory so put whatever tin-foil hat on it you may want. I believe it scared the piss out of them. Until you actually blow one of these babies up you have no idea what they're all about. Sure, we've seen and heard all about them but I'm sure there's something overpowering about actually seeing something of that capacity. I think they're just trying to get rid of it now. They're scared straight.
IRAN
Iran is a horse of a different color. They really hate us. They kicked us out once (remember Jimmy's 444 days of terror) and they believe they could do it again. Our ways are not welcome to these people at this time. The reason they are a forced religious state today is because we tried to westernize them too quickly. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, a puppet placed as the Shah of Iran by the Soviet-British forces occupying Iran in 1953, without a vote was exiled by the followers of Ruhollah Khomeini. Ruhollah had become the Ayatollah in command of the new religious state of Iran in 1979. Let's just say the west leaves a sour taste in their mouths. We pushed them to hard and they reverted.
Since this uprising there have been a few new uprisings in Iran that have been taken on by the younger Iranians. One might say that this would be an opportunity to do what we did in Afganistan and help them along the way to a swift overthrow. I say that you didn't read the chapter before this one. The uprisings that occur in Iran want no dealings with the western world. We are not on good terms with them. One belief is that in time the younger generation will take over the Mullahs and all will be better in Iran. We don't need to attack Iran because the problem wil eventually sort itself out. It just takes time.
IRAQ
Saddam Hussein is one of the many dictators that rule parts of this world. He's good buddies with peopel like Fidel Castro. His hero is Stalin for crissakes. He idolizes a man who destroyed thousands upon thousands of his own people and ruled with an iron fist. There was evidence of his leadership ideology before we went into Iraq in forms greater than "just the Kurds". (It's as if "just the Kurds" are "just a small ethnic cleansing".) Only after we went in did we know how bad it really was. He was a really bad man. Just take a look at Qusay's torture room for athletes to see how bad they really were. Of course, we didn't know about this until after we went in so just foget about the torture and child rape and abuse....if you can.
Here's a shocker for all of those that don't understand the difference between 9/11 and Al Queda: go to this link. Even Kerry get's this wrong. The fact is that Cheney used a poor choice of words to try and enhance feelings against Iraq by closely relating the terrorists of 9/11 with the whole of Al Queda. As we have all been told in bedtime stories, Al Queda has many different cells. The cell that hit the trade center shows no evidence of being linked to Iraq. Al Queda, on the other hand, has many links to Iraq. There have been multiple communique's with Osama Bin Laden. There is believed to be a monetary tie to Osama. When Osama's personal funds were running out and being tapped by the whole of Al Queda and during this time of uncertainty he had a few meetings with some Iraqi dignitaries. After those meetings he had no more money problems after those meetings. Iraq even had a representative at what has been called the global terrorist summit which contained, in a large part, Al Queda. There are other links like the Hamas funding and others but this should be sufficient to convince you. Yes, there were known links between Iraq and terror.
One difference between Iraq and most of the middle east was that their leadership structure was not based in religion. Sure, if you take a look at Saddam's history of worship you'll notice he really didn't do much with it until it became important politically...sort of like Kerry. (Sorry, I couldn't help the quick jab.) He wore a military uniform (similar to that of Castro) or a suit in his more diplomatic days. He never wore a turban or any of the other religious garb that would indicate a man of high faith. He wasn't an overly religious man and neither were his staff. There was a true separation of church and state there. Even Jews and strange Christian sects were allowed sanctuary in parts of Iraq. What does this have to do with attacking them? It allows us to go in and take over a partially appeasable society. If Iraq were a religious based socitey of Sunnis, like Iran, we would be overwhelmed with the society as a whole instead of the smaller uprisings we have now. Don't get me wrong, the uprisings of today are still significant. They're just smaller than they would be if an Ayatollah were driving the people.
The last thing that make the Iraqis a target is the disorganized manner in which everything was handled in their country. Saddam had overall power to do what he wanted when he wanted. If he said something was to be done then it got done, even if no one was really doing it. One example of this were some barrels of Uranium Yellowcake that were sent over from South Africa. Upon American questioning of the sellers we were told "What are you crazy? He's a madman. We sold him barels of sand." But Saddam did not know they were barrels of sand. He thought they were yellowcake and no one would tell him any different for fear of becoming someone's next torture victim. This was just one of many examples of the deception in Iraq that made it an unstable place. The instability made them the most likely target for government overthrow out of the three.
Conclusion
BUSH LIED, PEOPLE DIED! NYYEAAAARRGGGHH!!!: Bush did not lie, he was misinformed about things that no one knew the real truth to. If not knowing the absolute truth is a lie then we would need to accuse every president since George Washington of being a Liar. Leadership of a nation means that you gather the information you have available and make a judgement based upon what you have. You rarely ever know all of the facts. Maybe you don't know all of the facts.
But there were no WMD!: There were WMD in Iraq. Not nuclear WMD but chemical WMD and ranged WMD. If you can remember back to the first days of the ground war you'll remember the first missile fired was a SCUD aimed at Kuwait. A SCUD is a banned weapon, as was the Al Sammud II missiles that they said they did not have...until we found them and forced them to start destroying them. The first SCUD fired was rumored to have a chemical warhead. This was found out by radio transmission interception. It was later found out, when we picked these guys up, that they were too scared to handle the potentially leaky chemical warheads and opted for the explosive head instead. These were WMD and proof the inspections did not work. After the, ahem, peace was won we discovered something that absolutely wasn't chemical weapons. It was only barrels upon barrels of pesticide, concentrated enough to cause people to have chemical like effects in several cases (see: foaming at the mouth and shaking violently on the floor), in ammunition dumps, next to empty rocket shells. But this was only for agricultural purposes so I digress.
To take a phrase out of Bush's playbook, it was the right thing to do, at the right place, at the right time. The world is a much better place without Saddam building palaces with oil-for-food money. The world is a much better place without another terroist sponsoring nation, more should follow. The world is a much better place without a nuclear proliferator. (The reports said he was waiting until sanctions were lifted to spin back up.) The world is a much better place with Iraq holding free elections in a new and democratic Iraq.
What alot of people tend to forget about the "axis-of-evil" was the assumption that all three had nuclear proliferation capabilities. Those that argue that Bush was proven wrong by the fact that no nuclear weapons were found in completed form Iraq miss many key points. The first and foremost being that everyone, including Kerry and Edwards, believed that Saddam had nuclear capability. Both of them signed a document and forwarded it to Bill Clinton (yes, Bill not George) that said Saddam had nuclear weapons and needed to be stopped. This is the same kind of proof that we have from Iran and DPRK today. Take a look at Iran; they say they don't have nuclear weapons or are trying to make them but no one believes them; sort of like how no one believed Saddam. DPRK on the other hand screams it from the highest monestary bell tower "Hey, look over here! We've hot nukes so give us what we want or we'll use them!" Maybe they do and maybethey're just trying to put a deal on the table for a bit of cash. The reality is that we do not really know if they have nuclear proliferation capabilities or not. The only way we can know for sure is to go in and find out for ourselves. This puts all three nations on the same playing field; they all have/had the potential.
Now lets look at what made Iraq the target country. I feel that the best way to explain this is to give a bit of a demographic of each country as well as pros and cons to invading each one. This, in my opinion, will allow you to think for yourself, or at least through my eyes.
DPRK
DPRK has the biggest case of short man's syndrome in the world. They will stop at nothing to proliferate their position so they may have a better standing in their deals and treaties. They are, in fact, so bad about doing this that the first deal that was to be brokered during the Korean war caused it to be delayed because they offended the U.S. negotiators enough to have them walk out in the middle of negotiations. It's almost like Kabuki theater, with the exception that they are Korean and much worse actors. They have always tried to posture this way when they were going to ask for a big favor of aid and/or support.
If you've been watching the news, DPRK has agreed to continue peace talks in exchange for assurance that they would not be attacked and compensation for relinquishing their current nuclear ambitions. That sounds like they're just asking for a hand out to me. This is not a nation trying to kill us with bombs, they just want some payola. For those that haven't noticed, DPRK has always had a food shortage. I remember when I was stationed in Sout Korea reading about a new DPRK book explaining the best way to cook grass. They have nothing to eat up there. This is one of the few times where sanctions have actually worked.
♣ As a side note, the big boom everyone heard in North Korea a couple of weeks ago was more than likely their first nuclear test. This is just my theory so put whatever tin-foil hat on it you may want. I believe it scared the piss out of them. Until you actually blow one of these babies up you have no idea what they're all about. Sure, we've seen and heard all about them but I'm sure there's something overpowering about actually seeing something of that capacity. I think they're just trying to get rid of it now. They're scared straight.
IRAN
Iran is a horse of a different color. They really hate us. They kicked us out once (remember Jimmy's 444 days of terror) and they believe they could do it again. Our ways are not welcome to these people at this time. The reason they are a forced religious state today is because we tried to westernize them too quickly. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, a puppet placed as the Shah of Iran by the Soviet-British forces occupying Iran in 1953, without a vote was exiled by the followers of Ruhollah Khomeini. Ruhollah had become the Ayatollah in command of the new religious state of Iran in 1979. Let's just say the west leaves a sour taste in their mouths. We pushed them to hard and they reverted.
Since this uprising there have been a few new uprisings in Iran that have been taken on by the younger Iranians. One might say that this would be an opportunity to do what we did in Afganistan and help them along the way to a swift overthrow. I say that you didn't read the chapter before this one. The uprisings that occur in Iran want no dealings with the western world. We are not on good terms with them. One belief is that in time the younger generation will take over the Mullahs and all will be better in Iran. We don't need to attack Iran because the problem wil eventually sort itself out. It just takes time.
IRAQ
Saddam Hussein is one of the many dictators that rule parts of this world. He's good buddies with peopel like Fidel Castro. His hero is Stalin for crissakes. He idolizes a man who destroyed thousands upon thousands of his own people and ruled with an iron fist. There was evidence of his leadership ideology before we went into Iraq in forms greater than "just the Kurds". (It's as if "just the Kurds" are "just a small ethnic cleansing".) Only after we went in did we know how bad it really was. He was a really bad man. Just take a look at Qusay's torture room for athletes to see how bad they really were. Of course, we didn't know about this until after we went in so just foget about the torture and child rape and abuse....if you can.
Here's a shocker for all of those that don't understand the difference between 9/11 and Al Queda: go to this link. Even Kerry get's this wrong. The fact is that Cheney used a poor choice of words to try and enhance feelings against Iraq by closely relating the terrorists of 9/11 with the whole of Al Queda. As we have all been told in bedtime stories, Al Queda has many different cells. The cell that hit the trade center shows no evidence of being linked to Iraq. Al Queda, on the other hand, has many links to Iraq. There have been multiple communique's with Osama Bin Laden. There is believed to be a monetary tie to Osama. When Osama's personal funds were running out and being tapped by the whole of Al Queda and during this time of uncertainty he had a few meetings with some Iraqi dignitaries. After those meetings he had no more money problems after those meetings. Iraq even had a representative at what has been called the global terrorist summit which contained, in a large part, Al Queda. There are other links like the Hamas funding and others but this should be sufficient to convince you. Yes, there were known links between Iraq and terror.
One difference between Iraq and most of the middle east was that their leadership structure was not based in religion. Sure, if you take a look at Saddam's history of worship you'll notice he really didn't do much with it until it became important politically...sort of like Kerry. (Sorry, I couldn't help the quick jab.) He wore a military uniform (similar to that of Castro) or a suit in his more diplomatic days. He never wore a turban or any of the other religious garb that would indicate a man of high faith. He wasn't an overly religious man and neither were his staff. There was a true separation of church and state there. Even Jews and strange Christian sects were allowed sanctuary in parts of Iraq. What does this have to do with attacking them? It allows us to go in and take over a partially appeasable society. If Iraq were a religious based socitey of Sunnis, like Iran, we would be overwhelmed with the society as a whole instead of the smaller uprisings we have now. Don't get me wrong, the uprisings of today are still significant. They're just smaller than they would be if an Ayatollah were driving the people.
The last thing that make the Iraqis a target is the disorganized manner in which everything was handled in their country. Saddam had overall power to do what he wanted when he wanted. If he said something was to be done then it got done, even if no one was really doing it. One example of this were some barrels of Uranium Yellowcake that were sent over from South Africa. Upon American questioning of the sellers we were told "What are you crazy? He's a madman. We sold him barels of sand." But Saddam did not know they were barrels of sand. He thought they were yellowcake and no one would tell him any different for fear of becoming someone's next torture victim. This was just one of many examples of the deception in Iraq that made it an unstable place. The instability made them the most likely target for government overthrow out of the three.
Conclusion
BUSH LIED, PEOPLE DIED! NYYEAAAARRGGGHH!!!: Bush did not lie, he was misinformed about things that no one knew the real truth to. If not knowing the absolute truth is a lie then we would need to accuse every president since George Washington of being a Liar. Leadership of a nation means that you gather the information you have available and make a judgement based upon what you have. You rarely ever know all of the facts. Maybe you don't know all of the facts.
But there were no WMD!: There were WMD in Iraq. Not nuclear WMD but chemical WMD and ranged WMD. If you can remember back to the first days of the ground war you'll remember the first missile fired was a SCUD aimed at Kuwait. A SCUD is a banned weapon, as was the Al Sammud II missiles that they said they did not have...until we found them and forced them to start destroying them. The first SCUD fired was rumored to have a chemical warhead. This was found out by radio transmission interception. It was later found out, when we picked these guys up, that they were too scared to handle the potentially leaky chemical warheads and opted for the explosive head instead. These were WMD and proof the inspections did not work. After the, ahem, peace was won we discovered something that absolutely wasn't chemical weapons. It was only barrels upon barrels of pesticide, concentrated enough to cause people to have chemical like effects in several cases (see: foaming at the mouth and shaking violently on the floor), in ammunition dumps, next to empty rocket shells. But this was only for agricultural purposes so I digress.
To take a phrase out of Bush's playbook, it was the right thing to do, at the right place, at the right time. The world is a much better place without Saddam building palaces with oil-for-food money. The world is a much better place without another terroist sponsoring nation, more should follow. The world is a much better place without a nuclear proliferator. (The reports said he was waiting until sanctions were lifted to spin back up.) The world is a much better place with Iraq holding free elections in a new and democratic Iraq.
Saturday, October 23, 2004
American WarSpammer
As a joke brought up in a conversation with Mamamontezz and myself I changed my name to American Warspammer for a day. The spam people a quick with this stuff, or rather, the anti-spam people are quick with this stuff. I've never talked about this before and never recieved spam complaints from anyone either, particularly the porn variety. I'm not supporting the following e-mail but I just thought it was rather funny that within a day (more like 12 hours) of changing my name I get hit with something like this:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>From: "Pat McGrath"
>To:
>Subject: Request from Morality in Media/ObscenityCrimes.org
>Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2004 11:26:54 -0400
>
>Dear Jeremy:
>
>I discovered American Warspammer while exploring the TTLB Ecosystem. And I'd like to put a proposition to you:
>
>Are your visitors concerned about the tidal wave of Internet pornography? Have their computers ever been mouse-trapped by a pornography site? Are their in-boxes stuffed with porn spam? Are they concerned about their children surfing to a pornography site with a URL misspelled to deceive them?
>
>And: Do they want to TAKE ACTION against this -- instead of merely playing defense by filtering? We've got the tool for them -- an EASY way for Mr. & Mrs. American Websurfer to FIGHT BACK against Internet pornography!
>
>If it is, you might be interested in adding a public service link to the OBSCENITYCRIMES.ORG Web site on your blog. Here's how "The Dawn Patrol" is doing it:
>http://www.jtanzer.com/dawneden/blogger.html
>http://www.dawneden.com/2004_10_01_archive.html#109816931064380535
>
>To help you out, I've set up this page on ObscenityCrimes.org:
>http://www.obscenitycrimes.org/graphics/BannerSamples.cfm
>with four GIF format buttons -- three 125x125; one 88x32 -- that you can grab for your own site. These buttons were designed by fellow blogger Marty McKeever ( http://www.vigilancematters.com).
>
>Please point your links to our root URL, http://www.obscenitycrimes.org
>
>ObscenityCrimes.org allows Mr. & Mrs. Websurfer to report the URLs of hard-core pornography sites. We then take the data collected and forward it to the U.S. Justice Department and to Federal prosecutors for investigation into possible violations of the Federal obscenity laws.
>
>ObscenityCrimes.org is a project of Morality in Media, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, which has been combating hard-core pornography since 1962.
>
>I invite you to tour ObscenityCrimes.org to see for yourself how it works. If you have any questions, you can call me or e-mail me at the contact info below.
>
>Very truly yours,
>
>PATRICK McGRATH
>Director of Media Relations
>Morality in Media, Inc.
>475 Riverside Drive #239
>New York NY 10115
>1-212-870-3217 Phone
>1-212-870-2765 Fax
>mim@moralityinmedia.org E-mail
>Web sites:
>http://www.moralityinmedia.org
>http://www.obscenitycrimes.org
>
>Would you like to sign up for the MIM E-mail newsletter list? Click here:
>http://tool.donation-net.net/entrance/enter.cfm?dn=1021
>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In memorial to this e-mail I will provide my one and only porn link brought to you by The Big Dick: Private Shots. Yes, it's real porn. If your under 18 DO NOT CLICK THE LINK. (like that's going to stop you) Oh well, have a good weekend.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>From: "Pat McGrath"
>To:
>Subject: Request from Morality in Media/ObscenityCrimes.org
>Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2004 11:26:54 -0400
>
>Dear Jeremy:
>
>I discovered American Warspammer while exploring the TTLB Ecosystem. And I'd like to put a proposition to you:
>
>Are your visitors concerned about the tidal wave of Internet pornography? Have their computers ever been mouse-trapped by a pornography site? Are their in-boxes stuffed with porn spam? Are they concerned about their children surfing to a pornography site with a URL misspelled to deceive them?
>
>And: Do they want to TAKE ACTION against this -- instead of merely playing defense by filtering? We've got the tool for them -- an EASY way for Mr. & Mrs. American Websurfer to FIGHT BACK against Internet pornography!
>
>If it is, you might be interested in adding a public service link to the OBSCENITYCRIMES.ORG Web site on your blog. Here's how "The Dawn Patrol" is doing it:
>http://www.jtanzer.com/dawneden/blogger.html
>http://www.dawneden.com/2004_10_01_archive.html#109816931064380535
>
>To help you out, I've set up this page on ObscenityCrimes.org:
>http://www.obscenitycrimes.org/graphics/BannerSamples.cfm
>with four GIF format buttons -- three 125x125; one 88x32 -- that you can grab for your own site. These buttons were designed by fellow blogger Marty McKeever ( http://www.vigilancematters.com).
>
>Please point your links to our root URL, http://www.obscenitycrimes.org
>
>ObscenityCrimes.org allows Mr. & Mrs. Websurfer to report the URLs of hard-core pornography sites. We then take the data collected and forward it to the U.S. Justice Department and to Federal prosecutors for investigation into possible violations of the Federal obscenity laws.
>
>ObscenityCrimes.org is a project of Morality in Media, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, which has been combating hard-core pornography since 1962.
>
>I invite you to tour ObscenityCrimes.org to see for yourself how it works. If you have any questions, you can call me or e-mail me at the contact info below.
>
>Very truly yours,
>
>PATRICK McGRATH
>Director of Media Relations
>Morality in Media, Inc.
>475 Riverside Drive #239
>New York NY 10115
>1-212-870-3217 Phone
>1-212-870-2765 Fax
>mim@moralityinmedia.org E-mail
>Web sites:
>http://www.moralityinmedia.org
>http://www.obscenitycrimes.org
>
>Would you like to sign up for the MIM E-mail newsletter list? Click here:
>http://tool.donation-net.net/entrance/enter.cfm?dn=1021
>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In memorial to this e-mail I will provide my one and only porn link brought to you by The Big Dick: Private Shots. Yes, it's real porn. If your under 18 DO NOT CLICK THE LINK. (like that's going to stop you) Oh well, have a good weekend.
Friday, October 22, 2004
Stolen Honor video is now FREE!!!
Hat tip to Angela at Yoshi's Blog Spot. I don't think I've ever been to her site. I guess I'll have to start visiting her. Anyway, the Stolen Honor video, the one you had to pay 5 bucks for is now free of charge on the net. A portion of The Buttoned Press, the Boston Manifesto, has released free of charge the Stolen Honor Video. Here's the page they have it up on. If you trust me, here's the direct link to their movie.
If you want your info in HTML here you go:
Buttoned Press
http://www.buttondepress.com/
Boston Manifesto
http://www.buttondepress.com/BostonManifesto/Index.htm
Page for Stolen Honor Video
http://www.buttondepress.com/BostonManifesto/StolenHonor.htm
Link directly to the 42.09 minute long movie
http://www.buttondepress.com/BostonManifesto/stolenhonor.wmv
If you feel like you should pay for it and support their cause
http://www.stolenhonor.com/
Even liberals should watch it. Hell, especially liberals should watch it. Maybe we can swing a couple votes out of it.
GO DUB 04!!!
If you want your info in HTML here you go:
Buttoned Press
http://www.buttondepress.com/
Boston Manifesto
http://www.buttondepress.com/BostonManifesto/Index.htm
Page for Stolen Honor Video
http://www.buttondepress.com/BostonManifesto/StolenHonor.htm
Link directly to the 42.09 minute long movie
http://www.buttondepress.com/BostonManifesto/stolenhonor.wmv
If you feel like you should pay for it and support their cause
http://www.stolenhonor.com/
Even liberals should watch it. Hell, especially liberals should watch it. Maybe we can swing a couple votes out of it.
GO DUB 04!!!
You Might Be A Geek Part 2
Okay, I ran a few of these a while back here. With 11 or so days before Bush is re-elected president in a hitherto unknown landslide I feel it's about time we take a minute to sit back and laugh at ourselves. So without further adeu:
If you wish car stereos took USB Flash drives...You might be a geek. (rince and repeat)
If you quote Office Space more than Pricess Bride or The Holy Grail...
If you quote Princess Bride or The holy Grail...
If you own a red swingline stapler...(I've got one at work.)
If you signed any of the reinstate Farscape petitions...
If you walk past the phone book to look up a phone number on the computer...
If you can't remember how to spell a word you walk past the dictionary to google it...
If your Heroes for Bush character ever used a laser gun or slayed a vampire...
If something really cool just happened and you have to tell someone so you run to your computer...
If your computer crashes and you roll over to your backup computer to finish what you were doing while you rebuild it...(Doing that right now.)
If people use you to clarify technical details of Star Trek, Star Wars, Farscape, SG-1, etc...
If you speak to your friends in Star Wars terms. I.E. Help me Obi Wan your my only hope...
If you knew about JibJab before the elections...
If your vanity plate has a geek term on it...(try a couple)
If you can't wait for that new game to come out so you can steal it off the net...
If you've ever done more Chrismas shopping online than offline...
If you bought a data interface cable for your cell phone before you bought the car charger...
If you measure a man's worth by the size of his USB stick...
If you know who the author of Wizardry for the Apple II+ was...(special thanks to Steve)
If you know what an Apple II+ or a Commodore-64 is...
That's all for today. I need to work on my system rebuild. I'm sure more will follow...
If you wish car stereos took USB Flash drives...You might be a geek. (rince and repeat)
If you quote Office Space more than Pricess Bride or The Holy Grail...
If you quote Princess Bride or The holy Grail...
If you own a red swingline stapler...(I've got one at work.)
If you signed any of the reinstate Farscape petitions...
If you walk past the phone book to look up a phone number on the computer...
If you can't remember how to spell a word you walk past the dictionary to google it...
If your Heroes for Bush character ever used a laser gun or slayed a vampire...
If something really cool just happened and you have to tell someone so you run to your computer...
If your computer crashes and you roll over to your backup computer to finish what you were doing while you rebuild it...(Doing that right now.)
If people use you to clarify technical details of Star Trek, Star Wars, Farscape, SG-1, etc...
If you speak to your friends in Star Wars terms. I.E. Help me Obi Wan your my only hope...
If you knew about JibJab before the elections...
If your vanity plate has a geek term on it...(try a couple)
If you can't wait for that new game to come out so you can steal it off the net...
If you've ever done more Chrismas shopping online than offline...
If you bought a data interface cable for your cell phone before you bought the car charger...
If you measure a man's worth by the size of his USB stick...
If you know who the author of Wizardry for the Apple II+ was...(special thanks to Steve)
If you know what an Apple II+ or a Commodore-64 is...
That's all for today. I need to work on my system rebuild. I'm sure more will follow...
Thursday, October 21, 2004
Aeryn Sun for Bush
Aeryn Sun: Former peacekeeper and Bush supporter
As a former Peacekeeper I have learned how brutal the universe can be. I have seen and done things in the Pleisar Regiment that the people of earth can't even imagine yet. Things that I wish I could forget. The Scarrans have done these things to my people, as they have done to others for many onns. They know nothing but death and murder. I see the same thing happening with the terrorists of your world. Moose-lambs you call them? They wish to destroy everything that does not follow their belief system. I cannot vote for I am an alien but John has already submitted his absentee ballot for Bush and what's his name? Darth Vader? Your Moose-Lambs must be stopped at all costs. They have the right plan of action.
Sorry I didn't catch this earlier. John has corrected me. They are called Muslim Wackos.
In your nation of America you have two vastly different ideas of how to deal with these beings. On one side you have a Mr. Bush that believes that the only way to stop them is to answer power with power. This will work as he has much more ordinance at his disposal and what I believe to be a stronger resolve.
Mr. Kerry, his opposite, believes that you can negotiate with these creatures. He is mislead into believing that he can win the minds of those that have nothing to gain by joining him and everything to lose. They will not join with him because of their pre-ordained rights to some crude black fuel that comes out of the ground. They are also too weak a race to challenge either power to take for their own. They are to be considered lesser beings. They are of no consequence to you. They are like so many DRDs buzzing in the background. Kerry's belief in their support or relevance is frelling insane. He is floating aimlessly through space and time.
You may ask yourself why I have chosen to speak with you when I have so many more pressing matters. This world is not my own so what interest would I have in your insignificant affairs? As many of you know, Rygel is pregnant with mine and John's baby. It will be half peacekeeper and half human. It will be forever linked to this world. I would not want this world to be destroyed because a band of savages destroyed the growing technology of an isolated world on the edge of the galaxy because someone thought it was good to appease them. They cannot be appeased, just as the Scarrans cannot be appeased. They must be destroyed at all costs.
I must end this transmission as Moya will be entering Starburst shortly. Good luck in your free elections.
--end transmission--
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
TTLB Blogburst: Heroes for Bush
N.Z. Bear the overlord of the TTLB Ecosystem has planned a blogburst. Have your submissions for the Heroes for Bush blogburst ready for him by Thursday night or early Friday morning.
Here's the link for more information. I've already written mine. Lets just say I'm going to beat everybody...MUAHAAHAHAHA!!!
(If you'd like to consider that a challenge then it is a challenge. If you don't think this is a challenge...it's a friggin' challenge you schmuck! Go write something entertaining!)
Names already registered:
Spoons
Robin Sizemore
Tony at Oriental Redneck
What is Flig?
sisu
Lapsus Calami
Secure Liberty
Right Thoughts
CrankyBeach
American Warmonger
and a host of others...
Don't miss this once every four years opportunity!
Here's the link for more information. I've already written mine. Lets just say I'm going to beat everybody...MUAHAAHAHAHA!!!
(If you'd like to consider that a challenge then it is a challenge. If you don't think this is a challenge...it's a friggin' challenge you schmuck! Go write something entertaining!)
Names already registered:
Spoons
Robin Sizemore
Tony at Oriental Redneck
What is Flig?
sisu
Lapsus Calami
Secure Liberty
Right Thoughts
CrankyBeach
American Warmonger
and a host of others...
Don't miss this once every four years opportunity!
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
I'm Confused About Health Insurance?
Maybe it's because I work for a large company or maybe Kerry's just full of it again, I don't know. Maybe a little bit of both. I got my yearly benefits package in the mail a couple of days ago and if I retain the benefits plan I'm currently on I'll be paying 7.43$ less bi-weekly than I did last year. That comes out to 193.18$ less this year total. Okay, so where's the big health cost hike Kerry promised me? I feel let down. Shame on him, he mislead (see lied to) me.
Let me break this down a bit better. I have big healthcare. There are a lot of options within my grasp for healthcare and I've chosen a lot of them. I normally don't brag about this but my company does right by it's people when it comes to benefits. The best way I can explain this is in chart form:
(My apologies for poor formatting.)
Benefit Credits - This is the amount of money my company is willing to shell out per-family for all benefits
2004-------------2005----------Difference
9,188.00_____8,952.00____-236.00
Okay, my free money went down by 236 dollars. That stinks but it's not too bad. They adjusted proportionately for the cost reductions. Cost reductions? Just wait, you'll see.
Medical - Just what it says and then some. If you have medical through our company you automatically get free vision. Vision covers one eye exam per family member per year plus half off their prescriptions every two years. It's not perfect vision but it's free. Now the medical:
2004------------2005------------Difference
10,195.20____9,863.28_____-331.92
That's better, my medical dropped 331.92$. So where's the doom and gloom Kerry is touting with a Bush healthcare plan? Sure, it's only a 3% price drop but wasn't it supposed to go up? I was sort of looking forward to feeling the pinch.
To be fair, I should include some of my other benefits since it's a total package:
Dental:
2004------------2005-----------Difference
520.20______540.72______+20.52
Basic Life Insurance: 1x my base pay (52,000) or 50,000 as a minimum.
Employee Optional Life Insurance: 4x annual base pay (207,000) This year is more than last year. Last year was 199,000 for 4x.
2004------------2005-----------Difference
143.28______196.24______+52.96
Spouse Life Insurance: 50,000
2004----------2005-----------Difference
23.40______42.60______+19.20
Child Life Insurance: 20,000
2004------------2005-----------Difference
21.60_______21.60_______No Change
AD&D: Not Dungeons and Dragons. Accidental Death & Dismemberment - 2x base pay. Again, since my salary went up, so shall the coverage and the costs.
2004------------2005------------Difference
28.80_______37.44_______+8.64
STD: No, I didn't need a shot. Short Term Disability (STD) increased from 75% to 85% base pay coverage.
2004------------2005-----------Difference
322.18______123.70_____-198.48 (not a typo, decreased 62%)
LTD: Long Term Disability. I'm a computer geek. Anything short of losing both my eyes or both my hands I'll be back at work before this would ever kick in. I did not take any.
Since I've put all the data in we may as well do the simple math to calculate how much everything went down total:
2004 Costs
10195.20
+520.20
+143.28
+23.40
+21.60
+28.80
+322.18
11,254.66 total benefit costs for 2004
937.89$ per month total for 2004
432.87$ bi-weekly total for 2004
2,066.66 total benefit costs for 2004 after 9,188.00 company share.
172.22$ per month personal for 2004
79.49$ per month personal for 2004
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2005 Costs
9,863.28
540.72
196.24
42.60
21.60
37.44
123.70
10,825.58 total benefit costs for 2005
902.13$ per month total for 2004
416.37$ bi-weekly total for 2004
1,873.58 total benefit costs for 2004 after 8,952.00 company share.
156.08$ per month personal for 2004
72.06$ per month personal for 2004
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now for the difference comparisons any way you'd like to look at it:
11,254.66 - 10825.58 = 429.08 total benefit savings
937.89 - 902.13 = 35.76 per month total savings
432.87 - 416.37 = 16.50 bi-weekly total savings
2,066.66 - 1,873.58 = 193.08 total benefit savings after company share.
172.22 - 156.08 = 16.14 per month personal savings,
79.49 - 72.06 = 7.43 per month personal savings
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saving money on your life and health insurance = priceless
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you ran the numbers on any one of the above figures you would notice that there is a 4% total benefit savings and a 9% personal benefit savings. I'm sure to many of you these numbers are pretty boring but they tell a story, my story. Numbers like these are what inclines me to go with the incumbent president, Bush. It was under his administration that this strange event, saving on health insurance, took place. Is this a representative of all companies and all insurances everywhere? No. This is what has happened with my health and welfare benefits. It may not be representative of even the people sitting next to me. Then again, it could be happening all over the country. We don't have the demographics in yet.
I'm going to ask again because I'm still confused: where's the big health cost hike Kerry promised me?
Let me break this down a bit better. I have big healthcare. There are a lot of options within my grasp for healthcare and I've chosen a lot of them. I normally don't brag about this but my company does right by it's people when it comes to benefits. The best way I can explain this is in chart form:
(My apologies for poor formatting.)
Benefit Credits - This is the amount of money my company is willing to shell out per-family for all benefits
2004-------------2005----------Difference
9,188.00_____8,952.00____-236.00
Okay, my free money went down by 236 dollars. That stinks but it's not too bad. They adjusted proportionately for the cost reductions. Cost reductions? Just wait, you'll see.
Medical - Just what it says and then some. If you have medical through our company you automatically get free vision. Vision covers one eye exam per family member per year plus half off their prescriptions every two years. It's not perfect vision but it's free. Now the medical:
2004------------2005------------Difference
10,195.20____9,863.28_____-331.92
That's better, my medical dropped 331.92$. So where's the doom and gloom Kerry is touting with a Bush healthcare plan? Sure, it's only a 3% price drop but wasn't it supposed to go up? I was sort of looking forward to feeling the pinch.
To be fair, I should include some of my other benefits since it's a total package:
Dental:
2004------------2005-----------Difference
520.20______540.72______+20.52
Basic Life Insurance: 1x my base pay (52,000) or 50,000 as a minimum.
Employee Optional Life Insurance: 4x annual base pay (207,000) This year is more than last year. Last year was 199,000 for 4x.
2004------------2005-----------Difference
143.28______196.24______+52.96
Spouse Life Insurance: 50,000
2004----------2005-----------Difference
23.40______42.60______+19.20
Child Life Insurance: 20,000
2004------------2005-----------Difference
21.60_______21.60_______No Change
AD&D: Not Dungeons and Dragons. Accidental Death & Dismemberment - 2x base pay. Again, since my salary went up, so shall the coverage and the costs.
2004------------2005------------Difference
28.80_______37.44_______+8.64
STD: No, I didn't need a shot. Short Term Disability (STD) increased from 75% to 85% base pay coverage.
2004------------2005-----------Difference
322.18______123.70_____-198.48 (not a typo, decreased 62%)
LTD: Long Term Disability. I'm a computer geek. Anything short of losing both my eyes or both my hands I'll be back at work before this would ever kick in. I did not take any.
Since I've put all the data in we may as well do the simple math to calculate how much everything went down total:
2004 Costs
10195.20
+520.20
+143.28
+23.40
+21.60
+28.80
+322.18
11,254.66 total benefit costs for 2004
937.89$ per month total for 2004
432.87$ bi-weekly total for 2004
2,066.66 total benefit costs for 2004 after 9,188.00 company share.
172.22$ per month personal for 2004
79.49$ per month personal for 2004
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2005 Costs
9,863.28
540.72
196.24
42.60
21.60
37.44
123.70
10,825.58 total benefit costs for 2005
902.13$ per month total for 2004
416.37$ bi-weekly total for 2004
1,873.58 total benefit costs for 2004 after 8,952.00 company share.
156.08$ per month personal for 2004
72.06$ per month personal for 2004
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now for the difference comparisons any way you'd like to look at it:
11,254.66 - 10825.58 = 429.08 total benefit savings
937.89 - 902.13 = 35.76 per month total savings
432.87 - 416.37 = 16.50 bi-weekly total savings
2,066.66 - 1,873.58 = 193.08 total benefit savings after company share.
172.22 - 156.08 = 16.14 per month personal savings,
79.49 - 72.06 = 7.43 per month personal savings
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Saving money on your life and health insurance = priceless
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you ran the numbers on any one of the above figures you would notice that there is a 4% total benefit savings and a 9% personal benefit savings. I'm sure to many of you these numbers are pretty boring but they tell a story, my story. Numbers like these are what inclines me to go with the incumbent president, Bush. It was under his administration that this strange event, saving on health insurance, took place. Is this a representative of all companies and all insurances everywhere? No. This is what has happened with my health and welfare benefits. It may not be representative of even the people sitting next to me. Then again, it could be happening all over the country. We don't have the demographics in yet.
I'm going to ask again because I'm still confused: where's the big health cost hike Kerry promised me?
Monday, October 18, 2004
ATTENTION! Kerry Plans to Re-institute The Draft!
We all know that Kerry is trying to scare the American people into thinking that Bush wants to re-institute the draft. He has become adamant about it.
Here are the ABC Headlines:
Kerry: Draft Likely to Return Under Bush (1)
Here's the comment Kerry made in the above article:
"If George Bush were to be re-elected, given the way he has gone about this war and given his avoidance of responsibility in North Korea and Iran and other places, is it possible? I can't tell you."
He believes that if things continue the way they are going he's not sure if Bush would re-institute a draft. Is that it? Is this what all the fuss is about? That's a pretty inflammatory title for such a weak quote. It's too bad there weren't any more quotes in the article. That's okay, ABC put out another one with better quotes and a slightly less panicky title:
Kerry Warns Draft Possible if Bush Wins
"With George Bush, the plan for Iraq is more of the same and the great potential of a draft. Because if we go it alone, I don't know how you do it with the current overextension"
That's better. Now we have all we need. If Kerry is elected he will re-institute the draft. Bush will not re-institute the draft. He has said so on several occasions. Let me say this again for all of the tin-foil hat wearing fools that missed this the first time: THERE WILL BE NO DRAFT UNDER BUSH!
Here comes the science of how Kerry will institute the draft:
Kerry's perceived key to enhancing our forces abroad is tied into the UN forces and the powers of France, China, Russia and Germany. These nations have nothing to gain by joining with a Kerry America. Many of them have stated that they will not join after the elections no matter who is president. Recent documents have even stated contractual obligations between some of them and the former Iraqi administration above and beyond the oil for food program/scandal. They will not commit forces to Iraq.
Kerry has stated that he will deploy more American forces in Iraq. He believes that we need to put more American forces on the ground to win the peace. He has harped on Bush several times for his "under manning" of the Iraqi forces. Of course, Bush went with the number of forces the military requested; silly him for believing what his Generals tell him. That must be another one of his character flaws.
Kerry has also made reference to beliefs that the real threat is with North Korea...or was that Iran? In reality he has stated we should be putting troops on the ground in both places. If Kerry had his way the "tough on nukes" policy mixed with his Bilateral stance on DPRK would land us squarely in a war with North Korea with no support from anyone except South Korea, who would have no choice. Iran, on the other hand, would hold a large number of our forces for an extended period of time as a deterrent. We may have the help of Great Britain and others in Iran but peace talks and posturing through the UN take time, over twelve years to be precise and they would still have waited. So how long do you think it would have taken them to depose the Iranian leadership?
The facts are clear. Kerry has made all of the aforementioned plans quite clear in his jockeying for the presidency. If we were doing all of the things that he has stated he would do we would have no choice but to re-institute the draft. Kerry has already stated in his second statement "I don't know how you would do it with the current overextension". With this, I'm sure he doesn't even consider the 183,746 reservists (as of Dec 2003) that are standing by. He didn't consider Bush's reserve time, why would he consider anyone else's?
(1) This comment is no longer available on the ABCNews site. A google cached page was used.
Here are the ABC Headlines:
Kerry: Draft Likely to Return Under Bush (1)
Here's the comment Kerry made in the above article:
"If George Bush were to be re-elected, given the way he has gone about this war and given his avoidance of responsibility in North Korea and Iran and other places, is it possible? I can't tell you."
He believes that if things continue the way they are going he's not sure if Bush would re-institute a draft. Is that it? Is this what all the fuss is about? That's a pretty inflammatory title for such a weak quote. It's too bad there weren't any more quotes in the article. That's okay, ABC put out another one with better quotes and a slightly less panicky title:
Kerry Warns Draft Possible if Bush Wins
"With George Bush, the plan for Iraq is more of the same and the great potential of a draft. Because if we go it alone, I don't know how you do it with the current overextension"
That's better. Now we have all we need. If Kerry is elected he will re-institute the draft. Bush will not re-institute the draft. He has said so on several occasions. Let me say this again for all of the tin-foil hat wearing fools that missed this the first time: THERE WILL BE NO DRAFT UNDER BUSH!
Here comes the science of how Kerry will institute the draft:
Kerry's perceived key to enhancing our forces abroad is tied into the UN forces and the powers of France, China, Russia and Germany. These nations have nothing to gain by joining with a Kerry America. Many of them have stated that they will not join after the elections no matter who is president. Recent documents have even stated contractual obligations between some of them and the former Iraqi administration above and beyond the oil for food program/scandal. They will not commit forces to Iraq.
Kerry has stated that he will deploy more American forces in Iraq. He believes that we need to put more American forces on the ground to win the peace. He has harped on Bush several times for his "under manning" of the Iraqi forces. Of course, Bush went with the number of forces the military requested; silly him for believing what his Generals tell him. That must be another one of his character flaws.
Kerry has also made reference to beliefs that the real threat is with North Korea...or was that Iran? In reality he has stated we should be putting troops on the ground in both places. If Kerry had his way the "tough on nukes" policy mixed with his Bilateral stance on DPRK would land us squarely in a war with North Korea with no support from anyone except South Korea, who would have no choice. Iran, on the other hand, would hold a large number of our forces for an extended period of time as a deterrent. We may have the help of Great Britain and others in Iran but peace talks and posturing through the UN take time, over twelve years to be precise and they would still have waited. So how long do you think it would have taken them to depose the Iranian leadership?
The facts are clear. Kerry has made all of the aforementioned plans quite clear in his jockeying for the presidency. If we were doing all of the things that he has stated he would do we would have no choice but to re-institute the draft. Kerry has already stated in his second statement "I don't know how you would do it with the current overextension". With this, I'm sure he doesn't even consider the 183,746 reservists (as of Dec 2003) that are standing by. He didn't consider Bush's reserve time, why would he consider anyone else's?
(1) This comment is no longer available on the ABCNews site. A google cached page was used.
Kerry stinks internationally Part Trois (3)
Junk Yard Blog has found something that I don't think I can pass up on. I'm giving him serious props for his finds.
Japan has taken note of the comments Senator Kerry made about bilateral talks and is none too happy:
(edited by JYB)
(Source is here)
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe said Friday there will be trouble if Democratic challenger John Kerry beats incumbent George W. Bush in the U.S. presidential election.
Takebe, who is seen as a right-hand man of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, told a Nippon Broadcasting System radio program, referring to the Nov. 2 presidential election, "It would mean trouble if it is not President Bush. Mr. Kerry is trying to address the North Korean problem bilaterally. That is totally out of the question."
---
The DPJ [an ankle-biting opposition party] said [Prime Minister] Koizumi's expressing support for Bush is an interference in the domestic affairs of the United States.
Koizumi told reporters Thursday, "I don't want to interfere with another country's election but since I'm well-acquainted with President Bush, I want him to carry on."
It appears that both political parties prefer Bush to Kerry but Takabe made specific mention to Kerry's bilateral talks are totally out of the question. If I remember right I made mention of this before. Maybe it was here? I really hate to say I told you so....no I don't. I love to say I told you so, who am I kidding. For all you lefties out there: I TOLD YOU SO! When will people start listening to the load of sewage that eminates from Kerry's mouth? If you've been paying attention he's really good at sticking his foot in it. Not with little misquotables like Bush but full on "what the hell was he thinkings".
JYB finished his article up with a beautiful piece on the Phillippines. Lets just say that what I gave here was a teaser/trailer to the real article. Go read it or I'll hack your machine and make it your home page.
Japan has taken note of the comments Senator Kerry made about bilateral talks and is none too happy:
(edited by JYB)
(Source is here)
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe said Friday there will be trouble if Democratic challenger John Kerry beats incumbent George W. Bush in the U.S. presidential election.
Takebe, who is seen as a right-hand man of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, told a Nippon Broadcasting System radio program, referring to the Nov. 2 presidential election, "It would mean trouble if it is not President Bush. Mr. Kerry is trying to address the North Korean problem bilaterally. That is totally out of the question."
---
The DPJ [an ankle-biting opposition party] said [Prime Minister] Koizumi's expressing support for Bush is an interference in the domestic affairs of the United States.
Koizumi told reporters Thursday, "I don't want to interfere with another country's election but since I'm well-acquainted with President Bush, I want him to carry on."
It appears that both political parties prefer Bush to Kerry but Takabe made specific mention to Kerry's bilateral talks are totally out of the question. If I remember right I made mention of this before. Maybe it was here? I really hate to say I told you so....no I don't. I love to say I told you so, who am I kidding. For all you lefties out there: I TOLD YOU SO! When will people start listening to the load of sewage that eminates from Kerry's mouth? If you've been paying attention he's really good at sticking his foot in it. Not with little misquotables like Bush but full on "what the hell was he thinkings".
JYB finished his article up with a beautiful piece on the Phillippines. Lets just say that what I gave here was a teaser/trailer to the real article. Go read it or I'll hack your machine and make it your home page.
Sunday, October 17, 2004
Pick a president
Jane has asked her 8 year old daughter for the second time about this year's elections. Kerry has still not been able to sway her vote. She might even be a better journalist than her mommy. Go read what she has to say.
Saturday, October 16, 2004
Jon Stewart Destroys Crossfire.
Jon Stewart of The Daily Show eats Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala of CNN's Crossfire alive. (not for the faint of heart or the weak of bladder. He's not joking but it is hilarious.) The Volokh Conspiracy has a link to the video Here. Jon may be a staunch Democrat but he gets my vote on this one.
Jon: How old are you Tucker?
Tucker: I'm 34 years old.
Jon: Any you still wear a bow tie? I'm not calling you stupid Tucker, it takes a really talented guy to tie a bow tie.
That's the nicest thing he said. This is must see T.V.
Jon: How old are you Tucker?
Tucker: I'm 34 years old.
Jon: Any you still wear a bow tie? I'm not calling you stupid Tucker, it takes a really talented guy to tie a bow tie.
That's the nicest thing he said. This is must see T.V.
MSNBC reports that Democrat bloggers are more organized?
Flipping through the channels this Saturday I made the mistake of dropping by MSNBC's weekend Horserace Hardblogger show. What a friggin' crock. They made note that Slate.com and Salon.com were both nationally recognized and democratic. They went on to say that they were both being dwarfed in traffic to the likes of Daily KOS which they stated was one of the top rated bloggers. They also made note that democrat bloggers had been aranging bus trips to battleground states to blog. Hopefully, this piece is strong enough to directly tie MSNBC to the ranks of officially democratically biased.
Let's start this thing off at the top: Slate.com is a sister website to MSNBC in the MSN parenting structure. That would indicate to me a democratic bias. The opinion paper being put out by the parent company is democratically biased would direct me straight away to believe that their news agency was as well.
Now for the Daily KOS, Markos Moulitsas. He is one of the hottest bloggers in the sphere according to N.Z. Bear's TTLB ecosystem. He is the number two "pundit", second only to instapundit, Glenn Reynolds. Although Glenn tries to err on the side of independent he frequently and unapologetically errs on the side of republican. But these aren't the only two guys in the sphere. Let's roll down the top 10 on the TTLB:
Instapundit - Republican
Daily KOS - Democrat
Talking points memo - Democrat
The Drudge Report - Republican (barely)
Atrios - Democrat
Little Green Footballs - Republican
Andrew Sullivan - Democrat
The Volokh Conspiracy - Republican
Blogs for Bush - Republican
The Washington Monthly - Democrat
Tally: D:5 R:5
This gives the demographic representation that there is no real superpower in the blog realm. There is no super organized democrat group. If anything, it shows a super organized republican group: Blogs for Bush. All others are individuals with followers, dictators if you will.
But that's not the end of the KOS story. I no longer know where the article is but KOS actually gave credit to the Bush bloggers for being a more organized group of bloggers. It looks to be that the Democratic Republic of MSNBC is not giving us the whole story. Talk about trying to create the news.
I almost forgot: we ride busses too.
Update: I almost forgot the most important blogger in the entire ranking structure. N.Z. Bear himself (gatekeeper of the ranking structure) is on the Bush bandwagon.
Update again: Washington Monthly has just been bumped from the top ten buy everyone's favorite Dan Rather killer POWERLINE! That changes the score from 5/5 to 6/4 (7/4 if you include N.Z. Bear).
Let's start this thing off at the top: Slate.com is a sister website to MSNBC in the MSN parenting structure. That would indicate to me a democratic bias. The opinion paper being put out by the parent company is democratically biased would direct me straight away to believe that their news agency was as well.
Now for the Daily KOS, Markos Moulitsas. He is one of the hottest bloggers in the sphere according to N.Z. Bear's TTLB ecosystem. He is the number two "pundit", second only to instapundit, Glenn Reynolds. Although Glenn tries to err on the side of independent he frequently and unapologetically errs on the side of republican. But these aren't the only two guys in the sphere. Let's roll down the top 10 on the TTLB:
Instapundit - Republican
Daily KOS - Democrat
Talking points memo - Democrat
The Drudge Report - Republican (barely)
Atrios - Democrat
Little Green Footballs - Republican
Andrew Sullivan - Democrat
The Volokh Conspiracy - Republican
Blogs for Bush - Republican
The Washington Monthly - Democrat
Tally: D:5 R:5
This gives the demographic representation that there is no real superpower in the blog realm. There is no super organized democrat group. If anything, it shows a super organized republican group: Blogs for Bush. All others are individuals with followers, dictators if you will.
But that's not the end of the KOS story. I no longer know where the article is but KOS actually gave credit to the Bush bloggers for being a more organized group of bloggers. It looks to be that the Democratic Republic of MSNBC is not giving us the whole story. Talk about trying to create the news.
I almost forgot: we ride busses too.
Update: I almost forgot the most important blogger in the entire ranking structure. N.Z. Bear himself (gatekeeper of the ranking structure) is on the Bush bandwagon.
Update again: Washington Monthly has just been bumped from the top ten buy everyone's favorite Dan Rather killer POWERLINE! That changes the score from 5/5 to 6/4 (7/4 if you include N.Z. Bear).
Friday, October 15, 2004
Fair Game or Foul Play?
Okay, Cheney's daughter,
Fair Game or Foul Play?
Let's start where this crap began, with the name drop by John Edwards during the VP debate:
"I think the vice president and his wife love their daughter. I think they love her very much. And you can't have anything but respect for the fact that they're willing to talk about the fact that they have a gay daughter, the fact that they embrace her. It's a wonderful thing,"
If you go back to the tape you'll note that Cheney was ready and willing to rip Edwards' perky little face off if he spoke ill of his daughter or their relationship...and I would have loved to see it. As it stood, he came off as paying Cheney a compliment on his daughter at a rather inopportune moment. For the next 20 minutes or so Cheney had that "what the hell was that about?" look on his face.
Time passes, nothing is mentioned by anyone until the last debate.
Asked about Gay marriage, Kerry evokes Mary Cheney in a move as distasteful as his invocation of his 15 year friend Superman Christopher Reeves (May he be walking somewhere in heaven). Here's the comment:
"We're all God's children, Bob, and I think if you were to talk to Dick Cheney's daughter, who is a lesbian, she would tell you that she's being who she was. She's being who she was born as. I think if you talk to anybody, it's not a choice."
At this point I believe it is appropriate to let you know that Mary Cheney has been considered off limits to reporters throughout the same-sex marriage debate. This is not an accident. This is intentional attacking a family and not debating a point. What was he attacking though? John Edwards called their family support and relationship a wonderful thing. Again, this is out of place in a debate and certainly uncalled for. Lynne Cheney, Mary's mother can no longer hold back and fires off this comment:
"Now, you know, I did have a chance to assess John Kerry once more and now the only thing I could conclude: This is not a good man. Of course, I am speaking as a mom, and a pretty indignant mom. This is not a good man. What a cheap and tawdry political trick."
Even Arizona Sen. John McCain, the person Kerry tried to claim as "on his side" called Kerry's remarks "certainly inappropriate." Now it's time to enter the spin doctors to try and mop things up. One more time, what are they driving at with this? What does the Kerry/Edwards hope to say with this line of off limits commenting? Let's go to Mary Beth Cahill, the queen of spin for the answer:
"She seems to be very proud and open about her sexuality, her parents seem to be very proud of her. It comes up, there are a lot of questions here about gay marriage, and she is someone who is a major figure in the campaign. I think it's fair game and I think she has been treated very respectfully."
It's fair game? It has NEVER been fair game. She is NOT a major figure in the campaign. She is a daughter working with her father's campaign. There is nothing more to it. Her relationship with her family has ALWAYS been strictly OFF LIMITS.
So is this what everything about? They want to call Cheney a hypocrite for supporting Bush while loving his lesbian daughter? I guess if you can't make one legitimate attack on him for Halliburton (Every attack on Cheney for Halliburton has been proven to be groundless including the uncontested Iraq contract.) attack his family. Can you get any more classy? Is this the way we want our president to talk about people? Can they go any lower?
Nicolle Devenish, Bush's Communications Director knows the score. They're trying to clean up a mess.:
"Mary Beth Cahill revealed a campaign strategy last night to Chris Wallace, that Mary Cheney is fair game. Kerry's new statement is complete double-speak. He's just trying to clean up a mess."
Unfortunately, this was not the end, nothing got cleaned up; it gets dirtier. Elizabeth Edwards talks about the elephant in the middle of the DNC's room in her comments about Lynn Cheney's remarks:
"She's overreacted to this and treated it as if it's shameful to have this discussion. I think that's a very sad state of affairs. ... I think that it indicates a certain degree of shame with respect to her daughter's sexual preferences. ... It makes me really sad that that's Lynne's response"
There you have it, the Democratic party has called Cheney ashamed of her daughter. This is dirty pool. There is no justification for this. They can't even show respect for a diverse family. Really nice campaign strategy. It really calls America to your softer side John. Of course, what do you expect from a couple of lawyers, kindness? The presidency is not a trial and I am not a part of your jury.
All quotes derived from this FOXNews article.
Fair Game or Foul Play?
Let's start where this crap began, with the name drop by John Edwards during the VP debate:
"I think the vice president and his wife love their daughter. I think they love her very much. And you can't have anything but respect for the fact that they're willing to talk about the fact that they have a gay daughter, the fact that they embrace her. It's a wonderful thing,"
If you go back to the tape you'll note that Cheney was ready and willing to rip Edwards' perky little face off if he spoke ill of his daughter or their relationship...and I would have loved to see it. As it stood, he came off as paying Cheney a compliment on his daughter at a rather inopportune moment. For the next 20 minutes or so Cheney had that "what the hell was that about?" look on his face.
Time passes, nothing is mentioned by anyone until the last debate.
Asked about Gay marriage, Kerry evokes Mary Cheney in a move as distasteful as his invocation of his 15 year friend Superman Christopher Reeves (May he be walking somewhere in heaven). Here's the comment:
"We're all God's children, Bob, and I think if you were to talk to Dick Cheney's daughter, who is a lesbian, she would tell you that she's being who she was. She's being who she was born as. I think if you talk to anybody, it's not a choice."
At this point I believe it is appropriate to let you know that Mary Cheney has been considered off limits to reporters throughout the same-sex marriage debate. This is not an accident. This is intentional attacking a family and not debating a point. What was he attacking though? John Edwards called their family support and relationship a wonderful thing. Again, this is out of place in a debate and certainly uncalled for. Lynne Cheney, Mary's mother can no longer hold back and fires off this comment:
"Now, you know, I did have a chance to assess John Kerry once more and now the only thing I could conclude: This is not a good man. Of course, I am speaking as a mom, and a pretty indignant mom. This is not a good man. What a cheap and tawdry political trick."
Even Arizona Sen. John McCain, the person Kerry tried to claim as "on his side" called Kerry's remarks "certainly inappropriate." Now it's time to enter the spin doctors to try and mop things up. One more time, what are they driving at with this? What does the Kerry/Edwards hope to say with this line of off limits commenting? Let's go to Mary Beth Cahill, the queen of spin for the answer:
"She seems to be very proud and open about her sexuality, her parents seem to be very proud of her. It comes up, there are a lot of questions here about gay marriage, and she is someone who is a major figure in the campaign. I think it's fair game and I think she has been treated very respectfully."
It's fair game? It has NEVER been fair game. She is NOT a major figure in the campaign. She is a daughter working with her father's campaign. There is nothing more to it. Her relationship with her family has ALWAYS been strictly OFF LIMITS.
So is this what everything about? They want to call Cheney a hypocrite for supporting Bush while loving his lesbian daughter? I guess if you can't make one legitimate attack on him for Halliburton (Every attack on Cheney for Halliburton has been proven to be groundless including the uncontested Iraq contract.) attack his family. Can you get any more classy? Is this the way we want our president to talk about people? Can they go any lower?
Nicolle Devenish, Bush's Communications Director knows the score. They're trying to clean up a mess.:
"Mary Beth Cahill revealed a campaign strategy last night to Chris Wallace, that Mary Cheney is fair game. Kerry's new statement is complete double-speak. He's just trying to clean up a mess."
Unfortunately, this was not the end, nothing got cleaned up; it gets dirtier. Elizabeth Edwards talks about the elephant in the middle of the DNC's room in her comments about Lynn Cheney's remarks:
"She's overreacted to this and treated it as if it's shameful to have this discussion. I think that's a very sad state of affairs. ... I think that it indicates a certain degree of shame with respect to her daughter's sexual preferences. ... It makes me really sad that that's Lynne's response"
There you have it, the Democratic party has called Cheney ashamed of her daughter. This is dirty pool. There is no justification for this. They can't even show respect for a diverse family. Really nice campaign strategy. It really calls America to your softer side John. Of course, what do you expect from a couple of lawyers, kindness? The presidency is not a trial and I am not a part of your jury.
All quotes derived from this FOXNews article.
Thursday, October 14, 2004
"Exaggerations"
I'm not going to give you a blow by blow of the debate. I'll just cut it down to the two broadsides at their source. Everybody I work with gimaced in unison to both of these, including our poor misled democrat. (He's excused, he's a card carrying actor.) I'll flirt with more from the debate but I'm not going to "punditize" it. These are best served in pure form:
BUSH: Gosh, I just don't think I ever said I'm not worried about Osama bin Laden. It's kind of one of those "exaggerations".
"BUSH: I want to remind people listening tonight that a plan is not a litany of complaints, and a plan is not to lay out programs that you can't pay for.
He just said he wants everybody to be able to buy in to the same plan that senators and congressmen get. That costs the government $7,700 per family. If every family in America signed up, like the senator suggested, [it] would cost us $5 trillion over 10 years.
It's an empty promise. It's called bait and switch."
BUSH: Gosh, I just don't think I ever said I'm not worried about Osama bin Laden. It's kind of one of those "exaggerations".
"BUSH: I want to remind people listening tonight that a plan is not a litany of complaints, and a plan is not to lay out programs that you can't pay for.
He just said he wants everybody to be able to buy in to the same plan that senators and congressmen get. That costs the government $7,700 per family. If every family in America signed up, like the senator suggested, [it] would cost us $5 trillion over 10 years.
It's an empty promise. It's called bait and switch."
Fellowship 9/11
If you are going to watch one F 9/11 spoof film this year watch this one. Ifilm is the absolute bomb for indie film makers. This is yet another shining example of what can be done on a less-than-shoestring budget.
So Sauron and Sauramon are in league with each other? The white wizard and the dark lord scheming together? That's prepostorus!
So Sauron and Sauramon are in league with each other? The white wizard and the dark lord scheming together? That's prepostorus!
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Now there are two..no wait...three anti-Moore movies
For your viewing edjutainment;
Thanks to the Pajamahadeen I have discovered a second movie poised to set Michael Moore on fire. This movie hosts such personalities as Dick Morris, Ron Silver, Zell Miller and others. Enter Fahrenhype 9/11. This movie can be found at Blockbuster, Hollywood Video and NetFlix as well as other places.
UPDATE: The Pajama Editor has informed me that there is a third movie out there: Michael Moore Hates America. Apparently this one's not republican based and has Penn and Teller (heavy libertarians) commenting in the movie. They've had a showing on the 12th..hey! that's today! And another showing on the 15th. More information will follow when it becomes available.
Just as a reminder there is still the wonderfull flick Celcius 41.11 you can pick up. Unfortunately, it's not out anywhere but the Citizen's United interactive page.
And if you want to watch a free documentary about how college is misdirecting our youth you can go here. Evan Coyne Maloney has done some very nice work as an anti-protestor with a video camera in the past. This is quite possibly his best work.
My suggestion: buy Celcius 41.11, go down to blockbuster, rent both Fahrenhype 9/11 and Fahrenheit 9/11 (yeah, I guess I plugged it. Oh well.), then watch in this order: Fahrenheit 9/11, Fahrenhype 9/11, then Celcius 41.11. And if you haven't been sent into a catatonic state of gloom, doom, death and dispair you can go online and watch Evan's documentary to polish off your day.
Thanks to the Pajamahadeen I have discovered a second movie poised to set Michael Moore on fire. This movie hosts such personalities as Dick Morris, Ron Silver, Zell Miller and others. Enter Fahrenhype 9/11. This movie can be found at Blockbuster, Hollywood Video and NetFlix as well as other places.
UPDATE: The Pajama Editor has informed me that there is a third movie out there: Michael Moore Hates America. Apparently this one's not republican based and has Penn and Teller (heavy libertarians) commenting in the movie. They've had a showing on the 12th..hey! that's today! And another showing on the 15th. More information will follow when it becomes available.
Just as a reminder there is still the wonderfull flick Celcius 41.11 you can pick up. Unfortunately, it's not out anywhere but the Citizen's United interactive page.
And if you want to watch a free documentary about how college is misdirecting our youth you can go here. Evan Coyne Maloney has done some very nice work as an anti-protestor with a video camera in the past. This is quite possibly his best work.
My suggestion: buy Celcius 41.11, go down to blockbuster, rent both Fahrenhype 9/11 and Fahrenheit 9/11 (yeah, I guess I plugged it. Oh well.), then watch in this order: Fahrenheit 9/11, Fahrenhype 9/11, then Celcius 41.11. And if you haven't been sent into a catatonic state of gloom, doom, death and dispair you can go online and watch Evan's documentary to polish off your day.
NEW POLL SHOWS BUSH KICKING THE SNOT OUT OF KERRY!!
In a new technique nearly as accurate and contradicting as Zogby's and Gallup Bush has trounced Kerry 67%-33% with Nader and Badnarik represented in the appropriate states. The results can be found here.
Meetup.com and Strike Ten have joined together and have just recently completed their unbiased poll of over 2,000 bowlers. Here's how it went:
The Bowl-Off used a unique scoring system to prevent ballot stuffing. Bowlers were divided into teams based on their candidate (Kerry, Bush and, in some places, Nader and Badnarik). After the teams bowled, the top 3 scores for each team at each Strike Ten-affiliated bowling center were recorded. All told, President Bush carried 67% of the centers and had a higher average score of 175-161. Nearly 2,000 peoplle participated in over 40 states.
Not only are there more Bush bowlers but Bush bowlers are better bowlers! Have a good day and go bowling.
Meetup.com and Strike Ten have joined together and have just recently completed their unbiased poll of over 2,000 bowlers. Here's how it went:
The Bowl-Off used a unique scoring system to prevent ballot stuffing. Bowlers were divided into teams based on their candidate (Kerry, Bush and, in some places, Nader and Badnarik). After the teams bowled, the top 3 scores for each team at each Strike Ten-affiliated bowling center were recorded. All told, President Bush carried 67% of the centers and had a higher average score of 175-161. Nearly 2,000 peoplle participated in over 40 states.
Not only are there more Bush bowlers but Bush bowlers are better bowlers! Have a good day and go bowling.
Kerry wants to win one for Superman
Daisy led me on to something Wizbang posted. Kerry had this to say about Christopher Reeves' death:
Kerry said the last time he heard from Reeve was on Saturday, when the actor left a message on his cellphone, enthused by the Massachusetts senator's decision to raise stem-cell research in Friday's second presidential debate.
Unfortunately, there's one little problem: He had a heart attack and fell into a coma on Saturday...or was it actually Thursday. Would this be considered the media trying to stretch the truth to save their savior Kerry? Even still, I doubt that Kerry would be one of Superman's last calls.
Here's the even bigger dig. I'll say it loud so nobody misses it:
YOU DON'T NEED AN EMBRYO TO HARVEST STEM CELLS! YOU CAN GET THEM FROM YOUR FAT!!
Here's the most recent article if you don't believe me. You don't even have to harvest them ahead of time. Even skinny people have enough fat to harvest. The person who is sick with Parkinson's or some other disease can supply their own stem cells. Here's another article showing fat stem cells mending a fracture that never would have been able to heal by normal means. There was even an international conference held by IFATS about this stuff on October 3-5 in Pittsburgh.
People really need to get a grip and check into things. Kerry's cheap jab from the shoulder of a dead man shows me he does not understand the sanctity of a human life.
Kerry said the last time he heard from Reeve was on Saturday, when the actor left a message on his cellphone, enthused by the Massachusetts senator's decision to raise stem-cell research in Friday's second presidential debate.
Unfortunately, there's one little problem: He had a heart attack and fell into a coma on Saturday...or was it actually Thursday. Would this be considered the media trying to stretch the truth to save their savior Kerry? Even still, I doubt that Kerry would be one of Superman's last calls.
Here's the even bigger dig. I'll say it loud so nobody misses it:
YOU DON'T NEED AN EMBRYO TO HARVEST STEM CELLS! YOU CAN GET THEM FROM YOUR FAT!!
Here's the most recent article if you don't believe me. You don't even have to harvest them ahead of time. Even skinny people have enough fat to harvest. The person who is sick with Parkinson's or some other disease can supply their own stem cells. Here's another article showing fat stem cells mending a fracture that never would have been able to heal by normal means. There was even an international conference held by IFATS about this stuff on October 3-5 in Pittsburgh.
People really need to get a grip and check into things. Kerry's cheap jab from the shoulder of a dead man shows me he does not understand the sanctity of a human life.
Afghanistan From The Left Side Of The Street.
On Saturday Afghanistan had its first ever elections. Over 40% of the women in that country voted. It was a great day for the Afghan people. They had become more advanced than Saudi Arabia in key areas of third world development at that moment. They became a new beacon for Democracy in the Middle East. President Bush, Vice-President Cheney, his staff and right minded bloggers lauded the event as a significant date in Afghan and world history. Democrats were nearly silent. The only thing I've been able to pull up on comments after Saturday was something Doug linked for me here.
It's a quote from Bob's Big Boy (Edwards):
"If you look at what's actually happened in Afghanistan since the Taliban was toppled, their opium production is back up. They're producing 75 percent of the world's opium," Edwards said. "On top of that, there are big chunks of the country still in the control of warlords and drug lords, and there are still some serious security issues in the country."
Yep, same old doom and gloom they've been pushing since day one. I wonder if they've ever heard the expression "If you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything at all."? I guess that's considered a violation of free speech now isn't it? Other than their standard "I would have done everything he did only better" line lets see if we can extract some fact from this:
...since the Taliban was toppled, their opium production is back up. They're producing 75 percent of the world's opium...
Yes, that is true. But that's not the whole story. In 1999 Afghanistan was the world's leader in opium production with 75%. That number equated to about 4,000 tons of raw opium. The year 2000 heralded about 70% of the world market. The Taliban put strict orders against all opium growers, banning the production and burning fields and labs. It cut their countries overall revenue in half but by 2001 UN officials believed there was going to be no opium coming out of Afghanistan that year. They were mistaken, as Pakistan was flooded with opium during the war. In 2002 they regained their throne as the leading producer of opium on the world. Now they are back at it and 2003 was believed to hold 3,750 tons of opium for Afghanistan. What else do they know how to do? They've been growing and harvesting mass quantities of opium since 1978 when Mexico was prevented from making it. This is and has been their best selling product for around 26 years.
So how do we get the Afghans to try something new? Should we try and move them to South America's biggest producer of Cocaine? We could do what is currently being done and just sit around like the rest of the UN and do nothing. We could go in another direction; we could assist Hamid Karzai with his plea for international assistance in the cracking down of drugs in his country. One of the biggest problems with cutting out the opium trade is that you have to replace it with something else. One would have to make it economically feasible, nationally respectable, and physically safe (drug lords run drug farmers, they kill people) for them to produce corn, soybeans, wheat, and other food crops. Are there any international takers? Yeah, I didn't think so.
If someone wanted to be really enterprising this could be the cure for hunger in Africa. Go ahead Mr. Edwards; spend more of my tax dollars to support the rest of the world. We will be broke but Afghanistan will be saved. Oops, I almost forgot, we are currently the world's biggest producer of grain products. Would Mr. Edwards like to kill their livelihoods as well?
Here's the second piece:
...On top of that, there are big chunks of the country still in the control of warlords and drug lords, and there are still some serious security issues in the country...
Could these be the same warlords and drug lords that have been there since 1978? Again, no other nations are standing up and asking to help. Once again we have asked the international community. And once again the international community would rather debate the intricacies of wine and cheese. There is a funk in Europe that I've mentioned before that has become so complacent with things that they refuse to take any action on anything outside of their little sphere of influence. They are a bunch of internationally lazy fools. I'm sure any one of the three "conservative euros" out there will agree with me.
Or are these the warlords and drug lords that have been hiding in the hills of Pakistan that no one has been able to infiltrate without complete disaster including the Pakistani's? That's right, Pakistan's government will not even go up there because it's so backwater. Is there an Arab equivalent to Deliverance? Would they start the movie with dueling 'uds? This is seriously one international redneck part of the world. They have a different way of dealing with things but can be slowly persuaded to see the light of civilization, just like we're doing in West Virginia. Maybe Edwards can take his southern accent and talk to them like a redneck emissary?
(No insult meant to those with southern accents or living in West Virginia. I'm just trying to prove a stereotypical point.)
It's a quote from Bob's Big Boy (Edwards):
"If you look at what's actually happened in Afghanistan since the Taliban was toppled, their opium production is back up. They're producing 75 percent of the world's opium," Edwards said. "On top of that, there are big chunks of the country still in the control of warlords and drug lords, and there are still some serious security issues in the country."
Yep, same old doom and gloom they've been pushing since day one. I wonder if they've ever heard the expression "If you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything at all."? I guess that's considered a violation of free speech now isn't it? Other than their standard "I would have done everything he did only better" line lets see if we can extract some fact from this:
...since the Taliban was toppled, their opium production is back up. They're producing 75 percent of the world's opium...
Yes, that is true. But that's not the whole story. In 1999 Afghanistan was the world's leader in opium production with 75%. That number equated to about 4,000 tons of raw opium. The year 2000 heralded about 70% of the world market. The Taliban put strict orders against all opium growers, banning the production and burning fields and labs. It cut their countries overall revenue in half but by 2001 UN officials believed there was going to be no opium coming out of Afghanistan that year. They were mistaken, as Pakistan was flooded with opium during the war. In 2002 they regained their throne as the leading producer of opium on the world. Now they are back at it and 2003 was believed to hold 3,750 tons of opium for Afghanistan. What else do they know how to do? They've been growing and harvesting mass quantities of opium since 1978 when Mexico was prevented from making it. This is and has been their best selling product for around 26 years.
So how do we get the Afghans to try something new? Should we try and move them to South America's biggest producer of Cocaine? We could do what is currently being done and just sit around like the rest of the UN and do nothing. We could go in another direction; we could assist Hamid Karzai with his plea for international assistance in the cracking down of drugs in his country. One of the biggest problems with cutting out the opium trade is that you have to replace it with something else. One would have to make it economically feasible, nationally respectable, and physically safe (drug lords run drug farmers, they kill people) for them to produce corn, soybeans, wheat, and other food crops. Are there any international takers? Yeah, I didn't think so.
If someone wanted to be really enterprising this could be the cure for hunger in Africa. Go ahead Mr. Edwards; spend more of my tax dollars to support the rest of the world. We will be broke but Afghanistan will be saved. Oops, I almost forgot, we are currently the world's biggest producer of grain products. Would Mr. Edwards like to kill their livelihoods as well?
Here's the second piece:
...On top of that, there are big chunks of the country still in the control of warlords and drug lords, and there are still some serious security issues in the country...
Could these be the same warlords and drug lords that have been there since 1978? Again, no other nations are standing up and asking to help. Once again we have asked the international community. And once again the international community would rather debate the intricacies of wine and cheese. There is a funk in Europe that I've mentioned before that has become so complacent with things that they refuse to take any action on anything outside of their little sphere of influence. They are a bunch of internationally lazy fools. I'm sure any one of the three "conservative euros" out there will agree with me.
Or are these the warlords and drug lords that have been hiding in the hills of Pakistan that no one has been able to infiltrate without complete disaster including the Pakistani's? That's right, Pakistan's government will not even go up there because it's so backwater. Is there an Arab equivalent to Deliverance? Would they start the movie with dueling 'uds? This is seriously one international redneck part of the world. They have a different way of dealing with things but can be slowly persuaded to see the light of civilization, just like we're doing in West Virginia. Maybe Edwards can take his southern accent and talk to them like a redneck emissary?
(No insult meant to those with southern accents or living in West Virginia. I'm just trying to prove a stereotypical point.)
Monday, October 11, 2004
Don't wanna' be an American Idiot
Don't want a nation controlled by the media. (sing along if you know the words)
- Green Day; American Idiot -
Yep, I know it was supposed to be an anti-Bush song but it's looking more like a jab at the democratic leaning media every day. First there was Rathergate that we shot to hell. Now I drop by Jeff's place, Beautiful Atrocities and notice he's not got the ABC eye. He's also got a nice post including Drudge's recovered ABC memo.
Here's the line that everyone is, or at least should be, talking about:
We have a responsibility to hold both sides accountable to the public interest, but that doesn't mean we hold both sides equally accountable.
- Don't want a nation controlled by the media. -
Now that this memo has come out in addition to CBS's Rathergate what news can we trust? Who can we turn to for honest reporting? Will NBC get slam dunked as well? Are they just as bad or not? If I were an NBC executive I'd be pulling my hair out about now. I'd be doing my best to distance myself from the other big boys. I'd probably even be willing to put out a memo stating to report Bush more favorably than Kerry just to show greater distance from the other "big News" agencies. That would make the democrats happy. Take one look at MSNBC and you know that this will not happen. Have you noticed how biased their debate polling has been? They'd lose 75% of their target audience. It's not going to happen.
So why do they do it? Why do they try to pass themselves off as the unbiased media when they are anything but? I'm sure I'll get some flack for this one but Matt Drudge is coming off more independent than just about all of the majors. CBS, ABC, CNN, MSNBC and FOXNews are all biased to varying degrees. Newspapers are usually not much better. From The Washington Post to The Washington Times you will have different leanings for every issue. Why not just label yourself what you really are? We all know what we're looking at? Are they just in denial?
I'm not disappointed with the fact that all news agencies are biased. They've been that way since the dawn of time. They can't help it, human beings have political leanings and it comes out in their writing. The thing that torques me is the fact that they will go screaming to their news deaths before they will admit that no, they are not "fair and balanced" after all. Most of us are smart enough to figure it out on our own but they really suck in the "American Idiots".
- Green Day; American Idiot -
Yep, I know it was supposed to be an anti-Bush song but it's looking more like a jab at the democratic leaning media every day. First there was Rathergate that we shot to hell. Now I drop by Jeff's place, Beautiful Atrocities and notice he's not got the ABC eye. He's also got a nice post including Drudge's recovered ABC memo.
Here's the line that everyone is, or at least should be, talking about:
We have a responsibility to hold both sides accountable to the public interest, but that doesn't mean we hold both sides equally accountable.
- Don't want a nation controlled by the media. -
Now that this memo has come out in addition to CBS's Rathergate what news can we trust? Who can we turn to for honest reporting? Will NBC get slam dunked as well? Are they just as bad or not? If I were an NBC executive I'd be pulling my hair out about now. I'd be doing my best to distance myself from the other big boys. I'd probably even be willing to put out a memo stating to report Bush more favorably than Kerry just to show greater distance from the other "big News" agencies. That would make the democrats happy. Take one look at MSNBC and you know that this will not happen. Have you noticed how biased their debate polling has been? They'd lose 75% of their target audience. It's not going to happen.
So why do they do it? Why do they try to pass themselves off as the unbiased media when they are anything but? I'm sure I'll get some flack for this one but Matt Drudge is coming off more independent than just about all of the majors. CBS, ABC, CNN, MSNBC and FOXNews are all biased to varying degrees. Newspapers are usually not much better. From The Washington Post to The Washington Times you will have different leanings for every issue. Why not just label yourself what you really are? We all know what we're looking at? Are they just in denial?
I'm not disappointed with the fact that all news agencies are biased. They've been that way since the dawn of time. They can't help it, human beings have political leanings and it comes out in their writing. The thing that torques me is the fact that they will go screaming to their news deaths before they will admit that no, they are not "fair and balanced" after all. Most of us are smart enough to figure it out on our own but they really suck in the "American Idiots".
My first and last flip-flop plug
I had to run up to Wal-Mart today to pick up some art supplies for one of my son's many projects. As I was pulling in I noticed a John Kerry bumper sticker on the right side of the minivan next to me. Something seemed odd so I took another look at the back, there was a George Bush sticker on the left side. I looked at the Kerry sitcker again. Then I noticed it, I wish I had my digital camera at the time. It looked like this:
I nearly hit the light post I was laughing so hard. I love America's sence of style.
Fortunately, the wife of the person who had created such a masterpiece was in the car waiting. She was a bit worried that the sticker would be frowned upon. Her husband had just put it up yesterday when they picked up the sticker at the peanut festival and she scoled him for doing it. I had to remind her that Chesapeake, VA is an extremely republican city. I told her to remember to tell her husband about the great sticker art and went on my way. God I love the city I live in!
I nearly hit the light post I was laughing so hard. I love America's sence of style.
Fortunately, the wife of the person who had created such a masterpiece was in the car waiting. She was a bit worried that the sticker would be frowned upon. Her husband had just put it up yesterday when they picked up the sticker at the peanut festival and she scoled him for doing it. I had to remind her that Chesapeake, VA is an extremely republican city. I told her to remember to tell her husband about the great sticker art and went on my way. God I love the city I live in!
Saturday, October 09, 2004
The New Republic of Afghanistan
Unless you've been hiding at the center of the earth, or Kerry's team, you should know by now that Afghanistan had its first elections...ever. (The center of the earth analogy was used because even those in Afghanistan's caves know about this.) October 9th, 2004 will be the date that Afghanistan has been legitimized as a sovereign nation with direct leadership of someone of their own choosing. There were no bombings, no beheadings, nothing. The biggest uproar today was about some ink being used wrong. Have you seen the polling lines? Take a look at Commissar's pic. I haven't seen lines like that since...well...never! I suspect that the voter turnout will dwarf anything this nation has ever had in its 200+ year history.
Bush has made comment about the event:
"Freedom is powerful. Think about a society in which young girls couldn't go to school, and their mothers were whipped in the public square, and today they're holding a presidential election."
Kerry has made...well...no mention of it. (If anyone has a Kerry comment about the elections please let me know. I really hate being partisan....yeah, that was a lie, I love slamming Kerry.)
In case anyone forgot, this is what freedom looks like:
Courtesy of the BBC:
Afghan refugee Moqadasa Sidiqi, 19, creates history, being the first person to vote in Afghanistan's first presidential election. She voted in Pakistan. View Slideshow.
These ballots look better than our ballots. Can I go vote in Afghanistan?
Here's another Slideshow. Yes, those are Afghan women and children at these rallies.
The BBC went nuts with these elections. Here's the link.
I'm glad to see someone on the other side of the pond realizes the importance of this.
UPDATE: Yahoo News has a 341 picture slideshow here. Just click on the picture on the right to start it. (My local paper is likening the indellible ink fiasco to Florida's hanging chad fiasco.)
Please, don't take my word for what's going on in Afghanistan. Listen to what The Afhan Daily newspaper says, in English. The Afghan Daily is a subsidiary of the World News.
I almost forgot one thing: John Howard has won re-election in Australia. I guess that means Kerry was wrong about support in Australia as well. Their people have spoken. It is time we did the same.
Note: there is a new voting system this year. Those registered with the incumbent party need to vote on November 2nd. Those registered with other parties or no affiliation need to vote on November 3rd. (Yes, this is an old joke but I still think it's funny.)
Allah bless Afghanistan!
Bush has made comment about the event:
"Freedom is powerful. Think about a society in which young girls couldn't go to school, and their mothers were whipped in the public square, and today they're holding a presidential election."
Kerry has made...well...no mention of it. (If anyone has a Kerry comment about the elections please let me know. I really hate being partisan....yeah, that was a lie, I love slamming Kerry.)
In case anyone forgot, this is what freedom looks like:
Courtesy of the BBC:
Afghan refugee Moqadasa Sidiqi, 19, creates history, being the first person to vote in Afghanistan's first presidential election. She voted in Pakistan. View Slideshow.
These ballots look better than our ballots. Can I go vote in Afghanistan?
Here's another Slideshow. Yes, those are Afghan women and children at these rallies.
The BBC went nuts with these elections. Here's the link.
I'm glad to see someone on the other side of the pond realizes the importance of this.
UPDATE: Yahoo News has a 341 picture slideshow here. Just click on the picture on the right to start it. (My local paper is likening the indellible ink fiasco to Florida's hanging chad fiasco.)
Please, don't take my word for what's going on in Afghanistan. Listen to what The Afhan Daily newspaper says, in English. The Afghan Daily is a subsidiary of the World News.
I almost forgot one thing: John Howard has won re-election in Australia. I guess that means Kerry was wrong about support in Australia as well. Their people have spoken. It is time we did the same.
Note: there is a new voting system this year. Those registered with the incumbent party need to vote on November 2nd. Those registered with other parties or no affiliation need to vote on November 3rd. (Yes, this is an old joke but I still think it's funny.)
Allah bless Afghanistan!
Wednesday, October 06, 2004
Tororu (Japanese for Troll)
Today I recieved my very first real live troll. The person loved me so much they read at least three separate articles. The only reason I know they read three separate articles is because I recieved three different comments, one per article. If feel so happy I'm posting all three of them today! I'll take it directly from haloscan so I don't miss any information:
Name:
BUSHSUCKS
IP:
133.7.7.20
Email:
BUSHSUCKS@eatmeyouwarwhore.com
Comment:
So why does the US sponsor terrorism worldwide, including in Iraq? Come on blame everything on Zarqawi--as if the US paid him enough already to do that much stuff!
Time:
10.06.04 - 6:57 am
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name:
BUSHSUCKS
IP:
133.7.7.20
Email:
BUSHSUCKS@eatmeyouwarwhore.com
Comments:
Can't Pole kielbasa halal no matter how you blow up those sausage heads. Die Polish scum, die.
Time:
10.06.04 - 6:55 am
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name:
BUSHSUCKS
IP:
133.7.7.20
Email:
BUSHSUCKS@eatmeyouwarwhore.com
Comments:
Why They FightWho will win the 15 year long US-Iraq Conflict? What sort of post-war society will result in Iraq? What sort of post-war society will result in the USA?For the US nationalists (including quite a few 'leftists'), a brink draws into view, as they are forced to contemplate the unthinkable: A few thousand rag-tag Iraqi Arab insurgents stood up to the Americans when all the world scurried to do the US's bidding.
Will the future accounts write: The Iraqi insurgency saved the world from American hegemony, and started a chain of events that caused the US permanent war, homeland security, national security state and military empire to implode.
Time:
10.06.04 - 6:53 am
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm not going to comment on the grammar, wording or lack of substance in these comments. I'm going to concentrate on where he screwed up.
Source Tracing 101
What can we discover from the Haloscan data that we normally could not from a standard comments system?
The name: BUSHSUCKS, although not very original is fairly standard in most comments systems. Many typepad accounts will force you to log in before you comment giving you a registered name. Unfortunately, they are not free. So, nothing to be gained from the name.
Email: BUSHSUCKS@eatmeyouwarwhore.com, he got fairly creative with the wording. (Note to self: forward "eat me you war whore" to Daisy for her collection of Ad Hominem's.) Unfortunately, the email is obviously bogus, creative but bogus. I noticed that Citizen Smash checks your first comments for validity and constructiveness and I am fairly sure that this would not pass his litmus test. So the e-mail is out what's next?
IP: 133.7.7.20, in the words of many a hacker: pwn3d! Many people do not realize that their IP is tagged on nearly everything they do on the internet. Haloscan, as you can see, records your IP every time you make a comment. As usual, Haloscan Rocks! The standard blogger comments system, powered by pyra, does not provide you with a source IP. So, now that we have the source IP what do you do with it?
Hunting the IP
Frigentenly enough, the most powerful tool in your arsenal is PING. Ping has the dual ability of normally determining if a system in the world is online and, DNS willing, the name of the system as well. As a network security professional this is my most frequestly used tool.
Another very important tool is the NBTSTAT command. This command, when used properly, will tell you the machine name, online status, open shares, and the hardware address (or MAC address). Sometimes a system will have shut down your ability to ping it. Sometimes they forget to turn block out NBTSTAT as well. It's always a good backup strategy.
Okay, now what if the box is offline? There is an agency that has control of all IP's in the world. They are called the American Registry for Internet Numbers or ARIN for short. If anyone wants to buy a block of IP's they have to do it through ARIN or one of its subsidiaries. The tool on ARIN's site that will tell you who owns what IP is called WHOIS. All you have to do is punch in a couple of numbers and some dots and POOF! you get the owner's address, email, address, and sometimes a phone number and administrator's name. Remember, this gives you the owner of a BLOCK of IP's, not every individual IP. It will narrow your field down remarkably.
Now that the very basics have been provided to you, and I do mean very basics, we can endeavor into a practical application.
So why is Tororu (Japanese for Troll) so important?
Here is our Source IP:
133.7.7.20
Our first task is to attempt a ping:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
c:\>ping -a 133.7.7.20
pinging 133.7.7.20 with 32 bytes of data:
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Ping statistics for 133.7.7.20:
Packets: Sent = 4, Recieved = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, it appears he is not online or ping is blocked. Let's go to our next step: NBTSTAT.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
c:\>nbtstat -a 133.7.7.20
Local Area Connection:
Node IpAddress: [133.7.7.20] Scope Id []
Host Not Found.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Apparently, the box is really down. As our last step today we go to ARIN for a general idea of where this guy is coming from.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Search results for: 133.7.7.20
OrgName: Japan Network Information Center
OrgID: JNIC
Address: Kokusai-kougyou-Kanda Bldg 6F
Address: 2-3-4 Uchikanda
City: Chiyoda-ku
StateProv: Tokyo
PostalCode: 101-0047
Country: JP
NetRange: 133.0.0.0 - 133.255.255.255
CIDR: 133.0.0.0/8
NetName: JAPAN-INET
NetHandle: NET-133-0-0-0-1
Parent:
NetType: Direct Allocation
NameServer: A.DNS.JP
NameServer: B.DNS.JP
NameServer: C.DNS.JP
NameServer: D.DNS.JP
NameServer: E.DNS.JP
NameServer: F.DNS.JP
Comment: Japan Network Information Center(JPNIC) is an
Comment: National internet registry of Japan. Please search
Comment: whois.nic.ad.jp for more information about this range.
Comment: % whois -h whois.nic.ad.jp ***.***.***.***/e
RegDate:
Updated: 2003-08-05
TechHandle: JN-ORG-ARIN
TechName: Japan Network Information Center
TechPhone: +81-3-5297-2311
TechEmail: hostmaster@nic.ad.jp
OrgTechHandle: JN-ORG-ARIN
OrgTechName: Japan Network Information Center
OrgTechPhone: +81-3-5297-2311
OrgTechEmail: hostmaster@nic.ad.jp
# ARIN WHOIS database, last updated 2004-10-06 19:10
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We've now narrowed it down to Japan. Many people would stop here but not me. I went to www.jpnic.net and did WHOIS again. Here's the results:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[ JPNIC & JPRS database provides information on network administration. Its ]
[ use is restricted to network administration purposes. For further infor- ]
[ mation, use 'whois -h whois.nic.ad.jp help'. To suppress Japanese output, ]
[ add'/e' at the end of command, e.g. 'whois -h whois.nic.ad.jp xxx/e'. ]
Network Information: [ネットワーク情報]
a. [IPネットワークアドレス] 133.7.0.0
b. [ネットワーク名] FINES
f. [組織名] 福井大学
g. [Organization] Fukui University
m. [運用責任者] KA045JP
n. [技術連絡担当者] MT1650JP
n. [技術連絡担当者] SS129JP
p. [ネームサーバ] ns.nca5.ad.jp
p. [ネームサーバ] icpc.icpc.fukui-u.ac.jp
y. [通知アドレス] office@icpc.fukui-u.ac.jp
[割当年月日]
[返却年月日]
[最終更新] 1999/01/13 12:09:50 (JST)
tanaka@icpc.fukui-u.ac.jp
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It looks like Fukui University owns the IP block of 133.7.0.0. Unless it's a HUGE university I suspect they are sub-leasing their IPs, possibly through a modem bank. I'll be awaiting another call from BUSHSUCKS for further analysis. Yes, my very first troll came all the way from Fukui University in Japan to spread his love on me. I shall dub him Tororu, the Japanese word for troll. I'm an international star!
I hope you have enjoyed your course on Source Tracing 101. If you have any questions or comments feel free to annotate. But remember, I'll have your IP ;) .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If anyone would care to make an analysis of the text of BUSHSUCKS' comments I will post them here tommorow.
Name:
BUSHSUCKS
IP:
133.7.7.20
Email:
BUSHSUCKS@eatmeyouwarwhore.com
Comment:
So why does the US sponsor terrorism worldwide, including in Iraq? Come on blame everything on Zarqawi--as if the US paid him enough already to do that much stuff!
Time:
10.06.04 - 6:57 am
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name:
BUSHSUCKS
IP:
133.7.7.20
Email:
BUSHSUCKS@eatmeyouwarwhore.com
Comments:
Can't Pole kielbasa halal no matter how you blow up those sausage heads. Die Polish scum, die.
Time:
10.06.04 - 6:55 am
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name:
BUSHSUCKS
IP:
133.7.7.20
Email:
BUSHSUCKS@eatmeyouwarwhore.com
Comments:
Why They FightWho will win the 15 year long US-Iraq Conflict? What sort of post-war society will result in Iraq? What sort of post-war society will result in the USA?For the US nationalists (including quite a few 'leftists'), a brink draws into view, as they are forced to contemplate the unthinkable: A few thousand rag-tag Iraqi Arab insurgents stood up to the Americans when all the world scurried to do the US's bidding.
Will the future accounts write: The Iraqi insurgency saved the world from American hegemony, and started a chain of events that caused the US permanent war, homeland security, national security state and military empire to implode.
Time:
10.06.04 - 6:53 am
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm not going to comment on the grammar, wording or lack of substance in these comments. I'm going to concentrate on where he screwed up.
Source Tracing 101
What can we discover from the Haloscan data that we normally could not from a standard comments system?
The name: BUSHSUCKS, although not very original is fairly standard in most comments systems. Many typepad accounts will force you to log in before you comment giving you a registered name. Unfortunately, they are not free. So, nothing to be gained from the name.
Email: BUSHSUCKS@eatmeyouwarwhore.com, he got fairly creative with the wording. (Note to self: forward "eat me you war whore" to Daisy for her collection of Ad Hominem's.) Unfortunately, the email is obviously bogus, creative but bogus. I noticed that Citizen Smash checks your first comments for validity and constructiveness and I am fairly sure that this would not pass his litmus test. So the e-mail is out what's next?
IP: 133.7.7.20, in the words of many a hacker: pwn3d! Many people do not realize that their IP is tagged on nearly everything they do on the internet. Haloscan, as you can see, records your IP every time you make a comment. As usual, Haloscan Rocks! The standard blogger comments system, powered by pyra, does not provide you with a source IP. So, now that we have the source IP what do you do with it?
Hunting the IP
Frigentenly enough, the most powerful tool in your arsenal is PING. Ping has the dual ability of normally determining if a system in the world is online and, DNS willing, the name of the system as well. As a network security professional this is my most frequestly used tool.
Another very important tool is the NBTSTAT command. This command, when used properly, will tell you the machine name, online status, open shares, and the hardware address (or MAC address). Sometimes a system will have shut down your ability to ping it. Sometimes they forget to turn block out NBTSTAT as well. It's always a good backup strategy.
Okay, now what if the box is offline? There is an agency that has control of all IP's in the world. They are called the American Registry for Internet Numbers or ARIN for short. If anyone wants to buy a block of IP's they have to do it through ARIN or one of its subsidiaries. The tool on ARIN's site that will tell you who owns what IP is called WHOIS. All you have to do is punch in a couple of numbers and some dots and POOF! you get the owner's address, email, address, and sometimes a phone number and administrator's name. Remember, this gives you the owner of a BLOCK of IP's, not every individual IP. It will narrow your field down remarkably.
Now that the very basics have been provided to you, and I do mean very basics, we can endeavor into a practical application.
So why is Tororu (Japanese for Troll) so important?
Here is our Source IP:
133.7.7.20
Our first task is to attempt a ping:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
c:\>ping -a 133.7.7.20
pinging 133.7.7.20 with 32 bytes of data:
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Ping statistics for 133.7.7.20:
Packets: Sent = 4, Recieved = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, it appears he is not online or ping is blocked. Let's go to our next step: NBTSTAT.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
c:\>nbtstat -a 133.7.7.20
Local Area Connection:
Node IpAddress: [133.7.7.20] Scope Id []
Host Not Found.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Apparently, the box is really down. As our last step today we go to ARIN for a general idea of where this guy is coming from.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Search results for: 133.7.7.20
OrgName: Japan Network Information Center
OrgID: JNIC
Address: Kokusai-kougyou-Kanda Bldg 6F
Address: 2-3-4 Uchikanda
City: Chiyoda-ku
StateProv: Tokyo
PostalCode: 101-0047
Country: JP
NetRange: 133.0.0.0 - 133.255.255.255
CIDR: 133.0.0.0/8
NetName: JAPAN-INET
NetHandle: NET-133-0-0-0-1
Parent:
NetType: Direct Allocation
NameServer: A.DNS.JP
NameServer: B.DNS.JP
NameServer: C.DNS.JP
NameServer: D.DNS.JP
NameServer: E.DNS.JP
NameServer: F.DNS.JP
Comment: Japan Network Information Center(JPNIC) is an
Comment: National internet registry of Japan. Please search
Comment: whois.nic.ad.jp for more information about this range.
Comment: % whois -h whois.nic.ad.jp ***.***.***.***/e
RegDate:
Updated: 2003-08-05
TechHandle: JN-ORG-ARIN
TechName: Japan Network Information Center
TechPhone: +81-3-5297-2311
TechEmail: hostmaster@nic.ad.jp
OrgTechHandle: JN-ORG-ARIN
OrgTechName: Japan Network Information Center
OrgTechPhone: +81-3-5297-2311
OrgTechEmail: hostmaster@nic.ad.jp
# ARIN WHOIS database, last updated 2004-10-06 19:10
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We've now narrowed it down to Japan. Many people would stop here but not me. I went to www.jpnic.net and did WHOIS again. Here's the results:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[ JPNIC & JPRS database provides information on network administration. Its ]
[ use is restricted to network administration purposes. For further infor- ]
[ mation, use 'whois -h whois.nic.ad.jp help'. To suppress Japanese output, ]
[ add'/e' at the end of command, e.g. 'whois -h whois.nic.ad.jp xxx/e'. ]
Network Information: [ネットワーク情報]
a. [IPネットワークアドレス] 133.7.0.0
b. [ネットワーク名] FINES
f. [組織名] 福井大学
g. [Organization] Fukui University
m. [運用責任者] KA045JP
n. [技術連絡担当者] MT1650JP
n. [技術連絡担当者] SS129JP
p. [ネームサーバ] ns.nca5.ad.jp
p. [ネームサーバ] icpc.icpc.fukui-u.ac.jp
y. [通知アドレス] office@icpc.fukui-u.ac.jp
[割当年月日]
[返却年月日]
[最終更新] 1999/01/13 12:09:50 (JST)
tanaka@icpc.fukui-u.ac.jp
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It looks like Fukui University owns the IP block of 133.7.0.0. Unless it's a HUGE university I suspect they are sub-leasing their IPs, possibly through a modem bank. I'll be awaiting another call from BUSHSUCKS for further analysis. Yes, my very first troll came all the way from Fukui University in Japan to spread his love on me. I shall dub him Tororu, the Japanese word for troll. I'm an international star!
I hope you have enjoyed your course on Source Tracing 101. If you have any questions or comments feel free to annotate. But remember, I'll have your IP ;) .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If anyone would care to make an analysis of the text of BUSHSUCKS' comments I will post them here tommorow.
Burried Alive
As Pusillanimous Wanker has confessed, Edwards was laid to rest last night. Edwards did not go down withought a fight. He did have his moments. With respect for Charles, sore from licking his wounds, I will leave it at that. (Charles, remember this next time you feel like gloating.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Also, Rodney Dangerfield was laid to rest yesterday. To make a pun, I am paying my last respects.
His last joke: If everything goes right I'll be out of the hospital in about a week. If it doesn't I'll be out in about two hours.
You will be missed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Also, Rodney Dangerfield was laid to rest yesterday. To make a pun, I am paying my last respects.
His last joke: If everything goes right I'll be out of the hospital in about a week. If it doesn't I'll be out in about two hours.
You will be missed.
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Kerry's International Enemies part 2
In an earlier article I showed the Kerry campaign's international ineptitude with a few countries, Australia, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. This is the continuing saga covering Kerry's lack of support abroad. This session we shall show that North and South Korea, China, Russia, Japan, Iran, and Poland would consider themselves better off in points under a Bush administration. At least one nation has come out and challenged Kerry. I'll leave that for the end though.
If we were to break off multilateral talks including South Korea an Japan we would lose face with them because it is these nations that North Korea threatens to destroy. I don't know anyone that would like someone else negotiating their own well-being.It would be an insult to these countries to cut them out of the talks. Both of these countries are extremely sensitive to insult and disrespect. They would feel distrespected and dejected.
China an Russia are North Korea's neighbors. China was the nation that effectively brought North Korea into existence. Kicking them out of these talks could create an interanational incident similar to when our slow and poorly maneuverable "spy-plane" crashed into their fast and highly manuverable F-8 piloted by Wong, wei. (Yes, they guy's name was Wong, Wei.) However, it was the United States that apologized to protect the troops in China from being killed.
Russia does not always have the same hang ups as Asia when it comes to insult. They do get concerned when it comes to losing money. Russia has been making arms trades with North Korea for many years. Most of their decrepid air force was supplied by Russia. (Shhh this is supposed to be a secret.) Would kicking Russia our of multilateral talks help or hinder our relations in the region? One need only look at the dollar signs.
Iran
Iran has dismissed Kerry's statement as nothing more than propaganda. Iran does not believe Kerry. Even the Iranians see through him. Just to be (somewhat) fair the Iranians don't like Bush either. That whole "axis of evil" thing just doesn't sit quite right with them.
To get off topic a bit lets look at what he was actually proposing: providing nuclear fuel to Iran. Correct me if I'm wrong on this but isn't this similar to how this nuclear problem in North Korea got started? By a show of hands, who want's to give low-enriched Uranium to Iran? Anyone? Anyone?
Poland
This quote comes courtesy of Chrenkoff. I never knew he could translate polish. What a talented guy. I have to give Redhunter some credit too. I didn't know about Chrenkoff's post until he posted it on his site. The Polish President, Aleksander Kwasniewski's response:
So, Kerry does not appreciate the polish sacrifice. He is dissapointed that his country's sacrifice has been marginalised. Let me try to some this up a little bit better: Kerry crapped on anyone who helped in the coalition and we don't like it, or him. So, who's Kerry left with as an ally? Dick reminds us that he hasn't pissed off Nepal yet!
Coming next time...Nepal?
Kerry (debate 1): I want bilateral talks which put all of theThe only entity that wants a bilateral talk is Kerry. Maybe he wants bilateral talks for his two Americas too? North Korea wants multilateral talks. We've tried bilateral talks with North Korea and they have always ended up failing.
issues, from the armistice of 1952, the economic issues, the human rights issues, the artillery disposal issues, the DMZ (the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea) issues and the nuclear issues on the table.
If we were to break off multilateral talks including South Korea an Japan we would lose face with them because it is these nations that North Korea threatens to destroy. I don't know anyone that would like someone else negotiating their own well-being.It would be an insult to these countries to cut them out of the talks. Both of these countries are extremely sensitive to insult and disrespect. They would feel distrespected and dejected.
China an Russia are North Korea's neighbors. China was the nation that effectively brought North Korea into existence. Kicking them out of these talks could create an interanational incident similar to when our slow and poorly maneuverable "spy-plane" crashed into their fast and highly manuverable F-8 piloted by Wong, wei. (Yes, they guy's name was Wong, Wei.) However, it was the United States that apologized to protect the troops in China from being killed.
Russia does not always have the same hang ups as Asia when it comes to insult. They do get concerned when it comes to losing money. Russia has been making arms trades with North Korea for many years. Most of their decrepid air force was supplied by Russia. (Shhh this is supposed to be a secret.) Would kicking Russia our of multilateral talks help or hinder our relations in the region? One need only look at the dollar signs.
Iran
Kerry (debate 1): I think the United States should have offered the opportunity to provide the nuclear fuel, test them, see whether or not they were actually looking for it for peaceful purposes.
Iran has dismissed Kerry's statement as nothing more than propaganda. Iran does not believe Kerry. Even the Iranians see through him. Just to be (somewhat) fair the Iranians don't like Bush either. That whole "axis of evil" thing just doesn't sit quite right with them.
To get off topic a bit lets look at what he was actually proposing: providing nuclear fuel to Iran. Correct me if I'm wrong on this but isn't this similar to how this nuclear problem in North Korea got started? By a show of hands, who want's to give low-enriched Uranium to Iran? Anyone? Anyone?
Poland
Kerry (debate 1): The president says that I'm denigrating these troops. I
have nothing but respect for the British, Tony Blair, and for what they've been
willing to do.
But you can't tell me that when the most troops any other country has on
the ground is Great Britain, with 8,300, and below that the four others are
below 4,000, and below that, there isn't anybody out of the hundreds, that we
have a genuine coalition to get this job done.
This quote comes courtesy of Chrenkoff. I never knew he could translate polish. What a talented guy. I have to give Redhunter some credit too. I didn't know about Chrenkoff's post until he posted it on his site. The Polish President, Aleksander Kwasniewski's response:
Poland's President: It's sad that a Senator with twenty years of experience
does not appreciate Polish sacrifice... I don't think it's a question of
ignorance. One thing has to be said very clearly: this Coalition is not just the
United States, Great Britain and Australia, but there's also contribution of
Polish, Ukrainian, Bulgarian and Spanish soldiers who died in Iraq. It's immoral
to not see this involvement we undertook because we believe that we have to
fight terrorism together, that we need to show international solidarity, that
Saddam Hussein is a danger to the world.
From such a perspective, you can say we are disappointed that our stance
and the sacrifice of our soldiers is so marginalised. I blame it on
electioneering - and a message, indirectly expressed by Senator Kerry - that he
thinks more of a coalition that would put the United States together with France
and Germany, that is those who in the matter of Iraq said 'no'.
President Bush is behaving like a true Texan gentleman - he's fighting for
the recognition of other countries' contribution in the Coalition.
So, Kerry does not appreciate the polish sacrifice. He is dissapointed that his country's sacrifice has been marginalised. Let me try to some this up a little bit better: Kerry crapped on anyone who helped in the coalition and we don't like it, or him. So, who's Kerry left with as an ally? Dick reminds us that he hasn't pissed off Nepal yet!
Coming next time...Nepal?
Sunday, October 03, 2004
At what temperature does the brain begin to die?
Learn the answer to this question and many more in the movie Celcius 41.11. Other questions answered in C41.11: Why Michael Moore has mislead the American people into believing that there's no such thing as terrorists? What is really happening in the world? and many others. It seeks to dispell all that is unholy about F9/11. I haven't watched it yet but definately plan to.
If you watched F9/11 and believe everything that was said, you owe it to yourself and your nation to listen to the rebuttal, you may be surprised at what you find out.
If you want to get a copy on DVD you can go here. It's a 25 dollar donation for your first copy and 12.50 for each extra copy.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
And if you want to watch a free documentary about how college is misdirecting our youth you can go here. Evan Coyne Maloney has done some very nice work as an anti-protestor with a video camera in the past. This is quite possibly his best work.
The links provided go to:
http://www.citizensunited-interactive.org/
http://www.brain-terminal.com/
They both accept donations.
If you watched F9/11 and believe everything that was said, you owe it to yourself and your nation to listen to the rebuttal, you may be surprised at what you find out.
If you want to get a copy on DVD you can go here. It's a 25 dollar donation for your first copy and 12.50 for each extra copy.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
And if you want to watch a free documentary about how college is misdirecting our youth you can go here. Evan Coyne Maloney has done some very nice work as an anti-protestor with a video camera in the past. This is quite possibly his best work.
The links provided go to:
http://www.citizensunited-interactive.org/
http://www.brain-terminal.com/
They both accept donations.
What do Beslan Russia and Samarra Iraq have in common?
No there is no joke.
An estimated 24 children were killed in Summarra Iraq on Friday, October 1st. They were targeted by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his loyal killers. U.S. Troops were killed as well. The troops were handing out candy to the children when a "martyr" decided to end their young and growing lives. I guess beheadings just weren't making their point anymore.
Just a couple of pictures to make you realize what terrorists do for a living. (or dying. no pun.)
A mother waits by her daughter's bed after she was injured in a bomb attack.
A father reacts in anguish as his son is declared dead at Yarmouk Hospital on Thursday.
Both photos are courtesy of CNN
I'm sure many are going to point to the United States as responsible for this. Since we are on the ground there it must be our fault. We said we would protect the Iraqis from widespread bloodshed. Now the Americans are killing the Iraqi children. Just wait, it will happen. You can count on it.
Meanwhile, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and the rest of Al Queda and other splinter groups are laughing at the world. Everyone is so hell-bent on American responsibility for everything that the murderers go unchecked by everyone but the United States and the coalition. I am unable to count correctly how many souls Zarqawi has lined up to steal by beheading. It is somewhere between 10 and 100 as I write this. Every man woman and child that dies in Iraq is our fault. We should never have tried to defeat terrorism.
Terrorism
I'm sure some poor soul will make the mistake of telling us that there were never terrorists in Iraq. They had no ties to terrorists. Kerry even said it so it must be true. Kerry lied. There is at least 1 billion dollars in the hands of terrorists today because we did not act earlier in Iraq. This is just a guess but some of that money might actually be reaching the "insurgents" in Iraq; or am I presuming too much? We have the corrupt parts of the UN and the oil-for-food program to thank for the terrorism on the ground in Iraq today. We are the host to the UN buildings and one of the big five in the UN so that is our fault too.
The UN and Corruption
Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Kofi Annan has what is believed the most powerful position in the world, even greater than the United States president. Power is a product of legitimacy. Most of the European Union believes that our presence in Iraq is not legitimate. This gives power to the UN. The poser was there before we went into Iraq though. Syria sits on the board for terrorism. Other terrorist sponsoring countries have positions of power as well. This must be the fault of the United States; we are the power behind the UN right?
When the United States and the coalition went into Iraq we did so without the support of France, Germany, China and Russia. Three of those four have complete veto power at the UN and there is no two-thirds majority rule. If they say no there is no resolution, period. Everyone reading this should be well aware that the oil-for-food program was the largest endeavor of ever for the UN. Transactions for oil exceeded 100 billion dollars. The countries stated above had the absolute largest stakes in Iraqi oil. Many of their companies depended on siphoning off of it. Only 1% of those proceeds ended up in the hands of terrorists, pretty good huh? Funds other than the 1% are still unresolved and will continue to be that way. Saddam had control of what companies to do business with and what off shore, Swiss, Belarus, etc. bank account to put his money in. Yes, I said it was his money. It was supposed to be for the Iraqi people but somehow it never made it. Most of it ended up in palaces like the one Saddam is currently being held prisoner. It must be America's fault because we failed to have foiled the UN scandal before invading Iraq.
Something of a news exchange has occurred. Here's the root of it:
EU country: The United States is in a quagmire that is killing people of Iraq. We can't condone what has happened there.
United States: We are doing the best we can. (We did not mention the fact that our current quagmire is because of the oil-for blood program brokered by the UN.)
EU country: You went behind our backs to depose Saddam and his people so we sill not help you in this. Legislation would have worked much better.
United States: More than 12 years of posturing and resolutions have done nothing but hurt the Iraqi people. We have had enough of it and have taken the needed action to free these people. It will take time, just like Germany did but we will prevail. By the way, we see the same situation happening in the Sudan. More than 50,000 people have been killed by the government. We all know that making propositions will not work. Why don't you go in there and clean house?
EU country: You're part of the UN too. Why don't YOU go in and clean house?
Yes, this is the news exchange at its source.
If anyone does not realize why we are not in the Sudan cleaning house look at the top of this article. 34 children have been murdered. Countless others have been killed as well. We are currently busy cleaning up another mess created by your UN. It's time the EU got off of their lazy asses and did something besides critique us for doing what they're too scared to do for themselves.
An estimated 24 children were killed in Summarra Iraq on Friday, October 1st. They were targeted by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his loyal killers. U.S. Troops were killed as well. The troops were handing out candy to the children when a "martyr" decided to end their young and growing lives. I guess beheadings just weren't making their point anymore.
Just a couple of pictures to make you realize what terrorists do for a living. (or dying. no pun.)
A mother waits by her daughter's bed after she was injured in a bomb attack.
A father reacts in anguish as his son is declared dead at Yarmouk Hospital on Thursday.
Both photos are courtesy of CNN
I'm sure many are going to point to the United States as responsible for this. Since we are on the ground there it must be our fault. We said we would protect the Iraqis from widespread bloodshed. Now the Americans are killing the Iraqi children. Just wait, it will happen. You can count on it.
Meanwhile, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and the rest of Al Queda and other splinter groups are laughing at the world. Everyone is so hell-bent on American responsibility for everything that the murderers go unchecked by everyone but the United States and the coalition. I am unable to count correctly how many souls Zarqawi has lined up to steal by beheading. It is somewhere between 10 and 100 as I write this. Every man woman and child that dies in Iraq is our fault. We should never have tried to defeat terrorism.
Terrorism
I'm sure some poor soul will make the mistake of telling us that there were never terrorists in Iraq. They had no ties to terrorists. Kerry even said it so it must be true. Kerry lied. There is at least 1 billion dollars in the hands of terrorists today because we did not act earlier in Iraq. This is just a guess but some of that money might actually be reaching the "insurgents" in Iraq; or am I presuming too much? We have the corrupt parts of the UN and the oil-for-food program to thank for the terrorism on the ground in Iraq today. We are the host to the UN buildings and one of the big five in the UN so that is our fault too.
The UN and Corruption
Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Kofi Annan has what is believed the most powerful position in the world, even greater than the United States president. Power is a product of legitimacy. Most of the European Union believes that our presence in Iraq is not legitimate. This gives power to the UN. The poser was there before we went into Iraq though. Syria sits on the board for terrorism. Other terrorist sponsoring countries have positions of power as well. This must be the fault of the United States; we are the power behind the UN right?
When the United States and the coalition went into Iraq we did so without the support of France, Germany, China and Russia. Three of those four have complete veto power at the UN and there is no two-thirds majority rule. If they say no there is no resolution, period. Everyone reading this should be well aware that the oil-for-food program was the largest endeavor of ever for the UN. Transactions for oil exceeded 100 billion dollars. The countries stated above had the absolute largest stakes in Iraqi oil. Many of their companies depended on siphoning off of it. Only 1% of those proceeds ended up in the hands of terrorists, pretty good huh? Funds other than the 1% are still unresolved and will continue to be that way. Saddam had control of what companies to do business with and what off shore, Swiss, Belarus, etc. bank account to put his money in. Yes, I said it was his money. It was supposed to be for the Iraqi people but somehow it never made it. Most of it ended up in palaces like the one Saddam is currently being held prisoner. It must be America's fault because we failed to have foiled the UN scandal before invading Iraq.
Something of a news exchange has occurred. Here's the root of it:
EU country: The United States is in a quagmire that is killing people of Iraq. We can't condone what has happened there.
United States: We are doing the best we can. (We did not mention the fact that our current quagmire is because of the oil-for blood program brokered by the UN.)
EU country: You went behind our backs to depose Saddam and his people so we sill not help you in this. Legislation would have worked much better.
United States: More than 12 years of posturing and resolutions have done nothing but hurt the Iraqi people. We have had enough of it and have taken the needed action to free these people. It will take time, just like Germany did but we will prevail. By the way, we see the same situation happening in the Sudan. More than 50,000 people have been killed by the government. We all know that making propositions will not work. Why don't you go in there and clean house?
EU country: You're part of the UN too. Why don't YOU go in and clean house?
Yes, this is the news exchange at its source.
If anyone does not realize why we are not in the Sudan cleaning house look at the top of this article. 34 children have been murdered. Countless others have been killed as well. We are currently busy cleaning up another mess created by your UN. It's time the EU got off of their lazy asses and did something besides critique us for doing what they're too scared to do for themselves.
Saturday, October 02, 2004
I Love my Dad
I know my dad was really getting political this year but I didn't know about this. He's running for the city charter review board in Bellingham, WA. Here's what he sent out for his political flyer:
Attention Tina Padilla
Whatcom County Auditors Office/ Election Division
J.H. Bol
3rd District
I’ll deliver a common sense approach. I was born and raised in Sumas, and spent several years in the Navy away from this county, and longing for home. This review is important; our charter is a well crafted document setting guidelines for a balanced government. Establishing a review commission, joined every decade, is evidence that the original drafters assumed that some adjustments may be required. I want to serve on the commission to help plot the course that the county government will follow for the next ten years. Some of today’s issues can’t be helped by changing the charter, while with good leadership some can.
I'm so proud of him! GO GAD!
Attention Tina Padilla
Whatcom County Auditors Office/ Election Division
J.H. Bol
3rd District
I’ll deliver a common sense approach. I was born and raised in Sumas, and spent several years in the Navy away from this county, and longing for home. This review is important; our charter is a well crafted document setting guidelines for a balanced government. Establishing a review commission, joined every decade, is evidence that the original drafters assumed that some adjustments may be required. I want to serve on the commission to help plot the course that the county government will follow for the next ten years. Some of today’s issues can’t be helped by changing the charter, while with good leadership some can.
I'm so proud of him! GO GAD!
Friday, October 01, 2004
Losing by Winning the Debate
At about 30 seconds left in each statement Bush would lean towards and stare directly at the camera. It was probably planned that way but if you were to turn the sound off Bush would have won the debate on mannerism alone. It's a good pshychological move. It gave the impression Bush was trying to talk directly to you as the American voter. The sharpness of how he would nearly snap his head at the camera made Kerry's looking at the moderator seem like he was just too aloof. It made Bush stand out as trying to connect to the American voter.
The presidential debates are not about who can "win" the debate. They are about who can connect better with the undecided voter. When you talk at these debates you are answering the questions the moderator asks. The biggest mistake Kerry made during the debate was to answer the questions to the moderator. The moderator is not formulating his voting opinion on how well you can reach him. The Americans watching at home, or at work in my case, are your target audience.
If you turned the sound back on it was quite clear who won the debate on eloquence. Kerry is most definitely the more eloquent speaker hands down. Just as an example, Kerry did not say "ummm..." one time during the debate. That is a matter of eloquence. If you had judges for debating there is no doubt who the winner would be. That's what happens when you pair a Massachusetts Lawyer with a Texas oilman. Unfortunately for Kerry, winning the debate on a professional standpoint does not equate to votes.
Something I learned a long time ago in high school is that you need to speak to your audience. This is probably one of the most overlooked points in politics today. Kerry speaks as an intellectual and misses the litmus test of the standard American. Joe Six-Pack does not want to try and figure out how Kerry will "legislate" better than Bush. Joe Six-Pack wants to hear real and tangible plans of action. Joe Six-Pack wants his answers straightforward with a yes or no, not with a nuanced explanation of a particular shade of gray.
Kerry won the debate but lost voters.
The presidential debates are not about who can "win" the debate. They are about who can connect better with the undecided voter. When you talk at these debates you are answering the questions the moderator asks. The biggest mistake Kerry made during the debate was to answer the questions to the moderator. The moderator is not formulating his voting opinion on how well you can reach him. The Americans watching at home, or at work in my case, are your target audience.
If you turned the sound back on it was quite clear who won the debate on eloquence. Kerry is most definitely the more eloquent speaker hands down. Just as an example, Kerry did not say "ummm..." one time during the debate. That is a matter of eloquence. If you had judges for debating there is no doubt who the winner would be. That's what happens when you pair a Massachusetts Lawyer with a Texas oilman. Unfortunately for Kerry, winning the debate on a professional standpoint does not equate to votes.
Something I learned a long time ago in high school is that you need to speak to your audience. This is probably one of the most overlooked points in politics today. Kerry speaks as an intellectual and misses the litmus test of the standard American. Joe Six-Pack does not want to try and figure out how Kerry will "legislate" better than Bush. Joe Six-Pack wants to hear real and tangible plans of action. Joe Six-Pack wants his answers straightforward with a yes or no, not with a nuanced explanation of a particular shade of gray.
Kerry won the debate but lost voters.
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