Kill the messenger

"According to (one) report, 1,000 news media personnel have died while covering the news around the world in the past 10 years, but only a quarter of them died in wars and armed conflicts."

Quick quiz: What country do these journalists come from?

A) Afghanistan
B) Iraq
C) Russia

If you answered C), you are correct.

"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." Remember that?

Fine. How about:

"Mr. Putin: Stop being a Tsarist, paranoid, Russian, dictatorial, bastard of a despot just like your predecessors son-of-a-bitch, and allow FREEDOM to have a REAL voice."

Just sayin'.

Bart Simpson sez it, so it's true

Bart's Voice shills for Scientology.

Poor, poor pitiful me

Via The Kraalspace, by way of Blazing Cat Fur:

Ooooh, it was SOOOO scary, having to land in the Hudson River in an emergency! I was reduced to a "tense mental state"! Therefore, Maybe I should sue!

"Joe Hart, a salesman from Charlotte who suffered a bloody nose and bruises, says he 'would like to be made whole for the incident.'

"It's too soon after the accident to determine what emotional distress he has suffered, he says."

****************************

Okay.

*rubbing hands, striding up and down*

Buddy. Pal. Emergency plane landings are, without doubt, scary.

Scary stuff happens. Especially when there are risks involved -- such as plane travel.

To quote Super Chicken: You knew the job was dangerous when you took it.



Dude -- I'm a woman, who has traveled all over the world, many times in military aircraft that has felt like it is going to fall apart at any moment. On one commercial flight, an entire tire assembly had blown out, necessitating all of us bending over and clutching our ankles in the "crash" position. SCARY STUFF HAPPENS.

You're a guy, having experienced the consequences of ordinary risk. Instead of congratulating yourself -- and boosting your testosterone thereby -- at having made it through a tough take, you're whingeing and moaning about your "mental state" and contemplating litigation.

There is a name for the likes of you -- man or woman. And I don't have to say it.

Le chien, le shame

(image credit: postchronicle.com)

So, lemme get this straight: The French president who had the, er, eggs, to stand up to the eeeee-vil George Bush over deposing Saddam Hussein, was savaged by his .... er, Maltese .... er, poodle ..... to the point that he had to go to the hospital.

Mmm-hmm.

Mmf. *koff* *snerk* *mmmmmm..........HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

(many thanks to the Big 3 at Covenant Zone)

Truth 2.0

Okay, I promised to give our new president a chance. Still will.

But this rather blistering insight into hypocrisy and truth-massaging by Andrew Bolt is hard to ignore:

"An astonishing line from Barack Obama in his first TV interview as president, that suggests he knows next to nothing about American history or the Middle East:

'...the same respect and partnership that America had with the Muslim world as recently as 20 or 30 years ago, there’s no reason why we can’t restore that.'"

Bolt goes on to point out that 20 or 30 years ago, America was under the leadership of "Cowboy" Ronald Reagan, and during that time:

American hostages were at last being freed by the Ayatollah Khomeini after 444 days in captivity:

Terrorists around the world were being financed by Moammar Qaddafi, whose “respect” for the US led him to bomb even a Berlin disco popular with US soldiers, forcing the US to launch (ineffectual) bombing raids on Tripoli:

Palestinian terrorist leader Mahmoud Abbas was accused of masterminding or planning attacks on American targets, including even one on Reagan’s secretary of state, with the backing of some “partnerships” of his own (including Saddam Hussein):

And so on. If that's "respect," what's disrespect?

Bolt: "Now even John Santor of the Huffington Post is forced to admit that Barack Obama, far from offering “change you can believe in”, is parroting the very kind of words that the despised Bush uttered, at least on the Middle East. But, in analysing Obama’s first interview, Santor bravely attempts to draw a distinction:

"Many of these proclamations were made in some way or another by President Bush. What is different this time, however, is a president who is already coupling them with meaningful action...

"Action? What? Where?"

Indeed. They're still blowing each other to smithereens in Gaza. Reports indicate Al-Qaida and Iranian factions intend to try and derail upcoming elections in Iraq. (Which we helped to make possible.)

So, what "action?"

NB: I attempted to create a user identity to answer some of these egregious allegations on huffingtonpost.com. Mysteriously, I'm not allowed to post.

Ulterior motives? Updates will follow.

We few, we happy few

Via Col. Robert Neville, quoting Gen. George Patton during a briefing in World War II:

"There is one great thing that you men will all be able to say after this war is over and you are home once again. You may be thankful that twenty years from now when you are sitting by the fireplace with your grandson on your knee and he asks you what you did in the great World War II, you WON'T have to cough, shift him to the other knee and say, 'Well, your Granddaddy shoveled shit in Louisiana.'

"No, Sir, you can look him straight in the eye and say, 'Son, your Granddaddy rode with the Great Third Army and a Son-of-a-Goddamned-Bitch named Georgie Patton!'"

Cousin Bill Shakespeare:

"If we are mark'd to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour. ..."

"(If) it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive. ..."

"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,

"And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day."

Where is my beautiful wife?

Down the rabbit hole with Francis Coppola

Today, Karmasurfer and I watched a movie called "Hearts of Darkness," which is a documentary about the making of Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now."

It is a fascinating watch; but it took me straight back to the memories of watching Coppola make "Gardens of Stone."

He shot parts of the movie at the Army base I was stationed at. As an Army journalist assigned to the base public affairs office, I attended the shooting every day. I was told to help myself to the (excellently) catered food, talk to whomever I wanted, observe the production, whatever. An experience of a lifetime right there.

I chatted with James Earl Jones, who is perhaps one of the most stellar actors AND people you'll ever want to meet:

















I laughed as Casey Siemazsko and D.B. Sweeney passed the time between takes balancing M-16s on their chins, to see who could keep them up longer.

But on the day when it was discovered that Coppola's son, Gian-Carlo ("Gio"), had been killed in a terrible boating accident on the Potomac River near Washington, D.C., involving Ryan O'Neal's son, Griffin -- I was suddenly cast adrift. No more fly-on-the-wall enjoyment of Hollywood in action. Real life stepped in like a boot.

I sat alone at one of the picnic tables set up near the set, eating lunch. Taking everything in. I knew Gio had been killed; I was horrified. But I felt I had to mentally record it all. This was personal history. I knew that, young idiot though I was. Later, perhaps, you could meditate on the enormous tragedy that had happened, and everything it meant. (And I did. Still do.) But right then, you were on auto-pilot, by necessity.

From my table, I watched grips and sound men stringing cables, the wardrobe mistress (a lovely, friendly lady with unkempt hair) pulling people into her trailer for fittings, the two guys in charge of keeping a bear cub happy with ice-cream sandwiches (Coppola has always had a thing about animals, whether in his movies or not -- witness the tiger in "Apocalypse") -- busy people, running around.

It was sunny and warm. Suddenly, Mr. Coppola sat down right next to me. No one at all at this big, long table but me. He sat down on my left.

He was wearing a rumpled, khaki-colored trench coat and a fedora hat, despite the heat. It looked as if he hadn't bathed for a couple of days. His beard was wild, a tangle of black and grey. His glasses were huge and square. He had two full plates of food, which he proceeded to methodically attack, quite as if I wasn't there.

How to describe the flood and diversity of emotions that seized one at a moment like this?

I played along, continuing to eat as well. Famous filmmakers sit down to share lunch with anonymous female soldiers every day of the week, no big deal! A man who has just lost his eldest son! Oh, WHAT does one say at a time like this? The silence began to grow painful, overstated. I must say something to this man of loss. My heart is full, for so many reasons, the chief of which is it is aching for him. Please, let me say something.

I couldn't. I didn't. He wiped off his mouth with a napkin, got up, walked away, and went on about the business of finishing up a film that had become a nightmare duty to simply be finished.

*******************************

In the documentary we watched tonight, a colleague of Coppola's said it is Coppola's way to go from A to Z, no matter what. During the filming of "Apocalypse," there were many, many times Coppola could have been de-railed. He didn't. He can't. He won't.

What a multilayered, complex man -- with whom it was my privilege to share a small moment, a terrible, magical moment. He is a surfer of life on a level not imaginable. In ways, he is a giant, and I am an ant. In others, he is just a man.

My dear sir: If you read this, here's what I would have said to you, had I not been so tongue-tied:

Who knew black bear cubs purred like cats?

The poet ... in motion

(Mikhail Baryshnikov in "Don Quixote")

Here's something my more conservative friends may find surprising about me: I've had an abiding interest in personality astrology (not the doomed-to-be-imprecise predictive kind) for most of my life.

In astrology, depending on when you were born, you exhibit traits of a certain element. That is, there are water signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces), fire (Aries, Sagittarius, Leo) and so on. Baryshnikov is a Gemini, an air sign.

Note the ease with which he seems to defy gravity. Ditto Michael Jordan -- "Air" Jordan -- an Aquarius, another air sign.



However we choose to look at the beauties of our existence -- air, water, fire, earth -- beauties remain the only truth.

The lonely valentine ...

This is for you, Charles Henry :)

And to anyone else who sees it:

Clara represents a sizable chunk of history you might be interested in.

Look into it.

Maybe being 'It' ..... isn't

(image credit:.mentalfloss.com)

“A sex symbol is a heavy load to carry when one is tired, hurt and bewildered,” Bow wrote once."

Can I get a freakin' WITNESS.

Not that I'm a sex symbol. Only a woman -- once having to try to meet expectations of all-things-to-all-guys-cotton-candy-instant-gratification-please-the-man-file-yer-nails-do-yer-hair-yadda-yadda, because men are visual, and like 'em young, and ....

... And deciding that, after all, it's a GIGANTIC WASTE OF TIME.

I truly do worry about humanity, sometimes. I mean, if all guys measure forward progression by is the availability of Babes ... ?

'The price and promise of citizenship'

(image credit: www.charlotteobserver.com

I liked Obama's inaugural speech. Specifically (emphasis mine):

"To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West -- know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy." ...

"We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you." ...

"Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control -- and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous."

Good, sound, Republican -- and, more importantly, libertarian -- principles. If President Obama remains true to these words, then he will have earned more than dutiful loyalty from me as is due the office of the president; he will have earned a wholehearted participant.

But the minute I see government expanding, I'm back in the enemy camp. And the minute I see the taint of Chicago-style corruption, the tongue-lashing (and letter-writing) campaign I will unleash will pale by comparison with that I gave forth in the Klintoon years.

On this historic day, like most Americans, I want to believe that not only have we broken a barrier with the first African-American president, that president has stated he will abide by principles and truths that cannot be reneged, and I expect him to uphold his own words. I will give him a chance. But I will not give him a free pass.

Time will tell.

Hamas ... why?!

Anyone who follows the current (tiresome, admittedly --

Jeezus-God, WHEN will these idiots get a clue ...)

round of tit-for-tat in Israel should surely know that the Hamas Party is all about killing Jooze.

Rebuttal? Anyone?

The basic modus operandi seems to be, needle the Jooze. They'll retaliate. Some civilians will be killed, because the Hamas Playbook dictates hiding behind innocent civilians.

But do you get the basic idea? That is -- fire a shot in aggression -- and then wait for retaliation?

And WHY does the current script damn the Jooze for defending themselves, while exonerating these asshats for killing innocent Israelis?

Answers?

Walk Like A Man

... like my friend the Walk-Man :)

Pooch purloins Christmas treat

Pretty suave how he managed it, I must say :)

Muslim Babes of the Day

(image credit: www.hyscience.com)

Okay, so this photo goes back to when Nicolas Sarkozy was elected president of France -- but I like these girls' attitude :)

Way, very, totally cool

The Voice Box.



(via Boing Boing)

Just say no to babies

Well, here's ONE answer to all our problems: Let the human race die out:

"Along with the emancipation of women, sexual liberation has become very much a part of politics around the world. To the conservatives, both these issues challenge ‘family values’.

"But what if there were no families? What if we say no to reproduction?"

Ah.

What if? Well, basically, the ignominious end to a long, shared, upward climb toward reconnection with the Creator.

No big deal ... right?

Stick to the original script, my friend

Cat Stevens destroyed himself long ago. Now, he is trying to morph his original message into the insanity that is his NEW message of Islamic intolerance.

You be the judge.

UPDATE:

Okay. So I'm listening.

5 Somali pirates drown with ransom ...

(image credit: www.freerepublic.com)

Ha-ha!

Stand up for Israel

(image credit: inventorspot.com)

With the fresh fighting in Gaza, the same old tired refrain sounds in the press: "Oh, that horrible Israel, killing innocent civilians."

Well, guess what. Don't you think there's more than a little reality denial going on here?

The press blithely reports "innocent civilian deaths" daily, while ignoring the elephant in the living room:

* Never mind that "Palestinians" provoked the incursion by killing innocent Israelis.

What are the Israelis supposed to do -- sit down on their hands and say, "Fire those rockets right at us, pick us off one by one, yes, sir!"?

* Never mind that there never was such a thing as "Palestine." The Arabs who lived there when Jews started coming home in 1948 were a patchwork of largely nomadic tribes who had no claim to land ownership, much less statehood. They got pissed off because A) their religion taught them to hate Jews, and B) Jews were successful at making a good living.

Nice. Let's hate an entire group of people and not have to answer to the REST of civilization which condemns that mindset. What's more, knowing we have the press in our corner, let's play the victim card to the hilt: It's okay if I kill you, but it's not okay if you defend yourself. Yadda-yadda-yadda.

Compromise? What's that?

* Never mind that had those indigenous Arabs played ball -- recognized that the long, long history of Israel (a national state before Christ was born) included the number of times Jews got kicked out of their own country, came back, got kicked out again, and STILL came back -- recognized that the Holy Land can be managed to the satisfaction of all (Israelis were willing to share, appreciating (if not buying into) Islamic tradition --

they'd be driving nice cars and eating well and going to good schools and ALL the perquisites of Doing Life Right that the Israelis deservedly enjoy.

Nope. Sixty years on, "Palestinians" still enjoy THIS activity over gainful employment:

(image credit: zioneocon.blogspot.com)

(This is a photo of "car-swarming," a recreational activity young "Palestinian" men enjoy every time some lowlife manages to blow up a vehicle.)

Oh, those eeeee-vil Jooze. Daring to enact the only representative government in the Middle East. Daring to work the land efficiently, producing an abundance in the desert. Daring to ensure quality education for their children.

... AND the children of "Palestine," were they not so interesting in killing Jooze and putting macabre Mickey Mouse trademark-infringing characters on TV encouraging children to kill Jooze, shooting their guns in the air and expecting entitlement for life without earning it. Education makes kinder, better-adjusted citizens, and Israelis wanted their Arab neighbors to feel the same way. But, well ...

Daring to hit back when they're attacked, for the sole crime of being Jooze. In short, daring to improve their lives after finally coming Home. Yes, that's eeee-vil, all right. Right?

**********************************

Let's climb back out of the rabbit hole and return to terra firma.

Israelis are NOT going to sit on their hands. They have waited far too long, lost FAR more lives than retaliation-inviting "Palestinians" in the 20th and 21st centuries in trying to return to their ancient homeland NOT to defend themselves.

Israelis have ALWAYS had the dictum of minimizing civilian lives. "Palestinians" do not. Indeed -- "Palestinian" gunmen hide among their vulnerable ones KNOWING that an attack on them in their midst will result in civilian casualties.

So, who's the murderer, here?

*********************************

/Soapbox off.

If you're in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, tomorrow, the guys at Covenant Zone hope you'll show up for a meeting of solidarity.

If you can't make it, consider dropping a donation in the tipjar of Pizza IDF, an outfit that brings good food and cheer to the soldiers of the Israeli Defense Force. These men and women deserve every bit of morale-boosting we can share.

Okay, we Americans are already worried about our own troops -- fair enough, they come first. Consider mailing, as I have, goodies to THEM regularly as a matter of course, first. But we've got bigger hearts and deeper wallets than we know. All of us -- not just Americans. We can share.

Right now, Israel needs as much support as correct and rational-thinking people can offer. A nice pepperoni pie with extra cheese puts heart into a soldier.

... compared with whatever Hamas is doing for its "soldiers," never mind civilians ... oh, wait: somehow the U.N. aid packages will count as "doing something" ... because Hamas never did seem to figure out how to protect its civilians' livelihood, much less its "fighters", so we're back to international aid as ... ugh. My advice? Don't let your brain go there.

************************************

Bottom line?

Israeli soldiers don't hide among their women and children and risk their loved-ones' lives in service of some grievance.

Israelis don't expect the rest of the world to "owe" them something for being persecuted. God knows they HAVE been persecuted. Remember the Holocaust?

Israelis don't spend year after year indoctrinating their children with the anti-spirituality of hate.

"Palestinians" do.

You be the judge.

'At the drop of a hat'

... and the origins of other time-tested expressions.

(Via Mental Floss)

Meet The TimeJumpers

... a band borne out of session musicians who love music.



And dig THIS!



WALK-MAN -- can I get a witness ...

Whazzup with K-Rudd?

Australia either does, or doesn't, have a Prime Minister ...?

Will consult my very dear friend the Colonel.

Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Okay, as I understand it, Julia Gillard acts as prime minister when the Kruddster is out of country, or something like that.

Darn. I so hoped he had resigned or been severely beaten with a shoe, or something.

Tired of livin', scared of dyin'

Light blogging alert

Going through a bit of an existential crisis, job-wise -- (still) --

Undergoing self-examination, etc. -- therefore, entertainment/sharing value will probably at a minimum, from my end, anyway.

A New Year! Onward and forward! (Promise I'll be back :) (Pretty soon :)