Category: General Musings

Time to watch the BBC bias that costs each of us £116 a year says Charles Moore in the London Telegraph The ABC with different names. Point by point except the Brit £116 is our $0.08 per day.

You will see this article quoted in several blogs over this week as we contemplate the terror that was 911. And well you should – it’s an inspirational story and well worth the time to read. Have you seen the movie We were Soldiers? A good one, in my opinion. Given just a couple hours to tell a tale I think all in all the folks involved did a commendable job. Perhaps it’s hard to go wrong, given the source material. We Were Soldiers Once, And Young is an account of the battle at Ia Drang Valley, fought in the still early phases of the war in Viet Nam. The book was written by Hal Moore, who was then a Lt Col and commander of the American troops in the valley, and Joe Galloway, a reporter who was at the battle. Their collaboration is a truly human account of men at war- including the enemy viewpoint, as Galloway and Moore’s efforts at capturing the battle on paper were thorough enough to include interviews with survivors from the other side. Take a look at the cover. The prominent figure is Rick Rescorla, described thusly on the LZ Xray web page: No sleep for 48 hours. Grimy, unshaven, filthy uniform. Canteens loose, dogtags hanging out, pocket unbuttoned, helmet strap hanging. No insignia of rank, sleeves up. Dirty fingernails. His bayonet is fixed; trigger finger alert and ready for action. Lt. Rick Rescorla, Platoon Leader, B Co 2/7 Cav in Bayonet Attack on the morning of 16 Nov 1965 This is not a posed shot; this is a man moving forward into combat. Eyes forward. Ready. Hat tip to ‘Texas Jack’ at Streams. Continue reading about Rick Rescorla in the Mudville Gazette

After years of burning coffee ‘place mats’ (CDs that failed to copy) Buena Vista Home Entertainment in the US is doing it for me. Now you can buy a movie on DVD, watch it and after 48 hours of exposure to Oxygen it turns into unreadable black. >>more

Links are working!!! I’ll now run away and compose something worth linking to…back later.

Niall muses on September 11 and asks; Must we, or rather should we need to be constantly reminded of these events? Surely, it’s better to be made aware of the probable reasons for the occurrence and try to ensure the circumstances don’t arise again His last sentence is a given but I believe we must be regularly reminded of how evil the bastards are. Human nature, being what it is, will see people move forward, as Niall points out. However, on this occassion ‘getting on with life’ will never work while we still have terrorists trying to snuff out that very life. The Holocast, the Killing Fields, USSRs Gulags, etc, can be placed in a ‘past obscenities’ file because the perpetrators are mostly dead and buried or have been neutralized. al Qeada still exists! We need to maintain the momentum.

This article in the Washington Post atracts some interest in the blogosphere as Andrew Sullivan posts an article under FLYPAPER – IT’S WORKING and a piece in todays Australian. Two years after the attacks on the United States, Osama bin Laden’s leadership cadre has been isolated and weakened and is increasingly reliant on the violent actions of local radicals around the world to maintain its profile. But the al Qaeda network is determined to open a new front in Iraq to sustain itself as the vanguard of radical Islamic groups fighting holy war, according to European, American and Arab intelligence sources. Sounds good to me. If the US forces stay and sucker al Qaeda to fight in Iraq it places the battle where it should – out of reach of women, kids and other innocents. In military speak it’s called fighting the battle on ground of your own choosing. Update: President Bush agrees with me. We have learned that terrorist attacks are not caused by the use of strength; they are invited by the perception of weakness. And the surest way to avoid attacks on our own people is to engage the enemy where he lives and plans. We are fighting that enemy in Iraq and Afghanistan today so that we do not meet him again on our own streets, in our own cities. Read the full text of last nights address to the nation here

From the Malysian Times Kuala Lumpur – Islamic authorities will prosecute Malaysian men who try to divorce their wives by sending cellphone text messages or email without going to court, an official said on Thursday. The warning marks the latest move by the government to discourage the use of electronic messages to initiate divorce proceedings in this predominantly Muslim Southeast Asian country. Islamic law generally accepts that a husband has divorced his wife if he announces his intention to do so to her and the decision is ratified by a cleric. The process for a wife to divorce her husband is more difficult. Great society isn’t it? I can just see Abdul checking out a good sort at the bar – oops, sorry they don’t drink – at the mosque. Mmmm…better than the sandbagged chick at home. Reaches for the mobile….SMS I divorce thee, I divorce thee, I divorce thee. Send. …….Hullo! Whats a nice chick like you doing at this boring old mosque? Lets go get coffee. And they reckon we’re ungodly! Inserted in the interests of winding up the troll from comments in my previous post. Ishmael – As-Salamu ‘Alaikum.

Scientists were today warning of a possible asteroid collision with the Earth. An asteroid around 1.2 km wide could hit the earth on March 21, 2014 and has been classified as “an event meriting careful monitoring” by astronomers. I’m surprised the Holy Rollers haven’t claimed it as a message from God. Maybe it’s heading for the Middle East! Hey, I’d put up with a bit of disruption -clouds, long winters etc if we could stop the rot in one hit. C’mon asteroid! ……….No! No! Not Brisbane!

I don’t know about others but I think Indonesia will regret giving Baasyir only four years. For one, It doesn’t matter how long they put him away he will still be able to influence Jemaah Islamiah. In a country that sets very high corruption standards do you really believe that all the prison guards are professional. Of course not! The ‘four years sentence’ sends a message that Indonesia is still not serious about terrorism. In times when the press wasn’t so aware, Indonesia would have simply executed or prisoned for life anyone who had a hint of treason about him – and this guy has been found guilty. Times do change. Keep a watch on Baasyir, you’ll be hearing more about him. Here for a US report from the Washington Post and here for an Australian perspective from the Sydney Morning Herald. Downer, the Foreign Minister, reflects majority opinion when he says he’s surprised.

From correspondents in Starke, Florida and quoted in this article in the Australian ON the eve of his execution for the murder of an abortion doctor, an unrepentant Paul Hill said today: “I expect a great reward in heaven.” Sounds a bit like the ’72 virgins’ recruiting campaign that another group of idiots use. News Flash! Heaven is an invention of the church to guarantee tythes and you have to get up real early to get one virgin, let alone 72.