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Delftsman

July 08, 2006

Biases, Military & Media

For the last three years, those of us on the right side of the blogoshere have argued that the MSM has presented a biased, anti-US picture of the action in Iraq, while the left side have claimed that the bias runs in the opposite direction.

Well, that argument will continue to be fought, I'm sure, but while the Leftsiders use their own filters of academics and feelings oriented to demonstrate their POV; I think that most of us on right side will continue to use those that have actually "been there, done that" to show our POV.

In the first week of June, there was a conference of General/Flag officers at Ft. Carson,Co. where some of the differences between the general perceptions of the general public and those that served in theater. were discussed, among other topics pertaining to the conduct of operations.

Here's just a taste:

Public Affairs: We are losing the public affairs battle for a variety of reasons. First, in Iraq, the terrorists provide Al Jazeera with footage of their more spectacular attacks and they are on TV to the whole Arab world within minutes of the event. By contrast it takes four to six days for a story generated by Army Public Affairs to gain clearance by Combined Forces Command, two or three more days to get Pentagon clearance, and after all that, the public media may or may not run the story.

and

Third, the stories that are filed by reporters in the field very seldom reach the American public as written. An anecdote from Col. McMaster illustrates this dramatically. TIME magazine recently sent a reporter to spend six weeks with the 3rd ACR as they were in the battle of Tal Afar. When the battle was over, the reporter filed his story and also included close to 100 pictures that the accompanying photographer took. TIME published a cover story on the battle a week later, allegedly using the story sent in by their reporter. When the issue came out, the guts had been edited out of their reporter’s story and none of the pictures he submitted were used. Instead they showed a weeping child on the cover, taken from stock photos. When the reporter questioned why his story was eviscerated, his editors in New York responded that the story and pictures were too heroic. McMaster had read both and told me that the editors had completely changed the thrust and context of the material their reporter had submitted.(emph mine~D)

The Left says that the MSM is "the corporately owned lap dog of the Administration" while we on the Right have repeatedly pointed out that "stories always seem to be slanted against American interests". Probably both views have a modicum of reality to them (being biased, and a reasonably cogent type, I still subscribe to the Rights view as being the one much closer to the reality, of course).

Enough of my blather however, go read the link and see what you think.

to GuyK for the heads up

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 01:56 PM | Comments (1880) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

July 07, 2006

THE BLONDE JOKE TO END ALL BLONDE JOKES!

A blonde woman was speeding down the road in her little red sports car
and was pulled over by a woman police officer who was also a blonde.

The blonde cop asked to see the blonde driver's license.
She dug through her purse and was getting progressively more agitated.
"What does it look like?" she finally asked.

The policewoman replied, "It's square and it has your picture on it."

The driver finally found a square mirror in her purse, looked at it and
handed it to the policewoman.

"Here it is," she said.
The blonde officer looked at the mirror, then handed it back saying,
"Okay, you can go.
I didn't realize you were a cop."

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 02:58 PM | Comments (21) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Concentrate!

Catfish sent me this men's Eye/Concentration Test....go see how you do on it!

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 02:53 PM | Comments (363) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Watch What You Drink

A little guy is sitting at a bar just staring at his drink for 1/2 hr.
when this big trouble making truck driver steps next to him, grabs his
drink and gulps it down in 1 swig.

THE POOR MAN STARTS CRYING....

"Come on man, I was just giving you a hard time," says the truck driver.
"I'll buy you another drink. I just can't stand to see a man cry."

"This is the worse day of my life," says the little guy between sobs. "I
can't do anything right. I over slept and was late to an important
meeting, so my boss fired me. When I went to the parking lot, I found my
car was stolen & I have no insurance. I grabbed a cab home, but after
the cab left, I discovered my wallet was still in the cab. At home I
found my wife in bed with the neighbor. So I came to this bar trying to
work up the courage to put an end to my life, and then YOU show up and
drink the poison."

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 02:48 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

A new blog

Added a new blog to the roll to today. Go on over and check out Forgotten Prophets. Jack H has a clarity of thought all too often missing today. Go through his profile and check out his other blogs too, well worth the perusal.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 01:48 PM | Comments (15) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

July 03, 2006

Happy 4th of July

HAPPY BIRTHDAY America! 230 years and even with all the troubles I noted in that post below, your STILL the GREATESTcountry that has ever existed on Earth.

When we first arrived here, my father thought all the fireworks were in honor of his birthday, and he jokes about it to this day.

Well, Dad, this year they ARE in your honor, and don't let anyone tell you differently. Happy 75th!, and may you still have two quarters to go!

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 09:20 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Anything but negotiation...

the Emperor has one of his patented cluebattings on the idiocy of what passes as "deep" thought on the other side of the big briny. Treat yourself and go see a master at work.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 05:25 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

INDIAN CHIEF, VERY SMART!

An Indian walks into a cafe with a shotgun in one hand pulling
a male buffalo with the other. He says to the waiter, "Want
coffee." The waiter says, "Sure, Chief, coming right up." He gets the
Indian a tall mug of coffee.

The Indian drinks the coffee down in one gulp, turns and blasts the
buffalo with the shotgun, causing parts of the animal to splatter
everywhere, then just walks out.

The next morning the Indian returns. He has his shotgun in one
hand pulling another male buffalo with the other. He walks up
to the counter and says to the waiter, "Want coffee."

The waiter says, "Whoa, Tonto! We're still cleaning up your
mess from yesterday. What was all that about, anyway?"

The Indian smiles and proudly says, "Training for position in
United States Congress: Come in, drink coffee, shoot the bull,
leave mess for others to clean up, disappear for rest of day."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I thought about this joke, and thought it was a good jumping point for a little essay on what I think is currently wrong with this country. I couldn't get it to gell though, so I asked a friend of mine over for a mug of some cyber jumpstart, with the request that he jump in anytime...(JB's comments/additions in bold)

Here goes:

It seems that our current government works exactly in the manner portrayed in the joke, the members of Congress use a scattershot method of addressing problems that only serve to make an even greater mess and then just walk away from the consequences of their actions. When it comes time to account for the mess, they are nowhere to be found.

You might want to toss out the idea that they tend to favor expediency as influenced by
current event (polls, fingers in the air, et al), to the longer view of
unintended consequences.

I KNEW there was a reason I wanted you to go over this!

The interweaving web of special interest groups clamoring for their narrow goals, lobbyists clamoring for their little piece of the pie (holding out huge sums of money to ensure that they are heeded) and polititicians trying to accomodate them all, no matter that many of the interests are in direct conflict with each other....

That's exactly the problem the major political parties face at this time.
Too many dollars from too many directions and they are conflicted. To wit:
The holiest of the liberal sacraments is abortion, why? Because their
biggest contributions come from that direction. Republicans, while the
majority of their contributors are the little guys (No Soros and Company
checks) are conflicted by the immigration issue. Why? Two reasons in my
opinion 1) the black voting "block" seems irreversibly left, unless/until
the CBC in it's present form is removed, this is not likely to change. 2)
The next large voting block coming into the picture is the Latinos, as we
know they are now the largest minority group and the conservative message
has appeal to the useful members of this populace. The wobbly knees won't
come out and deal with it out of fear of alienating the "good ones". This is
pure bullshit to anyone with half a brain, but we're talking congress here.

And to make the situation worse, we have a general populace that, as long as they are not personally affected, tends to ignore the whole sordid mess.

Biggest problem of all right there. The republic was formed and a
constitution created to provide guidance for governance based on the
assumption that the general populace would make INFORMED and MORAL decisions
regardless of self-interest, recognizing that in any form of government/laws
exercising control over a widely diverse group some disparities would arise.
We as a nation are too diverse for One Size Fits All governance. The logical
conclusion our founders created was Federalism, the concept of best rule is
the closest rule. We grow farther from that principle, it would seem almost
daily.

A friend of mine stated last night that he believed that we are living under a government of Corporate Facism, where the real power was issuing from the board rooms of a few multinational companies. I think that big business/big labor does have a large role, but in nowhere near the manner that my friend believes. They influence the course, undoubtedly, but they don't direct it.

That's the old Straw Dog argument. Business is irrevocably tied to
governance in that it is the sole generator of wealth which our form of
governance relies on to function. The solution to the problem is the reverse
of what your friend might think. Reduce the size of government (and we can
dramatically) and this in turn reduces the symbiotic relationship. Smaller
Government=Smaller $$ to be confiscated from individuals and business, thus
reducing the incentive for business to influence governance in the interests
of their own profit.

So just what is the answer? Hell if I know.

I think that enacting the Fair Tax would be a good first step in taking power away from the corporate lobbyists and radical special interest groups. (yes they are different)

Hell yes, Boortz is dead-nuts, spot-on correct. The Fair Tax would again in
my opinion be the quickest and most successful means of realignment of the
republic to our founding tenets.

Requiring all legislation to have a study done of the possible end/side effects of it's enactment would serve to slow down the rash of knee-jerk reactive legislation that has proved to be counterproductive to a fee flowing economy.

Good idea, but who gets to do the study? Sorry, can't answer that one it's
a paradox. Guess thats an idea needing furthur study.....

But what is most needed is an actively engaged and informed electorate,

As old Wil would put it "There's the rub". See above comment regarding an
informed electorate. Personally, I think Heinlein was on to something about
earning the franchise to vote. OH the Horror.... actually requiring people
voting to you know, have a tiny clue? I've seen the current naturalization
exam bank questions. I submit sir, that perhaps 20% (at the most) of our HS
graduates could pass the exam. Think about that, the average newly
naturalized citizen is on the order of 70-80% more knowledgeable of our form
and function of government than our own populace. If you have no CLUE as to
how government should work and is designed to work is it possible to ever
exercise a wise choice? Stick to slot machines, the percentages are better.

and how do you ensure that? Maybe one person at a time....
I think that the blogosphere can be a tremendous force in this arena.

Those that gravitate towards blogging tend to be the more informed/interested, and with the speed at which information, opinions, and possible solutions can be transmitted, it's possible that we have a whole new way of righting the the ship of state and putting it back on a course that will satisfy the greatest number of people.

Funny you bring that up, I've been having an extended discussion with Mike
in Chi regarding this exact concept. The blogosphere can be a Sixth Column,
as you put it precisely we tend to be orders of magnitude more informed and
interested that the average Joe. Blogging can't be done in 15 second sound
bites, it requires thought and the ability to articulate your point (or if
you're glutton for punishment you can be just an average troll) in an open
forum. You have to take a stand and fight or instant irrelevance is the
result. A self-correcting, positive-feedback system. It's very nature, over
time tends to correct one's viewpoints to a strong position (as opposed to
pure silliness).

If you think of the WWW as a gestalt of the wishes and opinions of the people en masse, why not use it to try to formulate new policies? It's not possible at the moment, but I believe that it is something that should be considered for the future.

True enough and the factor would be some form of alliance between camps,
think about the 13 colonies and of course a leadership.

One problem with this idea is the possiblity of a true Democracy in action, and as the founding fathers were wise enough to know, that course lies in the direction of mob rule and the tyranny of mass group think. But it also would be the perfect conduit to determine just what the thoughts of the majority was thinking, so as to formulate policy that was ameniable to the greatest number.

Exactly why I understand libertarians but view it with a certain disdain as
it approaches mobocracy. Possibly another paradoxical position in that some
or many will refuse to devote the necessary thought to derive rational
opinions.

It all boils down to education in the end. An educated populace with MAKE (hopefully good) policy happen, whereas an indoctrinated populace will allow policy happen TO them, imposed from above.

Currently, it seems that our education system is far more indoctrination than true education, and it's been caused to be that way because of the PC special interest groups that have taken hold in the corridors of power. These need to be rooted out and exposed for what they are. They flourish because too many good people are too afraid to seen to be "insensative" or "uncaring of the plight of _______". We need to overcome that fear and promote the use of common sense and logic in government, and combat the use of "feel good" policy that ultimately is to the detriment of those it is intended to help.

Multi-Culti/PC must DIE and quickly or we can write off an entire
generation)

Yes it will hurt, and the longer it goes on, the more it will hurt to correct. But we have to wean people off of the idea that there is no pain or sacrifices to be made in life. The current idea that government is capable of eliminating that pain and those sacrifices will ultimately lead to a tyrany that is stricter and more evil than any imposed heretofor.

Just some food for thought and consideration of how such a new process could be implemented for the best effect....

Thanks for listening to me spout off, JB, maybe it will strike a chord with someone....

No Problem, young Padewan...

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 02:40 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

July 02, 2006

Back home again in Indiana

Left the Savannah airport at 1725, and arrived back home in Indy at 2102....

It's good to get home, but I miss Georgia and the people there more than I care to admit.

Catfish and Nancy: THANK YOU. You really made this "damned Yankee" feel that he was at home...no more than that. You made me feel like family, and for that I'll be forever grateful.

I'll have to temper my thankfullness with the fact that you've hooked me on something that I can't get here, and i'm strictly forbidden to eat anyway....BOILED PEANUTS. (I managed to find Harveys; got 13 lbs to tuck away in my luggage....5 lbs of which are boiling as we speak..) hell with the docs; their damned Yankees that don't know their ass from a gater wallow anyway. LMAO

Stevie, don't let (*****) get to you. Stop playing her game and giving her that power. And remember, we have a date in Tampa in February .

I'm forever grateful that I was able to attend Acidman's last hurrah on this plane of existence. I think it did him proud. The mere fact that so many came from so far was a testament to his memory, and one that I will cherish always.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 12:44 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

June 30, 2006

A Life Remembered

It's been enough time to try to begin to process some of the events of the day.

It was an emotional rollercoaster, and I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that, YES, I did break down at the end of the memorial service, and was blubbering like a little baby, something totally out of character for me.

It was a very moving service, with a touch of religion (which Rob wouldn't have particularly cared for), and testimonials from his friends about past events that had moved them,(which I believe that Rob would have found quite touching).

They had his cremains in a simple wooden box slightly larger than a cigar box, with Rob's name and a guitar burned into the lid. That was what got to me in the end. It was just the right container for him; but to think that it held the mortal remains of a man that so many people had come to come to hold as a friend...the finality of it all just hit me like a ton of cement blocks, and I just totally lost it. I went to the mens room to compose myself and try to prevent furthur embarrassing myself and then I heard Robs voice, as clear as the water in a Florida spring fed pool: "get your shit in one sock". Yeah, I know, I was just imagining it, "it was a stress reaction". But hey, it worked.

But to tell you the truth, I prefer to think of it as proof that Rob was wrong about death when he stated his belief that there was nothing after the final beat of the heart but darkness and oblivian; I look on it as proof that something of us lives on, even if only in the overactive imaginations of those we have left behind.

After the service, everyone proceded to go to Rob's mothers house to have a party to celebrate a life in a manner that befit the man. There was a lot of food, reminiscing, and picking. Oh yes, there was picking. Seven guitars, an electric base guitar, an accordian, and a mandolin, along with some bongo drums on the few of the numbers. And watching Dave play; it was almost as if Rob was there, just having a jam session with with his mates.

There were stories swapped of past antics and interactions with Rob, both RT and in the 'sphere; there were old friends meeting again and new friends meeting for the first time, and most of all, there was the healing balm of laughter. It was a fitting tribute to a man that was as complex as Rob was.

In conclusion all I can say is goodby, until we meet again ya old bastid, ya should be dragged out and shot for leaving us too soon...and I hope you have found the some peace on an eternal beach, drink near to hand, entertaining a bevy of nekkid women around you with the sweet strains of your guitar and voice.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 02:41 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

June 28, 2006

Update from Savannah

Well, after two relatively reasonable flights, and a 48 minute drive into the hinterlands of Georgia, I made it safe and sound to Catfish Manor. The old grouch was in Savannah, trying to get one of his quacks to tell him how much longer he'd have to suffer the aftereffects of his last stint in the OR, and as usual, they put him off with generalizations and promises that it would get better "soon"...

I walked up to the front door, rang the doorbell, and Nancy called out, to "come in, it's open". We had a nice talk, interupted several times from far-flung Jawja Bloggers wanting updates on the Memorial service tomorrow. About an hour later, Catfish strode into the front door with his voice booming out "any calls?" and then came and shook my hand.

Just as when I met Rob for the first time in Austin; there was an instant feeling of having known him for all my life, but even more so. Sometimes you're hesitant to meet old blog friends in RT; there is always the chance that you might be disappointed with the reality that differs from the picture you have built up in your mind, but such was not the case with Catfish or Nancy. They are both even better than what I had hoped to find.

Look up Southern Hospitality in the dictionary, and I'm positive you'll find their pictures at the top of that entry. There are few people I have ever instantly felt more comfortable with than Catfish. With him, what you see is what you get; with no pretensions of being anything but what he is, just a good ole boy with his feet planted firmly in reality, rough edges and all, and no apologies made for that.
I can see why Rob and he were such good friends. Catfish may not be as eloquent in speech and mannerisms, but they were both cut from the same cloth.

We have had confirmations from around the country of those that want to attend the Memorial service tomorrow, including Zonker and Stevie. I can hardly wait to see Zonker again, and meet the indomitable Miss Stevie for the first time; it's just terrible that it had to be under such tragic circumstances.

I hope that the Memorial will be suitably solemn as befits such an occasion, with the get together afterward as equally raucious, just as Rob would have wanted it to be. I have I feeling that all expectations will be met in both instances.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 05:50 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

June 27, 2006

Light/no Posting

I talked to Catfish, and he's graciously consented to put up with a "Damned Yankee" for a few days, so I've decided to go to Acidmans memorial service.

It's out of character for me to spend this much money in this way, but Rob helped me over some pretty rough spots, and I would never forgive myself if I didn't go, I owe it to his memory.

Hell, who am I fooling?, I NEED to do this for myself. It's the only way to get closure and start to go on to the healing process.

I don't have a lap top to take with me, so until I return on Sat., I'll have to hope that my archives will be enough to keep this place going.

Hopefully, I'll have some good stories to relate, and a fresh outlook on life, as well.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 11:05 PM | Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Al-Murtha Redux

Odyseus has crafted a great cartoon about what he feels is the general consensus of feelings among Marines about Jack Murtha(D-Pa) and his recent efforts "in support of the troops".

Just HAD to ~~steal~~ borrow it...

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 06:47 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

tributes

Here's a tribute post that Acidman would have really liked.

I can only hope that it ended up that way.

Chris Muir payed Rob the best complement he could as well:

There is an on-line obituary and guest book HERE, please leave some kind words for Dave,Samantha, Quinton, and Mommie in their hour of grief.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 05:34 PM | Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

June 26, 2006

R.I.P. to one of the Greats

Rob "Acidman" Smith 1952-2006

One of my mentors has passed away.

Rob Smith, aka the Acidman was found dead at 0200 hrs. this morning.

I hope that he has finally found the peace that he so richly deserved. He had his demons, but he gave them the good fight. He was always there for his friends. No more can be asked of any man.

Samantha, your dad was one of a kind, and he will be sorely missed, by friend and foe alike. He never compromised, he never gave less than his all, and there will be tears for him from all across the blogosphere.

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 03:44 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

June 22, 2006

A Rant worthy of the Rottweiller Empire

MamaMontezz doesn't rant too often, but when she DOES, stand back!

I believe that she almost matched Misha's best with this one.

All I can add is a hearty "AMEN" !

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 09:42 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

A good idea from an unexpected source

I never thought that I would agree with any official of the Clinton Admionistration on a foreign policy matter, but Ashton Carter and William Perry seem to have overcome BDS for long enough to come up with a really great idea on how to deal with the NoKo ICBM test dillemma.

Too bad that these two men couldn't have tried to inject some common sense into the equation when Clinton was giving the NoKo's the technology to be able to threaten us now....

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 08:24 PM | Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Living Will

Now THIS is MY kind of living will!

I, __________________________,
being of sound mind and body, do not wish to be kept
alive indefinitely by artificial means.

Under no circumstances should my fate be put in the
hands of pinhead politicians who couldn't pass
ninth-grade biology if their lives depended on it.
Nor in the hands of doctors who are interested simply
in running up the bills.

If a reasonable amount of time passes and I fail to
ask for at least one of the following:

Bloody Mary,

Margarita,

Scotch and soda,

Martini,

Vodka and Tonic,

Steak,

Lobster or Crab legs,

the remote control,

bowl of ice cream,

the sports page,

chocolate,

or sex

...it should be presumed that I
won't ever get better.

When such a determination is reached, I hereby
instruct my appointed person and attending
physicians to pull the plug, reel in the tubes
and call it a day.

At this point, it is time to call a New Orleans
Jazz Funeral Band * to come do their thing at my
funeral, and ask all of my friends to raise
their glasses to toast the good times we have had.

Signature:
___________________________

Date: ____________________

(* I think I would prefer some Scotch Pipers, along with a bugler and a gun salute)

to GuyK

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 07:58 PM | Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

It's Magic!

You say that there is no such thing as Magic? Chris Angel begs to differ!

Truly amazing to observe his skill at what he does...

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 07:23 PM | Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

Priorities!

Catfish sent me this....and I must agree with him, where the HELL ARE our priorities?!?!

Priorities!

Five million of our older Americans have not signed up yet for their
Medicare, Part D, drug plan--they are old and confused. We are not going
to grant them an extension.

However, 12 million illegal aliens are in
our country and we are going to allow them to stay, protest, procreate,
receive support monies, attend schools, avoid paying income taxes, have
our teachers take 300 hours of ESOL (English as a second language)
training at our expense, etc.

WE MUST REALLY DISLIKE OUR OLD PEOPLE! OR, WE MUST REALLY LOVE TACOS!

Posted by: Delftsman3 at 07:04 PM | Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

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