Great piece on Iraq and recent history

From the Nieman Watchdog:

The more we learn about how the Iraq War began the worse the story gets. For all we thought we knew, now a new set of formerly secret records of both the Bush administration and the British cabinet of Tony Blair sheds glaring light on the prewar machinations of both governments designed to make the conflict happen. Posted as a three-part series by the National Security Archive, the documents, along with extensive analyses by Archive Iraq Project co-directors Joyce Battle and myself, plus British journalist Christopher Ames, lay out the case in unprecedented detail. The analysis demonstrates that the Bush administration swiftly abandoned plans for diplomacy to curb fancied Iraqi adventurism by means of sanctions, never had a plan subsequent to that except for a military solution, and enmeshed British allies in a manipulation of public opinion on both sides of the Atlantic designed to generate support for a war. This time the case is made with actual secret government records, not merely the press releases and talking points of the neo-cons.

Read the National Archive documents here.

...and by the way...hey allegedly liberal media, where are you?.....hello....

Time I'll never get back.......

So I just spent the last three days teaching Thermal Theory to a group of my co-workers. I'm no scientist, so my teaching method is very un-sciency...but if I can explain the theory well enough to middle school science classes and Congressmen [both of which are on about the same intellectual level], why can't a group of professional, retired military trainers grasp the concept.....after THREE DAYS? I mean, we have cartoon graphics and everything!!!!

Your daily dose of stupid.......

Well, if you remember, when we were fighting the Soviets over there in Afghanistan in the '80s and '90s, we did not finish the job. So now we have a responsibility to finish the job. And if you’re going to make these politically correct statements that it's costing us too much money, you are threatening the security of our homeland.

CHRISTINE O'DONNELL, (R-DE) SENATORIAL CANDIDATE

Full Transcript

America's bumper sticker mentality

Bad Beer!

Your daily dose of crazy....

Republican Senate nominee Christine O'Donnell of Delaware said in a 2006 debate that China was plotting to take over America and claimed to have classified information about the country that she couldn't divulge.

O'Donnell's comments came as she and two other Republican candidates debated U.S. policy on China during Delaware's 2006 Senate primary, which O'Donnell ultimately lost.

She said China had a "carefully thought out and strategic plan to take over America" and accused one opponent of appeasement for suggesting that the two countries were economically dependent and should find a way to be allies.

"That doesn't work," she said. "There's much I want to say. I wish I wasn't privy to some of the classified information that I am privy to."

"A country that forces women to have abortions and mandates that you can only have one child and will not allow you the freedom to read the Bible, you think they can be our friend?" she asked. "We have to look at our history and realize that if they pretend to be our friend it's because they've got something up their sleeve."

When her opponent challenged her claim about having secret information, O'Donnell suggested she had received it through nonprofit groups she worked with that frequently sent missionaries there.

O'Donnell's campaign didn't immediately respond to questions about the comments.
AP

The state of the American Electorate:

"Critical Thinking BAD! Intellectual Curiosity hurt Hulk's head!"

The Return of the Quack....now with more Cheerleaders!

Iraq movie review

I'm not usually up for movies or books about Iraq, but I had made two exceptions. The first being the horribly inaccurate 'The Hurt Locker', which I had written about here previously. Now after watching it in fits and starts for the last six months or so, is 'Brothers at War'.

I thought it was well done, that and it being a documentary, set it apart from The Hurt Locker. The movie explores the Iraq War through the eyes [and lens] of Jake Rademacher who wanted to understand the motives, emotions and hardships of his two brothers, both of which serving at Fort Bragg with multiple deployments to Iraq.

Very well done and insightful....I recommend this film for both those who served and those who have family who served in Iraq.

Yes, I know it's rather trivial......

But damn it , it really got on my nerves! Yesterday, Congress heard my pleas...or somebody's anyway:

Legislation to turn down the volume on those loud TV commercials that send couch potatoes diving for their remote controls looks like it'll soon become law.

The Senate unanimously passed a bill late Wednesday to require television stations and cable companies to keep commercials at the same volume as the programs they interrupt.
The House has passed similar legislation. Before it can become law, minor differences between the two versions have to be worked out when Congress returns to Washington after the Nov. 2 election.

Ever since television caught on in the 1950s, the Federal Communication Commission has been getting complaints about blaring commercials. But the FCC concluded in 1984 there was no fair way to write regulations controlling the "apparent loudness" of commercials. So it hasn't been regulating them.

AP