Monday, May 16, 2005

Muslims doubt Quran climbdown. CNN — Permalink KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) — Muslims in Afghanistan and Pakistan were skeptical after a U.S. magazine backed away from a report that U.S. interrogators desecrated copies of the Quran while questioning prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. Read remarks from TheAnchoress, Jan Haugland, Steve M., and Marc @USSNeverdock. [memeorandum] 5:39:48 PM    comment [] The Illusion of 'Managing' China. By Robert Kagan / WaPo — Permalink There has been much disc ussion recently about how to "manage the rise of China." The phrase itself is soothing, implying gradualism, predictability and time. Time enough to think and prepare, to take measurements of China's trajectory and adjust as necessary. Read remarks from Dale Franks, DJ Drummond, Stanley Kurtz, and Matthew Yglesias. [memeorandum] 5:39:22 PM    comment [] Newsweek Apologizes. WaPo — Permalink But critics are already pouncing on the story as the latest in a high-profile series of media blunders at such respected news organizations as the New York Times, USA Today and CBS News. In this case, the consequences — deadly riots — were far more serious than a breach of journalistic ethics. Read remarks from Red @ScaredMonkeys, Glenn Reynolds, Gerry @DalyThoughts, and Michelle Malkin. [memeorandum] So, we have the MSM (not really the MSM but those magazine people fronting for authors (well, of a sort) with information that doesn't followup the two sources smell test... 15 people dead in riots over this? isn't this why we have journalistic standards in the first place? 5:39:06 PM    comment []

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

MoveOn.org's Latest Flash Campaign. While I may have mixed feelings about the President's Social Security "plan", I can certainly admire good Flash animation when I see it. MoveOn.org has been sponsoring another contest of late and drawn another huge number of Flash-based entries. The winner, featuring original music and some very simple but incredibly smooth animations is Brain Frieze] 6:22:44 PM    comment [] Pastor Accused of Running Out Dems Quits. AP — Permalink (AP) — A Baptist preacher accused of running out nine congregants who disagreed with his Republican politics resigned Tuesday, two days after calling the issue ''a great misunderstanding.'' Read remarks from TChris, Steve Soto, Steve M., Avedon Carol, Tully @Centerfield, and James Joyner. [memeorandum] 6:01:10 PM    comment [] Ridge reveals clashes on alerts. By Mimi Hall / USA Today — Permalink WASHINGTON — The Bush administration periodically put the USA on high alert for terrorist attacks even though then-Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge argued there was only flimsy evidence to justify raising the threat level, Ridge now says. Read remarks from Steve Soto, Kevin Drum, Attaturk, and Taegan Goddard. [memeorandum] 5:58:06 PM    comment [] Why shouldn't we apologize for Yalta?. By Jonah Goldberg / Townhall.com — Permalink This week, while touring the remnants of the former Soviet Union on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany, President Bush gave perhaps the greatest diplomatic performance of his career, balancing a host of moral and strategic interests simultaneously. Read remarks from S.Z., Betsy Newmark, Mike Rappaport, and Orrin Judd. [memeorandum] 5:47:50 PM    comment []

Thursday, May 05, 2005

Why I'm Rooting Against the Religious Right. By Christopher Hitchens / Opinion Journal — Permalink I hope and believe that, by identifying itself with "faith" in general and the Ten Commandments in particular, a runaway element in the Republican leadership has made a career-ending mistake. In support of this, let me quote two authorities: Read remarks from James Joyner, Ed Cone, Ann Althouse, Roger Ailes, and Dean Esmay. [memeorandum] 8:14:25 PM    comment [] The Christian Complex. By George F. Will / WaPo — Permalink The state of America's political discourse is such that the president has felt it necessary to declare that unbelievers can be good Americans. In last week's prime-time news conference, he said: "If you choose not to worship, you're equally as patriotic as somebody who does worship." Update: Discussion on this article has expanded. Read remarks from James Joyner, Tbogg, Sam Rosenfeld, John Cole, Josh Chafetz, Glenn Reynolds, Chris Mooney, and Atrios. [memeorandum] 7:53:56 PM    comment [] Col. David. H. Hackworth, 1930-2005 SFTT Washingt.... Col. David. H. Hackworth, 1930-2005 SFTT Washington, D.C., May 5, 2005 – Col. David H. Hackworth, the United States Army's legendary, highly decorated guerrilla fighter and lifelong champion of the doughboy and dogface, ground-pounder and grunt, died Wednesday in Mexico. He was 74 years old. The cause of death was a form of cancer now appearing with increasing frequency among Vietnam veterans exposed to the defoliants called Agents Orange and Blue. Col. Hackworth spent more than half a century on the country's hottest battlefields, first as a soldier, then as a writer, war correspondent and sharp-eyed critic of the Military-Industrial Complex and ticket-punching generals he dismissed as "Perfumed Princes." ...With Gen. S.L.A. "Slam" Marshall, he surveyed the war's early mayhem and compiled the Army's experience into The Vietnam Primer, a bible on a style of unconventional counter-guerrilla tactics he called "out gee-ing the G." His finest moment came when he applied these tactics, taking the hopeless 4/39 Infantry Battalion in the Mekong Delta, turning it into the legendary Hardcore Battalion. The men of the demoralized outfit saw him at first as a crazy "lifer" out to get them killed. For a time they even put a price on his head and waited for the first grunt to frag him. Within 10 weeks, the fiery young combat leader had so transformed the 4/39 that it was routing main force enemy units. He led from the front, at one point getting out on the strut of a helicopter, landing on top of an enemy position and hauling to safety the point elements of a company pinned down and facing certain death. Thirty years later, the grateful enlisted men and young officers of the 4/39, now grown old, are still urging the Pentagon to award him the Medal of Honor for this action. So far, the Army has refused. By null. [∞Fouroboros] 7:40:17 PM    comment []

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

Judge Rejects Lynndie England's Guilty Plea. A military judge has thrown out the guilty plea entered by Lynndie England two days ago. England is the Army private who was prominent in some of the first pictures of U.S. troops abusing Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison. The judge says he is not convinced England knew that what she was doing was wrong. [NPR Programs: All Things Considered] 5:58:58 PM    comment []

Monday, April 25, 2005

Bloodied Marines Sound Off About Want of Armor and Men. Marine leaders and infantrymen of a unit that sustained heavy losses say a lack of armor and manpower hampered their efforts. By By MICHAEL MOSS. [NYT > Home Page] 3:01:22 PM    comment []

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Ricin case sparks asylum concerns. Fears are raised about false passports and asylum abuses as a man is found guilty of plotting to spread ricin in the UK. [BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition] 5:11:07 PM    comment []

Thursday, April 07, 2005

Was the Schiavo memo a fake?. Washington Times — Permalink All 55 Republican senators say they have never seen the Terri Schiavo political talking-points memo that Democrats say was circulated among Republicans during the floor debate over whether the federal government should intervene to prolong her life. Read remarks from Lorie Byrd, Deacon, The Big Trunk, and Betsy Newmark. [memeorandum] 7:19:45 PM    comment [] The Internet and Campaign 2004. The Internet and Campaign 2004 [Pew Internet and American Life Project: Front Page] 6:49:02 PM    comment []

© Copyright 2005 Judy Smith. Last update: 5/16/2005; 5:39:53 PM.