DSL Update
Just got the word from SBC that the DSL line will become fully accessible on Tuesday, August 2nd. I sincerely hope that this will be the case, but as they have moved the date back twice already, I will just have to wait and see if they come through this time.
I am gratefull for all of you that have remained loyal in the face of no posting here for the last three weeks.
I hope to come out strong as soon as I have the connection enableing me to do so....there is SO much to rant about lately, and it's been a real mental strain not having the outlet of this blog to release the pressure.
Moral Equivalence?
Time and again, I see in the press stories that try to equate the actions of murduring thugs with that of our troops fighting them. It's a breath of fresh air to read something like THIS.
It's about time that the Terrorist apologists in the press start to display some sense and show the real disparity in the actions of the Mooselimbs and our soldiers. Our soldiers aren't saints by any stretch of the imagination, especially when engaged in the heat of a battle, but the actions taken by PFC Tschiderer demonstrate that atrocitities are the rare exception rather than the rule; in direct reverse of the enemy we are engaged with.
As Mr. Avlon put it: "Our troops may not be perfect — we are human beings at war, not angels in heaven — but there is no moral equivalence between terrorists who target innocent human life, and the soldiers of the civilized world who try to bind the wounds of those who have just tried to kill them in combat."
Time and again, our troops have taken more causelties than they truly have needed to, because they follow strict ROE designed to protect the innocent as much as possible in a hot war zone. By contrast, the enemy we fight have targeted civilians as the MAIN option...after all, it's a lot safer for them to detonate a bomb among civilians than trying to engage troops in face to face battle.
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"after all, it's a lot safer for them to detonate a bomb among civilians than trying to engage troops in face to face battle."
While I totally agree that deliberately targeting civilians is cowardly and unjust, they are hardly doing so to protect their own safety. The very term 'suicide bomber' should tell you that.
It's an interesting conclusion you draw (Avlon draws) regarding morality. In reality the actions of PFC Tschiderer do not prove anything about the morality of the troops in general (being just one occurence) but only about the morality of PFC Tschiderer.
Having said that, what an amazing young man! There's no doubt that men like him set a wonderful example for how war should be about resolving a situation, not enjoying killing others. I have no doubt that his example will help to build just the kind of morality you'd want the troops of 'a civilised nation' to have.
Posted by: chosha at July 19, 2005 11:12 PM (r2eny)
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Chosa, Pfc. Tschiderer's actions are indicitive of JUST the type of men that we have in our Armed Services.
Those suicide bombers are just dupes of the "insurgents" for the most part, NOT the insurgents themselves... another example of their cowardice.
They have kidnapped mentally challenged children to use as their carriers; they have used women and children as human shields, they have used Mosques as arms Depots, they have set up high explosives to kill large numbers of their OWN co-religionists, and yet, with all this evidence, those such as you will still try to denigrate OUR men with the (implied)statement that our troops need an example such as PFC T's in order to come to a morality that you may approve of.... PFC T. is just an example of the NORM, not an outlandish exception to the rule.
I am sick to death of those of your ilk that will bend over backwards to excuse the actions of the enemy as "culturally excusable", and all the while take every opportunity to cry "Mea Culpa" over anything our soldiers do that the other side complains about.
War is NOT about "resolving a situation", it's about killing the enemy before he kills you.
That we are attempting to hold to strict ROE to limit the collateral damages and show forbearance towards our enemies in defeat only proves that we are, indeed the civilized side. The only problem I have with that attitude is that it has needlessly cost a number of our soldiers lives.
War is not a civilized pursuit, it is a dirty, brutal endeavor, to be used only as the last resort; but when you do engage in it, the only goal should to be to win as quickly and decisively as possible; and with as uneven a ratio of enemy to friendly forces causelties as possible.
Posted by: delftsman3 at July 21, 2005 04:17 AM (6Px/Q)
hiat=us
two BOTH of my readers, I apologize. I've been offline since the 4th due to extreme poverty. I've gotten a temporary dial-up connection; but it's not good enough to be able to post too much. I hope to have DSL back by the end of next week.
Please go through the archives, and the fine folks in the blogroll. I'll be back ASAP with my twaddle.
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Understood, thanks for the update, hope you get back soon.Wishing you and the family all the best.
Posted by: Jack at July 10, 2005 06:16 PM (zwpSP)
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i guess i am too new to count!
be looking for you in the future....
Posted by: roklobsta at July 11, 2005 09:05 AM (kPmXY)
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You mean they still offer dial up? Just joking. Actually, my fancy cable connection is down so much of the time that I'd prefer dial-up. Whatever happened to the idea of curb-to-curb glass-fiber connections and cheap internet connections available via satellite. Some geeks out in California have been sleeping on the job.
Posted by: Karlo at July 11, 2005 08:19 PM (r65rq)
Whoo NASA!
Nasa gave us a fantastic fireworks show with the Deep Impact Project.
This whole project was akin to trying to hit a speeding bullet with another bullet, all by remote control from the other side of the world. They carried it out with flawless precision.
Here are two views taken from the delivery vehicle:
Here is an image of the colision as seen from an Earth orbiting telescope:
Another step in learning about our universe. Congratulations NASA!
O'Connor Quits
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is calling it quits. Forgive me if I say that I won't miss her, she must have been a disappointment to President Reagan with some of her stands.
Now we'll get a chance to see if the Democrats will be as willing to compremise as they claimed they were, and just how much backbone may exist on the Right side of the aisle. The only thing that is certain is that it's going to be a donnybrook.
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Democrats? Compromise? Does anybody honestly think Howard Dean is going to let us have the nominee we want? Is anybody that stupid? The entire democratic party is now run around the principle of opposing whatever it is Republicans do. We could nominate Bill Clinton and they'd start talking about how his affair in office made him unfit to judge.
No, the only thing to do here is to pick the most conservative nominee possible and STEAMROLL THEM INTO OFFICE OVER THE BLOODY CORPSES OF THE MINORITY PARTY!
Can we do it? I think we can. Even a dunderhead like Frist knows that if he botches this his presidential ambitions are going up in smoke; and the same goes, to a lesser degree, for our "Maverick" McCain.
Posted by: phnxfire54 at July 01, 2005 07:39 PM (uTM33)
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Can't say I'll miss her either, the left won't have her to legitimize their vote, it'll all be their actions now. I'll bet they had to put Howie in the rubber room when this news came out.
Posted by: Jack at July 02, 2005 12:24 AM (kJK5V)
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Oh yeah, they'll compromise on a Ginsburg clone. That's about all. I'm watching cryin' George Voinovich very closely. He better not pull the same crap as he did with the Bolton nomination and sandbag his leadership.
Posted by: StinKerr at July 06, 2005 04:25 PM (0aiy7)
