Sunday, May 30, 2004

Magic Needs to Conjure Some Sponsors

NCPPR executive director David W. Almasi reminds us that a black face is less valuable than green dollars when it comes to integrating auto racing:

Former basketball star turned businessman/investor Magic Johnson is the newest black face in auto racing after the announcement that he will co-chair the Executive Steering Committee of NASCAR's "Drive for Diversity" program. The program seeks to recruit minority drivers and race crew members as well as draw more minority fans to the sport. Last year, NASCAR stopped giving unrestricted donations -- thought to total near $250,000 -- to Jesse Jackson after The National Center's Project 21 African-American leadership network and the National Legal and Policy Center exposed Jackson's apparent hustling of NASCAR for money while doing little more for the sport than raising the level minority animosity toward it.

It's great that high-profile African-Americans such as Johnson and former football star Reggie White are involved in trying to diversify what has thus far been a sport that largely attracts white fans and participants. It's also great to have corporate support for NASCAR's diversity program. But the real support is needed in the bank accounts of minority drivers. It costs millions to race, and NASCAR cannot provide that money. Corporate sponsors need to get behind good minority drivers if the sport is to be truly diversified.

While Johnson should be congratulated for helping raise the profile of these NASCAR's diversity efforts, the unsung heroes are Domino's, Sunoco, Miller Brewing, the National Guard, Kodak, Lowe's MBNA and Centrix. These are that companies that are already supporting minority drivers. Dominos, in particular, is supporting all four drivers currently enrolled in the "Drive for Diversity" program. Way to go!

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 1:00 AM

Worth Noting

This point made was made on Right Wing News:

In Afghanistan, we were told going in that the war would be long, difficult, and perhaps even unwinnable... our defeatist press was crying 'quagmire' & 'Vietnam' as we bombed our enemies into oblivion.

It is a observation worth remembering.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:03 AM

Saturday, May 29, 2004

June 6, Perhaps

Late Friday evening I finally got around to glancing through the Washington Post, which we (predictably) get by home delivery. I almost skipped a Special Section of the May 28 edition published to commemorate this weekend's dedication of the new World War II Memorial on the National Mall.

I figured the special section would mostly be stuff for tourists. Wrong.

Among with maps to the festivities, ads saying thanks to veterans and stories about the memorial itself is a montage, World War II Remembered, of personal recollections of the war. These are short stories by regular folks, not all of them soldiers. Some of them brought tears to my eyes.

I'm picking one out almost at random to provide a sample of the stories they collected:

I was a paratrooper with the 17th Airborne Division at an airfield in France awaiting "Operation Varsity," the Allied airborne invasion over the Rhine River on March 24, 1945.

The afternoon before the drop, I had received a letter from my mother that upset me greatly. She sensed that I was going into battle. "Son, I want you to be merciful," she wrote. "Never forget that the young man you are fighting has a mother who loves him and prays for him, just as I love and pray for you."

Infuriated, I thought: "Mother, what are you trying to do, bring about my death? I am trained to kill or be killed!"

At 3 a.m. the following morning, we were fed a last meal before the long, rough flight. The Germans were expecting our attack. The flak and groundfire was were the most intense of any airborne invasion in the war. Once on the ground, I was pinned down in an open field by machine-gun fire from distant farmhouses. A group of our paratroopers coming out of the woods saved me by causing a pause in enemy fire. I then joined in charging the farmhouses, only to find that they had been hastily abandoned.

Bringing up the rear as we passed the last farmhouse, I heard noises coming from a cellar. Convinced that some of the enemy were hiding there, I lifted the slanted, wooden cellar door cautiously and was about to toss in a grenade when I remembered my mother's plea: "Be merciful!" Instead, I shouted down for the Germans to surrender and come out with their hands up. There was silence.

My second shout brought stirring.

The first to come up was an elderly grandmother. Then another woman appeared, followed by four or five little children, until 14 women and children stood before me. I shuddered at the thought of what I might have done, and the burden it would have placed on my life, had I not received my blessed mother's letter.

--John Kormann, Chevy Chase (MD)

Read these folks, if not today, then bookmark it to read later. On June 6, perhaps.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 4:00 AM

Smiting August

James Lileks' Friday, May 28 Bleat is a must-read.

After rescuing Gnat from an evil shopping cart, in rapid-fire order he takes on Human Rights Watch, China, France, Germany, Russia, reveals director Roland Emmerich's Inner Michael Moore and caps it all with a coup de grace against the European Union.

It's a classic.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 3:45 AM

Friday, May 28, 2004

This Time, I Agree With Hollywood -- Sort Of

If viewing "The Day After Tomorrow" inspires you to take action, let it be this:

Go to the Envirotruth website and use the handy form to conveniently encourage Putin's Russia to stay out of the Kyoto Treaty.

The Hollywood left wants to spur us to take action. Let's listen to them -- this time.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 4:55 PM

"A Feeling of Fear is Spreading"

An Associated Press report on the case of Russian billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky contains worrisome details:

The 10-month investigation against Yukos -- the company Khodorkovsky transformed into one of Russia's largest oil producers -- and its shareholders is seen by many as retaliation for Khodorkovsky's political aspirations.

Ahead of December's parliamentary elections, Khodorkovsky openly backed several parties that opposed President Vladimir Putin. The businessman also became increasingly assertive on policy issues and publicly lectured the Kremlin for its weak stance on corruption...

"The authorities, as personified by Putin and his group, have two aims: to civilize society but also a slightly contradictory goal, to control it," said Igor Bunin, a political analyst with the Center for Political Technology. "With the help of the Yukos case ... authorities have eliminated the political and economic autonomy of Yukos, which in their opinion, presented a potential threat..

Analysts say the multi-pronged attack on Yukos may be an attempt to force Khodorkovsky to make a deal and give up his assets in exchange for a lighter sentence. He already resigned as head of the company last year in a futile attempt to shield it from the government's blows.

The alternative, the analysts say, could be a long drawn-out bankruptcy process that could cost Yukos' shareholders their billion-dollar fortunes -- and still end with Yukos in state control. Either way, analysts say, it would serve as an example to other business leaders...

Yevgeny Yasin, a prominent economic expert who served as economics minister in the 1990s, warned earlier this week that the Yukos affair should make all businesses -- and Russian citizens -- uneasy.

"A feeling of fear is spreading," he said.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 4:33 PM

How Dare He?

Our Ed Haislmaier, a board member and our health care and retirement security expert, suggested that we include this Boston Herald editorial, How Dare Al Gore Disgrace this Nation?, in the blog. Said Ed: "It's concise and well put." I agree. Here it is:

He never mentioned Nicholas Berg. Or Daniel Pearl. Or a single person killed in the World Trade Center. Nor did former Vice President Al Gore talk of any soldier by name who has given his life in Iraq. And he has the audacity to condemn the Bush administration for having "twisted values?''

Gore spent the bulk of a speech before the liberal group MoveOn.org Wednesday bemoaning Abu Ghraib and denouncing President Bush's departure from the "long successful strategy of containment.''

Yes, the very same strategy that, under Gore's leadership, allowed al-Qaeda operatives to plan the horror of Sept. 11 for years, while moving freely within our borders.

Gore even had the audacity to defend the perpetrators of the prison abuse - by name - while denouncing President Bush for "humiliating'' our nation.

How dare he. How dare a former vice president of the United States go beyond disagreeing with the current president's policies - a right of anyone in this free country - and denounce Bush as "incompetent.''

How dare Gore say that Americans have an "innate vulnerability to temptation... to use power to abuse others.'' And that our own "internal system of checks and balances cannot be relied upon'' to curb such abuse.

And this man - who apparently has so much disdain for the nature of the American people - wanted to be elected to lead it?

It is Gore who has brought dishonor to his party and to his party's nominee. The real disgrace is that this repugnant human being once held the second highest office in this great land.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 2:49 PM

Some People Don't Trust This Story

In the Reuters article today by Tom Perry entitled Governing Body, U.S. Pick CIA Link Allawi as Iraqi PM, the following paragraph appears:

"It was unclear how far U.S. officials or Brahimi influenced the choice of a long-time exile known to few Iraqis and whom people in Baghdad said was an outsider they could not trust."

Translation: I know very little about why the Governing Council picked Allawi, despite the fact that as a journalist that's exactly the sort of information I should have, but my inadequacy as a reporter is not going to stop me from inserting an editorial statement that undermines Iraq's transition to democracy.

Also, notice the phrase: "people in Baghdad." Could he have written it any more vaguely?

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 2:45 PM

A Busy Vacuity, Hollow to the Core

Wow. Charles Krauthammer's opinion of the new World War II memorial certainly is harsh.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 4:02 AM

Kyoto is Anti-Environment

Check out the tremendously straightforward remarks by Russian economist and top Putin Advisor Andrei Illarionov on the Adam Smith Institute Blog.

The guy's a Russian Michael Crichton.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 3:23 AM

"Earthling, This Is the Last Chance to Purchase Your Safety..."

Just got an unusually amusing bit of hate mail:

I just read your critque of Gore's speech. What misleading crap. Of course since your rightwing idols are lying, cheating, fascist scum, it only stands to reason. Who ever heard of The National Center for Public Policy Research? This is just another ultra right conservative bullshit center that creates propoganda for right wing justification. Get a life.

David Everist
Signs of the Times Graphics
theeman@citlink.net

What's amusing about this is that if you put the author's email address into Google, you get a website offering to sell you vinyl Crop Circle Stickers (in a choice of thirteen attractive colors, no less) that you can use to deter aliens from abducting you.

The website says: "Earthling, this is your last chance to purchase your safety. Place these stickers on your car or notebook and maybe you won't be abducted."

This gentleman doesn't appear to be overly popular over at the John Kerry for President Blog. So I guess this letter is not a sign of an emerging belief in alien abduction among leftists generally.

That's a relief. We've got enough looney leftism already, what with Roland Emmerich claiming the Acropolis is turning into a ski lodge of the gods.

Addendum, March 11, 2006: Almost two years later, an indignant response arrives:

amy ridenour,

I am the guy you wrote about on May 28th 2004 calling me a "leftist Looney." You obviously don't know what you are talking about. I can now see why you get so much wrong. You make ridiculous assumptions regardless of the facts. I ran across your article about my "Crop Circle" vinyl designs site (which I took down for various other reasons) the other day when I Googled my name. I found it quite humorous since you got almost nothing right. You quoted my webmaster's sales catch phrase to humorously sell vinyl designs and took it to represent my political philosophy. LOL! No wonder you get so much wrong! I just like the crop circle designs and their formation is an idle curiosity to me and has nothing to do with my political philosophy. You are an idiot.

By the way, what do you think of your "Fuhrer" now that he has exposed his colors for the whole world to see? How long before you think he will be impeached and his entire administration held accountable for the crimes they have committed? As for my not being popular on Kerry's site so long ago, I only considered him the lesser of two evils and he would not be my choice for an alternative candidate in an obviously broken and corrupt system. All I can say is the Republican controlled Congress and their stolen 2000 and 2004 elections have gotten the people who voted for them just what they deserved.

David Everist

PS As far as aliens go, one of the only thing alien to the human race I can see anywhere is you and the people who think like you.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 1:20 AM

Thursday, May 27, 2004

Notes About Other Places

Daly Thoughts, the Blog of the Electoral College Breakdown 2004, has kindly linked to a post on this blog by my husband David Ridenour, our VP.

Dales' Electoral College Breakdown 2004, by the way, tracks the presidential polls based on what they predict about the Electoral College. It is a fast way to make sense of the poll data we get from the news. After all -- and as Al Gore would tell you -- the popular vote doesn't decide the presidency. Only the Electoral College counts.

Meanwhile, Sean at the always-worth-a-visit "Everything I Know Is Wrong" blog posted some very complimentary remarks about posts on this blog by our executive director, David Almasi.

Finally, as long as I am talking about other blogs, allow me to recommend this Life, Liberty, & the Pursuit of Happiness post to anyone who has wondered, as I have, about the news media's practice of referring to certain geographical locations as "holy cities" -- but not others.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 3:25 PM

Silent Running

Peter Roff of UPI is reporting that The Center for Public Integrity has created
a new page on its website to monitor 527 political committees.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 3:05 PM

Wednesday, May 26, 2004

Under the Bridge

Peter Roff of UPI has reported that Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) has apologized for comparing some Republicans to the Taliban.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 9:07 PM

Where Is Al Gore?

I've received an e-mail asking the question: Does anyone know an address for sending a letter to Al Gore?

If anyone does, send me an e-mail at info@nationalcenter.org and we'll share it.

ADDENDUM: I'm told Gore works at Metropolitan West Financial, LLC. They can be contacted at:

Metropolitan West Financial, LLC
11440 San Vicente Blvd., 3rd Fl.
Los Angeles, CA 90049
Phone: 310-979-6300
Fax: 310-979-6399

Gore also serves on Apple's Board of Directors:

Apple
1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA 95014
Phone: 408-996-1010

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 4:24 PM

What is A German Soldier Worth?

This incident recounted in this Tasty Manatees blog story is unfortunate.

I have never been one of those who adhered to the convenient (for non-Germans) thought (pervasive in some quarters post WWII) that ethnic Germans were/are more likely to commit human rights abuses than other First World states and peoples. However, they're not less likely, either.

However, as Tasty Manatees notes, the Der Spiegel report alleging that Americans can't be trusted with POWs might not be entirely reliable. Der Spiegel has erred before.

This would be a good time for the German government to set the record straight.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 4:24 PM

Meaningful

Via the After Abortion blog comes a recommendation for this Dean's World blog post.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 2:35 PM

Explicit Toys

Executive director David W. Almasi finds some poor choices being made by one of America's largest toy retailers:

The Tom Cruise movie "The Last Samurai" received an R-rating largely because of its violent content. It's now on sale at Toys "R" Us. In a Sunday newspaper insert covering May 16-22, "The Last Samurai" was grouped with family-targeted movies like "The Haunted Mansion" and "Peter Pan" among the "hundreds of titles" to be found in Toys "R" Us stores at "Geoffrey's Box Office."

Online, Toys "R" Us is teamed up with Amazon. While the site is geared toward selling kid-friendly fare, it's still linked directly to Amazon's main site. As pointed out in an October 2003 National Policy Analysis, Amazon and other media and electronics stores routinely offer adult-themed videos for sale on-line without safeguards to keep them out of the hands of young people. Selecting the "all products" search field and typing in "Girls Gone Wild" (the infamous collections of girls exposing themselves on camera) on what was toysrus.com linked me to an Amazon catalog providing a selection of 78 DVDs and 44 video titles including "Dormroom Fantasies" and "College Co-Eds Mardi Gras." That's a problem.

Toys "R" Us is the largest toy retailer in the world, but it is losing out to Wal-Mart here in the United States. Wal-Mart refuses to stock some of Hollywood's racier titles like the Girls Gone Wild collection and even prevents people from purchasing R-rated DVDs at new self-serve check-outs without verification of age. That attracts family-oriented shoppers.

Any questions as to why some people prefer to shop Wal-Mart?

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 10:36 AM

GOP Terrorists?

From executive director David W. Almasi:

How soon people seem to forget. Liberals were apoplectic last February 23 -- exactly three months ago to the day -- when Education Secretary Rod Paige called the National Education Association a "terrorist organization." Democratic National Chairman Terry McAuliffe called it "hate speech" and called on Republicans to "immediately renounce" Paige's comment.

Now Democratic Senator Tim Johnson (SD) compared certain parts of the Republican Party to the Taliban at a campaign rally on May 23.

The only difference between Paige and Johnson thus far is that Paige apologized. Johnson thus far has steadfastly refused to do so.

And none of his colleagues have renounced his comments, including Terry McAuliffe.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 1:28 AM

Tuesday, May 25, 2004

No Caviar in Our Teeth

A good post today on the Life, Liberty, & the Pursuit of Happiness blog about proposals by Charles Krauthammer and Gregg Easterbrook in favor of raising gasoline taxes.

I agree with all of it.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 2:09 PM

Monday, May 24, 2004

Gas Prices Are About More Than Saudi Arabia

Correspondent Edward Kitsch recommends this fine article by former Delaware Governor Pete DuPont of the National Center for Policy Analysis in today's Wall Street Journal putting all the "gasoline prices are rising" news media stories in perspective.

An excerpt:

...in spite of what you read in the paper -- outrageous gasoline prices entered into Google gets you 15,000 links -- its current inflation-adjusted price of $2 a gallon is about its median price over its 85-year existence, and with the exception of the 1980s spike, it has been steadily declining over the decades.

Better still, improving technology has increased the number of miles one can drive on a gallon of gasoline, to 22 in 2000 from about 13.5 in the early 1970s . So the cost of gasoline per mile driven has fallen nearly in half, from more than 13 cents to a bit more than seven cents. Meanwhile median income for a family of four (in inflation-adjusted dollars) has increased to more than $63,000 today from less than $46,000 in the 1970s.

The article contains a lot more of interest.

As a side note, the next time I hear a broadcast media report that gas prices are higher I think I might scream. The fact that gas prices have increased led the local radio news stories in DC today -- despite the fact that they've been reporting this story for over a week!

It would be different if they added new information to the story each day, but they don't.. It is always the same thing: Gas prices are over $2! People don't like it! And then they invariably talk about OPEC, as if OPEC production levels were only factor involved in the pricing of gasoline.

As Pete DuPont's article shows, there's a lot we Americans could do if we really care to reduce the price of gas at the pump. This isn't all about Saudi Arabia.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 11:43 PM

Kissy-Face Detente Aside, Ivan, We Enjoy Beating You

National Center Executive Director David Almasi is a fan of the article "Wimpy U.S. Olympic Committee Tells Athens-Bound Athletes: Curb Your Enthusiasm" by James Lileks.

A few quotes follow, but we recommend the whole thing:

The United States Olympic Committee has requested that our athletes curb their enthusiasm, since we are, you know, uh, hated...

Earlier this year the U.S. Olympic soccer team was having a qualifying match in Mexico; they were up against Canada; and they won. The United States won, whereupon the crowd started chanting "Osama! Osama!"

Seventeen Mexicans died in the Sept. 11 attacks. Twenty-four Canadians died in the Sept. 11 attacks. You remember that big apology from Vicente Fox, don't you? No?

The Olympics are supposed to be above politics, but that's nonsense... When the United States beat the Soviets at hockey in 1980, the political overtones were explicit: Kissy-face detente aside, Ivan, we enjoy beating you. We really do...

Sudan, which is ethnically cleansing its Christian blacks, could hoist its flag. China, whose treatment of Tibet birthed a million indignant bumper stickers, can run around with the flag held high. Russia can flatten Grozny, and its athletes can be assured of huzzahs and applause.

It's not that these governments are better than the United States. What counts is that they are not the United States...

Blogging fans will recognize that James Lileks is more than a columnist. He also runs a truly exquisite blog. I don't use the word "exquisite" (defined by Webster's as: "carefully selected or sought out; hence, of distinguishing and surpassing quality; exceedingly nice; delightfully excellent; giving rare satisfaction; as, exquisite workmanship") lightly.

My favorite Lileks posts are the ones about Gnat. Oh, and do buy the dang book. I did. It's great.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 10:08 PM

Right in the Middle of the Karbala Fighting

I received a quick e-mail from Joe Roche Sunday evening.

He could not write a long note, but he did give a clue as to his recent activities, saying "my battalion was right in the middle of the Karbala fighting."

He also recommended "a link from the NYTimes that is really surprising because it is right on the nose!"

(I don't know if he meant that as an editorial comment about the general quality of the New York Times' reporting, or if he was simply showing his enthusiasm over this particular article).

He also recommended this ABC News Online report.

Joe also had time to add a paragraph about care packages before signing off:

We're receiving more and more packages every day. We add them to our convoys to deployed units, so all the soldiers are getting things. I really hope somehow the thanks is sent out. I know some soldiers are trying to write to some of the people. It is really hard though. Mostly, the addresses get lost when we tear into the boxes and spread things out.

I think we can tell how much the boxes are appreciated simply from the phrase "tear into the boxes."

Anyone who is thinking about sending a care package to these troops can get information about it here; there also are many other ways one can send support to our troops deployed abroad.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:01 AM

Sunday, May 23, 2004

J'accuse, They Said, Ironically

The British left-wing newspaper the Guardian apparently thinks Americans give a damn about the opinion of effete Old Europe filmgoers.

A story titled "J'accuse" to this effect carries an astonishing sub-headline asserting that an Cannes film festival award to Michael Moore's anti-Bush film "may have changed the course of history."

How many divisions does the Cannes film festival have?

The article calls the award to Moore's film "...a spectacular rebuke to Republican and corporate America, a stunning exocet of scorn launched from the epicentre of old Europe."

They are a little full of themselves. This award represents a bunch of movie people from Europe restating something they say all the time: They don't like us, they don't like our values, and the really don't like us when we stand up for our values.

American moviemakers mostly don't like America. We sure as heck don't expect anything different from the French.

But before I end this, a note about the irony of the piece's headline:" J'accuse." For those who don't know history (let's include the Guardian here), this is a title of a famous newspaper piece condemning one of very many examples of French anti-semitism. Yet the Guardian uses the term against the USA's foreign policy -- which it despises in part because it believes we're too pro-Israel.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 10:56 PM

Enviro Guru Says: Adopt Nuclear Power or Suffer Gaian Dystopia

I'm getting a kick out of May 24 articles in the British newspaper the Independent.

It seems that the prominent Greenie James Lovelock has called upon his fellow members of the environmental left to abandon their opposition to nuclear power. Lovelock believes that global warming fears are understated and fears of nuclear power are exaggerated.

I'm enjoying the fact that a leading environmentalist is echoing something we've said many times before: If you truly believe carbon dioxide emissions are causing the planet to warm and that this warming would have dire results, you presently have two choices: nuclear power or shutting down much of the world's economic activity.

On this latter, narrow point, Lovelock apparently agrees with us. Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, according to the Independent, don't.

We, of course, believe that the theory that human beings are causing dangerous global warming is vastly overstated, but we like nuclear power's environmentally-friendly attributes nonetheless.

Lovelock, by the way, is a self-described "outstanding scientist" and "pioneer in the development of environmental awareness." He is credited by himself and others with creating the "Gaia Theory," the notion that, as Lovelock puts it on his website, "the planet Earth [is] a self-regulated living being."

The notion has been adapted by neo-paganists and New Agers, some of whom now worship "Gaia," regarding the planet Earth as a "goddess."

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 10:55 PM

Why Don't Mafia Dons Run Blogs?

The news media was all over the allegation that someone in the White House made public the fact that former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV's wife is affiliated with the CIA. But does the news media cooperate in the investigation to find out who did it?

Time magazine, NBC and Newsday won't.

The Washington Post reports that the Washington Post won't say. (Yes, you read that right. The Post talked to itself and didn't get a reply.)

More farce from the Post, which recently strongly implied that it didn't know the cause of death of one of its most famous columnists, Mary McGrory, when pretty much the entire newsroom had to know. The Post does this sort of thing all the time.

But back to the free pass on crime: Would a blogger be free to refuse to cooperate in a law enforcement investigation of an illegal action that he covered in his blog?

If no, then why should the establishment press be treated as though its journalists are above the law?

If yes, then Mafia Dons, drug dealers and other miscreants may soon start blogs. I would if I were one.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 3:19 AM

Just Do The Right Thing

Some interesting poll data from the Sunday Washington Post. An excerpt:

More than a third of Americans say they don't trust President Bush 'at all' as a source of information about the environment, according to a new survey of attitudes about the environment by the Global Strategy Group for the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Sciences. Kerry fares somewhat better, with 24 percent saying they don't trust him on the issue.

But before Kerry's campaign tries to make hay out of that finding, consider the flip side: Although 26 percent of Americans say they trust the president 'a lot' for environmental information, only 12 percent say they feel that way about Kerry.

The lesson for politicians? Don't bother approaching environmental issues from a political perspective. It won't help you anyway. Just do your issue homework, and then do the right thing.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 2:34 AM

Saturday, May 22, 2004

Hey Roland, Wanna Buy the Brooklyn Bridge?

National Center executive director David W. Almasi is critical of "The Day After Tomorrow" director's muse:

In an interview with SCI FI Wire, "The Day After Tomorrow" director Roland Emmerich admits he previously pledged never to make another disaster movie, but "when you find something that you can give people [a] message, but still make it an exciting movie... you kind of get very, very, kind of excited about something." What got Emmerich so excited? He read the book The Coming Global Superstorm by Art Bell and Whitley Strieber.

Yes, it's that Art Bell. Bell used to host "Coast to Coast AM" from his trailer located near Area 51 in Nevada, pumping out stories about aliens, monsters and government conspiracies to insomniacs nationwide. And, according to reviews of the book posted on Amazon, the factual basis of his book -- Emmerich's muse -- leaves much to be desired.

Interestingly, many reviews, though written years ago, suggest the book is more movie fodder than textbook.

It certainly doesn't sound like something to which Al Gore should be hitching his political reputation, but he seems to be doing so.

Here's what Amazon's layman critics said:

The Hanged Man from Fairfax: "I bought this expecting some science, some facts, some hard information. Instead, I got 'lost' civilizations, fuzzy facts, and (this was probably Strieber's contribution) a passable bit of science fiction. Pass on the book and stick to Weekly World News."

Charles D. Johnston from Atlanta, Georgia: "This book takes yelling 'Fire!' in a crowd to a new level. Using a combination of vague references to unknown writers, clearly slanted style, and half-science, this book is clearly commercial in intent and seeks to capitalize on the 'sky is falling' mentality that was so evident before Y2K. The authors are more interested in making money than real science..."

Jerald R. Lovell from Clinton Township, Michigan: "It's distressing to know that Barnum was right about one being born each minute... Anyone with the slightest knowledge of weather knows the scenario of ten feet of ice and all that other glop is impossible under the laws of physics... The book has its value, though, in that it does show the Dark Ages, where superstition reigned and truth hid, are never that far away. The authors should go back to tossing burnt sheep bones and reading tea leaves, and not masquarade as scientific seers... What a commentary on our educational system! I weep for the future."

A reader from Denver, Colorado: "...Superstorm is not even good science fiction. It is laughable, speculative, junk science and urban legends all thrown together..."

A reader from Ohio: "Great fun to read... but scientifically it's all hot gas."

A reader from Wooster, Ohio: "Before I read this book I had never heard of Art Bell or Whitley Strieber. Therefore, as a scientist, I read this book with an open mind... In my opinion, Strieber and Bell have hijacked the topic of potential weather-related global cataclysm, and used it as a vehicle to persuade the reader that advanced civilizations once existed on our planet and were lost in a violent climatic upheaval. They present legitimate scientific observations and as-yet unexplained phenomena (much of it unrelated to the topic of global climate) and casually link them to some of the more fantastic claims of pseudoscience. This book is worth reading for entertainment, but the reader should definitely keep in mind the saying 'you shouldn't believe everything you read.' The bottom line is this book is long on pseudoscience and speculations (more than a few of them outrageous) and short on substantial scientific information."

rb_748 from Brooklyn, New York: "This book contains all the hallmarks of the worst pseudoscience: no references or clear citations, misnomers galore..."

Jim Green from Torquay, Devon, United Kingdom: "This book reads like a poorly-edited screenplay for a crummy disaster movie. If it's that kind of entertainment you want, then fine. If, however, you're after a credible treatment of an important issue, then steer clear of these authors. The style is sloppy and repetitive, and it seems sensationalism is valued over serious research. A quote from p. 216 says it all: 'The two of us are amateurs.'"

Joel Foss from Lakewood, California: "If you're like a lot of readers, and you've been watching the news headlines about north pole ice melting, and increasingly harsh weather conditions, then you're looking for a book on global warming and it's possible effects. You're looking for a book that will tell you what scientists are saying; what tests they're doing; what indications they're looking at. You're looking for a book that will educate you a little without putting you to sleep. Well, THIS AIN'T THE BOOK! The author is a radio talk show host, not a science writer, and the book is about as educational as... a radio talk show! There is no attempt to explain; only to scare the reader..."

A reader from Rochester, New York: "Bell once again rehashes kindergarten-level scientific mumbo-jumbo to exploit current topics of interest, in order to capitalize on his fame and make a few extra bucks. Save your money and buy a book with some science content."

A reader from Olympia, Washington: "Baloney does not stick to paper very well. Not since Joseph Goebbels and the 'big lie' has there been such a gaseous expulsion of fairy tales masquerading as science..."

A reader from San Jose, California: "This authors mix wild and implausible speculation with pseudo-science to produce a book that, if anybody read it, would set the environmentalists back ten years. We just have to hope that few fall into the trap of reading it, like I did."

A reader from Troy, New York: "I enjoy a good 'wacko' theory book as much as the next person, but this book is a travesty. Arguments and assertions are made and never followed up. Veiled hints are made but never proven. Planetary cycles are alluded to but never stated succinctly. The writing is slack and there is no intellectual rigor..."

Dan Allison from Sunset Beach, Florida: "These two are QUITE the piece of work. America's most irresponsible broadcaster has teamed up with a guy whose career as a horror novelist was in the dumpster before he grabbed onto the UFO thing. The result is fear-mongering pseudoscience... Listen to their 'Coast to Coast AM' radio broadcast. Strieber is incessantly blaming capitalism for problems that, frankly, do not even exist. His calls for 'government action' are barely-disguised paeans for government control, collectivism, and restrictions on individual freedom. Bell, while slightly more conservative, will put ANY crackpot on the radio -- aliens, time travelers, you name it..."

Gary L. Scott from Aloha, Oregon: "The Coming Global Superstorm is science fiction pap. Light on fact and heavy on speculation extrapolated from junk science mixed with just enough facts to add some credibility to the book. Bell and Strieber have collected mountains of urban legends, folk tales and junk science, mixed it together and created yet another great book for the doomsday crowd."

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 1:36 AM

New Media/Old Media

We took a shortened version of the May 12 letter Spc. Joe Roche sent us from the front and sent it to newspapers nationwide. According to Google, the piece has been printed by at least one newspaper so far, the The Biloxi Sun Herald.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:18 AM

The Wedding Party

The blog on blogs, The Truth Laid Bear, posts this question from a reader on its main page: "'I don't think the blogosphere has thrown up nearly enough stylists of true distinction, incidentally. Do you?'"

The Bear answers "Kaus! Kaus! Kaus!" as in Mickey Kaus.

I suggest the post entitled "The Wedding Party" from Belmont Club is an answer by itself.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:01 AM

Friday, May 21, 2004

I Prefer My Sauce to Be Nonpolitical, Thank You Very Much

Something odd is going on over at Taco Bell. Maybe it is a joke by a Taco Bell employee who needs to be replaced. Or maybe the corporation is disfunctional.

I know one thing: I'm not putting any of my kids' college savings into their parent company's stock unless there is a reasonable explanation.

Here's the background. Alerted by the Ramblings' Journal blog, run by Project 21 member Michael King, who received a pointer from talk radio's incomparable Neal Boortz, I visited the TacoBell.com website.

There the company informs the public that it is sponsoring a contest to find humorous sayings it can print on sauce packages. According to the main website and a May 19 Taco Bell press release, the solicited sayings must meet four requirements. They must be: simple, left of center, provide insight on the little things in life, and not exceed 70 characters.

Left of center?

Odd point number one is that a company with the customer base of Taco Bell (and its fellow subsidiaries of corporate parent Yum! Brands, Inc., which are KFC, Long John Silvers, A&W and Pizza Hut) would decide that its sauce packets are the place for left-wing political statements. Odd point number two is that the company would issue a press release alerting a nation that is 41 percent conservative that they are part of the vast left-wing conspiracy.

Odd point number three, though, is that the sample sayings Taco Bell provides aren't political at all (examples: "My other taco is a Chalupa," "Polly want a taco?"). So that raises the possibility that at least some significant personages at Taco Bell don't actually know what the phrase "left of center" means.

I telephoned Taco Bell for the scoop. That's a crusade in itself! The phone numbers one can glean from the website don't reach human operators. I tried the phone number for people who have a million dollars to invest as new Taco Bell franchisees, figuring that line at least would reach a live person. No such luck -- it just rings unanswered. The parent company's website wasn't helpful, either. Finally I got the idea to check the parent company's required filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, figuring they probably do share their phone number with the SEC. Yes! I downloaded their last filing, and found a phone number in it. Voila! A human answered and I was transferred to Yum! Brands' public relations, which in turn gave me the phone number for the Taco Bell press office.

I have not quite hit the informational jackpot, however, as the Taco Bell press office said it would have to call me back.

So there it sits. Are Taco Bell, KFC, Long John Silvers, A&W and Pizza Hut about to face a massive boycott (it won't be necessary to organize one; if Yum! Brands has decided to shill for the left its own sauce packets will spread the word enough to get a boycott going), or is the corporation simply a victim of a mischievous or ignorant employee who desperately needs more oversight?

Or maybe I am the ignorant one. Does "left of center" mean something non-political, when one is speaking of sauce?

I told Taco Bell's press person that I do not have a firm deadline for my opinion writing, but that I hoped to be able to hear back from them today. The ball is now in their court. Watch this blog for more details. If they call back, I'll share what they say. If they don't, I'll call them again.

ADDENDUM: Taco Bell called back. Nice folks. Very friendly. They mean the term "left-of-center" as "quirky," "off the beaten path" -- that sort of thing. What's more, they've been using the phrase "left-of-center" in public documents for three years now, yet the first time (that they know of) that anyone took it as a political statement was yesterday, when someone at the Wall Street Journal called them to ask about it.

So we shouldn't expect to see any calls for socialized medicine on Taco Bell sauce packets anytime soon...

I admit their choice of terms perplexes me, but I concede that I'm not the best judge of what terms are generally thought to be political and which are not. I've been living in the Washington DC area for over a quarter century. Here, everything is political. Everything but Taco Bell, that is.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 2:53 PM

Green Tax Break

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell (D) has proposed starting a week-long 'green' tax break twice a year in Pennsylvania. Under the proposal, consumers purchasing appliances carrying the EPA's "Energy Star" designation would not have to pay state sales taxes during those two weeks.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 2:18 PM

Thursday, May 20, 2004

Believe Me, Brother

A tiny part of the latest installment in the Iraq the Model blog:

"Believe me brother when I say that the majority of Sadr city people are grateful for the Americans. We didn't fire a bullet at them when they entered our city. We gave them the reception of liberators and they are. Why would we fight them now!?"

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:22 AM

To The Point

Dr. Jack Wheeler, an old friend who has a remarkably keen understanding of international cultural trends, makes some interesting, even encouraging, observations about the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal en route to a larger point about the value of the blogging community.

A sample to whet your appetite:

"How many times... have you heard that Al Jazeera's satellite TV reports on whatever we are doing in Iraq are 'enraging the Arab world'? It turns out that vast numbers of Arabs in Iraq and elsewhere despise Al Jazeera as SNN -- the Sunni News Network, a worthless propaganda channel promoting Sunni imperialism."

If you read more, you won't be disappointed.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:01 AM

Wednesday, May 19, 2004

Is It Just Me?

A question from husband David:

Is it just me, or has the mainstream media completely lost its grip on reality?

International terrorism is at a 35 year low; we've toppled a repressive, aggressive totalitarian regime; we put the architect of the Achille Lauro hijacking (in which American Leon Klinghoffer was killed) out of commission permanently; we've so frightened Libya that it has renounced terrorism and given up its weapons of mass destruction; AND we've shifted the frontlines of the war with terrorists from United States soil to Iraq - and they still say that the Iraq war is a distraction from the real war on terrorism.

Those of us who defend the choice to drive SUVs and other large vehicles but choose to drive fuel-efficient cars are called "anti-environment" while those who want to take that choice away but actually own large gas guzzlers are called "pro-environment."

If a handful of low-level subordinates out of several million working for you commit crimes, you should resign in disgrace. If you commit a crime yourself - say, by lying before a federal grand jury - you should stay.

President Bush has overseen the largest expansion of Medicare since its inception and the sharpest rise in federal spending since LBJ's Great Society. He left Judge Roy Moore twisting in the wind and added new regulations where they previously didn't exist... And he is said to be following an extreme right wing agenda that is polarizing the nation.

Evading the military to preserve one's "political viability" is considered a non-issue, while serving in the National Guard is called "draft dodging."

If you're an Iraqi terrorist at Abu Ghraib prison and you're humiliated because nude photographs have been taken of you, your ordeal warrants repeated page one newspaper coverage. If you're a female American soldier humiliated because nude photographs have been taken of you at the same prison facility, your experience warrants a tiny one-paragraph story buried in the few papers that care.

President Bush is said to lack intelligence. But at the same time, he's been accused of cooking up the Iraq War with his buddies in Texas and deliberately misleading the public and Congress to gain approval for the war. Which is he: dullard or evil genius? He can't be both.

Journalists dutifully reported Ted Kennedy's remarks equating U.S. management of Abu Ghraib prison with that of Saddam Hussein, but didn't mention that the acts of sexual humiliation by U.S. troops at the prison were only slightly more humiliating than acts that occurred after a younger, more vigorous Teddy had a few drinks.

The media led calls for Trent Lott to resign after he praised former segregationist Strom Thurmond, but the media was relatively silent when Senator Chris Dodd praised Robert Byrd, a former member of the KKK who has used the "n" word on network television in recent years.

When evidence of possible criminal acts by Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee were leaked to the press, the leakers, not the Senators, were considered the problem. But when evidence of possible criminal acts by U.S. soldiers at Iraq's Abu Ghraid prison were leaked to the press, the soldiers, not the leakers, were considered the problem.

As French officials were receiving accolades for insisting that Saddam Hussein was innocent until proven guilty, no one bothered to mention that they were advocating better treatment for Hussein than they give their own citizens. Under the French system of justice, one is considered guilty until proven innocent.

Europeans have called Americans "arrogant" and even equated our leaders with Adolph Hitler. Yet the news media singles out the Bush Administration's New Europe/Old Europe formulation for the poor state of U.S./European relations.

When the U.S. takes actions that will cost it hundreds of billions of dollars and perhaps thousands of lives, it is said to be pursuing an economically-driven agenda. When others take action from which they stand to make billions of dollars, it is said to be a principled stand.

When Janet Reno took responsibility for Waco, the mainstream media praised her. When Rumsfeld apologized for the prison abuses, the media called for his head.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:04 AM

Tuesday, May 18, 2004

I Guess Marshmallow Fluff is Out

Call me wacky, but I don't think The Rough Woodsman blog is really talking about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches here.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 1:34 AM

Monday, May 17, 2004

Implausible

Dr. Pat Michaels takes apart the science in the movie "The Day After Tomorrow" in Sunday's Washington Post.

Thanks to Instapundit for the pointer.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 1:43 AM

The Benefit of Brown: Providing Opportunity

Today is the 50th Anniversary of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision. The black conservative group Project 21 has issued some publications and statements marking the event. Some excerpts:

"The Supreme Court only opened the door to the dream. It is up to each individual to decide whether or not he will walk through that door... No matter the cost of one's personal sacrifice in the short run, it is worth it for every black person in America to walk through the door.'" - Project 21 member John Meredith

"Our ancestors died in slavery, dreaming of the day when their descendents would be able to read, write and compete in this country on a level with the best of white children. That day has come, and far too many squander those opportunities." - Project 21 member Mychal Massie

"By tearing down racial barriers to education, Brown let all children take advantage of the best in American learning. Once they applied themselves, black children could compete fairly in the job market. With added skills and wealth, the remaining racial barriers soon fell. There was an immediate improvement in black education. In 1960, the percentage of blacks with a high school diploma or more was just 20.1 percent. Those with at least college degree was only 3.1 percent. Both figures were less than half of the proportion of their white counterparts. By 2000, 78.5 percent of blacks had a high school education or better, and 16.5 percent had at least a college degree. White numbers rose to 84.5 percent and 26.1 percent, respectively. In 1990, black college graduates had an unemployment rate of only 1.9 percent." - David Almasi

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 1:13 AM

Sunday, May 16, 2004

Short, But Full of Events

I know I recommended posts from the Iraq the Model blog just the other day, but I am going to recommend another post already anyway.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 1:09 AM

The Green, Green Privately-Owned Grass of Home

The National Center's executive director David W. Almasi on lawn care:

Want a quick example of how private property rights are the best way to protect the environment? Look out at your front yard.

I just returned from a 10-day vacation. One of the last things I did before I left home was cut the grass. Within an hour of returning home, I was back out cutting the grass -- this time in 90-degree heat. I was also pulling weeds, planting vegetable seedlings in the garden. I then made arrangements for a professional service to come and do some fertilizer treatments. As I worked, three of my neighbors were also mowing. We all want to be proud of our lawns and not be a nuisance to others.

Compare this to what I see on my commute to and from work. On one major road, the grass on the median strip is so high that I almost cannot see the oncoming traffic. While the grass is high in the median, the weeds are even higher and now in full bloom. Along the Washington Beltway, weeds and grasses are over waist-high. Who's in charge of cutting and tending to these areas? The government.

Take this beyond my yard and my commute. Local governments, state governments and the federal government own a huge amount of land -- so much that they cannot adequately take care of it all. Homeowners, ranchers and businesses that own property, however, manage their property for reasons of pride and profit and most often go the extra mile to make sure that their land does not go fallow or cause harm. With government, neglect is often a write-off. It's also inconsistent. In the Washington area, a homeowner can be fined for not mowing, raking leaves or shoveling snow. If the government is lax in it's groundskeeping, well...

Private ownership: pride and attention. Government ownership: the potential for neglect. Any questions?

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:54 AM

What Will Be Shown?

Blogger Roger Simon is reporting that Alhurra, the American Arabic-language television netowrk broadcasting in the Middle East, has acquired tapes and photographs of prison atrocities that occurred under Saddam's regime.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:47 AM

The Blog Item's Headline Says It All

Check out this item, "I'm Not Holding My Breath That This Will Be Broadcast on CNN Over and Over," from the heartwarming CPT Patti blog. It provides another view of how the U.S. Army treats detainees.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:31 AM

Friday, May 14, 2004

Perverse Incentives; Adverse Results

We've just posted on the main website a piece by Senior Fellow Bonner Cohen, who explains to the uninitiated why so many people are frustrated with the Endangered Species Act. The essay has been reprinted in the Miami Herald and other newspapers; I'll excerpt a bit of it here:

In the 30 years since its enactment, the Endangered Species Act has emerged as one of the most powerful, and ineffective, environmental statutes on the books.

Of the some 1,260 species listed as "endangered" or "threatened" under the ESA, fewer than 30 have been taken off the list. And this is even worse than it looks. Some species were removed from the list because they became extinct; others, like the American alligator, were taken off because it was determined they were never endangered in the first place.

These meager results, however, are not the worst aspect of the ESA. In rural America, far away from urban skyscrapers and suburban malls, the ESA has imposed severe land-use restrictions on property owners...

Typical of the havoc the ESA has wreaked in rural America is the case of Ben Cone, Jr., whose father purchased 8,000 acres of timberless land on the Black River in North Carolina. Cone replanted the property with pines, carried out prescribed burns to control undergrowth, and selectively thinned his trees every few years to pay his property taxes and to turn a profit on his labor. Over time, his pines grew to such a height that they attracted the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker, which brought him into direct conflict with the ESA.

In testimony before Congress, Cone explained that "by managing [the property] in an environmentally correct way, my father and I created habitat for the red-cockaded woodpecker. My reward has been the loss of $1,425,000 in value of timber I am not allowed to harvest under the provisions of the Endangered Species Act. I feel compelled to massively clear-cut the balance of my property to prevent additional loss."

...The best way to serve the interests of both people and wildlife is to replace the ESA's rigid regulatory framework with voluntary, nonregulatory, incentive-based provisions....

This would be very similar to how the U.S. Department of Agriculture "protects" highly erodible land on the nation's farms by offering to pay farmers to place some of their land in its Conservation Reserve Program for a set term of years and then paying the landowners for their cooperation. "If this can be done for habitats of nonendangered wildlife," says R.J. Smith of the Center for Private Conservation, "it can also be done to protect the habitats of endangered species."

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:27 AM

Thursday, May 13, 2004

Predictions: Wrong

Says David Almasi:

In the new film "The Day After Tomorrow," our "disrespect" for Mother Earth threatens mankind with extinction unless a brave climatologist can convince us to mend our global warming ways.

The science behind the movie is dubious. But this hasn't stopped it from being used as a political tool by the likes of Al Gore and MoveOn.org, who want people to see it as more of a documentary than the disaster film that it truly is. But none of this is new.

The 1970s was full of films predicting a bleak future if we didn't mend our ways with regard to the environment. Let's consider Hollywood's track record from back then:

"Soylent Green" (1973) -- In 2022, 40 million people will be living in New York City, real food is a delicacy (jam goes for $150) and a conspiracy is uncovered in which dead bodies are converted into foodstuffs. "Soylent Green is people!" Today, genetically-modified foods are feeding starving people around the world and helping fight disease. After liberal obstructionism is overcome, starvation may be considered a thing of the past. Prediction: wrong.

"Logan's Run" (1976) -- In 2274, environmental devastation has driven humanity into domed cities. To control population, authorities have mandated no one is allowed to live past the age of 30, and the police strictly enforce the law. Even the ending of this film proved the late economist Julian Simon right. There's nothing man can do to the environment that the earth can't handle and survive. Prediction: wrong.

"Death Race 2000" (1975) -- Four years ago, America was supposed to be so unruly that an extreme sport where auto racers battle each other to the death and score points by killing innocent bystanders had been created to prevent a revolution. Reality TV? The X-Games? Professional wrestling? Maybe this one actually came true!

Joking aside, Hollywood is no great prognosticator. Movie-makers are not especially wise guides to public policy. But liberals are trying to use "The Day After Tomorrow" to promote the United Nation's Kyoto Protocol and the McCain-Lieberman bill in the U.S. Senate. Both would be costly mistakes that would do little to protect the environment but a lot to hurt our economy.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 6:00 PM

Not On Your Life

Today's MoveOn.org Daily Mislead once again betrays MoveOn.org's desperate desire to attack President Bush, even at the expense of both the truth and common sense.

The publication today condemns Bush for "refusing to condemn[the Bush administration's] right-wing allies who are making light of the situation and defending torture."

In an attempt to find something, anything, on which to condemn the President, MoveOn.org mischaracterizes comments by Rush Limbaugh and Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK) in a manner apparently intended to mislead readers into believing that the talk show host and Senator approve of all the inappropriate actions of some soldiers in the Abu Ghraib prison. in fact, both men have forcefully said they do not approve of those activities. Neither man has "defend[ed] torture"; both have condemned mistreatment of detainees.

However, is it really the President's responsibility to monitor the public speech of every prominent American and issue condemnatory statements every time he disagrees with someone? Not on your life -- and I don't mean that phrase rhetorically.

President Bush has a war on terror to win. He's President of the United States; not a media critic.

If MoveOn.org truly disagrees with Rush Limbaugh and Senator Inhofe, it can criticize the men. To do so credibly, it should start by telling the truth about what the men really believe.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 3:37 PM

It Sure Worked for Me

Anyone who wants to feel better about what we are doing in Iraq should visit the Iraq the Model blog, run by three Iraqi brothers.

Try this post in which the Iraqi blogger talks with an Iraqi doctor who worked at the Abu-Gharib prison under American management.

Or this one in which an Iraqi describes joining the new Iraqi army.

Or the blog's review of posts about George Bush on the public comments section on BBC Arabic.

Or their other posts.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 2:26 AM

GIs Gone Wild? Not So Fast

A comment from The National Center's executive director, David W. Almasi:

First, it was the coffin controversy. Several big-name newspapers published photos of coffins they thought were coming back from Iraq. Instead, they'd been given archive photos of the remains of the Space Shuttle Columbia crew.

Now, the Boston Globe has run photos from a cyberporn site and reported them as having been taken at the Abu Ghraib prison.

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 1:10 AM

Wednesday, May 12, 2004

A New E-Mail from the Front in Iraq: "I Ask That the American People Be Brave"

I have just received an e-mail from Army Spc. Joe Roche, who was briefly able to take a break from the thick of the fighting against Al-Sadr's forces in Iraq to tell us what he is seeing and experiencing.

Because I am fearful that I will alter the immediacy of his piece if I edit it, I am presenting it here intact (except I removed from the text the name of an injured soldier).

The next time you see one of those photos from the prison abuse scandal story, remember that the soldiers in those photos are aberrant. This is what an American soldier is really like.

Amy, I wrote this super fast, and I have no idea if you can or would want to use it. I have little time on the 'net, so from notes I've made while on missions talking to the guys, I rammed this out. Don't feel committed to using it, but just in case... I wanted to write to the American people about why our fight w/ Sadr is going so well and why they should not be seduced by the media/press image that this is somehow a disaster.

Take Care.

-Joe

------------------------

The fighting we are engaged in against the uprising of Muqtada Al-Sadr is one that is extremely sensitive and risks catastrophe. Had we entered this previously, it would not have been possible for us to win. Over the months, we have been involved in preparations and much planning. Thus, today we are scoring amazing successes against this would-be tyrant.

I ask that the American people be brave. Don't fall for the spin by the weak and timid amongst you that are portraying this battle as a disaster. Such people are always looking for our failure to justify and rescue their constant pessimism. They are raising false flags of defeat in the press and media. It just isn't true.

Last year in April while the main war was still going on to defeat Saddam Hussein's military, I myself gave a class to my company of the 16th Engineers about the threat posed by Sadr and the prospects for conflict with his militias. Though my fellow soldiers didn't appreciate having to attend a class at 8am on one of our last days before deploying to Baghdad, they can tell you that what is happening now is no surprise. I used open and general information that my superiors were already aware of.

The basis of our evaluation over a year ago was that Sadr presented a formidable and possibly impossible threat. Last summer, as my unit covered Sadr City -- the sprawling part of Baghdad that Sadr controlled then -- his militias challenged us by making a show of force in defiance of the effort to open up Iraq society to the new freedoms. Sadr clearly demonstrated that he would deny Iraqis democracy and freedom in his quest for power. By the fall, he had most of Iraq's Shia leaders and the community at large intimidated and kowtowing to his bully tactics. In January through March, his arrogance and thuggery led him to pursue two further attacks upon the hopes for Iraqi freedom.

He vigorously pursued courting and forming alliances with Iranian hard-liners. Upon returning to Iraq, he then welcomed many foreign fighters to train and assist his militia in terrorist tactics and guerrilla warfare.

In fact, we almost went into full conflict with him back then, months ago!

So our leaders, Paul Bremmer, Gen. Abizaid, and countless other US and Coalition leaders all over the land, acted w/ caution and care to secure for the US ever stronger cards against Sadr while simultaneously working to achieve four main goals.

Now we today are in a climactic battle against him and his militia. When the remnants of Saddam's regime were in full uprising in Fallujah, Sadr thought his time had come to make his bid for total power and to oust the US from Baghdad. He was very wrong.

It has been subtle and very well done by our leaders. You should be proud. It would have seemed impossible to have achieved our four main goals against Sadr even just a few months ago. Now today, despite the message of the pessimists who are misleading you into despair, we are have scored all the victories needed to bring this battle to a close. First goal was to isolate Sadr. Second was to exile him from his power-base in Baghdad. Third was to contain his uprising from spreading beyond his militias. And the last goal was to get both his hard-line supporters to abandon him, and to do encourage moderates to break from him. This has been done brilliantly, and now we are on the march in a way that just months ago seemed impossible to do. Sadr is losing everything.

Goal one: His so-called Mahdi Army militia is fighting alone. We are out defeating them day and night, and all the time we find them exposed and vulnerable. The people of Baghdad, Karbala and Najaf are not supporting him. His forces are isolated.

Goal two: His one-time powerbase, Sadr City in Baghdad, has been lost. Sadr has been exiled from there, and we have him on the run. He is trying to cloak his presence and activities in Najaf and Kut as planned, but that is damage control on his part. Yes we confront pockets of his followers. Just a couple days ago, I had to maneuver around such a crowd of 300 in Sadr City. The point is, though, we operate in Sadr City, and his followers are merely trying to raise the lost cause of his. It is perhaps better to understand why he is able to mobilize groups like this by seeing him as a mafia leader who is just sacrificing his own people in a mad last plunge to grab onto power. He is no different from any other thug in the world who manipulates and betrays his followers for his own lost cause. The critical thing to see, however, is that in Baghdad, Sadr is gone. He has been effectively exiled and we are destroying his one-time properties of power and abuse there.

Goal three: Other Shia leaders are breaking from him now in large numbers. The overall Shia leader of Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, has left Sadr's call for jihad and uprising to flounder on deaf ears. Bremmer and Gen. Abizaid stunned the overall Shia community by negotiating a calm in Fallujah. That has tail-spinned Sadr and his efforts to intimidate Iraq's Shia leaders. They see the US hand is strong, and that therefore they are making a mistake in kowtowing to Sadr's terror and violence.

Sadr is now running scared in Najaf. This is great. The Iraqi people of Najaf are offended by this Baghdad thug coming to their city and trying to hijack them into conflict with us. His militias have moved into Karbala too, and the same sentiment is being expressed by the people there. Sadr and his Mahdi Army militia are occupiers of those cities, and are insulting the most sacred sites of Shia Islam daily in their actions. Sadr's forces have stockpiled weapons in mosques and schools, and he continuously is going into the Imam Ali Mosque to call for jihad against us. This is offending Iraq's Shia leaders very much, and the Shia people are not following.

Our units, in fact, are operating w/in 500 meters of the most sacred Shia religious sites in these cities, and you should notice that the local people are not resisting. This is what the pessimists amongst you are preventing you from understanding. Something like this would have been impossible before Sadr and his militia thugs went into there to hijack Iraqi Shia Islam. The people of Najaf and Karbala know we are not there to conquer and occupying the religious sites; we are there to liberate them from this would-be tyrant who is trying to hijack them. His uprising has been contained, despite Sadr's desperate efforts to expand.

Goal four: Now Sadr's patrons and mentor in Iran are breaking from him. Grand Ayatollah Hossain Kazzam Haeri in Qom, Iran, is no longer backing him and has instead made it clear that Sadr's uprising is not sanctioned. Haeri is his mentor, and was a close intimate to Sadr's respectable father. The Teheran Times has run stories that are largely exaggerated, but still are making clear that Sadr's uprising is counter to Iranian interests and does not have the support of even one of Iran's grand statesman, Hashemi Rafsanjani.

In lieu of this, Sadr has exploded increasingly desperate and offensive. On Friday, he offended perhaps the whole Muslim world when he issued a fatwa (a religious edict) that if his forces in Basra capture a female British soldier, they can keep her as a slave. And as I pointed out already, his militia thugs in Najaf and Karbala are keeping weapons in mosques and schools.

In this, quite frankly, Sadr has done it to himself. He has compelled his would-be supporters amongst Iran's hard-liners to break from him and to put distance between Iran's interests and Sadr's uprising. Along with this, Shiites all over Iraq are breaking from Sadr and ignoring his frantic calls for jihad and slave-taking. Sadr has been abandoned.

I'm not writing you blind to the casualties this is causing us. My battalion, the 16th Armored Engineers, should be home reunited w/ family and friends after serving a full year here. Instead, we are still here where the temp is reaching 115-125 degrees. And some of my fellow soldiers have fallen. Units of my battalion are right in the front of the fighting. Your prayers are needed. [A soldier] lost his eyes and a hand last week. The surgeons are trying to salvage his hand now by re-attaching it. This tragedy is a real nightmare. Another suffered shrapnel wounds in his abdomen. Others have been cut badly. Miracle of miracles, however, Sgt. Morales on Friday was shot in the CVC (helmet) -- the bullet ricocheted around his head and fired into the back of his seat, never cutting his skin!!!

I'm telling you this because you need to know that your soldiers are working their hardest. My unit is just one of many in this fight. What you need to do is be strong and persistent in your faith with us. Sadr's militia is in panic and desperate, so they are dangerous, but you need to keep this all in perspective. The pessimists would have you believe this is a disaster. Don't listen to them. I think some of them feel that their reputations require our failure because they have been so negative all along, so they are jumping at every opportunity to sensationalize what is happening here as a disaster. Eliminating Sadr's threat is part of the overall mission and we are further ensuring the liberation of the Iraqi people. This has to be done, and we are doing it.

Don't be seduced by those who would rather that we sit back and just enjoy the freedoms past generations of Americans have sacrificed to gain for us. This is our time to earn it. I remember President Bush saying after the September 11th attacks: "The commitment of our Fathers is now the calling of our time."

Posted by Amy Ridenour at 12:03 AM</