Archive for March, 2008

Strategy Page:

Five years of fighting in Iraq has killed 4,000 American troops. The first five years of fighting in Vietnam (1965-69) killed 40,258…If the casualty rates [per number of troops deployed] were the same in Iraq, there should have been 13,747 dead so far.

Let’s not forget that common predictions in 2003 had us losing 5,000 troops just getting to Baghdad.

No doubt those who have been going on and on and on about 4,000 will claim all I’m doing is playing numbers games with peoples’ deaths.

A three-quarter portside aerial view of an RA-5C Vigilante aircraft, Reconnaissance Attack Squadron 7 (RVAH-7) known as the “Peacemakers of the Fleet” and was assigned to the USS RANGER (CV 61) from February 21 to September 22, 1979. This photograph may show the Vigilante’s last flight, since all Vigilante aircraft were officially retired in September 1979 and the RVAH-7 was officially decommissioned in October 1979.

Was reminded of this plane by reading “Thai Boom” by R.R. “Boom” Powell in a recent Flights & Fancy column in Air & Space magazine. It appears that the column was once online but is no longer. If I find it I’ll link.

In the meantime, enjoy this awesome shot of the Vigilante.

MichaelMoore.com featured this on their front page a couple of days ago:

Mission Accomplished!
Hundreds of Minnesota students rally, shut down
military recruitment stations, 16 arrested

It eventually links to this story in the MInnesota Daily: More than 200 students rally on campus against Iraq War, Sixteen people were arrested for offenses stemming from the protest.

So, if charges against some of those 16 students hold up, will Moore suppose that their actions were “inaccurate“?

What? It doesn’t work that way?

The story includes:

Joe Schweigert said he came to show support for his fellow Macalester students.

“Especially after five years, it’s important for dissident opinions to come forward,” he said.

Schweigert said closing the center for one day probably wouldn’t result in big changes, but added that it was “a very important figurative gesture.”

“The fact that there are kids willing and able to sit out here says a lot,” he said.

A) “An important figurative gesture”? Um, if it doesn’t “result in big changes,” how important could it really be?

B) I sure am impressed that some kids were willing to sit out there. It says a lot. A lot about how Thursday classes didn’t seem as interesting as protesting. Do it again during Spring Break and maybe someone will think you’re something besides a bunch of class cutters.

C) Speaking of kids saying a lot, how about the kids joining the US military? Somehow a bunch of college students skipping class to sit down says more than someone serving their country during a time of war? If you’re a college student making a big gesture at a sit in, I’m sure it feels like it.

D) The military continues to meet its recruiting goals, even with accelerated increases to add a few brigades.

Today MichaelMoore.com features:

Five-Year Itch
“What you’re seeing now is a growing
radicalization against the war.”

Are protests and such really “growing” much? I guess I haven’t really seen it. Being five years later, if the radicals were really gaining momentum I would have thought it would look obvious. But it doesn’t.

And something else I meant to point out last time we discussed Mr. Moore: Remember when the story I linked to included this?

Moore said he hasn’t lost a lawsuit in 17 years of film-making, which shows his movies are accurate.

Back in 2003 I pointed out that

Michael Moore has altered a fictitious caption he inserted into a Bush-Quayle campaign commercial in his “documentary” Bowling for Columbine.

Why did he alter that caption? He didn’t lose a lawsuit, did he? And, therefore, his film was accurate.

Or maybe he was just lying again.

Al-Sadr orders fighters to stop attacks

Can he be stopped?

Looking around and reading comments, it’s apparently a Major Victory for Sadr.

Of course it’s a big win for Sadr. Just look at history:

• When he went on the offensive he won.
• When he agreed to a cease-fire he won.
• When he went on the offensive again he won.
• When he agreed to another cease-fire he won.
• When he went on the offensive yet again he won.
• When he agreed to another cease-fire he won.
• When he joined the political process he won.
• When he pulled out of the political process he won.
• When he went on several more offensives and shortly later agree to more cease-fires, each time he won.
• When he rejoined the political process he won.
• When he pulled out of the political process again he won.
• When he went to Iran he won.
• When he came back to Iraq he won.
• When he agreed to a long-term truce he won.
• When the truce was about to expire he won.
• When he renewed the truce he won.
• When he went on the offensive again, he won.
• When he once again called for a cease-fire he won.

I might have some of the above items out of order, but I’m sure that he won them all.

At least that’s what I keep hearing.

At this rate, he should rule all of Iraq within weeks, the Middle East by the end of May, the planet by the time Obama is sworn in as president in January, and the rest of the solar system by 2011, 2012 at the latest.

I haven’t even bothered posting on the whole “I remember landing under sniper fire” thing because A) I guess I don’t know that it really matters all that much and B) It’s unbridled jackassery.

But a few new pieces of evidence have surfaced that I probably ought to point out.

First we have the HRC-47 Sniper Rifle. It’s deadly accurate, though I don’t know that it needs to be more than a single shot.

Secondly, we have a bit of video that appears to exonerate Hillary. Seeing this, it is suddenly clear how modern editing tools could be used to make the violence of a nation at war appear to be peaceful and harmonious.

Nasiriyah Revisited
Great article by Richard S. Lowry over at Op-For.

73% of the Public Believes Americans Have Right to Own Guns
In a Gallup poll you’d probably miss if you watched the news, even those who don’t own guns think it’s an individual’s right by a 2-1 margin.

The Terror: A Novel by Dan Simmons
Just finished this historical novel with a telling of a monstrous fate for the 1845 Franklin expedition, all hands lost while searching for the Northwest Passage. Pretty good read.

The A-Team Countdown Begins
Movie coming next year. No one cast yet. Murdoc would be willing to play Murdock for the right price, though.

How to Buy Your Own Missile Silo
If Murdoc can’t secure a retired warship for the MOHQ, maybe a missile silo would do.

Obama’s Hollow Doctrine
Comment: “Dignity promotion” is simply the self-esteem movement in our schools on steroids.

Navy Officials: JSF Costs Under Control
Murdoc calls BS. Unless “under control” is defined as “won’t increase by more than 175% from current estimates.”

14.1M to Enhance Camp Lejeune’s MOUT Training Facilities
You play like you practice.

Russia Revives Its Weapons Factories
They plan to increase production of conventional weapons 30% over the next two years, and expect to more than double it by 2015. Brrr.

The 117th Carnival of Homeschooling
‘S’ Word Edition.

Begun the Light Bulbs Wars Have
Lileks doesn’t care for CFLs. We’ve had decent results with the two dozen or so we installed last summer. Still waiting for LED standard home bulb replacements.

The lightbulb of the future?
Luxim’s plasma lightbulb.

Court: Michael Moore did not defame Iraq vet

A federal appeals court has ruled filmmaker Michael Moore did not defame an Iraq war veteran when Moore used a clip from a television interview without his permission in the anti-war documentary –Fahrenheit 9/11.”

Moore says he makes “movies that point out larger truths” and then has to “suffer through an onslaught of attack.”

Moore said he hasn’t lost a lawsuit in 17 years of film-making, which shows his movies are accurate.

No, that shows that he didn’t break any laws.

I can say anything I want, and unless what I say is illegal, I won’t lose a lawsuit. That doesn’t mean anything I say “accurate,” does it?

–At some point, I’m wondering, when do I get to catch a break?” Moore said.

In the interview in the movie, Damon was asked about the painkiller he was being given. Damon wasn’t terribly happy about the medicine and said so, but the scene was shown shortly after a scene where Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash.,said that the Bush administration was “leaving all kinds of veterans behind.” Damon says that the clips location gives it the appearance of supporting McDermott’s claim, which he does not.

Judge Aida Delgado-Colon said that while Damon’s anger and frustration were understandable, the clip could not reasonably be construed as defamatory under state law.

“There is no reason to believe that a reasonable member of the military or veteran community would conclude that Damon’s appearance in the documentary conveyed a defamatory meaning, and therefore lowered his reputation or subjected him to scorn, hatred, ridicule or contempt in that community,” according to the court’s March 21 ruling.

Good call, Judge. The reason Damon filed the lawsuit was that members of his unit criticized him for appearing in Moore’s movie.

I guess Murdoc’s legal advice would be: Don’t agree to appear in a Michael Moore film if you care whether or not you will be shown to say or think what you said or thought.

Remember:

The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not “insurgents” or “terrorists” or “The Enemy.” They are the REVOLUTION, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow — and they will win.

–Michael Moore, April 2004

2008 Equal Parenting Bike Trek – 758 Miles – Lansing Michigan to Washington, D.C.

Five Michigan fathers will pedal their bicycles 758 miles from Lansing, MI to Washington, D.C.

• Robb MacKenzie – Upper Penninsula of Michigan – US EPBT Founder – 2007 cyclist
• Robert Pedersen – West Michigan – 2007 Runner-Up Winner in Best Life Magazine’s National Hero Dad Contest, Co-Founder of A Child’s Right – 2007 cyclist
• Brian Downs, Esq. – Grand Rapids MI – Running for Judge in Kent County MI in 2008
• Derek Bailey, MSW – Traverse City MI – American Indian. Founder of Dance4Equality
• Mike Saxton – Lansing MI – Dads of Michigan

Robert Pedersen, who keeps Murdoc in the loop about this effort, points out The Price Some Reservists Have To Pay by Phyllis Schlafly.

Most of the reservists called up to serve in the Iraq war have paid a big price: a significant reduction of their wages as they transferred from civilian to military jobs, separation from their loved ones, and of course the risk of battle wounds or death. Regrettably, on their return home, those who are divorced fathers could face another grievous penalty: loss of their children, financial ruin, prosecution as “deadbeat dads,” and even jail.

Reservists’ child-support orders were based on their civilian wages, and when they are called up to active duty, that burden doesn’t decrease.

I’ve worked out my conflicts and will definitely be attending the 2nd Amendment Blog Bash at the NRA Annual Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, in May.

There’s a great lineup of bloggers planning to attend and the convention should be a good one.

You don’t have to be a “gun blogger” to attend the Bash, and of course the NRA Annual Meeting and Exhibits are there for all members.

Hope to see you there!

It appears that the Egyptian claims that one man was killed by warning shots when his boat approached a US Navy-contracted ship were correct.