Category: Internet

— In the interest of starting a constructive dialog between war blogers and the anti-life HTML technician bloggers allied with the Prince of Darkness, I dropped the following note on the Doc (of what?) Searls Weblog

I’ve got a real dilemma on my hands – jeneane talks about the warbloggers [sic] unwillingness to see the other side, and Doc says that being pro-war is being pro-killing and death. My dilemma, of course, is that I can’t decide which of these remarks is more stupid, vapid, self-serving, and asinine.

In favor of “seeing the other side,” it would help me if jeneane or someone else who feels that way would kindly explain the side that believes that bombing the WTC and the Pentagon on Sept. 11 was a Good Thing. I haven’t heard a persuasive argument for that point of view, but I don’t deny that there might be one in some parallel universe. Factually, even people who have a hard-on against Western Civilization admit that the attack created backlash and didn’t help their cause.

In favor of “pro-war is pro-death” we have the fact that war is seen by its proponents as appropriate in some circumstances and inappropriate in others, where the ultimate goal is bringing peace and protecting life. Being pro-war because you think the just war brings peace and security is certainly no more contradictory than selling a magazine promoting free software; it’s a means to an end. And don’t talk to me about Gandhi, because he was very clear about the fact that his tactics only worked because the British were fundamentally moral and decent. You can’t shame somebody who has no conscience.

Since I’ve been logging my thoughts on the Web since 1994, I’ve enjoyed seeing the work of newbie bloggers who’ve come online in the last 5 years; but let’s not get too arrogant about our points of view or pedigrees, OK?

See the next article for the links to what I was commenting on.

— People who are cluck-clucking over the brutality of the Israelis in the Jenin Refugee Camp and Breeding Ground for Suicide Bombers should read Sgt. Stryker’s Daily Briefing for a different (and more plausible) take on what really happend in Jenin:

Omar and other “engineers” made hundreds of explosive devices and carefully chose their locations.

“We had more than 50 houses booby-trapped around the camp. We chose old and empty buildings and the houses of men who were wanted by Israel because we knew the soldiers would search for them,” he said.

“We cut off lengths of mains water pipes and packed them with explosives and nails. Then we placed them about four metres apart throughout the houses — in cupboards, under sinks, in sofas.”

The fighters hoped to disable the Israeli army’s tanks with much more powerful bombs placed inside rubbish bins on the street. More explosives were hidden inside the cars of Jenin’s most wanted men.

Connected by wires, the bombs were set off remotely, triggered by the current from a car battery.

According to Omar, everyone in the camp, including the children, knew where the explosives were located so that there was no danger of civilians being injured. It was the one weakness in the plan.

“We were betrayed by the spies among us,” he says. The wires to more than a third of the bombs were cut by soldiers accompanied by collaborators. “If it hadn’t been for the spies, the soldiers would never have been able to enter the camp. Once they penetrated the camp, it was much harder to defend.”

It was a setup, in other words.

— Mass hysteria comes to Washington, DC this weekend, with an old-fashioned little peace march:

The main demands at the White House demonstration will be “FREE PALESTINE! No new war on Iraq!”, “Stop the attacks on Arab and Muslim people! Defend civil liberties!”, and “Money for Jobs, Education, Healthcare and Housing, Not Racist War!”

Top speakers will include convicted cop-killer and hardcore racist Free Mumia (with purchase of equal or greater value) and pro-terrorist Fadia Rafeedi. Like Juan Gato, I wish I’d a got a ticket to DC for all the fun and games. I’ve been dying to hear all about the connection between Arafat-hunting and AIDS, for example. But they explain it all:

Bush and the global corporations he represents are busy bombing Afghanistan, supporting Israeli war against the Palestinians and planning to bomb Iraq, Colombia, the Philippines, Peru, Indonesia, Iran, and elsewhere while millions of people are dying from the preventable disease of HIV/AIDS. Greedy corporations like Merck, GlaxoWellcome, and Dupont are racking up billions of dollars in profits from AIDS while 8,000 people from developing countries die each day!

So there you have it – Bush spreads AIDS in the Third World. I’m shocked, but not surprised; but how did Sullivan catch it?

— The president reiterated the Bush Doctrine as he prepared to meet with Crown Prince Abdullah at the ranch next week:

“In the Middle East, where acts of terror have triggered mounting violence, all parties have a choice to make,” the president said. “Every leader, every state must choose between two separate paths: the path of peace or the path of terror.”

Given the Saudis’ role in greasing the skids of Wahabbist terrorism for lo these many years, that’s going to be an interesting meeting, even without pork ribs and hound dogs.

— Rally in S.F. supports Israel

Israeli and American flags filled Justin Herman Plaza in downtown San Francisco on Sunday afternoon as several thousand people rallied to show support for Israel and call for peace in the region.

That’s good.

— My plan for world domination progresses apace, as I have once again become the most famous Richard Bennett in the world (according to Google), but I remain behind two others as only the third most famous Bennett. Bennett College and Sen. Bob Bennett (R, Utah) are more linked than I, sadly. While I might take solace in being more famous than William Bennett and Tony Bennett, I cannot rest until these interlopers are vanquished. Now if only I could induce the Professor, the Postrel, and the ReadJacobs to link me, I might achieve my goal. Will someone tell me what Reynolds likes to drink or smoke? If it’s all about intellectual acumen, I’m in trouble. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming (in Python.)

— Don’t you just hate it when people argue and fight like cats and dogs? Jonah Goldberg misbehaves today, lashing out at dear, sweet, Cynthia McKinney (D. Ga):

Well, just let me just say that I am not aware of any evidence that Ms. McKinney has murdered several children or that she personally profited from sleeping with the entire defensive squad of the Atlanta Falcons. However, a complete investigation might reveal that to be the case.

Meanwhile, while we await the findings of that long-overdue investigation, I can add that there is ample evidence that Ms. McKinney is dumber than rock salt and more repugnant than Yasser Arafat’s three-week-old underwear.

It appears that McKinney belongs to the Rebecca Blood Conspiracy-of-the-Month club.

Linked by The World’s Greatest Blog.

— I love living in California.

— One way to terrorize people in America, when there aren’t any widows to kick around and you need to beat-up on somebody, is with frivolous lawsuits. Check this by one of the targets of war profiteer Rall’s random rage (FREE DIRTY DANNY!)

And I was just one of many who were appalled by this specious hatchet job. When Russ Smith, the publisher of the New York Press wrote an editorial criticizing Rall’s Voice feature, I was overjoyed to contribute the accompanying illustration, which depicted Rall as a small dog urinating on a bronze statue of the Pulitzer Prize-winning MAUS author. In hindsight, I wish I’d let that illustration be the final expression of my disgust with Rall’s anti-Spiegelman slam-piece, but I let my strong feelings about the Voice feature get the better of me.

Rall brags in one of the articles that a year doesn’t go by when he’s not taking someone to court. He’s a great national treasure (of Iraq, maybe.)

— Ken Layne notes Tom Tomorrow says that “leftists and feminists were among the few voices criticizing the Taliban before Sept. 11.” While there was some weak Taliban-bashing from these quarters, I personally compared the author of a bill eliminating pre-nuptial waivers of alimony to the Taliban in a letter to the California legislature in March of 2001. The author I complained about, Sheila Kuehl, is a leftist and a feminist, which made the comparison all the more appropriate. Paternalism is where you find it, and it’s more common among the feminist left than anywhere else in American life.