Greyhawk, founder of the MilBlogs, has hit the twenty-year milestone in his service to our country. Blackfive covers it well (hat tip to Grim’s Hall).
Thank you, Greyhawk. Thank you very much for your service and sacrifice.
Month: March 2005
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Aggie Hoops Officially in NIT
The Texas A&M Aggiess have topped off a dramatic turnaround season with an chance at the National Invitation Tournament. The Ags will host Clemson (16-15) Wednesday, March 16, at 7:30 p.m.
The draw is formidable, with the likes of Notre Dame, DePaul, Missouri and St. Joseph’s in the Ags’ quarter of the bracket. I don’t care. I’m not greedy — I just want one postseason win to cap off a season that saw the Aggies go from 0-16 in conference play to 8-8. Just one and I’m happy.
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Time: Zarqawi Planning U.S. Attacks
Time magazine is reporting that terrorist Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi is wanting to strike inside the U.S., according to fresh information garnered from captured members of the bastard’s barbaric network.
According to a restricted bulletin that circulated among U.S. security agencies last week, the interrogated aide said al-Zarqawi has talked about hitting “soft targets” in the U.S., which could include “movie theaters, restaurants and schools.”
The list of possible targets is typical of the kind of monsters we’re facing. Anybody remember Beslan? Or the Israeli pizzarias and nightclubs?
They will hit here. I’ve said before that I’m surprised they haven’t already. However, I’m not sure that Zarqawi has the resources, as he’s currently busy with creating as much mayhem as he can in Iraq while working feverishly to save his own hide. While he remains in active in Iraq, his ability to reach elsewhere with any significance. A small smattering of attacks in the U.S. are not going to affect American will and could increase demands for harsher action.
Oh, and can we do something soon about securing our borders?
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Ruling Fatah Fears Parliamentary Elections
Now that Hamas has decided to participate in the upcoming Palestinian parliamentary contests, Yasser Arafat’s old Fatah henchmen are concerned about a severe blow to their own power.
The Palestinians’ ruling Fatah movement, tainted by corruption and cronyism, is increasingly worried it will get trounced by political upstart Hamas in parliamentary elections.
The Islamic militant group issued its challenge over the weekend, saying it will compete in the July 17 vote after avoiding such a showdown for the past decade.
Hamas has shown no signs it wants to bring down Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, and the violent movement, which has carried out scores of attacks on Israelis since its founding in 1987, appears to be satisfied with transforming itself into a strong opposition party. However, if Hamas wins control of parliament or even a large chunk of the seats, it could hamper Abbas’ ability to negotiate a peace deal with Israel.
Realistically, it looks like a choice between the corrupt ruling terrorists, who may be pondering a shift of some degree or other towards moderation, and the newer, more violent terrorists, who have long claimed they were ready to step in and rule the Palestinians politically but are only now taking steps to do so.
“Now there is serious competition,” said Sakher Habash, a senior Fatah official.
With political survival at stake, Fatah old-timers reluctantly have agreed to hold primaries to select candidates for parliament and even commissioned opinion polls in search of the most electable candidates – remarkable changes for a calcified movement that has dominated Palestinian politics for four decades.
However, the makeover may come too late to attract disgruntled voters, judging by Hamas’ sweeping victory in local elections in 10 Gaza towns in January. Many voters said at the time they don’t necessarily approve of Hamas’ violent ideology, but they want to punish Fatah for its high-handedness.
It’s a shame that there is yet to arise among the Palestinians a viable third voice, a voice for moderation, freedom, peace and progress.
Tension between the rival movements has been rising.
On Sunday, hundreds of Hamas and Fatah supporters threw sticks and chairs at each other at Hebron University in the West Bank. Fatah activists tried to break up a Hamas rally ahead of student council elections Monday, but a Hamas leader on campus, Mohammed Ali, was confident of victory. “When Fatah felt that it was weak, and that it will lose the student elections tomorrow, they tried to ruin our parade,” he said.
The prospect of defeat also has heated up rivalries within Fatah, particularly between veteran leaders, who refuse to step aside, and the younger activists.
Palestinian uprising leader Marwan Barghouti, the most prominent member of the young guard, said Fatah needs a major overhaul to regain the trust of voters.
“If Fatah doesn’t do this, it faces a real danger as far as its leading role is concerned,” Barghouti said. “The leadership of the movement has to move quickly to prove that it can correct these mistakes.”
Barghouti, who is serving five consecutive life terms in an Israeli prison for involvement in deadly attacks, made the comments in a written statement from his prison cell, in response to questions submitted by The Associated Press.
Last week, dozens of gunmen from the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, who have ties to Fatah, broke up a meeting of hundreds of grass-roots activists in Ramallah, shooting in the air. Participants said they suspect the gunmen were sent by those in Fatah’s Central Committee who oppose internal reform.
However, the specter of defeat has spurred Fatah leaders into action.
Habash said he has hired four polling companies to test the popularity of Fatah candidates. Those who score low will be cut from the slate without hesitation, he said in an interview in his Ramallah office. “This is strictly different from the elections we had in 1996,” he said, referring to the campaign for parliament in which candidates were largely chosen based on their loyalty to the late Yasser Arafat.
Independent pollster Faisal Awartani, one of those commissioned by Habash, said choosing the most popular candidates is Fatah’s only chance of winning, but he fears the party is resistant to change.
Ah, it’s all about electability over substance and ideas. Echoes of the Democratic Party’s 2004 nomination process.
Hamas’ decision to compete, coupled with its observance of an unofficial truce with Israel, is a major step in what is seen as the group’s gradual transformation into a political party. Hamas remains committed to Israel’s destruction but has indicated it is willing to accept the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem as an interim step.
Peace and prosperity are simply not possible for the Palestinian people while a sizable portion of their society place priority on the destruction of neighboring Israel over their own success as a people.
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Quote of the Week, 13 MAR 05
I’m inclined to think that a military background wouldn’t hurt anyone.
—William Faulkner
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Reciprocity XIII
I’d like to take a moment to thank those who’ve recently blogrolled or linked to Target Centermass.
First, thanks to the following for adding TCm to their blogrolls:
Second, I want the thank the Unofficial Battlestar Galactica Blog for the recent link and for pointing me to this rather simple Battlestar Galactica drinking game.
Third, I wanted once again to pimp for two sites intended for Texas bloggers:
- Texas Bloggers — a group blog about bloggers and blogging
- TexasBlogfest 2005 — a gathering of Texas bloggers next weekend
As always, if you’ve linked or blogrolled Target Centermass and I haven’t found you, please send an email or post a comment. No good deed should go unrewarded.
EDIT: Correcting when the TexasBlogfest 2005 is happening. Hey, I lost track of dates.
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Nothing Tonight Except an Anthem
I think I’m just going to enjoy an easy Saturday evening. See y’all tomorrow.
Okay, just this little tidbit: there’s a new campaign aimed at helping Americans learn the words to the national anthem. Yes, just the first verse. It’s a good cause, but it’s a shame it’s needed.
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Paul Newman Ready to Retire
And he’s hoping for just one more flick.
The movie legend, whose piercing blue eyes have lit up screens for five decades, says he’ll give up the activities he once described as his two great passions — acting and motor racing.
“I think both are winding down,” Newman told The Associated Press during an interview Friday. “I’ll probably race for another year.”
Fans need not despair just yet. The iconic star of “The Hustler” and “Cool Hand Luke” says he plans to make one last film — “for good luck.”
He won’t say what it is, but hints that a long-rumored reunion with Robert Redford, his co-star in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “The Sting,” may yet happen.
The man has obviously had an incredible career. To honor him, I’d like to list my top favorite Paul Newman movies.
5. The Verdict — Very underrated, with Newman’s finest acting, in my opinion.
I changed my life today. What did you do?
4. Slap Shot — One of the funniest sports movies ever.
She underlines the fuck scenes for ya? Jesus, if she underlines the fuck scenes for ya, she must worship the ground you walk on.
3. The Sting — Intelligent story with great performances by Newman, Robert Redford and Robert Shaw.
Tough luck, Lonnehan. But that’s what you get for playing with your head up your ass!
2. Cool Hand Luke — Easily his coolest character.
I can eat fifty eggs.
1. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid — Just an absolute classic.
If he’d just pay me what he’s paying them to stop me robbing him, I’d stop robbing him.
Here’s hoping he and Redford do ride together once again on the silver screen.
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Stop the Imperialist Colonial War!
From the description of tonight’s episode of SciFi Channel’s Battlestar Galactica:
When fuel supplies dwindle, the fleet must make a daring attack on a Cylon-controlled tylium mine.
No War for Tylium!!!
Adama Lied, Colonials Died!!!
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Vietnamese Agent Orange Claim Dismissed
If the 2004 presidential election proved anything, it’s that the controversial legacy of the Viet Nam War ain’t going away anytime soon. Well, maybe one lawsuit spawned by the conflict will finally be laid to rest.
A U.S. federal judge has ruled American chemical companies are not liable for damages caused by the spraying of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.
Judge Jack Weinstein Thursday dismissed a lawsuit that accused the companies of committing war crimes by producing the highly toxic chemical.
The suit was filed on behalf of Vietnamese citizens who have blamed Agent Orange for health problems including cancer and birth defects.
U.S. forces sprayed some 80 million liters of the chemical during the war to kill jungle foliage that communist forces were using as cover.
Judge Weinstein said the plaintiffs’ claims have no basis under any national or international laws. He also said the plaintiffs had failed to prove a clear link between Agent Orange and their illnesses.
There was no immediate reaction from plaintiffs or the Vietnamese government.
So many aspects of that war against communist aggression, one of the key hot theaters of the Cold War, have long since become indelibly and unfairly cemented into the public mind — the tales of American atrocities, images of a summary execution or a naked child running in fear, the anguished stereotypical veteran, the phrase “We had to destroy the village in order to save it” (which I plan to blog about at a later date), and the lingering horrors of the defoliant Agent Orange.
What is the truth behind the actual health effects of exposure to Agent Orange? Well, despite today’s decision, the scientific jury is still out decades later. However, as the Mackenzie Institute noted in a paper on the controversy surrounding depleted uranium rounds, the evidence to date is not looking too good for those who continue to trumpet the evils of the defoliant.
Anyone remember Agent Orange?
Starting in 1969 and continuing through until the early 1990s, hundreds of Vietnam veterans blamed health problems, tumors and even psychological conditions on purported exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. The Agent Orange scare was strongly encouraged by the environmental lobby, the Peace Movement, and the Hanoi government. Fabricating or distorting evidence is quick and simple, while a truth that depends on scientific evidence can take a long time to show up. Naturally, as the scientists were dragging their heels, the media turned to the sensationalists and the Agent Orange Myth took on a life of its own.
Dioxin, the accused killer in Agent Orange can be dangerous and in large dosages is very lethal … to laboratory rats. Exposures humans receive are another matter. However, the thousands of Italians who were exposed to heavy doses of dioxin in a 1976 industrial accident did not develop excessive birth defects or reproductive failures. A 1984 Journal of the American Medical Association article on workers who had been exposed to a heavy dose of dioxins in a 1949 accident indicated these men did not have higher rates of cancer, heart or liver damage, nerve problems, kidney damage, reproductive problems or birth defects than was the average for men of their age group. They did have slightly higher rates of chloracne and digestive tract ulcers — both of which are quite treatable.
If any Vietnam Veterans had come down with problems related to Agent Orange, it would have been the high living “cowboys” of the Ranch Hand project — the US Airmen who actually sprayed the stuff. Flying at near-stall speeds about 50m above ground level, these servicemen took a lot of ground-fire. Indeed, one of their aircraft — known as “Patches” — is in the Air Force Museum in Dayton Ohio. Often, they ended up coated in Agent Orange when they sprayed it or had it sluicing around their ankles after being shot-up again. Moreover, at initiations for new members of their Squadron, both the newcomers and the older veterans would drink a glass of the defoliant.
Over 1,174 of the 1,206 veterans of this squadron have participated in a careful 20-year study of the results of their exposure to Agent Orange. Net result? The Ranch Hand group continues to have the same mortality rate as their control group of 1,293 similar men — and both have a lower mortality rate than the average American Male population. The only real difference in rates of those ailments associated with dioxin, despite massive exposure to Agent Orange, was that the Ranch Hand vets had a slightly higher tendency to display problems related to heavy drinking — something many of them engaged in as young servicemen on a nerve-wracking duty.
Otherwise, after $400 million in real research, the great Agent Orange scare turned out to be a bust. Real — verifiable and accurate — scientific research does not indict the material. However, it remains an article of faith among environmentalists and peace-movement members that the stuff is deadly. They believe and that is enough.
Too bad the verdict has already been rendered in the court of public opinion, but that’s true of so much about the Viet Nam War.