The SECRET is yourSELF. The SECRET is your PAIN. The SECRET is letting GO/giving UP/breaking DOWN/giving IN. Giving in to the END. Giving in to the BEGINNING. Giving in to LOVE.
30 September 2007
The Jenna Bush Interview
I'm not going to try linking to it since a lot of the news sites, particularly Yahoo, are notorious about not archiving their news, as well as making video news pretty much impossible to link to. I just watched, twice, an exclusive interview of Jenna Bush by "journalist" Diane Sawyer. I consider myself a legitimate journalist, and this was an absolute travesty. There were several questions about the Iraq War, including a reference to outstanding actor and total whack job Matt Damon claiming that Jenna and her sister Barbara should be sent to Iraq.
To her credit, Jenna fielded all questions adeptly and gracefully; the interview was obviously longer than the two or three minute version I saw on the web. On the question of Matt Damon, she acknowledged that she understands his point, but that sending her to war would be impractical, and that she's trying to serve her country by being a teacher and working for UNICEF. When continuously badgered by "journalist" Diane Sawyer, she noted that she's not a policy maker, and upon further questioning, acknowledged that yes, she does discuss the Iraq War with her friends, but that she wasn't there to discuss it on national television.
I'll admit to having previously harbored the tiniest shred of respect for Diane Sawyer. Badgering the one of the First Daughters about Iraq, and noting the response, even President Bush's daughter has more class than pretty much everyone in the mainstream media.
Curse you, khaki sock. Your entire purpose in your sorry, feeble existence, is to wrap around my foot... And fall down a little bit at the ankle. Why are you hiding from me? You socks are like the Borg from Star Trek. First of Six, Second of Six, Third... Okay, basically, you're Six of Six. All of the other little Borg socks showed their faces; why would you choose to hide from me? Doom on you, Khaki Sock Six of Six; doom on you.
Author's Note: I'm stuck here at the house while my mp3 player is loading music for the day. Obviously, there's not much else to do but write this post and watch "Knocked Up".
Hey folks! I've been pretty bad about putting up real posts lately, although I know you all love Fly Reports. Over the last few weeks, I've collected a smattering of links that I want to share. I also have a couple of quick things to mention; between that, and a few other items, I'm preparing to cross "writing" off of my "To Do" list for today! Read on.
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I have no clue whether any of you will be interested in either of these two links, but I found both of them pretty interesting so I'll put them up. As many of you will know, I recently concluded about a year and half working at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, in the Mojave Desert. A couple of weeks ago, I plugged the name of a terrain feature into Google, and accidentally ran across the Virtual Combat Training Center. I've barely looked at it, but some of the scenarios seemed pretty interesting, so I thought I'd share. The other semi-related find, located by plugging the phrase "OPFOR" into a Google image search, is archived issues of Red Thrust Star, the official Opposing Forces (OPFOR) magazine/newsletter of the U.S. Army. From both tactical and historical perspectives, reading through a few of the articles has been completely and totally fascinating to me, particularly the three-part series on the catastrophe that was the Russian invasion of Grozny, Chechnya. Some of the topics are dry to the non-military reader (hell, some of them are even dry to me), but if you're at all interested in military topics, you owe it to yourself to go check it out.
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I've really been enjoying my Sansa Connect over the last few weeks. After some initial technical hurdles (most of which have been bypassed at his point), I've gotten into a great rhythm with the thing, adding new and existing audio to it every morning before work. A few months ago, when I was envisioning a then-imminent move to the Washington, DC area, I envisioned getting an mp3 player and listening to news podcasts every morning on the Metro. That scenario didn't exactly play out the way I was hoping, although in the end I wound up getting hired by the same company (for a better-paying job, probably in a better area for the time being). I know what you're thinking: "Where's this going, Fly?" Well, I've started downloading news podcasts every morning from the BBC. I realize that the BBC is not the reputable institution it once was; this article puts it in stark detail. Of course, if you know what kind of bias and chicanery to watch out for, it can be a good way to see what the other side thinks, even if you're educated enough to know better (and I know that everyone who leaves comments here on an occasional basis is precisely that). Anyway, the BBC's radio services, disreputable though they may be, have recently initiated an impressive new range of programming; I've been listening most frequently to the half hour Global News podcasts.
Yet another bastion of liberalism and conspiracy theories is the University of California at Berkeley; surprise, surprise, they're podcasting and webcasting some of their courses. You can check out their selection here. I've focused primarily on IAS 180, "Issues in Foreign Policy after 911", and I'm also trying to listen in on History 4A (The Ancient Mediterranean World) and 167B (The Rise and Fall of the Second Reich). I obviously don't agree wholeheartedly with the political leanings, or even all of the information, that's presented in IAS 180, but it's decidedly more moderate than some of the lunatics out there - for a Berkeley course, I've been very impressed that the first two guest speakers have been relatively moderate.
Finally, I'm not sure about other areas of Old Dominion, but my particular locale is worthless when it comes to talk radio. Luckily, my favorite host, Michael Medved, podcasts for premium members. I finally purchased a year-long premium membership this evening and delighted in nearly two uninterrupted hours (no commercial breaks!) of the Michael Medved show. I adored it in Hometown, I adored it whenever I could get it at Zoo Station, and don't know if I could have gone three or four years without it.
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The aforementioned Berkeley course on 9/11 reminded me of a PBS special I saw online a couple of years ago; Harry Kreisler, the professor who runs the course, referenced it, and within thirty seconds I'd found that it's still online on the PBS website. The program is titled al Qaeda's New Front, and it discusses al Qaeda's operations in Europe, along with the precarious issue of a growing Islamic demographic on the European continent. Bored at work? Go have a look.
The other thing I found, completely on accident, is a new YouTube-hosted web series. It's titled Afterworld, and I'm embedding the first episode below.
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A couple of quick housekeeping items, and then I need to post this and go to bed.
I've written several articles over the past few weeks, and none of them have appeared here... Yet. I've promised several times to get on that, and failed miserably at keeping those promises. The reason for this is that these articles are being published elsewhere, and currently I don't have the software installed (Microsoft Word; I know, pathetic!) to allow me to post links within the articles as I do here. Thus, if I want to add links, I have to actually go back through the articles themselves, as well as the news stories, and remedy that; that's a significant portion of time for each individual article. There is no good reason why this process shouldn't begin soon, and I'm dedicated to making it happen; please stick with me. The added bonus is that with this new writing gig keeping me accountable, there should be more in-depth articles every couple of weeks here at TSTF.
Normally I post the infamous Stuff Fly Wants list on the 26th of every month. Between a couple of other projects, and a maintenance emergency here at Van Dieman's Station that threw my entire week off kilter, I'm delaying that post until later today, or possibly tomorrow. I appreciate your patience; let's face it, between the Fly Report and Stuff Fly Wants, the drawing power of this blog is pretty much soulless lists of mundane data compiled by yours truly. In a story related to that, I took the first steps in revising and updating my book list; as several of the new books that aren't on the list are back in Hometown, that will be an ongoing project.
I have a post about Iraq that needs to be written, and I'm going to try to write that today, too. I got into a long and engaged discussion with a friend of mine who went to Columbia University, inspired by none other than the episode with Mahmoud Ahmedinejad earlier this week (there are some great political cartoons about the event over at Cox and Forkum), and it really inspired me to think about a couple of foreign policy issues and how they relate to politics in America and abroad. Hopefully that will be up today or tomorrow, too.
And finally, today's Fly Report random quote was inspired by Gus, one of my best friends and an occasional commentator here at TSTF. Don't be mistaken: I came up with the quote, but he was responsible for half of the inspiration that went into it. My thanks to you, Gus, and I wish you good fortune in the endeavour of preventing St. Jen from growing a mullet.
Good morning. Brad Pitt ditched Jennifer Aniston for Angelina Jolie - further proof that some actors are capable of high level autonomic nervous function in the absence of a fully rational or functional brain.
It's 52° Fahrenheit and rainy in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 63° Fahrenheit with sunshine.
As much issue as I take with Senator John Kerry (and I take a lot of issue with him), I'll give him credit for his semi-mature response to the situation; you can hear in the second video that he makes some unwarranted snide comments, but once the situation escalates he does the honorable thing and tries to calm everyone down.
Now, this guy is obviously an instigator - that's a given. I'll let you folks watch the incident for yourselves:
Once this video ends, the footage continues:
Now, assuming that you've all watched this footage, I have three questions to pose:
Did anything the guy did warrant him being dragged off by the police like that?
Did his response to being detained warrant the use of a stun gun?
Is it just me, or is the relatively small auditorium half empty for this presentation by Senator Kerry? My responses to these three questions: no, no, and yes.
Good morning. Quoth Gus: "I didn't, which is unfortunate because I was really in the mood to taze someone, and it never came to fruition."
It's 48° Fahrenheit and cloudy with wind in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 71° Fahrenheit with afternoon thunder storms.
The average price of oil is $77.92 per barrel, down the better part of two dollars from last week's high - let's hope it keeps dropping. The exchange rate is $2.01 for £1, or £0.50 for $1.
I'm already running later this morning than usual, so I may as well post this now while it's fresh in my mind.
Ladies and gentlemen, I think that I've stumbled upon the best music video of 2007. I know, you're asking yourselves, "What video is that, Fly!?" Ladies and gentlemen, I present "Wake Up Call" by Maroon 5.
Having now watched the video, allow me to point out the various points which, once compiled into one video, make it so totally outstanding.
Jennifer Love Hewitt (I think?) dolled up like a tramp
random strippers, prostitutes, and other hot women, often shown in the video for no apparent reason whatsoever*
an exploding car
a dude getting shot
a car chase (with only one car?)
Adam Levine, formerly a confirmed girlie man, kicking ass and smashing a mirror with a baseball bat
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this video has all of the hallmarks of a great action film, and it's compressed into a video lasting less than four minutes. When you throw in Jennifer Love Hewitt, this is what Can't Hardly Wait could have been.
* This bullet should not imply, in any way, shape, or form, that it's obligatory to have a reason to put a pole dancer in an action-oriented music video. Or, for that matter, a gorgeous woman in a bikini who's waving an American flag; or even two hotties who are tied and gagged in the back of a racing speed boat. That's right, this video has it all!
Okay, surely this is a joke. Robert Downey, Jr. as Iron Man? I'm sure that a worse pollution of the mojo is possible, but I'm so shocked that, for the life of me, I can't decide what that worse pollution would be.
Death to Osama bin Laden. Death to al Qaeda and freedom-hating terrorists throughout the world. God bless the Republic, and long live the United States of America.
Hey folks. I have no clue whether or not I conjugated that post title correctly.
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I've been compiling news stories since I got here, and eventually I'll get around to posting news reviews again, but one story stands out: the release of the first bin Laden video since just before the 2004 presidential election. The video has bin Laden citing recent events, notably the election of Nicholas Sarkozy in France (which in turn indicates that the video was produced after May of this year). The video makes no direct threats, tries to brag up the supposed success of al Qaeda in Iraq (readers of Michael Yon know better), and implores Americans to abandon democracy and capitalism in favor of Islam.
As far as I'm concerned, the real news is that American troops were so close to bin Laden in the Winter of '04/'05 that his bodyguards almost killed him to prevent his capture. Without breaking my journalistic integrity and professionalism, I can honestly and objectively say that Osama bin Laden is an asshole, and we will eventually capture him, dead or alive.
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I know that I'm always the guy who rants against YouTube; and true to form, I still ardently believe that YouTube is not a cultural and technological revolution, but another Internet fad like RealPlayer and that creepy dancing baby video. So, what do I have now?
When I was just a wee lad, I used to watch this show. A few months ago, I found an entry about it on Wikipedia. The show was called The Mysterious Cities of Gold. If you're not sure where this is going, you need to just stop reading and go sit in the corner. That's right, every episode is on YouTube. I watched a few over the last week, and it's still pretty entertaining, though obviously not as engaging as it was when I was five or six.
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Finally, I know I've promised a couple of articles recently. I'm going to attempt this weekend to put at least one of two articles up here in the blog. They've been published recently at another website, but they need to have the source links plugged into them (this was absent in the original publishing at the other site). I have an article that's due on Sunday, so the older two will be prioritized below that, but it's something I want to get squared away and I'm going to make a solid effort at it over the course of the weekend.
Faithful TSTF denizens, I'm quite excited to bring you the following link. I first saw this webpage several years ago (as in, five or six I think; a long time ago as far as webpages go), and I believe it disappeared for a time, but it's back up. I don't think it's been updated since that time I originally saw it; I seem to remember that the author said at one point that the neighbors had moved out.
At any rate, go check out Redneck Neighbor. This is a collection of chronological stories about the ridiculous behavior and home improvement projects carried out by the author's neighbor in an undisclosed Georgia town.
I'm also adding a link to Michael J. Totten's Middle East Journal to the sidebar, and I highly recommend it. Like Michael Yon, who I've linked to and mentioned previously, Totten's entries are published in various locations, including on the Fox News website. As the mainstream alphabet news media gets progressively worse at reporting the news in Iraq, independent journalists become increasingly important for a number of reasons; not the least of them being to give us realistic and accurate news, and to serve as a pivotal player in calling the mainstream networks out on their decreasing legitimacy.
Due to my lapse in connectivity to the Inter(net(s)/web), I was unable to post the Stuff Fly Wants list last week. Thus, I'm posting the most current incarnation right now, and I plan to resume on my regularly scheduled date (the 26th of any given month - in this case, September) on 26th September, complete with updated/confirmed prices (Amazon prices in particular tend to fluctuate).
The Fly is a twenty-seven year old curmudgeon. He's a devout Anglican, a dedicated conservative, a renaissance man in combat boots, and an unlikely connoisseur of feminine pulchritude. His writings are a cure for ignorance and boredom in a troubled world.
