Read Around The World

OMG - Do not go through your life without going here and clicking on the picture - turn up the sound. And please watch the whole thing.

This is a queer way to get to the Supreme Court - but, hey, whatever works. Um, it's kinda sorta a spoof.

There's new info on Cindy Sheehan here.

Why doesn't someone just offer to whack this guy and make him happy? Poor Rusty in search of the illusive fatwa and all he ever gets are death threats for web logging. And, folks, he isn't the only one I have seen. SOme web loggers are very cncerned about their safety when it comes to writing on the topic in depth.

You have to see this - turn up your sound. There's a giggolo in the force. ; ))

There's a blogging survey going on - one is real and one is surreal. Fun read.

Comments

[Buckley F. Williams]

Thanks for the link Dan. Have a great weekend.

[NewYawkGirl]

I have not seen that william shatner clip since 1978.. what a riot!!i remember that and how we all were laughing our butts off.. hey we were only 13

and Yoda doing louis prima that was the best!!

[Jonis]

Dan,
Your recent link with "new info" about Sheehan is pointless. The point is that when her son enlisted for service it was in good faith that any American president he would serve under would make wise, unrushed, HONEST decisions before taking troops into war. Casey probably assumed he would never work for a President that would have colleagues who would lie and distort evidence, out CIA ops who didn't agree with their assessment, and a President whom earned his title rather than someone who just rode his family's coattails to the top. Also, wouldn't it have been nice to have a President who wasn't a former cokehead?

[Lurkess]

My father is spinning in his grave. I do so wonder how the AP Style Manual is handling blogging.

I loved the Survey and that William Shatner clip IS priceless.

[Sissy Willis]

Thanks for the link. I'm enjoying a RiehlWorldView-lanche, a nice thing to have on a slow Saturday. :)

[(CindyLouWho)]

boppin with Yoda!!!

Where do you find this stuff!!!

[Susan P.]

I love the Yoda gig!

[frenchymom]

I love these! Thanks for sharing Dan!

[Sgt. York]

RE: "There's new info on Cindy Sheehan here."

PATHETIC. She's a grieving mother and you dirtbags slime her. Why don't you pro-war chickensh1ts get your skinny azzes in the the kill zone? Their is a recruitment deficit for the infantry.

Personally, I think every member of the so-called 'volunteer' army and national guard curently in Iraq should be given the option of coming back state-side imediately. Let's trashcan this 'stop-loss' garbage too. To assert that just because you volunteer for the military does not mean that you volunteer to have you life pissed away or you legs blown off simply because the neo-crazies want all the arabs dead. It's a stupid worthless war that will result in another oppressive Islamic state which will be much worse than the previous secular dictatorship.

[shonane]

I agree with Cindy Sheena's position and so do the majority of the people of the world, with the exception of some in the US. So what if she is aligned with the antiwar groups, some on far left? It is not just folks on the far left that were opposed to what happened with, and is occurring in Iraq.

Further, momentum is getting ready to build on this topic because it is pretty clear that our US administration is getting ready to take us into Iran, and the writing has been on the wall since prior to invasion of Iraq. When the US institutes a draft (and don't think that day isn't coming if we get into another major conflict, like with Iran), then the US population's alignment with the anti war groups will vastly increase.

It is not OK for a country's administration to take them into war on false pretenses - period. And although we are hopeful that the good that can be achieved from this invasion will ultimately result in positive outcomes for the Iraqi people, it is questionable as of today if the costs were worth the outcomes. There were other ways that Saddam could have been dealt with than this.

Cindy Sheenan is one brave woman. No, she is not dishonoring her son, but neither does she want more of our children to serve the same fate in a war that our country was taken into under false pretenses. Whole blogs have been devoted to this topic since preinvasion so won't elaborate more.

Liked the Yoda clip.

[Beth]

Thanks for the links, Dan! ;-)

[shonane]

I agree with you too Sgt York.

[lin]

Cindy Sheehan is making herself look stupid. Her son should be praised for giving his life for us not used as a pawn for Anti War activists. ANYONE who joins the military joins to serve and protect their country. Whay does one join if not for this reason. My father is a WWII Vet and his father before him was a WWI Vet. My husband is a Vietnam Vet. My father can tell you of laying in mud and the smell of death around you for days, my husband lost one of his best friends. They were afraid they were terrified but they served. And because of them we are able to do as we please and my son and grandson have a free world to live in. None of them wanted to go they were drafted but they stood up and went. If someone does not want to take the chance of having to serve their country during war time I think they should not enlist. Do people enlist to go to college or to just wear a uniform. We are not supporting our troops by fighteing against what they are fighting for. We need to give them all the support we can Do you remember what happened when our Vietnam Vets came home and that stupid Jane Fonda. She did not hurt anyone except those men and their families she betrayed. Another thought more of our young are killing each other on the streets here than ever before. Something is terribly wrong with this picture.

[Jonis]

The point is that when her son enlisted for service it was in good faith that any American president he would serve under would make wise, unrushed, HONEST decisions before taking troops into war. Casey probably assumed he would never work for a President that would have colleagues who would lie and distort evidence, out CIA ops who didn't agree with their assessment, and a President whom earned his title rather than someone who just rode his family's coattails to the top. Also, wouldn't it have been nice to have a President who wasn't a former cokehead?

[fried]

if you enlist, you agree to obey the orders of your superiors. you do not agree to obey those orders only if you agree with them, that is, just, well the only way i can say it is, that is just stupid. no one in any military organization, ever has had that option. to asume otherwise, is, well just stupid. not unintelligent, just stupid. this woman is greiving for the loss of her son, i understand that. but. the decision was made. the decision was to serve. i do understand that decision. my son is serving now, today, as i type this. i served. my father served. my grandfather served. and so on. this is a war. it is very sad that a lot of people do not understand what is going on. most in the line of fire do. they have seen the thankful faces, the faces that do not have voices because the job is not done. there have been only three "popular" wars in the history of this country, the revolutionary war, the war between the states, and the second world war. does that make this one right? no. does that make this one wrong? no.
it just makes this another one where young men die.
if you can not accept that that is what the military is about, do not sign up, if your child is considering the military, and you do not agree, convince them not to sign.

i see that of the near two thousand that have died, there is 1, one, mother stalking the president with a press agent. she should have said no. it is too late now, that is a sad thing, but it is a real thing .

[sojourner]

Cindy Sheehan gets to be pissed, Dan. Her kid got killed because of Bush's irresponsibilty and flat-out deceit. You guys trying to smear her should quit -- you're making conservatives look really, really bad.

lin -- it's boneheaded to say that ANYONE who joins does so to protect their country. My dad and uncle were also in WWII. They enlisted voluntarily with the navy to protect themselves from being drafted by the army, which would have put them in a much more dangerous position. It's a fact. People are often forced into making decisions they don't want to--or worse yet, TRICKED, like Casey Sheehan was tricked into joining because he thought it was a patriotic and just war, and now it turns out to be a friggin pack of lies.

fried -- As for a parent changing a kid's mind? Don't think so. The military preys on young kids who are easy to brainwash into being killing machines. And they preyed on the patriotism that kids felt after 9/11. The older people in the combat zone are for the most part army reserves and national guards--they didn't sign up for Iraq. They signed up to stack sandbags on flooding riverbanks, poor saps. No wonder they have a stop loss policy. No more "seasoned" people are going to be signing up to go the front lines--only the young, the dumb, and the poor, who are being pushed to the brink of desperation by Bush's retarded economic policies and will be tempted by the big sign on bonuses that are now being dangled.

[stellartrack]

Jonis wrote: Also, wouldn't it have been nice to have a President who wasn't a former cokehead?

Please provide proof of this.

Hint: you will not find it, but let me see how you prove your statement.

[shonane]

Lin - You cannot compare WWII with Iraq and willingness of our soldiers to serve.

In WWII the US was ATTACKED by Japan, and much of the free world was at war as Hitler proceeded to take over countries. In contrast, Iraq was no threat to us and the reason given to invade were bogus.

Vietnam - I was a stupid war. My ex husband is a Vietnam vet, and he agrees. He came back whole, but developed horrible health problems due to Agent Orange poisoning, and eventually had to have both legs removed, and has had several strokes, more.... He is only 53 yrs old today. At least he lived. (This was a star athlete DRAFTED while under a college baseball scholarship) I recently went to the see the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC. Were all those lives worth it, and the lives of citizens in S Vietnam? For what? What was accomplished?

We did not need, nor will we ever need, another war of choice.

[clintcarter]

Back before I knew what a good egg Mrs. Jimi was I crudely said I wished her name was Ms.williamshatner. At the time I had his version of 'Mr. Bojangles' in mind (done in a similar cadence !!), but that was no more painful than this clip.
I need to put something on to wash out my ears...

[clintcarter]

Re: the Illusive Fatwa;

do you think it's so that the people who imagine secret Forces aligned against them are most likely to be part of a secret Force aligned against someone?

[lin]

I still ask why do they join. Do they join to just train FOR COMBAT but never expect to be called upon to use it. Military is not just for peace times. Do you forget that we were attacked or is it ok for those lives to be lost. War is war. I don't like it noone wants war but it will happen and thank God for those that defend our freedom. We need to stand behind these young men and women not make them feel like they are doing something wrong for being there.

[Buckley F. Williams]

"War is war. I don't like it no one wants war but it will happen and thank God for those that defend our freedom."

Well said Lin. The opposite of anti-War is not pro-war. But sometimes war is neccessary. No sane person enjoys it.

Sojourner- "Her kid got killed because of Bush's irresponsibilty and flat-out deceit. You guys trying to smear her should quit -- you're making conservatives look really, really bad."

First of all I can't imagine how terrible it must be to lose a child. I'm sure there can be no worse pain.

That being said, what exactly is Bush's irresponsibility and flat out deceit? I have yet to hear a coherent, emotionless take put forth by anyone on the left on this topic. Bumper stickers and feelings do not count.

[Sgt. York]

- "Do you forget that we were attacked..."

A bunch of anarchists from Saudi Arabia attack the US and you invade Iraq? That makes sense... buy a map.

- "Were all those lives worth it, and the lives of citizens in S Vietnam? For what? What was accomplished?"

Vietnam was a stupid war and there was no reason the US should have occupied that country. The brutal Vietnamese Generals we put in charge of the south were simply oppressive dictators. The spectical of Buddist Monks setting themselves on fire was in response to the closing of Buddhist monistaries in an attempt to forcefully change the country into a Catholic nation. Every US man and woman who died in that war was a life toss-away by the American political elite. Iraq is Vietnam all over again.

[!]

Rocket man ! You rock ! :O)

[!]

LIGHT A CANDLE.
WE WILL NEVER FORGET !!

http://www.circle-of-light.com/911/911candleI01.html

[BhamRes]

Regarding Cindy Sheehan: I think there should be a NEW RULE. From now on, unless you have EVER lost a child, you have NO RIGHT to criticize a grieving mother. Until you have walked in those shoes, you should SHUT UP and let her alone.