Tall Ships Visit New Bedford, MA
4 days ago
Friday, January 13, 2012
Just Don't Capture The Moment
Today's Review contains an article about the US trying to contain the damage from a video showing US Marines urinating on corpses.
As the video spread across the Internet in postings and re-postings, U.S. officials joined with Afghans in calling it shocking, deplorable, inhumane and a breach of military standards of conduct. It shows men in Marine combat gear standing in a semicircle urinating on the bodies of three men in standard Afghan clothing, one whose chest was covered in blood.
It’s not certain whether the dead were Taliban fighters, civilians or someone else.
...
“The danger is that this kind of video can be misused in many ways to undermine what we are trying to do in Afghanistan and the possibility of reconciliation,” [Defense Secretary Leon] Panetta said at Fort Bliss, Texas, adding it’s important for the U.S. to move quickly to “send a clear signal to the world that the U.S. will not tolerate this kind of behavior and that is not what the U.S. is all about.”
So let's review.
Enhanced interrogation - acceptable.
Urinating on corpses - unacceptable.
It's all about sending "a clear signal to the world that the U.S. will not tolerate this kind of behavior and that is not what the U.S. is all about."
As the video spread across the Internet in postings and re-postings, U.S. officials joined with Afghans in calling it shocking, deplorable, inhumane and a breach of military standards of conduct. It shows men in Marine combat gear standing in a semicircle urinating on the bodies of three men in standard Afghan clothing, one whose chest was covered in blood.
It’s not certain whether the dead were Taliban fighters, civilians or someone else.
...
“The danger is that this kind of video can be misused in many ways to undermine what we are trying to do in Afghanistan and the possibility of reconciliation,” [Defense Secretary Leon] Panetta said at Fort Bliss, Texas, adding it’s important for the U.S. to move quickly to “send a clear signal to the world that the U.S. will not tolerate this kind of behavior and that is not what the U.S. is all about.”
So let's review.
It's all about sending "a clear signal to the world that the U.S. will not tolerate this kind of behavior and that is not what the U.S. is all about."
Every Day Cyclist Feedback
Catching the STA for the ride home after work yesterday evening, I sat next to a gentleman who looked at me and then pulled out the January issue of Out There Monthly. Pointing to the Every Day Cyclist piece, he asked if I wrote it. I told him I did.
It turns out he lives north of Spokane not far from me and he has always wished there was an easier way to get downtown by bike than following the busy arterials. He wants to ride his bike to the Centennial Trail and Fish Lake Trail instead of hauling it there by car.
He asked if there was a map of Spokane bike routes. The only maps I'm aware of are the master bike plan maps but they don't show routes, only roadways that have lanes, are shared, etc. It shows the overall plan but doesn't tell you the best way to get from one point to another. You're left to divine that for yourself or find out from someone with experience.
Since he was stoked to learn there was a good route to follow from his home to Riverfront Park, I offered to draw it up on Google maps and email the link to him. Having done so, here's the map for anyone else who cares.
View North Spokane Bike Route in a larger map
It turns out he lives north of Spokane not far from me and he has always wished there was an easier way to get downtown by bike than following the busy arterials. He wants to ride his bike to the Centennial Trail and Fish Lake Trail instead of hauling it there by car.
He asked if there was a map of Spokane bike routes. The only maps I'm aware of are the master bike plan maps but they don't show routes, only roadways that have lanes, are shared, etc. It shows the overall plan but doesn't tell you the best way to get from one point to another. You're left to divine that for yourself or find out from someone with experience.
Since he was stoked to learn there was a good route to follow from his home to Riverfront Park, I offered to draw it up on Google maps and email the link to him. Having done so, here's the map for anyone else who cares.
View North Spokane Bike Route in a larger map
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Sen Baumgartner Town Hall Meetings
My state senator is holding two town hall meetings this Saturday. One is out at Eastern University, well outside District 6, and the other is at the MAC.
The first town hall will be at 8 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 14 in the Multipurpose Room (PUB 101) at Eastern Washington University in Cheney. This meeting will be hosted by the Associated Students of Eastern Washington University.The second town hall is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 14 at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture in Spokane. The address is 2316 W. 1st Avenue.
I think I can make the second meeting.
The first town hall will be at 8 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 14 in the Multipurpose Room (PUB 101) at Eastern Washington University in Cheney. This meeting will be hosted by the Associated Students of Eastern Washington University.The second town hall is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 14 at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture in Spokane. The address is 2316 W. 1st Avenue.
I think I can make the second meeting.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Not The Family Feud
You have until Jan 25 to participate in a survey by one Steve Beren, a former antiwar activist and socialist who is now a patriot and a Christian, concerning the GOP picks for this election year.
1. AGREE or DISAGREE? "President Obama is not just an average statist progressive liberal Democrat. He is one of the worst presidents ever. We can't have him making the Supreme Court nominations through January 2017. We can't have him holding a veto pen when Congress repeals Obamacare in early 2013. We should support our favored candidate in the primary/caucus process, but once a GOP candidate wins the nomination, we should unite to support that candidate as superior to Obama, even if the GOP nominee is not our first choice, and even if we disagree with the nominee on some important issues."
2. AGREE or DISAGREE? "The effort to repeal and defund Obamacare will be a central 2012 campaign issue. There should be no federal or state mandates forcing people to buy healthcare insurance. The GOP needs a presidential candidate in 2012 who can persuasively, articulately, and effectively lead the effort to repeal Obamacare. We need a candidate whose candidacy would convincingly embody the citizens' opposition to government-run healthcare."
3. AGREE or DISAGREE? "President Obama lacks a victory strategy in the war imposed upon us by the pro-terrorist, anti-liberty, caliphate-seeking Islamic fascist political movement. The GOP needs a candidate who supports the traditional pro-liberty, morality-based conservative foreign policy of Reagan to reverse the Obama foreign policy of apology, weakness, retreat, appeasement, decline, and defeat."
Survey says? It's a bit over the top.
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