April, 2003 Week 2

To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.

Theodore Roosevelt, 26th US President (1858-1919)

Monday  April 7, 2003

I am still trying hard not to get upset about BWII. I am trying to focus on the fact that I have no control over this situation and that no one really gives a damn what I think. I wish there was some way to stop the friendly fire incidents, it's getting ridiculous, Americans are close to killing more Brit's than the Iraqi's and that's insane.

"B" got Dentaled today, I have to take him in tomorrow to get a filling. I am not feeling too spiffy, I've felt lethargic for a couple days, I have so much to do and no energy to do it.

Tuesday  April 8, 2003

I got "B" to the Dentist's on time... $102.00 for a stupid filling, that's after the DMO paid it's share. Damn... I paid for Autumn's yearbook, and I only have to buy 3 more...

Cindy is starting to notice that no one wants to have her hang around with them, she is pretty upset and doesn't understand why she can't fit in. I read an excellent article on Aspergers Syndrome vs HFA (High Functioning Autism) last night, a devious damn thing. The fact that Dr's and Scientists quibble about the differences, the bottom line is that there isn't a hell of a lot we can do about it. It just is, there are no medications to cure it but there are drugs that help her stay mellow and not be depressed... I let her read it too, she doesn't understand what she is reading very well but that's OK. She got out of it what she could and seemed to be a bit comforted by the fact that there was a reason for her inability to get along socially. She looks and seems to function normally in familiar surroundings but when she is stressed or out of her comfort-zone she gets confused. She can't carry on a conversation because she doesn't understand how to stay on topic, conversations with her can be very surreal in an inane sort of way... she seems to be getting a little better at understanding when something is wrong though and though she is frustrated she can withdraw into herself and a seems to accept the reality of the situation... I am not saying this well am I. If you're interested you can read the article, it describes her symptoms quite well.

Killed a few reporters today, the Brit's are watching the riots in Basra, American snipers are bragging about their civilian kills, we killed a bunch of people in a few houses in a wealthy neighborhood in Baghdad with Bunker Busters, some one said Saddam was there, hell of a cool way to get rid of a competitor or a pesky neighbor, just tell the American's that Saddam may be there and they'll drop a bomb on them. Lots of bad stuff going on, too many civilians being killed, no resistance to speak of from the Iraqi Army, something stinks. I wonder if Bush sleeps well at night... none of these people would be dead if it wasn't for G. W. Bush.

My back is sore, has been since last week...

The Trip Mileage meter on Van had been zeroed it is at 17.7... I don't remember doing that... Mike?

Wednesday  April 9, 2003

Here's a fun hobby of mine: When I get e-mail spam that includes an 800-number, I save the number for later. Then when one of the hundreds of Nigerian scam e-mails hits my e-mail box, I reply enthusiastically and give the 800-number of the spammer as my own.  I feel that people in the DNRC (Dogbert's New Ruling Class) have a responsibility to introduce Assholes to each other.

Still can't find my damn keys, I hate this... my back is killing me... I hat that too... makes me grumpy.

The Beavertail Cactus bloomed today, a bright fuchsia flower, my camera can't seem to get it right... but it's close. We get to take Autumn in to the dentist again... not something I am looking forward to, they will have to give her something to sedate her because she is totally uncooperative, she fights like a little tiger.

I found another error in my Genealogy resource book, rather, I had one pointed out to me. I hate when that happens... all the work entering the data only to find errors is demoralizing. This had to do with a line from Zabina Daggett, he had a son called only W. W., aw... never mind, it's tedious to write about this stuff twice...

Baghdad, for all intents and purposes, fell today... Saddam and his cronies are in hiding, or dead. I hope this ends soon. They need a lot of help over there. Police, Water, Electricity, a Government... stability... I don't trust a lot that comes from our news media but the BBC is telling about cheering crowds, and grateful Iraqi's... I am glad it's winding down, I hope not too many more people get killed.

Autumn goes to the dentist tomorrow... at Children's Hospital.

Thursday  April 10, 2003

The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks.

Columbus!

They say that Christopher Columbus was the first Democrat. When he left to discover America, he didn't know where he was going. When he got there he didn't know where he was. And it was all done on a government grant.

This is supposed to be a joke but it has always bothered me, I think it is actually a fairly accurate description of a Democrat, and therefore I think that the implied opposite is true of Republicans, were Christopher Columbus a Republican it would never have occurred to him to upset the status quo. He would have been on the pier laughing and jeering at that tiny fleet because it would soon fall off the edge of the world.

Coincidentally I got this today:

You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America's Cup, France is accusing the U.S. of arrogance, Germany doesn't want to go to war, and the three most powerful men in America are named 'Bush', 'Dick', and 'Colon'. Need I say more?"

Interesting, isn’t it, that I have seen this about 100 times in the past two or three weeks from my Conservative friends, but always with the last line deleted.

We took Autumn to Children's Hospital for her exam, two more cavities and a crown needs to be replaced, that means she has to go back and get put under again... it also means we have to get permission from Kaiser again... it was a bitch last time. Calie broke the top off a tooth on Sunday, I have an appointment for her on Monday at 1400.. going to be a pain to get kids and get her in...

Went to the ROF... I had a hard time talking to Tony about the war... he is a Black and White sort of guy, I am a gray and fuzzy sort of guy, it is hard to communicate... he has to see things as right or wrong, good or evil to make sense of the world... would that I could do the same. I envy folks who can pass judgment on a thing and be done with it, I have to find the truth... I have to find a reason to justify the blood being spilled... cheap oil... phantom Atom Bombs, invisible rockets, mysterious terrorists, drones disguised as balsa wood and duct tape RC planes, tons of undetectable anthrax...

Friday  April 11, 2003

...Last night I heard that Rick Galceron has died... Tony got a call from Rick's sister and she confirmed it. He passed away yesterday... he was a tough man, and he died hard, I liked him a lot. He was one of those guys that everyone has in his life. some one you would like to pal around with but circumstances or logistics just wouldn't allow it. I met Rick at a company school back about 1971, we car pooled to Glendale, he lived near the El Monte Arcadia border somewhere and I lived in El Monte. He had strong views about things, he seemed to have a no nonsense view of the the phone company, a hard and conscientious worker.

One memory to give you a feel for him; We hooked up to help someone move or something and I was anxious to get it over with, but we had to wait, his wife, Rose, sent their son out and he jumped into the truck with us, I asked, :"Is (I forget his name now) coming with us?"  Rick looked at me a little sternly and said; "I never go anywhere without my boy." Boy, no way not to respect that...

I couldn't hold a candle to him when it came to technical expertise. The Phone Company was always a struggle for me but it seemed effortless for him. We kept bumping into each other over the years. Some times there were five and ten year gaps. Different jobs, different locations.  I think we were friends, I wish we had been pal's...

Christy and I had breakfast at Crazy Otto's... over did again... not hard to do at Otto's. Christy did some shopping and I just  sat around, back is still sore, not so sore I couldn't have done something but I just sorta hung around the house and waited for the clock to get to 1430 so I could go get Autumn and Monica, Christy picked up Cindy.

I went to see a movie, "A Man Alone"... better than I thought it would be, it stared Vin Diesel, he is not exactly blessed with Shakespearian capabilities but he can sure pull off a convincing action flic. He seems to be able to find interesting material and he doesn't overplay his part. I had gone to see "Chicago" but it wasn't playing... the guide said it was but when I got there the marquee had a whole new line-up... there were only about 10 people in the theater... don't know how they stay in business. 

Saturday  April 12, 2003

...Lots of France Bashing e-mail today... Where does it say that France can't disagree with America. Some of the e-mail even implied that France was Pro Iraq... it's crazy.  Another said that Frenchman were cowards, apparently fighting to virtually the last man in the Great War and WWII wasn't enough, the French are not cowards, they just think we are wrong ant that we have made a mistake. I happen to think they are right. Not the fact that we took on Iraq, but the fact that we took on Iraq for the wrong reason and we took on Iraq virtually alone without the UN behind us. I happen to agree.

I have received more e-mail condemning people who think Bush is wrong, Republicans they say it's unpatriotic... what a total misunderstanding of the word. The day it becomes unpatriotic to disagree with Republicans is the day the country ceases to be a Democracy. When dissent is illegal, when opposing opinions are censored, condemned or ridiculed then this country has bigger problems than terrorism. This is America, it's a Democratic Republic, not a Kingdom. Slavish loyalty to a leader, even a President, when you think he is wrong is unpatriotic.

Our loyalty is to our Country, we are mandated by the Constitution to speak out, literally and in the voting booth, when we think that our leaders are wrong, Republicans thought it was their sanctimonious duty to vilify Clinton 5 years ago... to their way of thinking it wasn't unpatriotic then but now when 50% of the country thinks that Bush has put everything on the back burner while he is taking their country on a messianic crusade for God and Oil, the administration is doing nothing to restore confidence in the Economy and , we are going into debt to the tune of several billion dollars a day and he is still pushing for tax rebates. 

This was Mikes last day of Community Service, he was feeling pretty poorly this morning and contemplated not going. I took him to Mark's and dropped Calie and Monica off at the Basketball game in Lancaster, one of the mom's is supposed to bring them home... Christian is at Shon's

Sunday  April 13, 2003

Ooooo, I love to dance a little side-step,
Now they see me, now they don't,
I've come and gone;
And, ooooo, I love to sweep around the wide-step,
Cut a little swathe and lead the people on.

Sung by the Governor of Texas in:
"The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas"
 

Feeling pretty sick today, I think Autumn has what I have... we share breakfast most mornings and she caught it from me I think.

Missed my Motorcycle race today... irked me... they showed it at 1300 instead of 1600 like the guide said... damn.

...Iraqi lady that waved to a helicopter and was subsequently hung from a lamppost. No one has been able to corroborate that story yet.

A man was tied to a stake in town square and bled to death after having his tongue cut out. No one has been able to corroborate this story yet.

Lady who talked to CNN reporter was dismembered and sent to her family in a plastic bag. No one has been able to corroborate this story yet.

62% of the American Public believes that Saddam was involved in the 9/11 atrocity.

Bush said that he believed that Syria has weapons of mass destruction

Bush said he believes the Iraq has weapons of mass destruction and is harboring terrorists.

Bush said the he thinks that there needs to a regime change on Korea.

The mantra worked before it will work again, it doesn't look like Bush is going to stop his crusade folks...

Reporters are saying that they have been told not to use the word Fedayeen  to describe Saddam's "loyal" core of troops. Though at times improperly termed an "elite" unit, the Fedayeen is a politically reliable force that can be counted on to support Saddam against domestic opponents. They are to be called, Saddam's "Death Squad".

TELEVISION / HOWARD ROSENBERG
Objectivity is lost to Fox News' barbs

By Howard Rosenberg

"There's a see-ya-later-buddy quality to this."

TV pictures of Baghdad's fall included a U.S. soldier briefly draping an American flag over the head of a 40-foot statue of Saddam Hussein that was about to come down.

"No doubt, Al Jazeera and the others will make hay with that," "fair and balanced" Fox News Channel anchor David Asman said on Wednesday, expressing his disdain for the Qatar-

based Arab satellite channel famous for its opinionated, non-Western news perspective.

When Fox reporter Simon Marks suggested from Amman, Jordan, that Arabs "on the street" may still regard Americans as invaders who manipulated these images, not as liberators, Asman snapped: "There is a certain ridiculousness to that point of view."

Whether he was right or wrong, the day's symbolism was historic on a level unrelated to politics or nationalism. When the statue of Hussein fell, an era of TV news appeared to topple with it.

There was a time, years ago, when even a network news anchor's raised eyebrow was correctly denounced as commentary. How quaint and musty that code of objectivity now seems as the war in Iraq winds down.

And viewers face Fox's swirling sands of spin.

Fox is not the only cable news channel that seamlessly stitches opinion to news. It happens regularly at CNN, the self-anointed "most trusted name in news," where prominent anchor Lou Dobbs is easily irked by opinions he doesn't share and is allowed to slap down interviewees who express them. And some of MSNBC's minions are not far behind.

Yet story slanting and bombast have soared stratospherically at Rupert Murdoch's 24-hour Fox channel under the guidance of former Republican political operative Roger Ailes since it was founded in 1996, ostensibly to combat bias in news. "Liberal" bias, that is.

Clearly, Fox is doing just fine in the eyes of many Americans, having passed older CNN in the ratings and made stars of some of its people.

A recent viewers poll by Murdoch-owned TV Guide found vamping, hyperventilating, tabloid-bred Shepard Smith, of all people, tied with ABC's Peter Jennings, just ahead of CBS' Dan Rather, for second place in network anchor credibility behind NBC's Tom Brokaw.

And that self-inflating gasbag Bill O'Reilly and his "O'Reilly Factor" are now something of a national institution. He is a real hoot, at times rising to exquisite self-parody, as when interviewing Princeton's Peter Singer, who equated the lives of slain Iraqi civilians with those of Americans fighting there.

"I believe you are on the wrong side of this politically and morally," O'Reilly lectured him, "but I'm going to give you the last word."

Then O'Reilly followed Singer's last word with his own: "You're doing a great disservice to your country, sir."

Where should journalists draw a line separating news from opinion? Throughout much of Fox, the question never arises.

Although its field reporters play it mostly down the middle -- and that's significant -- its New York anchor-interviewers are notorious for injecting their own views, nearly always conservative and supportive of the Bush administration. What's more, at times they press field reporters to agree.

Add to that an overwhelming dominance of right-of-center pundits and guests, and the result is pretty much a wall of conservative opinion.

Greta Van Susteren is generally fair and not jingoistic while anchoring her evening program. And Fox does use some liberal-stamped pundits as regulars. But they are nearly always relegated to the fringes of its programming schedule.

An exception is moderately left-of-center talk-radio host Alan Colmes, but he wears a bull's-eye on his chest. The hapless, sleepy, untelegenic Colmes is mowed down nightly by his forceful, articulate, camera-tailored, extreme-right counterpart, talk-radio star Sean Hannity, in their debates on "Hannity & Colmes." Plus, Fox often visits Hannity's radio studio to get his views on the day's news, something it doesn't do for Colmes.

In other words, Fox slants like a drunk who's guzzled a couple of six-packs. If only it did so honestly, calling itself the "conservative alternative" or something like that, instead of pretending to be what it's not by having its anchors deliver these relentless on-screen mantras: "We report, you decide" and "real journalism, fair and balanced." Fat chance.

Instead, a sample day this week found these Uncle Sams tenaciously bashing the French, the United Nations, Al Jazeera and those in the media, especially the New York Times, questioning the war in Iraq. At Fox, that equals treason.

 

"We report, you decide" on "Fox and Friends," an early-morning show whose three hosts tackle news with schmooze: "I want to know whether the New York Times is putting a picture of this on its cover," co-host Steve Doocy said about footage of Kurds celebrating the downfall of Hussein in northern Iraq. Meanwhile, co-host Brian Kilmeade wasn't buying "British intelligence" cited in London papers reporting that Hussein probably survived the recent U.S. air strike aimed at him. "So-called" British intelligence, he called it.

"We report, you decide" with Asman, a former editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal: "What do you think of these armchair critics from the New York Times?" he asked a guest, adding about "gloom and doom" stories: "Have these news organizations lost all credibility for analyzing military strategy?"

"We report, you decide" with anchor Neil Cavuto, who, like others at Fox, adopts White House and Pentagon war terminology -- "the coalition of the willing" -- to describe the U.S.-British-dominated war effort led by President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. "What's to stop us from just telling the French and Germans, 'To hell with you?' " Cavuto asked his pro-war guest. And exhuming a favorite Fox target out of the blue, he asked: "Would you have been able to see this kind of closeness in war between Tony Blair and Clinton?"

"We report, you decide" with anchor John Gibson, wondering "what the French are gonna do to try to screw up" Iraq's coming post-Hussein period. As for the U.N. wanting a central role in postwar reconstruction, Gibson added: "Americans think it's an absolute joke that the U.N. is so presumptuous to think that it could run Iraq. The idea that we would turn it over to the U.N. to fumble seems incomprehensible." When a Gibson guest argued that many Arabs oppose long-term U.S. involvement in postwar Iraq, he cut him off.

"We report, you decide" with Smith on a U.S. tank killing two journalists and wounding many others when firing into Iraq's Palestine Hotel, where hundreds of foreign journalists were based: "I think it's now pretty clear ... that snipers were on that roof ... and by design, and in effect, journalists are being used as human shields," he said. That contradicted German freelance reporter Chris Jumpelt, who was working for Fox and on the line from Baghdad after being in the hotel when the blast came. The Pentagon claimed the tank was taking sniper fire from the hotel, something Jumpelt and other journalists disputed, but something Smith accepted. As if to undermine Jumpelt, Smith pointed out that the reporter was being "minded by Iraqis [who monitor] what he says." If true, then why ask Jumpelt about this in the first place?

As for those London press reports that Hussein likely survived the recent air strike, Smith didn't like those much either. "What do we know about this paper, the Guardian?" he asked about the famous daily. Later, he announced that it and another London paper, the highly regarded Independent, were "decidedly antiwar," implying that they slanted their news reporting.

He must have confused them with Fox, where objectivity is routinely dispatched like images of Saddam Hussein. See ya later, buddy.