Random ramblings

The American Death Toll in Iraq has hit a two year low. I know, you saw it in all the headlines.

David Byrne, in the Chicago Tribune is taking the media to task on its Iraq coverage:

Those of us who haven’t been in a war zone criticize the work of war correspondents at our own peril. Yet, for all the assertions that little or no good news is to be found in Iraq, it is simple to find some on the Internet from, for example, the U.S. Agency for International Development, which is helping rebuild Iraq.
[…]
Oddly, some journalists give little credence to such official, attributable reports. In today’s upside-down world, official government reports don’t carry the same weight as whispered, unattributed reports.
[…]
If all this is confusing, it’s nothing compared to the confusion shared by the American public about what actually is happening in Iraq. The media’s credibility has become so strained that partisans on both sides have to admit in good conscience that they’re unsure of what’s real. Obviously, this isn’t good for a democracy.

Indeed. But just to give you a little example of how deeply is the refusal of the press to present any sort of positive story on the war, check out this post by Jack Kelly, wherein a soldier tells New York Times reporter Michael Moss one story and Moss prints something quite different. It’s difficult to excerpt – do yourself a favor and go read it.

Fake news for political expediency: According to Howie Kurtz, the Democrats have set up decoy news websites

They described this means of distribution as far more efficient than the more traditional slip of a document to a newspaper reporter.

“A senior party official, who was granted anonymity in exchange for describing a clandestine effort, said the party created a now-defunct site called D.C. Inside Scoop to, among other things, distribute a document written by Senator Mel Martinez, Republican of Florida, discussing the political benefits of the Terri Schiavo case. A second such site, http://capitolbuzz.blogspot.com, spread more mischievous information: the purported sighting of Senator Rick Santorum, a Pennsylvania Republican, parking in a spot reserved for the handicapped.”

Writes Howie: So you can’t believe everything you read online. Who’d have thunk it?

Also interesting is that this little bit of info was buried so deeply in an article as to be virtually invisible. Imagine for a moment the sort of blaring headlines we’d be reading if the GOP pulled a similar stunt. Ah, well.

Oh, those 30 Headless Iraqis? Never mind. A rumor. Mudville Gazette finds the almost sort of correction in the NY Times. In the 17th paragraph. You can’t believe everything you read in the NY Times, either. I wonder what Sam Freedman at Columbia J- School would say about that. Gatekeepers!

The Washington Times reports that Hillary is going conservative on immigration, and it oddly does not mention her proclamation – only a few weeks ago – about how it fits into her “understanding of scripture.”

“It is certainly not in keeping with my understanding of the Scripture because this bill would literally criminalize the Good Samaritan and probably even Jesus himself,” she said. Whatever.

George Will is a little weary of the Global Warming Hoo-ha, too.

While worrying about Montana’s receding glaciers, Schweitzer, who is 50, should also worry about the fact that when he was 20 he was told to be worried, very worried, about global cooling. Science magazine (Dec. 10, 1976) warned of “extensive Northern Hemisphere glaciation.” Science Digest (February 1973) reported that “the world’s climatologists are agreed” that we must “prepare for the next ice age.” The Christian Science Monitor (“Warning: Earth’s Climate is Changing Faster Than Even Experts Expect,” Aug. 27, 1974) reported that glaciers “have begun to advance,” “growing seasons in England and Scandinavia are getting shorter” and “the North Atlantic is cooling down about as fast as an ocean can cool.” Newsweek agreed (“The Cooling World,” April 28, 1975) that meteorologists “are almost unanimous” that catastrophic famines might result from the global cooling that the New York Times (Sept. 14, 1975) said “may mark the return to another ice age.” The Times (May 21, 1975) also said “a major cooling of the climate is widely considered inevitable” now that it is “well established” that the Northern Hemisphere’s climate “has been getting cooler since about 1950.”

But…but…it’s science! It is indisputable!

Ed Driscoll notes that this “concern” is part of the stuck-in-the-70’s politics we cannot escape.

Mark Steyn says, Don’t Deny Some Muslims are Hot for Jihad

Thomas Birdnow writes in American Thinker about birth dearth and immigration.

This fellow thinks liberalism is a mental disorder. I don’t know that I’d go that far, old fellow.

On the blogs, Ed Morrissey is looking at France’s descent into madness. It’s really a shame what is happening to that beautiful country. Socialism doesn’t work. The Kurds in Iraq seem to know that, btw, and so they want to bring freedom to Iran.

Sigmund, Carl and Alfred have a remarkable post up touching on America, Europe, de Tocqueville, the popes… you should go read it, and follow all of his links – because he’s springboarding off of some other very remarkable writing, to whit; neo-neocon’s ruminations on the Guilt of Europe and shrikwrapped’s multi-parter on shame and demographics.

In the beginning was Jeanette and she blogged and she said, “Blogging is good, but I could use some company and in came Newton. And it was good. Then Jeanette said, “let’s just bring a whole gang in here…”. Go check out the new “blogging team” at Oh How I Love Jesus. Newton points out that Abdul Rahman has changed his name. I don’t know what good it does him to change his name if he’s going to tell everyone about it, though! :-)

Speaking of Rahman, here is a look at apostacy in the Koran, Traditions and Islamic Law.

AJ says the WOT is now focused on Pakistan where Moderate Islamists are fighting extremists. That’s hopeful.

Doc Sanity says Muslim cartoonists suffer from cognitive dissonance.

Gerald put upon himself the unenviable task of looking at priestly sex abuse and writing a comprehensive report. Grim but necessary reading. The politically correct won’t like it. Neither will anyone else. There is nothing to like, here, but Gerald did a good job, with charts and graphs, etc.

LGF imparts the info that Bill Clinton says to Hamas, “tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies…”.

On an Ironic note, ABP says Al Gore is being too clever by half in calling George Bush a Neville Chamberlain…on Global Warming. The REAL enemy.

Meanwhile, Baldilocks has some concerns about how deeply things are penetrated.

CBS Public Eye’s Brian Montopoli attended the MRC’s Dishonors Awards and writes about it. He was pretty much not amused. I must say I probably wouldn’t be either, were I a journalist. But to be fair, I wouldn’t enjoy it as a blogger, either. I’ve never enjoyed “slamming for the sake of slamming.” I never thought feminists were smart to “celebrate” women by slamming men, and I don’t much like that vibe no matter the corner of origination.