typical, only half the truth.

The MSM will search every crevice of the country to find a spokesman for the left wing views they sepouse.

The MSM consider the LEFT normal or mainstream
they view the RIGHT as odd and outdated mostly because they are LEFTists

which just goes to show how they are not really mainstream even though they have the mainstream audience and media outlets just not the pulse

and...we expected anything else?

As I constantly lament when seeing MSM articles: Haven't these people heard of Google? Thirty seconds of work on Google would stop a huge proportion of the errors and omissions from these so-called "reporters".

Sorry to go OT so early but the Washington Psot has an article that is absolutley unbelievable in its asininity.

Dick Cheney, Dressing Down

Parka, Ski Cap at Odds With Solemnity of Auschwitz Ceremony

Your Brother had to die to defend your right to write idiot columns and being a commie.

Without people like you, the power of America would be so great that FEWER GIs would have to die.

By the constant work of subverting, you cause many more American Lives to be lost in combat.

You have killed one more American Warrior with your column.
And the paper that has published it is responsible too.

The consequence is the death of our national treasure — our soldiers

Oh yeah, I'm sure this asshole thinks of our soldiers as national treasures. At his peace rally he probably calls them monsters and babkillers...

Put his names in quotes for a possibly more specific search (less results)

Remember though that many times peoples names are in reversed order or with commas

[Link: www.google.com...]

From the article:

He received a crash course in convoy security, including practice in running over cardboard cutouts of children.

Yeah right. I think Mr. Zappala's making stuff up. No wonder the MSM love him.

Remember the JOB of the MSM is to try to get to the mainstream to agree with them (politically) with all sorts of lies - anything to win the majority view

You can always retract later, if needed

right now its about getting the affect from middle of the road political people who still see the MSM as legitimate and honest

Not surprised to hear he is a part time teacher in Los Angeles and writes for a Communist paper. Don't they even try to hide it anymore?

Part time teacher- how does this guy survive?

Does he deal crack? Does he get a stipend from The Tides Foundation?

Joel- Re: Dick Cheney's clothes at Auschwitz compared to the perfectly dressed Jacque Chirac.

To quote myself from a previous thread

lets see, Jacque Chirac vs Dick Cheney re: The Holocaust.

Jacque Chirac was the architecht of the plan to build the nuclear reactors at Osirak, Iraq.

Oil rich Iraq then (like oil and gas rich Iran, now) had little use for commerical civilian power. Chirac had to figure the reactor might be used to build nuclear weapons. And who might be the target for an Iraqi nuclear bomb (besides, obviously, the Iranians).

Israel.

So Chirac can go pay tribute properly dressed to the victims of Auschwitz, even as he didn't seem to mind the possibility that the children and grandchildren of the survivors would be wiped out by nuclear attack.

Strange.

Well, he's a part-time teacher, in the sense that bin Laden is a full-time teacher.

An abuse of power by the administration approved by the rest of the legislative branches (Including John "I voted for it before I voted against it" Kerry)

The Houston Chronicle is nauseating. I occasionally e-mail the worthless "reader representative", in my attempt to correct the (outright) biased B.S they spew...only to be ignored.

Thank you Lone Star Times (chronically biased)

[Link: www.lonestartimes.com...]

ak (in Houston)

I am left now with a single word seared into my consciousness:

seared...seared!...

I wonder how he enjoyed Cambodia.

Ok, I don't get it! Our soldiers ARE a national treasure. Why does this man think we have soldiers anyway, if not for peace keeping AND national security! Does he think they are just an accessory that we teach how to shoot a weapon or fly a million dollar aircraft just for shits and giggles?

Lileks for FCC Chairman

Sign the petition!

So many Moonbats, so little time...

Don't forget to pray tomorrow for the success of the elections in Iraq on Sunday.

More MSM distortion, propaganda and half-truths designed to aid in the killing or our troops and the defeat of the nation.

This is same sort of lying by ommission that occured when the MSM profiled certain survivors of 9/11 who were clamoring for a full investigation witchunt of that event.

Jeez, did anyone here see "Nightline" last night? It was in their "Town Hall" format, and the title was "Iraq: Why Stay?"

Actually there were some good contributions, but they also gave a lot of time to still-angry Vietnam Vets and current casualties of the war (for sympathy effect). There seem to have been a couple of moonbat interruptions in the background, but they didn't show them.

There were several statements by current and former servicemen that tried to put the war in its proper context, but to me at least they seemed to get a chilly reception.

Is it possible that the Left's next strategy is to push for a cut-and-run regardless of the election outcome? It scared me to see how much applause the "get out now" speakers elicited.

I've been drunk in Houston.

I had a walk-on part in the Nutcracker years ago.

Please refer to me as "a part-time ballet dancer" henceforth.

The MSM's goal is to presuade those Americans who get their information from them and could lean either way

That's their goal

They are a fifth column for the enemies of the united states of america

"anti-Bush" ?

... seen this?:

[Link: tohellwithbush.com...]

(more sore losers)...geezus!

#20 MAV

I have faith, the people of Iraq are behind this! It the outsiders that don't want any kind of freedom in the region.

Now it's time for the Iraqi people to tell the insurgents to Get the f*ck out and stay out!

Mr. Zapalla, you need to change, or your hatred will make you sick. Love to hate USA, hate to love USA, that's what LLL is all about. We are truly sorry for your loss. Making political hay of that fact (your brother's death) is wrong.

#10 Semper Gumbi

Yeah right. I think Mr. Zappala's making stuff up.

I think you're right.

Sherwood Baker

In one of Sher's recent e-mails, Celeste [his moonbat mother - ed.] said, he asked for food and water. It appalled his family that soldiers were being sent into combat without the provisions to sustain them.

Now we're starving our babykillers. Ahhh...Halliburton was in charge of provisions, huh? Obviously, they just stole the money.

Disgusting. Nauseating. Enraging.
.
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Par for the course.

#23 Cato

It was Nightline, not sure how representative that show is of the red states who support the effort in Iraq and think we should stay until the job is done and done right.

The moonbat Washington Post "journalist" who wrote the story about the "polite" Iraqi kid who reads porno mags and slaps his mother is also regulary featured on "Occupation Watch."

And this should be surprising how?

This morning's WaPo was more interested in critiquing Dick Cheney's dress at the Auschwitz Memorial gathering (see Joel's post, #6) then covering Fat Teddy's "Troops out of Iraq" mindless rant.

Bias, they name is MSM.

#19 chris_l

"Sign the petition!"

done and done...

And in related news:

"The U.S. military presence has become part of the problem, not part of the solution,"

said the fat, bloated senior (citizen) Senator from Mass.

Look for the MSM to be on the scene with cameras in every terror attack in Iraq designed to defeat the election. They they will be on hand to record the mayhem is no accident as they are on the side of the Jihadis and have advance knowledge or are actually embedded in them. Just watch, you'll see.

Meanwhile, the will be no coverage of the venues where the voting goes off without a hitch.

Anyone want to predict which MSM news organ will be the first to delcare a "low" turnout as compared with the "high" turnout in Saddam's last election. You gotta know that it's coming. I think you'll hear it first on NPR, although it wouldn't surprise me if the NYT already has that one teed up. Still, I say NPR.

In Violence-Prone Mosul, Voters Will Need a Shield of Snipers

An election will be held Sunday in this violence-racked city of 1.6 million, but it remains an open question here - as in so many other Sunni Arab cities where the insurgent presence is strong - whether enough people will brave the dangers to vote in significant numbers.

And the Dems complain about having to wait in LINE here. Wussies.

Go Iraq!

(If you Google the article title you can read it without having to register)

I think we can all agree the wrong brother got killed.

David Kay, who led the group until January 2004, had already stated that they did not exist. Former U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix had expressed serious doubts about their presence during prewar inspections.

Yeah, let's just leave out the unimportant little detail that British, Egyptian and Jordanian intelligence all concurred with the CIA.

On our local news the other night (Chicago area) they played a lengthy segment of a woman whose son died in the recent helicopter crash asking why he had to die. The prevailing feeling in the newsroom was that there is no logical reason for the war.

Plus, where is the perspective from the media? They portray the war as an utter disaster, yet 30 something dead is the deadliest day after two years of a war?

OT: Question for bloggers: Do I need a release from parents to post pictures of my nephews football team (8-9 yrs) on a website or pictures of local youth sporting events? I live in Illinois. I have spent some time researching this on the internet, but I havent found an answer yet.

I heard this morning on talk radio a clip from the wife of a soldier address Congress and she ended by saying...
for those of you who say we have to quit and get out of Iraq now I want you to answer me:
What was my husband's death for?

Does anyone know who she was? I can't find it in the news. She was very eloquent.

41

Did you take the pics yourself? If so, you own the copyright. The only remaining question is whether you might be violating any of the kids' "right of publicity." I think it's highly unlikely -- but that's state law, and I have no idea about Illinois right of publicity law.

#27 AK

Now that's funny. Greedy capitalists making money of the sore loser bunch. The Sore losers probably don't even realize they're being had. He he he.

Speaking of the MSM, check out IslamiCity

Thier opening quote is:

"But set thou thy face to the right Religion before there come from Allah the Day which there is no chance of averting: on that Day shall men be divided (in two). al-Qur'an 30:43 "

Divided into the House Of Islam and the House Of War.

This site is recommended by virtually every MSM outlet there is: IslamiCity Recommendations

So presumably the LA Times, et al agree that we should all heed this advice: "set thou thy face to the right Religion" (i.e., Islam).

Even with every prewar assumption having been proved false

Huh? So Saddam WASN'T a torturing, murdering POS? Now I'm really bummed.

And "loath to pay our taxes?" Since friggin' WHEN? Our taxes pay Mr. Part-Time Teacher's salary.

But to denigrate the cause for which your brother died and to lie about him and his training? I'm sure his brother and the angels weep in heaven.

They're being had alright Semper (44).

By they're own pure stupidity!

ak

#27
I posted. I'm sorry too! Sorry sKerry even got on the ticket!

Question #1 (for someone who cares more than I): Did his brother - who had to VOLUNTEER to serve in the military in the first place, share his brother and mother's views?

I'm betting - NOT.

Questions #2: Why the hell don't they ever interview ME about my husband and brother serving in Iraq? Huh? I"ve never met an active duty spouse with the views above.

What I have noticed is that parents (read: Vietnam Generation) are a lot less supportive of their kids going to Iraq, or anywhere else for that matter, than the spouses generally are. I think the parents are often stuck in Vietnam mentality and can't get past it. They've given up so many times in so many conflicts (Vietnam, Lebanon, etc.) that they dont' know how to hold the course or accept consequences that are as horrible as death.

There are servicemembers who dont' agree with Iraq, but since they are in the minority, why do they and their parents get the majority of press coverage?

If you google this idiot PLUS "Sherwood Baker", his fallen brother, you still get about 500 hits.

Amongst these, there's things like this: "It's Official: My Brother Died in Vain".

And then there's the parents: "Celeste and Alfred Zappala attended a special viewing of Michael Moore's new film "Fahrenheit 9/11" this week." which sort of says it all.

So here's this guy Sherwood Baker, making the ultimate sacrifice, and all these clowns can do is seize on his death in search of self-promotion.

I am left now with a single word seared into my consciousness: accountability.

Oh, the drama! Or was that an anticlimax? Or an absurd juxtaposition of an orchestral crescendo and a pianissimo arm pit fart?

Whatever.

We are the ones who truly failed. We shut down our ability to think critically, to listen, to converse and to act.

Yes. People who disagree with you are thoughtless, deaf, dumb, and immobile.

Idiot.

This Zapalla shitbird must indeed hate his brother with all his twisted soul to denigrate him and the nation he died serving. That the media joins this shitbird and becomes complicit in the charade that this "peace activist" is attempting to perpetrate is illustrative.

It is a shame that a soldier who has made the supreme sacrafice for his country is mearly a corpse to his brother. Just a prop to be used by to satisfy a perverse ego.

May he join his brother soon.

Former U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix had expressed serious doubts about their presence during prewar inspections.

Did he?

43 Abu

Thanks, I understand the copyright aspects and I did take the pics. I just know the schools always do release forms before they photograph children, so I was looking for a specific restriction on sporting events invovling kids under 18. I'm certain such a blanket restriciton (if the event were public) would be unconstitutional, but its not any fight I really want to take up at this time.

I will check under 'right of publicity'. I'll check out westlaw later this afternoon, just looking for a quick answer.

I bet you this noble soldier joined the army BECAUSE his family hated America!

Printed this morning the in Houston Chronicle "Letters" section. Oh , and how pleased they were to print it:

Auschwitz, according to them

Comparisons to Iraq

In Samuel Pisar's very moving article ("Auschwitz survivor: Do we still have ears to listen? / Take the moment to renew the vow 'never forget'," Outlook, Jan. 26) about his experience at Auschwitz, he relates how, upon being rescued from that death camp, he shouted, "God bless America." I thought about what a different reception our troops are receiving in Iraq, and how it must make them feel to receive such a hostile reception.

The difference is, when our troops showed up at the Nazi death camps, there was no question about our motive for being there. Perhaps if Iraqi citizens actually felt that they were being rescued, they might have a different reaction.

F L
Houston

Biased...? /naw..

#53, Spitblogger. The shitbird Zapalla will never join his brother, though it is hoped that his motaliity is impending.

It’s incredibly disingenuous for mainstream media to identify him simply as a part time teacher, without mentioning his long history of moonbat activities.

That would drain all the drama right out of the article.

OT
Thanks for the Cheney link.
Pooey on WP.

Cheney is my kind of guy - He was dressed perfectly for the weather. He looks fine. If I had been there, I would have been dressed exactly the same way, complete with my treasured NYPD watch cap.

Why aren't they insulting the survivor I saw interviewed yesterday? She was wearing red, white, and blue (and looked simply magnificent).

Damn. Looks like there was one normal person in that Zappala family, and now he's dead. That is a tragedy.

#53 Spitblogger

May he join his brother soon.

Let's hope he doesn't.
Instead, lets hope the afterlife provides a specially segregated section for hypocrites.

Yup, another reason most folks around here don't consider Houston to be a part of Texas.

At least Californians can hope for earthquakes and slides off into the Pacific...we only get to hope for global warming / flooding...sigh...

Why are lefties always getting "seared"?

#61 SwampWoman

Well said.

Could someone explain to me why the MSM (and a significant portion of the population) think EVERY war is Vietnam?

Yeah - we lost that one. And we'll lose this one too if you @#*$% continue to behave as if it's thirty years ago...

oh, wait - that would be the game plan, wouldn't it?

#60 Cattt

Cheney is my kind of guy - He was dressed perfectly for the weather. He looks fine. If I had been there, I would have been dressed exactly the same way, complete with my treasured NYPD watch cap.

You got dat right. Now, let's look at all of those leaders and see who is more supportive of living Jews, shall we? I'm a person that thinks that deeds are way more important than words.

If you care to contact the Chronicle to call them on this crap:

online@chron.com

or

readerrep@chron.com

or

citydesk@chron.com

or

viewpoints@chron.com

I sent "viewpoints" to all of them.

"Part time teacher'

They put the best face on it they can find. This is the same process behind calling deathrow serial murderers " unemployed ___ because they were fired from every job they ever had.

#63 Old Buick Tanker

Damn...scratch Houston off possible cities in Texas for relocation. I ain't going all the way to the Lone Star State to read the same BS as I can get in the San Francisco Commi-cal.

I like his list of past contacts. I see the RED fist beneath the velvet glove.

#64, Peacekeeper. The lefties are just getting acclimated before a final judgement is made as to which circle they will they will assigned.

#70 Carolina Girl

Damn...scratch Houston off possible cities in Texas for relocation.

Not so fast! This is a GREAT place to live -- tremendous museums, restaurants, affordable housing...

I haven't read the Chronicle in years -- it's typical liberal media and not reflective of Houston. We're redstate people here.

This prick does not give a damn about his brother...dragging his dead body through the streets. I doubt very much that he shared more than two words with his brother over the last few years. You know, when his brother told him to "fuck off."

73

agreed!

In a time of war and record budget deficits, many are loath to even pay their taxes.

Now, It may be me, But i'm pretty sure that soldier's who serve in a combat theatre are exempt from taxes for that year. There are a few more restrictions on it i'm sure, but am I missing the boat, or did he?

/Nitpicking off

#25 Freaky Boy

Please refer to me as "a part-time ballet dancer" henceforth.

Not until I see your pas de chat toots...

Re:WMD--So what would the LLLs wanted? that the WMD had been there and used on our soldiers and killed 10,000 of them?

No one asks that question. I think we were fortunate WMDs were transferred away. hidden. sent to Syria..and our soldiers not gassed or chemical-ed.

I remember in the movie--'Is Paris Burning?' the crck-pot nazi yelling that in the phone and the General, saying." (para)...
Sure, sure, ja wohl mein kommandant!" (and it wasn't).

this guy has been unmasked by the BLOG. Thx Charles for smelling a rat.

If they are brothers, why do they have different last names?

#78 big L

I think we were fortunate WMDs were transferred away. hidden. sent to Syria..and our soldiers not gassed or chemical-ed.

I disagree strongly.
The troops were well prepared for that eventuality.
Indeed, had the WMD still been there, we'd probably be in a much stronger position now.

#78 Big L

Re:WMD--So what would the LLLs wanted? that the WMD had been there and used on our soldiers and killed 10,000 of them?

Exactly. And I remember reading that they did find various WMDs, just not the stockpiles that Saddam blustered that they had.

And what should we have done: waited until Hussein was more entrenched in his various killer programs, so that more lives would be lost taking him out? Meanwhile, our "friends" in Eurabia were selling us out, reparations weren't paid to Kuwait, he was paying Palestinian Homicide Bombers, filling mass graves with torture victims.

Also, by going in and getting Hussein we showed the rest of our Islamofascist enemies (Syria, Iran) that we will come in and disarm you before you have the chance to destroy us. Those people don't understand anything but force.

The list goes on and on...

I guess his brother was the only one with a brain and guts in the family, maybe his brother was jealous. His brother should be mourned and his family supported, regardless of thier political views however. They have given much to both our country and to Iraq, and will perhaps see that when the elections turn out ok this weekend and the transitional assembly can write a constitution for thier nation that will enshrine the rule of law there.

I am of the opinion that we should finish our work in Afghanistan and Iraq before moving on to other projects. I recognize that Iran and Syria are problems, but in Iran I am confident that once the average Iranian sees Iraq improving under a democratic government, they will overthrow the mullahs of their own volition.

#81

oh yeah, I almost forgot -- we liberated a freakin' country for cryin' out loud!

#77 Carolina Girl 

Sure, pas de whatever, you got it.

However, I still refuse to perform an arabesque, for obvious reasons.

#84 Freaky Boy

We'll call it an Israeliesque from now on.

#79 Who Watches the Watchmen?

If they are brothers, why do they have different last names?

Sherwood was adopted. This ties in with #61 post.

Charles,

may I humbly suggest that you quit calling those folks peace activists. Please don't buy into their terminology and self-description. At best it should be "peace activists" or "self-styled p.a's".

Remember that already the communists were eager to appropriate the term of peace for their propaganda purposes. The Soviets, e.g., called their orbiter spaceship "mir" = peace, and the ex-GDR annually staged an internationally acclaimed three-week biking race (sort of a Tour de France on a smaller scale) they called the Peace Tour ("Friedensfahrt").

As a rule of thumb, I would say the frequency with which public figures emphatically speak of peace and hug children is directly proportional to the level of suspicion and indeed fear they should inspire.

On a somewhat different note: Please understand that not all of Germany is lost. There is some anti-dhimmi spirit still alive, and I would say it's getting stronger (sometimes feeling not so lonely any more). And yes, there are even quite a few W-supporters, though they mostly still remain in the closet. But please don't take our government and leftist media to be fully representative of the people's sentiments.

Though I fully understand the reasons, it saddens me that the good people posting at LGF and sites with a similar thrust in ever greater number seem to slide into oversimplifying and overgeneralizing perceptions of Germany and its politics. Sometimes sounds like shrill echos of much of the batty lefty-European anti-W rhetoric. Again, I fully understand the reasons, but still it's deplorable.

I for one am grateful for the US's great work in Iraq.

Ot - (...but Dante Zappala should really read what Mahammed at Iraq the Model has to say today)

We're standing before a historic moment and I won't be exaggerating if I said that it's an important moment for the whole world; we're standing before a crossroads and everyone should watch and learn from the rebirth of Iraq.

Zappala's brother did not die in vain, it is Dante Zappala who lives in vain.

The Houston Chronicle is a known leftist piece of trash. At least in Texas, we all know it.

We shut down our ability to think critically, to listen, to converse and to act. We are to blame.

*smacks head*

Dumb me, it's my fault. Oh, my shame. I’m so embarrassed.

#90 Rayra

Idle question: How does "Dante Zappala" wind up with a brother named "Sherwood Baker"?

May I add another idle question, what is it with moonbats and mediterranean style surnames that start with "Z", i.e. Zuniga?

Lonely German,

You are correct. Zappala's drivel is thinly veiled Marxist "peace pablum". Could someone explain to me the military necessity of a convoy running down children? Why would someone actually need training in order to do it, too?

Carolina Girl,

Houston's not liberal, the Houston Chronicle is. They're all looney UT journalism grads.

#91 MarkX

We shut down our ability to think critically, to listen, to converse and to act. We are to blame.

Wait a minute...Bruce Springsteen and his ilk say we're tools of the Big Corporations...

I'm really confused now...

#93 Dirk

"Could someone explain to me the military necessity of a convoy running down children? Why would someone actually need training in order to do it, too? "

I thinks moonbat is channeling a scene from BLUE THUNDER, an early 80's film about a evil government conspiracy to put a super attack chopper on the loose in LA. During a demo of the machine for Pentagon bigs, the gun turret jams and misses the terrorist target, and, (in slow mo of course) rips into a bunch of cardboard kid cut outs.

#87 lonely german

Though I fully understand the reasons, it saddens me that the good people posting at LGF and sites with a similar thrust in ever greater number seem to slide into oversimplifying and overgeneralizing perceptions of Germany and its politics. Sometimes sounds like shrill echos of much of the batty lefty-European anti-W rhetoric. Again, I fully understand the reasons, but still it's deplorable.

I for one am grateful for the US's great work in Iraq.

We have to marinate in constant attacks from our own kind, and worse filters in from abroad. Just recognize this site for what it is: people trying to let off some steam when they see lies and propaganda bandied about. And sometimes, like in the case of Dan Rather, we actually get the truth out. We have nothing against like-minded Europeans like you.

Thanks for your kind words about the U.S.

Charles, you have more investigative energy in your little finger than the MSM has in its whole rank, corporate body.

A full-time, right-wing peace activist who can't get a full-time teaching job in Los Angeles? This guy Zappala must be a real loser. Suffers from chronic diarrhea of the mouth and regularly craps his Barbara Boxers, rendering him useless in any job requiring exposure to the public. Just sits in his fly-infested sty and writes worthless stories for the leftwing MSM on his s**t-stained Apple.

#63 OBT

I live in Houson, and I am very much a TEXAN!
I have a brother in the Navy and a cousin in the Marine Corps(at the Pentagon on 9/11) very much red staters all.

Houston is mostly RED. Our only "newspaper" is a leftist pos that I believe is owned by Hearst. I haven't read the barnicle in years

#49--absolutely! in regards to his VOLUNTEERING. It amazes how quickly people will say someone died in vain when that person volunteered for a job that may require you putting your life on the line. Don't sign on the dotted line if that's not what you are willing to risk. I knew full well when I accepted my commission what I was getting into--and would do it all over again.

How cynical and manipulative of this person. Using the body of his own brother as a bully pulpit to advance his cause while ignoring why his brother went over there.

And to add insult to injury, he even calls his dead brother a baby killer with this one quote: He received a crash course in convoy security, including practice in running over cardboard cutouts of children.

This my friends is a truly sad piece of human excrement that believes it actually thinks and cares.

16 ak

I occasionally e-mail the worthless "reader representative", in my attempt to correct the (outright) biased B.S they spew...only to be ignored

I do the same thing with the LA Times with the same result. In addition, every time they call me to subscribe again, which is fairly often, I give them an earful. Even with declining sales, their agenda reporting hasn't changed a bit. They just don't care about profits as much as spreading propaganda.

OT, but I have been listening to a few talk radio stations this and all I have heard EVERY NEWS BREAK is how many troops were killed today, and totals for the week, month, and for the war.

This is war, people die, and we should be kept abreast of how it is going over there, but this constant barrage of the same thing everyday is getting to me.

Sometimes I think that if there was a long span of time with no soldiers dead in Iraq, the MSM would start reporting stories about how a man tripped and broke his leg in a pothole and blame it on us...

16 ak & 105 Miggie

I have done the same with the Boston Globe to no avail. Now I will only buy the Herald...and I'm not alone:

They sell both the Globe and the Herald at the Dunkin Donuts in my neighborhood. Go in after 8:00 on any given morning and the Herald is sold out while there are plenty of Globes still lying around. It's a beautiful sight.

#97 traveler

#87 lonely german

Though I fully understand the reasons, it saddens me that the good people posting at LGF and sites with a similar thrust in ever greater number seem to slide into oversimplifying and overgeneralizing perceptions of Germany and its politics. Sometimes sounds like shrill echos of much of the batty lefty-European anti-W rhetoric. Again, I fully understand the reasons, but still it's deplorable.

I'd be the last person to discourage German dissent but when Joschka "I am not convinced" Fischer, aka Fischka, is by far and away the most popular politician in Germany, enjoying approval ratings in the 80% region, I very much doubt whether its fair to say that LGFers are oversimplifying and overgeneralizing perceptions of Germany.

76 Vymn

Combat pay, for the most part, is exempt (there is a cap at the highest level of enlisted personnel), but non-combat earnings are taxable.

Go here to read everything you always wanted to know about military pay, but were afraid to ask:

[Link: www.irs.gov...]

I find tax law interesting, so don't get me started.

Re my #108

Here's what I posted on another thread earlier:

Gerhard Schroeder proves, once again, that his idea of negotiating with terrorist thugs is to deprive oneself of the most potent bargaining tool before negotiations have even begun:

"We are most decidedly in favor of that fact that Iran completely gives up use of military power forever, if at all possible, but this is a target that has to be achieved through diplomatic means,"

The again, this is part of the same re-election strategy that saw him through last time around. And the Germans will no doubt buy into it hook, line and sinker.

Sorry lonely german, but as this latest bit of Schroeder idiocy proves, most people around here are evidently not oversimplifying and overgeneralizing perceptions of Germany and its politics.
In fact, by invoking the notion of the oversimplifying and overgeneralizing yanks, you avail yourself of one of the oldest cliches of anti-Americanism.

[Link: edition.cnn.com...]

Of course they had to use this fucking psycho to push their agenda.

Otherwise they would have to use one of the 1000s of other military family members (i.e., the majority) who support Bush and the efforts in Iraq.

#93 Dirk

Okay. Houston goes back on the list. I'm glad. I liked Houston when I visited last. Of course, I'd just read "Blood and Money" about Joan Robinson Hill, so all I wanted to see was Chatsworth Farm and the Shamrock.

lonely German #87,

Norwegian Kaffir, who is from Norway, and who is well-respected here at LGF, yesterday strongly echoed some of your sentiments. He put forth good arguments that there is a growing anti-Islam, anti-dhimmi position of wide proportions in Europe. Though still mostly underground (why its hard for many of us to see), it could one day coalesce into a major counter-political force across Europe. I believe that. In just examining the internet alone, I see real evidence of this, in the tremendous upsurge in activity and discussion. Thanks to terrorism and the growing threats and outrageous demands Muslims are making in western counties, its becoming more clear each day to westerners what Muslims are really about. I've never believed for a second that most Europeans in most countries would simply allow their leaders to take them over a cliff, though the demographic threat alone, allowed to grow unchecked as it has, could pose an irresistable force, which is why I still fear and therefore must conclude that for some countries to survive, it will probably mean all-out war.

As for America, there's no way Islam will take dominance. Americans love freedom and over and over have shown their willingness to fight, even die for it, not only for their own country, but for others' countries. If we're smart, many Americans will pay attention to Europe and learn from it. What will have to happen first is a shutting down of Muslim immigration.

Wow, I didn't know that folks who voted for Bush don't have to pay their taxes, will be immediately released from all military commitments, (or at least will not be sent to Iraq) and won't have to be accountable for anything they do.

Glad I signed up!

Now, how do I get that "Bush voter" IRS exemption?

#108 hm

You're right.

You know, I actually thought ABC's coverage of the run-up to the Iraq elections was pretty fair and balanced, at least last night's (Thursday 27) was. They talked about how brave the mayor of Mosul, the election workers, and the American soldiers were, and they showed reasons for optimism, rather than unrelenting negativity. It was pretty decent.

I find it easy to ignore whiny relatives of the fallen.

They are using their familiarity to put words into the mouths of the dead.

Nobody in my family shares my political views. This is true for many other families. The relatives of the dead do not necessarily speak for the dead.

It might even be worse. This professional agitator Dante Zappala might have hated his brother. He might be using this opportunity to finally "win some arguments" with the fallen by making a marionette from his brother's corpse.

It could be simple, immature sibling rivalry going on.

#113 reader,

I agree with your post, however, I really don't think its fair for this guy to be saying:

it saddens me that the good people posting at LGF and sites with a similar thrust in ever greater number seem to slide into oversimplifying and overgeneralizing perceptions of Germany and its politics.

German politics is shambolic.
Schroeder got himself elected on an anti-American platform and he'll do so again.

Is it just me, or does anyone else think that his brother could NOT have been this nuts? Do you think he would really appreciate the way his brother is using his death to gain attention?

It isn't just freebie "alternative" newspapers who mislead their readers about guest editorialists and letter writers. About a year ago, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published an anti-globo screed by one Joanna Bove, identifying her simply as a student at a local high school.

"Bove" is not that common a name. It took me about thirty seconds on Google to find that Ms. Bove was a member of and speaker for the activist group Solidarity Atlanta. A coupla more clicks found Solidarity's Founding Statement -- titled "For a Socialist Alternative in America."

Was the AJC's "public editor" interested in this at all? What a question!

I am left now with a single word seared into my consciousness:

Seared I say...seared...seared...severed...severed head...
I can see a definate connection here.

#117 Todd

Interesting insight. I can see exactly this scenario happening, particularly amongst moonbats, where ideology trumps all other human affinities or qualities.

41 dll2000

Yes, get the release from the parents. If they don't want their kids on the net, crop them out of the pictures.

#107 loppyd

In NYC I only buy the New York Post and The New York Sun. They are both 25 cents each and I have the pleasure of saying that I have not purchased the New York Times in 12 months.

Let me count the liberal newspapers in the major cities of the USA

NY Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, LA Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, San Francisco Chronicle, Houston Chronicle, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Baltimore Sun, Hartford Courant, Newark Star Ledger, Denver Post. I am sure that I have left a lot out.

There is no such things as a peace activist

call them what they really are

SUBMISSION SUPPORTERS

or

SS for short

#87 Lonely German

When I was stationed in Germany, I found the majority of Germans to be gracious hosts and appreciative of American soldiers.

What part of Germany are you from?

I would never make light of anyone's grief but this man's brother was a soldier in a volunteer army. No one dragged him screaming off the back porch.

I have no doubt that there were hundreds of thousands of people in WW2 and Korea not to mention the Civil War and WW1 that asked the same question. When someone you love dies it is never worth it. All you can do is finish the mission.

#108, hm

Fair point with regard to Fischer's approval ratings. However, I never said that a majority of Germans had already "seen the light". All I'm saying is that there is a sizeable minority - not very vociferous, not very much represented in the German MSM -, 20-25% in my estimation, that in varying degrees is pro-American. Sure it will be an uphill battle, but not all is lost yet for the cause of freedom in Germany. Moreover, a large segment of our anti-Americans just sheepishly follow the dominant view (hey, it's cool to ridicule Bush). Therefore, if pro-Americanism, even if it be tempered and qualified, could gain the upper hand among the leading strata of society, a tipping point for the country as a whole could, in my opinion, be reached in a comparatively short time span (5-10 years). Nothing is assured, but a lot may be possible.

Back to Fischer: He has managed to turn himself into something of a pop culture icon over here (reasons are manifold) and is widely perceived as a somehow different type of politician. His high approval ratings refer to him as a personality, as this icon, not necessarily to Fischer's politics. After all, the Green Party usually gets around 10% of the votes, not 80%. A whole lot of people who disagree with his politics like him as a person.

#110 and 118, again hm; also to #115, traveler

I agree that Schroeder is VERY bad, a narcissistic, spineless, treacherous asshole (our John Kerry, so to speak). His stance on Iran is silly and abominable. Is that good enough to placate you, Mr. hm? But please do NOT equate all of Germany with Schroeder. That was the very point I was arguing in my original post.

As to "overgeneralizing and oversimplifying", at one level it is a very natural thing to happen from a distance. It happens all the time here in my country with regard to the US (which makes me sick: this is why I read LGF!) and is all too often done malignantly in order to put the US in a bad light. Conversely, I wanted to point to it in an attempt to salvage what can be salvaged by such modest means in terms of a transatlantic dialog. I never hinted in any way that I generally consider the US or Americans, let alone LGFers, to be "oversimplifying" folks - simply because I think that's just plain nonsense.

#113, reader
Thanks for your kind words. I indeed hope with you that the US is wiser with regard to Muslim immigration than Europe has been.

#127 endangered in Mass
Good to hear from someone with positive German experiences. I'm originally from a small town in Lower Saxony (hope that means something to you) by the name of Einbeck. After spending some years in Hamburg (where several of the 9/11 murderers studied and plotted), I now live in a small college town in Hesse, central Germany.

Mr. Zappala, to quote Megadeth, "Peace sells, but who's buying?" I sure as hell am not interested in your brand of peace.

His brother died so he could speak his piece in peace.

Even with every prewar assumption having been proved false

You mean that the idea that Iraq was a nation that allowed safe haven to people that would eventually do America harm was false? Iraq was never friendly to those that would do us harm? Obviously I was mistaken. Iraq was the picture of peace and shoeless children frollicking in peaceful fields of daisies before the warmongers Americans got there!

This isn't surprising coming from the Houston Barnacle. Every headline over about the last 5 years has a liberal slant or anti-Republican bias to it. This puts it out of step with its market (Houston isn't Austin) and I believe its circulation is now steadily decreasing despite being hawked at screen corners by hobos.