Thursday, May 04, 2006

Mental strife

There are two almost tabloidish subjects stirring the blogosphere today, one major and one minor, though I leave the reader to determine which is which. The first, in no particular order, was a jury's decision to spare Zacarias Moussaui the death penalty. The second is what Tigerhawk calls the Cage Match between Christopher Hitchens and Juan Cole.

The Moussaui controversy needs no introduction, but some readers may not know that Christopher Hitchens, by some means known only to him, managed to obtain some of Juan Cole's postings on a private message board and worked it into an article in Slate. The entire thrust of the article was to juxtapose one of Cole's postings, which apparently asserts that Ahmadinejad did not threaten to wipe Israel off the map, with well-established facts that Hitchens proceeds to ennumerate and to exhibit the contradiction. But this was just the primer to the main charge. It was Cole's apocalyptic response, complete with 60s chants and a photo collage that really made it the stuff of the old Rikki Lake show. Here's an example of Cole's professorial response.

All the warmongers in Washington, including Hitchens, if he falls into that camp, should get this through their heads. Americans are not fighting any more wars in the Middle East against toothless third rate powers. So sit down and shut up.

One, two, three, four! We don't want your stinking war! (emphasis in the original)

We are not going to see any more US troops come home in body bags at Dover for the sake of some Cheney affiliate grabbing the petroleum in Iran's Ahvaz fields.

It was not Cole's finest moment, though he may think otherwise, but his extravagant response quite naturally catapulted Hitchens into being interviewed by Hugh Hewitt. That gave Hitchens the opportunity to demonstrate the art of ridicule on Cole to such a superlative degree that I can only link to it and urge you to read the whole thing as a specimen in literary cruelty. But what got my attention was a term in Hitchen's opening response to Hugh Hewitt's question:

HH: Now I don't even know how to raise this, because Juan Cole has written a rather disgusting post about you, and in response to a serious post you wrote, in response to an e-mail of his, which was allegedly secret...I don't know. Why don't you tell people what's going on here?

CH: It's a blog war. Well, some of your listeners may know of Professor Cole of the University of Michigan. He is acclaimed, at least by himself, expert on matters Shiia, particularly, and he also says he's fluent in Arabic, Persian and Urdu. And for all I know, he is. But he's 10th rate, and he's a sordid apologist for Islamist terrorism, and for Islamist terrorist regimes. And I've been on his case for a while. ...

A blog war.

This is the kind of duel exemplified by the ding-dong between the lawyer-blogger Patterico and LA Times Pulitzer Prize winning writer Michael Hiltzik in which the two exchanged broadsides until Patterico proved that Hiltzik was creating spurious Internet personalities to attack his enemies and praise himself using the so-called "sock puppets". That match ended when Hiltzik imploded and his career sank beneath the waves. But the blog wars go on.

Commentary

Some weblogs (in the broad sense of a self-published Internet document) have reached a point on the public stage where they represent real strengths and vulnerabilities for their authors. For example, a paper arguing that US policy was unduly influenced by the Israel lobby authored by Harvard faculty members John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt became extremely controversial. To the traditional perils of trolls, Denial of Service Attacks and comment spam has been added the danger of public pillorying when you are caught out.

Fortunately the smaller bloggers on the Internet are largely immune to these threats. But the better known authors are vulnerable in proportion to the fragility of their egos. Although it is normal for everyone to make a mistake it is apparently impossible for certain individuals to admit it. In nearly every case where blog wars reach a hysterical pitch the original dispute becomes secondary to the necessity of not giving the opponent the satisfaction of the admission of a mistake.

There's now a movement in the blogosphere to discourage pseudonymous blogging; the argument being that people will write more responsibly when signing under their own names. Let me play Devil's Advocate and assert that bylined blogging may in fact lead to the very opposite: a condition of shrill, polemical writing where the ad hominem attacks will become commonplace. When I used to write anonymously only my arguments mattered. If they were persuasive they persuaded; if they were ridiculous they were held up to contempt. But there were no hard feelings because it was the arguments themselves that bore the weight of both praise and opprobrium. There was no ego to puff up or to be bruised. If an argument achieved fame it did so on its own terms and took wing of its own into the wide world. Nor was there much incentive, even among the ideologically hostile, in heaping abuse upon a pseudonym. It was too faceless to hate.

All that changes with bylined blogging. All of a sudden Cole has a vision of Hitchens -- the actual Hitchens -- swilling liquor from a bottle when he defends himself. And Hitchens, with or without the bottle, has a vision of Professor Cole's face before him, and all it represents, as he crafts his reply. And there is something feral in the resulting spectacle. It were better they were X and Y arguing over whether Ahmadinejad actually threatened to wipe Israel off the map. But it's too late now. The innocent days of blogging are over. With popularity comes talk of ad revenues, syndication, appearances and reputation. It used to be that no one on the Internet knew if you were a dog. Sadly, no longer. And now, as the Bruce Willis character said in Die Hard, "welcome to the party pal".

128 Comments:

Blogger Jamie Irons said...

Wretchard,

If it's any comfort, even though we now know who you "really are," I, at least, still think of you as the anonymous you, Wretchard the Cat, and pay attention to your arguments.

It may now be true that, "on the Internet, everyone knows that you're not a cat," but I refuse to acknowledge this new reality.

;-)

Jamie Irons

5/04/2006 06:47:00 AM  
Blogger desert rat said...

Zacarias Moussaui, after the fact.

In open court the FBI admitted it's ineptitiude, the lack of follow through in the Moussaui investigation and even the Law bending of the Prosecution's extended Team.

Overall the main thrust of the Defense's case was the less than serious nature the Federals maintained pre 9-11 about terrorists in the US.
The Defense prevailed.

Mr Cole and Mr Hitchens provide some real entertainment. Mr Hitchen's wit and style make him a competent pugilist in the blog battles. Mr Cole seems to fall consistently short.
Mr Cole does seem to suffer from the "wink & nod projection syndrome" that so many suffer from in regards Mr Bush & US Policies.

That both sides of the debate suffer mightily from this Syndrome may well lead US to unforeseen consequences by the foreign actors in the Play.

5/04/2006 06:51:00 AM  
Blogger Lao said...

"If he had been given a death sentence, he would be glorified as a martyr.

Killing him would have been the right thing to do. in fact, the only thing to do. I can't think of anyone more deserving.

I'm of the opinion though that we have something much worse on our hands now.

5/04/2006 07:02:00 AM  
Blogger desert rat said...

Another Lt General, this one retired from the Military for a number of years, but then he also ran the NSA.

"... Lt. Gen. William E. Odom (Ret.) is senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and professor at Yale University. He was director of the National Security Agency from 1985 to 1988. ... "

Why America must get out of Iraq now

"... Carl von Clausewitz spoke of two kinds of courage: first, bravery in the face of mortal danger; second, the willingness to accept personal responsibility for command decisions. The former is expected of the troops. The latter must be demanded of high-level commanders, including the president. ..."

A more worthy opponent for Mr Hitchens.

5/04/2006 07:16:00 AM  
Blogger Ash said...

wretchard,

There are a lot of crazies in the world and they can do dangerous things based on messed up convictions (heck someone murdered John Lennon). Life in the public sphere can have definite drawbacks and in the world of ideas the argument can stand on its own. However it aides understanding if an individuals ideas can be consistently linked to a given name - i.e. it is unhelpful if a commenter continually changes names based on the idea that the argument stands alone.

5/04/2006 07:34:00 AM  
Blogger desert rat said...

danmyers
He's the only antiWar General posting today.

There is this other tidbit that pertains to both Iraq & Iran.

" ... BAGHDAD, Iraq — The Iraqi government is using diplomacy to try to stop Iranian forces from shelling Kurdish rebel positions in the north and does not expect an incursion by ground forces, the foreign minister said Wednesday.

Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurd, made the comment in parliament after some Kurdish legislators demanded a strong statement against Iranian attacks against border camps operated by Iranian Kurdish rebels linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

"The Iraqi government is making necessary contacts with the countries concerned and with international sides," Zebari said. "There were some violations, but we do not think that there is a present threat or possibility of major incursion." ... "


That an AP wire report via FOX News.

The end of the story has an interesting side note:

"... Turkey last month deployed more than 30,000 additional troops in its predominantly Kurdish southeast and along its rugged border with Iraq and Iran to fight the Kurdish guerrillas and stop them from crossing the frontier.

That came after Kurdish rebels reportedly killed two Turkish soldiers and wounded a third in a grenade attack on a military outpost, raising the number of Turkish troops killed this year to at least 17. More than 40 Kurdish guerrillas also have been killed in clashes in the same period.

The Turkish deployment boosted an already large garrison in the region that by some estimates tops 250,000 soldiers. ... "


As requested by Ms Rice, Turkey took no unilateral action against the PKK, it let Iran do it.

Iran & Turkey take the lead in the War on Terror

Now that's an anti Terror Coalition that will shut down Terrorist Base Camps and pursue the Terrorists, allowing no foreign Sancturaries for terrorists.

5/04/2006 07:34:00 AM  
Blogger desert rat said...

Christopher Hitchen, trailer trash, that story adds another dimension to the Hitchens Tale that I'd never have imagined.

5/04/2006 07:43:00 AM  
Blogger desert rat said...

The photo looked authentic, enough.
For entertainment value.

5/04/2006 07:52:00 AM  
Blogger rhhardin said...

Let me defend ad hominem attacks : originally the rhetorical term meant appealing to your opponent's interests and biases. Somehow in modern times it has come to mean an attack on him. Thus in old times you can find the quite beautiful things like:

``Some time since I had a pleasant discussion with a university professor who held that faith and knowledge are in inverse ratio. As the area of knowledge enlarges, he claimed that of faith diminishes correspondingly. Once people accepted by faith what has since become known, and science has thus made faith superfluous in all
such things. The professor admitted, however, it was not likely that knowledge would ever entirely banish faith; there would still remain some unexplored regions where faith could find room, and so preachers could still find a field for their activities. I came back at this professor with an argumentum ad hominem, "Is it true," said I, "that the more knowledge your wife has of you, the less faith she has in you? And is it true that the more you know of her, the less faith you have in her? In your home are faith and knowledge in inverse ratio? If so, I pity you both." It is not true that knowledge excludes faith. The more you know of your family physician, the more faith you have in him. The more soldiers know of their general, the greater their faith in him; else the army is in a bad way. The more we know of our friends the more faith we have in them. The greater a man’s knowledge of nature, the greater his faith in nature. Intelligent faith is not weaker than ignorant faith.''

And that is the way to deal with university professors.

5/04/2006 07:56:00 AM  
Blogger Swanny said...

me and hitch and the bottle makes a b*tch. i'll put money on hitch in this just for calling it a "blog war."

5/04/2006 08:02:00 AM  
Blogger desert rat said...

The inverse of that idea is held by an old maxim, rhhardin,

"Familiarity breeds contempt"

A saying that has held some truth throughout the ages.

There is a reasonable case to be made for each proposition.

5/04/2006 08:04:00 AM  
Blogger Starling said...

Wretchard,

several points come to mind from this post. I had already the Hitchens piece and thought it remarkable on two counts. First, Hitchens displayed his usual mastery of grammar, rhetoric, and logic. Secondly, it was just an artful take down. I actually felt sorry for Cole that he first made such elementary mistakes and then had them exposed so mercilessly.

As for the question of anonymity, and arguments... The one and only reason why I have continued to read this blog is the quality of the arguments you make. I first found this blog about 2 years ago via a link from a Michael Leeden post. I think it had to do with a "wedding party" that got bombed near the Syrian border. When I saw the title of the blog I immediately assumed you affiliated some local university, e.g. Harvard, or perhaps Tufts, MIT, BU, BC, etc. But that mattered little to me then or now.

What mattered was when reading that post, I thought, here's the work of someone who appears to have a point of view but not an axe to grind, who seems willing to reach conclusions based on available facts and inferences drawn therefrom and, most importantly, who appears willing to revise / revisit his conclusions / hypotheses as new facts/ data become available.

All of that is to say this: the success of this blog demonstrates that there are people, a lot of people, who will weigh arguments primarily on their merits rather than on the name or personality or credential of the person doing the writing.

As for "Ad Hominen" attacks... I agree with Hitchens' comments in the Hewitt interview that such behavior is a well-documented logical fallacy and also a dodge. That is to say, it takes the focus off of the argument and onto the arguer. Hitchens was spot on when he said that for Cole to bring up Hitchens' drinking problem was a way of avoiding addressing the argument on its merits. Recall that this is precisely what Gorgeous George Galloway did in his "debate" with Hitchen's a few months back. In my judging of arguments, I always count the first person to use the "A-bomb" the loser.

Finally, for those interested, there are several compendiums of logical fallacies available on the web. My favorite is Stephen's Guide which can be found here
I always find it useful when I can put a name on the things that I don't like about arguments that I or others make. Perhaps others will find it as useful as I have.

5/04/2006 08:16:00 AM  
Blogger allen said...

If I understand Professor Cole, he seriously is making the case that a public intellectual (and he is most certainly that, just ask him) simultaneously may have both a private truth and a public truth.

Cutting to the chase, that would, I believe, constitute propaganda - something that Professor Cole would mortify in other public figures, say the President. And, of course, that particular double standard is better known as hypocrisy - apparently, all in a day's work for the good Professor.

Mr. Hitchens is incorrect, this is not a “blog war”; it is a trip to the corncrib for a well administered thrashing.

5/04/2006 08:43:00 AM  
Blogger Tom Grey said...

I'm not sure anon is better, long term, for "arguments, not obscenity"; in fact, I'm pretty sure it's not.

The side that does the most cursing will likely be least convincing of the undecided. I actually think there's less cursing between Cole & Hitchens than in many blog fights or flame wars (from internet days).

But do the undecided bother to read? Isn't NOT caring, nor reading, the reason they're undecided? If only those whose opinions are already nearly fixed in concrete are reading, it's STILL more likely for anon trolls to be obscene and non-sensical.

Life in prison seems unlikely to really be such -- and is certainly MUCH more likely to allow him to be used as a "hostage" demand: release the prisoner or else we cut our hostage's head off.
As soon as that; or a prison riot; or any of many other negative possibilities occur, I'll think Life instead of the death penalty was based on US weakness.
"America, you lost." [Did he really say this coming out?]

5/04/2006 08:48:00 AM  
Blogger allen said...

starling david hunter,

Your 8:16 AM

Well said and thanks for the link.

In the case of Professor Cole, time spent in Stephen's Guide would be time wasted, when tenure can be had simply from being a self-professed a "non-Orientalist", à la Said and Churchill. Takes all the pressure off that publish or perish rubbish, does it not.

5/04/2006 08:53:00 AM  
Blogger John Aristides said...

It's quite obvious that Professor Cole's first priority is militating against war with Iran. His emotivism on the subject gives him away.

Therefore, it is no surprise that he would use his expertise to undermine the case against Iran. His mind is simply following his heart.

How else to explain his refusal to even bring up Iran's quest for nuclear weapons or Iran's missile program when discussing the Iranian military threat to Israel? That's like a Washington paper discussing the Cavalier threat without mentioning LeBron. Or how to explain his refusal to discuss Ahmadinejad's latest statement that Israel is a "rotten, dried tree that will be annihilated by one storm"?

Simply, Juan Cole is a hack with an agenda, and easy meat for a rhetorician like Hitchens.

5/04/2006 09:24:00 AM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Dr. Zaius, are you with a Baker-Botts competitor?

KSA's hundreds of billions of investment in the American economy gotta have a law firm, ya know.

I imagine Chimpy makes 'em do all their nefarious plotting somewhat less visibly than with a high-profile national law firm (if that's what you're trying to drive at).

5/04/2006 09:29:00 AM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

We pay homage to an incredible number of talented and productive alcoholics--some of them quite satisfied with their imbibement habits.

5/04/2006 09:45:00 AM  
Blogger John Aristides said...

I have a rather odd question for the posters here, particular for anybody with technical expertise in sound capture on video-tape.

Can a video-tape capture sound that would be either too high or low for a human but would nonetheless be noticeable on playback if using an especially sensitive device?

If so, is there any technical reason why we couldn't blanket Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan with ultrasonic, using different frequencies at different nodes? If it's possible, it seems to me we could use this technology to accurately triangulate the position where a terrorist video-tape was made simply by playing it.

But it all depends on the sensitivity of a low-order video camera.

5/04/2006 09:50:00 AM  
Blogger allen said...

Mr. Moussaui

Although America is the place of my nativity, I will not presume to speak for American jurisprudence in the case of Mr. Zacharias Moussaui, the esoteria of modern law lying well beyond my humble comprehension or even apprehension. I will, however, attempt to make the case of injustice through jury nullification based upon my understanding of Judaism.

While I am certain that Mr. Moussaui did not/does not consider “innocent” the 2,700 dead of September 11, 2001, not even his defense team had the chutzpah to suggest even the slightest degree of culpability on the part of the victims. Therefore, my comments are directed to non-Islamists, only. For the sake of argument only, it will be assumed that the jury also was non-Islamist.

Under Orthodox Jewish law, to willfully connive or conspire to take the life of the innocent is a capital offense. Additionally, to willfully fail to affirmatively act to prevent the taking of innocent life is a capital offense. In both instances, the offenses are so grave as to prevent entry into the World to Come (Heaven, for those so inclined). Consequently, on both counts, Mr. Moussaui, by his own admission, is guilty of multiple capital crimes. Therefore, for the sake of Divine retribution, no sentence less than physical execution would have sufficed.

To the extent that I willingly bind myself to Orthodoxy, that is the extent to which I am divorced from the temptation of human intrusion (hubris, if you please). Returning to Mr. Moussaui’s jury, they were not so constrained, with the result that ultimately both G-d and man will be offended. Of course, this is merely the opinion of one man, but I am willing to place my eternal reward at risk. You see, if I have misspoken, then, I too am damned.

5/04/2006 09:50:00 AM  
Blogger John Aristides said...

Allen,

I believe the prosecution's theory of causation here was felony murder in the course of a conspiracy. If one conspires to commit a felony and someone dies as a result of the conspiracy, all conspirators can be charged with first degree murder.

To be eligible for the death penalty, the jury must weigh aggrevating factors against mitigating factors -- a rule handed down by the Supreme Court to avoid the death penalty being applied randomly, with no regard for individual context. Oddly, one of the mitigating factors the jury cited for Moussaoui was that his father was abusive. Make of that what you will.

5/04/2006 10:03:00 AM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Nah--it made sense not to execute him. Confounding as it is, the ignorant and the evil have their votes, and we need not please their imaginations with jack-booted Amerikkka-fodder. Besides, the sonuvabitch will suffer more alive.

5/04/2006 10:22:00 AM  
Blogger Jamie Irons said...

While alcoholism is a lamentable affliction, I have seen no convincing evidence that Mr. Hitchens is an alcoholic (I'm not saying such evidence does not exist). All that I've read shows him to be, rather, a "steady heavy drinker."

But even were he a certifiable alcoholic, how should that affect our judgment of his writing? The man is clearly brilliant.

We don't hold their alcohol abuse against such writers as F. Scott Fitzgerald or Hart Crane (in whose house my dear father, a recovered alcoholic, was born).

Jamie Irons

5/04/2006 10:40:00 AM  
Blogger Jamie Irons said...

Doolz:

As for pseudonyms and real life personae: writing under one's public identity does not mean that the identity is any less constructed than that of a pseudonymous writer...

Terrific point.

Are you by any chance a psychiatrist?

;-)


Jamie Irons

5/04/2006 11:20:00 AM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Terrific comments. And yes, a Doolz is a Doolz is an identity. I use my actual name (the "Buddy" is a nick from chilehood) only because I started that way, which in turn I did only because when I began commenting, it was in order to vent as viscerally as possible against the Kerry Construct (which was and is deeply insulting--not to mention far less authentic than a Doolz).

5/04/2006 11:49:00 AM  
Blogger Tony said...

Read Juan Cole, witness vile hysteria

If you haven't, you may want to sample Cole yourself. The thing I find most deplorable about this guy, and his fellow travelers, is that they are constantly relayed to others, and the America-damaging lies spread.

For example, last week a liberal friend sent me something that I think she found on the Puffington Host, accusing America of torture and assorted crimes against humanity. That email contained the photo near the bottom of the linked Cole post, of a bloody hostage lying on the floor. While the photo was uncaptioned, unsourced and otherwise unidentified - natch - it somehow "proves" the evil of America.

Now here I find it in the Cole post, and whattya know, it turns out to be from the Evin Prison in Tehran (under the Shah, to be sure!). Or at least, if I can read Cole correctly, that seems to be where it's from. This is just one example of the morale-destroying acid mixed up and distributed by this sort, under the cloak of "Professorship" that I find extremely offensive as it is most damaging to the weakest minds among us, and these poor, silly souls have the right to vote!

As for Moussouai, I sort of like the idea of denying him his martyrdom, and I was particularly gratified by Judge Brinkema's proclamation that he's never going to be heard from again. He's going to "die with a whimper." I seriously don't believe we are going to trade any hostages for anyone, let alone him.

In the larger picture, as I've said in my earliest posts on this blog, I agree with Habu. We should have put a couple of W88's on Kandahar before the sun ever set over Manhattan and D.C. and Shanksville on the evening of 9/11/01.

It would have been the most merciful way we could have entered this long war, and made it a hell of a lot shorter than it looks like it's gonna be now.

5/04/2006 11:49:00 AM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

The field of Anthropology gave us one of the great thinkers of all time--and a wonderful soul to boot--Jacob Bronowski (tho a mathemetician by training, he gave us the seminal "The Ascent of Man").

5/04/2006 12:22:00 PM  
Blogger Jrod said...

Tony,
thanks for that link. I would have not bothered to look for it myself.
Very educational. Among other things I learned Hitch is a tool of the Far Right. Who knew?
The hysteria there creates its own momentum.

Wretchard, Richard--psuedonym or not you prove that rational analysis and clear thought matter above all. When you "outed" yourself (however long ago it was now) I was at first disappointed that you compromised your anonymity because I thought it would lead to a certain amount of reader bias on my part. I had sketched together a mental picture of you based on your subjects and style (which of course is reader bias of another stripe). Part of it turned out to be true (programming background, blogging from the Southern Hemisphere), the rest couldn't have been further from the mark (unless you do enjoy sipping gin under a rattan fan while you blog) ;-)
It turns out, your identity matters not a bit. I hope it is always so.

5/04/2006 12:23:00 PM  
Blogger Dymphna said...

Jamie Irons is right: You're still Wretchard. You see, we were imprinted early with this image, which we could make of what we wanted.

Just as "Belmont" Club to me meant Belmont, Massachusetts. Or something out of W. Somerset Maugham, I never could decide which.

5/04/2006 12:41:00 PM  
Blogger RWE said...

Aristides: I think that the first problem you would have relative to implementing your very intriguing "ultrasonic GPS" idea is the response capabilities of the microphone. While it is entirely possible that an unheard sound could be recorded on the audio track there would be no reason for the recording device microphone to have the ability to pick that sound up and thus it would not be a designed-in feature. Ultrasonic detectors are specially designed devices and it is unlikely that a standard microphone would be able to pick up such sounds and pass them along to the recorder. Then of course there would be the problem of flooding a huge area with such emissions.

On the other hand, very LOW frequency audio (infrasound) or ELF electromagnetic pulses might just come though, and there are ways...

At this point I think I better shut up.

5/04/2006 12:42:00 PM  
Blogger Dymphna said...

RE the build up of Turkish and Iranian forces on the Iraq border, not to mention Iran's shelling into Iraq territory, please read this State Dept. question and answer from yesterday. I *really* LMAO...Lord love a duck, you can't make this stuff up:

"Good Neighbors Don't Shell One Another"

I originally came over to ask if you'd consider one of your multi-faceted essays into the Kurdish situation vis-a-vis both Iraq, and also what Turkey and Iran are planning. Are the Kurds once more simply pawns?

BTW, in doing some research I found out that the Kurds and Jews are closely related:

In 2001, a team of Israeli, German, and Indian scientists discovered that the majority of Jews around the world, belonging to various different Jewish ethnic divisions, are closely related to the Kurdish people, more closely than they are to the Semitic-speaking Arabs or any other population that was tested.

That would explain the Kurds' ability to survive, and their immediate move toward order and prosperity once Kirkuk was stabilized...just that Jewish ability to build something out of nothing.

Amazing...

Anyway, I hope you're considering a post on the current situation.

(nudge, nudge)

5/04/2006 12:52:00 PM  
Blogger Dymphna said...

Doolz,

The Baron is a Fibonacci fan. He programmed a "Fibonacci generator" which people buy so they can make their own...watching him long enough, I can now see those patterns everywhere, including my coffee in the morning, when the cream swirls in Fib. patterns...

5/04/2006 12:57:00 PM  
Blogger Dymphna said...

eggplant is right about reading comment sections. But though Belmont is the first place I raised my hand to speak (and Wretchard was the cat who gave me the courage to strike out on my own -- a hint: when your comments get post sized, time to start a blog), I still like LGF's comment section. Surely Buddy and Doug's late night exchanges down the page are not too much different, though they do it in a tonier neighborhood. Right, B?

And some of the links the 'doids provide have led me to information I'd not seen elsewhere. Yeah, many of the remarks are scurrilous, but MEGO, and I move to the next one.

I much prefer democracies like LGF than blogs that don't allow comments. Distributed intelligence includes commenters. That is especially true on Belmont. A lot of times I simply lurk here because you guys are so much more informed that I wouldn't add anything to the conversation. Blogs without comments enabled are simply less interesting.

However, on being anon, I have strong opinions. Sometimes, it's simply necessary for one's job, family, and safety.

Oops, have gone over Nanhcee's three paragraph limit.

5/04/2006 01:08:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Dymphna--yes, in late hours upon a wandering thread, sometimes suddenly the broken, garish lights of the dread Hotel Dougifornia will pop on -- you can check in, but you can never check out--

5/04/2006 01:29:00 PM  
Blogger exhelodrvr1 said...

RWE,
I may have misunderstood your comment, but the listening devices would not be flooding the area, the floodingwould be done by the source of the sound. You are right that the higher frequencies would not be as usable because they are attenuated much more quickly. Low frequencies do travel much farther, but due to the wavelength they require a much bigger source and antenna.
I wonder if it would be possible to flood the region with some type of nano-sensor that identifies potential sources, which would then narrow down the search area for more sophisticated equipment.

5/04/2006 01:34:00 PM  
Blogger RWE said...

ExHelo: No, I did not mean listening devices, I meant the sound itself, assuming that is what Aristides meant in the first place.

I think that low freq sound or EMF fields would be more likely to become imposed on the video recording, and to be so in an unobtrusive manner. And of course, as you say, they would tend to be less attenuated than are ultrasonics.

For example, as you no doubt know, the USN has the ability to communciate with submerged subs using ELF.

5/04/2006 01:42:00 PM  
Blogger Deuce ☂ said...

It is enjoyable to listen to intelligent discourse even when you do not always agree. Three come to mind, Hitchens, Buchanan and Gingrich. None of them are doctrinaire in their thinking or discourse. For an amateur site, The Belmont Club is as good a forum as exists on the web. I tend to tack against most of the prolific posters but I find great acceptance and forebearance when they take exception to my position. I also appreciate the general aire of anonymity. My regards to our exceptional host.

5/04/2006 01:43:00 PM  
Blogger Deuce ☂ said...

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5/04/2006 01:46:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

"Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian has dropped plans to stop over in the US on his way to Latin America.
The move was prompted by a US decision not to allow him a more high-profile visit than a transit stop in Alaska."
---
Better the Commies than the Capitalists, I always say.

5/04/2006 01:49:00 PM  
Blogger Tony said...

RWE, Exhelo,

For ELF to work, wouldn't the microphone have to be about a half mile long? The muj might catch on. Now, EMP's, where would they come from....

Frequency of ELF Transmissions


It's so counter-intuitive that our sub comms come out of Wisconsin!

5/04/2006 02:11:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

At least Dougiedoesntfornicate on the left Coast No More.
---
Belmont Club always conjured a Card Room/Pool Hall to me.
Or the Belmont Stakes.
By Jimminy, I've forgotten what it DOES mean!
(something from a Cat's feral daze as I recall)

5/04/2006 02:16:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

How about a universal Hardware Number on Cellphones?

5/04/2006 02:19:00 PM  
Blogger Tony said...

Habu, you better watch out or Prof. Wretchard is going to refer you to The Three Conjectures!

I suggest the kinder, gentler approach of a few EMP's to immobilize the country, and then just roll the B's overhead for a couple of weeks to "soften them up" with Mk.82's and such. All COTS solutions, minimal civilian casualties.

See, this is a completely different circumstance than the unprovoked attacks of 9/11, when we really should have lit off the big ones over Afghanistan, before the sun ever set over Manhattan, EDT, 9/11/01.

5/04/2006 02:31:00 PM  
Blogger wretchardthecat said...

I left one argument for anonymity off the table. It's the beliefe that you can have meaningful friends and associations that are to all intents and purposes personally anonymous. Two examples: I became affiliated with Pajamas Media, that is to say with people I never saw before meeting them in Manhattan late last year; and Bill Roggio and I collaborate though we've never actually seen each other. (I met Tigerhawk but strangely enough he was so very much like he seemed in his literary incarnation that it didn't matter)

But come to think of it, I've bought books from an Amazon store I've never visited and which may not actually physically exist. And that process is duplicated any number of times across different Internet transactions.

What makes it possible to "trust" certain virtual objects is the ability to verify that certain functions will occur. It is the function rather than what physically generates it that seems to matter. So one comes to like Dymphna, Desert Rat, Buddy and so on as Dymphna, Desert Rat and Buddy. Amazingly enough there's always the chance that things might be different in person, if one had objections to certain personal characteristics.

I have a feeling that Professor Cole's arguments might actually fare better (or fare worse) if he signed his articles as the Masked Avenger. In any case they would be read with different eyes.

5/04/2006 02:32:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Mayor Buddy Larsen, aka James Fladung, Arrested, Held on Bail

5/04/2006 02:34:00 PM  
Blogger Jamie Irons said...

Dymphna,

I saw that about the genetic relationship between Kurds and Jews, too (can't recall where). Hungarians were also in the mix, and there was a fourth group, I believe it was Armenians, but I am no longer certain.

Jamie Irons

5/04/2006 02:37:00 PM  
Blogger Tony said...

Wretchard,

Long ago, before the web, there were bbs' and I was a happily typing member of a local one. Everyone on there was funny, poetic, intelligent, endearing. And then we had a picnic! Yikes, they were kids, hippies, old people, weirdos, everything! We all couldn't wait to go back home and log on and see our "real selves" again. You know, the cuties we appear to be in ASCII.

I have lifelong friends now that I never met, and I know some of them more intimately than my friends in the meat world, because we have less hang-ups out here in electronic anonymity.

5/04/2006 02:39:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Jamie,
Mika had an informational comment on it,
Hope someone finds it.
(I procrastinated on reading links)
---
---
Condescensional Wisdom
Great when I can occasionally Enjoy George Will.
JK Galbraith and Halfbright shared an elitist perspective, imo.

5/04/2006 02:39:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Tony,
Yeah, you and that Kurzweil guy like it where you have a leg up.
Packet MetaRecognition technology and all.

5/04/2006 02:42:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Who's we, whiteman.
We World Citizen's Despise you Cowboys.
(as well as ourselves)
---
Has everyone seen the Hilarious Zarqawi ABC Video linked at lgf?
Does make you wonder where his luck in evasion comes from.

5/04/2006 02:56:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

HABU, i'D HELP YOU BUT i'M IN JAIL IN fLADUNG, cOLORADO.

Seriously, my hunch is that the Mulls will back down at the 11th hour. Oil has already started cracking, over the last couple-three days--when the Bolivia & Nigeria news should amped the doggie-doo out of it. so the wise men at the hedges are cooling their expectations of the need to blast.

5/04/2006 03:00:00 PM  
Blogger Tony said...

Doug,

Shhhhh. We're anonymous.

5/04/2006 03:01:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Good news--the conservative candidate has begun legging out the commie--in the polls--down Mexico way. As far as the AK47s, Hugo may well be sorry them thangs is loose in his country, before too long. The PAN Mexicans don't like him, and Mexico needs a little regional dust-up to get its people awake.

5/04/2006 03:12:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Delay has spent over 2.5 million defending so far!
Limbaugh "millions."
---
Delay interview today on Hewitt, hopefully radioblogger.
---
Young Kennedy stopped drunk, "good cops" arrive from Chaple Hill, he's released w/o sobriety test.
Would Delay or Rush get the same treatment?

5/04/2006 03:17:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Lula of Brazil was taken aback by the Bolivia gas move, and is said to be MOST put-out, and has arranged a private meeting with the new Bolivian commie. I look for the lefty revolution to fizzle just about as fast as capital pulls out of the regional commodity-extraction and infrastructure-build renaissance. Which has begun.

5/04/2006 03:18:00 PM  
Blogger allen said...

doug & jamie,

For a site that will provide as much information on Jewish genetics as you may EVER want, see "Jewish Genetics: Abstracts and Summaries" - http://www.khazaria.com/
genetics/abstracts-jews.html

For a synopsis of the Kurdish relationship see "Study finds close genetic connection between Jews, Kurds" - http://www.haaretzdaily.com/
hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=96990

Henceforth, I must insist that the Kurds get better marquee billing - Jews, Zionists, Kurds

5/04/2006 03:21:00 PM  
Blogger Tony said...

Habu,

I was trying to answer, in a light-hearted way that would be less than easy to Google so people wouldn't easily find such dirty words in the Belmont Club. Here, let me flesh out my graf, what the hell, Dale Brown, Stephen Coontz, Tom Clancy - they get paid big bucks for spelling it out.

I meant to say (in parens):
I suggest the (as humane as a just war can be) kinder, gentler approach of a few EMP's (ElectroMagnetic Pulse nuclear weapons in the upper atmosphere) to immobilize the country (without city-killing overpressure shock waves, and without appreciable radioactive fallout), and then just roll the B's (B-52's, B-1's, B-2's, F-117's, F-15E's, F-18E's, F-16's and other ground attack aircraft) overhead for a couple of weeks to "soften them up" with Mk.82's (conventional, non-carpet-bombing weapons, such as 500 pound Mk.82 'iron bombs' in their modern, considerate GBU-38 precison-guided form). All COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf) solutions, minimal civilian casualties (acceptable war?).

Short Answer to your Question: Only if necessary, and even then, humanely.

5/04/2006 03:21:00 PM  
Blogger geoffgo said...

RWE, exHelo,

Back in 1981, we built audio transceivers on spikes. Eventually, parachuted (by the scores) into a mine field fronting Iraqi tanks. Devices listened for the noise of diesal start-up. Russian tanks required to run 15 mins/day.

Each device would "fix" the direction and approximate distance and xmit to a mobile receiver. By triangulating, our main batteries had the exact positions for the hundreds of tanks, buried in revetments.
Enables one-shot-one-kill arty.

Of course we didn't have nano. Now, you'd drop these little babies all over the terrain, and listen. Drones can listen too.

5/04/2006 03:29:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Habu--I'm sure the Third Eye got better vision than I--but since you had axed--the market bets have only shifted slightly away from war expectations--just a few percent in the last two or three days. You can feel it--the heat over the weekend was unsustainable. But, too, the markets bet wrong everytime a buy/sell happens and the next minute makes one side of the trade wrong. So don't worry about the pickle barrel--stay close in. BTW I could use a little bail bond cash, F-L-A-D-U-N-G, Colo.

5/04/2006 03:29:00 PM  
Blogger geoffgo said...

Tony,

Since we're into solutions, shouldn't we demand up-front as "spoils of of this impending war" that 50%-75% of Iran's oil revenues will be used to repay our expenses, for as long as it takes? Freedom is not free!

5/04/2006 03:35:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Lady ~D's comment would be considered "racist" in today's PC World.
To which others might have asked in the old days (The other "Hardin" for example.)
So, there are not GENETIC differences in Dogs wrt to aggressiveness?
(and everything else)
Eat your non-pc heart out habu, unless you can top that!

5/04/2006 03:41:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

ah, thanks--it's hot as hell in here and the deputy is hoggin the fan.

5/04/2006 03:43:00 PM  
Blogger desert rat said...

It is not a matter of humane destruction or millions of dead.

For those pesky Iranians are just part of the problem.
They are not yet the Enemy.

No Presidental Declaration.
No Congressional Action.

By November Mr Chavez and Mr Castro will have had their Havana Summitt with the Iranian President.

Mr Morales and perhaps the new President of Peru.

It is encouraging, the report from buddy that the PAN is on an upswing. It does not lessen the likelyhood of Mexico being a target of Oil infrastruture terror attacks.

Pre election jitters will keep Mr Bush's finger off the trigger, I'd surmise, 'til after the electoral dies are cast, and the Iran/ Latin American connection is exposed for all to see.

That's a hopeful spin, anyway.

5/04/2006 03:49:00 PM  
Blogger allen said...

buddy larsen,

Your 3:18 PM

Comrade Morales v. Comrade Lulu

Senior Morales will soon learn the meaning of an old German saying (the original escapes me, but I'll look it up) to the effect, "Don't [defecate] in your mother's knitting."

What is it with Germans and defecatory humor? What would Freud have become without them? Freud, Marx, and Allemagne, what a team.

5/04/2006 03:49:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

that's an easy one, Allen--cabbage, potatoes and sausage.

5/04/2006 03:54:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Sometimes a Turd is just a Turd.

5/04/2006 03:55:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

and extremely hard to keep lit, in any case.

5/04/2006 03:58:00 PM  
Blogger desert rat said...

And still, after the Iranians and the Communists, the Wahabbists still hold sway over vast land masses, oil revenues, hundreds of millions of people and at least 48 nuclear warheads.

Now that is a problem not discussed,
often

5/04/2006 03:59:00 PM  
Blogger desert rat said...

diesel fuel mixed with a little mogas, stirred vigorously both before and after ignition.
that'll solve the Turd disposal challenge.

5/04/2006 04:02:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

If it's reeally reeally hard, it'll stay lit.

5/04/2006 04:03:00 PM  
Blogger allen said...

Señor Morales

Sorry

5/04/2006 04:04:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Smoke em if you got em.
Waste disposal is just that:
A Waste.

5/04/2006 04:04:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Just remember, when you feel the urge to beat up the Bush, Maddy "48 Warheads" Albright, and Jimmy "HugoChavez" Carter, are highly respected foreign policy-makers, in some precincts.

5/04/2006 04:05:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

"A waste of valuable human resources."

5/04/2006 04:06:00 PM  
Blogger desert rat said...

A one eyed man, in the land of the blind, is king.

or words to that effect

5/04/2006 04:07:00 PM  
Blogger TigerHawk said...

I met Tigerhawk but strangely enough he was so very much like he seemed in his literary incarnation that it didn't matter.

Hmmm. I have long been accused of speaking in well-organized, but tediously long, paragraphs....

5/04/2006 04:08:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

habu,
I out UN PC-ed you with my concurrence with Lady ~D, that yes, Virginia, there are real genetic differences in different groups of people.
I don't think that is acceptably correct thinking these days, despite it's obvious truth.

5/04/2006 04:10:00 PM  
Blogger Tony said...

Geoffgo,

Nah, we just roll Iran into the Capitalism game, and we can make all we need. Legally.

I spent a week living with a friendly family in Tehran, and even though it was 1977, I'm sure they still love America.

I always feel bad that maybe my loving letters after the fall of the Shah may have led to bad things for my kind host.

Iran was fine before the bad guys took over, it can be fine again. Ironically, since we are not Imperialists, but rather Capitalists, there's really no reason we can't all be friends. As long as the bad guys are killed off.

5/04/2006 04:12:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

they're not all that well-organized, Tigerhawk.
\;-D

5/04/2006 04:13:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

4:08 PM Proof, in conjuction w/yours truly, that we are all indeed differently abled.

5/04/2006 04:13:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

M. Simon has some great posts recently about Iran's tenuous financial situation.
...and their inability to address it in a real way.
Iranian Americans tend to be top-notch in my limited experience.

5/04/2006 04:16:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Tony--I'm with you--we just GOTTA find a way to get rid o these jokers without flattening cities--damn, the're full of nice kids, pretty gals, nice old neighborhoods--I'd rather just lock up incommunicado all the American lefties--the world's bad guys would fold and run beaucoup fast.

5/04/2006 04:19:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Habu-
No use Monkeying around with something Divine.

5/04/2006 04:26:00 PM  
Blogger desert rat said...

but it's a Comedy, doug

5/04/2006 04:28:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

you have a point there--and they're not nazis, either.

5/04/2006 04:29:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

That remark is an insult to this entire community.
And it's not even Gallows Humor.

5/04/2006 04:31:00 PM  
Blogger allen said...

doug, buddy, & DR,

Is Pandora’s Box open? Have I inadvertently stepped over a line or, possibly, into a pile? Does cocaine make me crazy? Will lithium make me hazy? And is it anyone’s business but my own? Is there too much violence in children’s programming?

Oh, as a caveat - Children – turds, diesel fuel, matches – don’t try this at home! Doug, buddy, and DR are highly trained professionals, with years of experience. Don’t become a statistic, just another singed scheisse on a respirator.

5/04/2006 04:32:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

But, Allen, wasn't the first splash your'n?

5/04/2006 04:40:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

I always wondered how to figure Pandora's Box--all the Troubles flew out, but the last one was Hope.

5/04/2006 04:43:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

There's no hope in Tropes.

5/04/2006 04:45:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

IOW, if you just kept the box closed, you wouldn't have Hope--but then again you wouldn't need Hope, either, because the Troubles wouldn't a got loose. I am as you can plainly see a not very deep person.

5/04/2006 04:53:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

They didn't call you Wellhead out on the platforms?

5/04/2006 04:55:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

call me anything, but late for dinner--

5/04/2006 05:01:00 PM  
Blogger RWE said...

geoffgo: Interesing! And you know, back in the early 70's we dropped sensors along the Ho Chi Minh trail that enabled us to listen in on traffic there. We not only knew how many enemy troops were there; we knew many of them's names!

Tony: A strong low freq audio or ELF pulse could get into almost everything. If you have ever had radio freq interference problems you would believe that. The idea is that such a pulse, perhaps encoded by modulation or PRF, would enebale us to inpoint better where the Bin laden audio and video tapes were being made. This sounds so feasible that I think we better stop talking about it.

And besides, this is starting to sound like an episode of Stargate SG-1.

As for nuking Iran, I would think we would want to wait until they have more of their own radioactives produced. It will make a bigger and more irrepairable mess that way.

5/04/2006 05:03:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

4:59 PM
I was afraid Trish was going to accuse you of having a swollen head that night.

5/04/2006 05:05:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

opps, sorry that was Allen, and this is Wretchard's lair.

5/04/2006 05:07:00 PM  
Blogger allen said...

Sorry about the caveat made earlier. You just can’t be too careful these days, with John Edwards, and all.

Yes, can’t you just see Compassionate John, standing before Judge Leonie Brinkema, tearfully recounting the tragic demise of a poor, bare-foot, emaciated black child, clothed in a motley coat of rags; yes, a child desperately trying to learn to live the American dream, instantly immolated while lighting up the diesel soaked big one, while trudging through the mine strewn, snow covered corn fields of St. Clair County, Illinois.

Oh, sure, you laugh, now. “That couldn’t happen,” you say. Well, Mr. Smarty Pants, let me remind you that this is America. Just ask Zacharias Moussaui. It’s not so funny anymore, is it?

5/04/2006 05:15:00 PM  
Blogger John Aristides said...

This sounds so feasible that I think we better stop talking about it.

Just one more question, then. Would distance affect the capture enough to enable us to measure it? If so...

5/04/2006 05:25:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Leonie, another of Bill's gifts from the 60's to the nation.
She and Ruth Bader alone would constitute a legacy.
...and Conyers will head Judiciary if the GOP doesn't wise up.

5/04/2006 05:28:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

habu,
Think of the humanitarian possibilies in a Ransom Incicent.

5/04/2006 05:30:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

"incident"

5/04/2006 05:30:00 PM  
Blogger allen said...

Addendum to last post

She was making the seven mile trek to school to hear Ms. Albright's lecture: "My night with Il - Diplomacy and the pill."

5/04/2006 05:32:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Moussaoui details the results of his purported
"mental status examination" of Brinkema:
"Axis 1:
Acute symptom of Islamophobia with complex gender inferiority."

In his "conclusion and recommendations," Moussaoui suggests
"immediate psychiatric hospitalization"
in the "UBL Treatment Center."

While federal prosecutors refer to bin Laden with that acronym, Moussaoui points out, "of course UBL stand for unique best location."

5/04/2006 05:36:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

I dunno.
The cops said that breathalizer was goin up so fast, they couldn't read it.
Then it broke after reading a 4.0
You think he's dried out yet?

5/04/2006 05:43:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

can't say word/holding breath/seek Trailways schedule

5/04/2006 05:46:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Larsen Locator

5/04/2006 05:51:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

christ i'll never make it--theres 7 or 8 of em in there playin cards and they all germans

5/04/2006 05:54:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Juan_in_a_millyun: shutup page hez jst doin his a mad persian rhyme flow
Juan_in_a_millyun: if u narc u r totally not going to UM or nicks prom party
Maddie_Albrt: hi page!!!! Wow ur pic is so cute!!! my frnd Bill totally wants to meet u

5/04/2006 05:55:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

i still have my Bic i'll wait for 2 or 3 of em to go off at the same time then i'll spark it and blow down the south wall--i'll meet the Yugo out on the interstate--wish me luck

5/04/2006 06:05:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Hitchens is like, “you said that Khomeini never called for wiping Israel from the face of the map,” and I’m like, “dude I never said anything at all about Khomeini,” and he’s like “whatever.” Hitchens should please quote me on Khomeini and Israel and stop talking like he knows what I’m about, because I’m me, and he’s totally not.

But you know what? I’m totally like, whatever. I bet Hitchins is just jealous of the cool kids because we have tenure and get the best campus parking places.

5/04/2006 06:08:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

The Fox News Effect

5/04/2006 06:14:00 PM  
Blogger allen said...

Wow, first we have Frist and his “shadow people” (those would be some 1-2 million, belligerent Mexican desperadoes marching through America’s streets, at high-noon); now, we have Libby Dole perplexed by a potential Democrat victory, come fall. These two really need to get out more.

Earth to Libby! Earth to Libby! Try being R-E-P-U-B-L-I-C-A-N-S!!! It’s worked, since 1994.

May I suggest that you start here: “Navy Chaplain May Face Court-Martial For Praying” - http://www.nbc4.tv/news/9158214/detail.html

If that poses too great a leap of faith, why, how about this: “Senate Backs Spending Bill, Ignoring Veto Threat” - http://www.nytimes.com/2006/
05/04/washington/04cnd-cong.html?ei=5065&en=103fce428abd4281&ex=
1147406400&partner=MYWAY&
pagewanted=print

Or, if really pressed, this just might work: “Ariz. Posse to Arrest Illegal Immigrants” - http://www.breitbart.com/news/
2006/05/04/D8HD8A9O0.html

While I am sure that you all are sparing no expense to find issues that will resonate with American voters, save yourselves a wad – go to Drudge headlines. All three issues posted here were taken directly from that site, during a single short browse.

5/04/2006 06:14:00 PM  
Blogger Tony said...

RWE sez: The idea is that such a pulse, perhaps encoded by modulation or PRF, would enebale us to inpoint better where the Bin laden audio and video tapes were being made. This sounds so feasible that I think we better stop talking about it.

I hear it all the time on my AM radio in the kitchen, it's like a series of mid-pitched burps and blurbs, like someone turning the channel quickly on an old TV. I think it comes from one of my neighbors with a HAM radio.

I still don't see how we get it into the damned videotape to the point where we can get it back out over the damned digitized, encoded web files, to the point where we can send in the black helicopters.

5/04/2006 06:16:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

Terms Limits is a big dirty neanderthal club but dammit, dammit!

Speaking of which Teddy the Hut's kid appears to've gotten in trouble--Fox is reporting "Possible Scandal". I feel no joy.

5/04/2006 06:21:00 PM  
Blogger Tony said...

I got an o-dark-thirty wake-up, g'night.

5/04/2006 06:21:00 PM  
Blogger buddy larsen said...

I had a Ham radio once but the only sound i could get out of it was "oink"

5/04/2006 06:25:00 PM  
Blogger sam said...

I saw a little bit about that Kennedy crash this morning, Buddy. No breath alyzer test. Sounds like he's going to get off.

5/04/2006 06:26:00 PM  
Blogger exhelodrvr1 said...

RWE,
But the antennas for the ELF transmissions are over a mile long (if I remember correctly.) They are underground due to the length. That is the problem with listening in on the lower frequencies. I would doubt that they could be picked up by the devices you are asking about, but that is just a guess. (My knowledge is from use of sonar/sonobuoys versus subs.)

5/04/2006 06:37:00 PM  
Blogger exhelodrvr1 said...

D-R,
"diesel fuel mixed with a little mogas, stirred vigorously both before and after ignition.
that'll solve the Turd disposal challenge."

I had to laugh at that. A friend of mine at work who was in the USMC during Desert Storm has told that same story.

5/04/2006 06:38:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Buddy - 3:17 PM
I feel so... overlooked.
boo hoo.

5/04/2006 06:42:00 PM  
Blogger Doug said...

Sam, 6:26 PM
And there's Bud drying out near Denver.
No Justice,
No Peace!
Free Buddy!

5/04/2006 06:47:00 PM  
Blogger Dan said...

How different would we be if publius hadn’t published his “dry trash.”

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140444955/

Oh and I was concerned I would get hosed the first few books I bought on Amazon because it was new and their business plan sucked.

5/04/2006 07:20:00 PM  
Blogger Dan said...

How different would we be if publius hadn’t published his “dry trash.”

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140444955/

Oh and I was concerned I would get hosed the first few books I bought on Amazon because it was new and their business plan sucked.

5/04/2006 07:21:00 PM  
Blogger Boghie said...

This is way late, and probably will remain unread, but...

Any of you remember the Hitchens/Galloway mauling... [Search of Hitchens and click on the Audio Links]

Or, the Dean/Pearle drubbing...

Or, oh my God, the VDH/Huffington destruction...

When will these clowns (Huffington, Galloway, and Dean) realize that they should not appear in public. When the left appears in public they get humilitated. Why would you pick a fight with VDH, Hitchens, and Pearle...

Bravo to Hitchens... Drawing the slugs out from behind the turd farm...

5/04/2006 08:06:00 PM  
Blogger Boghie said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

5/04/2006 10:36:00 PM  
Blogger Boghie said...

Fred

You make good points on the value of anonymity. I have concerns with my tag name. Kinda late to worry about it though – especially when you create a blog with it, eh…

Oh well…

You should check out the slugfest (well done and with more civility than Hitchens/Galloway) in the post:

'Debunking the Leftie Iraq Mantra…Part 1'
This is another example of a blog war.

As Mr. Atos at ‘My Sandmen’ and Wretchard have repeatedly stated:
We have enemies without
We have enemies within
And, in my opinion there is another group – fools

There is a blog war going on…

5/04/2006 10:42:00 PM  
Blogger allen said...

mo javad,

Your 10:59 PM

You've been reading Tigerhawk, haven't you?

Iranian threats, "wiping Israel off the map," and the Hitchens v. Cole cage match
By TigerHawk at 5/03/2006 08:31:00 AM

See "Comments", #34.

5/05/2006 05:54:00 AM  
Blogger Karridine said...

I know its late in the day, but 3 days ago Karridine posted an excellent recording of Cole whining about Hitchens!

It may just be the recording you've been longing to hear:
BrainSurgeryWithSpoons.blogspot.com

5/06/2006 06:39:00 PM  

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