Headline of the Day

About a million other bloggers have picked this up as well, but it's just too good to not be on my blog:

I KICKED BURNING TERRORIST SO HARD IN BALLS THAT I TORE A TENDON

As the Instapundit said, this may be the headline of the year, or maybe even of the decade!

Dirty Bombs?

So far we have been fortunate that no act of terrorism has included any nuclear material. We know from successful interdictions that al Qaida and other terrorist organizations have been trying for years to get their hands on nuclear materials – but so far they have either failed, or have not figured out to use it. It seems very encouraging that our counter-terrorism efforts have been so successful in this regard.

But this report from Canada is alarming – 76 devices containing nuclear materials (all of which are usable in a terrorist device) have gone missing, and 35 of those were stolen:

Radioactive devices -- some of which have the potential to be used in terrorist attacks -- have gone missing in alarming numbers in Canada over the past five years.

A new database compiled by The Canadian Press shows that the devices, which are used in everything from medical research to measuring oil wells, are becoming a favoured target of thieves.

At least 76 have gone missing in Canada over the past five years -- disappearing from construction sites, specialized tool boxes, and generally growing legs and walking away.

Some of the devices could be used in a "dirty bomb," where conventional explosives are used to detonate nuclear material, spreading the contamination over a wide area, said Alan Bell, a security and international terrorism expert from Globe Risk Security Holdings.

As I understand it, the major risk we face from terrorists is not a nuclear weapon, but rather a “dirty bomb” – conventional explosives used to scatter some radioactive material (like that found in the missing Canadian devices) around a large area. This radioactive material would find its way into people exposed to the dust and smoke from the explosion, causing many kinds of illnesses and injuries, some of which would kill. The area covered by the radioactivity could be quite large, and the area where the explosion occurs could be very dense with people – and therefore the number of people injured, sickened, or killed by such a weapon could be very large. Most of the symptoms would manifest over extended periods of time, and you can be sure there would be massive media coverage of the agonies of the afflicted.

In other words, a dirty bomb is a terrorist's dream weapon.

After reading this report, I'm feeling much less confident that the world will remain free of such a horror...

Shame

While reading about the Glasgow bombing attack, I came across this Associated Press article. Here's the lead:

They had diverse backgrounds, coming from countries around the globe, but all shared youth and worked in medicine. They also had a common goal, authorities suspect: to bring havoc and death to the heart of Britain.

The eight people held Tuesday in the failed car bombing plot include one doctor from Iraq and two from India. There is a physician from Lebanon and a Jordanian doctor and his medical assistant wife. Another doctor and a medical student are thought to be from the Middle East.

All employees of the United Kingdom's National Health Service, some worked together as colleagues at hospitals in England and Scotland, and experts and officials say the evidence points to the plot being hatched after they met in Britain, rather than overseas.

"To think that these guys were a sleeper cell and somehow were able to plan this operation from the different places they were, and then orchestrate being hired by the NHS so they could get to the UK, then get jobs in the same area — I think that's a planning impossibility," said Bob Ayres, a former U.S. intelligence officer now at London's Chatham House think tank.

"A much more likely scenario is they were here together, they discovered that they shared some common ideology, and then they decided to act on this while here in the UK," he said.

No one has been charged in the plot in which two car bombs failed to explode in central London early Friday and two men rammed a Jeep Cherokee loaded with gas cylinders into the entrance of Glasgow International Airport and set it on fire the following day.

Do you notice anything missing? How about any reference to the fact that the suspects being held are radical Muslims believed to be linked to Al Qaeda in Iraq? The press and government spokesmen (especially in the U.K.) are falling all over themselves to avoid ... what, exactly? Careful parsing of the information that has been released by the government shows that (a) the suspects were all radical Muslims, and (b) the U.K. government is confident that the suspects were members of a group linked to (and most likely directed by) Al Qaida in Iraq. So why aren't they just saying it directly?

Because the liberal, multi-culti mindset is very uncomfortable – nay, offended – at the idea that we might associate Muslims with terrorism. That would be so arrogant and biased of us! Never mind that virtually all terrorist attacks on Western targets in the last 20 years have been perpetrated by radical Muslims. Never mind that they tell us, over and over again, loudly and often (though our lamestream media reports it only infrequently) that we are infidels and it is their duty to kill us. Never mind that the alleged "moderate" Muslim community, every time it is polled, overwhelmingly supports jihad and the imposition of sharia law. Those things, in the multi-culti world, are just not to be spoken of.

The multi-cultis are the spittin' image of that dumb ostrich with his head in the sand.

Can't you just imagine the discussions that occur amongst the Al Qaida members about this phenomenon? Right after they shoot some women, blow up a few schoolchildren, and hack of the heads of some more (as occurred outside Baquba just a few days ago), they flip on CNN and see something like the story above – how encouraged they must be! Their enemies are so stupid, they don't even know they're being attacked, or who is doing it! Then a little later, when they see a of clip of Murtha, Reid, or Pelosi babbling about how the war is lost (by the Americans), can't you just hear the jihadis cheering? Their enemy is giving up!

A thought experiment: if the jihadis could vote in the 2008 Presidential election, who do you suppose they would vote for? I don't think it's Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, Duncan Hunter, or John McCain. It disgusts me to have to acknowledge there are viable candidates for that office whom the jihadis would be delighted to vote for – such as Barack Obama, Ron Paul, John Edwards, Al Gore, and Hillary Clinton. The willingness (nearly eagerness) of those candidates to trade American security and our soldier's lives for their own political gain is way beyond the pale.

I'm ashamed of them...

Rescued!

This sounds like a corny Hollywood stunt, but it really happened -- yesterday, in Iraq. Chief Warrant Officers Mark Burrows and Steven Cianfrini were flying their OH-58 Kiowa reconnaissance helicopter in Iraq when they came under heavy ground fire. Their helicopter was shot down, but they survived with only minor injuries. They were attacked on the ground as well, so they crawled out of the helicopter and into a nearby canal full of reeds, and immediately got stuck in the mud on the bottom of the canal. They thought they were done for -- and then:

After five to 10 minutes, the machine gun fire slowly started to dissipate. An unmanned U.S. drone aircraft circled above them. Help was not far behind.

A pair of Apache helicopters from the 1st Calvary Division pushed back the insurgents. Burrows was able to climb out of the mud and up an embankment, signaling the Apache for help. Using his M4 rifle, he pulled Cianfrini out of the mud.

Because the Apache has just two seats, one of the Apache pilots and Burrows had to strap themselves to the outside of the aircraft, braving 120 mph winds on the ride back to base. Cianfrini rode inside in the Apache.

Burrows, who without a helmet gripped the outside of the Apache, called the 10-minute flight back to the base in Baghdad “a pretty wild ride.” “I could endure anything at that point after what we had just gone through,” Burrows said in the department of Defense interview.

That's two very happy guys and their families on this Independence Day! Read all about it here and here.

Independence Day

Two hundred thirty one years ago, on July 4, 1776, fifty-six men representing the English colonies in America signed the Declaration of Independence. I've reproduced it in its entirety below in celebration of this day:

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

-- He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

-- He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

-- He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

-- He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

-- He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

-- He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

-- He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

-- He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

-- He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

-- He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

-- He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

-- He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

-- He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

-- For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

-- For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

-- For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

-- For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

-- For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

-- For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

-- For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

-- For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

-- For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

-- He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

-- He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

-- He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

-- He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

-- He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Every time I read this document (as I try to do every July 4th), the ponder sets in: if the signers of this document could see how America has evolved, what would they think?

This time another ponder set in: with just a little editing, this document could be updated to serve as a Declaration of Independence from the current political parties. The list of grievances the original document contains is startlingly apropos of today's political environment...

But that's a thought I'll pursue another day. Today I reserve for celebration of the amazing courage and fortitude of this countries forefathers...

Yon the Humiliator!

A few days ago I posted about the recent Al Qaeda atrocities near Baquba so eloquently reported by Michael Yon. In that same post, I lamented the lamestream media's determined avoidance of reporting the ugly truths about our enemy. Many other bloggers had similar thoughts, including Glenn Reynolds (the InstaPundit). His post caused someone in the media to respond to Glenn with the following email:

Yon's story doesn't get attention because it is humiliating.

It is humiliating because it is obvious that we media – and our allies in the state department, the legal trade, the NGOs, the Democratic Party, the UN, etc., - can’t do squat about such determined use of force.

Our words, images, arguments and skills can’t stop the killing. Only the rough soldiers and their guns can solve the problem, and we won’t admit that fact because the admission would weaken our influence and our claim to social status.

So we pretend Yon’s massacre – and the North Korean killing fields, the Arab treatment of women, the Arab hatred of Israel, etc. - doesn’t exist, and instead focus our emotions and attention on the somewhat-bad domestic things that we can ‘fix’ with our DC-based allies. Things such as Abu Ghraib, wiretapping, etc. When we ‘fix’ them, then we get status, applause, power, new jobs, ego, etc.

Please don’t be surprised. We media are an interest group not much different from the automakers, the unions, and the farmers.

Glenn says that the journalist's name is one we'd recognize. Presumably this journalist requested anonymity – and given his (or her) heretical observations, one can understand why.

Remember this the next time you hear some beguiling journalist make claims about their profession's objectivity and lack of agenda...

A Complex War

The war in Iraq is a complex affair, far more so than the majority of American observers understand. Most Americans seem to want a "sound bite" war, totally comprehensible within the space of a 60 second news segment. This is probably no different than any past war, except in one important respect: today anyone who wants to be informed about the complex details, can be -- thanks to the Internet. There are many sources available, with different perspectives and access to different information -- and all of it is in nearly real time.

For example, the web site Strategy Page has a number of contributors with various kinds of expertise and contacts -- conventional military, special operations, political, and more. A recent article of theirs discusses some of the effects of the "surge", and it includes this discussion of the reality of the insurgents existence:

What is news is the declining terrorist activity. But that won't be big news until there are no more bombs going off. The terrorists realize this, and are scrambling to keep the car bombs coming. This is increasingly difficult as troops and police move through the Baghdad suburbs, finding and destroying the bomb workshops. Not only that, several recent raids have also captured large amounts of cash. The terrorism in Iraq is sustained by cash, because most attacks are paid for. The Sunni Arab population suffered an economic catastrophe once Saddam and his Baath Party were out of power. For decades before 2003, the Sunni Arabs, 20 percent of the population, got most of the oil money, and any other economic action. Suddenly, they were getting less than even their fair share of 20 percent.

Not once have I seen the lamestream media convey this reality: that most of the enemy operations in Iraq are essentially mercenary. And they certainly haven't conveyed the damage that the "surge" is doing to the finances that sustain these mercenaries. Many interesting and important questions flow from the mercenary nature of our enemy in Iraq. Where is the money coming from? Where are the supplies coming from? How are the logistics being handled?

The answers to these questions are known to our forces, if not to most Americans. But anyone in the world could know, if only they would take the trouble to inform themselves...

Croc Eats Dog -- NOT!

What would you think if you saw this coming down the street toward you?

Don't worry, it's just a dog suit!

This dog suit was dreamed up by some marketeers trying to improve attendance at a zoo. This worked -- attendance was up by 15% the month after this promotion.

It certainly would get my attention!

Home at Last

Debbie and her mom (Kate) arrived last night after a completely trouble-free flight. The airport was a complete zoo -- the worst traffic snarl I've ever seen there. Police and security people were everywhere; I can only assume after the incidents in Glasgow and Blackpool they raised security.

The dogs have been without their "mother" now for three weeks. When Debbie walked in the dogs completely lost their marbles -- it was complete mayhem, with non-stop happy-barking, Miki practically doing cartwheels, and all the dogs running around madly in sheer joy. Then when Kate (whom they haven't seen for a year) walked in, it all started over again. The dogs were very happy last night; their world is back to normal again...

Poo Pumper

This photo pretty much says it all:

What Is Wrong With You?

Scott Adams asks a question that I've long wondered about -- why do so many people like horror movies?

By process of elimination, I assume fans of horror flicks are imagining themselves as the killer, thinking how cool it would be to disembowel attractive teenagers. Jeezus-frickin-christ! There are millions of these psychopath movie-goers. And they look just like normal people.

I wonder how many times in my life I’m at a store, for example, swiping my debit card, and the cashier is looking at me and thinking “It sure would be fun to drive a spike through his forehead and make a vest from his skin.” It probably happens more often than I’d like.

Do you enjoy horror movies? If so, what the f*ck is wrong with you?

I don't watch horror movies at all -- the idea of spending my money or my time to get frightened just has no appeal at all. If I want to be frightened, Alphonse can do the job! But I never thought of the possibilities that Scott Adams did. Go read the whole thing!

Quote of the Day

From Amy Alkon, writing at the Advice Goddess:

What should I call them, terror-bunnies?

Don't miss the rest of it!

Fire Danger...

About a year ago, the Horse Fire burned to within about three miles east of our home (the photos in this post are from that fire). That's the last major fire that burned close to us. In October 2003 we had the enormous Cedar Fire (and two smaller simultaneous fires) that burned all around us, but no closer than about six miles. In July 2002, the Pines Fire looked like it might be a serious threat, but in the end came no closer than about 15 miles. In January 2001, the Viejas Fire burned to within a mile to the north of our home. I was in Estonia at the time, and had the special experience of seeing "Lawson Valley in flames" across a CNN video (Lawson Valley is where we live). By the time I found out about the fire, Debbie had evacuated herself and our animals, and had quite an adventure while doing so.

So we have some history of nearby wildfires in the past six years. Our rainy season this year wasn't very rainy at all -- it's the lowest amount of rainfall in 130 years of record keeping (whereas last year was the second-highest!). This is mixed news. The lack of rain means that all the dead brush (the primary fuel in the chaparral) is as dry as the proverbial bone, and that of course increase the risk. However, the lack of rain also means that the new brush growth this year will be much lower than normal, which means less new fuel is being added.

Now we're entering our long, dry summer season (temperature highs are forecast at well over 100°F all week). The usual cycle here is that the chaparral will dry out all summer, and then by around September our fire danger will be very high until the first rains, which usually come between late December and early February. This year, the onset of the risky period is pulled forward to right now because of the lack of rainfall and the already-dry chaparral.

But that doesn't actually mean our risk of wildfire is unusually high this year. There actually are some factors working in our favor -- most especially the fact that in nearly every direction around us the fuel load has been burned off within the past six years. Our biggest risk isn't that someone starts a fire right in our valley -- no, the big risk is that a fire starts outside our valley, possibly many miles away, and then is blowin into our valley by the Santa Ana winds that come from the northeast and east each summer and fall. Best of all, in the most risky directions -- the direction the evil Santa Ana winds come from -- all the fuel was burned off by last year's Horse Fire.

There are still some fuel-laden paths that a wildfire could take into Lawson Valley, but they're not the most likely ones. The path that looks most risky to me starts just south of Descanso and follows the Japatul Valley just south of west from there to a point just east of Loveland Reservoir, then turns south into Lawson Valley. That path has not burned in many years, and there are (to my knowledge) no firebreaks constructed anywhere on it. There is a good defensive point along the crest of Gaskill Peak and the nearby hills, and the generally narrow path that constrains the blaze is easier to battle. Nonetheless, this path could be taken by a Santa Ana driven wildfire, so we'll be carefully watching any fires that start to the north-northeast of us. The other available paths are all much less worrisome. A wildfire could move north from Deerhorn Valley, but winds from that direction are rare. There's also plenty of fuel between us and the towns of Jamul and Rancho San Diego, but a wildfire would require strong winds from the west to drive that to us, and such winds are both rare and usually moisture-laden (unlike the bone-dry Santa Ana winds).

So we enter our fire season this year with an unusual combination of risks, some higher than usual and some lower. It's difficult to peg the overall risk, but my unscientific, intuitive take is that our overall risk is no worse than it has been in the past few years...

Chatter

ABC News is reporting that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has an intelligence document warning of an Al Qaeda "summer spectacular" -- and that the situation is reminiscent of the "chatter" we have all heard about in the summer of 2001, just before 9/11. The report also contained specific warnings about Al Qaeda plans to attack Glasgow and Prague airports and airport infrastructure, and this report was passed along to UK and Czech officials two weeks ago. U.S. officials are not denying the report, though Secretary Chertoff has said that the DHS has no specific information about attacks aimed at the United States.

In Czechoslovakia, the UK, and Germany, the terror alert level is now at its highest level. The failed Glasgow bombing appears to have been timed for a moment when the airport was full of women and children. Two of the perpetrators (including the leader) were doctors, and UK residents.

The usual multi-cultural/politically correct/liberal line is that the West brings terrorism on itself by fostering despotic regimes with citizenry mired in hopeless poverty. Oops -- that line doesn't seem to fit the facts here. Let's see if we can figure it out -- what is there about these UK doctors that might have provoked their terrorist activity? Hmmm, let me think now -- could it have been the fact that they were radical Islamic fundamentalists who believe that all infidels must die?

There have been many reports from independent credible sources that the damage we have done to Al Qaeda is extensive -- many of its senior leadership has been killed or captured, and the rest are in hiding or on the run. The war in Iraq has been a huge drain on Al Qaeda, both in blood and treasure. Nevertheless, they are an enemy who will fight to the death, and these things that we would see as defeats and setbacks are seen much differently by them. They believe that each jihadi we've killed has gone to his glorious reward for his service to Allah -- and it drives them on all the more. So the recent "chatter" isn't inconsistent with a damaged Al Qaeda at all -- it's exactly what we should expect from a culture that emphasizes glorious death in jihad, and believes in both divine intervention and magic. A "summer spectacular" is just the sort of thing you'd expect them to cook up -- and they really don't need all that much of an organization left to pull it off. Remember, 9/11 was perpetrated by 19 men armed with box-cutters and some minimal flight training -- and a set of religious beliefs that encourage them to kill themselves in the course of killing "infidels".

"Infidels" would be you and me, of course.

Alphonse

Alphonse is a gopher snake, similar to the one in the photo at right. He (or she, for all I know) lives somewhere near our house. Gopher snakes are not venomous, despite their rather close resemblance to the rattlesnakes that are common here. Gopher snakes (which are also very common here) hunt small rodents, such as the gophers, ground squirrels, and various kinds of desert rats that live here -- and even rattlesnakes -- so we like gopher snakes!

But I've had just about enough scares from Alphonse, and I wish he'd be a little more ... polite. I'd appreciate some sort of warning before he shows up again...

The first scare he gave me was a couple weeks ago. I was washing my truck's windshield, and I was standing on a small stepladder so I could reach the center. As I finished and started to climb down my ladder, I looked down -- and saw what looked like a rattlesnake coiled right at the foot of my ladder, and starting to twine about the ladder's steps, as if to climb up. Yikes! Their resemblance to rattlesnakes is deliberate, to scare off potential predators -- and it sure scared this predator! It took me a few seconds to get my heartbeat under control and engage my brain to carefully look at the head (it's not as triangular as a rattlesnake's) and the tail (gopher snakes have no rattles). Ok, it wasn't a rattler...

Then, just a few days ago, I drove into our driveway, parked, and climbed out of my truck. I felt something on my leg, looked down -- and saw a snake climbing my leg! I froze, not wanting to threaten the rattlesnake -- and then, when my brain was working again, I checked it out carefully. Yup, it was Alphonse again. Sheesh! Once I was positive it wasn't a rattler, I just grabbed him behind the head (gopher snakes aren't real quick movers) and unwound him from my leg, and set him near a gopher hole -- which he immediately slithered down. Good -- I hope there were several unsuspecting gophers down there!

Hummers in the Morning Light

I never tire of watching the hummingbirds here; of all the abundant wildlife we have here, none delight me as these flying jewels do...

This morning the sun rose far in the north (as it's only been a week since the summer solstice) and brightly lit our hummingbird feeders, which are located on the north side of our house. I took advantage of this to take some photos. You can see the nine that came out well by clicking the photo at the very bottom; this will take you to an album.

The male hummingbird at right is a Costa's hummingbird (Calypte costae). While these are very common in San Diego County, until this year they haven't been particularly abundant at our feeders. This year we have at least a dozen males every day (based on how many we see at the same time). This morning while I was taking my photos, one of the Costa's males swooped in from behind my head and went into a hover about six inches from my eyeballs -- and stayed there for a good 15 seconds, just checking me out. What a view I had of him! A little while later, a different male Costa's landed on my camera, just an inch or so from my forehead (I had my eye to the viewfinder). I felt the air from his wings and the sound, so I knew he was there. I backed away from my camera ever-so-slowly, and he stayed right here, not looking concerned at all. After resting for 30 seconds or so, he flew over to swill some hummer juice...

Photographing a hummingbird perched is a challenge; getting one in flight approaches impossibility! This morning I managed to get three decent photos of flying hummers, the best I've ever done in one photo shoot. The bright morning light helped, as it allows the camera to focus more quickly. The photo at right was taken at 1/250th of a second, from a distance of about 18 inches, just as the hummer was about to land on a feeder. I managed to get the camera on her at about six feet away, and just held the shutter release down and tracked her on the way in. This one nicely shows how their entire body is involved in the complex aerodynamic and mechanical dance that is their landing -- and which they make look so easy...

Hummers 1

Good News, Horrible News

Michael Yon has filed a new dispatch from Iraq on Operation Arrowhead Ripper, and it has both good news and horrifying news.

The good news is of the continued progress of the operation, and in particular of the outstanding fighting ability of one Iraqi unit (the commander of which is in Yon's photo at right). The details in that portion clearly articulate the qualitative difference between this Iraqi unit and the Iraqi army in general a year or more ago. Much progress has been made, contrary to the blatherings and posturings of Reid, Pelosi, Murtha, and the like. This is very encouraging, as the ability of the Iraqi Army to fight is critical to stability in Iraq as the American forces withdraw.

The horrible news is graphic evidence of yet another of Al Qaeda's atrocities. Of all the failings of our lamestream media in Iraq, none offends me quite so much as their refusal to report Al Qaeda's bloodthirsty and cowardly style of fighting, their endless outrages to innocents. Here Yon meticulously documents another of these. In this case, a small village on the outskirts of Baquba had the misfortune to be close to a point on the road that Al Qaeda thought was a desirable place to plant IEDs. So the Al Qaeda forces took over the village -- and killed every man, woman, and child in it. They beheaded the children -- and Michael, like any sane human, can't help but wonder if the children were killed in front of the parents, or vice versa. In either case, a routine horror perpetrated by Al Qaeda that makes the worst incidents by rogue American forces seem tame by comparison.

Not that you'd ever see that in our press...

Quote of the Day

From former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, speaking about Britain's struggles with its Muslim minorities:

The reason we are finding it hard to win this battle is that we're not actually fighting it properly. We're not actually standing up to these people and saying, "It's not just your methods that are wrong, your ideas are absurd. Nobody is oppressing you. Your sense of grievance isn't justified."

"Your ideas are absurd."

Sometimes I think he's the last sane man in Europe. Though there's much about his political views that I disagree with, on this one existential issue -- the only one in today's political atmosphere that gets me really riled up -- he's been an absolute rock. It will be fascinating to see what (if anything) this man can do in his new post to promote peace in the Middle East...

War in Israel

Through my slide rule collecting, I know several Israelis living in Israel. Through my reading, I've heard that ordinary Israeli citizens are resigned to the notion of an impending war, with your choice of enemies: Hamas, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, or any combination of the above. So I asked the folks I know whether they heard the war drums, and one of them sent this answer:

Do not be concern about a new War here Israel. We are in a War zone since 1948 and we are accustom to the War drums music....and thanks to our good friends in the USA, we are still here.

MEMRI

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) is an indispensable source of information for Americans about the Middle East. They do something our lamestream media rarely does: they take the news reported by Middle Eastern mainstream media, translate it (if required) into English, and then post it raw and unedited. I don't know any other source that routinely provides a peek into the way Middle Easterners get their news. Their main site updates the stories they've processed each day, and their video site has the original Middle Eastern videos, with English transcripts of them. They even have a blog!

What provoked me to post about MEMRI was a transcript I read this morning. It is from the Saudi Iqra TV (a Saudi Arabian media outlet), and shows a man-in-the-street interview with various answers to a single question:

Interviewer: Would you, as a human being, be willing to shake hands with a Jew?

Interviewee 1: Of course I wouldn't be willing to shake hands with a Jew, for religious reasons and because of what is happening now in Palestine, and for many reasons that don't allow me to shake a Jew's hand.

Interviewee 2: No. Because the Jews are eternal enemies. The murderous Jews violate all agreements. I can't shake hands with someone who I know is full of hatred towards me.

Interviewee 3: No, the Jew is an enemy. How can I shake my enemy's hand?

Interviewer: Would you refuse to shake hands with a Jew?

Interviewee 4: Of course, so I wouldn't have to consider amputating my hand afterwards.

Interviewer: If a child asks you who "who are the Jews," what would you answer?

Interviewee 5: The enemies of Allah and His Prophet.

Interviewee 6: The Jew is the occupier of our lands.

Interviewee 1: The murderers of prophets. Our eternal enemies, of course.

Interviewee 2: The murderers of prophets, that's it.

Interviewer: If a child asks you who "who are the Jews," what would you answer?

Interviewee 8: Allah's wrath is upon them, as the Koran says. Allah's wrath is upon them and they all stray from the path of righteousness. They are the filthiest people on the face of this earth because they care only about themselves: Not the Christians, not the Muslims, nor any other religion.

The solution is clear, not only to me but to everyone. If only [the Muslims] declared Jihad, we would see who stays home. We have a few countries… there is one country with a population of over 60-70 million people. If we let them only march, with no weapons even, they would completely trample the Jews, they would turn them into rotten carcasses under their feet. There is another country that donated money, saying, "I am behind you, I'll support you with weapons, just wage [Jihad]."

But the cowardice inside us, deep within our hearts was instilled by the Arab leaders, may Allah forgive them. They breast-fed us with it from the day we were born to this very day it has grown with us.

In Saudi Arabia, as in many other despotic Middle Eastern regimes, decades of non-stop propaganda has produced a populace that apparently really believes this sort of rubbish. The regimes support the propaganda because it provides a target for their population's discontent -- a target other than themselves, that is.

I can't imagine how this sort of thing can be reversed other than by stopping the propaganda, letting real information flow freely, and letting a few decades go by. But so long as those regimes remain in power, the first two prerequisites just ain't gonna happen.

This is one of the main reasons for my support of the war in Iraq -- a democracy in the Middle East was (and remains) the best hope I can think of for addressing what I can only call the brainwashing of the Arab "street".

Now I think I"ll go take a shower; I feel unclean after reading that transcript...