Say Anything Blog

Representatives from both red and blue states appear to be joining in — although “joining” is probably not the right word. According to the Web site MiddleburyInstitute.net, responses as of June had come from “Hawaii Nation, Alaska Independence Party, League of the South and several of its chapters, Southern National Congress Committee, Southern Caucus, Christian Exodus, New State Movement, Puerto Rico Independence Party, Parti Quebecois, the State of Jefferson, and the Second Vermont Republic.”

From The Chicago Tribune:

Jihadis turn from Iraq to Afghanistan
Western forces offer more inviting targets

PARIS—The conflict in Iraq is drawing fewer foreign fighters as Muslim extremists aspiring to battle the West turn their attention back to the symbolically important and increasingly violent turf of Afghanistan, European and U.S. anti-terror officials say.

The shift of jihadis to Afghanistan this year suggests that Al Qaeda and its allies, armed with new tactics honed in Iraq, are coming full circle five years after U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban mullahs

Until Sept. 11, 2001, Afghanistan was the land of jihad, hallowed ground where fighters from across the Muslim world helped vanquish the Soviet Union in the 1980s, fought alongside the Taliban in the 1990s and filled terror training camps overseen by Osama bin Laden. Loss of the Afghan sanctuary scattered the networks and sent bin Laden fleeing toward the Pakistani border region, where many anti-terror officials believe he remains.

After the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, jihadis from the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa and Europe flocked to confront the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. Although foreigners have been a minority in the Iraqi insurgency, militants such as Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi played a major role in spectacular suicide attacks and kidnap-murders.

But insurgent leaders in Iraq are now mainly interested in foreign recruits ready to die in suicide attacks, anti-terror officials say. Moreover, the conflict is dominated by sectarian violence between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. In contrast, an accelerating Afghan offensive by the resurgent Taliban offers a clearer battleground and a wealth of targets: U.S. and other NATO troops and the Western-backed government.

As Iraqis have solidified control of their insurgency, the movement of foreign jihadis to Iraq has “significantly declined in recent months,” said Pierre de Bousquet de Florian, director of the DST, France’s lead counterterror agency.

“There is less need for them in Iraq because there’s a need above all for kamikazes, and there are not an infinite number of volunteers,” said Bousquet, whose agency works closely with U.S., European and Arab counterparts. “The Iraqi insurgency is now very well organized around Iraqis. Those who want to fight, but not necessarily to die as martyrs, go elsewhere.”

[...]

A leap in violence in Afghanistan this year has featured tactics such as suicide and roadside bombings that are trademarks of the insurgency in Iraq, according to Bousquet and other officials. Despite decades of warfare, suicide bombings were rare in Afghanistan. But the number of such attacks has shot up from 6 in 2004 to at least 78 so far this year.

[...]

Foreign fighters are predominantly Sunni. But they increasingly prefer fighting alongside the Taliban to getting embroiled in the Sunni-versus-Shiite bloodshed in Iraq, said Caprioli, who still works closely with the intelligence community as an executive of the Paris-based GEOS security firm.

Read the whole thing.

We are winning; they are cutting and running.  What we are doing in Iraq is working, and we have to continue the fight until we are victorious.

From MEMRI:

Islamist Holiday Video Calls for Jihad and Slaughter of “Crusaders”

This ten-minute video ( http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?ai=214&ar=M4-006&ak=null ), titled “Rise Up,” was posted on Islamist websites on October 22, 2006, and was described as “a gift for ‘Eid Al-Fitr.” Produced by an individual identified as “Abu Osama” (whose real identity is unknown), it calls on the Muslims to wage jihad against the “Crusaders.” A caption in the film explains that Abu Osama produced the film on the occasion of the establishment of the Islamic State of Iraq.

The film begins with footage of horsemen under the caption: “O ye who believe! What is the matter with you, that, when ye are asked to go forth in the cause of Allah, ye cling heavily to the earth? Do ye prefer the life of this world to the Hereafter? But little is the comfort of this life, as compared with the Hereafter” (Koran 9:38).

Next, several Al-Qaeda leaders and commanders, including bin Laden, Al-Zawahiri, Al-Zarqawi and a number of unidentified young men (who may be field commanders or intended suicide bombers) call upon the Muslims to join the jihad. The following are excerpts:

Al-Zawahiri says: “I urge you, in [the name of] the duty of jihad, which is incumbent upon every Muslim, to hurry and pursue martyrdom in order to kill the Crusaders and the Zionists.” An armed individual calls: “[Oh] defenders of the faith, hurry and prepare [for jihad], this is no time for [internal] disagreement.” Another individual, sitting under a banner that reads, “Expel the polytheists from the Arabian Peninsula,” asks: “Are there no men in this nation?” and a masked individual declares: “Jihad is ancient, and the fate of [all] infidel leaders is one and the same: to be slaughtered.”

The video then shows a scene in which a man is beheaded. This is followed by another beheading, even more grisly, in which the severed head is waved in the air. (Both scenes, and another graphic scene, have been omitted from the version of the film posted here, but are available upon request).

The film ends with a caption congratulating the Shura Council of the Jihad Fighters in Iraq on the occasion of the establishment of the Islamic State of Iraq. It also conveys greetings for ‘Eid Al-Fitr, and expresses hope for the unification of all the jihad fighters in Iraq.

Read the whole thing.

Lest we forget among all the talk of cutting and running, that we will not be safe as long as this sort of belief prevails in the Middle East.

Good enough for you but not for me.

George Clooney

On the ground: George favors a Tango, an electric car that gets a whopping 135 miles to the charge.

In the air: Los Angeles/Tokyo, 5500 miles in a private jet.

Gas guzzled: 7,000 gallons of jet fuel.

Electric shocker: Even with his super-saver Tango, he’ll have to drive over 57 oceans—Pacific Oceans to break even.

So George says: Clooney’s rep, publicist Stan Rosenfield, tells TMZ, “You clearly have no understanding of certain people’s need for private transport,” and points out that Clooney often has “no control” over his travel schedule.

Read the link to get more jet-setting celebs including one that stiffed the guys flying the airplane.

(The following is a commentary performed by me for “The Collective,” a show on Comet Radio, the radio station for Mayville State University)

The past 15 years have not been kind to Martin Scorcese. Ever since 1990’s Goodfellas, he’s been saddled with a slew of mediocre films, from 1991’s Cape Fear to 2004’s The Aviator. When The Departed was announced as his next project, expectations were high. It was based on a successful Hong Kong thriller titled Internal Affiars, which was critically acclaimed, though unseen by me. And when more and more actors signed on to his cast—-Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin, and Martin Sheen—-it looked like he could return to form. And, for once, a hyped film has actually exceeded its buzz, as The Departed is easily Scorcese’s best work in over a decade, and deserves to be mentioned with Taxi Driver, Goodfellas and Raging Bull.

The basic story is very simple: The Boston police force—led by Matt Damon—is determined to bring down the Irish mob (led by Jack Nicholson). However, both sides begin suspecting they have a “rat” in their ranks, and the second half of the movie is about the two sides’ frantic attempts to discover the true identity of their respective double agents.

Now, there are two ways this story could play out. In one version, the audience is kept entirely in the dark about the identity of the double-agents, right up until the very end, in which they learn the truth at the same time as the rest of the characters, in a shocking twist ending. Call this the “Sixth Sense approach”. In the other way, the audience is lifted into a position of omniscience: we know MORE than the characters; we know exactly who the double-agents are right away. It is this second approach that Scorcese uses, and it enables The Departed to make the jump from a good film to a great one.

Just ten minutes into the movie, Scorcese shows the audience who the two double-agents are, a fact known by only two other men in the whole film—-two men who are sworn to secrecy. The rest of the film is a brilliant showcase of dramatic irony, as every conversation has an added edge of suspense, as just a single wrong word by one of the “rats” could mean his death. This all builds up to a rather predictable ending, but one that is handled beautifully by Scorcese.

Watching the film, I couldn’t help but think of Alfred Hitchcock. In his series of interviews with Francois Truffaut, he illustrated the difference between SUSPENSE and SURPRISE by telling a story. Imagine you’re watching a movie in which two men are sitting around a table having a conversation. All of a sudden, BOOM!, a bomb explodes under their table. Everyone is surprised for a couple of seconds, as prior to that, it had just been a normal scene. Now, however, imagine that you--the audience--saw a terrorist plant a bomb under the table, and set it to explode in exactly ten minutes. Now, since the audience knows the bomb is there, the entire scene takes on a whole new dimension. We get to almost participate in this scene, as the men’s banal conversation becomes increasingly important with each passing minute, since the audience knows what’s about to happen. In the first example, the audience is surprised, for the ten seconds or so after the bomb goes off. In the second example, though, the audience is captivated in suspense for the entire ten minutes of the scene.

It’s much harder to generate suspense than it is to generate surprise, which is why so few directors even attempt suspense. Instead we see movies with scary noises or gruesome sights—things that shock us for a few seconds—or plot twists that are just impossibly unpredictable, removing audiences from the story. Think of Shyamalan’s films, or the two Saw flicks. Actual suspense is high risk but, as we see in The Departed, very high reward.

What’s most unexpected in this film is how darkly comic it is. It maintains a delicate balance between violence and humor, similar to Quentin Tarantino’s films, in which half the audience bursts out laughing and the other half covers their eyes after a character gets murdered. The dialogue is fast-paced and very clever, with Jack Nicholson’s mob “Boss” getting the best lines, growling things like “I don’t wanna be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me.” There are several other wicked lines, but this is a Scorcese film, and there could be children listening.

The opening scene informs us that the film is set “SOMETIME” in Boston, an amusing title card. And, indeed, much like David Fincher’s Se7en, The Departed does not take place at any specific time. The movie always looks like it’s taking place in the 1970s, but the characters talk as though it’s the present time. Plus, the film is obsessed with modern technology, utilizing cel phones and cameras in very interesting ways, a trend I hope takes off in film.

The only people I could see being disappointed are fans of Martin Scorcese the auteur. With the exception of the subject matter and a few subtle nods to his previous films (The Rolling Stones’s “Gimme Shelter” is played several times, and Jack Nicholson’s entrance begins with the same tracking shot used for Ray Liotta’s character in Goodfellas), there is little visually that would identify The Departed as a Scorcese film. I believe, however, that this is a calculated move by Scorcese—with a great script and amazing cast, he just takes a step back and doesn’t interfere with the action. Whatever his intentions, though, the result is nearly flawless.

The Departed is by far the best film I’ve seen this year, and I cannot recommend it to you strongly enough. Go out and see it….now!

This past weekend I viewed the documentary “Goldwater Mr. Conservative” and found it to be very enjoyable. The documentary profiles the life of Barry Goldwater starting with his early youth, and the lives of his parents.

It moves on to his election as a Senator and the release of his bestselling novel “The Conscience of a Conservative” which according to the documentary launched Mr. Goldwater political career and the modern conservative movement.

What I found most interesting were the positions of Barry Goldwater.  He was first elected in the 1950’s and took on unions and big labor citing the influence and power they had in American politics.  He fought for reduced spending, and limited government etc. However by the late 70’s and early 1980’s Mr. Goldwater opposed the growing influence and power that religion and religious groups were gaining in the Republican Party.  Mr. Goldwater viewed the platforms of these groups as not related to issues of politics and government.  They were issues of the Bible and not the US constitution. Barry Goldwater was Pro-Choice and supported gays in the military. 

In closing, no matter what your politics, I feel anyone who views this documentary will take something positive from it as it is a unique view into the political spectrum of the United State from 1958 to 1986 give or take a few years.

In the past two days two more police officers have been shot and killed in the line of duty, making a total of 116 officers who have been killed or died on the job so far this year.

Yesterday in Fairfield, Alabama Officer Mary Smith and another officer responded to a complaint of some suspicious persons. When she stepped out of her vehicle she was shot in the chest. The second officer was wounded in the leg. Officer Smith was able, before she succumbed, to call in a partial tag of the truck involved. As I write this the police have recovered a truck they believe involved but are still looking for the shooter. On a side note, Officer Smith had just recently joined the Fairfield Police Department after retiring from Birmingham PD following 21 years service.

Today in Maywood, Illinois K-9 Officer Thomas Wood was shot several times as he sat in his police unit. He was unable to respond. His K-9 partner was unhurt. As I write this they are looking for the shooter.

Some stats for 2006 on the Officers who have been killed on the job:

Aircraft accident - 3

Assault - 2

Automobile Accident - 31

Bomb - 1

Duty Related Illness - 2

Gunfire - 40

Gunfire (Accidental) - 1

Heart Attack - 6

Motorcycle Accident - 6

Stabbed - 1

Struck By Vehicle - 8

Vehicular Assault - 13

Vehicle Pursuit - 3

These statistics are provided by the Officer Down Memorial Page. http://www.odmp.org/

Just some food for thought. Hope the link works.

By the way, we're ahead of last year. Last year at this time the total was 156.

They have refused to print this letter.

Whether in favor of Democrats or Republican, biased media is a problem.

They claim they do not have the manpower to research the votes, yet they have been provided with printouts of the bills, printouts of the voting rolls, and even printouts of stories that ran about the bills in other papers.

The truth, regardless of party, is not allowed on the opinion page of the Dickinson Press.

Who actually pays to read this paper?

Leave it to the Forum to oppose Measure 2, which is truely a bi-partisan measure.

I don’t know much about Measure 3, Rob says it’s good so I will go with that.

The Forum Editorial Board is just stupid, and not worth any fancy language defining just how stupid they are.

Anyone else use Your Top Movies Database? It is a little tool where you can list your top 20 movies, and then compare your list to others’. It can be helpful in seeing what other movies you’d probably like; you get a list of the members on the site whose lists match up the closest to yours, and then you can see the other movies they liked.

My list is right here. What do you guys have?

I have waited a while between posts to make another point.  Some people have short memories.  Some have forgotten 9/11.

My son and I just saw “Flags of our Fathers” yesterday.  The Fanatic japanese were on display again as they were in the movie “The Great Raid”.  The japs were drived by a 1,000 year religion.  Islamic fanatics by a 1,000+ year religion.  Both groups blew themselves up in suicide attacks.  Both groups committed attrocities, mutilation and torture.  Both groups hid and hide behind some type of religious fervor.

During WW II, and the Iwo Jima assault, our press was on our side.  In the GWOT, most of our press is on the side of our enemy, especially CNN that reportedly has broadcast attacks on our own Soldiers.  Their actions remind me of some words Joseph Stalin used:  not “useful idiots”, but misplaced naive, misguided at best, and “helpful traitors” at worst.

Recently, Thomas L. Friedman published on 18Oct06 this year comparing certain people to with an Iraqi version of the Tet offensive.  [see link in the dots above] Remember Dan Rather, Walter Chronchite and Walter Duranty?  One accepted obviously false, manufactured documents in an attempt to manipulate the 2004 election.  The next Walter changed our victory during Tet to a defeat by influencing the average American, at the time monopolized by the old NBC/CBS/ABC networks.  The third sold his soul and seven (7) Million plus Ukranians for an interview with a bank robber and mass murderer. 
Walter Duranty

The enemy, Islamic Facists have displayed fanaticism close to the JAPS for WW II, who to this day, have not even acknowledged their Rape of Nanjing

Will our upcoming election on 7 November 2006 be determined by citizens who have been misled by CNN?  or do we have longer memories, long enough to remember September 11, 2001?

Kentucky.Com

Two environmentalists spent about four hours Monday perched on a ledge over an entrance to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration building to protest what they said is the agency’s suppression of information on global warming.

The pair, which climbed a ladder to reach the ledge, unfurled a banner that read “Bush: Let NOAA Tell the Truth,” while a small group of demonstrators handed out fliers on a nearby sidewalk.

Police eventually used a cherry picker from a nearby construction site to reach the demonstrators and lower them to the ground.

I would have left them up there whining until they got hungry enough to get down. Hopefully it’d rain or snow or something.

By the way this was interesting from the same story:

A report in the scientific journal Nature last month claimed NOAA administrators blocked the release of a report that linked hurricane strength and frequency to global warming. In February, a NASA climate scientist said NOAA prevents researchers working on climate change from speaking freely about their work.

So since this was a light hurricane season we can assume that global warming fears are a thing of the past.

...why does that make me think of Robert Mapplethorpe?

Q: So, what do a Jewish lawyer, an African American street thug rapper, a Hollywood movie star, a dope smoking neo-hippie, a homosexual fashion designer, a college Professor, and a New York journalist have in common?

A: Nothing. Worlds apart, right?...But, think again. Give up? Chances are they’re probably all liberals. And they’re probably all voting Democrat in two weeks.

Q: Why? These people couldn't be more different from one another and, for the most part, wouldn’t be seen in the same room together much less hold hands and sing Kumbaya. Despite liberal protestations to the contrary, liberals are the least tolerant people in our society. They don’t even tolerate each other. Don’t think so? Just look at my above list.

Let’s face it. The Hollywood star claims to love humanity but isolates himself behind the walls of huge estates coming out only to put himself in the right places with all the right people. The homosexual fashion designer wouldn’t let the dirty-toed sandal wearing neo-hippie cut his grass, much less hang out with him in good fellowship. The college professor wouldn’t trust the journalist, and all of them would be afraid that the African-American street thug rapper would kick their ass and take their money. If he did the journalist would blame it on George Bush anyway. And if he did and got caught, well, that’s where the Jewish lawyer comes in.

But, come election day, they’ll all pull the lever or push the button or whatever, for the guy with the “D” next to his name.

Why is this, do you suppose? One possible answer is that the Democrats promise to be all things to all people. They are the "Social Engineers 'R' Us" party. The neo-hippie wants weaker drug laws, not stronger ones. The Hollywood movie star wants free range to live any way they want, without the constraints of moral obligations. The homosexual fashion designer wants gay marriage to be a right. The journalist and the college professor want to be able to espouse their liberal views without being second guessed by the right. The thug wants more restrictions on the police, not fewer. And the lawyer, well, tort reform isn’t going to be his cup of tea, is it? And they all believe the democrats can deliver unto them their fondest wishes.

That’s a lot of promises for the Democrats to make, much less keep. But they continue to sell their bill of goods to the public. And with the election coming up the public, like this group of very different people described above, would do well to keep this phrase in mind:

Caveat Emptor. Let the buyer beware.

This last weekend I heard famous and wealthy people talk about what they believe and what they know. Much was redundant. But I needed to hear others say what I already knew and may have forgotten. Sometimes being reminded is as potent as being told the first time.

Here are 17 things one of the richest men in America said about being in business for yourself:

1. You must be in a business you know. Most people fail because they really don’t know what they are doing. That’s why franchises exist. That’s why so many people fail doing something they know nothing about. They are only in it for the money, the worst possible motivation.

2. You must LOVE what you do. If you don’t love it you will quit doing it.

3. Never Never give up. Keep on, don’t quit. If life knocks you down, get up.

4. Stay focused, diversions are very costly

5. Be a little paranoid – some people are just plain bad and are out to hurt you.

6. Being NICE isn’t always a virtue.

7. Be a contrarian or go against the tide only if you KNOW you have the ability to follow thru.

8. Go with your gut instincts (If you have the ability to follow thru)

9. Not everyone is cut out for or can do what others do. Don’t imitate. You may not be emotionally equipped to do this. It takes a cast iron stomach and a steel spine to be ready for the emotional pain . If that’s not you maybe shouldn’t be in business for yourself.

10. People who are not wired for risk shouldn’t be taking risks. If you can’t sleep at night because of the risks you must take to be in business for yourself you shouldn’t put yourself at risk. Business can be too much fun to make people miserable.

11. Sometimes very smart people have the most difficult time with being at risk. Being smart or well educated does not automatically make you able to be in business for yourself. Success in business for yourself has more to do with your emotional makeup than your intelligence.

12. Get the best people you can find to help you, but don’t trust them. People do what you inspect not what you expect. They must respect you. Tell the truth to yourself and others and move on. Sometimes goodbye is a good strategy.

13. Never ever let people step on you, if they know you are tough and smart they won’t be so likely to try to take advantage of you. Don’t ever let anyone take advantage of you.

14. There is such a thing as Luck, Fortune, Favor, Grace. Some people are just fortunate and some things you do will help swing things in your favor. Nothing happens if you try nothing. The harder you work the luckier you get. You can’t win without being in the game. When the Bears win a game, you are excited but you did NOTHING. The only ones who have the right to be excited are the players, owners and managers. The rest are spectators. Only those who participate celebrate legitimately.

15. Some people fight to win but they secretly want to lose. It’s easier to say “I Tried” and fail then to succeed. Success is frightening to many people. Get over your fear of success.

16. When you get into an arrangement, partnership, corporation, business deal nothing you thought you understood or agreed to matters except what is on paper if you come to conflict. The verbal agreement between good people is worth only the paper it’s written on.

17. Think bigger. If you play with pennies you win pennies, if you play with dollars you win dollars, if you play with hundreds you win hundreds. J D Rockefeller said that. I was in Atlantic City recently. I walked thru the casino. I watched people playing with $20 chips, $50 chips and $100 chips. The amount of the reward or loss was directly proportional to the amount at risk. But, it took the same amount of time and brainpower to win a hundred in one hand than to win $20.

That’s why the 10-10 rule exists in my own business. I try to only do business with people who could make a $10,000 purchase in 10 minutes. They may not always make that purchase but they could. The same amount of work goes into the little deals as the big ones. It has served me well.