Renouncing Terrorism

In July of 2005, an event of immense importance, quietly occured: the IRA decided to renounce violence.

The IRA were a ruthless, uncompromising, dedicated, well armed and well funded organization that was responsible for murdering 1800 politicians, police officers, soldiers and citizens.

While contending that their struggle was legitimate, after 20 odd years, the IRA came to understand that violence and terrorism was failing. It was not advancing their cause, but rather, as people became fed up with the bloodshed, terrorism destroyed the image the IRA as a group of noble nationalists.

Pledging to assist the development of purely political and democratic programs through exclusively peaceful means, the IRA ordered it's militants to dump arms.

By remaining resolute, keeping troops on the streets, implementing emergency measures to help fight the threat, sending in the elite SAS to track down militants, conducting secret talks with the IRA, while improving schooling and job opportunities, Tony Blair was instrumental in the getting the IRA to "formally order an end to the armed campaign" and work through "exclusively peaceful means".

There were many who believed talking to the IRA would not work, yet the peace process eventually succeeded in halting Irish terrorism.

So what lesson from this can be applied of today's terrorist challenges posed by a group of fanatics who recognize no limits, make no demands that can be legitimately addressed, and represent no one but themselves?

When it comes to Islamic inspired terrorists, we cannot engage in discussions with them, we can only defeat them!

One way to defeat them, is to build democracies in the Mid East, such as we have done in Iraq, because, in the words of India's Infosys CEO Nilekani, " only Democracy allows free speech, which breeds creativity. Creativity creates a culture that's popular and inclusive".

But we must be careful to ensure that democracy is not merely the act of "voting". as we have just witnessed in Lebanon. Hamas may have been democratically elected, but Democracy also demands that the leaders be held accountable for creating choice, freedom, alternatives, developing civil societies, institutions, and judiciary systems.

I'm in a mood......

Shut The Fuck Up Ray Nagin

You incompetent arrogant lying fuck!

You condemn Rev Franklin Graham for saying Katrina was Gods wrath for the whores, crime, and sexual perversion that was abundant in New Orleans, and now you play the God card, claiming that Katrina was God's wrath for "invading Iraq under false pretense".

In what is a classic let's blame everyone but ME for what the Louisana Dept of Health and Hospital and Nola.com editor Tom Donley have proven was YOUR failure, you still deflect the blame by NOW claiming New Orleans was made to suffer for the War on Terror in Iraq.

The death toll was "almost entirely a failure of evacuation, not response" Mr.Donley said.

Evacuation is YOUR responsibility, Mayor Nagin. And Hurricane Katrina, like Andrew, like all other hurricanes that have hit the US each year, was an act of Nature, not of God. What was God punishing South Florida for when Hurricane Andrew struck? The War on Terror wasn't around for Floridians to blame!

Do you think God cares to punish your puny insignificant city? And since when do YOU have a direct line to God!!

If you didn't have the intelligence to ensure your levies were able to withstand NATURES wrath thats YOUR fault, not God's wrath against liberating millions of people in Iraq, helping them develop and sustain the first democracy in the Arab world, and uncovering caches of weapons, and mass graveyards filled with the bodies of men, women and children.

And I won't even get into that reverse racist remark about turning New Orleans into a black only enclave.

You have NEVER accepted responsibility for the failures that you were entirely responsible for,which includes the death toll, the exagerrated lies you spewed forth about alleged rapes and murders in the Dome, and the further lies you perpetuated during the Senate investigation to cover up YOUR incompetance. You've provided nothing but bullshit excuses for your incompetence and failures, as well as that of Gov Blanco, but this is an all time low even for you.... this sad excuse that spews forth from your mouth is a testimony to your insanity.

I hope you get thrown out of office in the next election,along with Blanco.
Who will you blame then, God, the war in Iraq, or the constituents who saw past your bullshit.

You are a dispicable spineless lowlife sad excuse of a man.

JP Interviews Thunder6

(JP, Host): With the media providing only part of the story from the frontlines of Iraq and Afghanistan, the truly personal journals of milbloggers who share what they experience on the ground is reshaping reporting as we know it. From his operating base in Iraq, Danjel Bout aka Thunder6, author of “365 and a Wakeup” a Company Commander in the Army National Guard, has helped to establish military blogs as a powerful source of information for people all over the world. Telling the story of himself and his troops during his deployment he reveals the successes that are being made everyday in Iraq. He writes a reality that no reporter could provide. What follows is a transcript of an email interview I had with Thunder6. It is in part, because of him, and fellow milbloggers like him who are willing to share what they see and what they feel, that we can read about the truth in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Thunder6: I think milblogs will eventually replace the journals that soldiers in other wars used to record their experience. Just like those journals they will become a treasure trove of information for future historians. I can’t imagine how they will be perceived years from now, to be honest I am a little to close to the subject to avoid injecting my own dreams into the appraisal.

You can read the entire email interview here

Golden Globes and The Spirit Awards

Of all the red carpet award shows I had to attend as part of my job in TinselTown there were only two that I truly loved:

The Spirit Awards - held in a tent ON the beach in Santa Monica. The awards were given to films made at $10 million or less;small inde films that were strong on character driven stories.

I loved the "New York " young hip urban and cool feel of this Industry event. Everyone wore funkier outfits, lots of black jeans with great graphic t-shirts, and footwear included runners, boots, or ballet flats. Low key, great food, limited seating capacity created a more intimate event. For me personally this event, like no other, was and remains a way to honor the art and and spirit of film making - the blood sweat and tears that inde films require in order to make it to the screen - and to acknowledge the tenacity of those who drive creativity in the film biz.
During the three years I attended the event I sat at tables with Aaron Eckhardt, Declan Quinn, Kasi Lemmons, Elizabeth Pena mingled with Billy Bob Thornton, William Macy, Roger Deakins, Stanley Tucci, Ally SHeedy, Darren Aronofsky, Mathew Broderick, Ed Burns, Elizabeth Shue, Bryan Singer, Hilary Swank, Peter Greene, Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Tilley, Chloe Sevigny, Sarah Polley, Reese Witherspoon, Spike Jones, Christine Vachon, David Staithern, and saw films like The Usual Suspects, Happy Texas,Leaving Las Vegas, Election, American X, , Guinevere, Fargo, Slingblade, GO, Welcome To The Dollhouse, Eves Bayou, The Apostle, The Sweet Hereafter, Boys Don't Cry, Being John Malkovitch, Tumbleweed, all get much deserved recognition in a variety of different categories.


The Golden Globes - which will be aired tonite. It was always interesting to see how the Foreign Press (FP)would vote and while the FP doesn't always reflect The Academy(those who vote fo the Oscars) tastes in films and filmmakers, it does serve as a good indication of what might happen on Oscar nite. Plus the event and the parties are held at The Beverly Hilton.
Making schmoozing and party hopping so much easier!!


Inquiring Minds what to know " Will Brokeback Mountain win a Golden Globe for Best Drama?" And if it does, what's the message being sent?

Let's remember folks that this is the FOREIGN PRESS, and therefore they view homosexuality, sex, nudity, and violence differently than Americans. This critically adored Ang Lee film has become a pop culture event. It's won first prize at the Venice Film Festival, Three Critics Choice Awards, an it's been nominated for 7 Golden Globes.

The performances are believeable and heartrendering, and Brokeback Mountain is so much more than just a "gay cowboy love story". While the right will see this as a morally offensive film ( and I do respect their viewpoint) that appears to endorse homosexuality, they are too quick to pass judgement on a story that is deep, complicated, thought provoking, emotionally heartwrenching, visually beautiful, and exquisitely directed. While the carnal acts are very limited , they have managed to become the focus for discussion about this movie.

This film by NO means endorses homosexuality nor does it condone it. But that won't stop right wing Christians from politicising the film. While I agree that Hollywood is out of touch with the mainstream...it is by its very nature LEFT of center....as most art tends to be. I have no problem with this film..I do not view it as " politically correct piece of anti family and anti American propoganda aimed at poking a finger into the eye of 128 million Christians who go to church every week."(Dr. Ted Baehr-WorldNetDaily).

Likely he hasn't seen the film or he lacks the intellectual capacity to understand its meaning. While it certainly won't be nominated at the 14th Annual Faith and Values Awards, in a democratic society, one has the option to view the film or not. I'd like to see a better balanced blend of films and tv shows that promote both conservative values and liberal values, I do not advocate that Hollywood suddenly leans completely right. While its true that the conservative voice is not as loud as the more liberal secular voice, it still exists.

Let's not confuse a movie in which two rugged cowboys struggle with their surprising feelings towards one another with being a film that endorses gay relationships.

Brokeback Mountain does not bash America, Conservatives, Christians, Muslims, Jews, or Gays.


The Office for Film and Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops labeled the film "morally objectionable," but added that "while the actions of Jack and Ennis cannot be endorsed, the universal themes of love and loss ring true." I think thats a very fair and honest way for any Christian to view this film!

Brokeback Mountain is the story of a tragic romance between two men that brings pain to everyone including themselves.

Set in the vast expanse of Wyoming Mountains which visually reflect the remoteness and isolation these men feel internally, the film vividly contemplates the anguish of an unexplainable love between two scarred souls that, in 1963, can never be publically acknowledged and must remain hidden as these two men try to let go and live more conventional yet passionless lives. The women in this film are treated sympathetically, yet Brokeback Mountain doesn't whitewash pain; instead it digs deep and vividly captures the bleeding man beneath the stoic Ennis, the rage and betrayal felt by his wife, and exposes the wounds within the men's families as they come to terms with the unspoken realization that these two men love each other deeply.

There is no happy "Hollywood true love triumphs" ending - this relationship has a crushing impact on both these men and their families, and ends in tragedy.

Heath Ledger deserves the Oscar for Best Performance hands down and I have no doubt that after he wins the Golden Globe for Best Performance By An Actor, he will go on to win a much deserved Oscar.

My Picks

Charlize Theron - Best Performance by an Actress in a Drama
Mrs Henderson Presents - Best Film - Musical or Comedy
Dame Judi Dench - Best Performance by an Actress - Musical or Comedy
Johnny Depp - Best Performance by an Actor - Musical or Comedy
Michelle Williams - Best Supporting Actress - Drama
Ang Lee - Director

Prison Break - Best Television Series - Drama
Glenn Close - Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Drama
Wentworth Miller - Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series - Drama (over Kiefer Sutherland)
Desperate Housewives - Best Tv Comedy
Teri Hatcher - Best Actress in Tv Comedy(beating out her castmates)
Jason Lee - Best Performance by an Actor - Comedy ( I love him -he deserves this award -but I suspect the FP will disagree)

I have no opinion on the other awards up for grabs. I suspect Donald Sutherland will win for Best Supporting Actor - Drama. The FP is no fan of Republicans and Donald portrayal of an nasty manipulative not to be trusted Republican feeds into a stereotype they believe to be true.

Reporting For Duty

During the Holidays, I ran across this article in the Opinion Journal from The Wall Street Journal, written by John Guardiano, an Arlington, Va.-based journalist, who served in Iraq in 2003 as a field radio operator with the Marine Corps Reserve's Fourth Civil Affairs Group. It's a must read!

Reporting For Duty: The US Military tells Iraqi's the truth and some call it a "scandal".

The latest Iraq "scandal" the politicians and the media have discovered is the U.S. military's alleged covert purchase of favorable articles in the Iraqi press. This alleged "propaganda campaign . . . violates fundamental principles of Western journalism," reports the New York Times.

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After major combat operations had ended in April 2003, it quickly became apparent to us Marines that ours was as much a war of information and ideas as a war of guns and bullets. We had won every military engagement; our difficulties lay with the popular Iraqi perceptions that the ex-Baathists, Saddam loyalists and Sunni overlords were lying low and would soon return to power after we Americans had left--which would happen soon, ordinary Iraqis were told. Moreover, blatant lies were spread about our supposed misdeeds: that Marines became Marines after they had murdered a family member; that we were raping Iraqi women and plundering Iraq's oil riches.

It is obviously more difficult to secure the cooperation of a people to rebuild their country if they are intimidated and misled about what you are doing and why you are doing it. That's why we founded our own Iraqi newspaper--which we clearly labeled as such--and that's why we broadcast radio and television clips.

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The U.S. can and will win in Iraq, but only if we win the larger-scale media war. Correcting misperceptions--in Baghdad and Washington, New York and Tikrit--is not somebody else's job; it is the job of the U.S. military. For unless the truth is widely known and shared, no military victory in the 21st century can ever be complete.

Lt.General Rick Hillier.

Lt. General Rick Hillier, has been appointed the new Chief of the Defense Staff in Canada.

He is an excellent choice for the job; his operational experience is extensive. He has had an extraordinary military career, which has spanned more than 30 years, serving throughout Canada, in Europe and in the U.S. Last year, he led over 6000 troops from 35 countries as the Commander of NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.

He also has the rare distinction of having served as Deputy Commanding Officer of the U.S. Army's Third Armored Corps in Fort Hood, Texas.

He has a vision for our Canadian forces and how they can meet the threats of the modern world; an intelligent, confident, soldiers soldier who garners the respect of both American and Canadian soldiers who love to be around him.

What I love about him is that he is a no nonsense straight shooter! He upset liberal candy ass Canadians ( like MP Carolyn Parrish) when he warned that Canadian soldiers would come home in body bags and called the terrorists "detestable murderers and scumbags".

Liberals here in Canada-just like left wing liberals in America-feel that calling terrorists exactly what they are is "offensive"and these liberals, for whom that wingnut Carolyn Parrish speaks for, believe we should find a less testosterone filled way to deal with these murderous scumbags whom they call "victims".

"The war on terror is indeed complex," wrote Parrish. "A great deal of it must be directed at root causes rather than testosterone-filled threats of murder and mayhem. Let the Canadian public know General Hillier does not speak for our government. Build confidence in our ability to cope with the terrorist threats in a calm, reasonable and confident way".

Let Carolyn Parrish know that Lt Gen.Hillier DOES speak for millions of us - unlike that nasty offensive mean spirited boor Carolyn Parrish. This bitch made headlines when on the brink of war she insulted Americans by saying "I hate those bastards" resulting in the US Ambassador to Canada sharing America's sense of betrayal by Canada. I won't go into other vile remarks this twisted demented woman has spewed, but you can read more here.

She is as demented and delusional as Osama Bin Laden-he thinks everyone must live under his theocracy or be killed-and she thinks he and his merry band of mass murderering scumbags just need some tender loving care from a good psychologist and all will be well.

Yes Carolyn, let's provide psychological therapy for these terrorists who kill women and children in the name of some misguided form of jihad and let's embrace them gently in the hopes that we can lovingly inspire them to cease their heineous activities. You are a fucking wingnut!
I can't wait until you are removed from office in the next election!!

Considering how Carolyn Parrish threatened to beat up the Board of Education Chair, is it any wonder she feels sympathy towards terrorists who murder innocent people? Only a monster believes you can reason with another monster.

While Carolyn Parrish and other liberal socialist Canadians live in utopian bubble in some alernate reality, Lt.General Hillier offers up a more realistic assessment and alternative:

"It's simply a matter of understanding the situation. Canada's involvement in Afghanistan, he argues, is not only in Canada's interest but also true to its values. "What we had was a failed state, torn apart by some 20-plus years of brutal warfare, more than two million people had died, six to seven million had been ejected from their homes and were living in states of desperation that was absolutely unbelievable. It goes against Canadian values not to help a population that are simply men, women and children who want to live a normal life, who want to hope that tomorrow and next week and next month is a little bit better. So from our values, were we going to help a population of 28 to 30 million that was desperately in need? I believe that's one of the reasons we need to be there.

"From the point of view of (Canadian) interest, Afghanistan, as a failed state, provided a fertile garden for the growth of extreme societies that persecuted women, men and children, and that directly provided the safe haven, shelter, training ground, recruiting ground, for terrorist organizations--murderers--to project their violence around the world."

"We're a part of a great international effort, to give the Afghan population an opportunity to go from brutalization through some stability, development of a constitution and government, and then development of the institutions and development of a life, if you will, and by doing that, stabilize that country. That's got to be directly beneficial to Canada....We're not there to occupy, we're not there to build an empire, we're not there to do anything but help somebody who desperately needs help."

You can read more about him in Legion Magazine.

When two Canadian soldiers were killed in Kabul , in 2003, after their Jeep hit a landmine, he personally attended to the funeral arrangements for the two men and delivered this heartfelt eulogy:

It is the soldier, not the journalist, who guarantees freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the politician, who guarantees our democracy.
It is the soldier, not the diplomat that becomes a tangible expression of a nation's willingness to extend its values and its ideals worldwide.
And is the soldier whose flag drapped coffin vividly demonstrates the ultimate cost of representing our beliefs in difficult and dangerous places.

People who volunteer to become soldiers and take on those daunting challenges, represent the very best citizens our country has to offer.

Katrina Didn't Discrimate.....

It disgusting to me that our "non biased" MSM spent weeks giving voice to Democrats who vilified Pres.Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina, and worse, gave voice to, Howard Dean, Oprah Winfrey's and Kanye West's ASSININE and bogus assertions that President Bush was a racist, claiming that was the reason behind what they considered to be a lackluster Federal response to Hurricane Katrina.

Even recently, MSNBC Hurricane Aftermath, continued to lend a voice to black community activist Leah Hodges, whose claims have been proven to be nothing more than emotional bullshit.

A story that I have only seen appear in The Toronto Globe and Mail, by Paul Koring, exposes the bias, the lies, the unsubstantiated myths, that the democrats and the MSM perpetuated shortly after Katrina hit and continue to perpetuate today.

According to the Louisiana Dept of Health and Hospital, the death toll shows UNEQUIVOCALLY that the media fuelled myth that blacks died disproportionately was and remains a lie!

Of the 623 bodies identified, 293 are black and 262 are white. It would seem that AGE, not race was the discriminating factor.

The death toll closely matched demographics of the two hardest hit areas, one predominately black parish and two adjacent mostly white parishes.

"That picture of a colour blind killer storm - stands in sharp contrast to that of black people dying in droves because of an uncaring or delinquent relief effort".

It seems that Black activist Leah Hodges, and New Orleans evacuee Patricia Thompson as well as Dem. Cynthia McKinney need to be reminded of the facts:

As Jon Donley, editor for Nola.com, points out, "There were major misconceptions right from the beginning".

He goes on to explain that two of the hardest hit areas were "white upper middle class and that there were homes worth hundreds of thousands of dollars that people were drowning in."

"We often let our presumptions jump ahead of the facts", according to Tom Rosenstiel, director of Columbia Universitys Project for Excellence in Journalism.

(In this day"Excellence in Journalism" is an oxymoran when it comes to the MSM)

Paul Koring's article also goes on to clear up several other lies perpetuated by the Democrats:

Howard Dean: "US citizens have to come to terms with the ugly truth that skin colour, age and economy played a significant role in survived and who did not"

I think the only thing US citizens need to come to terms with is that Howard Dean is a fucking liar...PERIOD!

No one accused the gov't of not caring about the elderly, a group that tends to vote disproportionately for Republicans. He, like many commentators and much of the media was wrong about race.

Dozens of elderly people drowned after being abandoned in nursing homes. Larger numbers died alone in their own homes after failing , refusing or being unable to leave despite a mandatory evacuation order. The death toll was "almost entirely a failure of evacuation, not response" Mr.Donley said.

Despite the facts to the contrary, democrats, the MSM and clearly many black evacuees and black activists have become very quiet about admitting that it was the failure of two democrats - Nagin and Blanco - yet continue to vocalize their lies and misconceptions and blame a gov't they happen to hate.

Other lies and unsubstantiated claimes perpetuated endlessly by the media and Dems have also failed to stand up:

-Ray Nagin claims that 1000s crammed into the Superdome were "watching hooligans killing people, raping people"

- Nola Police Chief, Eddie Compass, claimed on Oprah that "babies were being raped and tourists beaten"

Yet the MSM and Dems remain silent and /or in denial now that the truth has been revealed as evidenced by this statement from Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

“Racism is something we don’t like to talk about, but we have to acknowledge it,” McKinney said. “And the world saw the effects of American-style racism in the drama as it was outplayed by the Katrina survivors.”

Really, now? It seems that the facts paint a different story. Once again let me repeat that the findings of the Louisianna Dept of Health and Hospitals which clearly prove that race was not a factor, age was. The failure was not response but E V A C U A T I O N! And evacuation is the responsibility of the local and state gov'ts!

Where is Kanye West's apology for his slanderous lies? Where is Oprah's apology for her role in supporting and perpetuating lies about Pres Bush? Why is the MSM not admitting that their personal liberal biases allowed them to report unsubstantiated lies and pass them off as fact!
And why are they continously giving voice to the misguided misconceptions and /or downright lies of McKinney, and Leah Hodges who had the audacity at the Senate Hearings to compare shelter conditions to a concentration camp.

“I’m going to call it what it is,” Hodges said. “That is the only thing I could compare what we went through to.”

How dare this misguided politically motivated black woman EVER compare the Katrina shelters to concentration camps in Nazi Germany!!!!Has Leah ever set foot inside Auschwitz? Perhaps the jewish survivors of the Holocaust would be willing to set her straight.

What a disfuckingusting display of her misguided hatred towards Pres Bush and his administration.

Personal Message to Ms Hodges: Don't ever play the Jewish Concentration Camp Hitler card again....you are playing with fire when you compare the intentional genocide of an entire peoples to Nagin's and Blancos pathetic failures. You sick sad pathetic excuse of a human being.
Your lies about the failures are bad enough but when you DARE compare shelters to concentration camps you cross the line of decency! I am appalled by your ignorance, your audacity and I question your sanity.

The truth has been exposed: race wasn't a factor, AGE was, and the failures were of evacuation NOT response. Evacuation is the responsibility of the local(Mayor Nagin) and State (Gov.Blanco) officials. And the truth about Ms Hodges, the democrats and the MSM's agenda, credibility, and hatred for this adminstration have also been exposed.


But truth isn't something the MSM, celebrities, liberals democrats, be they black or white, are willing to acknowledge when it doesnt fit their biased Bush hating agenda.

The Actors and The Communists

I've written two posts, The Actor and The Mullahs, and The Actor and The Mullahs-Redux

There is a long tradition of Western intellectuals going abroad to sing the praises of revolutionaries in distant lands and finding in them the realization of their own intellectual hopes.

Hollywood has an history of supporting non democratic regimes - one need only to look back about 60 years ago, where many in the Hollywood community were card carrying communists who believed in the goodness of the Soviet Union.

Even the revelation of Stalin's crime elicited such ludicrous justification about how great it was the Soviet Union would admit the horrendous things they perpetuated.

Robert Fulford penned "Hollywood's False Martyrs" for the National Post in October in which he posits this question "Why did the Hollywood 300 become secret communists in the first place, and why did they later allow themselves to be manipulated by the party for the sake of anti-American propaganda?"

The answer may surprise you. 60 years later, things haven't changed all that much.

Do the Hollywood communists still matter, more than half a century after they faced HUAC? Absolutely. To this minute, their rewritten story distorts cultural history and colours the self-image of Hollywood leftists, making even the dullest among them feel like brave radicals and potential martyrs.