November 2006 Archives
BizzyBlog's Tom Blumer wonders why Google's and Yahoo's respective news search engines miss almost all of CENTCOM's news, and asks for help figuring it all out. No problemo, Tom: I dug around and found a few relevant facts that might interest you.
I found a link on CENTCOM's home page that offers access to all five of CENTCOM's news feeds. Then I started probing Yahoo and Google to see if the URLs for those feeds turned up anywhere.
I note with some satisfaction that three valid CENTCOM news feeds are available (log-in required) for inclusion on anyone's My Yahoo! page. Of course, you have to log in and drill down to a particular sub-page to search for those feeds, or you have to manually type in the entire URL of a feed to add it yourself. Now, I did this myself over two months ago, but I'm unusual. Want to venture a guess as to how many people have done the same? I'll bet it's a very small number. Most folks have neither the time nor the inclination to decipher the finer points of manually adding news feeds to their My Yahoo! pages.
Fortunately this is one (small) problem that CENTCOM can fix by adding chiclets to its home page and its news pages. Or CENTCOM can do what I did and add one easy-to-click link that lets FeedBurner's web site handle the whole chiclet thing automatically ... for free!
OK, so Yahoo has an obscure way to keep track of CENTCOM's news releases via RSS feeds. That's nice, but I'm nearly certain that nobody uses it. Worse, CENTCOM's feeds apparently aren't included in Yahoo's news site, nor are they available in its news search engine ... which is where the vast majority of Yahoo's news-reading users will go. Yahoo has yet to regularly crawl any blogs or RSS feeds for inclusion in their news search results (although at one time they did so).
Yahoo really doesn't need to do much to add CENTCOM to its search results. After all, Yahoo always has fresh content from my puny blog available in their search results within moments of publication. That's because I have FeedBurner set up to ping Yahoo whenever I post something new. The price? Zipski. It's free. If CENTCOM would just take advantage of a free service like FeedBurner to publish their news feeds, they would get more attention. More importantly, by taking care of the feed updates and pinging ahead of time, CENTCOM would have an easier time persuading Yahoo to add them to the news search engine.
Now on to Google.
Google's blog search engine actually does include CENTCOM news in its results, but almost nobody would think to look there for news from a major organization like CENTCOM. Since Google already keeps track of RSS feeds from thousands of sites, it should be a snap for them to include CENTCOM's news releases in Google News' search results (note to CENTCOM: FeedBurner pings Google too, so my puny blog's even listed there). Google News includes posts from blogs like RedState, TownHall.com, Power Line, The Jawa Report, and The Huffington Post. Those sites are hardly unbiased. CENTCOM certainly has a stronger claim to being a news source than those blogs do, and if CENTCOM adopts the same approach to Google as outlined above for Yahoo, it shouldn't be long before things improve.
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Update: BizzyBlog and NixGuy keep connecting the dots. And don't forget the enemy's propaganda successes, either. One Oar In The Water pulled on a loose thread and exposed a propaganda lie published by the L.A. Times, in which an American airstrike supposedly killed a slew of Iraqi civilians. How many more stories like that have slipped through? You'd be surprised.
Update 2: Rusty Shackleford at The Jawa Report asks pointed questions about shady Iraqi stringers reporting "news" of American atrocities. To top off the cavalcade of happy news, Rusty throws in a story about a terrorist instruction manual that explains how to wage jihad by manipulating Google. C'mon, CENTCOM ... get serious.
Just click the image of Congressman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) to find out why:
I'm a veteran, and I'm outraged.
I joined up in 1990 because I wanted to serve my country. I had a full ride scholarship waiting for me at a civilian university, but I dedicated my life to the military because I wanted to protect my family, my friends, and even stupendously condescending jerks like Charlie Rangel. I am white. I came from a middle class family. I got a 1430 on my SAT, and that was in 1989 (before they dumbed it down). I have a law degree and have only a few credits between me and a master's degree in bioethics. My four brothers are (respectively) a doctor headed for a fellowship in cardiology, a hydraulic equipment salesman, a petroleum engineer, and an undergraduate physics student headed for med school. My mother and stepfather have MBAs, are former executives in a Fortune 500 company, and are successful small business owners. My father has an MBA and is a successful CPA and financial advisor.
I had tons of options, and I chose the best: serving my country in the military. Charlie Rangel can kiss my ass.
My computer's dead, and access to any other is very limited where I am. When replacement parts arrive, I'll be back online ASAP.
I apologize for the inconvenience.
11/25 update: Everything seems to be working now. Time to get caught up! Man, it feels like it's been a month. The online news cycle sure does move quickly.
Two days ago, the Los Angeles Times reported that an American airstrike in Ramadi killed 30 Iraqi civilians, including women and children. That's a horrible tale of woe, isn't it? But there's one little detail that's missing from the story: it's a complete fabrication.
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General John Abizaid | General George McClellan |
Senator McCain just asked the CENTCOM Commander, General John Abizaid, why he opposed sending more American troops to Iraq. Abizaid's reply:
I met with every divisional commander, General Casey, the core commander, General Dempsey, we all talked together. And I said, in your professional opinion, if we were to bring in more American Troops now, does it add considerably to our ability to achieve success in Iraq? And they all said no. And the reason is because we want the Iraqis to do more. It is easy for the Iraqis to rely upon to us do this work. I believe that more American forces prevent the Iraqis from doing more, from taking more responsibility for their own future.
President Bush says that he wants to finish the job in Iraq. Fine. But it's now obvious that refusing to adapt our strategy to defeat the rising sectarian militias would be foolish. At least if we adopt the Democratic cut and run policy, we'll stop losing troops in Iraq. Now, I oppose cutting and running for obvious reasons. But pinning our hopes on the Iraqi military and police forces now, before they're ready, is just another way of ensuring defeat.
We ought to send more troops to Iraq as soon as possible, and their primary mission should be to kill the leaders and members of every militia, jihadist cell, and Baathist insurgent group in Iraq. Wars are won by applying overwhelming force, not by trying to field just enough troops to do the job. Abizaid advocates standing pat with current strategy. He's wrong. President Bush should fire him and find someone who will fight.
Once upon a time, another Republican President faced an unpopular and protracted war, and his top general refused to engage the enemy. Frustrated, the President wrote a letter to the general:
My Dear McClellan:If you are not using the army, I should like to borrow it for a short while.
Yours respectfully,
Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln eventually fired George McClellan and found two generals who attacked the enemy and won the Civil War: Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman. McClellan retired and ran against Lincoln for President as (what a shock) a Democrat. Thank God that McClellan lost.
Today we need a new Sherman or Grant or Patton. President Bush should find a real fighter who will ignore the media's whining and the Democrats' sniping. John Abizaid is not that man.
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More blogging:
Jeff Emanuel
Dan McLaughlin
"Thomas" (very pessimistic)
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11/16 Update: Rush Limbaugh accurately identifies Abizaid's strategy as "stay the course."
I know what I'll be doing tonight at 7:00. I'll be watching this.
Representative Roy Blunt (R - MO) wants to be the next Minority Whip, but his responses to questions from the conservative GOP base prove that he's not the man for the job (the audio's posted here). He's been tainted by excessive spending for too long to credibly claim to be a fiscal conservative. He's refused to lead as a conservative while he's been the Majority Whip, so he doesn't deserve a chance to help cause a second electoral train wreck in 2008.
Keep the pressure on the House Republicans by picking the best questions with which the media can grill the candidates for leadership positions. The Republican National Committee just demonstrated its "to hell with conservatives" attitude by making Senator Mel Martinez its new chairman (*groan*), and unless we speak up now the Republicans in the House will choose similar leaders. Unless you want a repeat of this election in 2008, help us pressure the GOP to get back to conservatism.
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Update: A pithy assessment of Martinez as GOP Chairman.
When conservative Republicans warned the electorate that the Democratic Party would push for a cut and run policy in Iraq, it wasn't enough to keep control of Congress. The Democrats won, and now they and their media buddies are telling anyone who'll listen that they took over because they ran "moderate" candidates whose views reflect those of the majority of Americans (check the poll results here to see what that majority thinks about Iraq).
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight.
Now comes the fulfillment of that conservative prediction:
The Democrats — the incoming majority leader, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada; the incoming Armed Services Committee chairman, Senator Carl Levin of Michigan; and the incoming Foreign Relations Committee chairman, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware — said a phased redeployment of troops would be their top priority when the new Congress convenes in January, even before an investigation of the conduct of the war.“We need to begin a phased redeployment of forces from Iraq in four to six months,” Mr. Levin said in an appearance on the ABC News program “This Week.” In a telephone interview later, Mr. Levin added, “The point of this is to signal to the Iraqis that the open-ended commitment is over and that they are going to have to solve their own problems.”
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“The people have spoken in a very, very strong way that they don’t buy the administration policy,” Mr. Levin said on ABC. Mr. Reid, in an appearance on CBS, said troop redeployment “should start within the next few months.”
There's more here.
Instead of retreating we ought to increase our troop strength and crush the Islamists. Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman are calling for more troops. That makes sense ... but with the Dems in charge, does anybody want to take bets on Congressional funding of even maintaining troop strength in Iraq (much less increasing it)?
If this mess bothers you like it bothers me, speak up and influence the Republican leadership candidates while you can.
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Update: Oh, crap. President Bush, don't be an idiot.
Yet again we see why our enemies prefer Democrats.
More evidence continues to come in to support the common sense conclusion that conservatism didn't lose last Tuesday. Of course, that won't stop some on the Left from misdiagnosing what happened. Watch for more clashes between the two worldviews.
Meanwhile the GOP prepares to elect new House leaders ... people who will definitely hear from the conservative base. The candidates' responses will be instructive.
Update: Somebody shoot me. The Stupid Party is living up to its nickname:
The depleted House Republican caucus, a minority in the next Congress, convenes at 8 a.m. in the Capitol Friday on the brink of committing an act of supreme irrationality. The House members blame their leadership for tasting the bitter dregs of defeat. Yet, the consensus so far is that, in secret ballot, they will re-elect some or all of those leaders.In private conversation, Republican members of Congress blame Majority Leader John Boehner and Majority Whip Roy Blunt in no small part for their midterm election debacle. Yet, either Boehner, Blunt or both are expected to be returned to their leadership posts Friday. For good reason, the GOP often is called "the stupid party."
Haven't these morons ever heard the definition of insanity?
Update 2: Apparently they haven't.
We warned you it would happen. And you wonder why the Islamists are happy about the election?
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Update: The electorate is worried about the possibility of cutting and running.
While a bare majority of 51 percent called the Democrats' victory "a good thing," even more said they were concerned about some of the actions a Democratic Congress might take, including 78 percent who were somewhat or very concerned that it would seek too hasty a withdrawal of troops from Iraq.Another 69 percent said they were concerned that the new Congress would keep the administration "from doing what is necessary to combat terrorism," and two-thirds said they were concerned it would spend too much time investigating the administration and Republican scandals.
That's nice to know, but why did the voters support the Democrats then? Apparently, GOP corruption matters more than Democrat fecklessness on national security matters. I wish we Americans would think more than two years ahead.
*sigh*
I say it's time to do something about it.
Tip o' the hat to Michelle Malkin.
We all have questions we'd love to ask the GOP's new House leadership candidates. Surprisingly enough, they might actually have to answer them ... and you can submit and vote on questions thanks to N.Z. Bear.
Hat tip: Hugh Hewitt
You definitely need to see this video of the United States Navy Ceremonial Guard Drill Team.
Hat tip: Andy's Angle
It's fitting that today, on the 231st anniversary of the birth of the U.S. Marine Corps, President Bush announced that Jason Dunham will posthumously receive the Medal of Honor.
When the citation is published, you can find it by clicking the banner below:
Here's more on Cpl. Dunham.
Note: Don't call it the "Congressional Medal of Honor" ... that's not its name. And please, never make the mistake of calling someone a "winner" of the MoH. "Recipient" is the proper term.
What a shock. He'd better not get his hopes up. The GOP's base isn't too keen on his prospects.
The results of the election continue to ripple outward, and the troops in Iraq react.
Hat tip: A Rose By Any Other Name
I'm no fan of federal spending in general, but some things require it. It is right and good for the U.S. government to fund our military, and it is also proper for it to care for the veterans who have been injured or wounded in the line of duty. That's why I'm asking for your help with a government program that needs more spending, not less (I know, I know ... it's out of the ordinary to hear that from me, but please pick your jaw up off the floor and read on).
More than 2,000 brave men and women have lost their lives in the war on terror and over 20,000 have been wounded. This is a sobering reminder of the risks our troops face every day and the tremendous sacrifices they make for our country. Despite these great sacrifices, Congress recently tried to cut the budget for the VA's traumatic brain injury care centers, which so many of our wounded troops are counting on.
Our veterans should not have to fight for the high quality health care they've earned.
Congress needs to know that anything short of fully-funded health care and benefits for our veterans is unacceptable ... especially when VA claims backlogs have reached a record high of over 800,000! Those claims represent hundreds of thousands of veterans and their families who are waiting for the health care and benefits they need to survive. These are real people who did their duty for our country. But, unfortunately, the country is not holding up its end of the bargain.
That's why the VFW has launched Healthcare for Our Heroes, a month-long Veterans Day campaign to demand full funding of veterans health care and benefits. Join the campaign today by signing the Healthcare for Our Heroes Petition to Congress and help the VFW reach their goal of gathering 20,000 signatures to deliver to Congress by Veteran's Day.
Let us honor the men and women who've served our country by calling on Congress to fully fund health care and benefits for our veterans.
Sign the Healthcare for Our Heroes petition today.
I'm holding my tongue for awhile on matters of politics. I'd rather cool off and think for awhile before posting, rather than risk saying something I'll regret later. It's time for conservatives to pause and reflect on our priorities for the next two years.
This defeat of Republicanism is not a rejection of conservatism.
Our side will lose seats, but I predict that the Republicans will hold both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House. Mike DeWine will barely beat Sherrod Brown.
The Democratic Party will descend into vicious infighting as it tries to assign blame for its failure. John Kerry will be the first and most prominent whipping boy. The left-wing blogs will scream bloody murder about "voter suppression" and "election fraud", since they cannot comprehend the possibility that the majority of voters don't share the left's beliefs.
The Dinosaur Media will breathlessly report electronic voting problems and will try to sway late voters with wildly inaccurate exit polls purporting to show Democrat victory in the offing. Once it becomes clear that the Republicans have squeaked out a win, the media will openly bemoan Democrat ineptness, finally casting aside any illusion of objectivity and impartiality. They will continue to hemorrhage what little credibility they still have, and the next round of newspaper circulation numbers and TV news ratings will show major drops across the board.
My Congressional District, the 13th, will be saddled with Democrat Betty Sutton, which is a no-brainer thanks to the inept and under-funded campaign of RINO Craig Foltin.
Issue 2 (boosting the minimum wage) will pass by a close margin, Issue 3 (legalized gambling) will fail by a close margin, Issue 4 (limited smoking ban) will fail, and Issue 5 (total smoking ban) will fail by a large margin.
I grind my teeth to say it but I think Ted Strickland will be our new Governor ... yet Ken Blackwell will only lose by less than 7%. Most importantly, Blackwell will capture more than 1/3 of the black vote, which will ring alarm bells throughout the Democratic Party.
[Cross-posted at The S.O.B. Alliance]
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Update: To quote Emily Litella ... never mind.
*** Update: it's a hoax (or so they claim). Be sure to read the comments. ***
You read that headline right. Liberal bloggers Buckeye State Blog and Plunderbund have had something in the works for awhile now. The right side of the blogosphere detected the problem on FreeRepublic. Right on the Right sounded the alarm, followed by BizzyBlog and NixGuy.
Michelle Malkin is watching the story. Jonathan Adler at Volokh looks at the criminal implications, and notes that Buckeye State Blog's "Operation Infiltration" might be a hoax.
Many of you Ohio conservatives are fed up with the Republican Party at every level, and you're prepared to sit out the election or even vote for Democrats. I know you mean well and you're right to be angry. You have reached such heights of frustration that you want to "throw all the bums out" as a way to spank the GOP ... and doing it will sure feel good.
But it's incredibly unwise.
When a football team has problem players who disrupt the team's efforts, only a foolish coach would fire the whole team just before the opening kickoff. The wise coach plays the game as well as he can, and only after the last second ticks down does he start shopping for replacements.
A wise woman sent an e-mail to Tom Blumer, one of my colleagues in the S.O.B. Alliance. She explains why we all need to vote for Republicans again, no matter how galling it might be. Don't leave this page until you've read her message.
If afterward your feelings still compel you to disregard cold reason and you choose to punish all Republicans this Tuesday ... well, there's nothing more I can say that will persuade you.
But rest assured that if the Democrats take over the Congress, when the next massive attack comes I will place the blame loudly and squarely on your shoulders. I expect liberals to be childish and vote with their feelings despite all inconvenient facts.
You, on the other hand, know better.
If the Democratic Party isn't in favor of cutting and running from Iraq, then please explain these NY Times poll results:
Nearly 75 percent of respondents, including 67 percent of Republicans and 92 percent of Democrats, said they expected that Americans troops would be taken out of Iraq more swiftly under a Democratic-led Congress.Forty-one percent of respondents said they expected that troop levels would decrease if Democrats won control, while 40 percent said the party would seek to remove all troops.
The voters know the Democrats, even though the party's bigwigs try to hide their pacifist core.
Oh ... one other thing. I have a request for leftists. Please don't even try to claim that the New York Times is biased against Democrats. That paper is unabashedly pro-Democrat.
Sherrod Brown came to John Kerry's defense, so Kerry's trying to provide cover for Brown. First Kerry cancelled his campaign schedule and went into hiding. Now the JohnKerry.com site has pulled down its list of Democratic candidates who've received funds and cheerleading from Senator Lurch Kerry.
Guess who got over $197,000? Click the screencap:
If you're reading this blog then the odds are good that you're a conservative, with the exception of my poor deluded buddy John out in Hawaii, who still can't bring himself to pull the "R" lever. Like me, you're probably not too happy with Mike DeWine's conservative credentials. But if you're thinking of staying home to punish the Republicans, or even (God forbid) thinking of voting Democratic, allow me to remind you about what you'd be getting from a Senator Sherrod Brown.
Just drop in on BizzyBlog and Weapons of Mass Discussion and you'll see why you'd be a fool not to hold your nose and vote for Mike DeWine.
When it comes to disdain for our troops, Sherrod Brown stands with John Kerry:
Rep. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat leading in late polls in his bid to unseat Republican Sen. Mike DeWine, said Republicans are merely trying to change the subject. "The people who should apologize are George Bush and Mike DeWine for sending our troops into battle without body armor and without examining the cooked intelligence," he said.
So according to Brown, this wasn't an insult to our troops:
That's right, folks. In Sherrod Brown World, it doesn't matter what the troops fighting in Iraq heard. Those dolts misinterpreted an obvious joke about their Commander-in-Chief and thought it was an insult directed at them. Any idiot would have understood. They're either too dumb to get the joke, or they're just acting like eeeeevil Republicans when they take John Kerry at his word.
Sherrod Brown knows darn well that Kerry's insult revealed yet again his inherent disdain for the U.S. military. Brown shares that attitude, and today's quote demonstrates the point. This hair-on-fire pacifist lefty wants to have a bigger say in American national security and foreign policy. Do Ohio voters really want a small man like this representing them in the U.S. Senate?
Contribute to Mike DeWine and keep Sherrod Brown away from the reins of power.
Hat tip: Hugh Hewitt
