All opinions posted. None too pathetic or contrived. Everyone gets their say.

"...even the wicked get worse than they deserve." - Willa Cather, One of Ours

Thursday, July 08, 2004

The Media getting the story wrong again

Iraq the Model (Sunni from Baghdad)
After the authority handover at June 28, Ali wrote a post about that event and included a description about Paul Bremer’s farewell speech to the Iraqis. We were surprised that it wasn’t covered by the major media and moreover the Los Angeles times even went as far as saying that Mr. Bremer “ left without even giving a final speech to the country — almost as if he were afraid to look in the eye the people he had ruled for more than a year”.

A day after that Mohammed wrote another post in which he included some of what Bremer said in that speech. Still there was no mention in the media to that speech and some readers started to question- and they have every right to-whether we were not telling the exact truth, as how could it be possible that such a story is not only ignored by all the major media but also some of them reported the opposite in the front page and refused to change their statement!?

[...]

Finally and after more than a week, the Los Angeles Times corrected their statement about the story. Maybe they received many mails and letters driving their attention to the “mistake” they’ve committed. It could be true that this was an unintended mistake but it would be a very strange one.

It seems that some people in the major media still think they’re the only ones who have eyes and ears and cameras and that ordinary people cannot have access to the information except from the major media outlets...
I am constantly amazed at how the media can write such nonsense about the military and Iraq.

Either they don't know, don't care or are doing it on purpose. I suspect #2: they are just a bunch of lazy bastards, whose editors might check grammer and spelling but know just as little about the topic and so they print what their reporters write, not knowing whether or not it has any basis in reality.

Mr Alawi use your Emergency Law on Sammara Immediately

Hammorabi (Shia from Sammara)
There is no need to think twice and no worse than the thugs of Sammara.
...It is also announced today that a group of Arab terrorists has been arrested trying to prepare for terrorist attacks against Iraqi civilians and buildings and or coalition forces. The first list of these thugs contains 29 Arab terrorists. They are 6 Saudis, 6 Jordanians, 4 Syrian, 2 Yemenis 1 Palestinian, 1 Lebanese, 1 Turkish, 1 Iranian and 1 Morocco with Israeli passport. The last was arrested with Mahmed Barzan Al Tikriti the son of the half brother of Saddam. Many other Arabs and Iranian have been captured preparing for attacks in different parts of Iraq. It has been noticed that the suicidal are now frustrated and in many instances killed or failed before achieving their targets.

[...]

One last thing to mention is a little story about Aoudi the expired son of the Arab hero; this man was a rapist. One day he asked his pimps to get him some nice, pretty and sexy Italian girls. The later did a good job and found a group of artists or dancers and brought their pictures to him. They send the invitation immediate with millions of dollars under the cover of art. The sexy Italian girls arrived in Baghdad and then invited to Aoudi special house. He asked them to perform an HIV test!

The Italian girls shrugged their shoulders; and asked why this idiot and fool man asked them to do so?! They refused and complained to their embassy and returned home immediately. It was probably sorted out by lot of money!

We mentioned this story as an example to show what kind of hero those Arab thugs is having!
This guy hates the Baathists and all their sympathizers with a passion.

Wierd Stuff From Japan #7

J-Box
Japan is a great place, with wonderful people and something interesting at every turn, but the weather is not the best in the world. Winter seems to last from November to April, followed by a short pleasant spring (famous for cherry blossoms in early April). May and June are the rainy season, when it rains most every day, and after that comes the full weight of Japan's humid summer. Gunma prefecture is located as far from the sea as you can get, yet is part of the low-lying Kanto Plain, so it really gets hot here. Thankfully, Japanese air conditioning is the best in the world.

Recently, the Japanese have really been active in international sports like baseball, soccer and golf. But they're also distinguishing themselves at eating contests too. For the fourth year in a row, Takeru "the Tsunami" Kobayashi has won the Hot Dog Eating Competition on Coney Island, wolfing down 53 1/2 wieners (with buns) in 12 minutes. Eating contests are popular in Japan, and every once in a while we'll turn on the television to see variety shows featuring people stuffing their faces with bananas, sushi, cheesecake, and so on. Our own Tomo is quite an accomplished eater, too. Despite being skinny as a pole, he can easily handle the 1300 Gram [almost 3 lbs.] Curry Challenge at our favorite curry restaurant. If customers can finish a huge plate of curry rice (which is nearly 3 pounds of steamed rice and curry) in 20 minutes, the meal is free.

Many famous Japanese companies were founded in the amazing years of the Meiji Era (1868-1912), when Japan was undergoing its program of rapid modernization. Paradigms were changing, and Japanese were wearing Western clothes and developing tastes for Western things like beer (Sapporo Brewery, founded 1886). They were developing a sweet tooth around this time, as well. In 1899 the Morinaga Confectionery Company was founded by Taichiro Morinaga, a Christian missionary who had spent several years in the San Francisco, home of the original See's Candies, learning about candy making. After several years of struggling to make sales with a single candy push-cart, he perfected a delicious recipe for milk caramels that were a big hit in Tokyo. The company still makes the caramels with the same recipe.
NOTE: This item is part of a continuing series based on weekly emails I have recieved for many months now from this guy from San Diego who now lives and works in Japan. The link listed above is a comercial link to his company. I am sure he would like you to look at it.

Are you a swinger?


Here is a pretty concise graphic showing the play of states in the upcomming Presidential election.


At First Sight



'Love at first sight,' some say, misnaming
Discovery of twinned helplessness
Against the huge tug of procreation.

But friendship at first sight? This also
Catches fiercely at the surprised heart
So that the cheek blanches and then blushes.

Robert Graves