micah holmquist's irregular thoughts and links |
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Welcome to the musings and notes of a Cadillac, Michigan based writer named Micah Holmquist, who is bothered by his own sarcasm. Please send him email at micahth@chartermi.net. Holmquist's full archives are listed here.
Archives
Sites Holmquist trys, and often fails, to go no more than a couple of days without visiting (some of which Holmquist regularly swipes links from without attribution) Aljazeera.Net English Blogs that for one reason or another Holmquist would like to read on at least something of a regular basis (always in development) Thivai Abhor |
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
I could blog about minor matters in the world but the big news has to be that Rambo is back and a new masterpiece is set to start shooting this January. This one is said to follow the adventures of a nice family man Rambo who is pushed back into action to fight racists. And some people say that Hollywood isn't turning out great films! OK let's be honest, this idea is lousy. Rambo should either be fighting "the terrorists" or it should be Rambo & Therapist. Monday, May 30, 2005
Cheney's perspective In today's world we have: -A report says there is now evidence that the United States was trying to goad Saddam's government into war in 2002 (Michael Smith, The Sunday Times, May 29 - to be honest I believe this was self-evident, if you tell someone constantly "I'm going to get you, you just wait, I don't know when but I'm going to get you" for several months, you are risking them coming after you first) -More allegations of prisoner abuse at a unique part of Cuba (Paisley Dodds, AP, May 30) -The possibility of civil war in Iraq (Jeffrey Fleishman, The Los Angeles Times, May 29) -An ever most heroic effort by New Jersey State Assemblyman Craig Stanley to change the name of the New Jersey Devils to something less satanic (Angela Delli Santi, AP, May 29) Things certainly are crazy, and so it is nice to have a voice of reason like Vice President Dick Cheney to sort things out: Vice President Dick Cheney says he's offended by a human rights group's report criticizing conditions at the prison camp for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay.I know how you feel, Mr. Cheney. Sunday, May 29, 2005
Media Matters noted noted on friday that the assassination fantasies of Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly on their radio talk shows haven't been getting a lot of press. I would add that on Tuesday's edition of his show, Michael Reagan made a joke that I didn't quite understand but had something to do with stem cells and pain, if not death, being cause to the seven Republican senators who were part of the recent filibuster deal. John McCain was mentioned by name. Saturday, May 28, 2005
Fox News (May 28): The U.S. military is on the offensive in the War on Terror (search) to prevent terrorists from reaching America's shores, President Bush said Friday, adding that 20 years from now, historians will look back on the Iraq war as "America's golden moment." President Bush speaking at U.S. Naval Academy graduation ceremonies yesterday: Sitting in that crowd four years ago was Midshipman Edward Slavis. When I gave the order to liberate Iraq, he charged across the Kuwaiti border, leading a rifle platoon through 21 days of tough fighting into the heart of Baghdad. His battalion helped pull down the statue of Saddam Hussein. Ed says, "I will have time for myself later. Now I just feel privileged to spend my life doing something much larger than myself." He went on to say, "The mission will be a success, and 20 or 30 years from now historians will look back on the mission to Iraq as America's golden moment." Ed Slavis is serving his country with courage, and he's adding to the history of this Academy.Leaving aside the distorted picture most people have of the statue toppling, Bush never called the invasion "America's golden moment." He quoted someone else as saying that in a way that strongly suggests he agrees. Just thinking about the irony in FNC's mistake makes me dizzy. Friday, May 27, 2005
Am I the only person who just can't seem to care about "Koran incidents"? No. Am I the only person who follows the "war on terror" with such great interest who doesn't? Maybe. Sorry but I just don't think it is all that big of a deal. Thursday, May 26, 2005
Via Matt Drudge, I see that Helen Thomas acted like a stupid raghead bitch and didn't respect a great man like Scott McClellan yesterday: Q The other day -- in fact, this week, you said that we, the United States, is in Afghanistan and Iraq by invitation. Would you like to correct that incredible distortion of American history --What an asshole. This is a legitimate line of questioning and Scott is allowed to just brush it off to Steven who asks this penetrating question, "Is Prime Minister Abbas doing enough to crack down on terror?" Oh, if you are an idiot like Jonathan R. at GOP Bloggers and think Afghanistan is sovereign, may I remind you that it was only Monday that Bush said U.S. troops in Afghanistan would remain completely under U.S. control. This despite Karzai's request of a couple days earlier for more Afghan control of these troops in Afghanistan. The same thing has long been true in Iraq, and you know it should be made clear that although I think stupid liberal elite MSM reporters should be able to ask questions about this, this is a good thing since America is better than these loser countries. We are the greatest nation ever and deserve to be treated as such. I'm not going to take advantage of Memorial Day sales this weekend just so the land that I love can be treated like we are just a bigger Afghanistan or Iraq. We are better than that, which is why we ain't leaving Iraq anytime soon and I can be certain the home of the brave is kicking ass for me, a good patriotic American. Wednesday, May 25, 2005
America has once again proven that we are the greatest nation ever. This time it is because of all the military weapons we sell to great governments in places like Egypt and Uzbekistan. We even sell weps to Bahrain. Maybe they can use them on bloggers. Tuesday, May 24, 2005
For years America has remained great because great men and Ann Coulter have always stood up for freedom. Now, however, with the "deal" on filibusters, I fear that this all has bee lost. The terrorists have won, freedom is lost etc. etc. On the other had, this deal does all for those millions of Americans who did not vote for President Bush last November to have their voices heard. Monday, May 23, 2005
Michael Howard writes in today's Guardian: US military commanders are planning to pull back their troops from Iraq's towns and cities and redeploy them in four giant bases in a strategy they say is a prelude to eventual withdrawal.It is a more centralized way to bury our dead. Sunday, May 22, 2005
Maybe it is just me, but there seems to be a lot of interesting news in the world as of late Most of these stories, such as a May 2 Knight Ridder Newspapers report by Mohammed al Dulaimy that says some Iraqi journalists accuse the new Iraqi government of freedom of abusing them for doing their job, I'm probably not going to get around to writing about. One place I've ignored is Uzbekistan, which is of course my way of saying, I don't care. So at least several hundred people were killed in a protest. What difference does it make to me? I didn't know them. People die all the time. Get used to it. Besides it serves them right for being out on Friday the 13th. Actually I am just mad that "freedom isn't free" bullshit is a fact of life when it comes to justifying the U.S. running other countries but these same people don't care about Uncle Sam fueling a repressive regime. Democracy is great in theory but when people don't seem to mind a manipulative and dishonest government, it falls way short. Saturday, May 21, 2005
Happy Birthday Mr. T! UPDATE: Responding to laughable charges of abuse (Tim Golden, New York Times, May 20, more about how our great fighting men and women aren't that bothered by Afghans killed by their own is at Tim Golden, New York Times, May 22), longtime puppet Karzai is getting a bit ungrateful for American tastes. Daniel Cooney writes in an AP story from today: President Hamid Karzai called on Saturday for control of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and demanded the United States take strong action against soldiers who abuse prisoners, following a report of alleged maltreatment of detainees at the main U.S. base here...What a fucking asshole! After all we've done for him, this prick now wants sovereignty? We gave them Freedom, how dare they ask for power. Don't worry though as it appears that Karzai is nothing but a dirty drug dealer. David S. Cloud and Carlotta Gall writes in a May 22 New York Times story: United States officials warned this month in an internal memo that an American-financed poppy eradication program aimed at curtailing Afghanistan's huge heroin trade had been ineffective, in part because President Hamid Karzai "has been unwilling to assert strong leadership."There you have it. The new bastard and our old oppressors are working against us to make sure that DRUGS flood the streets of America. It is once again time for us to nuke the rest of the world! 3:14 p.m. est 05/21/05 Friday, May 20, 2005
"Thousands of Shiites stomped on American flags painted on roads outside mosques in a show of anger over the U.S. presence in Iraq," Abdul Hussein Al-Obeidi writes in an AP story published today. "Tensions spiraled throughout Iraq, particularly in its southern Shiite heartland, as more than 10,000 protesters heeded a call by anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to step on and drive over American and Israeli flags painted on roads outside mosques. Many of the worshippers were chanting or waving the Quran, Islam's holy book." In related news, in response to a question about the pics of Saddam in his underwear showing up in Rupert Murdoch owned newspapers, our great leader Bush said: Well, you asked me whether or not that would inspire people. You know, I don't think a photo inspires murderers. I think they're inspired by an ideology that is so barbaric and backwards that it's hard for many in the Western world to comprehend how they think.But Bush can! Thursday, May 19, 2005
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
If Freedom Tower is built, Donald Trump said a few minutes ago in what I do not believe was an event made up by the little men in the television who draw the nice pictures, "the terrorists win." The sad thing is this wasn't just some stupid comment but part of his bit for promoting his design. This makes me into a big supporter of Freedom Tower because the way I see it, if we build it all is lost and we can stop talking about "the terrorists" and the clear concept "war on terror." We could just enjoy whatever remains of our lives, kind of like I would think believe who believe the rapture will happen soon would do if they acted like they believed the rapture will happen soon. Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Monday, May 16, 2005
I'm what is sometimes called under the weather right now so I won't say much. However, Calgacus' "Newsweek Got Gitmo Right" (antiwar.com, May 16) is a must read if you want to get some more insight into the Koran Desecration controversy. This really shouldn't be as big of a deal as dead and/or tortured Afghans and Iraqis. Friday, May 13, 2005
Thursday, May 12, 2005
The cancellation of Dennis Miller is all the proof I need that the public just doesn’t like pro-Bush propaganda. When will the evil conservatives in Hollyweird learn? *** How come nobody talks about the positive impact slavery has on the economy? Wednesday, May 11, 2005
The AC and God need to work this kind of thing out The Capitol and the White House were evacuated today as a result of the actions of the Antichrist who mistakenly had been under the impression that the rapture would happen by 10:00 a.m. eastern standard time. I know this because while everyone else was leaving like fearful weaklings who never wrestled a mixed martial art match in their lives, I stayed in my office to get the truth. "Why the devil are you still here?" yelled some Matrixesque thug straight out of Six: The Mark Unleashed. "Um… Uh… I’m trying to get the truth out," I said with supreme confidence. "Do you have the mark?" he replied. "No… um… what ‘mark’ are you talking about?" "Didn’t the message get out?" he asked one of his underlings. The underling made a phone call. In the meantime I explained that while I didn’t have the mark that I had to be in good standing because I had been looking on the web for young boy from Jersey to have as a slave. As I was telling my story, the underling interrupted to say that there had been a problem. The rapture had not happened and the planned takeover had to be postponed. A tear could be visibly seen in his eye. They rushed out of the room and shortly thereafter people started returning to the buildings. As it turned out, they were unaware that President George W. Bush had not died Tuesday at the hands of a grenade. Obviously President Bush’s survival changed everything. It is really a shame that such confusion occurred. It may cause some people to change their opinions. Nonetheless I felt quite lucky to have gotten out alive because I had really been working on a story about how I didn’t think the Army’s new influencing the influencers recruitment effort was going to work. I mean my son is 14, I’d love to see him become a man by beating up Iraqis in the expanding Iraqi prison market and the little shit won’t even talk to me since I first beat the hell out of him for not trying out for football 10 years ago. He just sits in his room, his cold dark room where I won’t allow him to even have a bed since he disappointed his family by not trying to be a gridiron hero. I don’t believe that I owe him a second chance and the Good Lord knows that he certainly doesn’t deserve one but you know what I told him? "Son there are two types of wars. One is football and the other is war. You failed all of us with regard to the former but in the latter you still have a chance to be the next Pat Tillman. If you did that I would stop hating you and if you were dead, I wouldn’t even be able to beat you up anymore. I only do it so you have pent up anger and rage that you will be forced to let out on the enemies of this great land." Still he didn’t respond and he has yet to join. These young kids today just don’t have what it takes to defend freedom and I blame them and the liberals. Tuesday, May 10, 2005
I like flags Lew Rockwell makes an excellent point in a May 6 piece ("The Glory of War," lewrockwell.com) about how people in the this great land of ours tend to jump whenever they are told to: The bloom on the rose of war eventually fades, leaving only the thorns. By the time this takes place, most everyone has already begun the national task of averting the eyes from the thorns, meaning the awful reality, the dashed hopes, the expense, the lame, the limbless, the widows, the orphans, the death on all sides, and the resulting instability. The people who still take an interest are those who first took an interest in war: the power elite, who began the war for purposes very different from that which they sold to the public at the outset.Sounds good to me. Monday, May 09, 2005
I always hate it when they leave a young witch alive. Witches are just like the terrorists. They must be killed. In other news, Friday evening I witnessed a beautiful rainbow. I also overheard a woman in her late 40s or early 50s tell a girl who I doubt was 8 that a rainbow is God's way of smiling. Sunday, May 08, 2005
"After spending more than $4.5 billion on screening devices to monitor the nation's ports, borders, airports, mail and air, the federal government is moving to replace or alter much of the antiterrorism equipment, concluding that it is ineffective, unreliable or too expensive to operate," Eric Lipton writes in a New York Times story dated May 7. "Many of the monitoring tools - intended to detect guns, explosives, and nuclear and biological weapons - were bought during the blitz in security spending after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001." All that patriotism sure paid off. Friday, May 06, 2005
Two U.S. soldiers have been arrested in Colombia on Wednesday for alleged ammunition distribution: The two soldiers were detained during a raid Tuesday in a gated community in Carmen de Apicala, 50 miles southwest of the capital and near Colombia's sprawling Tolemaida air base, where the detained soldiers worked and where many U.S. servicemen are stationed.The U.S. State Department has confirmed the arrests. *** I am all in favor of cracking down on sexy cheerleading. If this doesn't stop, men will think about female cheerleaders and want to look at pictures of them and, before you know it, an adult movie will be made about them. We can't have that, so the solution should be that cheerleaders only perform in front of the team in order to inspire them. *** *** Politics in Egypt is so confusing. Supposedly a bunch of Muslims who support the Muslim Brotherhood were arrested on Wednesday for demanding democracy (Nadia Abou El-Magd, Associated Press, May 4) and then more were arrested today to protest those arrests (Maamoun Youssef, Associated Press, May 6). Now one could wonder why these people don't have jobs -lazy bastards- but everything else sounds good save for the Muslim Brotherhood part as those guys are evil. I don't understand why evil people would support democracy as that bring hope and hope means that terrorists can't thrive. Maybe they are just bad at being evil. *** Thursday, May 05, 2005
For America so loved the world, that Bush gave his permission to look the other way at Evil that doesn't bother us From the This Does Not Shock Me And This Should Be Getting More Attention file, Ken Silverstein reports in the April 29 edition of The Los Angeles Times that the U.S. of defeating evil in the world has been getting to know Sudan: The Sudanese government, an unlikely ally in the U.S. fight against terror, remains on the most recent U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. At the same time, however, it has been providing access to terrorism suspects and sharing intelligence data with the United States.Between this and us freedom fighters getting friendly with the good non-abusive and democratic government of Uzbekistan -the U.S. never does anything else bad- it has become clear that Laura needs to get on Bush's case about a lot more than going to bed too early if they actually care about ending tyranny, which I'm going to guess they don't. Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Great, I can now sleep at night knowing that Abu Faraj al-Libbi is not on the loose, but it just boils me deep down inside to know that even as we speak liberals are trying to figure out ways to exploit the latest details of the death of American hero Pat Tillman. The mans was a great hero and a tribute to America and God. That is all anybody needs to know, although I hope he did get to abuse some Afghan haji ragheads while he was over there. *** Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Bob Herbert (New York Times, May 2) makes me sick. If the brave fighting men and women who keep me safe and free call the stupid Iraqis ""hajis" and "ragheads," then I say haji raghead is the name God should have given them. If the brave fighting men and women who keep me safe and free want to abuse some haji ragheads, it must be for the best. Any haji raghead who doesn't answer to their name should be shot or tortured, based on which is more convenient at the time. And since we are liberating them, those haji ragheads better have a smile on their face. God doesn't like grumpy people. *** "The U.S. military plans to allow regional combatant commanders to request the president for approval to carry out preemptive nuclear strikes against possible attacks on the United States or its allies with weapons of mass destruction, according to a draft new nuclear operations paper," says Kyodo News in a May 1 story. *** ...they don't vote for Mr. Bush simply because he reads the Bible every day. One of the main reasons they like him is that he gets bashed so often. When Jon Stewart sneers at him, they empathize because they're used to being sneered at themselves.OK, that makes a lot of sense. Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity -both of whom are at least as influential with the U.S. as a whole and certainly more influential with the demo in question- sneer at Democrats all the time. Limbaugh and Hannity also criticize "the terrorists" regularly, but I don't seen too many "middle-class Americans" supporting "the terrorists. Tierney is right that the people he speaks of tend to identify with Bush and the Republicans more, but I suspect the reason is the GOP tells a more attractive story. Monday, May 02, 2005
Sunday, May 01, 2005
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