An Exercise In Futility

Why is Al Jazeera being condemned for showing video of dead US soldiers? I saw dead Iraqi soldiers on CNN, and nobody is complaining about that footage! Also, I have seen lots of footage of Iraqi POWs on CNN, so why can Al Jazeera no show US POWs? Once again the ol’ US Double-Standard raises its ugly head. Also, It appears that DNS lookups for Al Jazeera are failing, and I can’t seem to connect to their DNS servers or find any way to sniff out their webserver - as though someone (US gov’t) is somehow blocking access.. maybe through a DOS attack or something?

I heard something pretty good on the radio last night, talking about the power of language and the way words are used. The US gov’t talks about instituting a “Regime Change” in Iraq, sounds pretty good… “change your socks, change your mind, change the regime”.. quite benevolent in fact! Of course, the goal could also be referred to as “Overthrowing a legitimate government using military power”. But of course, the US news agencies would never consider saying such a thing - no matter how true it might be.

Well, that’s a silly code name if ever i heard one. Desert Storm/Shield/Fox were much better names. But that’s beside the point. You don’t liberate a nation by bombing the fuck out of it. That’s what they claim to be doing, right? - Liberating Iraq? Or are they just intent on killing Saddam no matter how many innocent Iraqi lives it takes? I’m sure the people at home in Baghdad are thinking “Oh joy! The bombs are finally dropping! We’re saved!”. What the fuck ever.

I am not sure what category this fits into. I came across the interesting ‘Where is Raed?‘, blogging Iraqi style. He links to a great satellite photo of Baghdad, with a short commentary on what there is to see (and not see).

When will anti-smoking-ban people wake up? A ban on smoking in public places has nothing to do with trying to stop people from smoking, and everything to do with the government’s responsibility to provide safe working conditions. A restaurant is a place of business - it has employees. An employee has the right to have a clean, safe, and healthy working environment. A worker should not have to make the choice between working in a smokey restaurant, or quitting to find work somewhere else - And an employer should not be allowed to turn away a possible worker on the grounds that they don’t smoke or don’t want to be around smoke. The effect of a smoking ban on customers is absolutely irrelevant, because it is the workers who need protecting, not the patrons. Everyone has the free will to choose the restaurant at which dine, and at the same time, people should not have to “choose” not to work somewhere because it is dangerous for them - the government has the responsibility to make it not-dangerous. This is a black and white situation: A Worker’s right to a clean environment outweighs another’s right to smoke in that environment.