If you are not incorporating the leading resources from the new media when comes to the war in Iraq, then you are not getting the full picture. We are not talking about pro-war boosterism, but sober analysis, insight and perspective that you don’t often find in the MSM.
Strategy Page: Watch the Trends, Not the Headlines
What you see in the Iraq news, is not what you get. The news business demands startling headlines, to attract eyeballs. It’s business, as the eyeballs are rented to advertisers to pay for it all. But the reality of the news is less startling, and consists of trends. These are the current trends in Iraq.
Belgravia Dispatch on The State of The Iraq Insurgency
This war is simply crying out for new leadership at the Pentagon, but the President is too blind to see this and belatedly accept Rumsfeld’s resignation. But I haven’t given up hope yet, as I know that Rumsfeld’s fate is not as certain as he would have us believe with his cocksure manner. He’s in large part damaged goods (William Buckley rather damningly called him a “failed executor” of the Iraq War in a Bloomberg interview over the weekend), and increasingly a political liability for Bush. There is still hope the President will come to realize this in coming months, and as it will have a material (albeit admitedly not determinative impact) on the course of the war, I believe a positive one, I will continue to push for his dismissal or resignation in these pages, even if this inevitably has me appearing a tad Ahab-like on this front.
Bill Roggio is looking at The Battle for Baghdad
The Iraqi government and Coalition are making an effort to secure Baghdad, as Operation Scales of Justice demonstrates, however the question that remains is this effort good enough to get a handle on the problems with the insurgency, militias, and gang violence.
Iraqi blogger Mohammed from Iraq The Model
Forming a unity government and activating the constitution to stop the spread of fanaticism and control the militias cannot be done overnight but doing this as fast possible can greatly reduce the chances of the radical Islamists to manipulate the situation and I am asking the wise politicians of Iraq to start working now and to remember that their differences must not stop them from confronting a greater danger that threatens all of them without discrimination.
The Democracy Project is asking…
Media in Iraq: Cowardice or Cheapness
In response to the supportersâ?? charge of bias in the media coverage of the war in Iraq, some in the mainstream press raise the defense of the courage of reporters in the war zone. There are many courageous reporters. A more central problem, however, is the cheapness of the media in devoting resources to the war.
One of our most loyal listeners to the radio program provides an update on the latest twist in homosexual marriage in Mass. Check out his blog. It is full of substantiated facts. Very unique. Check it out.
The Massachusetts Supreme Court (SJC) ruled yesterday, March 30, 2006, that out-of-state same-sex couples would be prohibited from marrying here in Massachusetts. The ruling stated that Governor Mitt Romney and Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly could uphold a 1913 law that prohibits Massachusetts from marrying any couple, heterosexual or homosexual, if the marriage is not considered legal in their home state.
Pundit Review Radio
Sunday, 8pm-10pm est
Streaming Live, WRKO
Chris Simcox, President of the Minutemean Civilian Defense Corps, will be our guest at 8pm EST on Sunday Evening
The Voice of America sets up the topic,
The Minuteman organization, a private group that advocates stricter immigration controls, is planning a month-long operation along the border with Mexico starting Saturday. The group is also keeping a close eye on the U.S Senate’s current debate over immigration reform.
Pundit Review Radio Introduces New Segment Featuring Blackfive’s ‘Someone You Should Know’ Portraits of Bravery and Herosim
In hour two, we will be introducing a new weekly segment in conjunction with Blackfive, the award winning milblogger.
We will introduce you to the incredible true stories of the heroes who have been featured in Blackfive’s series ‘Someone You Should Know‘. We are honored to collaborate with Matt from Blackfive, and we share his belief that the public needs, and wants, to hear the stories of the bravery, courage and dignity of the men and women who fight for us. We will bring them to you every Sunday at 9pm.
The Media Research Center held its annual DisHonor Awards ‘Roasting the Most Outrageously Biased Liberal Reporters of 2005’.
The announcement includes links to audio and video of the best of the worst in MSM bias. Check it out.
Plagiarism is making a comeback, and not just in the world of journalism.
Yesterday Instapundit linked to an interesting story alleging plagiarism by the AP. And who did they steal from? A blogger.
There are many things that bother me about plagiarism, but nothing irks me more than when a mainstream reporter (or organization) with all of the resources of a small nation at their disposal lifts from the small press, freelance journalists, and bloggers.
The big story of course has been this,
A fresh embarrassment for journalism
Commentary: Conservative Domenech quits post.blog
By Jon Friedman, MarketWatchNEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Just when it seemed like journalists had finally moved on beyond the multitude of 21st century scandals that damaged our blessed craft, another bomb explodes.
The profession suffered an embarrassment Friday when a 24-year-old conservative columnist named Ben Domenech exited the Washington Post’s Web site — a mere three days after his introduction, following allegations of plagiarism.
Captain Ed is asking the right question,
The entire tempest surrounding the hiring and termination of Ben Domenech as the Washington Post’s designated conservative blogger shows that the blogosphere has a lot of growing up to do. Between the hysteria, the personal attacks, the revelation of wrongdoing and the triumphalism that followed, bloggers did tremendous damage to themselves.
What a nightmare. Anyway, plagiarism this week has moved beyond the world of journalism into the world of cooking and celebrity chefs. One of my best friends in college was Wylie Dufresne. Wylie has gone on to become a superstar chef in New York City. His original restaurant, 71 Clinton Fresh Food, was an instant classic.
The New York Times on 71 Clinton Fresh Food,
71 Clinton Fresh Food, single-handedly turned the Lower East Side into an up-and-coming restaurant neighborhood, and it made Wylie Dufresne an overnight star…Mr. Dufresne, one of the most distinctive culinary talents in New York…
I had the most amazng meal of my life at that restaurant! Wylie is as good a guy as he is a chef. If youâ??re ever in NYC, check out his new restaurant called WD-50, located at 50 Clinton Street in the lower east side.
Anyway, I like to see what Wylie is up to, where he is travelling or when he is appearing again on TV, so I Google his name occasionally. This time I came across a plagiarism scandal in the food world.
The good feud guide
AMONG Melbourne diners, the food at Robin Wickens’ two-hatted Fitzroy restaurant, Interlude, has inspired such breathless adjectives as “whimsical”, “daring” and “arch”.
But in recent days, a harsher term has been suggested: “plagiarised”.
The storm began 10 days ago on specialist internet forum eGullet, after it was revealed that among Wickens’ offerings was, in fact, a replica of a dish first “invented” at New York’s famed WD-50.
The dish features pureed prawns, reformulated into noodle shapes with the assistance of an enzyme, transglutamate, and served with smoked yoghurt, paprika and nori.
Editorial staff from eGullet have since posted pictures of four other dishes by the 2005 Age Good Food Guide young chef of the year, which emulate creations by Grant Achatz, of Chicago’s Alinea, including a dessert served in a test tube.
There is no question of legal action against Wickens: recipes, no matter how unique, cannot be protected by copyright, nor have they ever been successfully patented.
But chefs and diners have questioned whether Wickens’ conduct in replicating dishes â?? right down to the plating â?? is poor form.
Where will it end, this plagiarism epidemic?
We often criticize the MSM for their overly negative, unbalanced coverage of the war in Iraq. Well, today we come to praise USA Today for their excellent profile of the doctors and nurses in Iraq who work in tremendously tense, gruelling conditions to save our brave soldiers when they are injured.
Lifesaving knowledge, innovation emerge in war clinic
By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY
As patients arrive, doctors and nurses poke, prod and inspect; they cut away clothing, shout out blood pressure readings, insert oxygen tubes and wheel up portable X-ray machines. Helicopter medics, helmets under their arms, squeeze into the scrum to recite how each soldier fell on the battlefield.
Bloody linens and body fluids collect on the floor. The clatter of arriving or departing helicopters, beating against the hospital tents, muffles conversation.
Please read the whole article.(HT: MKH at Hugh Hewitt)
This is a tremendous story, and it proves that there is more to Iraq than car bombs and killings. The MSM is quick to note that getting at the good news in Iraq is difficult. Iraq is a dangerous place. True. But the MSM can write story after story about the outstanding conduct and bravery of our troops, if they wanted to. This is something they do far too infrequently.
As the Media Research Center found in a recent audit of Iraq War coverege,
Few stories focused on the heroism or generous actions of American soldiers. Just eight stories were devoted to recounting episodes of heroism or valor by U.S. troops, and another nine stories featured instances when soldiers reached out to help the Iraqi people. In contrast, 79 stories focused on allegations of combat mistakes or outright misconduct on the part of U.S. military personnel.
For regular profiles of the outstanding conduct and bravery of our troops, turn to the new media, to the outstanding milblog Blackfive in particular, and read his series, Someone You Should Know.
This article in USA Today stands out because it is so unique. I hope to see more of this type of coverage going forward. We are quick to criticize the MSM so we should also be quick with praise on those rare occassions when they deliver a breath of fresh air.
We often hear that we need illegals to do the jobs “Americans won’t do.”
Illegals do the jobs Americans would do if wages were not artificially depressed.
We talked on our radio show last night about what to do about the 15 million illegals in this country . Some in Congress have proposed amnesty in one form or another. Our President actually supports a â??Guest Workerâ? program and penalties and fines for those who are illegally in this country. Those mealy mouth Senators (McCain and Kennedy) and, yes, our â??conservative presidentâ? are dangerously wrong on this issue.
I say that those whose first official act in our country was to willfully violate our federal immigration laws should be rounded up and shipped back to their country of origin. They can, after a stipulated period of time, re-apply for entry to become legalized American citizens. They must have a rudimentary understanding of English, U.S. history, and our Foudning documents as well.
We are either a nation of laws or of men- pure and simple. Regardless of the purported justification for allowing and even encouraging illegal immigration, nothing that any illegal immigration â??activistâ? can offer trumps our Constitution. Period.
Sound uncompassionate? All it will take is for one or two terrorists to sneak across our northern or southern border with a loose nuke for Boston, Philadelphia, or Los Angeles to be erased from the map.
We are at war people with jihadist throat cutters who are very good at finding their way into our country. Why make it easier for them for leaving the back door unlocked.
There are also many other reasons why condoning illegal immigration is harmful to our country (illegals use more govt services than they pay in taxes, illegals who are â??guest workersâ? donâ??t have any incentive to assimilate and become Americans, almost half of all prisoners in our country are illegals, etcâ?¦)
Another fundamental issue that is often times over-looked in the immigration debate is that we have an urgent need for highly skilled engineers and computer scientists from other countries to keep American high tech companies competitive in the global economy. The WSJ editors explain why this is problematic and what should be done.
Because of archaic limits on visas for skilled workers currently at 65,000 per year, many of our best American companies face shortages of high skilled employees.
It has been estimated that 8,000 illegals (mostly from Mexico) cross the border illegally every day. (almost 3 million per year) If we are going to turn a blind eye to those 3 million who are entering our country illegally who are a net drain on our economy and culture, doesnâ??t it make sense to increase the number of highly skilled workers who will be a net gain for our economy in terms of thier enhanced productivity?
If we want to export our technology to the rest of the world (and “insource capital investment from abroad in our flourishing American companies) and remain the technological powerhouse that we are, it is vital that we start increasing legal immigration of highly skilled workers to perform the jobs too many Americans donâ??t have the abilities (sadly enough) to perform. This is the most vital aspect of the immigration debate that is seldom discussed.
Until we overhaul our abysmal monopolistic government run K-12 school system and turn out kids who can actually read, write, and perform basic math, we must ensure that American companies are able to fill vital positions so that we can continue to lead the world in high technology. This is not only an economic imperative, but more importantly, a grave national security concern since the War on Terror is increasingly becoming one of information, intelligence, and militray and space technological innovation.
Gregg J