Archive for 'Current Events'
First-hand account of hurricane aftermath
Posted on September 2, 2005, under Current Events.
Fox News is hosting a blog, being posted to by Michele M. of Slidell. She is giving her daily accounts of what’s going on. She has two little children, and she doesn’t know when she will see her husband again.
This is the blog of one family that fled Hurricane Katrina, and their attempt to save their home. Michele M. of Slidell, Louisiana gives a firsthand account of her family’s ordeal. Michele evacuated to Orlando, Florida with her children; her husband stayed behind.
The conditions sound horrible. Not only is it a horrible natural disaster, but the worst sides of some people are starting to come out and take advantage of others. I’m not surprised people are capable of doing what some are doing, but I’m still very disappointed and ashamed of things that are going on during a time when American citizens should be pulling together - not attacking one another like animals.
Michael Yon: The Battle for Mosul: Reality Check
Posted on August 19, 2005, under Current Events.
Michael Yon gives us a lesson in the correct usage of the English language:
Calling homicide bombers martyrs is a language offense; words are every bit as powerful as bombs, often more so. Calling murderers “martyrs” is like calling a man “customer” because he stood in line before gunning down a store clerk. There’s no need to whisper. I hear the bombs every single day. Not some days, but every day. We’re talking about criminals who actually volunteer and plan to deliberately murder and maim innocent people. What reservoir of feelings or sensibilities do we fear to assault by simply calling it so? When murderers describe themselves as “martyrs” it should sound to sensible ears like a rapist saying, “she was asking for it.” In other words, like the empty rationalizations of a depraved criminal.
If you haven’t read his experiences while currently being an embedded journalist in Iraq, you really should check them out. I recently watched Tears of the Sun, and his blog entries with great photos are just as good.
President Commemorates Memorial Day
Posted on May 30, 2005, under Current Events.
President Commemorates Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetary
As we look across these acres, we begin to tally the cost of our freedom, and we count it a privilege to be citizens of the country served by so many brave men and women.
V-ger 1 has reached The Final Frontier
Posted on May 27, 2005, under Current Events.
Voyager 1 has left the building! Pretty cool - I wish we could get some photos back. The Hubble opened my eyes to a lot of the beauty in space, I’d be really curious to know what space looks like where Voyager 1 is at.
Here are some cool quotes from the linked article:
Long-lived nuclear batteries are expected to provide electrical power until at least 2020 when Voyager 1 will be more than 13 billion miles from Earth and may have reached interstellar space.
As of Jan. 5, 2004, a command signal sent from one of the antennas, traveling at the speed of light, took about 12 hours and 39 minutes to reach Voyager 1. There are only three antennas powerful enough to reach the probe.
..and is now speeding outward from the Sun at nearly 1 million miles per day, a rate that would take it from Los Angeles to New York in less than four minutes.
Space.com also has their Top 10 Voyager Facts.
State Secret: Thousands Secretly Sterilized
Posted on May 18, 2005, under Current Events.
There are so many focus points in this article that come to mind I can’t even really comment on it without feeling I’m taking away from other parts:
State Secret: Thousands Secretly Sterilized
The quote at the end though, brings hope back into the picture. I’m sure this wasn’t flippant, and that she had to work through a lot to be able to say it:
“I thank you, God, for giving me my child,” she said.
(via Freedom Of…)
Frontline: The Soldier’s Heart - View online
Posted on May 13, 2005, under Current Events.
Frontline’s documentary, “The Soldier’s Heart”, is available online in four segments for viewing via the PBS web site.
The military teaches soldiers how to fight, how to kill, how to survive. But who teaches them how to live with themselves? Examining an underreported story of the Iraq war: the psychological cost on those who fight it.
Frontline: A Company of Soldiers - View online
Posted on May 13, 2005, under Current Events.
Frontline’s documentary, “A Company of Soldiers”, is available online in six segments for viewing via the PBS web site.
In November 2004, a FRONTLINE production team embedded with the soldiers of the 1-8 Cavalry’s Dog Company in south Baghdad to document the day-to-day realities of a life-and-death military mission that also includes rebuilding Iraq’s infrastructure, promoting its economic development, and building positive relations with its people.
The heart of a warrior; The evils of war
Posted on May 6, 2005, under Current Events.
A brave, compassionate soldier, named Major Mark Bieger, holds a young girl who was just fatally wounded by a suicide bomber.
Major Bieger, I had seen him help rescue some of our guys a week earlier during another big attack, took some of our soldiers and rushed this little girl to our hospital. He wanted her to have American surgeons and not to go to the Iraqi hospital. She didn’t make it. I snapped this picture when Major Bieger ran to take her away. He kept stopping to talk with her and hug her.
Read the rest of Michael Yon’s first-hand account witnessing this terrible attack.
Update: Oliver North writes about this photo: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
(via Michelle Malkin)
Hell brings the brotherhood of heaven: The Battle For Mosul
Posted on May 6, 2005, under Current Events.
I couldn’t help but think of a previous post while reading this recent, first-hand account of the war in Iraq:
Michael Yon: The Battle For Mosul
Bush doesn’t send personal e-mail - who really cares?
Posted on April 15, 2005, under Current Events.
C|Net has a news article up: Bush fears his personal e-mail would be made public
“I don’t want you reading my personal stuff,” he told the editors.“There has got to be a certain sense of privacy. You know, you’re entitled to how I make decisions. And you’re entitled to ask questions, which I answer. I don’t think you’re entitled to be able to read my mail between my daughters and me,” he said.
- I think that’s a good call, and shows he understands at least to some extent how insecure e-mails are. I don’t communicate everything through e-mail, and I’m a nobody on the global scene.
- Why is it news that he doesn’t want all his personal communications to his daughters in the public domain? Who really cares? I guess I’m not sure how this made a tech news story, or the front page of C|Net. (This isn’t a political rant, I don’t care if it was John Kerry or Ralph Nader who said that.) It would have made more sense to me if the article finished by linking to PGP, GnuPG, or Enigmail or some other way to help secure your e-mails..