doesn’t stay in Islamabad. But neither does that mean that it’s a product of US conspiracies, nor does it mean that the US needs to get more deeply involved. Pakistan is a utter mess, but it is one of its own making. It’s heartbreaking to watch, but it’s something that they need to address themselves.
Photo: Jawad Zakariya
No Weekend Music edition tonight. I spent the day at a legal forum in which various legal responses to terrorism were discussed. Some of the discussion was quite informative, and others less so. But that all sort of faded next to the reminder that I got of the fact that so many people (in power and otherwise) have long since stopped understanding the human costs of their actions.
This is James’ Hey Ma. I warn you – it’s not an easy thing to watch.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdYFOABd1DM[/youtube]
The Arlington Sun-Gazette arrived in the mail today, and while it has often disappointed me in the past, it really outdid itself today. 
See, inserted in the middle of the paper was a full color poster and DVD containing “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West”. This is a hateful bit of propaganda that is popular with the David Horowitz crowd, and its distribution was underwritten by the Clarion Fund (more about this fraud of an operation here). and does its best to drum up the fear, as described by someone who received a copy with his New York Times:
Arriving at the doorstep together, the package was alarming. The film is made to appear as a news-style documentary and includes splashy sell-lines that shout “As seen on CNN and FOX News by more than 20 million viewers worldwide.” Indeed, the incendiary packaging is a reflection of the contents of the film. The “O” in “Obsession” is formed with the Islamic crescent moon and a star, and the closing “N” is tricked up with a silhouette of an automatic rifle. Soft focus-images of Middle Easterners, the World Trade Center, a firefighter on a ladder and the American flag all bathed in golden light.
The movie’s primary aim appears to be to get every viewer to think that Islam’s primary purpose is to ensure that there’s a Muslim dedicated to killing them and their children hiding around every corner. It’s an absolutely execrable effort at hate and fear mongering, and I’m not going to expend any effort in describing in further. You are welcome to check it out for yourself, however, at the movie’s website.
I called the Sun-Gazette’s offices to make sure that they’d sent it, but there was no answer. I left a message and will report back on any response. In the interim, I urge all of my Northern Virginia readers to call the Sun-Gazette at (703) 738-2520 and tell them that hate has no place here, no matter how much money it makes them. Ask for Scott McCaffery, the newspaper’s editor, when you do this. And don’t take the “oh, it’s just an advertisement, we don’t have any control over what we carry” excuse. It’s bullshit. I can think of a half dozen inserts they’d turn down without a thought. They certainly *do* have control over trafficking in hate.
As I was writing this, I discovered that this tripe was distributed with many newspapers (to 28 million homes, it seems). You know who the only paper was to refuse, thus far? The Greensboro News & Record. Putting the rest of them to shame. No excuses for any of them. At all.
Yep, the Republican Party is putting George “I Still Eat Ham Sandwiches” Allen up on stage as part of a rally in Fairfax aimed at drawing minorities to the Republican Party. Do you think he’s going to bring the noose he used to keep in his office with him? Is he going to welcome all the brown Virginians he sees to the Real America?
Hilarious.
Update: I’d completely forgotten about the video about George Allen and his love for black people. Give it a watch:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmxpX6I0qQE[/youtube]
I know, this was mighty white of me, wasn’t it?
Not good for anybody, this:
Pakistan’s military said today its forces had received orders to fire on US troops if they entered Pakistani territory, after a cross-border raid inflamed public opinion.
The country’s civilian leaders, who have taken a tough line against militants, have insisted Pakistan must resolve the dispute with the US through diplomatic channels. But the military has taken a more robust line.
General Athar Abbas, an army spokesman, told the Associated Press that after a cross-border assault in the south Waziristan region earlier this month, the military told its field commanders to take action to prevent any similar raids.
Not good at all.
One boggles:
A houses in North Texas burned down, killing two occupants, because the local authorities had switched off the fire-hydrants to stop terrorists from poisoning the water supply through them[.]
Update: Funny, I read through the original story to make sure the reason for turning the hydrants off was really as claimed by the summary, but I missed the whole no dead people bit. Stupid, indeed. Anyway, corrected. Thanks, Unacoder.
If you live in DC – or a city of any size, I suspect – you noticed a lot more bikes on the streets than usual, this summer.  For any number of reasons, I’ve been very interested in their stories.  The following was posted to a local DC cycling listserv by someone who had just finished his first summer’s worth of bike commuting. I hope you’ll find it as interesting as I have.
Last year I bought a bike to help lose weight and get back into shape. I rode bike trails all summer, sometimes riding 80 miles a week. By the time 2008 came around I was 60 pounds lighter than I was when 2007 started.
So when spring of 2008 came I was working long hours and needed a way to keep the weight off. By April, gas was hitting $4 a gallon. The choice was clear, it was time to start bike commuting. Thanks to the folks on this list I figured out a route and my first day for bike commuting was April 16th. I started out riding two days a week but after about a month I went to riding three days a week, and taking Metro on Monday and Friday to stage my clothes.
So I’d like to point out some observations about my summer spent commuting:
– I only drove to work four or five times, and only once because it was raining. A couple of times I drove in because I overslept and was running late.
– Riding in street traffic isn’t half as bad as it looks.
– I saved enough money on gas to buy myself a brand new 17″ laptop from Best Buy.
– Despite all the horror stories, I found out that the drivers in this city are remarkably tolerant of cyclists.
– I only had someone come up behind me on the street and lay on the horn one time. Happened on M. St SE on my way home. The driver never even passed me because they wound up taking a right turn while I was still in front.
– The only other negative experience was when some jerk decided to blast me with his horn while I was using the pedestrian crossing over Washington Blvd coming off Memorial Bridge. I hate this crossing with a passion. Half of the time you have to play “chicken” with the cars to get them to stop.
– I only had two close calls. Once, a tourist did a 270-degree turn at the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery and almost hit me. It was slow speed so I think it only would have wound up with a crunched bike rather than a crunched cyclist. I think I scared him more than he scared me because I was yelling WHOA like a maniac.
– The other close call was with a pedestrian on that narrow sidewalk on 50. She was coming right at me and I was sure she would see me. Wrong. At 7AM, pedestrians are looking at their feet, sleepwalking. They will not notice the 200LB cyclist bearing down on them, even though they are facing you.
– I learned to ring my bike bell. A lot. Pedestrians sleepwalk. A lot.
– Sometimes you will see other bike commuters do things you should not attempt. Like, riding on 50 where the Glebe Road overpass is. I decided to try it myself the next day. And as soon as I was on the other side I decided to never try it again.
– I really, really, miss the cutoff in Fort Myer. That hill is nasty.
– The Maine Ave fish market stinks in the morning. In the afternoon it smells like french fries and Old Bay.
– Riding in the rain isn’t so bad when it’s warm. One morning I showed up at work, sopping wet and covered with mud from the construction site in Fort Myer. Kevin the security guard took one look at me and said “Cyrus, you crazy!”
All in all it was a very positive experience. I kept in shape, learned a lot about riding bikes, and had fun.
Very cool, no?
(And on that positive note, I’ll leave this place alone until Friday. See you then.)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j50ZssEojtM[/youtube]
Yes, he’s coming back for next year. Despite lots of evidence to the contrary, I don’t feel like I’ve really got much to say about it. He’s an amazing athlete who has my respect. I also think he’s a doper and a liar. Go on and square those, if you can. He says that this return is (in part) about pushing the cancer research mission of the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Well, if that’s what’s it’s really about, good for him and all of us. If not, well . . .
Anyway, all that said, there’s no doubt that he’ll bring public attention back to cycling. Nike wouldn’t make this video about anyone else:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjcZNR6MiRE[/youtube]
But that wheel, in the last seconds of the video? I hope it catches him, this time.
And so would I. Read.
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