Two Enemies

As Israel's offensive against Hezbollah over the past few weeks drags on, it is a fair question to ask, "who is winning?" Unfortunately, that is a very difficult question to answer. Almost certainly, Israel has made large strives militarily. But it has faced an unexpectedly ferocious, amoral enemy who will stop at nothing to win: the media. The Islamic terrorists have become masters of media manipulation. Combined with a world view that is already extraordinarily prejudice against Israel, you have a situation where the media continues to "disproportionately" (to use a favored word) show one side of the story.

Take Qana. The Israelis take out a building and 54 civilians are killed (46 of them women and children...amazing, where are those menfolk?). This is a tragedy. But it is a bit more complex. It seem there are reports that the building collapsed 8 hours after being hit. Confederate Yankee speculates that maybe, just maybe, there were munitions and rockets "cooking off." (See PowerLine also.)

There is a joke making the rounds (H/T Mere Rhetoric):

A young man was walking the streets of Paris. Suddenly he saw a Rottweiler attacking a young girl. He jumped on the dog, struggled with him and strangled it. Both he and the girl escaped with minor scratches. Immediately, excited journalists surrounded him and said: Tell us your name! All Paris will know of you! The headlines shall be: "Parisian hero saves little girl from savage dog" But the man said: I am not from Paris. The journalists surged with nationalistic pride: OK, so all France will hear of you! The headlines shall be: "French hero saves little girl from savage dog" But the man continued: I am not from France. The journalists changed gears, and tittered with post-national excitement: Even better, we will tell all Europe about you! The headlines shall read: "European hero saves little girl from savage dog". Yet the man insisted: But I am not from Europe. Now confused, the journalists demanded: Where are you from? The man said firmly: I am from Israel. All at once, the journalists seemed to come to a consensus: Indeed, the whole world will hear about you. The headlines will be: "Israeli murders little girl's dog."

Can't argue with that...

UPDATE: Here is a perspective from a Lebonese.

Twins = Tigers

Twins are 8 1/2 games behind Detroit? How is that tied for the dividsion lead?

Where are the damn fact checkers at this Blog and why haven't they been fired!

Back to the daily rant...

And I know you miss me, Tilam Blog Fan.

Keep on holding out, Reggie Bush. The NFL wants to see that you are just like every other spoiled, self-centered, draft pick who considers yourself above the game and team.

I CANNOT love the AL East enough. Even though I hate Boston, I'm a huge fan of the greatest rivalry in sports, the Sawx-Yanks. Yankees are riding some timely and good pitching and some solid offense (even A-Clod is hitting a few here and there, albeit with his bat and not with the heel of his glove or foot while fielding) to climb back within 1 1/2 games of the leading Sawx, and to the top of the Wild Card race. But you gotta also be a fan of the AL Central, where the Twinkies have clawed and scratched their way into a tie for the division lead. I love dis game!

So Greg Anderson would rather go to jail than testify that Bonds took steroids. I'm a little torn here...torn because I admire the loyalty of a lifelong friend to stick by his buddy and stay loyal to him, but also torn because this is a truth that really NEEDS to be validated. Who in the world doesn't suspect Bonds of taking steroids? Okay, aside from some aborigine in the outback, who? This is an intersting case because it's really no longer about whether he took steroids (he did), but ultimately whether he KNOWINGLY took steroids, and whether he lied to the Grand Jury about that fact. Oh, and tax evasion. The key here is proof, and the simple fact that Anderson refuses to testify is a really smoking gun indicating that he doesn't want to admit that Bonds KNEW he was taking steroids. We already know that Anderson gave Bonds steroids, and that Anderson was completely in on this, we are just trying to find out if Barry knew. And remember, this is bigger than just some guy juicing it - it's about some guy who broke hallowed baseball records after doing so. Bud Selig (the idiot) is worried about tarnishing the legacy of baseball and the fact that one of the most popular and most exciting records in baseball is under scrutiny here. Bad Mojo...

Interesting note...Al Capone was arrested on tax evasion, not on any of the OTHER stuff he did.

It seems that Tiger and Annika are talking smack back and forth. Tiger now has the lead now, 11-10. I wonder what he texted to her on Sunday, since Annika said "it was a smart ass comment, but warranted". Hmmm...

Danica Patrick is staying in the IRL, which is good. But her contract is up, and she ultimately defected to Andretti-Green racing from the Rahal-Letterman team. Ultimately, this is a good and positive move for her, to the winningest team in IndyCar, and really cements her potential to claim a podium within a year. She'll have the biggest and best equipment on the best team for next year. But expectations will be HIGH for her...she better produce soon or else interest will wane and the sport will again retreat to the darkest recesses of fandom. She has, rightly or wrongly, been annointed the saviour of the sport, her looks and personality and ability really capturing our eye and interests...but now, with the best team, it's time to put up or shut up. If her equipment is the best in the business, she has no more excuses NOT to win...

Charles Barkley, the Round Mound of Rebound, the Gov of Alabama? This is truly a sign of the apocalypse!

Andrea Yates...I teeter back and forth at the tragedy and absurdity of this. Andrea Yates' acquittal means she won't spend her life in prison for the bathtub drownings of her children, but she will be committed to a state mental hospital until she is deemed "no longer a threat". A threat to whom? Her five young children? Too late for that... But on the other hand, she is clearly mentally ill, and needs to be taken care of in an institution built for that purpose. Frankly, to even remotely consider the fact that she is NOT insane and maliciously drowned her FIVE children, one at a time, takes me to a place where I really don't want to go...

*** And lastly, in the "best laid plans of mice and men" category, pity poor Adam Sutton... ***

A plane that was chartered to help a man propose to his girlfriend crashed, injuring the couple and the pilot, authorities said. Relatives holding a sheet with "Erica, will you marry me?" painted on it watched from the ground as the Cessna 127, circling low over the airport, stalled and then crashed into the ground Friday evening.
The couple, Adam Sutton and Erica Brussee, and the pilot were taken to a hospital with injuries that did not appear to be life threatening, authorities said. Brussee suffered a broken leg, and the other two had cuts and gashes.
As Brussee was loaded into the ambulance, she said "Tell Adam I said yes," said Joshua Willis, Sutton's cousin. The ring was lost in the wreckage, he said.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident.

One wonders if they are investigating the crash or the fact that the crazy woman said "yes" after almost being killed! :)

I am Sick

Andrea Yates gets off. Not guilty by reason of insanity. Unbelievable.

Six-month-old Mary, 2-year-old Luke, 3-year-old Paul, 5-year-old John and 7-year-old Noah were unavailable for comment.

In June of 2001, my kids were 7, 4 and 2 years old. Unbelievable.

In Memoriam

Carl Brashear died. Captain's Quarters takes note. Like most who know of his story, I first learned of it watching Men of Honor with Cuba Gooding, Jr. Brashear was a pioneer along the lines of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier against insults and threats (except there were a million ways to die in underwater training, while baseball seems comparatively sedate).

Oddly, I am currently reading Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson. Wow. Chapter 2 is a basic description of the hazards of deep (>180 feet) diving and it is truly frightening. Its description of the type of death (drowning in close quaters in zero visibility) that takes these men is very powerful.

Brashear had the right stuff.

The Exception Does not Break the Rule

Hold on. I don't see a contradiction here. There were 14 players within a few strokes of Woods on Sunday and, of this group, several (most notably Garcia) fell apart and the rest (excepting DiMarco) could not keep up.

The worst I am guilty of is a bit of hyperbole...

I'll take "Contradictory Statements" for $300 Alex

Ummm, confusion here...

In the first paragraph, you state "...posting the lowest round of the day and watching his competition fall apart...".

In the last paragraph, you state ""...but no one lost this match, Tiger won it..."

So which is it? Did the competition fall apart and cough it up? Or did they play well and Tiger won it? Two words dood...Chris DiMarco...

Sure, Sergio fell apart (heck, on the practice range probably), seems "yellow" is his color. But DiMarco went after Tiger like a tiger himself, Woods just played top notch golf (yes, "like Tiger") and won the tournament. This was another bit of a nailbiter for Woods, but he came through like the champion he is...some of his chasers fell by the wayside, but some didn't.

Make My Claret a Triple, Please

Tiger Woods won the British Open by 2 strokes this past weekend. He did it in typical Tiger fashion, posting the lowest round of the day and watching his "competition" fall apart.

I was happy to see Chris DiMarco coming in at number two. It adds a bookend to Tiger's story: Tiger lost his Dad and Chris lost his Mom. Chris (and the rest) had a shot at Woods, but Tiger is so tough mentally. He is now 11 for 11 in majors after being in the lead after the third round. Phenomenal.

Of course, the stories all focused on Sergio's explosion (didn't take him long) or Furyk's stumble, but no one lost this match, Tiger won it. There is a difference.

Wee Little About Wie

Okay, I am a bit disappointed in Thew's remarks about Michelle Wie. Could it be the side-show has just gotten boring? How many times must we predict failure - and then be proven correct - until it is no longer fun or challenging.

The men don't respect her, the women don't respect her and the sponsors will soon become tired of sponsoring a loser.

She is 16 years old. She has accomplished much and has a future in golf. But she is a sideshow.

UPDATE: Okay, this horse is dead. One quick comment comes from a live conversation with Thew. The thing I fear about Michelle is that failure is becoming acceptable. It is "okay" she does not win on the LPGA and it is "okay" she does not make the cut in the PGA. At some point this will take its toll mentally. Lining up a big putt, will she think, "it is okay if I miss it"?

Tiger wouldn't. Michelle needs the fire in the belly. She does not have that yet.

Response

To SteveA, cross posted on SoccerBlog.com (well, attempted to post, network error)!

My apologies for the ADD comment, which was mine (I said that US fans are basically like ADD kids, needing constant stimuli in their sports, not having the patience for a beautiful game). I merely meant to indicate that American fans (of which I am one) tend to like quick and interesting and high action sports, and cannot understand nor really retain the patience for a soccer game that has 88 minutes of plotting and setting up and 2 minutes of real action. Think of the spurts of action that hold the american public captive in those sports you mention: the pitch and hit in baseball, the football play, also look at hoops with the 24 second shot clock, not to mention my favorite team sport, hockey. Quick, fast paced action, constant bursts of energy...not a lot of time testing, pressing, looking for chinks in the defense's armor. At least that is what I've heard in my travels. Your experience might run different, but think of it this way; if you had a 2-1 soccer game (equalling a 14-7 football game), how much fun would you have if there were a boatload more shots on goal than currently? How many plays does a football team get during the course of a game? How many pitches in a baseball game, with all the budding excitement that might happen with each throw? Basketball possessions that do NOT end in a shot are even sometimes exciting. And hockey... How many shots on goal do you see in the typical World Cup match? MAYBE 10 total between the teams? I think it fundamentally boils down to "a lot activity without much exciting action accomplishments". And I'm a FAN of soccer.

You can go to youtube.com and Google Video and see astounding goals scored by players. But the OVERALL game must be made more exciting as a matter of course, or else we'll never capture the imagination and interest as much as we'd hope. Remember, we are not trying to impress those who already play hookey from work to watch the World Cup, we are trying to attract people who don't know much about it. Those are the people we need to get into the game...

My humble opinion.

No change in status

from ESPN: "Michelle Wie was forced to withdraw from the John Deere Classic on Friday after nine holes due to dehydration." PUHLEEZE. Aside from the fact that she was playing SHITTY! Oh wait, she carded a 77 in the first round, the cut was 140 - so facing the prospect of having to shoot a 63 to make the cut, perhaps she tanked it? Not sure. Or, perhaps she was playing shitty because she was dehydrated. Hmmm... Still, another no-go, this time because of no-mas. Oh, and she's put on a little weight in the keister too...is gonna need to be careful wearing those short skirts soon, at the rate she's going.

from THEW: "Dear Sawx, that thing you see in the rear view mirror getting closer is the YANKEE TRAIN!"

Eric Lindros signed a 1 year deal with the Dallas Stars. Typical Stars signing: aged, beat up, washed up, star on the decline of his career. But I have to admit, they seem to be one team capable of getting production out of their players...that is, until playoff time. Over Under is 45 - the number of games that Lindros will play during next season...

So, Thew, How is Michelle Doing?

I understand she was playing in another men's tournament this past weekend, trying to make her first cut.

Care to mention anything about that? The cut line was 141, I think.

Whack a Mole - Middle East Version

I believe what we are NOT seeing in the Middle East is more interesting then what we ARE seeing.

The democratic West continues to play "whack-a-mole" in the Middle East. Al-Qaida in Iraq - WHACK! Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon - WHACK! Syria is poised to get whacked next; followed by Iran.

The problem is, like the arcade game, the moles still keep popping up. Waiting in the wings are Egypt and Saudi Arabia, each very different problems then the boy dentist in Syria and the nutty 12th Imam in Iran.

To the extent Iran has miscalculated, it is not in regard to Israel's response - that plays right into Iran's thinking - it is in regard to the reaction of fellow ME nations. The semi-dictatorships of Egypt and KSA cannot afford the continued destabilization of ME politics by Iran. Each of Egypt and KSA are the product of the balancing of radical and moderate elements and neither Hosni or the House of Saud is particularly fond of pushing the power of the radicals TOO much. Egypt and KSA can draw kudos in the West for condemning Hezbollah (and, in certain quarters, Israel) and be ready to step into a lead role in the ME if (when?) Iran gets its comeuppance.

Iran has started this proxy war to justify to the UN its development and possession of nuclear weapons. Iran does not need a distraction to its "nuclear crisis," it needs justification. Iran knew it could count on a strong Israeli response and could count on its apologists in the West to - at minimum - condemn Israeli fro being "overly" aggressive. Iran can now say, "see we NEED nukes."

The question is "what is next?" Many, including me, thought Israel would go after Syria right off. This, of course, is stupid. Tactically, Israel must do what it is doing before it addresses the Syria question. Further, Israel is not a nation builder. In the event it destroys Assad's regime, it will require the US to step in (France will probably play a constructive role here - for once).

The big question is that if Israel strikes Syria, what will Iran do? Do Syria and Iran has a mutual defense pact? Iranian involvement, it seems to me, presents the US with an opportunity to legitimately bring down the mullahs, but it is not clear to me that we will seize this opportunity. (I think that direct Iranian involvement would stretch Israeli resources too thin for Israel's comfort.) We might get away with allowing Iraqi AFB as refueling stops and form a one-way picket against Iranian air incursions (not that that would be a problem for Israel, but it would distract them from the main objective). But are there enough Neocons in the administration to take a bold step?

Taking a deep breath...

Movie Tie-Ins...

"I'm sorry, your son is dead because he was stupid". Top Gun Noteworthy quote from the article: "I have seen a lot of horseplay over the past years, but I think this is the first time I have ever seen somebody playing paintball at 75 mph," patrol Lt. Pete Norwood said.

"God got his periods reversed, he's only nice for 3 days a month". Purple Rain So Ed Carpenter says that Danica Patrick would do well in NASCAR because she'll trade paint and be agressive while she's on the rag. What an incredibly freekin' STUPID thing to say!

*****

OMGAWD, I laughed my ASS off when I saw that video of Castro's assasination!

Materazzi might not be a racist, but what is definitely IS is an asshole thug who plays dirty soccer.

Moral Equivalence...what a nice debate. It strikes me that Sara is one of those people who are standing in their antiseptic bubble with no germs or terrorists affecting her, criticizing others in their attempt to make the world a safe place. Tim Robbins, Sean Penn, Susan Sarandon, Richard Geke - just a few of the more notable people who, in the last several years, have expressed their opinion that we not strike out and turn the other cheek. Only people like Sara and those "hollywoodies" are directly affected by the rampant death of the terrorist agenda will they possibly consider changing their tune. I'd like to see where she derives her statement that the US has become a "terror state". See, I cannot understand people like her who whine about "we need to explore peace" seemingly without a full understanding of terrorist people and their goals. You can see from Tilam's second post how well "peace" has worked between the Israelis and Syrians. They simply do NOT understand anything but violence and death. That is their language. That is the verbiage they understand. Do people not see this? You cannot reason with these people. Better yet, in order to help Sara understand more about terrorist assholes, let's try this exercise...during a debate/discussion with Sara, while she is talking and explaining her point, PUNCH HER IN THE FACE. When she gets up and gets all mad, you say "WAIT! The solution to terror is not to become a terror state yourself, so you must go the peaceful route". When she settles down, and begins to speak again, PUNCH HER IN THE FACE AGAIN! When she gets up REALLY pissed now, repeat your original statement about turning the other cheek and resolving your difference of opinions via peaceful means. Try this ONE MORE TIME and see what the "peaceful" people do. They will probably jump your ass and try to pound it into the ground. This might be a valuable lesson in "dealing with violent assholes". They just don't listen to reason, all they understand is fear and violence. I don't believe it is a question of morality - it is a question of ideology, and theirs is one of violence and death - Tilam's statement about a "baseline" of morality is true, but ultimately this baseline is set by religious ideology, and will differ region/culture to culture.

I understand her concerns that countries like the US don't go TOO far over to the dark side, but remember, terrorists are types of people you need to take out of the equation BEFORE THEY KILL SOMEONE! It is easy for her to sit on her ass and smile at how wonderful the world is until someone close to her gets whacked; then see how the tune changes. And the ONLY silver lining (and I hate to say this) of the propogation of terrorism across the world is the simple fact that OTHER countries are beginning to feel the pain and recognize that this is a serious situation that needs to be nipped in the bud - how can you explain to a bereaved parent or sibling that their loved one is dead because you decided to wait around until something happened? This is no longer a problem of people targeting the US only, this is becoming an epidemic of assholes killing people around the world. It is quickly becoming a global problem. But ultimately, morality is a direct result ideology, frankly - the morality of killing innocent people is justified by the ideology of "them being not us" and needing to die (I won't even go into the "kill a buncha americans and you will die in the arms of 40 vestal virgins")...

People like Sara are effective at simplifying this type of discussion...but it is simple by any means...

More Rumor Mill

Okay, since I am engaging in rumor mongering, there is a report tha Castro has died.

Murdered, in fact! A video has been secreted out of Havana...

The '06 War?

An Israeli blogger is claiming that a well placed source says Israel will declare war tonight. Well, won't that be interesting.

In particular, if Israel calls a spade a spade and declares war on Syria (rather than on Hamas/Hezbollah or Lebanon), the world's attention will turn to the US and Iran. The declaration of war against Syria explicitly represents a step in President Bush's GWOT analysis: those who harbor terrorists will be treated as terrorists themselves. Syria will suffer the consequences of its use of terror proxies. Now what of Big Brother Iran?

Neither Syria or Iran want a war, but Israel has been pushed too far and has lost appetite for Sharon's strategy of a unilateral peace process. Syria and Iran evidently feel Olmert does not have the stomach for this, but they maybe very wrong.

The US has a different problem, but probably has some room to finesse a bit. Israel can kick Syria's ass by itself and the US war machine on Iran's western border will keep the nut job Abamnjahewhatever in line. A thorough whomping of Syria will continue to knock a little more sense into the Middle East. And, at some point, the people of Syria, Palestine and Lebanon will get sick of this crap and start supporting responsible leaders. (One can dream.)

Moral Equivalence

Oddly, over at SoccerBlog.com, I got into a minor political debate with a “Sara.” The subject was a post by Shourin Roy that struck a decidedly one-sided, pro-Gaza stance. While he correctly admonishes Israeli fans who use racial against the Arab-Israeli players, he somehow never gets around to noting that the notion of a Jew playing on the KSA or Iran team is absurd.

But I digress, the lovely Sara chimes in when I suggest we keep the politics out of SoccerBlog: “Only in the US media are we seeing no mention of Israels's stupidity. [snip] Tilam, this is beyond politics. We should not allow ourselves and our government to become terrorists, which is in fact what has happened. So keep talking."

I reply: “There are many reasons to be critical of the US or Israeli policy, but moral equivalence (in this instance) is repulsive. To equate the President or US armed forces with the beheaders or to equate the IDF with people who strap on suicide belts to kill innocent civilans does a disservice to your argument. Clearly we are not perfect, but we are nowhere near them."

Oh, and by the way, if they were in charge YOU (Sara) couldn't express your opinion. Theirs is a Men Only club.”

She comes back: “No one is saying that Hamas are saints. What I'm saying is that everyone is guilty. Some more than others- especially when our government becomes a terror state. The proper response to terror is not to become a terror state yourself.”

My final word: “[I]t is obvious you have no idea what a real terror state is.”

Moral equivalence. This notion that everyone is morally equal, that no causes are inherently better (or worse), no cultures are inherently better (or worse). Moral equivalence is the product of a lazy intellect. It lacks the strength of a rigorous argument and fails the slightest analysis. My 7 year old daughter understands right from wrong, but Sara refuses to.

I believe there much to be reasonably debated about different cultures and religions, but I also firmly believe that there is some, universal minimum moral standard to become part of that debate. For example, valuing human life. This is a big difference between the radical Islamists and us. To be precise, the radical Islamists believe your life has no value unless you are BORN one of them. So me, Sara and most of you are just simply more infidels to kill.

It seems to me that while there is no rule that is inviolate – I do believe taking a human’s life can be justified – there is a set of principles that should govern moral behavior toward our fellow man. And fundamentally, morality is not about how one treats those like oneself, but how one treat those different. And we all know how the radical Islamists treat others.

Finally, I firmly believe Western civilization (as a cultural concept, not a geographical concept) is the best alternative currently available. I would quickly point out that “western civ” is actually an amalgamation of many ideas which have originated around the world. Hammurabi’s code, the Greek polis are as much a part of “western civ” as the Puritan ethic and capitalism. In that, “western civ” is really “human civ.” It does have its flaws, but it currently represents the integration of the best ideas we have had and the furthest advance of human culture and morality.

May the Best Team Win...in 2010

Cross-posted at SoccerBlog.com.

Like many of SoccerBlog contributors and readers, I have this overriding sense of disappointment in this year's Cup. Zidane's offing in the Final perfectly encapsulated it for me; this sense of WTF?

What was he thinking? Why did he do it? What did Materazzi say? (Zidane, afterall, was putting distance between the two, when he turned around and slammed him.) There many things about this Cup that were/are inexplicable to me: the refs; the dives; the US MNT and the 3 Lions in general to name a few.

But, sad to say, my biggest disappointment was the Champion. I like Italy, but I simply have a hard time feeling much joy in their victory. I would have much rather seen the Germans hoist the Cup. Or the Argentinians for that matter. I don't believe the best team won.

My list of memories are all about the disappointments. To Christian's list, I would add "coaching." Ultimately, I felt the level of coaching was a huge disappointment (I would note my general exception of the four Dutch coaches and Klinsmann). Conservative formations; cronyism and excessive loyalty; a general lack of imagination seemed to be the common ingredient of the coaches. As a young player, I thought coaches were useless, but great coaches can unlock the talents of players and create a "team" out of a bunch of well paid prima donnas. There was little greatness evident on the sidelines this year.

UPDATE: Materazzi called Zizou a "terrorist"? Okay, Zidane is from Algeria, but I can't believe "nah, nah, you are a great, big, fat terrorist" set him off. Besides, Italians have more imagination then that.