Woody's Things

Ramblings and Opinons of an old man!

Simple site to log thoughts on current events and activity. Please feel free to give your comments.

Example of Football Reported by Reports in Iraq

A look at how a MSM report would report Monday night's (11/28/05) football. Although the Colts won they must be loosing:-)
Carolina Journal | Imagine MNF Being Covered Like Iraq
The insurgent Steelers, striking sporadically with lesser equipment against the hegemonic Colts, inflicted serious damage with several tackles, a sack and some pass breakups, holding Indianapolis to only two field goals in the 15-minute span. Observers said it looked as if the tide were turning in favor of the insurgent Steelers.

In the third period, the Steelers again held the Colts to a single touchdown, damaging the Colts’ aura of invincibility and giving hope to the insurgents that their time would come. Some critics pointed to the stands as some Colt fans began filing out, saying that this showed the Colts losing support at home.

Democrats Love Saddam!

Is the below information a surprise to anyone? Not to me!
Dems Back Saddam Hussein in New Poll
Democrats have given Saddam Hussein a shocking vote of confidence in the latest Fox News Opinion Dynamics survey, with a solid plurality saying the world would be better off if the Butcher of Baghdad was still in power.

Forty-one percent of Democrats gave Saddam a thumbs up, while just 34 percent said Iraq is better served with the murderous dictator gone, reports the New York Post.

Don't Depend on Sites Like Wikipedia

Snared in the Web of a Wikipedia Liar - New York Times
I found this interesting and it should be a warning to anyone that depends on sites such as Wikipedia to back their ideas. I utilize Wikipedia, mostly Answers.com, to gather general information -- knowing that some might be flawed, especially that collected by Answers.com from Wikipedia... For references purposes here is an Answers link to information about John Seigenthaler Sr.. Some excerpts from the article.
The case triggered extensive debate on the Internet over the value and reliability of Wikipedia, and more broadly, over the nature of online information.
Wikipedia is a kind of collective brain, a repository of knowledge, maintained on servers in various countries and built by anyone in the world with a computer and an Internet connection who wants to share knowledge about a subject. Literally hundreds of thousands of people have written Wikipedia entries.
Mistakes are expected to be caught and corrected by later contributors and users.

Like This is a Surprise

I have always said the nimrods criticizing the military -- I don't think the likes of Durbin, Kennedy, Boxer, of other lefties care.
Journal Gazette | 11/28/2005 | 70% believe war criticism hurts troops, poll says
Seventy percent of people said that criticism of the war by Democratic senators hurts troop morale - with 44 percent saying morale is hurt "a lot," according to a poll taken by RT Strategies. Even self-identified Democrats agree: 55 percent believe criticism hurts morale while 21 percent say it helps morale.
[...]
Their poll also indicates many Americans are skeptical of Democratic complaints about the war. Just three of 10 adults accept that Democrats are leveling criticism because they believe this will help U.S. efforts in Iraq. A majority believes the motive is really to “gain a partisan political advantage.”

Interesting - Bruce Willis Bucks Hollywood

Got to say I like it when anyone in Hollywood bucks their liberalism.
Bruce Willis comes out fighting for Iraq's forgotten GI heroes - Sunday Times - Times Online
ANGERED by negative portrayals of the conflict in Iraq, Bruce Willis, the Hollywood star, is to make a pro-war film in which American soldiers will be depicted as brave fighters for freedom and democracy.
It will be based on the exploits of the heavily decorated members of Deuce Four, the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry, which has spent the past year battling insurgents in the northern Iraqi town of Mosul.
Willis attended Deuce Four's homecoming ball this month in Seattle, Washington, where the soldiers are on leave, along with Stephen Eads, the producer of Armageddon and The Sixth Sense.
[...]
Unlike many Hollywood stars Willis supports the war

Good-bye Arnold

The nation's sensei passes -- farewell.
Actor Pat Morita Dies at 73 - Yahoo! News
LOS ANGELES - Actor Pat Morita, whose portrayal of the wise and dry-witted Mr. Miyagi in 'The Karate Kid' earned him an Oscar nomination, has died. He was 73.Morita died Thursday at his home in Las Vegas of natural causes, said his wife of 12 years, Evelyn. She said in a statement that her husband, who first rose to fame with a role on "Happy Days," had "dedicated his entire life to acting and comedy."
Posted by Picasa

Another Argument for Homeschooling

I have mentioned that I did not agree with my sibling's choice to home-school her "offspring" when she and her husband made the choice way back when -- however, when I see how wonderful her eighteen year-old has turned out and read stories like below, I must say it is more then just a viable option. With the deterioration of public school, the court system taking away parent's rights (read here), and the cost of alternative education -- I am fast becoming a home-school advocate.
Teacher under investigation for alleged liberalism - Boston.com
BENNINGTON, Vt. --The school superintendent whose district includes Mount Anthony Union High School has labeled 'inappropriate' and 'irresponsible' an English teacher's use of liberal statements in a vocabulary quiz.
'I wish Bush would be (coherent, eschewed) for once during a speech, but there are theories that his everyday diction charms the below-average mind, hence insuring him Republican votes,' said one question on a quiz written by English and social studies teacher Bret Chenkin.
The question referring to the president asked students to say whether coherent or eschewed was the proper word. The sentence would be more coherent if one eschewed eschewed.
Another example said, 'It is frightening the way the extreme right has (balled, arrogated) aspects of the Constitution and warped them for their own agenda.' Arrogated would be the proper word there.
Chenkin, 36 and a teacher for seven years, said the quizzes are being taken out of context.
'The kids know it's hyperbolic, so-to-speak,' he said. 'They know it's tongue in cheek. They know where I stand.'
He said he isn't shy about sharing his liberal views with students, but invites vigorous debate in the classroom.
'Never once have I said, 'OK, you're wrong,'' he said. 'Instead, it's, 'OK, let's open this up. Let's see where this can go.''
Southwest Vermont Supervisory Union Superintendent Wesley Knapp said he would not want his children subjected to such teaching.
'It's absolutely unacceptable,' he said. 'They (teachers) don't have a license to hold forth on a particular standpoint."
(via Michelle Malkin) (Contact Chenkin and the English Department here)

Disconnect -- Understatement

The poll I mentioned previously is mentioned in this article, from the MSM no less. Further, Max Boot, echos many things I and much more notable bloggers have been saying -- shinning a light on the media's attempt to paint a false picture.
Iraq's a lost cause? Ask the real experts - Los Angeles Times
WHEN IT COMES to the future of Iraq, there is a deep disconnect between those who have firsthand knowledge of the situation - Iraqis and U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq - and those whose impressions are shaped by doomsday press coverage and the imperatives of domestic politics.
Some more interesting excerpts.
The Pew Research Center and the Council on Foreign Relations just released a survey of American elites that found that 64% of military officers are confident that we will succeed in establishing a stable democracy in Iraq. The comparable figures for journalists and academics are 33% and 27%, respectively. Even more impressive than the Pew poll is the evidence of how our service members are voting with their feet. Although both the Army and the Marine Corps are having trouble attracting fresh recruits - no surprise, given the state of public opinion regarding Iraq - reenlistment rates continue to exceed expectations. Veterans are expressing their confidence in the war effort by signing up to continue fighting.
This is pretty good reading.

If You Trust Polls

If you trust polls, I for the most part don't, and are concerned about all the hubbub over the recent BBC poll about Iraq's view of the US -- here is another. Hmm, which is correct? Which is most accurate? Which words the questions as you would? You choose!

(Click on the pic for the Power Point presentation.)

Happy Thanksgiving

I wish all -- liberal, conservative, or independent -- a Happy Thanksgiving. My deepest wish is that all have something to be thankful for, and I believe all Americans do.

Like last year I want to share George Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving proclamation.
WHEREAS, It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor;

WHEREAS, Both the houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted' for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have show kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

--George Washington - October 3, 1789