Posts Made By: Joe Williams

From the Wall Street Journal's OpinionJournal
Best of the Web Today - May 26, 2004
By JAMES TARANTO

The Press Corps' Porn Addiction
We're really starting to worry about some of our fellow journalists. It seems they were so titillated by those kinky pictures from Abu Ghraib prison that they just can't stop thinking about it. As we noted Monday, references to the Abu Ghraib shenanigans keep popping up in stories about entirely different subjects. Here are the latest examples:

A "worldwide annual study of consumer sentiment" finds that foreigners are less likely to "trust" American brands or to consider them "honest," reports CNN/Money. "According to the study--conducted before news of the prison abuse scandal broke late last month--the total percentage of consumers worldwide who use U.S. brands has fallen to 27 percent from 30 percent a year ago across 15 brands surveyed, including McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Disney and Nike."


Then there's this, from a New York Times review of a Madonna show: " 'Burning Up,' a seemingly innocuous club classic from her first album, was even nastier. As Madonna, still wearing her fatigues, sang the refrain--'I'm burning up, burning up for your love'--static on the screens above was replaced by scrambled camcorder images. War and sex and videotape: it was impossible not to think of Abu Ghraib, though she never made the connection explicit."
"It was impossible not to think of Abu Ghraib." This is progress. After all, the first step in recovery is admitting you have a problem. May we suggest that Ghraib-obsessed scribes check out "Breaking Pornography Addiction: A Plan for Personal Success."

It isn't easy, but you can overcome this: "Don't beat yourself up when you stumble. Remember that what you are trying to accomplish is a major undertaking. You can do it. And as you progress, God will bless your life with incredible joy. You will become more self disciplined, and you will be happier than you have ever been. God bless us all with success."

Without turning this into a religeous debate, I would like to solicit opinions on the following subject.

In the current political discussions that abound in this country on various topics, and perhaps with the recent focus on issues revolving around the separation of church and state decision etc., I seem to sense a growing anti-Christian sentiment in this country. Perhaps because conservatism and Christianity are so often aligned, the sentiment would appear to be comming from the left. Now, I realize that everyone does not fit the stereotype mold, so I would like to understand others opinions on this issue. Specifically:

1. Is this sense unfounded? Some examples that I've noticed include the recent complaints about Mel Gibson's movie "The Passion of the Christ" Many of the complainers were fellow actors, media and other liberals. In other cases I've heard people complain about GWB referencing God in his speeches. I'm, not sure if this was due to a discomfort of the subject or pure resentment of GWB and anything he says.

2. If this sense is real, is this simply collateral damage due to GWB's and the rightwing's close association with Christianity? In other words, is it just because it is conservatives apparently using Christianity to justify their position, or are there other problems with it?

3. I'm wondering what your position is on the refernces to "under God" in the pledge of allegiance. I live not far from the fellow who is contesting in the Supreme Court the usage of that passage. Would you say that this is a platform type issue for the democrats?

Again, I realize that this is very close to a religious topic. I'm more interested in the political affiliations with the topic than individual beliefs. What one believes is up to the individual. This is one reason why some of these topics intrigue me so. In the case of the pledge for example, I understand that the man prosecuting that case is an athiest, however his daughter is not. It's his daughter that says (optionally) the pledge in class every morning.

Anyway I thought it a good (and different) topic to discuss.

I got this from a friend.

I know that many of you on this site abhore the actions taken by GWB. One of the more disturbing aspects of any election/political discussion are the charachter assasinations that occur. I obviously don't know GWB personally, but I can only judge his charachter by his actions. I have read numerous accounts of small actions taken by GWB that have given me the impression that this man does have the type of charchter that I admire and respect. The quote is from the friend from whom I received this picture.

YOU WON'T SEE THIS ON CBS,NBC,CNN,CNBC,PBS Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 08:49:09 -0400 Here's another "you've got to love George" mini story. This was sent to me by a career Naval guy who retired from the Pentagon so I know his source is legit. This is a picture of Mike McNaughton. He stepped on a landmine in Afghanistan Christmas 2002. President Bush came to visit the wounded in the hospital. He told Mike that when he could run a mile, that they would go on a run together. True to his word, he called Mike every month or so to see how he was doing. Well, last week they went on the run, 1 mile with the president. Not something you'll see in the news, but seeing the president taking the time to say thank you to the wounded and to give hope.

I thought this little tidbit from the Wall Street Journal Online interesting. To what level will the media stoop?

This troubling announcement came from the U.S. military Central Command last week:

MOSUL, Iraq--Coalition soldiers questioned two news media cameramen and a reporter after a roadside bomb exploded near a Coalition convoy two kilometers north of Mosul June 3.

The media, who were at the scene prior to the attack, told soldiers at the scene they had received a tip to be at that location prior to the attack and they had witnessed the explosion.

The explosion didn't cause any serious injuries, but it could have. Journalistic independence is all well and good, but when lives are at stake, isn't it incumbent on reporters to pass along such a tip to the authorities? And how come we learned this news from Centcom rather than from any news outlet?

This is the first time in 30 years that we've had a state funeral for a fallen president. Nixon wisely rejected a state funeral. LBJ's funeral was in 1973. Do you all recall the coverage that Princess Di's funeral received from the media?

Dan Rather commented yesterday that he believed there had been too much coverage of the Reagan death/ceremony. On June 20th, 60 minutes will devote its entire hour to cover the yet to be released autobiagraphy of William J. Clinton. Is there someone here bold enough to claim that the media is as just and unbiased as they claim to be?

Why would 60 minutes need a full hour to cover this book? President Regan's death comes at an especially bad time for the democrats given the proximity of the November elections. As is customary in death we review the accomplishments, legacies and character of the deceased. President Reagan's accomplishments and legacies are great and his character beyond reproach. This, in turn, bodes well for the Republican party. Could it be that the liberals are dredging their resources looking for their own legacies to bolster. Could it be that Clinton's legacy would be so suttle that it will take a full hour to convey its signifigance to those of us who are "unenlightened"? Or could it be that they are trying to manufacture a WJC legacy where none exists?

I have a TV 101 refractor (Renaissance) that I've owned for about 16 years now. It's a great scope, but I've often wished I had more aperature. Well, I now have the opportunity to trade the scope with gibralter mount for a Celestron C9.25 (9.25 inch Schmidt Cassegrain) on a CG5-GT mount. Does anyone know about these scopes? What would you do? Would you trade?

I have a TV 101 refractor (Renaissance) that I've owned for about 16 years now. It's a great scope, but I've often wished I had more aperature. Well, I now have the opportunity to trade the scope with Gibralter mount for a Celestron C9.25 (9.25 inch Schmidt Cassegrain) on a CG5-GT mount. Does anyone know about these scopes? What would you do? Would you trade?

I have a TV 101 refractor (Renaissance) that I've owned for about 16 years now. It's a great scope, but I've often wished I had more aperature. Well, I now have the opportunity to trade the scope with gibralter mount for a Celestron C9.25 (9.25 inch Schmidt Cassegrain) on a CG5-GT mount. Does anyone know about these scopes? What would you do? Would you trade?

First of all, let me make this clear. Although I am conservative with regard to moral and financial issues, I do not tow the conservative line with regard to the anti-abortion movements. This is not necessarily because I believe in the woman's right to her own body, but rather because I believe that government has even less business poking around anyone's body. The mental anguish that a woman must overcome to have such a procedure is more than any punishment a government could administer anyway. If the mental anguish weren't there, then neither were the morals.

That said, I need some education on the issue of partial birth abortions, and late term abortions. Specifically, why do such things exist? As I understand it, early term abortions are much easier and much less risky for the mother. Pardon my ignorance here, but what exactly is a partial birth abortion, and why would anyone want one?

I've got one that I use with a Televue Renaisance 101. Works great with low power, but I do get a little bit of the shakes when I use magnifications of 100x +. This usually occurs after correcting the RA drive errors. It usually settles down after a few seconds. The problem I'm having is with my clock drive. The drives for these mounts appear to be very low quality. Mine has trouble tracking fast enough to keep up with normal siderial movement.