Captain Dylan Hunt: [counting down to fire] You know what? I’ll count again 1… 2…
[his opponents start diving for cover/shooting]
Captain Dylan Hunt: 3 !
Beka Valentine: So, uh, counting to three, kind of tells them when to shoot.
– Andromeda (2002) : Season 2 Episode 16 : In Heaven Now Are Three
They invade our space and we fall back. They assimilate entire worlds and we fall back. Not again. The line must be drawn here! This far, no farther!
Capt Jean-Luc Picard - Enterprise-E - Star Trek: First Contact
For some reason I have been wanting to post that quote for weeks. Everytime that I read/watch the news especially when it is relating to North Koreas and their nuclear testing, Iran and their nuclear technology aspirations and any news story relating to terrorism seems to trigger it. It seems like the last few decades there is a general inclination to avoid conflict….ANY conflict, and if for some reason there is a conflict to end it no matter what.
It seems that after World War II, once Japan attacked us and pulled us into the fray, that no one except minor terrorists dared to attack us. Now it seems to me that we have lost our reputation. Think about North Korea’s failed ballistic missle test that was supposed to fly towards Hawaii, but not hit us. Think about Mexico challenging us because we decided to build a border fence on our own soil.
I don’t say this to piss people off or to say that we should go to war and prove that we are not weak. I say this to show that the general impression that we have been giving off is that we like running away from a fight, especially when it gets to hard or the media, and in turn thepublic, doesn’t like it. Like I said these are just the thoughts that have been swimming through my mind threatening to drown me unless I let them out.
Although I personally haven’t decided whether I still agree with the war in Iraq(I did initially for the record), I still believe it is of the utmost importance to finish what we started. If we run away from Iraq now leaving it in the chaos then the next time we are attacked, either by another country or by terrorists, the war will be over before it even begins.
P.S. The title is a joke not a suggested course of action!!!
This is getting a little more than slightly aggravating. Ever since the last few election fiascos where George Bush was elected overeager and mediocre reporters, news anchors and strategists called the elections before the votes were even counted. This year no one is releasing any exit poll information until after that areas’ polls are officially closed. This is the most asinine thing they could have done. They’ve already taken away alcohol during elections, the only thing left was the hourly updates compiled from the exit polls. Followed a few minutes later by some pseudo-analyst trying to explain how one issue/canidate/referendem/etc flopped in 60 minutes. This has got to be the most boring election ever, since there is nothing to keep me entertained throughout the day other than the inane jabber of strategists and pollsters that pretend like they actually know what the rest of us think.
In all seriousness though, exit polls were never the problem. The problem came that some one looked at their exit polling data and decided to call the election and claim the election was over, before the the ballots had even been brought back to the elections commision to be counted. Just give me back my hourly exit polling so I have something…..anything and this time WAIT until the official results have come out before you claim anyone has won.
First off this was not going to be my first post after almost a month of inactivity, but the loss of common sense and the increase of stupidity are some of the few things that can piss me off enough to speak out. In recent days we have heard two major stories the first is Patricia Dunn, the now ex-Chairman of HP’s board and her spying campaign to track down the source of some leaks. The second story is the one that just broke recently featuring the now ex-Representative Mark Foley and the advances he made to underage male pages. Both acts, although reprehensible, are not my focus. Instead I think it is more important focus on the one thing that is never focused on and never remembered: the inability/refusal to accept responsibility for one’s own actions.
In Dunn’s case, just recently this Reuter’s article has her lawyer saying:
“These charges are being brought against the wrong person at the wrong time and for the wrong reasons…. They are the culmination of a well-financed and highly orchestrated disinformation campaign.”
And then later in the article, it’s reported that
Dunn has said she regrets the way the probe was handled, but does not take personal responsibility for any deceptive methods used.
Now did I miss something or didn’t Dunn order the investigation and guide its progress? You can’t order something to be done, be briefed on methods, guide other parts of the investigation, and then claim no responsibility.
Now Mark Foley on the other hand, so far as I have read, hasn’t actually denied sending his messages. Instead he has relied upon making excuses for what actually caused his behavior. So far, he has blamed alcohol and being abused when he was a kid. I can’t speak for his being abused as kid, but it was still his conscious choice(s) to do what he did. Alcohol on the other hand doesn’t have the ability to change a type of behavior, usually alcohol will only release/lessen the inhibitions of a person.
Unfortunately I am not a mind-reader and I cannot tell you why both of these people have made the decisions they have. Though one of my theories and, i think a plausible one, is that because both of these people are high-profile and more susceptible to lawsuits, they’re being cautious in denying responsibility. After all, anything that is said publicly or privately can come back to haunt them in a lawsuit. If they deny everything and provide excuses, then those words can’t later come back as evidence against them in some future lawsuit or campaign.
The only problem with this argument is that it falls flat on its back when applied the general public. Although there is still a possibility of a lawsuit, but it is far more remote. Sadly the reasons that the everyday Joe Schmoe won’t accept responsibility are far more simple. It’s easier to blame someone else for your own problems rather than accepting responsibility for your actions and their consequences.
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