Of Note

Over at Outside the Beltway smart guy Dave Schuler and Dr Bernard Finel are debating the merits of pulling out of Iraq vs staying in.

Over at Pomomusings Rev. Adam Walker lays out a case for throwing out the bible when it comes to the issues surrounding gay rights. H/T TMV

Of Note

Over at Middle East Journal Michael J Totten has an enlightening post up regarding who actually fired the first shot in Georgia and the circumstances that led up to the conflict in the first place. Its long but well worth the read.

Of Note

Over at Right Wing Nut House Rick Moran has a well written and solid post entitled America's Shame in which he expresses dismay over America's use of torture from a conservative point of view. Here's an excerpt:

But for me and many others on the right, the issue of torture defines America in a way that does not weigh comfortably on our consciences or on our self image as citizens of this country. I am saddened beyond words to be associated with a country that willingly gives up its traditions and adherence to the rule of law for the easy way, the short cut around the law, while giving in to the basest instincts we posses because we are afraid.

Drop by and read it. It'll probably be the best post you read today.

Of Note

Michael J Totten is back in Iraq and giving a bug's eye view of the situation there. He also notes
that one of his stories about the horrid conditions in an Iraqi prison he visited prompted a military investigation into the matter.

Last month I published a piece here called The Dungeon of Fallujah about my visit to the wretched jail in the city. As it turns out, the place was worse than I thought. Prisoners had to supply their own food or starve. I didn't report that detail because I didn't know it. But Marine Major General John Kelly (whom I don't think I met) read my report, investigated the jail, and fixed it. No one in the military talked to me about this.

The UPI did a short piece on the investigation and cited Michael Totten's blog as being the impetus of the investigation.

Kelly's visit followed a report on conditions at the jail by independent journalist Michael Totten. Totten found a facility built to hold 120 prisoners housing 900 without even minimal provision for sanitation or hygiene.

Michael Totten relies heavily on reader donations to support his trips to Iraq so please drop by and see if you think his work is worth a couple of bucks.

Of Note

Over at The Poligazette my fellow coblogger Rick Moran (who also blogs at Rightwing Nuthouse and is a Pajamas Media blogger) calls on his conservative brethren to cut out "all this Obama is a Mooslim crap". Its well worth reading.

Of Note

Michael J Totten is back in Iraq and blogging from Fallujah.

Over at The Glittering Eye Dave Schuler takes a look at what the Middle East was like prior to Israel.

At Sideways Mencken Michael Reynolds gives his take on the GOP candidates.

Catch the Repptide

I like to take the time every now and then to plug new blogging related sites that I think are of note. I recently discovered Repptide.com which bills itself as an organic review and opinion site:

It's probably best described as an organic review and opinion site. I call it organic because it takes a different route from the other review sites: if you've ever been to a restaurant that you liked, only to suddenly have an experience that completely changed your opinion, then you're in luck. repptide captures that shift in public opinion by tracking live opinions, from positive to negative, and vice versa. It's not static like the other review sites...

Whats different about Repptide from other sites I've plugged is that it allows you to submit articles or blog posts and then other people rate your submissions. Now if you happen to submit one of your own blog posts then Repptide users may drop by and read your post and then rate it which means you get more traffic. So please take some time to drop by and try it out for yourself.

Of Note

If you've been reading a while you'll notice that I often do pointer posts to Michael J Totten's blog about Iraq. I do so because I believe that somewhere bewteen what the administration tells us and what the MSM reports lies the truth and that having access to a bird's eye view of Iraq via independent journalists helps to fill in that gap.

Michael Yon is an independent journalist currently in Iraq who became so tired of the disparity between what he saw with his own eyes versus what the MSM was reporting that he has opted to give his articles to newspapers for free. Instead of being paid for his articles he has opted instead to depend on reader donations to fund his writing.

So please take some time to drop by and read his work and see if you believe what he's doing is worthwhile.



Also Michael J Totten will be leaving for Fallujah soon so don't forget to keep an eye out for his posts from there.

Of Note

Michael J Totten has released his first ever video. It features his tagging along on a patrol in Iraq. Since this is his first video ever he using the response to it to judge whether or not to keep producing video so please drop by, take a look, and tell him what you think.

Of Note

The Glittering Eye picks up where I left off on the recent hacking of Pentagon.

Kevin Sullivan has an excellent post about what we realistically can and can't do about Iran.

Michael J Totten has had an article published about a group of Kurdish exiles planning to overthrow the Iranian government.

Finally at Midtopia Sean Aqui is Back in the Saddle again.

Of Note

Over at Central Sanity Pete Abel differs with the conclusion I reached in my post The Left Vs Democrats

Over at one of my favorite blogs Maverick Views Alan Stewart Carl has returned from a work induced blogging hiatus.

Finally Michael W Totten has another installment from his trip to Iraq that is well worth reading.

Of Note

Michael J. Totten has returned from Iraq and has his latest post regarding his experiences there ready for your perusal.

Of Note

Over at Thought Theater Daniel DiRito paints a very interesting picture of the potential importance of Pakistan in the 2008 election.

Of Note

Michael Totten has his second post up. He's now embedded with the 82nd Airborne as they patrol a part of Baghdad pacified by the surge.

And over at Eunomia a conservative takes a look at the misconceptions he had about conservatives and the press prior to the Iraq war. h/t Good Will Hinton

Of Note

Michael J Totten has arrived in Iraq. Take some time to drop by and get a blogs eye view of what things are currently like there.

Of Note

The Moderate Voice has an interview with former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee today drop by and read it here.

You can also read TMV's interview with Ron Paul here

The difference between the two is interesting though. Paul's staffers pointed TMV to links on his site that answered their questions while Huckabee actually completed their interview himself.

Of Note

I ran across this recent article The Porn Myth which comes to a rather disturbing conclusion..

“For the first time in human history, the images’ power and allure have supplanted that of real naked women. Today, real naked women are just bad porn.”

check it out here