Silflay Hraka

Another victory in the War on Terror. Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda, is expected to sign a cease fire with the government on Friday.

Kony’s rebellion used to be largely financed and supported by the government of Sudan, which is Uganda’s northern neighbor. He got this backing because he was a useful thorn in the side of Sudan’s southern rebels. It enabled Kony to launch attacks in Uganda – and then sprint into Sudan, where Uganda’s military couldn’t touch him. This fed the myth that he was immune from government attacks.

But Sudan’s north-south war is winding down. And after 9/11 Sudan – dubbed a state sponsor of terrorism by the US – wanted to distance itself from such so-called terrorist groups as the LRA. “Sudan said this was its contribution to the war on terror,” explains Paul Omach, a political scientist at Makerere University in Uganda’s capital, Kampala. Sudan now allows Uganda’s military to chase Kony into Sudan – even with helicopter gunships.

I first wrote about the LRA a year and a half ago, figuring that a victory over the group could be had for little to no effort. It almost appears as if the cease-fire between Kony and the Ugandan government can be traced directly to U.S. pressure on the Sudan over Darfur and the southern rebellion, which makes it a cheap victory indeed.

Hugh Hewitt posted a list of questions he’d like to see answered by the mainstream media reporters and talking heads.

Everyone brings baggage to the reporting of the news. Some of us lay that background out for the world to see –most reporters don’t. A sure sign of something to hide is the hiding of something, and the unwillingness of MSM to tell us about their staffs is a giveaway that the lack of intellectual diversity in the newsroom is a scandal.

What questions would I like answered? Very simple ones: For whom did the reporter vote for president in the past five elections? Do they attend church regularly and if so, in which denomination? Do they believe that the late-term abortion procedure known as partial birth abortion should be legal? Do they believe same sex marriage ought to be legal? Did they support the invasion of Iraq? Do they support drilling in ANWAR?

Apparently he’s gotten a fair amount of negative feedback for what seems to me to be a fairly innocuous list of questions. I must admit, aside from one blogger who implicitly compared Hewitt to a 15th century Spanish Inquisitor, I was unable to find any real vociferous responses, though Darn Floor basically says “We know what the answers would be already, so what’s the point in asking the question?”

Most of the responses I’ve found are along the lines of “fair’s fair. I’d like to see the answers to those questions, but it behooves me to list mine first.” Friend of Hraka the SeaBlogger posted his answers, as did the TurkeyBlog, DaddyPundit, A Large Regular, and one of the Pajama Pundits.

Where I think Hugh left himself open for criticism, is that–at least so far–he hasn’t answered those questions himself.

A rejoinder to that objection might run along the lines of “If you read my blog, you’d know.”

Well, yea, but I’ve watched CBS News long enough that I’m pretty sure I know what Dan Rather’s responses would be, too. That’s not the point. I’m not interested in what a person’s answers to the ten questions would be so much as I am interested in knowing whether or not they are willing to answer them. For me, it’s an exercise in openness, supposedly the strength of the blogosphere, (especially as opposed to the MSM) rather than in bias per se.

So, speaking of openness, my answers;

Whom did I cast my vote for president for in the past five elections?

2004 – Bush
2000 – Gore
1996 – Clinton
1992 – Clinton
1988 – Dukakis

Do I attend church regularly and if so, in which denomination? Yes, but only for the good of the children. Once they’re off to college, I’m outta there. Methodist.

Do I believe that the late-term abortion procedure known as partial birth abortion should be legal? Yes and No. Depends on the age of the fetus. I support the exercise of choice up to the viability boundary, which I have established as 23 weeks. I believe the Right-to-Life movement would get a better return for its money if it invested its effort and money in the development of medical advances that either lower the viability threshold or increase the likelihood of emotional investment on the part of the parent in the fetus.

Do I believe same sex marriage ought to be legal? Yes, as long as there is an open bar at the reception.

Marriage as a religious issue is between two people, the minister or priest, and their god. If a Christian church doesn’t want to bless two men with the sacrament of marriage, more power to them. If a Unitarian church does, then more power to them. We’ll happily attend both–just keep the liquor flowing.

Marriage as a state issue is a different thing. The vast majority of services offered by the state are not allowed to discriminate on the basis of sex, skin color, physical handicap, or sexual preference. There is no reason for the state service of civil marriage to be any more discriminatory that the state service of obtaining a driver’s license is. If the state does not wish to join together two person of the same sex in matrimony, then the state should get out of the marriage business entirely.

Did I support the invasion of Iraq? Yes.

I don’t give a shit if Bush is a drooling moron run by corporate interests or a puppet with Dick Cheney’s hand stuck up his ass, wiggling his fingers to make George’s mouth move. I don’t care if the only reason we invade Iraq is to ensure Exxon’s corporate profits. That’s not the point.

I don’t care if Saddam is a threat to us or not. I don’t care if Saddam has nuclear weapons, anthrax, smallpox, or just a largish pointy stick in his arsenal. We should be bombing him on general principles, those general principles being the ones at the beginning of the Declaration of Independence…

Do I support drilling in ANWR? Yes, as long as said drilling is tied to increased CAFE standards.

I doubt these answers will come as much of a surprise to any of Hraka’s readers, which cover the entire range of the political spectrum despite our best efforts at driving them off. I like to think that they regard us with the same attitude that I hold for my on and off line friends; that regardless of their particular political stance, when a decision is demanded of them I trust that they will not act selfishly, or out of narrow partisan interest, but will do the best they can based on their assessment of the situation. *

It boils down to trust, not on the part of the media consumer, but the media producer. Many bloggers are perfectly happy to answer Hugh’s ten questions because they trust their readership to approach them with an open mind regardless of the actual content of their answers to those questions. MSM types may scream “McCarthyism!” when asked the same question, but what that denunciation really means is “We don’t trust you enough to tell you,” which, come to think of it, explains almost everything one needs to know about the relationship between the mainstream media and the American public.

*If I have failed to engender this trust in you, all I can say is “Surely you have better things to do, mother.”

Update: Hugh, proving himself to be as open as he would like others to be, has posted his answers to the ten questions.

Use these condoms, and you’ll be lucky if the only consequence is that there are new baby toys under the tree come next Christmas.

Reminds me of the old song;

My father sells condoms to sailors
My mom pokes the heads with a pin
My sister performs the abortions
My God how the money rolls in!

The Intergovermental Oceanographic Commission–yes, I thought it a horribly clunky name, as well–has published a animated gif illustrating the propagation of the of the December 26th tsunami across the Indian Ocean. Most of the static graphics give the mistaken impression that the waves propagated out from the epicenter of the earthquake, rather than springing up from an elongated section of the faultline. This one is much more informative.

In the never-ending quest to cut ten dollars out of my monthly bills, I recently decided it was time to free myself from my traditional phone service, provided by BellSouth. I’d been reading about Voice Over IP (VoIP) phone services for a while and I’d seen an increasing number of advertisements for VoIP from companies like Vonage, Lingo and Time Warner. After doing a little research, I decided that the price was right and it was time to bite the bullet and say goodbye to my Baby Bell.

**Aside: I could’ve decided to ditch my land-line entirely in favor of my cellphone but I decided against that path. For one, all my creditors have my land-line number and I don’t want to change that. I also want to keep that number so that I’ll have a number to give people I suspect want to telemarket me. Lastly, I went way over my cellphone minutes last month due to…unforeseen circumstances…and it would be nice to have an all-you-can-eat plan as back-up.

**Aside from the aside: because of my cellphone issues, I had to upgrade my current plan by $10.00 a month. For those of you doing the math, I just broken even.

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A blast from the past for Chapel Hill alumni of a certain age; the Sex Police are playing the Cradle–on New Year’s Eve, of course.

I remember at least two or three occasions in the late 80s/early 90s watching the Pressure Boys or their later incarnation, the Sex Police, in concert on New Year’s Eve. They were great shows, from the little I can recall.

No, I’m not going this year. I suspect some experiences are best left to a faulty memory.

I think I still have a cassette of theirs lying around. For those of you who also remember the Sex Police–Hrairoo–there are some audio clips available at Mp3.com.

The story behind N.C. State’s football season, distilled down to 30 seconds.

Odd that they got the mascot wrong, though. (lvtc)

One Southeast Asian Tsunami + Thousands of Relief Workers = The Increased Possibility of An Avian Flu Pandemic

The relief effort has brought a number of people from around the globe to a region not only affected by the tsunami but also affected by avian influenza. It is possible that the [local] population in the area might have some innate immunity due to repeated exposure to avian influenza. However, with the influx of immune-naive foreign aid workers, there seems to be a potential for spread into people who may be much more susceptible. It is a safe assumption that hygienic conditions in the area are going to be lacking for some time. In addition, many of these workers might almost suspect that they will come down with an illness because of the circumstances, and may simply shrug off the 1st signs and symptoms. As they return to their countries of origin, they may nwittingly depart during the prodromal phase of illness only to act as the index cases of pandemic flu in their countries.

Great. Just great, though the possibility of triggering an H5N1 flu pandemic shouldn’t be a factor when it comes to the decision to send relief workers. What it should lead to is an increased monitoring of those workers once the relief effort is over, as well as warnings to them to report any disease symptoms after returning home. I just worry that the public health infrastructure in many countries–even in the U.S., when it comes right down to it–is not sophisticated enough to mount such an on the fly monitoring program for returning aid workers.

The whole situation strikes me as the type of thing that will be obvious in retrospect, with a number of post-epidemic media articles detailing the public health failures prior to the Great Bird Flu Outbreak of ’05.

Biur Chametz is currently taking submissions for the third edition of Carnival scion Haveil Havalim, a compendium of Jewish and Israeli related posts.