The utter paranoia and neurosis of the American Right

For those of you who either find it too painful to trawl through the propaganda of the American Right or who might not feel it warrants investigation I came across a link to a blogger who has posted an analysis of the Israeli strikes on the two Lebanese ambulances that happened on the night of the 23rd July.

http://www.zombietime.com/fraud/ambulance/

This pituary retard seems to think that the shrapnel-riddled shell of the ambulance and the injuries to six ambulance workers and three civilians - an 11-year-old boy, an elderly woman and a man, one of whom lost a leg in the incident . . . . . was a hoax.

Yes, you have read that correctly. A HOAX.

And not only has this appallingly twisted piece of propaganda been propagated freely across the internet by similarly fascistic websites and bloggers but it is obviously an absurdly flawed piece of analysis. But these people don't seem (or want) to care. Amongst the vitriol and messages of hatred and death directed at the Islamic religion, the UN, Europe and anyone elese who might possibly have ever hinted at not being quite in total agreement with everything America has ever done ever I find smug, congratulatory messages about how clever they all are not to have been duped by this piece of liberal, leftie, tree-hugging communist propaganda. (Sorry for the long sentences but I am "on one").

In response to this I drafted an email to the author of the analysis, one Zombie, which was bounced back to me several times and which I eventually despaired of ever dispatching successfully. Therefore I have chosen to post it here inthe hope that someone will read it, understand the position and possibly spread a message of resistance to this absurd and polemic piece of internet reporting.

"Sir,

I started reading you're analysis of the Ambulance strike as a matter of perverse curiosity to see exactly how any educated, rational individual could go about criticising an organisation as well respected as the ICRC and I was not disappointed.

My objections to your analysis are:

1: You're insistence that the damage to the ambulance is not consistent with a "missile" strike.
- The damage to the ambulance is relatively minor and is a long way from the total destruction that you have showed in your shots of other vehicles destroyed by Israeli missiles. This is because the ambulance was probably not hit by a hellfire or other, similar anti-armour missile. Instead the damage indicates that the ambulance was struck by either a small, unguided rocket, such as the M261 2.75" rocket launcher or a cannon shell fired from the M230 30mm cannon- both of which are common to US Apache gunships and, I presume, Israeli ones. Such weapons are preferred against "soft" targets such as civilian vehicles and there is no reason for a helicopter pilot to 'waste' a hellfire missile on an ambulance.

2: You're statement that the hole in the roof of the ambulance was the result of removal of an air vent and not an explosion.
- I do not deny that there was likely an air vent fitted in the roof, however as you point out, there are numerous other holes, tears and patches of paint that have been stripped off (your "white patches" are, in fact, areas of bare metal that have been stripped of paint). So why the multiple shrapnel holes, the buckling of the roof and the internal destruction? It is clear that an explosion has caused this damage and probably blown away the air vent- you can see that the screws that used to hold it in place have been torn away with considerable force and the pitting and tearing of the roof is consistent with a single explosion.

3: You're allegation that the "rust" on the roof is not compatible with a recent event causing the damage.
- Rust can occur within a matter of days and, indeed, in close proximity to the sea (you can clearly see the beach less than a couple of hundred metres away in the background of one picture) salt spray carried by the wind will aid this process and allow it to occur almost overnight.

4: You allege that the damage is inconsistent with an internal explosion.
- This is because, as an amateur such a s myself can clearly see, the explosion occurred outside the ambulance. The pitting on the roof and the way that metal edges are folded in indicates this to be the case. M261 2.75" rockets can be equipped with airburst fuses allowing them to explode prior to contact with a target. The man who lost his leg was most likely hit by a piece of shrapnel and not the rocket itself, which disintegrates upon detonation.

5: Your state that there is no evidence of fire in the ambulance but the injured ambulance man reported seeing fire.
- You try and accurately recall details after being hit by a high explosive device, muppet! Things get lost in translation too, there may have been a bloody great flash and a bang but no actual flames, however this may not translate accurately.

Honestly, I could go on poking enormous holes in your aburd analysis but I doubt I will achieve anything by it. I can't believe you have the gall to criticise not only people who venture into combat zones inorder to provide aid to the wounded but also the International Committee for the Red Cross- the guardians of the Geneva Convention and an organisation of outstanding moral stature. Your criticisms amount to the most disgraceful conspiracy theorism. Your allegations that the press were duped is no more respectable as you conveniently ignore the realities of wartime reporting and the lack of motivation for any humanitarian worker to exaggerate their position.

You should be ashamed.

I also posted some comments on the Right-Wing blog neo-neocon which may amuse anyone with a passion for humanism and a desire to live life on a platform of logic, rationality and equality.

http://www.haloscan.com/comments/neoneocon/115686392303436193/

For all you neo-con Bush supporters out there . . . .

I have just had the privilege of some creep threatening to "bomb my straw hut"! This is the exact sort of comment I expect from ignorant reactionary bigots such as followers of the above camps. Here is the dialogue in full, the choicest comments follow:

"One day the world will get together and deal with you." - sounds like another arab street threat coming from peasants waving their arms in the air and burning American flags. Go burn a McDonalds in your neighborhood owned by your fellow countrymen - better yet, blow some more of yourselves up because they are Shia, or Sunni, then do some honor killings or stone some women for talking to a non-family member male and keep your honor intact. Do yourself a favor, Concerned, go cut the clitoris off your daughters before they shame you. The sooner the UN is deemed an enemy to Western interests, the better and the sooner Westerners regard civilians in muslim lands as nothing but assets of terrorism and direct contributors and enablers of islamofacism, the sooner we can carpet bomb them. After you guard your family honor, Concerned, by doing what I suggested, build a deep, strong bunker because we are coming for you and your kind. It ain't over until the fat lady drops napalm on you and your progeny, leaving lots of crispy critters. Now that is not a veiled threat, Concerned, it is a pending reality for you and your kind, so, as Bush once said, bring it on while you can."

"Scary, you must be a clerk in some government office in some 3rd world nation. No doubt your whole extended family, probably the whole darn clan, is bragging about your status. Got that 4th wife yet?? The first in the clan to have a computer too I bet! The smart money behind Western interests has known for many, many years that the UN is nothing but a pack of dirty 3rd world beggars out to hustle money from the West and rich arabs, Scary. Where ya' been, lad? Please don't bring that UN tripe to places like this - it only makes guys like me want to bomb your straw hut. We all know the only practical solution here is to put a hefty bounty on UN ears, or scalps. Well? Why shouldn't I talk like this to a jackass like scary?? Huh? Sheesh! What gall this character has telling us the West needs to heed the UN."

So here you see the sort of opinion that drives the American Right. We have outright racism, almost psychotic rhetoric along the lines of "the UN is the driving force behind Al Qaeda today" and you have incredibly personal attacks upon my character without a hint of justification. I thought that I had already encountered extremes of opinion from the likes of Imp and Gambit on the environment site forum, but I now realise that they are virtual moderates in the world of internet forums and blogs. Some people might be offended by this sort of post but my opinion is that these are the exact sort of people who need to be faced up to. The Ann Coulters of this world are wilfully ignorant of the values that have brought us to the peak of civilisation that we currently inhabit and they need to made to acknowledge this.

the harsh realities of political debate on the internet

I spend a fair amount of time on this forum debating environmental issues such as the pros and cons of a new generation of nuclear power stations for the UK and similarly tree-hugging subjects. Since the start of the Lebanese genocide and actually for several months before that too, I have been carrying on a bit of a political and sociological sparring game on the forum too. Recently, however, certain parties have started to cover each others backs when I accuse them of fascism, supporting genocide and generally being a bunch of Nazis. Now, this might sound a little bit provocative and I imagine when you're reading this you're thinking "this tit is a bit of a freakin' lefty, liberal hippy dope-fiend". Well you're wrong. I am simply supporting the values that have got our wonderful civilisation where it is today and trying to explain to these inbred degenerate morons (hi Imp!) that there can be no justification for genocide, torture, an apartheid-state, extraordinary rendition, Guantanamo Bay, invasions of sovereign states, political corruption and manipulation of voters through fear and propaganda, etc.etc.etc.

I was appalled by the sudden realisation that in this day and age, people are actually willing to stand up out of their comfy armchairs in front of Fox News with their Western values, their SUV out on the driveway and their secure, well-paid jobs in a multinational company and open their mouths to defend the establishments and the administrations which advocate such behaviour as a form of government. This is the worst form of brainwashed ignorance and its proponents really ought to walk a few miles in the shoes of an Afghani or a Sudanese refugee before opening their mouths to propose plunging yet more people into the mire of constant terror.

NB
I must confess to being rather amused to have the term "punk" thrown at me as if it were some derogatory term. Have these peasants never heard of The Sex Pistols?

Concentrating Solar Power gives me the horn

I'm afraid to say it really does . . . .(!) Honestly- this is what the world has been waiting for! Its, like, totally renewable, totally free, totally doable, proven technology. Moreso because it has a foolproof solution to one of the most commonly raised objections to renewables- their inability to provide baseload supply. Basically, IT ROCKS!

Don't take my word for it- read these goddamn links and write to your MP and your MEP tell your neighbours (I did!) (-Yes. I got funny looks.) Tell your Mum (again, I did- she likes it), tell your fellow employees/business people/civil servants/unemployed people. SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



The only concern I have is that, although this surely answers the question: "What do we do when the nasty black goo runs out?" . . .it doesn't propose a solution to the political climate that results from Europe's reliance upon imported energy. I can't see that many of the nations targeted for CSP plants will deal any better with the billions of pounds of funding on offer than those nations that currently benefit from enormous hydrocarbon reserves. Notable examples of authoritarian or otherwise dysfunctional regimes include Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran, Lybia, Iraq, Nigeria, etc. etc.

Its wonderful to have a proven response to the whole "where do we get the baseload supply from if we get rid of all the nukes and hydrocarbon-fired power stations?" I've discussed this with a couple of (pro-nuke) people on the website who seem to be pretty well read on the practicalities of large-scale generation and they can't seem to grasp the fact that weather patterns and tidal patterns and wave patterns are all different! These people can pour out figures about costs per kilowatt hour of a modern nuclear facility but if you ask them whether you can generate energy constantly from renewables they will laugh in your face. This is why we have a barely established renewable industry in the UK whilst countries such as Austria and Denmark push out a healthy fraction of their entire output from renewables and have been doing for years!

The inspiration for this rant is my appreciation that the wind blows and the waves wash and the sun shines and the tides stream at different times to each other. Although you can't generate power from solar at night or from wind and waves when there isn't any, we are talking about a whole country here! For funk's sake! Any retard who watches the weather will be able to tell you that while its cloudy in Devon (and it often is) it may well be sunny in Anglia (and it often isn't there either, but you get the point). At the same time when there's no waves in North Wales there may well be a gale blowing in The Solent and wind and waves for all to share! The technology described above shows that long distance transport of significant quantities of energy is possible without excessive loss and the changing weather patterns of our nation and our continent have the potential to keep our lights lit for ever.

USEPA rocks!

Back to the exclamation marks on my titles again, but this time with genuine justification for I have discovered the idiot's guide to conducting LC50s and here it is you lucky people!

http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/WET/disk2/atx.pdf

This document contains everything you need to assess and calculate LC50s from the physico-chemical characteristics that need to be monitored to the number of organisms required for each test to a detailed explanation of how to go about analysing your data.

Real PunkScience!

POW!

US alone next to Israel

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13848003/

Yeah, telling it like it is!

Plenty more here: http://antiwar.com/


On a completely different subject, does anyone here know how to do an LC50?? I'm trying to work out how to get an LC50 for dissolved copper but finding all sorts of rubbish popping up in my way such as how many organisms to use, what and how many concentrations to use. Damn it this is a nightmare? Even when I've got answers to these questions more and more queue up for my attention; how do I define "death" of my little worms? (they die from the head back so even if they're still moving I've got to determine whether the head is still alive). Graaaaaaararararahahahhhhhhgh !!!!!!

I will rock this out proper style and then ;eave a record of my decisions for posterity to laugh at. Bah!

Why this heralds the end of aggression for Israel and the US

Excellent piece of analysis about why Israel can't hope to win its monstrous offensive against Lebanon and why it heralds the end for the "strength of arms approach" that is patently so dear to the hearts of many neo con Israelis and yanks.

http://www.opendemocracy.net/themes/article.jsp?id=2&articleId=3808#

Oh the fools, when will they realise that only by embracing Islamic culture can we hope to moderate its extremes. I can't see how radical Islam can survive when faced with the wonders of Western social democracy. Even now the 2nd generation of immigrants are growing up in the UK speaking better English than many white kids, better mannered, better educated, rejecting the traditional ways and embracing a more moderate, less authoritarian kind of Islam. Generally living in peace with the rest of us.

I love it. George W Bush obvously fears it.

Bush planned to bomb Al Jazeera

Now, to a certain fraction of the population, there might seem to be some justification for this idea. The TV channel that routinely broadcasts Bin Laden's propaganda, that shows video of Western hostages being beheaded- aren' they deserving of some of GW's 'rough justice'?

Well, if you look beyond the superficial, the answer is unequivocably "NO!" Al Jazeera is one of the forces of lightness and good in the world at the moment. In an era where every Arab death in the absurdly titled "War on Terror" draws more recruits to radical Islam, Al Jazeera transmits not only those Arab deaths, but also the analysis and background to every piece of diplomacy, aggression and charity that occurs across the Middle East.

Some links for you interested parties, starting with some "Wiki-love":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-schmeltzer/neocons-floated-idea-of-b_b_11254.html
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,98621,00.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera_bombing_memo

Why do all my titles end in question marks? (!)

Well, having just finished taking egg samples from my remaining worms I am now settling down to enjoy a good film and some spicy noodles. Yumm!

Small disaster on Monday when a 2 litre bottle of crude oil I'd just decanted decided to shatter on the desk top due to the warming oil pressurising the bottle. Very steep learning curve on that one. I'm still finding brown smears on my hands when I pick stuff up that has still got oil on it. Bleuh.

Oh, well. Noodles always cheer me up.

POW!

Tony Blair is such a donkey!

I can't believe that he comes out with this stuff. Its like he's actually trying to incite people to murder us in our beds. The man is a delusional idiot and needs to be removed from any position of responsibility.

Oh, the savage irony

Johann gives us the bitter truth about the Israeli offensive.

Well, hello!

So, lets see how many superstitious monkeys we can offend today. I think I'll start with a link to a Johann Hari article.

That should do for my starting shots in the war against irrationality.

PS