Blogs of War

It’s a few years delayed but it’s still good news:

Churchill touched off a firestorm in 2005 after an essay surfaced which he wrote shortly after 9/11 likening some victims in the World Trade Center to Adolf Eichmann, who helped carry out the Holocaust.

University officials concluded he could not be fired for his comments because they were protected by the First Amendment, but they launched an investigation into allegations that he fabricated or falsified his research and plagiarized the work of others.

In 2006, a university committee found Churchill guilty of academic misconduct, including plagiarism and a faculty panel recommended he be demoted and suspended for a year without pay. In May, CU President Hank Brown recommended Churchill be fired.

This absolutely brilliant video is the work of Mike Kaminski.

Radical Islamists are using violence and intimidation to silence their critics. It hardly seems like a new development to me, even with the web bit spicing it up, but at least the media is talking about it.

Great content and a great company but I like their disclaimer most of all:

Use of certain of the products and services discussed or reviewed in this Newsletter can lead to personal injury or death.

Now that is one serious newsletter.

There’s a subscription form on Blackwaterusa.com and archives going back to 2004.

A steam explosion doesn’t sound like an event that would freak out a city like New York – but watch the video.

It’s the same old story. We don’t know when it was recorded, if he is still alive, if there are hidden messages in the video, etc.

The media and bloggers on the left are gleefully lumping the rest of the conservative movement in with these wackos. I’ll just say, for the record, that I find their behavior absolutely disgraceful. Christian fundamentalism and intolerance are not prerequisites for conservatism. These people did nothing to advance their religion, nothing to advance conservatism, nothing to advance American ideals. They’re an embarrassment.

Or so he seems to think:

Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) acknowledged Monday night that his number appears on telephone records of the alleged D.C. Madam, Deborah Jeane Palfrey, and issued an apology.

“This was a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible,” Vitter said in a statement released by his office.

“Several years ago, I asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife in confession and marriage counseling,” he added. “Out of respect for my family, I will keep my discussion of the matter there — with God and them. But I certainly offer my deep and sincere apologies to all I have disappointed and let down in any way.”

There’s almost too much hypocrisy to catalog here. Respect for his family – when did that start? Invoking God’s name in attempt to weasel out of a scandal? It’s the oldest, and lamest, trick in the book. I’m less offended by Vitter’s “very serious sin” than I am by this statement.

There is a bright side however. David has to face Wendy Vitter:

“I’m a lot more like Lorena Bobbitt than Hillary,” Wendy Vitter told Newhouse News. “If he does something like that, I’m walking away with one thing, and it’s not alimony, trust me.”

“I think fear is a very good motivating factor in a marriage,” she added. “Don’t put fear down.”

 
Boeing’s communication folks know how to launch a new plane:

The 787 Dreamliner Premiere was broadcast live in nine different languages via satellite to more than 45 countries and webcast via www.newairplane.com. Former NBC news anchor and best-selling author Tom Brokaw served as the master of ceremonies for the event.

Approximately 15,000 people attended the Premiere at the Everett, Washington Stta., final assembly factory. More than 30,000 participated via two-way satellite into the event in Everett from Japan, Italy and locations in the United States. As many as 90 other locations around the globe involving 787 customers, partners and many Boeing employees also chose to download the event live or watch it pre-recorded and host their own viewing event.

In all, the 787 Premiere potentially reached 100 million or more viewers, making it one of the largest corporate TV and Internet broadcasts in history.

The launch site is still up and has loads of multimedia for those of you who missed the live event.