Iraq progress report

Courtesy of Blackfive.net


They mentioned this article from the New York Times*:
Violence Leaves Young Iraqis Doubting Clerics

*The Snake Advocate doesn't take anything the New York Times seriously, but has to admit that this article had some interesting statements. Take this one for example:

Violent struggle against the United States was easy to romanticize at a distance.

“I used to love Osama bin Laden,” proclaimed a 24-year-old Iraqi college student. She was referring to how she felt before the war took hold in her native Baghdad. The Sept. 11, 2001, strike at American supremacy was satisfying, and the deaths abstract.

Now, the student recites the familiar complaints: Her college has segregated the security checks; guards told her to stop wearing a revealing skirt; she covers her head for safety.

“Now I hate Islam,” she said, sitting in her family’s unadorned living room in central Baghdad. “Al Qaeda and the Mahdi Army are spreading hatred. People are being killed for nothing.”

So I guess the whole rhetoric of that the war on terror is creating more terrorists, isn't really conclusive at all.

Economic Facts and Fallacies

I've been interested in getting this book from Amazon.com for a while, and luckily Mr. Sowell had an interview on NRO discussing it.



Here is the rest of the interview.

The Montage

On Thursday's night I went out to City Center -I gigantic mall in the west bay of Doha, no where near the actual city center - to watch 300. Unfortunately, due to the lack of other name worthy movies playing, all shows were already sold out. So movie night had to be delayed to Friday.

So last night, instead of heading to the mall again, I got the DVD of Rocky Balboa. It was quite the usual good guy does well in the end, but I felt that it had some encoded messages with some value to them. I felt it was a conservatives' movie.

I personally don't think that is quote is directed only to Rocky's son. It is directed to all of those "I need to find someone to blame for my misfortunes out there", and if you read carefully, you might see where it is headed.

Let me tell you something you already know, the world isn't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me or anybody. It is going to hit us as hard as life, but it isn't about as hard you hit, it is about how much you can get hit and keep moving forward. It is about how much you can take and keep moving forward, thats how winning is done. Now if you know what you are worth, go out and get what you're worth, but you've got to be willing to take the hits. And not pointing fingers and say you aren't what you want to be because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that isn't you. You're better than that!

Of course, the movie had its montage. It wasn't as colorful as the one in Rocky III, or as dramatic as the one in Rocky IV. I think it made up for the whole horrible piece crap called Rocky V. If Rambo 4 is as entertaining as this was, I might just forgive 60 year old Sly for trying to import GH.

Let me leave you to the greatest Rocky inspired montage of all time. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zixAjmrmn6g