Random News & Views Roundup

- Wanker of the Day: John Derbyshire. Runner-up (in a close race): Nathaniel Blake.

- What is going on with N Korea's nuclear reactor?

- Obvious headline of the day: Stressed army makes U.S. vulnerable: retired general

- General Peter Pace (sockpuppet brigade) spouts talking points:

But Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the military has the ability to take on a major new conflict, despite the strain of Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I try to speak very precisely publicly about this because the worst thing you can do is you have some country sitting out there miscalculating the enormous residual capacity of the United States military and think that they can do something because we are currently tied up," Pace told reporters in Washington.

"We are focused on Iraq. We are focused on Afghanistan. We do have a lot of our assets there. But we do have enormous residual capacity that's available to the nation," he said.

Shorter Pace: Iran, here we come.

- Bush at the Va Tech convocation on Tuesday:

As the Scriptures tell us, "Don't be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

"Good". Like war, for example.

- "No kidding!" headline of the day: 'Rampage may not influence '08 presidential race'. It's all lip-flapping anyway. Does anyone really think their gun laws will change?

- The tories are feeling the heat over their attempts to screw with Canada's gun registry in the meantime.

- A Canadian veteran comes to terms with his past. (All the best to you Dave and thank you for that courageous post.)

- Juan Cole: Iraq Has Two Virginia Techs Every Day

- Also, "about 70% of primary school students in a Baghdad neighborhood suffer symptoms of trauma-related stress such as bed-wetting or stuttering, according to a survey by the Iraqi Ministry of Health." And with the constant barrage of violence they continue to witness, there will no doubt be many more long-lasting symptoms to come.

- Meanwhile, the UNHCR is calling on the west to help Iraq's 4 million refugees. As I wrote elsewhere yesterday, the refugee situation in Iraq is akin to the horrendous coverage we saw of stranded hurricane Katrina victims in NOLA - except that these refugees have been stuck in their virtual convention center begging for help for years. The BBC has 4 Iraq refugee stories.

- Dennis Kucinich intends to file articles of impeachment against Cheney. Go Dennis!

- It's the 25th anniversary of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Chretien shared his thoughts with CTV's Mike Duffy on Tuesday. Meanwhile, in a totally unsurprising move: "The current Conservative government has no plans to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Charter." Yes, that's Canada's "new" government for you. Rights? Freedoms? Eh?
 

General Pace Calls Homosexuality 'Immoral'

Via the Chicago Tribune:

Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday that he supports the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" ban on gays serving in the military because homosexual acts "are immoral," akin to a member of the armed forces conducting an adulterous affair with the spouse of another service member.

Responding to a question about a Clinton-era policy that is coming under renewed scrutiny amid fears of future U.S. troop shortages, Pace said the Pentagon should not "condone" immoral behavior by allowing gay soldiers to serve openly. He said his views were based on his personal "upbringing," in which he was taught that certain types of conduct are immoral.

"I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts," Pace said in a wide-ranging discussion with Tribune editors and reporters in Chicago. "I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral in any way.

You want to know what's really "immoral", General?

War is immoral.
Torturing people is immoral.
Hiding detainees in secret prisons is immoral.
Extraordinary renditions are immoral.
Secret military tribunals are immoral.
Indefinite detention is immoral.
Blood for oil is immoral.
Sacrificing more troops in two lost wars is immoral.
Propping up Rumsfeld, as you did for so long, is immoral.
Sexual abuse in the military is immoral.
Housing sick soldiers in filth is immoral.
Sending sick soldiers back into combat is immoral.
Ignoring homeless veterans is immoral.
Taking money from education programs to keep funding the wars is immoral.
Bush is immoral.
Cheney is immoral.
Rove is immoral.
The entire administration is immoral.
The neocons are immoral.
PNAC is immoral.
The Bush Doctrine is immoral.
Putting the costs of these wars on the backs of your grandchildren is immoral.
The reputation of the United States is immoral.
Bullying other countries with military threats is immoral.
The deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis are immoral.
The deaths of 3,195 troops in Iraq in an illegal war for oil is immoral.
The displacement of millions of people is immoral.
Rape and murder by US troops is immoral.
Killing civilians is immoral.
The fact that children still live in fear for their lives in Iraq is immoral.

That's what's "immoral", Pace.

Do I need to go on?

Did those things come up in your "upbringing", General? What exactly did you learn about morality? Not much, it appears.