Island Dave's View

I've been asked to post the Claps, Slaps, and Middle Finger seperately from the CEM. I wish to keep the current CEM format, but to compromise, I'll cross-post each CS&MF on IDV from now on. Enjoy!

(from the Current Events Monitor)

CLAPS, SLAPS, AND THE MIDDLE FINGER

Claps to Clifton James for saving the life of a cable employee caught in power lines. James, shoed only in flip-flops ran from his sister's apartment to find the worker entangled in live power lines and in severe pain. The rescuer jumped into the cable van and quickly reversed it out of the power lines. Unaware he could also have been electrocuted, James likely saved the worker who suffered burns across much of his chest. Without panicking, Clifton proved once again that flip-flops are indeed a good thing...:)

Slaps to the Pentagon for treating Halliburton the way the U.N. is treating Sudan. By pointing fingers and threatening the war profiteers over accounting fraud, the Pentagon continues to muddle through a disastrous experiment in military privatization. From private-guarded prisons to privatized security for Iraqi officials, the incorporation of our military system provides more than amble opportunities for abuse. Some is physical abuse, as in Abu Ghraib. Halliburton does it the other way. They financially sodomize our bank accounts, then plead ignorance of the activities. We know the dog didn't eat their accounting homework; he was too busy biting prisoners at Abu Ghraib.

My Middle Finger goes preemptively to U.S. military planners for threatening a massive assault on Najaf. While the killing of U.S. soldiers must stop, an all-out invasion of the city will kill thousands of innocent civilians and likely tens if not hundreds of our own troops. Instead of forcing this issue, we should back off and let Najaf calm down for a bit. Get out of the area, but keep it in containment, allowing humanitarian missions to proceed. The only way to disarm the situation is through kindness and compassion, not murder and destruction. An assault on Najaf will only embolden the simmering fighters in other cities in Iraq, as well as in other Muslim nations. Planners must back off, relax, and reconsider options at this point as the interim government begins to move forward. U.S. assaults will only increase additional violence.