Mark Bossingham

UPDATE – Crazy Noise

FOR ALL the thousands of readers waiting impatiently for October's installment of my brilliant novel, your wait is over. In Chapter 10 Sam takes a little tour of his building, greeting his tenants. His encounter with Chieko, a fetching bar owner is memorable. If the last chapter might have been awarded and R rating for violence, this might generate at least a PG for, uhh, sex. You could, of course, have avoided the month-long delay by clicking on the link on the left and buying a copy. You think it's great so far? You think I, not that old never-was Harold Pinter, should have won the Nobel Prize? Hmm, well, maybe we are going overboard here – there are a lot of deserving writers out there... But compared to Harold, a confirmed drooling idiot, I win.

Headchoper gets the chop

WELL, IT couldn't have happened to a more deserving Islamofascist son-of-a-bitch. AFPN (the only news service you can trust on the war) has the details.
    ... an al Qaeda terrorist cell leader who personally assisted in at least three videotaped beheadings and his assistant were killed during a coalition raid of a suspected safe house in Mosul Oct. 22, officials announced Oct. 26.
    Nashwan Mijhim Muslet, aka Abu Tayir or Abu Zaid, was a senior operational al Qaeda terrorist cell leader in Iraq who operated specifically in the Mosul area, officials said. His cell was known as the primary beheading cell for Abu Talha, the al Qaeda in Iraq "emir of Mosul" who was captured in June 2005, and Abu Zubayr, second in command to Talha and later emir of Mosul after Talha was detained. Zubayr was killed in August 2005.
    The beheadings were filmed to intimidate the local population of Mosul and Iraqi citizens throughout Iraq. Intelligence reports indicate that Nashwan personally helped Zubayr behead three Mosul citizens during one of the videotaped gatherings.
    As a senior operational cell leader, Nashwan was chiefly responsible for attacking Iraqi security and coalition forces. These attacks consisted of engaging convoys with small arms fire, rocket-propelled grenades, IEDs and car bombs. His cell intimidated Mosul citizens through criminal activities, such as roadblocks, extorting money, or kidnapping family members of businessmen or prominent families to ransom them for money.
    Another terrorist, Nahi Achmed Obeid Sultan, aka Abu Hassan, an assistant to Nashwan, was killed during the raid. He was responsible for providing personal security for Nashwan and running the day-to-day operations of the terrorist cell.

Happy elephant

OK, GEORGE, all is forgiven. Let's put Harriet behind us and get back to what we do best: kicking liberal-media-socialist-Democrat-soldier-hating ass. We are in the majority; we won the election. Let's never forget it.

I was wrong, AP still celebrating death

I WAS wrong, the new grim milestone was not 2,100 as I predicted, but 2,001. The "perpetual adolescents" at AP couldn't wait. Don't bother to read the entire article, it's just yesterday's news today. This recycling of the same story for a number of days is a new twist by the Fifth Column. I imagine the theory goes: If we are going to go to all the trouble to write a deceitful editorial, it deserves more play than a legit news article.

Soldiers die, media celebrates

IN A display of grotesque glee, AP has pulled out all the stops to celebrate the 2,000th U.S. death in Iraq. Take a look at this page, the top Middle East stories of the day as chosen by the Fifth Column editors at AP. In seven of 11 stories we see the Media Party breaking out the beer--make that white wine--over the dead body of an unknown American.
    The headlines:
1. U.S. Military Deaths Reach 2,000 In Iraq
2. Iraqi Death Toll Way Higher Than U.S.
3. Quarter Of Dead Are National Guard Troops
4. A Look At Military Deaths In Iraq
5. A Personal Look At Some Who Died In Iraq
6. A Look At U.S. Deaths In Past Wars
7. Grim Milestone For For U.S. Military In Iraq

    Stay tuned for the next Grim Milestone--2,100.

Loser Republicans

THINK OF that as an embarrassed elephant. The spending shenanigans by the Republican-controlled Congress are simply appalling. Just read the Department of Education budget is DOUBLE what it was in 2001. It is becoming increasingly clear to me that the party of Lincoln is in severe danger of being voted out of office in 2006--and it deserves it.
    That the Democrats are no better goes without saying, but regardless, there must be a price to pay for the Republicans senseless spending. This mess could have been avoided if Bush had shown a bit of leadership. When was the last time a president failed to use one of his most powerful tools, the veto? Clinton's two (and only) accomplishments--welfare reform and a balanced budget--only came about because the opposition party controlled the House. It's time for a change. The good old boys in the GOP have no idea what the rank-and-file are thinking. Send 'em back to where they came from.

Ixnay on Harriet Miers

CATCHING UP on a few issues here:
• Harriet Miers was a terrible choice.
• Tom Delay. Nothing there, other than it is slowly becoming a crime to be a Republican.
• Desk Jockey "Secret Agent" Valerie Flame, oops, Plame, should have been fired not outed. The 9/11 Commission report spent 48 pages calling her husband Joe Wilson a liar.
    • It is astonishing Bush hasn't vetoed a single bill during his entire stay in the White House. The overspending by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives is a national disgrace.

Iraq vote depresses media

EARLY IN the AM here in Tokyo. The Iraqi vote has concluded. Haven't turned on the TV. Am I the only one who notices a decided tone of ennui with a hint of depression in print reports of what can only be fairly described as a huge success? A higher percentage of Iraqis--Kurds, Sunnis and Shias--turn out to vote than is usual in a U.S. presdential election and the print media shrugs its narrow shoulders.
    I can only conclude that these "journalists" were hoping and expecting far greater bloodshed. The vultures are disappointed and are sulking. The Media Party's inability to separate its hatred of the "arrogant bastards" in the White House (Chris Matthews) from what is clearly good for the people of Iraq is obviously irrational.

UPDATE – Thanks book buyers!

WELL, WHAT the hell, I return from vacation to discover two of you have bought my exciting, moving, marvelous novel "Crazy Noise." I find it extremely cool to know that there are people out there I have never met who own my book. What do they think? They must have been motivated by something (self-published books are overpriced and this one is no exception--sorry I can't control that) and I seriously doubt it was my GOP-oriented commentary. (The novel has zilch to do with U.S. politics. Read a few chapters and see for yourself. Think love managing to survive determined assaults by a slew of scary-creepy characters.) As for you highly appreciated readers who miraculously managed to find this less-traveled site and actually buy the book, let me know what you think using the handy e-mail link somewhere on the left. Or not. I am forever grateful.

Back!

WE'RE BACK from our vacation to California and Hawaii. Good times we're had by all. We stayed with my sister and her son in Dublin in the Eat Bay. Yes, I'm glad you asked–they are doing well. The day after arrival we attended a friend's wedding. Quite a few writers and editors I worked with in Japan were there. Interesting to catch up.
    The wedding was the highlight, but our "Sideways" trip to Napa was also fun. The Mondavi Vineyard is reported to have the best tour. They let you frolic among the vines eating grapes before tasting the wine. As I don't drink, I sniffed. I didn't smell smoke, I didn't smell citrus, I didn't smell bark or wood: I smelled wine. Who cares. Everybody enjoyed themselves. Next we visited the winery/movie memorabilia amusement park owned by film mogul Francis Ford Coppola. A rich man's toy. I will refrain from any snide remarks because I very much admire Sophia Coppola. To endure all the hits she took for her involvement in "Godfather III" and then create the brilliant "Lost In Translation" was inspirational.
    Finally, we maneged to take in the last game of the regular season at whatever they are now calling PacBell Park. Amusing to watch the conspiracy among the players and umps to see how fast they could get 9 innings in. There wasn't a batter to be found who didn't like the first pitch he saw. Outta there in less than two hours.
    The next week was spent lolling on the beach/by the pool at the Kahala Mandarin in Honolulu. The usual. Me reading, avoiding the sun and swimming a lot. As we never seemed to manage to get off of California time, we actually hit he gym every morning before breakfast. But alas, whatever was gained, was soon lost at dinner.
    Nice to be home.