Spy vs. Blog

Check the traffic statistics for any blog or site and you'll see plenty of curious things. Every site has it's share of mysterious daily visitors who never seem to comment. Every site gets visits from far away or obscure places. Every site has its share of confounding searches displaying downright odd tastes in everything from sex to coffee. It's even odder to know your blog actually touches on some of the weirder topics.

Some of my mostly puzzling visitors are with the US government. I had a spate of visits from the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms last year. Ditto for visits from the IRS. I get the occasional drive by from the Commerce Department and even a single visit from some poor troll in the basement of the White House. With all the reports of wiretapping and clandestine blog visiting, it's easy to see a conspiracy behind every IP address, but visits from a series of US Navy addresses are a bit worrying.

And the Hits Just Keep on Comin'

For approximately 6 months last year - around the time when news surfaced about governmental blog tracking - I began to get daily visits from:

• gate4-sandiego.nmci.navy.mil (138.163.0.44)


• gate2-sandiego.nmci.navy.mil (138.163.0.42)


• gate5-sandiego.nmci.navy.mil (138.163.0.37)


• gate6-sandiego.nmci.navy.mil (138.163.0.38)


• gate1-sandiego.nmci.navy.mil (138.163.0.41)


• gate3-sandiego.nmci.navy.mil (138.163.0.43)


• gate8-sandiego.nmci.navy.mil (138.163.0.36)

I also got a few visits from similar "nmci" addresses with "gates" labeled Norfolk. The visits eventually tapered off, but they're still a regular occurrence.

There were several things that made these addresses stand out.

Dateline: San Diego, NY

First, even though the server names indicated San Diego or Norfolk, the server locations were in New York. Sometimes, I also got visits from 3 or more of the gates at the same time on the same day and the number of past page loads and visits from each one (even now) are identical whether there is a record of them in my site logs or not.

Curious about the "nmci" identification, I found that it stands for the Navy Marine Corps Intranet, an Intranet developed by global contractor EDS to provide, "secure, universal access to integrated voice, video, and data communications." According to the EDS, NMCI will eventually "link more than 400,000 workstations and laptops for 500,000 Navy and Marine Corps users across the continental United States, Hawaii, Cuba, Guam, Japan, and Puerto Rico."

I've tried to log on to NMCI, but as you might expect, I'm not authorized. I'd think a typical sailor or marine would have little or no reason to visit my blog - much less know of its existence.

Nefarious Plots

Now, I'm not alleging some nefarious plot. There may be some valid reason for my sudden popularity with sailors and Marines - perhaps they love the same witty punditry that so entranced the Sergeant-at-Arms and the White House troll - but it still makes one wonder. Perhaps the most troublesome thing about this issue is this. We now live in a county where the possibly of government plots is more than just the thought of a crazed conspiracy nut.

And that gives me the willies.

Labels: bloggers, media, society, travel

Truth Told by Omnipotent Poobah, Thursday, May 24, 2007

Talk...Talk...Talk

As soon as the wrenching pain of Blacksburg settles into a dull ache, there'll be plenty of hand-wringing over the largest shooting spree in America's history. In a national expression of grief-stricken rubbernecking we'll discuss gun control, security procedures, and the effect of violence in our culture. There'll probably even be a television movie and book by May.

It's not that these discussions aren't important. They're a way to scrub away a bit of the muck splashed upon all of us as we realize humans - despite what we like to think - are a curious, deeply-flawed breed. Despite all our good intentions and attempts to balance the needs and rights of the few against those of the many, someone comes along who simply refuses to be, well, civilized.

Dangerously Unhinged

They might be dangerously psychotic or wound a bit too tight to cope with a marriage breakup or personal slight. Despite the fact I'm not a religious man, I'd say some are just pure evil. Shootings like the one at Virginia Tech are in a league of their own. The perpetrator wasn't some young, stupid punk who shot a clerk while holding up a Seven-Eleven. The perpetrators of shooting sprees are dangerously unhinged.

I've had plenty of experience dealing with the deeply psychotic and I have news for you - you can't stop them from doing what they're determined to do. Gun registration might slow a young punk down because he's not that determined anyway. If he was, he wouldn't be out robbing Seven-Elevens for $23 and a pack of Marlboro Lights. A waiting period might cool off a cuckolded spouse, but if he crosses the line from merely scorned spouse to psychotic killer, quick access to a gun matters little.

He's Not Just Your Bus Stop Raver

Psychotic people aren't always like the raving homeless guy at the bus stop. Sometimes, they're very difficult to detect. One moment they appear perfectly in control. The next, they're behind closed doors and alone with inner monsters who start making bloody plans and videotaping bizarre farewell speeches. Shooting spree psychotics are cunning and more determined than a Baghdad suicide bomber and that lethal combination makes them virtually unstoppable.

Strict gun control - even outright gun bans - won't slow them down. They can easily make bombs out of household chemicals or mow down people with their PT Cruiser. They're not choosy about method, only cunning about their opportunities. You can install metal detectors and they'll sneak in through a window. You can ban all violence on television, but they aren't swayed a bit by it. Their inner demons are calling the shots and it doesn't matter is the psychotic watches CSI or Sesame Street - the demons live by their rules alone.

Talk...Talk...Talk

Soon it'll be time for the pundits to crawl onto the talk shows, each convinced their idea is the end all, be all. There'll be more screaming than a Baghdad funeral, but the only change will be the hardening of us all as we try to escape the incessant 24x7 blather. There'll be little real change because there is little we can really do about it.

Except talk.

Or, be confused about why humans - however damaged - can do such things.

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Labels: media, society

Truth Told by Omnipotent Poobah, Monday, April 16, 2007

The Inevitable Imus Post

Omnipotent Mea Culpa: There were some problems with the information I supplied in Sunday's post about energy policy. To get the lowdown and my apologies, stop by this post at Bring It On. Now, on to today's post.

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Don Imus is another in a long line of knot headed celebrities who've put their own well-paid backsides in a sling. They exercised their First Amendment rights, while completely ignoring the accompanying responsibility to refrain from saying something terminally stupid.

Critics of the I-Man - where "I" apparently stands for "Idiot" - have every right to be incensed and call for his head. What he said was rude and boorish and there is no excuse for a national radio personality not to know that, especially when he's said similarly distasteful things before.

A Fit Punishment

Although he's apologized profusely, the offended haven't accepted. In response, MSNBC cast him adrift altogether and CBS radio suspended him for two weeks. Pressure on advertisers may soon cause CBS to revisit that decision and Imus might find himself back on his ranch without a place to hang his ridiculous cowboy hat (Bush reference not intended).

Does the punishment fit the crime?

That's a subjective call based on how offended you are, Imus's recidivism problems, and how you view race issues. There is no single "right" punishment, only one the protesters, his advertisers, and employers hash out in the national arena. If it's clear the market will shun him, CBS will make the hard call. At a certain level, it's like a racial dispute incident at any company. Only the stakes are higher. Do you fire a nimrod over their indiscretions or work out some sort of monitoring process to evaluate the sincerity of their apologies? At the end of the day the question is, "is it more expensive to give them another chance, or less expensive to cut them loose."

Al and Jesse Leading the Charge

Imus ultimately deserves what he gets. He was monumentally stupid and I can't fault those offended. However, I'd prefer that someone other than Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson lead the charge.

Sharpton burst onto the national scene by vociferously calling for white heads over the claims of Tawana Brawley - a 15-year old black woman who charged she was raped by six white men. After months of framing it as a race issue, a Grand Jury found no evidence of the crime. In view of his current righteousness, Sharpton was conspicuously silent about the erroneous shit-storm he stirred up. His apology wasn't accepted, because he never offered one.

Sharpton and Jackson both jumped on the Duke lacrosse player bandwagon, convicting the accused white men in public before the court did it's job. Again, after months of jawing about racism, the case was dropped Wednesday after large holes appeared in the accuser's story. However, the Duke boys shouldn't expect a mea culpa from either of them any time soon.

Jesse had a moment of racial insensitivity too - one arguably worse than the one Imus brought on himself. In 1984, he referred to Jews as "hymies" and New York as "hymietown" - slurs every bit as repugnant as "nappy-headed hoes". He - like Imus - apologized profusely, but only after claiming it never happened, accusing Jews of being out to get him, and refusing to denounce his ally Louis Farrakhan after he threatened Jews with, "If you harm this brother [Jackson], it will be the last one you harm."

Imus Doesn't Deserve a Pass

To say Imus should get a pass because Sharpton and Jackson displayed similarly oafish behavior isn't right. It also isn't right that whites commit racially charged acts and try to prevaricate themselves free. Nor is it right that people of all colors look away sheepishly when events like these occur.

There will be no lasting progress in healing the country's racial wounds until those throwing the stones look at their own glass houses. Sharpton and Jackson should know that.

After all, they still have jobs preaching what they don't practice and I believe God might have a bone to pick on that score.

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Labels: media, political correctness, society

Truth Told by Omnipotent Poobah, Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Did Katie Bar the Civility?

Until she was anointed America's first solo female network news anchor (how's that for a string of qualifiers), Katie Couric was mostly known for her freakish 10,000 watt smile and hosting cooking sessions on the Today show. CBS executives changed all that when they chose her to replace the disgraced Dan Rather. In hindsight, that wasn't such a good move, not because a woman is incapable of filling Dan's wingtips, but because Couric is a bad fit for the job. The result? CBS currently dwells in the dank basement of TV news ratings - an appropriate punishment for the "crime".

Earlier this week, Katie interviewed John and Elizabeth Edwards about Liz's reconstituted cancer. By most accounts, America overwhelmingly backs the Edwardses' decision to keep running, so the interview forecast called for a light-weight interview designed to trade on the Edwardses' courageous decision. Instead, things went awry and instantly, sweet little Katie became known as a snarling tiger of an interviewer with the morals of Matt Drudge.

"Some People Say..."

Smilin' Kate made the mistake of questioning the Edwardses' judgment to continue their White House run, frequently beginning questions with, "some people say...". Detractors lit up like a Christmas tree (no offense to those who are differently religioned) and accused Katie of moral hypocrisy, especially since she hadn't quit her job during her late husband's terminal fight against cancer.

The detractors' central argument seemed to be that Katie's questions were out of bounds and needlessly invasive to the Edwardses' privacy and scruples. To them, "some people say..." was code for, "you contemptible publicity hounds...". To many talking heads, Couric's use of the vague "some people..." was a cop out that imposed her own moral criteria.

One could reasonably argue the questions were poorly phrased. One could also reasonably argue there may have been too many of them. One could even argue that using the vague "some people" attribution was not as proper as citing actual names. But, none of those shortcomings make the questions inappropriate.

Reporters Ask, You Decide

Reporters ask questions about events of interest. Sometimes the questions are not pretty or are invasive, but those in the public eye voluntarily put themselves in a different category than Joe Schmo - rightly or wrongly. When a reporter asks a question, it's a proxy for Joe Schmo, who doesn't have the opportunity to ask for himself. Clearly, there's interest in this case - as evidenced by the Edwardses' calling a press conference to announce it - and also clearly, "some people" are asking if it was the right decision, even if only privately.

"Most people" supported the Edwardses' decision. They saw it as courageous and didn't take kindly to questions they perceived as antagonistic. In fact, that's a bit of a double standard. In this case, most people applauded the Edwardses', but what about the questions the Big Dick routinely fields about his serious bouts with heart disease. That behavior is acceptable because Cheney has a generally reviled face, unlike the sympathetic one of Elizabeth Edwards. People don't mind joking about Dick's health because he's - the charitable word here - "unsympathetic" in general. The diseases both carry a death sentence eventually, both Edwardses and Cheney are integral players in public life, and both have to deal with the trauma on the public and private levels. Both also had an opportunity to reinforce their courage or shoot themselves in the foot with it. The Edwardses truthfully seem better at it just as Dick seems to suck at it.

Rubbed the Wrong Way

Katie's questions weren't out of bounds, they rubbed people the wrong way. The proof lies in the classy approach the Edwardses took when the dustup unfolded. They thanked Couric for the opportunity to get their story out, not only keep John's bid on track, but also to allow some of that sympathy to rub off on the millions of other Joe and Josephine Schmos who battle cancer anonymously. The Edwardses are courageous to battle towards the White House for dozens of perfectly valid reasons and a few questions from an unskilled interviewer won't change that. They embrace the hand life deals them - both the good and the bad - and cope with it in the way their public and private lives require. Katie didn't take one shred of that dignity away. She asked legitimate questions and the Edwardses answered them.

And, that is how it should be.

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Labels: media, politics

Truth Told by Omnipotent Poobah, Tuesday, March 27, 2007

In Defense of Pop Culture

When under-reported items appear - or more appropriately don't appear - in the media there is an inevitable criticism. Why is the media wasting time covering, say, Jessica Simpson when there are important issues out there to tackle? The point being the media is so busy covering the fluffy, pneumatic singer and her Chicken of the Sea tribulations that reporting resources are being pulled away from the important stuff. The implication is clear - the media is full of incompetent, fluffy ninnies.

I don't think anyone, including the reporters who wrote them, would argue that stories about Paris Hilton's latest sex tape is more important than Iraq. Media outlets carry Paris stories because a certain segment of the population thinks Paris stories are important, or at least entertaining. The same could be said - although rarely as roundly criticized - about sports, comics, recipes, crossword puzzles, and a host of other things that take up space and aren't life or death issues. Simply put, the media reflects all facets of life, even the fluffy parts. In doing so, it portrays the world as the real place it is, fluff and all.

Pop Culture Useless?

For some, the issue is a belief that pop culture is a useless indulgence that degrades serious discourse. But is pop culture truly useless?

Many people do use pop culture to ignore the larger, more painful issues of the day. What happens on their favorite soap or who was caught in the latest nip-slip is central in their world. However, even if pop culture didn't exist, these people would simply find another way to ignore important causes and stories. Such is the way of ostriches.

But a taste for pop culture isn't the exclusive domain of the frivolous and empty-headed. One could argue that the ostrich market brings in money the media uses to fund more expensive stories about major issues. But more importantly, pop culture provides a useful safety valve in our society.

Twins Gone Wild

Even the wonkiest of wonks enjoys the occasional bit of gossip like Twins Gone Wild - Buenos Aries Style. The titillation (pun intended) of pop culture provides a harmless and safe way to look away from the enormous weighty issues of the day for a little relief. Everyone occasionally needs a small break and nothing provides it like Britney's fiasco du jour.

Pop culture also helps people gain a more balanced perspective of the chaos in the world. By indulging our guilty pleasures we realize that death and destruction really aren't the whole of life. We realize that despite the chaos, people sometimes do stupid but funny and trivial things. Each time we see a celebrity slip on a banana peel they've left on the sidewalk themselves, we realize that humans are fallible, quirky, and sometimes dumb - but in less lethal ways than the Celebrity-in-Chief.

It's perfectly legitimate for people to turn a blind eye toward pop culture, but it seems a little disingenuous to me. No one focuses solely on the problems of the world all the time. Pop culture indulgence is simply one way to satisfy everyone's need for a little escapism. Some choose a trip to the opera while others watch Survivor on TV. Complaining about big-boobed starlets is your right, but why isn't saying opera is unbelievably boring just as right? The solution for the chronic complainer is simple and the same one often offered in defense of the First Amendment - ignore the fluff. Turn the TV, radio, computer, movies, et al off. The power of the off-switch is huge...throw it.

It Is Too Important!

Pop culture is important, perhaps in a counter-intuitive way, but important nonetheless. Remember that the next time you shake your head in dismay about that fluffy Madonna story and then flip ahead to see what's up in the sports section.

Escapism is escapism whether it's about Kobe or crotch shots.

Labels: media, pop+culture

Truth Told by Omnipotent Poobah, Tuesday, February 06, 2007