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You are here: Home / 2004 / Archives for April 2004

Archives for April 2004

UMass President Bodyslams Student Author over Tillman Piece

by Bryan Strawser · Apr 30, 2004

Yesterday’s Boston Globe reports on this shit from the left:

A college newspaper columnist who wrote that NFL player and Army Ranger Pat Tillman “got what was coming to him” when he was killed in Afghanistan triggered a furor at the University of Massachusetts yesterday, drawing hundreds of angry responses from across the country and a scathing statement from Jack M. Wilson, new president of the University of Massachusetts.

Writing in the UMass-Amherst Daily Collegian, graduate student Rene Gonzalez, called Tillman “a `GI Joe’ guy who got what was coming to him.”

Tillman, who gave up a $3.6 million contract with the Arizona Cardinals to enlist in the Army after Sept. 11, was killed in a firefight in eastern Afghanistan last week.

“That was not heroism; it was prophetic idiocy,” Gonzalez wrote. His piece, which ran on Wednesday, was paired with a second column praising Tillman’s heroism.

[…]

The controversy roused Wilson, named president of the UMass system a month ago. Wilson issued a statement yesterday recognizing Gonzalez’s right to free speech, but called his comments “a disgusting, arrogant, and intellectually immature attack on a human being who died in service to his country.”

Wilson called on Gonzalez to apologize to Tillman’s family and friends. Gonzalez did not reply to phone and e-mail messages yesterday.

Only in my state…

Filed Under: Massachusetts, Military

A Room with a View

by Bryan Strawser · Apr 30, 2004

I awoke this morning to the scent of salt and this view from the terrace outside of the room:


roomviewjpg

6:45am. What a way to wake up…..

Filed Under: Family

Christensted “Jump-Up”

by Bryan Strawser · Apr 30, 2004

Traveled from the eastern side of St. Croix this evening into Christensted (one of only two larger towns here) for “Jump-Up” which is a unique street festival consisting of mainly steel drum bands and alot of drinking.

When in Rome, do as the Romans… yeah, so I had many chilled (and frozen) adult beverages.

Quite tasty let me tell you.

The steel drum band below was the largest and the most entertaining – they attracted quite the crowd:


steeldrums

This was the first place I’ve ever been to where one could walk around and drink alcohol in the streets – or even get it made on the street, as we saw with this fellow who was running a full service bar out of the back end of his pickup. Note the presence of the current brother-in-law prospect standing against the truck.


steeldrums

Small world, by the way, as the “bartender” of this particular establishment was from Connecticut – noted by his t-shirt.

After an afternoon of this, returned to the resort and had a few more fine frozen drinks at the oceanside bar. Now I sit on my terrace overlooking the ocean with a large glass of water (to avoid the hangover you see) and ponder the day’s events.

Only nine more nights of this bliss….

Filed Under: Family

Bluntness

by Bryan Strawser · Apr 30, 2004

This is why I love Donald Rumsfeld – from today’s press stakeout on Capitol Hill following Rumsfeld’s testimony:


Q: What about the operations [Inaudible] outside of [Inaudible] ?

RUMSFELD: What’s going on is some terrorists and regime remnants have been attacking our forces and our forces have been going in and killing them.

It doesn’t get any more direct than that.

Filed Under: Military

New Blogging Perch

by Bryan Strawser · Apr 30, 2004

Life is rough here on St. Croix – I blogged from this location yesterday:


New Blogging Perch

Filed Under: Blogging

Island Life

by Bryan Strawser · Apr 30, 2004

Peace is what I see sitting on the beach with a fine book, alot of fun, a bit of a breeze, no sounds other than the crashing waves, while I make love to a bottle of ten year old Talisker.

Filed Under: General

Good Morning from St. Croix

by Bryan Strawser · Apr 30, 2004

Ahhhh…..

Eight hours of sleep – a night at the bar down on the ocean, some weblogging from the terrace last night – off to breakfast.

Pictures forthcoming.

Filed Under: Family

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