"Threats" to the U.S. Nazy

UPDATE: As of Jan 15, it appears that the Associated Press and National Public Radio have now covered this story. But no mention in other mainstream U.S. media as far as I can tell.

Last week we've heard the news on the "aggressive" incident between Iranian boats and U.S. naval vessels (including a destroyer) in the Strait of Hormuz. During the close encounter, the U.S. personnel heard a threat on the radio: "I am coming to you. You will explode in a few minutes." The Bush administration has been utilizing this for all they can to trump up the threat of Iran.

Then I hear on Harry Shearer's radio program from Sunday that retired Navy officers believe the voice to be from a prankster in the area known as the "Filipino Monkey." Apparently, it is a fairly common practice worldwide, and particularly in the crowded Strait of Hormuz, for pranksters to interrupt other radio transmissions with threats and abuse. The self-named "Filipino Monkey" is particularly notorious and well known in the area.

A Google search doesn't come up with any mainstream media coverage of this important update, which was originally printed by the Navy Times. The highest profile media report comes from the U.K.'s The Guardian, which on Monday wrote:

Rick Hoffman, a retired captain, told the paper: "For 25 years, there's been this mythical guy out there who, hour after hour, shouts obscenities and threats. He used to go all night long. The guy is crazy.

"Could it have been a spurious transmission? Absolutely."

An unnamed civilian mariner told the Navy Times: "They come on and say Filipino Monkey in a strange voice. You're standing watch on bridge and all of a sudden it comes over the radio. It's been a joke out there for years."

The Guardian further notes that on the dubbed-over video released by the U.S. Navy "a strange voice, in English, can be heard saying "I am coming to you. You will explode in a few minutes." The voice sounds different from one heard earlier in the recording and there is no background noise that would usually be picked up from a speedboat radio." Emphasis added.

One would think that naval personnel would come to the conclusion that the transmission probably came from a prankster. Maybe not in the heat of the moment, though the different voice and lack of background noise seems suspicious. When presented with this theory, the Navy's response has been to shrug and say "we don't know where it came from." It seems clear that this is another incident of the Bush administration flat out lying and willfully ignoring inconvenient facts. And like a repeat of 2003, the mainstream media seems to be going along for the ride. One wonders why both the U.S. government and media have so little credibility...

Mr. Lott retires

Former Republican Senate majority and minority leader, and currently number 2 in the Senate GOP caucus, announced today his retirement. It is effective by the end of the year.

Much has been made of the comments five years ago at Strom Thurmond's birthday that got him booted from the leadership by his former and eventual friends George Bush and Bill Frist.

What I think is more noteworthy is Lott's past in the Clinton impeachment mess and his ties to white supremacist groups throughout his career, into the 1990s. In 1998, there was a lot of attention paid to his ties to the Council of Conservative Citizens, which has been described by some as a successor to the KKK or also the "uptown KKK." Unfortunately, most of the media and public's attention was on Bill Clinton's personal flaws for the entire year.

The Southern Poverty Law Center documented Lott's and other Republican ties to the CCC in 1999. FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting) documented Lott's career in race relations in 2006 when he returned to the Republican leadership.

Lott has reportedly been frustrated with the Bush administration's continuing boggling of the Katrina aftermath. (He lost his own home on the Gulf Coast.) But he claims they're all good friends and he is departing 1 year into his 6 year term because it is simply time.