SO Much to Read Today!

But not here at EIP, Gentle Reader. Nope, I'm talking about the Big Story of today, and yesterday... this “new” National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) concerning Iran and its nukes. I’ve seldom seen as many links on a subject, any subject, as memeorandum had on this one yesterday…and today, too. There are SO many people commenting on this latest NIE and they’re smarter than me, for the most part. As for me…I’m totally perplexed. To begin with, we’re only seeing a very small part of the overall document, the Key Judgments (pdf alert). God Only Knows (well, Him and the intelligence community) what the rest of the document says, and more importantly, what information/intelligence was used to prepare the findings…and the sources of this information.

Then there’s the not-inconsequential matter of timing. Everyone acknowledges this document has been around for the better part of a year. Why release it now? Do domestic politics play a part? Are we courting the Iranians in some way? Is this the administration’s way of defusing all the “imminent war” talk vis-à-vis Iran? What the HELL is going on here?

As I said…I’m confused. I’ve read a lot on this subject over the past 24 hours or so and I still don’t know what’s going on.

Oh Hell, let’s do something FUN! Right Wing News has put up its “The 2nd Annual Worst Quotes From The Daily Kos (2007 Edition),” and it’s a doozy. This may or may not be your idea of “fun,” Gentle Reader, but I got a BIG kick out of it. It’s much more entertaining than trying to figure out this NIE stuff. OTOH, the “winner” is just SO damned offensive it’s hard to believe an actual American wrote it. To wit:

1) "But do I still support the individual men and women who have given so much to serve their country? No. I think they’re a bunch of idiots. I also think they’re morally retarded. Because they sign a contract that says they will kill whoever you tell me to kill. And that is morally retarded.

Friends, the most important moral decision a man makes in the course of a day is "Who am I going to kill today?" That’s a decision you should agonize over, dream about, rehearse in your mind for hours, not just leave up to some hare-brained President you didn’t even vote for.

A man’s killing list is a very personal matter. It should be between him and those persistent voices in his head. So to sum up, I don’t like our troops, I don’t like what they’re doing, I don’t like their fat, whining families, and yet, I support them. Thank God I live in a free country. Thank You." -- AWhitneyBrown

I guess I’m just morally retarded. Good to know, that.

My Buddy Ed in Florida sends the following:

I didn't snoop this but it's probably true
July 8, 1947

Many of you will recall that on July 8, 1947, approximately 60 years
ago, witnesses claim that an unidentified flying object (UFO) with five
aliens aboard crashed onto a sheep and cattle ranch just outside Roswell,
New Mexico. This is a well-known incident that many say has long
been covered up by the U.S. Air Force and other Federal Agencies and
organizations. However, what you may NOT know is that in the month of
March 1948, nine months after that historic day, the following people
were born:

Albert A. Gore, Jr. (March 31, 1948)
Hillary Rodham (October 26, 1947)
John F. Kerry (December 11, 1943)
William J. Clinton (August 19, 1946)
Howard Dean (November 14, 1948 [close enough])
Nancy Pelosi (March 26, 1940)
Dianne Feinstein (June 22, 1933)
Charles E. Schumer (November 23, 1950)
Barbara Boxer (November 11, 1940)

See what happens when aliens breed with sheep?

I certainly hope this bit of information clears up a lot of things for you.

OK…the red guys were born outside the stated envelope, so this shoots this theory all to Hell. I didn’t account for multiple UFO visits, though. Anything is possible, and Ed could still conceivably be right. It would clear up a lot.

/snark

All y’all no doubt know there were two important elections in other parts of the world this past Sunday. Important in the sense the electorates in Venezuela and Russia were being asked to sign away what little bits of democratic government remain in those benighted countries. The Venezuelans rejected Chavez’ bid to rule for life; the Russians apparently think Vlad I makes a fine tsar. And we Americans are left scratching our heads. “What in the Hell are those Russkies thinking?”, we ask. Enter the WSJ:

The phenomenon in which masses of people enthusiastically sign away their democratic rights is not new: It happened in Germany and Austria in the 1930s. But it's one that Americans especially have a hard time coming to grips with. The freedom agenda may no longer be in vogue, but most Americans implicitly endorse George Bush's view that "eventually, the call of freedom comes to every mind and every soul." When it doesn't--when, in fact, it is consciously and deliberately spurned--we rationalize it in ways that go only so far in offering a persuasive account of the dark allure of tyranny.

Culture is one rationalization. The word is invoked by everyone from self-described Burkean conservatives to left-wing cultural relativists to explain the supposed failure of some benighted corners of the world to adopt and sustain democratic norms. In this view, Africa and the Arab world are too tribal; the Muslim world makes no distinction between the divine and the mundane; Latin America cannot find a stable middle ground between populism and paternalism; the Chinese are too used to emperors and mandarins, the Russians too used to czars and bureaucrats. And so on.

But cultural determinism often runs afoul of reality: The example of China is counterexampled by Taiwan; Zimbabwe by Botswana; Jeddah by Dubai; President Chávez by President Àlvaro Uribe in neighboring Colombia. Like baseball statistics, culture has a way of explaining a lot until it suddenly explains nothing.

The editorial goes on to speculate that the real reason people sign their rights away is because they want to…it’s human nature. You may agree or disagree, but it’s an interesting concept and one I have no real difficulty believing. I’d love to say I don’t think it can happen here, because we Americans are too used to having our freedoms. But…times are good. It all changes, including the political environment, when times are bad. There are always people waiting in the wings to “make things better” when the bread lines start forming. With any sort of luck we won’t see that sort of thing happen in this country again.

I have my fingers crossed. Now, about Russia…

Cynthia over at Gazing At The Flag put up a post today about a project the VFW has going on… to wit:

Brighten the holidays for wounded heroes at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa, Florida by signing the biggest Christmas Card ever!

And how big IS it, you ask? Well, last year’s card was big enough to hold 20,000 signatures. This year the VFW is going for 25,000. But you have to act fast…the deadline is the 10^th of this month. Go here to sign the card…and toss a few bucks in the pot, too, if the spirit moves ya. It’s a small gesture, to be sure, but one that is well and truly appreciated by those who have given so much.

You're Joking...Right?

A friend forwards the following:

The madam opened the brothel door to see a rather dignified, well-dressed good-looking man in his 50s or maybe early 60s. "May I help you?" she asked. "I want to see Valerie," the man replied. "Sir, Valerie is one of our most expensive ladies. Perhaps you would prefer someone else." said the madam. "No. I must see Valerie." was the man's reply. Just then, Valerie appeared and announced to the man that she charged $1,000 a visit. Without hesitation, the man pulled out ten one hundred dollar bills, gave them to Valerie, and they went upstairs. After an hour, the man calmly left.

The next night, the same man appeared again, demanding to see Valerie. Valerie explained that none had ever come back two nights in a row—too expensive—and there were no discounts. The price was still $1,000. Again the man pulled out the money, gave it to Valerie and they went upstairs. After an hour, he left.

The following night the man was there again. Everyone was astounded that he had come for the third consecutive night but he paid Valerie and they went upstairs. After their session, Valerie questioned the man. "No one has ever been with me three nights in a row. Where are you from?" she asked. The man replied "Arkansas." "Really?" she said. "I have family in Arkansas." "I know," the man said. "Your father died and I am your sister's attorney. She asked me to give you your $3,000 inheritance."

The moral of the story is that THREE things in life are certain:

1. Death
2. Taxes
3. Getting screwed by a lawyer.

S’true, innit?

And while we’re on about jokes…one of the more blog-worthy things I passed up this past week was Barack Obama’s admission that he got high as a teen-ager, while speaking to a group of teens at some (ahem) high school in New Hampshire. Which, to begin with, isn’t really news at all since he wrote about his teen drug use in one of his books. And, when you think about it, his admitted drug use makes Senator Obama pretty much an average sort of kid, given that (a) he was 18 in 1979 and (b) 51% of high school seniors in that particular year supposedly smoked pot (the percent-of-use stats have declined markedly since then). But Senator Obama’s admission isn’t the joke, it’s the reactions to his admission that provoke MY laughter. I’m not alone in this regard, either:

Mitt Romney waded in on BO’s former teen weed burning divulgence and condemned it, saying that Obama’s confession sent a bad message to young people, namely that you can “get high and become president.”

First of all Mitt, you gotta relax, man… Obama, like you, is not going to become president, so chill, okay? In addition, as a good religious man you should applaud his honesty in owning his previously bad record, right? I mean c’mon, Mr. Romney . . . at least he’s up front about it. He didn’t flip flop on what he did in the past or try to explain away why he did what he did to ingratiate himself to a gullible voting block in a sad and desperate attempt to become president.

Another conservative said this week that Barack coming forward with the admission that he toked the ganja was not only unwise but was also a bad example for children. Telling the truth has now become a bad example? I believe that was Larry Craig who said that. I could be wrong.

The absolute cake taker freaking out over Barack’s breasting of his dirty deeds was a 350lb chubby Christian who was all up in arms regarding Obama’s former relationship with the cannabis. He too said that such an admission left a poor pattern for young people. I was thinking, yeah? Well, so does being morbidly obese, chunky butt. Hey, Jabba… being a bloated, self righteous crank with a totemic view of vice is also a bad example for the children, so dial down and take care of your own house, Jenny Craig.

That’s from a column by Doug Giles at TownHall.com. Mr. Giles goes on to say that he, as a conservative, wouldn’t vote for Senator Obama in the first place…but Obama’s admission about pot-smoking is both refreshing (as opposed to the infamous “I didn’t inhale.” Yeah, right.) and long overdue from our candidates.

It’s good to see I’m not alone in this regard. More support for my particular point of view can be found in this Houston Chronicle editorial, published yesterday. I’ll stop here…except to wonder, yet again, is Obama still smoking? (the comments to this thread are hilarious…)

This is kinda-sorta related to the rhetorical question I posed yesterday (“Are we really that stupid?”):

November 25, 2007 -- IT'S hard for Hollywood pacifists like Brian De Palma to capture the hearts and minds of America if Americans won't see their movies. While the public is staying away in droves from “Rendition," “Lions for Lambs" and “In the Valley of Elah," audiences are really avoiding “Redacted," De Palma's picture about US soldiers who rape a 14-year-old Iraqi girl, then kill her and her family.

[…]

“Redacted" - which “could be the worst movie I've ever seen," said critic Michael Medved - took in just $25,628 in its opening weekend in 15 theaters, which means roughly 3,000 people saw it in the entire country. “This, despite an A-list director, a huge wave of publicity, high praise in the Times, The New Yorker, left-leaning sites like Salon, etc.

This lil blurb appeared in the right-leaning NY Post, so its veracity is questionable if you're a member of the tin-foil hat brigade. But for the non-paranoid among us: good news. We’re apparently not that stupid. Better news would be Brian De Palma deciding he’s had enough of Amerikkka and announcing he’s going to emigrate to the south of France where his world-view would be much more acceptable (or not. I keep forgetting: Sarkozy.) Chances of that? Hah.

Some people are really pissed about De Palma’s hit piece, though. Including Congressman Duncan Hunter, who sent a “scathing letter” to the MPAA:

The ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee sent a letter to the chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America yesterday calling the new Iraq war film "Redacted" shameful in its view of U.S. soldiers.

Rep. Duncan Hunter, California Republican, sent a scathing letter regarding Brian De Palma's new film to MPAA Chairman Dan Glickman asking that he not forget that there are heroes who have sacrificed their lives for the United States and Iraqi people.

"Unfortunately, Brian De Palma's new movie 'Redacted,' which opened in several theaters this week, portrays American service personnel in Iraq as uncontrollable misfits and criminals," Mr. Hunter stated in his letter to Mr. Glickman. "While incidents of criminal behavior by members of our military should never be ignored, the isolated incident on which this film is based negatively portrays American service personnel and misrepresents their collective efforts in Iraq."

Mr. Glickman, a former Democratic congressman and agriculture secretary, could not be reached for comment.

Of course not. And even if Mr. Glickman were available, we’d likely get some pap about the First Amendment, “isn’t this a great country where dissent is tolerated,” and all that happy horseshit. It’s a good thing I’m not king…because there’d be a whole bunch of deportations…or “exiles,” if you prefer… after a fair trial for treason, of course. Coz if De Palma’s merde isn’t “aid and comfort” to our enemies I don’t know what IS.

(h/t to Flopping Aces for the WaTimes link)

Today’s Pic: Keeping with yesterday’s theme…today’s pic isn’t a pic at all, but a link to another “It Could Be Worse” pic I put up not quite a year ago. I simply get all thankful when I go back into the archives and look at these photos. I saw enough of this frozen white stuff to last me a lifetime…and then some… whilst living in Upstate NY.

Never again.

Irony

OK..this is rich. Bud Light…the original moose-piss-in-a-bottle, the Clown Prince of Beers (an allusion to the “King of Beers” that Real Bud proclaims itself to be), that sorry excuse for beer (sorry, Erm. It is what it IS)…has the unmitigated gall to make fun of ND fans?

But. I have to admit it is sorta funny. But not coming from (ptui!) Bud Light.

(h/t: jCircadian…another member of Team Air Force)

Fluff

Via blog-buddy Morgan…

Re: Bud Light. The beer sucks, but the commercials are funny. The first time or three, anyway. After that? Well, Gentle Reader, let’s just say you can wear almost anything out…with certain notable exceptions.

Well, the Brits Get SOME Things Right...

If there were prospective applicants for the position of "Girlfriend" queuing up around the premises of El Casa Móvil De Pennington (ha! I say again: HA!), I’d advise them to watch this video not once, not twice, but several times. And particular attention should be paid to the instructions regarding beer, space, beer, “the bedroom,” and beer. Oh yeah, and “male ego,” too. And beer.

Did I mention “Beer?” Oh. Right. I did.

(stolen from Mike, who finds great vids!)

Back in a few. Late night, it was. And a much later morning.

Just a Couple of Vids...

By way of ASM826, a commenter at Lex’s place, here’s a lil reminder of days gone by…

“I’m Jon Karry, and I approve this message.” Heh.

Via Mike…in a way, since he posted “What if real life were like a comments section in a blog,” which led me to the “College Humor” site, which led me to this:

For the uninitiated…this is High Times. Only in America, eh?

A non-parenthetical parenthetical comment: I found it interesting that the Wiki claims Al Gore was either (a) on the cover of High Times or (b) was interviewed by High Times. “B” is probably the safer bet but ya never know, especially when it comes to the Goreacle. Now if we were talking about Al Gore III, I’d go for option “A.”

Sunday Diversions

OK…I fell for it… I started seeing the ads day before yesterday, and last evening I went to CavemansCrib. I spent at least an hour on the site and didn’t see everything. But I watched most of the videos. I listened to the answering machine messages. I read the text messages on his phone. I peeked through the annotated copies of Don Quixote and War and Peace in the library. I stumbled in on Our Host in the shower (and got yelled at). I perused the playlist on the mini-stereo. I listened to “Remind Me” all the way through. And I ogled the décor in the upscale apartment, including moving the Esperanto fridge magnets around to create silly sayings. In Esperanto. And it’s cool. Way cool. Lots of parody and satire, very little “Geico.”

Further on those anonymous “corporate” edits of Wikipedia (a topic in this post last Wednesday)…

And The New York Times Company is among those whose employees have made, among hundreds of innocuous changes, a handful of questionable edits. A change to the page on President Bush, for instance, repeated the word “jerk” 12 times. And in the entry for Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, the word “pianist” was changed to “penis.”

“It’s impossible to determine who did any of these things,” said Craig R. Whitney, the standards editor of The Times. “But you can only shake your head when you see what was done to the George Bush and Condoleezza Rice entries.”

Mr. Whitney was shaking his head because the NYT’s anonymous Wiki editors left out “poopy head” on the GWB page… The NYT editorial staff will provide more oversight in future anonymous Wiki edits. I'm sure.

I posted an article from Reason Magazine, a relatively low-circulation rag read mostly by Libertarians, on the War on Drugs the day before yesterday. Today, the lead article in the WaPo’s second section is…you guessed it…the War on Drugs:

The problem starts with prohibition, the basis of the war on drugs. The theory is that if you hurt the producers and consumers of drugs badly enough, they'll stop doing what they're doing. But instead, the trade goes underground, which means that the state's only contact with it is through law enforcement, i.e. busting those involved, whether producers, distributors or users. But so vast is the demand for drugs in the United States, the European Union and the Far East that nobody has anything approaching the ability to police the trade.

Prohibition gives narcotics huge added value as a commodity. Once traffickers get around the business risks -- getting busted or being shot by competitors -- they stand to make vast profits. A confidential strategy report prepared in 2005 for British Prime Minister Tony Blair's cabinet and later leaked to the media offered one of the most damning indictments of the efficacy of the drug war. Law enforcement agencies seize less than 20 percent of the 700 tons of cocaine and 550 tons of heroin produced annually. According to the report, they would have to seize 60 to 80 percent to make the industry unprofitable for the traffickers.

The article doesn’t break any new ground and doesn’t offer alternatives to the WoD. But it does offer some compelling tales of corruption, billions upon billions of wasted dollars, and ruined lives. And then there’s the terror connection…specifically the relationship between the Taliban, poppy growers, and the US government’s policies towards poppy cultivation — which may be summed up in one word: eradication. You wanna guess who’s winning and who’s losing that particular war, Gentle Reader? Pretty scary stuff.

I’ve read that the very definition of “stupid” is repeating the same action over, and over, and over again while expecting different outcomes. Sounds like the War on Drugs to me.

In The Times (UK)… “Scientists hail ‘frozen smoke’ as material that will change world.”

Aerogel, one of the world’s lightest solids, can withstand a direct blast of 1kg of dynamite and protect against heat from a blowtorch at more than 1,300C.

Scientists are working to discover new applications for the substance, ranging from the next generation of tennis rackets to super-insulated space suits for a manned mission to Mars.

It is expected to rank alongside wonder products from previous generations such as Bakelite in the 1930s, carbon fibre in the 1980s and silicone in the 1990s. Mercouri Kanatzidis, a chemistry professor at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, said: “It is an amazing material. It has the lowest density of any product known to man, yet at the same time it can do so much. I can see aerogel being used for everything from filtering polluted water to insulating against extreme temperatures and even for jewellery.”

I’ve never heard of aerogel until now. But it sounds like pretty nifty stuff. (Do people use “nifty” any longer? Or am I dating myself, again?)

Local stuff: “Review for Special Operations Begins Monday:”

The wait to find out the future of Cannon Air Force Base is about over.

The Secretary of the Air Force is expected to review proposed changes at Cannon this week as part of the base’s switch to Air Force Special Operations Command.

Today marks the end of a 30-day public comment period on the final draft of the Environmental Impact Statement, the last hurdle in the 16th Special Operations Wing being placed at Cannon.

AFSOC is scheduled to assume command of Cannon Oct. 1.

Cannon was awarded the new mission in June 2006 after the 27th Fighter Wing was ordered shuttered during the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure recommendations.

Under the proposal, the 16th Special Operations Wing mission would include 108 aircraft and more than 5,000 military personnel, civilians and contractors by the year 2010.

Review of the final EIS is expected to begin Monday, AFSOC spokeswoman Denise Boyd said.

“Everything we’ve been doing for the past year have been proposals but nothing could be firm,” she said.

The realignment of Cannon from ACC to AFSOC never was a “done deal.” But everyone is fairly certain it’s gonna happen. We’ll see now, won’t we? The interesting bit in all this is that Cannon is expected to grow about 17% over its current size when AFSOC moves in. And that’s good for the communities…Clovis and Portales…involved. Clovis, mostly, but Portales will experience growth, as well. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

And finally… from Good Buddy Ed in Florida, a little local color:

A Texas Tech graduate, a University of Texas grad and a Texas Aggie were sitting in a bar in San Antonio. The view of the river was fantastic, the beer was ice cold and the food exceptional.

"But," said the guy from Tech, "I still prefer the beer joints back in Lubbock. There's one place where the owner goes out of his way for the locals. When you buy 4 beers, he will buy the 5th."

The Longhorn said "Well, at my local bar in Austin, the owner will buy your 3rd drink after you've bought 2."

"Hell, that's nothin'," the Aggie responded. "Back in College Station there's this bar where the moment you set foot in the place they'll buy you a drink and keep them coming all night. Then when you've had enough to drink, they take you upstairs and see that you get laid. And it's all on the house."

The Red Raider and the Longhorn immediately doubted the Aggie's claims. "And this actually happened to you?" asked the Tech grad.

No, not myself personally," admitted the Aggie. "But it did happen to my sister."

I use “local” in the sense that Tech is just down the road a piece. And besides that, I loves me some Aggie jokes.

Today’s Pic: A member of a Brazilian samba troupe in elaborate costume at the Houston International Festival. (The festival spotlights a different country every year. The featured country at Festival 2000 was Brazil; this year it was China.) One wonders just how the woman could walk around in that get-up, let alone dance. But dance she did. I was mesmerized.

This is another of my first-generation digital camera photos…taken with a Kodak camera sporting a mere, measly one megapixel CCD. The camera was pretty good in its day, that day being the time when we were amazed that digital photography even existed at all, and didn’t give a whole lot of thought or care to things like resolution, etc. My how times have changed.

Houston. April, 2000.

Gutenberg's Help Desk

(hat tip: Insty) In which case: Heh.