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.

Treats, Culinary and Otherwise

I read this headline and took it literally…at first, with a HUGE amount of glee, as well: “Hillary Slaps Iowa Voter.” Obviously, I was thinking this was the moment we’ve all been waiting for: Hill finally loses it and thus begins her decline. Alas…too good to be true.

"Why should I support your candidacy if you haven't learned from the past?" Rolph asked, referring to her 2002 vote to authorize the use of military force in Iraq.

Clinton first thanked him and then countered that, "the premise of the question is wrong." So far, so good. But after offering a description of what was in the resolution, Clinton smugly and dismissively accused him of having been fed the information, saying "obviously somebody sent [it] to you."

Rolph didn't let it pass. "I take exception, this is my own research..."

"Well, then let me finish telling you..." Clinton screamed.

"Nobody sent that, and I am offended that you would suggest it," Rolph snapped at her.

[…]

"It was an insult," he fumed following the event. "It was basically calling me stupid. That I can't think on my own. That I don't have the ability to research or come up with a coherent or concrete thought on my own. How dare she!"

He continued, "She never did answer the question. She just, what I say is, bitch-slapped me." (emphasis mine)

What an appropriate turn-of-a-phrase, eh? (Another take on the story here.)

Dang! I’d love to be in attendance at this: “Chopsticks at dawn for a sushi showdown; Seven chefs will compete in London for the highest honour of Japanese cuisine.”

Of all the mysteries of Japanese culture, the art of how to make perfect sushi is the most cherished. Master chefs jealously conceal the secrets of their craft from all but the most faithful of acolytes, and then only spill the beans after years of patient apprenticeship.

But with every other master chef publicly receiving adulation for their culinary skills, from Gordon Ramsay and Marco Pierre White to Nigella Lawson, it was only a matter of time before the hitherto retiring connoisseurs of sushi began to desire their 15 minutes of fame.

Next week they will have just that at the grand finale of a four-month, nationwide celebration of Japanese food, drink and culture, when top Japanese chefs will put their reputations and honour at stake at the world's only sushi Oscars.

In what is being billed as the ultimate battle between the Seven Sushi Samurai, chefs from across the globe will converge at the Eat-Japan Sushi Awards in London to offer their trademark dish to diners and judges.

The event has generated huge excitement: all 300 tickets, costing £60 each, sold out within two weeks of going on sale, leaving a long waiting list.

One assumes ticket holders will get to sample the wares, but that may or may not be true. Two things here: First, the quality of British food has improved dramatically since I lived in London during the early 80s, when “English Cuisine” was the ultimate oxymoron. At that point in time the only decent meals one could get when eating out were in the numerous, and excellent, Indian and Chinese restaurants…and the fish ‘n’ chips stands, of course. I think there were only two Japanese restaurants in all of London at the time, if memory serves. I know The Second Mrs. Pennington and I had a helluva time finding even one sushi bar to satisfy our cravings. Which leads me to point two: I loves me some sushi!

TSMP and I had our favorite sushi bars when we lived in Tokyo in the mid-70s…two of which were within walking distance of our house. And we patronized them SO often (at least twice a week) that we were on a first-name basis with the chefs. At some point in time I absolutely must retrieve the family photo archive and scan the pics…this being the perfect illustrative point, as there are many more than a few “candid” shots of TSMP and I stuffing our mouths with raw tuna (mmmm!) and washing it down with (lots of…) excellent Sapporo beer. Former Happy Days, those were.

But…Oh! To be in London and at the World Series of Sushi…

In other British Culinary News…this lil article is guaranteed to invoke your “Eww!” response: “I’m not eating that!...Actually, you will. Not only are you all very well travelled, you’re extremely well fed, too.” Case in point:

Some years ago, I regularly travelled to West Africa. The French manager I used to meet in Côte d’Ivoire was always amused by my Anglo-Saxon disgust at some of the things eaten locally. On one occasion he took me to a restaurant that, he claimed, did a very good stew. He was right, it was delicious. Halfway through, however, I got a fright: my fork dredged from the bottom of the bowl what appeared to be a small, pink and perfectly formed baby’s hand. I pushed the plate away and turned white, which amused my companion no end. It transpired that the stew was made with a local delicacy – porcupine. And I can attest that, yes, their feet really do resemble small human... eurgh.

Nick Woodgates, Buckinghamshire

And you know there’s more…

The strangest (or weirdest) thing I’ve ever eaten is “dog on a log” from a street vendor in the Philippines. Which is exactly what it sounds like: bar-b-qued Fido, cooked shish-ke-bob style on a charcoal brazier. It wan’t all that bad, either, if memory serves. But I was two, or perhaps three, sheets in the wind at the time. The strangest thing I’ve refused to eat is rice bugs. You can only imagine, Gentle Reader. Or read about it.

Today’s Pic: Something rarely seen: YrHmblScrb on a Hardly-Ableson, this particular version being SN1’s Night Train on the day he took delivery. I never could get used to the Barca-Liner riding position. You know…feet out front (note the position of the pegs and shifter), lounging rearward, and all that. That’s simply UN-natural…on a mo’sickle. OK for watching football in your den, but not while riding a bike. Your Mileage Most CERTAINLY May Vary.

Valentines Day, 2003.

Sundries

I loves me some late-summer days in September, especially when football season gets well under way. Yesterday was a typical late-summer Saturday (or early Fall, you choose.) at El Casa Móvil De Pennington, which is to say it was an orgy of college football. All day and into the night, as well. Three games (Oregon – UoM, ND – Penn State, and LSU- Virginia Tech), followed by SportsCenter. And then SportsCenter, again. I took time out to nuke some food, get refills from the fridge, and check a blog or two. But other than that? Not much.

I may have mentioned this before, so stop me if you’ve heard this. One of the BEST things about being single at this stage of life is I can be perfectly indolent and watch football and drink beer all damned day if I so choose. And I did so choose yesterday, Gentle Reader. And there was no nagging, no guilt, no looking over my shoulder or dodging pointed little comments from "interested parties" of the female persuasion, such as “Are you going to watch teevee ALL day?” Why, yes, now that you mention it, that’s exactly what I’m going to do. And so I did. Yesterday was “Nothing But Net Football.”

Life is GOOD.

So. I scanned the Detroit papers this morning and the natives are restless after UoM’s loss to Oregon yesterday. Michiganders don’t take losing lightly, especially when it’s Big Blue doing the losing. Lotsa calls for Lloyd Carr’s head, but Mitch Albom isn’t one of those guys. Not that Mitch wasn’t critical; he was:

I hate to put it this way, but there have been Lions games less embarrassing than this.

No, coach Lloyd Carr does not need to be fired -- come on, calm down -- and U-M fans shouldn't throw themselves off a bridge. But let's be honest. The Wolverines are not very good right now. Doesn't matter what they were supposed to be. Doesn't matter what their preseason ranking was or which seniors were returning.

They have played two games now and the defense is apparently still checking into the dorms.

They have played two games and their senior quarterback, Chad Henne, has unhinged the team with uncharacteristic mistakes in key moments, including an opening-drive interception and several momentum-killing sacks Saturday. (To make matters worse, Henne left the game after the first half with a leg injury and is "highly doubtful" for the Notre Dame game, according to Carr. As Woody Allen once joked: "The food here is terrible." "Yeah, and such small portions!")

It's all upside down in Ann Arbor. Right now, this team cannot capitalize on offense. (How's 365 yards and only seven points?) Right now, this team cannot stop anything on defense. (How's six first-half possessions for Oregon, 32 points and no punts?)

Next week’s game against Notre Dame should be a doozy. Not for the quality of play, of course…two programs in deep doo-doo ordinarily would make for a snoozer of a game. But there’s serious drama here. Both Michigan and Notre Dame have a national fan base, and together Michigan and ND have the winningest records in college football, being Numbers One and Two, respectively. You can bet your boots the eyes of America (the college football eyes, anyway) will be on Ann Arbor next weekend. I predict it will be one Helluva game. There’s nothing really on the line in next week’s game except pride. And sometimes pride is everything.

Interesting article on cyber-war in The Times (UK) today…

China’s ambitions extend to crippling an enemy’s financial, military and communications capabilities early in a conflict, according to military documents and generals’ speeches that are being analysed by US intelligence officials. Describing what is in effect a new arms race, a Pentagon assessment states that China’s military regards offensive computer operations as “critical to seize the initiative” in the first stage of a war.

The plan to cripple the US aircraft carrier battle groups was authored by two PLA air force officials, Sun Yiming and Yang Liping. It also emerged this week that the Chinese military hacked into the US Defence Secretary’s computer system in June; have regularly penetrated computers in at least 10 Whitehall departments, including military files, and infiltrated German government systems this year.

[…]

The Pentagon logged more than 79,000 attempted intrusions in 2005. About 1,300 were successful, including the penetration of computers linked to the Army’s 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions and the 4th Infantry Division. In August and September of that year Chinese hackers penetrated US State Department computers in several parts of the world. Hundreds of computers had to be replaced or taken offline for months. Chinese hackers also disrupted the US Naval War College’s network in November, forcing the college to shut down its computer systems for several weeks. The Pentagon uses more than 5 million computers on 100,000 networks in 65 countries.

The interesting thing about all of this hacking and cracking activity is that we just let it go… publicly, anyway. There’s no denying unauthorized access to computer systems or denial of service (DoS) attacks are acts of aggression. But the problem is that no one dies and nothing is physically blown up. Therefore it’s pretty hard, if not impossible, to retaliate under these circumstances. One would hope the CIA and DoD are cooperating in an effort to develop our own offensive cyber-war capabilities, because playing defense just isn’t enough in this arena. A few narrowly-targeted but pointedly specific covert attacks on the PLA’s IT infrastructure on our part (with plausible deniability, of course) just might send a message. And it would be great training for our guys, too.

Also in The Times…the Brits can rest easy; it’s not as bad as they think. In quantifiable areas, anyway. I don’t think there’s a way to measure a nation’s Political Correctness Quotient. The Brits would have serious cause for worry if there was a way to measure that sort of stuff. As would the US of A…

Further from The Times… “Valium Fred, the panacea of the people.” Excerpts:

People like Fred Thompson. So far as I can tell, that is currently the prime rationale for his candidacy for president of the United States. He doesn’t need to launch a media blitz to achieve this level of public fondness. His avuncular, crumpled tower of a personage is well known from many episodes of Law & Order.

In this year’s race, only one other Republican candidate has even minimal charm – the obscure Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, who is obviously (and rather successfully) running for vice-president. Rudy Giuliani is many things, but likable isn’t one of them. Mitt Romney has failed to win over many conservatives despite an impeccable family life and a platform largely dictated by the far-right activist base. The slickness and eagerness to please seem to glide past any political traction. John McCain is too prickly to be cuddled. But good old Fred has the shtick down.

[…]

Thompson is accused of being lazy. So was Ronald Reagan, of course. But there is a key difference between the Reagan of 1979 and the Thompson of 2007. Reagan had spent a lifetime honing arguments, finessing policy, articulating a broad philosophical view, while proposing concrete and radical policy options.

Thompson has a legislative record as a senator from Tennessee that is all but invisible. Yes, he has a solid conservative record on taxes and other people’s spending. But he was a hog for his home-state pork barrel projects. He was, in other words, a popular backbencher – but no more. At times his candidacy feels merely like a rationale for a man who senses that Americans are deeply uneasy about their current leadership, wants to reassure them, but has no idea substantively how.

A thinker he isn’t. He’s rather a conveyor of mood. In a period of less moment, when less is at stake, this might be an aesthetic preference: a calm presence in a storm. But on the substance of war, and foreign policy, the Thompson shtick can seem somewhat detached from the needs of the moment.

Just so. One might think it odd I agree with the opinion of Andrew Freakin’ Sullivan, of all people. And yeah, it IS strange, given I don’t agree with Sullivan on nearly anything. But I think he’s right about Thompson.

I haven’t made up my mind about who I’m going to support as of yet. But Fred ain’t in MY top tier at the moment, for the reasons quoted above and others that are mentioned in the text of the entire article. Fred’s a nice, likable sort of guy. But being likable ain’t exactly the be-all, end-all quality for the leader of the Free World, now, is it? Substance, please.

Today’s Pic: OK, it’s yet another video. This time it’s SN3 motoring around the premises on his plastic motorcycle, which was one of his Christmas presents back in 2000 (making him three years old at Christmas, but four years old when this video was shot). My first attempt at cultivating a "chip off the old block."

Commentary by The Second Mrs. Pennington.

Somewhere in Colorado. April, 2001.

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.

Care to Dance?

So. I sorta quit paying attention to McNeil/Lehrer The News Hour last night about 20 minutes or so before it actually ended. I got wrapped up reading something or other, and by the time I looked up Jim Lehrer’s smiling face was gone and this had begun:

Live From Lincoln Center
Mozart Dances
Mostly Mozart Festival
Mark Morris Dance Group

It was the music that caught my ear, and I looked up. The Mark Morris Dance Group is pretty good, if you like that sort of thing. Understand, Gentle Reader, I could stick what little I know about “dance” in my eye and it wouldn’t hurt a bit. I’ve never been to a dance recital. This is the first recital I’ve seen on TeeVee, to the best of my recollection. So, it’s with a grain of salt you’d be taking when I say this was Modern Dance. I know it wasn’t ballet—no tutus. And it wasn’t folk dancing—no ethnic stuff. And I’ve come to the end of my dance-description rope, right here. Right now.

I stayed with the program…but only for the music (Mozart is my absolute favorite composer). I’m not much into watching half-naked men dancing around a stage— especially when they’re dancing with each other rather than with the women. And there was a lot of that, seemingly every other time I looked up from my reading.

And as for the women-only segments of the program? They were just OK, these segments. The women were beautiful and very well put together (in that athletic, dancer sort of way), the costumes were interesting, and the dancing complemented the accompanying music. There was a critical element missing, however, that ultimately impaired my enjoyment of the performance…

No poles.

Via blog-buddy Morgan, we get this link to a BBC article noting that “Depression is ‘over-diagnosed’.” And like Morgan, my immediate impression was “Gee. Ya think?” Excerpts:

Too many people are being diagnosed with depression when all they are is unhappy, a leading psychiatrist says.

Professor Gordon Parker claims the threshold for clinical depression is too low and risks treating normal emotional states as illness.

Writing in the British Medical Journal, he calls depression a "catch-all" diagnosis driven by clever marketing.

But another psychiatrist writing in the journal contradicts his views, praising the increased diagnosis of depression.

Professor Ian Hickie writes that an increased diagnosis and treatment of depression has led to a reduction in suicides and removal of the old stigma surrounding mental illness.

Under the current diagnosis guidelines, around one in five adults is thought to suffer depression during their lifetime. This costs the UK economy billions in lost productivity and treatment.

[…]

Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity Sane, said: "Depression can be a complex and challenging condition ranging from feeling low to being so disabled that the person may be unable to get out of bed in the morning, sustain relationships or work.

"It is not surprising that with such a wide range of symptoms, identification varies from one doctor to another.

One can go back and forth on this subject, spending endless hours in beer- or scotch-fueled debate, and I have. Speaking as an individual who’s been diagnosed in the past as “clinically depressed,” and further as an individual who spent a couple of months on Paxil as a direct-result of said diagnosis, I believe depression IS over-diagnosed. But there’s also merit in the counter-argument, regarding the reduction in suicides and such. I suppose it all depends on the accuracy of the diagnosis and the severity of the depression…which can range from feeling low to climbing out on that ledge.

My depression was pretty debilitating even though I was never suicidal. I suffered from the sort of depression that left me incapacitated, in that I would literally spend days on my couch staring blankly at the TeeVee from a fetal position…unable to go to work, feed myself, or perform even the barest of human functions, save relieving myself. It was pretty bad.

Still and even, I took myself off the Paxil after two months and after re-visiting my doctor (there are dire warnings about “stopping abruptly” in the drug packaging. God only knows what that means.) My personal experience… and I emphasize the “personal” here… was the depression, even in its worst stages, was preferable to walking around in a gauzy sort of haze where I felt nearly nothing. The drug “leveled me out” in such a way that I didn’t feel anything: no joy, no sadness, nothing. I hated that, and preferred the occasional bouts of “sleep on the couch” for days as opposed to being chemically numbed-up. It was sorta like Novocain for the psyche. Not good, in other words.

I still get depressed, although the bouts are mild and infrequent. But I’ll never resort to drugs for the condition, ever again. Unless I’m institutionalized, of course, and if I ever get to that point the situation will be well and truly out of my control.

One of my favorite hot buttons, again:

This is worth repeating. The FBI has determined that in some cases, it's better to let innocent people be assaulted, murdered, or wrongly sent to prison than to halt a drug investigation involving one of its confidential informants.

Could Murphy assure the U.S. Congress, Delahunt and Lundgren asked, that the FBI has since instituted policies to ensure that kind of thing never happens again?

Murphy hemmed and hawed, but ultimately said that he could not make any such assurance. That in itself should have been huge news.

Shortly after the Johnston hearings concluded, another informant scandal emerged.

Jarrell Bray, a longtime informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration's Cleveland field office, admitted that with the cooperation of DEA agent Lee Lucas, he had repeatedly lied in court to secure the convictions of innocent people. Bray said he and Lucas fabricated evidence, falsely accused people who had done nothing wrong, then concocted bogus testimony to secure their convictions.

Bray's admission could result in dozens of overturned convictions.

Dozens of overturned convictions? How about hundreds, if not thousands? These guys are out-of-frickin’-control. Please: Tell me how much good the “War on Drugs” is doing, will ya? Can ya? I doubt it. I really, seriously doubt it. This war, unlike some others that come to mind, is indefensible, pure and simple.

(h/t: Chap)

Today’s Pic: Didja know there’s such a place as Pennington, Minnesota? Well, now you do, and you have visible proof in the form of a hastily (and poorly) composed pic of El Casa Móvil De Pennington, in Pennington. Or something like that.

June, 2000.

Miscellaneous Musings, Thursday Wednesday Edition

This is interesting: “See Who's Editing Wikipedia - Diebold, the CIA, a Campaign.” The title is self-explanatory, but the methodology used to ID “anonymous” Wikipedia editors— all of ‘em — is pretty danged creative. Gotta love those graduate students…

Note: I wrote this last evening right after I found and read the linked article. And this morning the whole freakin’ ‘sphere is trying to play “Gotcha” with the Wiki…so much so that the search tool’s author has disabled the “search by wikipedia page” function (“Specify by Wikipedia page -- Disabled until the onsalught of traffic wanes.”). This is one of the hazards of trying to “get ahead of the game” when blogging…the ‘sphere just moves too fast. And not sometimes, either. ALL the time.

So, I’m watching The WX Channel (once again: last evening), and I’m noticing it’s really hard for them to contain their excitement over Hurricane Flossie. Hell, they’ve even flown Jim Cantore to the Big Island, even though the hurricane is only supposed to graze the island and is diminishing in strength with each passing hour. But, Hell. We all have our boondoggles and I like Cantore, besides. He deserves an assignment that isn’t Mississippi or Florida, just for a change.

Suspicion confirmed… On the same subject: Hurricane Flossie? What kind of name is that? I’ve never heard of anyone named Flossie, let alone known anyone by that name. The first thing that came to my mind was some sort of animated cartoon my dentist might show to kids (he’s big on that sort of stuff…good on him). And I was right:

Flossie's pages contain smile, dental and Tooth Fairy related graphics, clip art, pictures, animations, art & drawings that you may use in your school reports, non-commercial web pages, etc. I hope you brush & floss your teeth at least twice every day. A pretty smile always lends a hand in making friends.

“Flossie” is also a 1974-vintage movie. And not a particularly good one if you believe IMDB’s user ratings. Other than that? Not a lot…aside from a British knitting blogger (Becky).

One final thought on hurricanes (for the moment): I’d LOVE to see a Hurricane Cruella. Just sayin’.

Ron Rosenbaum, writing in Slate, takes it to The Academy, in the form of one professor Stanley Fish:

It was Aug. 5, and professor Stanley Fish, the famous postmodernist and "guest columnist" for the New York Times, had some breaking news to expound upon in an op-ed piece. He had discovered a new development in American culture that deserved the kind of exegesis only he could deliver: the appearance of a new kind of coffee place.

Have you heard about these new coffee places? Professor Fish's column made it seem as though they had never been noticed or discussed before.

"Getting Coffee Is Hard To Do" was the title of his essay, which in its self-satisfied cluelessness may just qualify as the worst op-ed ever written.

“New kind of coffee place?” Now that’s right up my alley! Oh, wait…Starbucks. Starbucks? WTF?

Today’s Pic: OK…it’s NOT a photo. But it is kinda cute. SN3 demonstrating American Idol potential, of a sort.

Somewhere in Colorado. February, 2000. (He was almost three.)

Thursday

Here’s a fascinating story in the NYT about globalization: “An iPod Has Global Value. Ask the (Many) Countries That Make It.”

Who makes the Apple iPod? Here’s a hint: It is not Apple. The company outsources the entire manufacture of the device to a number of Asian enterprises, among them Asustek, Inventec Appliances and Foxconn.

But this list of companies isn’t a satisfactory answer either: They only do final assembly. What about the 451 parts that go into the iPod? Where are they made and by whom?

Three researchers at the University of California, Irvine — Greg Linden, Kenneth L. Kraemer and Jason Dedrick — applied some investigative cost accounting to this question, using a report from Portelligent Inc. that examined all the parts that went into the iPod.

Their study, sponsored by the Sloan Foundation, offers a fascinating illustration of the complexity of the global economy, and how difficult it is to understand that complexity by using only conventional trade statistics.

The retail value of the 30-gigabyte video iPod that the authors examined was $299. The most expensive component in it was the hard drive, which was manufactured by Toshiba and costs about $73. The next most costly components were the display module (about $20), the video/multimedia processor chip ($8) and the controller chip ($5). They estimated that the final assembly, done in China, cost only about $4 a unit.

One approach to tracing supply chain geography might be to attribute the cost of each component to the country of origin of its maker. So $73 of the cost of the iPod would be attributed to Japan since Toshiba is a Japanese company, and the $13 cost of the two chips would be attributed to the United States, since the suppliers, Broadcom and PortalPlayer, are American companies, and so on.

The UC Irvine researchers' analysis, and the methodology they used (which is quite detailed, thoughtful, and extensive) comes to a startling conclusion…at least for those folks who bemoan the exporting of American jobs and advocate “fair trade” policies (I’m looking at you, Mr. Dobbs.). It’s all about the value-add. And we’re very good at that particular piece of business. Best in the world, as a matter of fact.

HA HA HA! Omigawd…excuse me, but…HA HA! Hoo-BOY, this is GOOD!

WASHINGTON - Despite low approval ratings and hard feelings from last year's elections, Democrats and Republicans in the House are reaching out for an approximately $4,400 pay raise that would increase their salaries to almost $170,000.

[…]

The annual vote on the pay hike comes on an obscure procedural move — instead of a direct up-or-down vote — and Democratic and GOP leaders each delivered a majority of their members to shut off the move to block the pay hike.

So, we get consensus when it comes to a pay raise, but our esteemed legislators can’t seem to get it together when there’s…uh…legislative work…to be done? Oh, the irony.

A pox on them, their houses, and their offspring.

Marc Lynch of Abu Aardvark poses an interesting question, about which I have absolutely no opinion: “Who'll be the first t'blow?”

I've been posing the same question to academic Middle East experts and government officials in a variety of forums lately (seminars, workshops, bars), and thought it might be interesting to throw it open here as well. Given the ever-growing strains and pressures on most Arab regimes, which - if any - will be the first to go? By "go", I mean a real change of regime - King Abdullah (Jordan division) replacing his Prime Minister doesn't count, the Hashemites being toppled does. Also, I mean actually functioning and currently seemingly stable states: so the Lebanese, Palestinian, and Iraqi situations don't count. Finally, I'm talking about Arab countries, so Iran is off the table (unless you really want to talk about Iran). So far, the most popular answer has probably been "none" - Arab regimes are really only good at one thing, staying in power at all costs, and there's a lot of well-merited skepticism that now is any different. But if you had to put money down on one, despite your innate skepticism, who would it be?

I have no opinion because I’m just not that well-versed in the arcane world of Middle Eastern politics. About all I know is neatly summed up by Mr. Lynch’s comment, to wit, “Arab regimes are really only good at one thing, staying in power at all costs.” Still the question IS interesting, if only for the accompanying analysis.

Coulter-Edwards follow-up… The LA Times:

WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards said Wednesday that conservative author Ann Coulter's attacks on him were hurtful, even as his campaign used her remarks in an appeal for donations.

Edwards, a former senator from North Carolina, was responding to Coulter's suggestion that she wished he would be "killed in a terrorist assassination plot." His campaign cited her remarks in two e-mails to supporters for donations.

It was not the first time Coulter had given the Edwards campaign a financial boost. In March, she used the word "faggot" in reference to Edwards, and his campaign used video of the comment to help raise $300,000 before the end of the first quarter.

In the latest e-mails, the campaign asked supporters to send donations to defy her remarks and help Edwards meet his goal of raising $9 million in the second quarter. The first e-mail from campaign advisor Joe Trippi showed a clip of Coulter on ABC's "Good Morning America," where she made the assassination comments Monday.

Yesterday I made the point that Coulter should just shut up, as she’s John Edwards’ best, albeit de facto, fundraiser. Maybe I was missing the longer view. Maybe I should urge Ms. Coulter on. Because, really now, could the GOP ask for a better Democrat nominee than Pretty Boy? Any one of the leading Republican candidates (well, except for McCain, perhaps, but he’s not leading) would wipe the floor with Edwards while simultaneously erasing McGovern’s name from its place of (dis)honor in the Big Book of American Electoral Fiascoes.

Just sayin’.

Today’s Pic: The Well-Equipped Garage. I snapped this pic while at SN1’s place last month. Left to right: the ‘Zuki, Buck’s Kowalski, and my (now Buck’s) Ol’ Yammer-Hammer. This pic gives some perspective on the ‘Zuki’s size. Both the ‘Zuki and the Kowalski are 650s, but the ‘Zuki shares its frame and running gear with its bigger brother: the Suzuki DL-1000. Did I ever tell ya that it’s a BIG bike, Gentle Reader? Oh, I did? Never mind.

Layton, UT. May, 2007.

I'm Baaaack....

Suspicions confirmed:

OK, I don’t code, can barely spell “SysAdmin,” and, like 87% of the Western World, I use a PC…not a Mac. But being nerdy goes beyond computers. And I think that’s what upped my “nerd quotient.” That, and 17 years in the IT Biz.

(h/t: Kris, in New England)

This week’s tempest in a teapot… Doubtless you’ve heard Queen Elizabeth knighted that bête noir of the radical Islamists, Salman Rushdie. And the usual suspects have their knickers in a twist. My language is way too dismissive, however. It’s so far over the top as to be unbelievable when a cabinet-level minister of a government, any government, endorses suicide attacks for any goddamned reason. In the West, that is. Not so in countries dominated by 7^th Century political ideologies, I suppose. Here’s Captain Ed on the subject:

This points up a well-known problem among Muslims, even those considered somewhat moderate and cosmopolitan. They refuse to allow for any criticism of their faith, even from fellow Muslims. While Christians and Jews and Buddhists react to criticism with debate and protest, Muslims react with violence, usually encouraged by governments throughout Asia. Twenty years ago, it was Iran that encouraged assassins to target Rushdie, and now Pakistan has renewed the contract.

Sometimes I buy into the “clash of cultures” meme, sometimes I don’t. Today? I’m buying the whole nine yards. You simply cannot reason with idiots like these, much the same as you cannot reason with a rabid dog. You just gotta kill it.

More from the Middle East…an interesting take on the situation in Gaza. “An Israeli in Ramallah:”

Wearing Ralph Lauren polo shirts and speaking fluent Hebrew, they told hair-raising stories of teenage boys presumed loyal to Fatah being flung from the fourteenth floor of office buildings, their hands shackled and their mouths taped shut. One man said that the Hamas fighters had behaved worse than the Nazis. All this should be taken with a grain of salt, of course: Nazi comparisons are flung around with abandon in the Middle East, and we have not heard from the Hamas fighters what the Fatah guys may or may not have done to them. The unspoken message, though, is interesting: suddenly Fatah represents the reasonable, civilized Palestinians. They speak Hebrew, they look like us and they sound like us, and Islamist militants threaten them just as they threaten Israel.

As a commenter to this piece noted… “This is better writing -- and MUCH better reporting -- than we get from The Times.” Agreed.

And finally…a condom ad that’s painfully funny.

And here’s something you’ll probably never, ever see on this blog again: the hat tip goes to LitBrit at Shakesville. Credit where credit is due, and all that. She has more condom ads posted, by the way. Just in case you might be, ya know… interested. In a strictly academic sort of way, of course. (Work safe. And pretty funny, too.)

Today’s Pic: Two scoots, taking a break beside the road in Colorado. I like this pic…a lot. The ‘Zuki looks like it’s same size as Buck’s bike, but it’s not. The fact that she’s parked about six or eight feet behind Buck’s ride conceals the fact that she’s bigger…a lot bigger. Maybe even too big.

May, 2007.

A Desultory Saturday…

If you’re a real hockey fan you’ll want to follow the Adventures of Stanley this summer…

Join hockey's most prized trophy as it parties throughout the summer of 2007. Each member of the Anaheim Ducks assumes possession of the Stanley Cup for 24 hours, and you'll get an insider's view through exclusive stories and photographs as the Stanley Cup visits locations around the globe.

The STANLEY CUP JOURNAL is updated every Tuesday and Friday from the last game of the Stanley Cup Final through to the end of summer. This is followed by additional accounts thereafter up until the official engraving and ring presentation. (Ed: Emphases in original)

The Stanley Cup has made some amazing journeys during its storied history. International travel is not uncommon in this day of star Russian, Finnish, Swedish, etc., etc., NHL players. As an example, the last time the Wings won the Cup it traveled to the Czech Republic, Sweden, and Russia…just to name three countries. There’s a great photo essay of the Cup’s 2002 travels with Red Wings team members here.

One would expect 2007 to be much the same.

Ever the contrarian, Jules Crittenden feels bad for Paris Hilton. Really. Me? Not so much. I haven’t been paying that much attention. I mean, you can’t ignore her…that’s not possible if you have a TeeVee or surf the ‘net. But Mr. Crittenden’s article is about the only one I’ve actually read. And I suppose I’d have to agree that watching a full-grown woman having a total breakdown in public would be a lil bit heart-rending.

General Peter Pace will step down as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs in September. SecDef Robert Gates has nominated Admiral Mike Mullen, the current Chief of Naval Operations, to replace him. The ostensible reason for not re-nominating Gen. Pace for a second term is to avoid a brutal re-confirmation hearing* in the Senate, if you believe the official rationale delivered by Gates yesterday. There’s an awful lot of “what does this mean” talk in the media concerning Gen. Pace’s non-continuation as Chairman…much of it centering around speculation that Pace was “too close” to Rumsfeld, Pace didn’t push back against Rumsfeld enough, Pace was a leading architect of the “failed” Iraq war plans, and that Gates wants “his own man” as Chairman. I even heard one pundit characterize the action as Pace being “fired.” Gen. Pace is the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs to only serve a single two-year term since 1964; so, yeah, relieving him is highly unusual.

I tend to agree with one pundit, whose name I cannot recall (but it might have been David Brooks on The News Hour), that it’s ironic to have troops in the field dodging bullets, mortar shells and IEDs, yet the JCS Chairman is perceived to be incapable of dodging hard questions from a few senators. I think General Pace would have done just fine at his re-confirmation hearing, based upon the performances I’ve seen him deliver in committee hearings in the past. It’s a shame that such a fine officer with 40 years of dedicated service will retire under a cloud. But that’s Washington, I suppose.

* There’s some truth to this…John F’n Kerry says:

“It is a sad state of affairs when this Administration withdraws a general they believe is qualified simply to avoid having to publicly defend their failed Iraq policy,” Senator Kerry said. “Congress has an obligation to ask tough questions about Iraq, and the architects of this war have an obligation to answer them openly and honestly. We will continue to hold this Administration accountable on Iraq. The next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff must tell Congress and the American people the truth about this war.”

What was that the Jack Nicholson character said about the truth in “A Few Good Men?” Seems to me it applies here…

The cover story in tomorrow’s NYT Magazine is all about pretty-boy presidential candidate John Edwards. And the story is good…very good. Less for its extensive coverage on Edwards than for the author’s rational and pragmatic explanations of the underpinnings of Edwards’ much-publicized “Two Americas” campaign…including brief profiles of past attempts by politicians to address/eliminate poverty in America, beginning with Johnson’s “Great Society” and the accompanying “War on Poverty” (which was a gigantic failure, IMHO). The story is a rather lengthy read, and is written in a remarkably neutral tone, oftentimes descending into what I would call “less than favorable” opinions on Edwards and his views. At any rate I came away with a refreshed and somewhat better appreciation for my own economic views, which are decidedly Reaganesque. I’m also more thoroughly convinced than ever that Edwards’ economic views are wrong. Surprised?

Today’s Pic: More plane pr0n from the Hill Aerospace Museum…this time it’s the nose of a B-17 named “Short Bier.”

Last month…at Hill AFB.

A Great Beginning...

Here’s a brilliant site for those of us who are in love with the language: World Wide Words. Michael Quinion, the site’s author, has quite the resumé, and here’s just a small part of it:

These days, Michael concentrates on writing World Wide Words and providing citations and advice for the Oxford English Dictionary. He also wrote a third of the entries for the second edition of the Oxford Dictionary of New Words and for a while compiled a weekly New Words column in the Daily Telegraph. His dictionary of affixes, Ologies and Isms, was published by Oxford University Press in August 2002.

World Wide Words provides etymologies for words and expressions such as protologism, balls-up, and the phrase seemingly on everyone’s lips these days… carbon footprint. Great and good stuff, this!

(h/t to one of the denizens of Castle Argghhh!!! who pointed us to Beyond the Pale… an expression whose origin I thought was rooted exclusively in the tsars’ geographical imperatives to Russian Jews…but now stand corrected. There’s English-Irish there, too.)

Ed Douhatshek of the Toronto Globe and Mail has become a daily read. There are a lot of hockey columnists out there, but Ed is rapidly becoming my favorite. Mitch Albom, of course, is still Numero Uno in my book, but Mitch has branched out…he’s now a best-selling author and a generalist…no longer “just” a sportswriter. But, back to Ed. Here’s his take on last night’s Anaheim – Vancouver tilt:

ANAHEIM -- In time, they may reflect back on a National Hockey League season that far exceeded expectations -- to a divisional crown, a trip to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs and the certainty they not only have a franchise goaltender, but he is signed for another three seasons.

Accordingly, there were a lot of positives to emerge from the Vancouver Canucks' 2006-07 season on the whole, but that offered little consolation in the immediate aftermath of last night's one-for-the-ages 2-1 double overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks in the fifth and deciding game of their best-of-seven Western Conference semi-final series.

With the win, the Ducks move on to face one of their ex-coaches, either the Detroit Red Wings' Mike Babcock or the San Jose Sharks' Ron Wilson, in the next round. The Canucks, meanwhile, will watch it unfold from the comfort of their couches and condos, where they can ponder how the formula that worked so well in the regular season -- play goalie Roberto Luongo and play him again and then play him some more -- wasn't enough to win in the playoffs.

The term “one for the ages” is certainly apt. Even if you don’t live in BC, or even on the Left Coast. I found myself pulling for the Canucks even though I knew in my heart of hearts they were doomed. The Ducks were just too big, too fast, and too talented. Luongo, like Calgary’s Kiprusoff, kept the Canucks in the series a lot longer than they deserved. The guy is a great goaltender and hockey fans will be seeing a lot of him in April, May, and (eventually) June in the future. Bet on it.

So…IF the Wings prevail against the Sharks they’ll face Anaheim in the Western Conference final. And that, folks, will be a series…the Stanley Cup final will be just a formality after the Western final…the winner will already be crowned. Take that to the bank.

I forgot to link this oh-so-appropriate guidance for young men earlier this week: The Man Code (h/t: Morgan). Two pearls of wisdom therein:

12. Before dating a buddy's "ex", you are required to ask his permission and he in return is required to grant it.

16. A man must never own a cat or like his girlfriend's cat.

There’s no corollary to #12…but there should be. Something along the lines of “it’s justifiable homicide if you take a (former) friend’s life for messing with your woman wife. Or you may severely injure him, whichever is appropriate.” Just sayin’.

Oh…and about cats: S’true, that. I know from experience.

My ambivalence about “current events” and politics in general continues apace. That doesn’t mean I’ve withdrawn altogether, as I’ve mentioned before, it just means I’m only semi- or tangentially interested, at best. Still and even, I caught a (very small) bit of the first Republican candidates debate and came away less than impressed…mostly with the sound-bite format and lack of depth in both questions and responses. It wasn’t long before the Weather Channel seemed a lot more interesting and relevant than the “debate.” {click}

Peggy Noonan has a pretty good comment piece on the debate over at the WSJ…and here’s an exceprt:

This is a piece about Thursday night's Republican presidential debates, but first I would like to note that the media's fixation with which Republican is the most like Reagan, and who is the next Reagan, and who parts his hair like Reagan, is absurd, and subtly undermining of Republicans, which is why they do it.

[…]

They should stop it already, and Republicans should stop playing along. They should try instead a pleasant, "You know I don't think I'm Reagan, but I do think John Edwards may be Jimmy Carter, and I'm fairly certain Hillary is Walter Mondale."

[…]

If we view the proceedings in vulgar and reductive Who Won, Who Lost terms, and let's, Mitt Romney won, Rudy Giuliani lost, and John McCain is still in. The moderator, Chris Matthews, seemed to think he was on "Hardball" and had to keep the pups, punks and rubes--that would be the candidates--in line. He cut them off--"Congressman, that's time!"--and occasionally hectored. One of the stars was the buzzing clock. It interrupted all thought.

And that’s just for starters. Good stuff, that. I like Peggy Noonan. As for the candidates themselves? Feh. Or…in other words…it’s waaay too early to tell.

Today began in a classical music sorta way…a not-too-infrequent break from my usual rock-pop mindset. I took my morning coffee on the verandah today (well, the first two cups, anyway), enjoying the early morning’s gentle breezes before they turn into the forecasted gales. While enjoying the relative quiet of the morning…everyone’s gone to work, the kids are off to school…it hit me that the moment was supremely right for Beethoven’s “Pastorale.” So… a quick hop, skip, and a jump into El Casa Móvil De Pennington, along with a brief shuffling about in the CD repository, and the sweet strains of the “Pastorale” were drifting out over beautiful La Hacienda Trailer Park. Followed up with Copland’s “Rodeo” and “Appalachian Spring,” and then by Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.” Wow. A great beginning to what I hope will be a great day.

So far, so good.

An Explanation and Other Stuff

So. After putting up that out-of-focus quasi-biker pic yesterday I said “I may be back later with News of the World. And I may not.” “Not” won out, as you can plainly see. There are reasons for this and, not so coincidentally, the dearth of political-oriented posts at EIP these last few. Firstly…I’ve been a bit…um…pre-occupied with the new acquisition. Second, I’ve been having great difficulty reading and digesting the news coming out of Washington, Iraq, and other points around the globe. Not because the concepts are difficult to absorb and understand, but because it’s all so danged depressing. Enter Lex (from yesterday):

In my heart of hearts, I want to believe that all of the politicians that the American people have in their wisdom elected to offices of great national prominence have the best interests of the Republic at heart. That, while they may disagree from one side of the aisle to the other on the “how” of the national enterprise, the “what” is consistent. That we might disagree upon means but not ends. That the country comes first, especially in a time of war, especially beyond our borders.

This is a dream I have.

Sometimes it’s hard to sustain.

It’s that list bit about the difficulty in sustaining the dream that’s infected me and caused me to withdraw from the fray. I read the news these days and my immediate reaction is “Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot??” followed nearly instantaneously by “What are they THINKING?” And then I shake my head slowly from side to side, literally, and move on to something less heart-rending, like hockey (less heart-rending for the moment, I might add). Because there are only so many ways one can disagree (politically) and express that disagreement, and I’ve just about used them up…all of them. And Mom always said “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” That’s me and politics, of late.

I should add that, in spite of all the doom and gloom inferred in the foregoing, I believe we’ll survive and even prosper. The news is forever bad, catastrophe is just around the corner, and the next corner, and the next, and it has always been so…will ever BE so. The country and I survived both the Cold War and Vietnam, minor miracles if one believed the apocalyptic news and dire predictions of those by-gone days. Somehow we muddled through.

But today’s crises seem different, more existential, than those of yore…as if the possibility of incineration via a tit-for-tat exchange of nuclear warheads launched from North Dakota and Kazakhstan wasn’t existential (it was), or the falling dominoes of South East Asia wouldn’t somehow relegate us to Third World status (they didn’t). Nukes in the hands of terrorists is another ball of wax entirely; Iraq as the locus of global terrorism is a distinct possibility should we fail in our efforts there, as is Afghanistan, Pakistan, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, and so on…ad nauseum.

And our the Democrats answer is to withdraw? More to the point, the Democrats’ political posturing and egregious displays of Bush Derangement Syndrome, while simultaneously offering us nothing substantial (or even trivial…because there’s…well…nothing) in the way of strategy or tactics to replace what they so stridently oppose is worrisome. To the frickin’ MAX. Sometimes it’s very hard to see how we’re gonna muddle through this one, especially given the terminal ignorance, willful obstructionism, and lack of alternatives offered up by the “loyal opposition.”

But I’ve said all that before. And now I’ve said it again. I get tired of saying it. And so I’ve withdrawn from commenting on the madness. Just thought you’d wanna know.

Now…all that said…here’s some politics, in a way…

As a commenter at LGF sez: “Wow! A flying pig moment for sure.” And what’s that “When pigs fly…” comment all about? Just this: "The Israeli-Hezbollah War of 2006: The Media as a Weapon in Asymmetrical Conflict." The title is a bit innocuous but the content is incendiary, saying outright that the media became a “fiery advocate” for Hezbollah.

Of course, the Right pointed this out all along…this blog (a minute point of light in the ‘sphere, to be sure) is filled with examples and links from that time…and I was especially critical of the Beeb’s reporting, which insulted my intelligence while simultaneously turning my stomach. No mean feat, that. All ya gotta do is read the archives from summer of last year. But now Harvard, I repeat…HARVARD… has given its imprimatur to a report that essentially vindicates what the Right has been saying all along: that the media has been cheerleading for the terrorists. Hell, it’s beyond cheerleading. According to Marvin Kalb, the media were part and parcel of Hamas’ war effort. It’s not that big a leap to further extend the thought that the media support other terrorist organizations and states, such as Syria and Iran, if you so desire. It ain’t that hard to do. And I’m not talking about al Jazeera, either. Can you spell N-Y-T? I thought you could.

Full text of the report, in pdf format, is available here. It will be interesting to see/hear what the Left is gonna say about this, if it says anything at all. I’m predicting crickets.

Hockey…The conference semi-finals began last evening, with easy-looking victories going to Anaheim and Buffalo (emphasis on the “looking;” nothing is easy in the play-offs). Both the Ducks and the Sabres are heavily favored in their series, what with being the number two seed in the West and the number one seed in the East, respectively. Detroit and San Jose begin their series tonight, as does New Jersey and Ottawa. Just for grins and giggles, here’s how the major sports guys predict the Wings will fare (hat tip to Kukla’s Corner for the links)

Canadian Press: Sharks in six.
ESPN (Buccigross): Sharks in seven.
Toronto Globe and Mail (Eric Duhatschek): Sharks in six.
Toronto Globe and Mail (Tim Wharnsby): Wings in seven.
NBC Sports (Clement): Wings in seven
NBC Sports (Hull): Wings in seven.
NBC Sports (Ferraro): Sharks in six.
The Hockey News: Two analysts…one sez Sharks in seven, the other says Wings in seven.
TSN (Canada): Maggie the Monkey (Det), Bob McKenzie (SJ), Darren Dreger (Det), Darren Pang (Det), Jeremy Roenick (SJ), and James Duthie (SJ)

I think I have enough fingers to get this right…eight say San Jose, seven say Detroit… six if you exclude Maggie the Monkey, who went 9-6 in her predictions last year (which was FAR better than YrHmblScrb did). Exclude Maggie at your peril. ALL say the series will go at least six games; ALL agree that the Wings – Sharks will be the most entertaining series in the second round.

The bad news is Detroit is suffering from injuries to two KEY players…Tomas Holmstrom and Brett Lebda. Helene St. James:

The Wings drew admirers headed into the playoffs because of their depth -- but six games in, that has dwindled. Holmstrom is nursing a cut left eyelid, and while he's officially day-to-day, that can mean anything from a Game 2 return to missing two weeks. Brett Lebda is dealing with a sore right ankle, though he should return during the series. His injury further depletes a defense that saw Niklas Kronwall suffer a fractured sacrum in his pelvis March 30, which will keep him out through mid-May. That has left Kyle Quincey to play on the third pairing.

Hard to say which is the greater loss…Lebda is sorely (no pun intended) needed on the blue line, what with San Jose’s potent offense (Thornton and Cheechoo, just to name two). The Freep’s columnists are split on the outcome of this series: Four (including Mitch Albom) say the Wings win; one (St. James) says Sharks. All predict six games or more.

Wow. This series looks to be one for the ages… Here’s hoping that (a) my heart holds up to the end and (b) it won’t be broken again. It begins this afternoon at 5:30, my time. Fat Tire, popcorn, and the aspirin are ready!

Wow, again. It’s calm outside, as I type. Perhaps the day will be right for riding. Or performing long-neglected RV maintenance, such as washing the danged thing. And the bike needs a wash, as well. The day looks like it has potential for all three of these things. Let us pray…

Today’s Pic: Grandaughter Angelina (AKA, affectionately, Goo Goo) and Argus, the longtime canine companion of The Family Sam. Argus desperately wants in the kitchen, Angelina can’t make up her mind whether to let him in, or not. He eventually made it in…

Brunswick, Maine. June, 2006.