Rusted Sky

When I was in second grade, I was in Cub Scouts for a while. I don't remember why I quit - whether Mother and Father just didn't want to be bothered or what - but I remember one Father-son event which involved getting mistletoe from the trees in one of the local parks. We never went camping as a den or a pack, that I recall. And after a while, well, it just kind of faded away. I remember reading "Boys Life" magazine, and thinking it was great - but all that hiking and stuff... well, that just didn't happen. Cub Scouts and I just never... jelled.

Fast forward (mumblenumber) years. This is the little guy's second year in Cub Scouts. He likes the camping events, he likes the Cub Scout stuff, and we're doing the Cub Scout thing... and I'm glad to watch him doing it. Will it be a long-term thing? I don't know - but he's interested in it for now, and that's the important thing. When it comes to backpacking trips in a few years... I don't think I'll be able to do that with him. The evulsion fracture on my ankle's made it iffy. But we can do other things. And I'm so proud of him...

BTW, if you're interested in a simple, quick, cheap cookie recipie, here you go.

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg

Beat egg, add to peanut butter and sugar in mixing bowl. Put tablespoon sized blobs on a cookie sheet. Flatten somewhat out with a fork for the traditional peanut butter cookie crosshatch pattern. (Alternatively, add 1oz cocoa powder, and form into the appropriate elongated, pointy shapes - 2nd graders have a low sense of humor and will find the idea of eating 'poop' cookies fun.)

Bake at 350 for ten minutes. Then let cool for a couple of minutes, then slide off onto a plate to continue cooling.

A batch will make about 18 cookies.

Man, I'll type about anything on this blog, won't I?

Take a look over at Wizbang. Apparently they need drivers BAD in New Orleans.

Wizbang

If you've got a CDL, then you've got a job waiting in New Orleans. Just start on the west side of town and go east. Look for the hand painted signs everywhere. You don't need your own truck, we've got plenty... Well except for the water delivery company who had 47 of them stolen but that's another story.

Just get yourself down here and you'll have a ride in under an hour.

J.

For your enjoyment - a bit of history.

"The Adventures of Brigadier General John Stark" By Eric A. Burns

"Yeah, that went over big with the wife."

Enjoy!

J.

Hmmm. Think it'll find an audience?

‘Rocket racing league’ unveiled - The New Space Race - MSNBC.com

Louder than NASCAR, visually more exciting than the Reno Air races, and there's the chance of seeing someone fry....

This is prime time entertainment for sure!

J.

I was getting a nice long post ready, with the characteristics of memorable SF series, and I lost it all.

Man, I hate it when that happens.

So, quick recap -

Memorable SF that made it long-term (2 seasons or more) in the last 25 years or so:

ST:NG
Babylon 5
Deep Space 9
Voyager
Sliders
Andromeda (Never seen the series, so I'll be guessing here...)
V(4 seasons, if not contiguous)
Farscape

Series that didn't make it (that I remember, anyway)

Battlestar Galactica (Two, then there was that Battlestar Galactica 1979 - urg)
Buck Rogers
Space: Above and Beyond
Firefly

A sucessful contemporary (post 1980) SF series needs (IMHO):

1. Characters you care about, who learn and grow and change with the story arc. (Babylon 5, ST:DS9, ST:V, Sliders, Farscape)
When the character resets after each episode, it's like watching a video game. That's the most common problem with TV SF - when a character comes up against stimulus X, he reacts in fashion Y - every damn time. It's very frustrating to watch, especially when Y will consistently cause problems, which the character never seems to learn from.

2. At least one hot babe. (Come on, it's TV with maybe movie spinoffs. You gotta have the eye candy.)
I mean, come on. You're going for the fanboy (and fangirl) demographic here - the women have to good looking/exotic, the men handsome and studly. Guys didn't watch Xena for the forest sequences, after all. Neither did the women.

3. A story arc - with the episodes advancing the story line.
If there's no continuing story, you can do some pretty good things with episodic fare - but it's a lot harder to keep a purpose going. For example, in Sliders the overall plot was "How in the hell do we get home?" Simplistic, but effective, especially if you've ever been lost and tried to find your way somewhere.

4. A sense of humor.

Without all 4 of those - along with a network that understands that story arcs need to be presented in order (at least at first, which is what killed off Firefly) - it's hard for any SF show to make it in today's competitive market.

I'll be adding links to this as I search them out again. Or maybe you've got examples...

J.

This is... unexpected.

Well, better late than never, right?

Iraq: Insurgent Groups Responsible for War Crimes (Human Rights Watch, 3-10-2005)

Report Challenges Justifications for Attacks on Civilians
(Amman, October 3, 2005) – The various rationales offered by insurgent groups in Iraq for their attacks on civilians are not justified in international law, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and the ensuing military occupation has resulted in tens of thousands of civilian deaths and sparked the emergence of these insurgent groups. Two chapters in the report summarize laws of war violations by U.S. and Iraqi government forces. But these violations do not justify the insurgents’ unlawful attacks, the report says.

“U.S. forces have used excessive and indiscriminate force, tortured detainees and held thousands of Iraqis without due process,” Whitson said. “But that does not justify attacks by insurgent groups that have deliberately targeted and killed civilians.”

Previous Human Rights Watch reports have documented the U.S. military’s use of indiscriminate and excessive force, illegal detentions, and the use of torture at places like Abu Ghraib, as well as torture by the Iraqi police (see list below).

The new report analyzes the insurgency in Iraq and highlights the groups that are most responsible for the abuse, namely al-Qaeda in Iraq, Ansar al-Sunna and the Islamic Army in Iraq, which have all targeted civilians for abductions and executions. The first two groups have repeatedly boasted about massive car bombs and suicide bombs in mosques, markets, bus stations and other civilian areas. Such acts are war crimes and in some cases may constitute crimes against humanity, which are defined as serious crimes committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population.

The report documents the assassinations of government officials, politicians, judges, journalists, humanitarian aid workers, doctors, professors and those deemed to be collaborating with the foreign forces in Iraq, including translators, cleaners and others who perform civilian jobs for the U.S.-led Multi-National Force. Insurgents have directed suicide and car bomb attacks at Shi`a mosques, Christian churches and Kurdish political parties with the purpose of killing civilians. Allegations that these communities are legitimate targets because they support the foreign forces in Iraq have no basis in international law, which requires the protection of any civilian who is not actively participating in the hostilities.

Insurgent groups also have tortured and summarily executed civilians and captured combatants in their custody, sometimes by beheading. And they have carried out attacks against legitimate military targets, such as army convoys, in such a manner that the foreseeable loss of civilian life was greatly disproportionate to the military gain.

Some insurgent groups and supporters of the insurgency have condemned attacks targeting civilians. In one case, a group ordered its members to avoid attacks on civilians and apparently stopped operations in urban areas where civilians might get hurt. The report recommends that all insurgent groups issue similar condemnations and order their members to stop attacking civilians.

Political and religious leaders in Iraq and abroad who support the insurgency should also condemn unlawful attacks, the report said. Human Rights Watch has been meeting with representatives of the media and civil society in the Arab world to discuss the practice of targeting civilians by armed groups in the Middle East.

“People we have spoken with in the Middle East are increasingly repulsed by the behavior of insurgent groups in Iraq, even if they support a withdrawal of U.S. troops,” Whitson said. “It is time for political and religious leaders who support the insurgency to denounce the atrocities in public.”

But you know the real money quote for me?

“There are no justifications for targeting civilians, in Iraq or anywhere else,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa Division. “Armed groups as well as governments must respect the laws of war.”

WorldTribune.com: Media's coverage has distorted world's view of Iraqi reality

Editors' Note: LTC Tim Ryan is Commander, Task Force 2-12 Cavalry, First Cavalry Division in Iraq. He led troops into battle in Fallujah late last year and is now involved in security operations for the upcoming elections. He wrote the following during "down time" after the Fallujah operation. His views are his own.

All right, I've had enough. I am tired of reading distorted and grossly exaggerated stories from major news organizations about the "failures" in the war in Iraq. "The most trusted name in news" and a long list of others continue to misrepresent the scale of events in Iraq. Print and video journalists are covering only a fraction of the events in Iraq and, more often than not, the events they cover are only negative.
The inaccurate picture they paint has distorted the world view of the daily realities in Iraq. The result is a further erosion of international support for the United States' efforts there, and a strengthening of the insurgents' resolve and recruiting efforts while weakening our own. Through their incomplete, uninformed and unbalanced reporting, many members of the media covering the war in Iraq are aiding and abetting the enemy.

...

The number of attacks in the greater Al Anbar Province is down by at least 70-80 percent from late October — before Operation Al Fajar began. The enemy in this area is completely defeated, but not completely gone. Final eradication of the pockets of insurgents will take some time, as it always does, but the fact remains that the central geographic stronghold of the insurgents is now under friendly control. That sounds a lot like success to me. Given all of this, why don't the papers lead with "Coalition Crushes Remaining Pockets of Insurgents" or "Enemy Forces Resort to Suicide Bombings of Civilians"? This would paint a far more accurate picture of the enemy's predicament over here. Instead, headlines focus almost exclusively on our hardships.

What about the media's portrayal of the enemy? Why do these ruthless murderers, kidnappers and thieves get a pass when it comes to their actions? What did the the media show or tell us about Margaret Hassoon, the director of C.A.R.E. in Iraq and an Iraqi citizen, who was kidnapped, brutally tortured and left disemboweled on a street in Fallujah? Did anyone in the press show these images over and over to emphasize the moral failings of the enemy as they did with the soldiers at Abu Ghuraib? Did anyone show the world how this enemy had huge stockpiles of weapons in schools and mosques, or how he used these protected places as sanctuaries for planning and fighting in Fallujah and the rest of Iraq? Are people of the world getting the complete story? The answer again is no! What the world got instead were repeated images of a battle-weary Marine who made a quick decision to use lethal force and who immediately was tried in the world press. Was this one act really illustrative of the overall action in Fallujah? No, but the Marine video clip was shown an average of four times each hour on just about every major TV news channel for a week. This is how the world views our efforts over here and stories like this without a counter continually serve as propaganda victories for the enemy. Al Jazeera isn't showing the film of the C.A.R.E. worker, but is showing the clip of the Marine. Earlier this year, the Iraqi government banned Al Jazeera from the country for its inaccurate reporting. Wonder where they get their information now? Well, if you go to the Internet, you'll find a web link from the Al Jazeera home page to CNN's home page. Very interesting.It's pretty clear that we haven't gotten the whole story from Iraq - in fact, I don't think we've been getting a tenth of it. This story was published in January - yet it's still very, very relevant.

J.

In the last portion of this series, we defined the 4 items that made up a sucessful SF series.

1. Characters you cared about.
2. At least one hot babe
3. A story arc (and as Tim reminds me, subplots that advance the main plot)
4. A sense of humor. (Don't forget to hover over the links for a bit'o'snark'.)

Let's look at #1 - what makes a sympathetic character? I think that varies from person to person, but for me the following characteristics apply. The character has to have flaws, and be at least nominally aware of them. The character has to have virtues, yet not be overtly aware of them. The character has to do what they consider 'the right thing' in difficult situations - and if the right thing isn't the easiest thing, they go ahead and do it anyway. When the right thing is going to cost them a hell of a lot, they end up doing it anyway and accepting the consequences. That increases their stature in our eyes - usually.

Okay, what about #2?

I think it's pretty self-evident that there's going to be eye candy in SF. Even as far back as "Lost In Space", you had the studly hero and the sexy heroine. As time went on, you had Star Trek and Kirk's Babe of the Week.

Fast forward to "Battlestar Galactica". Of course, the current series has its share of eye candy, but the 1978 series had some tasty bits also. And let's not forget Buck Rogers and Wilma Deering and Princess Ardala, who changed a bit.

Of course, the later Star Trek series had some eye candy too.

Of course, things changed. There was Lexx, and Stargate SG-1 which has been around for 8 or so years (an incredibly long time in the broadcast SF universe...) which also has some eye candy, though a bit covered up.

Babylon 5 had some eye candy, along with sympathetic characters. And some rather exotic women.

Then there's Farscape. (I'll include more links and finish later.)

J.

...atbout Harriet Miers being proposed as a Supreme Court Justice.

TIME.com: A Sampling of the Writings of Harriet Miers -- Page 1

What kind of Supreme Court justice would Harriet Miers be? For anyone trying to assess her qualifications, analyze her philosophy and predict her behavior, Miers would seem to present a fairly blank slate. She has no judicial resume and hasn't left a long trail of noteworthy memos, briefs, oral argument transcripts or law journal articles.

I figure she'll do a decent job. She's already said she won't legislate from the bench, that she'll actually go by what's in the Constitution instead of reading things into it. That'll do for me.

The media, however, need something to obsess about. This is much more interesting than anything coming out of Iraq or Afghanistan, and much closer, too. This way, they can all stay stateside and eat at the finest restaurants in Washington, DC... as opposed to MREs.

So. Miers? Big yawn. Wake me when it's over.

J.

Okay, does THIS go over the limits of political correctness? Apparently the British flag is now offensive, and it must be changed.

Race fears spark St. George ban

Chris Doyle, director of the Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding, said Tuesday the red cross was an insensitive reminder of the Crusades.

"A lot of Muslims and Arabs view the Crusades as a bloody episode in our history," he told CNN. "They see those campaigns as Christendom launching a brutal holy war against Islam.

"Muslim or Arab prisoners could take umbrage if staff wore a red cross badge. It's also got associations with the far-right. Prison officers should be seen to be neutral."

Doyle added that it was now time for England to find a new flag and a patron saint who is "not associated with our bloody past and one we can all identify with."

J.

Or in this case, a pig. Or, to be even more precise, Piglet.

From Winnie the Pooh. Yeah, that piglet. See title of last post for what I think about this.

Telegraph | Opinion | Making a pig's ear of defending democracy

After all, how daffy does a Muslim's willingness to take offence have to be to get rejected out of court? Only the other day, Burger King withdrew its ice-cream cones from its British restaurants because Mr Rashad Akhtar of High Wycombe, after a trip to the Park Royal branch, complained that the creamy swirl on the lid resembled the word "Allah" in Arabic script. (IF you turn the label a quarter turn and squint. ed.)

It doesn't, not really, not except that in the sense any twirly motif looks vaguely Arabic. After all, Burger King isn't suicidal enough to launch Allah Ice-Cream. But, after Mr Akhtar urged Muslims to boycott the chain and claimed that "this is my jihad", Burger King yanked the ice-cream and announced that, design-wise, it was going back to the old drawing-board.

Offence is, by definition, in the eye of the beholder. I once toured the Freud Museum with the celebrated sex therapist Dr Ruth, who claimed to be able to see a penis in every artwork and piece of furniture in the joint. Yet, when I suggested one sculpture looked vaguely like the female genitalia, she scoffed mercilessly.

Likewise, Piglet is deeply offensive and so's your chocolate ice-cream, but if a West End play opens with a gay Jesus, Christians just need to stop being so doctrinaire and uptight. The Church of England bishops would probably agree with that if, in their own misguided attempt at Islamic outreach, they weren't so busy apologising for toppling Saddam.

....

It has been clear since July 7 that the state has no real idea what to do to reconcile the more disaffected elements of its fastest-growing demographic. But at some point Britons have to ask themselves - while they're still permitted to discuss the question more or less freely - how much of their country they're willing to lose. The Hundred-Acre Wood is not the terrain on which one would choose to make one's stand, but from here on in it is only going to become more difficult.

That's a question that will be more and more relevant as time passes, and more 'offending' things are found.

Whoops. Looks like LASSIE would be next. Apparently dogs are even MORE reviled than pigs.

They'd better figure out what 'tolerance' means pretty quick. If they don't... well, there's a whole lot of dog lovers that won't put away their calenders and coffee cups so easily...

J.

Well, there might be a limited amount of fools after all. It could well be that after seeing a lot of their friends go off to cover themselves in glory... and never seeing them return, or even really know what happened... the glories of jihad are starting to pale.

WorldTribune.com: The new insurgency: Foreign, untrained teenagers

"The very interesting thing is that the younger foreign fighter that we're seeing now — very poorly trained," said Col. Robert Brown, commander of the U.S. Army 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division. "We would call them more like RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades] for hire."

Brown, whose Stryker brigade operates in the Mosul area, told a Pentagon briefing on Sept. 14 that the teenaged foreign fighters began to arrive in northern Iraq last February.

He said the military captured Algerians, Libyans, Saudis and Yemenis, many of them as young as 15. About 70 percent of the insurgents who fought in Tal Afar near the Syrian border earlier this month were said to be foreigners.

...

In an address to a Washington conference, investigative journalist Peter Bergen said foreign fighters launched 91 percent of suicide bomb attacks in Iraq.

"We did face well-trained foreign fighters prior to January elections," Brown said. "We have not faced well-trained foreign fighters since. Since February of this year until now, we have not seen any well-trained, in fact, very poorly trained foreign fighters. So whoever was training them before, I don't know, but apparently they've lost their support and they're not able to train them."

In August, the military captured a Libyan who they said had been brainwashed. Brown said the Libyan told U.S. interrogators that he thought he had been recruited to fight U.S. forces in Iraq. Instead, he was pressed to become a suicide bomber.

Damn.

The result of all this is a sharp decrease in the number of Sunni insurgency attacks in northern Iraq. Commanders said the drop began in June 2005 along with the disruption of the Al Qaida leadership.

"Nobody's taken over [Al Qaida] now," Brown said. "It's not a very popular position because if they step up, they get captured or killed. And so they're really disrupted, totally different."

At the same time, Sunnis in the north has turned against the insurgents. Commanders said that unlike 2004, Iraqi residents have begun to relay tips on insurgency plots and attacks in the Mosul area.

Brown said the number of mortar attacks in the Mosul province has dropped from 300 to six per month. U.S. and Iraqi forces have captured more than 142 mortar systems in 2005, he said.

Bergen said the Iraq war marked a training ground for Islamic insurgencies throughout the world. Widespread use of improvised explosive devices would serve as a model for future conflicts. "We have to prepare ourselves for blowback from the Iraq war," Bergen said.

15.

Damn.

J.

Sorry, couldn't resist...

Superman has small todger: official | The Register

It's official: Superman may be able to leap a tall building with a single bound but he's completely lacking super powers in the trouser department.

John C. reminds me of the classic Larry Niven article Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex - which has more information than you EVER wanted to know about Superman's sex life.

J.

Now THIS is something else. (SFW, unless you work in a Budwieser plant)

Best Ads On TV

Now THAT'S an AD.

Lots of others there that are, um, interesting. And funny.

Enjoy!

J.

Fight to the death

Wow. Guess that's one way to keep the python population down...

J.

IKEA has a product line, and marketing techniques, that tend to be a bit... quirky. There's some odd commercials out there for that company, and did you know they even deliver?

Disclaimer - first ad to the contrary IKEA IS a family-safe environment. (The little guy and I had dinner there last night, ended up getting a couple of PELLO chairs and other misc. stuff...) It's a great place to waste an evening...

J.

... that it only makes sense to scale it up (or down) to having a consortium of governments run the Internet.

Yeah, I get a cringy feeling abut it too. But apparently the EU (which is also a model of international and economic cooperation) doesn't like seeing the US have control. So let's get everyone's hand in, and it'll all run better.

Right?

Guardian Unlimited Technology | Technology | Breaking America's grip on the net

Man, I get a really bad feeling about this. But on the good side - they'll probably not screw it up too badly. I mean, really, when they can't even manage to decide on a constitution they're going to have a hell of a time figuring out how to control the Internet. At least... so I hope.

J.

Or, actually, the assembly of an IKEA chair...

How easy is IKEA furniture to assemble? Well, fairly easy. As related before, I picked up a couple of their Pello chairs the other night. Last night, before the little guy took his bath, I told him I was going to assemble one of the chairs. I opened the box up, he carried the cushion up, and I took the rest. Then he was off to get his bath - and by the time I'd gotten the framework together, about ten minutes, he was back in his safety gear. (That was the fastest bath he's taken in months. Literally.) Safety gear? His leather jacket, his boots. And he went to get the first aid kit. (grin)

IKEA instructions are pictographic, not written... at least, in the items I've bought so far that needed instructions. They're all very clear, step by step, and so well done that a 2nd grader was able to tell me what to do without any problems. (grin)

The only problem I had was in getting the fabric sleeve over the seat framework - it was pretty stiff and a pain to get on - but I got it into place, got the legs on, got the spacers in place, got everything tightened down (I let the little guy do a lot of the bolt tightening, doing the final torquing myself) and got the cushion on. Then he wanted to be the first one in it to try it out. (He was, after all, wearing safety gear if anything went wrong.)

After it'd been tested, he let Sue and I sit in it. And he made an interesting observation. Due to the design of the chair, it sinks a bit when you sit in it. He measured how much it went down for Sue, and how much for me... and then he thought about it, and asked "Daddy, are you heavier than Mommy?" I told him I thought so - and he said that the chair could be used as a scale since it sinks more when the person's heavy than when they're light.

Dang. Who knew assembling a chair could be so educational?

J.

It's worse than you think. But then, it usually is. (But in a good way - honest.)

John B posted the following comment on IKEA Assembly

Keep reciting the prayer for the parents of exceptional children:

Thank you Lord for the Blessing You have given me. Now what the hell do I do?

Amen.

Posted by: jbouler at October 7, 2005 05:14 PM

This evening as we were headed home, he also told me about an idea he had - having planes fly themselves. In broad concept it was about the same as some of the UAV systems that have been developed which are using GPS and radar for guidance and collision avoidance. Details were naturally sparse because he doesn't know what's out there already, (he knows about GPS already, since I've got a GPS receiver) but he told me his ideas and they fit up with a lot of proposals and development from NASA.

I was surprised, to put it mildly.

I'm starting to get the feeling I'm trying to feed a 20 GPM pump with a garden hose. I'm able to answer his questions for now - but cripes, he's only in second grade! When he starts going after details big-time, I'll be using Google a lot and trying to get him to figure out how to filter stuff properly.

I suppose I should have expected this - we've been encouraging an interest in aviation - but it's always a surprise when your child shows you just WHAT is going on in that quart of gray pudding between their ears...

J.

... may have doomed New Orleans. That, and overzealous pumping. But it was the levee engineering that really blew chunks, apparently.

Solomon's House: On the Levees of New Orleans and
Solomon's House: On the Levees of New Orleans, Book II do a pretty extensive analysis of the levee system, the pumping process, and what can happen when you use rubber flaps to seal between blocks in a floodwall.

(What can happen? It fails. What'd you expect?)

There's also evidence that barrier sheet wall which was supposed to go down 30 to 40 feet really went down only about 3 or 4.

Let's hope they rebuild the levees RIGHT, instead of just patching things up...

J.

FOXNews.com - U.S. & World - Program Teaching Kids About Guns Draws Fire

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Five-year-old Jeff Jagels, of Bakersfield, Calif., is just starting school in Kern County, but he already knows what to do when he sees a gun.

And other 5-year-olds in his neighborhood are about to learn what Jagels knows, too.

"Stop, don't touch, leave the area, tell an adult," is what the youngsters are told by cartoon character Eddie Eagle.

The Eddie Eagle Gun Safety Program is a free National Rifle Association project that teaches kids what to do when they see a gun.

The fact that we're teaching a child not to touch a gun, to walk away from it, to tell an adult about the gun, that's going to make a child safer,” said Superintendent Larry Reider.

But of course, someone does.

But others disagree. Local emergency room doctor Art Kellermann has treated his share of juvenile gunshot victims. He’s skeptical of any plan that puts the burden on a young child to make a critical judgment about firearms.

“Nobody should trust Eddie Eagle to make their child any safer than before they took the program," Kellermann said. “Rather than try over and over again to gun-proof our kids, I think we ought to child-proof our guns."

The Kern County superintendent will be sending Eddie Eagle tapes out to the district next week — but says it will be up to the individual schools whether to use them.

J.

Somehow, I don't think the caroling will help. Catchy tune, though.

AtomFilms - Non-Abductees Anonymous

Everyone needs a little support now and then... even those who aren't "chosen." Catch a special insider's glimpse of the support group for people who have NEVER been abducted by aliens.

J.

What matters in politics is getting as much of what you want as possible, while not getting as much as possible of what you didn't want. Over at Skymusings: Misunderstimation and the bigger picture there's a rather interesting premise built up - that Bush knows what he's doing, and that both Conservatives and Liberals are playing right into his hands with their usual hysterics.

The President knows fully that had he nominated Luttig or one of the other Scalia types that we have hungered for, it would have triggered war with the Dems (not necessarily bad in and of itself). The problem is that this war would likely be lost due to the defection of his own RINOs, and the guarantee of Dem solidarity. Why fight the war you can't win? It makes infinitely more sense in these circumstances to slip in a Stealth nominee that will fool the Dems into thinking she's another O'Connor. If the President is convinced she will in fact be a solid conservative originalist, then he will have achieved true diplomacy in that he made the Dems think they won while he got exactly what he wanted. From his gubernatorial contests on down through his presidential contests he has consistently been the Dummy That Outsmarted The Smarties. He is a risk-taker, and he knows his opponents better than they know themselves.

I agree that in most cases it would be best to take the fight to them, to put in someone we know we will all stand behind, and be someone steeped in judicial knowledge, experience, and scholarship. The problem is that this person will never get confirmed in the current political arena -- Remember Judge Bork?

My clarion call is for conservatives to stop for a moment, consider the things I have said here, and to remember that politics does not happen in a vacuum. There is ALWAYS a bigger picture, and most have missed it.

I think Skymuse is more on target here than some would think. Bush is looking to stack the Supreme court with folks who won't 'interpret' stuff into the Constitution that isn't there. If the person he nominates isn't a hard-core conservative firebreather, who actually donated to (gasp) Democratic campaigns before... who has a whole host of things that would make Republican hard-liners froth wildly... yet still would avoid legislating from the bench...

And she gets confirmed... how does he lose?

J.

From PowerLine, there's the following. Please notice what I've emphasized.

Power Line: A word from Major E.It's been too long since we heard from Major E., our man at Camp Victory in Baghdad. Major E. writes:

I have been home for a couple of weeks as my wife and I await the 'any day' arrival of our first child. Since returning, I have had the honor of being asked to address several civic and political groups and share a slideshow and narrative from experiences in Iraq.

What has struck me the most is how starved people are to know what is really going on over there. So many are quite grateful to hear a different perspective than the one that bombards them daily. Having watched the biased reporting since the beginning of the conflict, I was not surprised to discover that people want a more balanced perspective, even if the intensity is stronger than I expected. What has been surprising, though, and a bit disappointing, is that there has been a distinct split between the interest level of partisan political groups. I contacted county leadership for both Democrats and Republicans, along with non-partisan church and civic groups, and have received numerous requests from churches, non-partisan groups, and Republican organizations -- but zero from Democrats, despite following up with them several times.

I hope it is an anomaly, but I wonder if the fact that Democratic leaders in my county would rather accuse the troops at Gitmo of running a "gulag" than hear about the experiences of a service member who just returned from Iraq might be driving some folks away from their tent of "tolerance," not just here in Northern California but around the country.

After a talk to a Republican group the other night, one couple came up to me and explained that they grew up in strongly Democratic families, joling that they knew about both God and FDR, but were unsure about who came first. But today's Democratic party, they said, had strayed so far from their beliefs that they can no longer vote Democratic.

I told them about my late grandfather, Henry, with whom I had grown up identifying the Democratic party. He was a career steelworker and patriotic union member who not only helped build the SF-Oakland Bay Bridge and restore the Golden Gate, but also took me to my first Oakland A's game. Having known his values and belief in the greatness of America, however, I believe that if he were alive today, Grandpa Hank would sadly agree with the couple about the state of his Democratic party.

That is unfortunate because our nation needs two parties that believe in America as a great country, even if each has a different strategy for making it better. Two parties are needed so that a healthy balance can become at risk in any society if there is only one perspective. Yet, until the rank-and-file Democrats start choosing leaders who represent America's values and genuinely support American troops, I fear they may continue to be a party that even die-hard Democrats from the Greatest Generation will find themselves unable to support.

As far as the situation in Iraq is concerned, suffice to say that things are going much better over there than is being reported, and I am confident that the voter participation in the upcoming constitutional referendum and in December's elections will confirm that.

The anti-Iraqi forces seem to win the battle for daily headlines, but we win on the big events--because, as on January 30th, the victory was so big as to be undeniable. More important that scoring PR points, though, is the fact that life of the average Iraqi is improving and the legitimacy of the new government is growing.

Thank you to the Power Line readers for supporting the troops and seeking out a broader perspective on what is really going on over there.

Blessings,
Major E.
(back from Baghdad--for a while)

You know, I think when a group has to self-label with a descriptive identity (like 'reality-based' party or 'moral majority') they've gone a long way from what they want to be labeled. "Reality-based" shouldn't just focus on one or two things that support the ideology - it should be looking at ALL aspects to make sure what they think is reality is congruent with what they're observing. Real "Reality-based" would have invited this Major and listened to what he had to say, instead of ignoring what wouldn't fit the worldview. "Reality-based" would look at folks who cheerfully hack off heads and randomly bomb other Muslims, and perhaps wonder just what the insurgents would provide that the majority of the population in Iraq and Afghanistan are fighting against.

"Reality-based" questions authority... except within itself and its attitudes.

Hence - Major E was definitely persona non gratia to the Democrats.

That's too bad. They might have gotten some value from an alternative viewpoint.

Good luck to you and your family, Major E - and thanks for the work you do.

J.

Sue asked the other day just what it was I liked about IKEA. I considered it a bit, and decided there's three things.

1. They've got a sense of humor, and try to spread it.
2. They've got a WIDE variety of good products for a reasonable price.
3. They try to make shopping as pleasant as possible.

I've liked the spare, clean lines of Scandanavian furniture for a long time. (Part of that's my parent's fault - you grow up in a house cluttered with antiques and French Provincial furniture and you'd be looking for clean and uncluttered too... which is odd because I always manage to accumulate clutter. Go figure.) I've heard about IKEA for years from folks in the NE section - it seemed to be the Holy Grail of good&cheap stylish furniture, and heaven knows we didn't have much of THAT here in the '80s in Atlanta. (Sauder. Whee. And furniture stores that either cost an arm and a leg for decent furniture, or had tacky cheap stuff. Seemed like there was no alternative.)

So when they finally got one here in Atlanta, there was a good bit of rejoicing. We waited until the initial excitement died down, and then went down one evening and had dinner in their cafeteria, then browsed the store. And it wasn't like anything I'd seen in a store before. It wasn't shopping through areas of furniture and then areas of accessories - they folded the two together in their displays and showed how things fit together well, and had sample setups which showed all their product lines. Their 'living in 350 sq. ft." sample apartment was impressive - though you got the feeling that you'd need a lot of discipline to avoid buying an extra cushion for the couch, which would start a chain reaction and have your entire apartment explode outward.

It was a department store done the way Disney would do it - colorful, attractive products, with a sense of humor and style.

Of course, their style isn't for everyone. There's so many different furniture styles that it's impossible to put together a One Size Fits All store. (Those who have tried, like Levitz and Haverty's, end up seeming to me like a scattered, random arrangement of furniture groupings, with the occasional vastly overpriced accessory put on to show that indeed the furniture will bear the weight of knickknacks.. and then they end up focusing on high-end 'traditional' furniture.) And that's fine - there's folks who want the heavy stuff. Styles change, tastes vary over the years. What's popular one decade, you can't get rid of at a garage sale ten years later... and it's the rage again ten years after that.

IKEA's housewares section... again, good stuff at a good price. They've got a little bit of everything, from skillets to dish draining racks.

And they're even making houses...

You know, in 20 years they might just take over the world....

J.

But now, you can put hardwood floors on your rugs!

productdose.com - Wood Rug

Interesting idea...

J.

I'm not tremendously happy to see them do it - but maybe it'll light a fire under some other agencies.

BREITBART.COM - China opens new chapter in space history with most ambitious mission yet

China launched its second manned space mission, sending two astronauts into orbit as it opened a new chapter in its ambitious drive to become a global space power.

Shenzhou VI, based on Soviet Soyuz technology, lifted off on a Long March 2F carrier rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 9 am (0100 GMT) for a five-day mission carrying air force pilots Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng.

It entered a fixed orbit 21 minutes later.

Having two crew on board is a departure from October 2003, when Yang Liwei spent 21 hours on a solo odyssey -- a mission that made China only the third country after the United States and former Soviet Union to achieve the feat.

Some 40 seconds after Wednesday's launch the craft disappeared into the clouds, but a camera on board showed Nie waving as the launch centre said lift off and all signals were "normal".

J.

Maybe they're finally getting it.

Iraqis Reach Breakthrough Deal on Charter - Yahoo! News

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi negotiators reached a breakthrough deal on the constitution Tuesday, and at least one Sunni Arab party said it would now urge its followers to approve the charter in this weekend's referendum. Suicide bombings and other attacks killed more than 50 people in the insurgent campaign aimed at intimidating voters.

Under the deal, the two sides agreed on a mechanism to consider amending the constitution after it is approved in Saturday's referendum. The next parliament, to be formed in December, will set up a commission to consider amendments, which would later have to be approved by parliament and submitted to a referendum.

J.

History News Network

... by Tim's comment in The Retail Adventure - KIDDofSPEED - by Elena is a photographic journal of her motorcycle trips through the area contaminated by Chernobyl in the early '80s. Her commentary on the political situation in the USSR... well, let's just say she'd have been Siberia bound... if she were lucky.

J.

Pity poor Zarqawi. One of the first things you learn as a supervisor/manager in the military is that you don't chew someone out in public if at all possible.

But an intercepted letter has made it's way onto the internet, and has been translated - and Zarqawi's gotten himself a bit of an ass-chewing. I will endeavor to translate for those who are unfamiliar with the delicate phrasings involved, which look a lot like the sorts of statements you'd see in contemporary USAF EPRs and OPRs (Enlisted Performance Reports and Officer Performance Reports). The following interpretations shouldn't be seen as the actual intent of the writer, just what I read into things given my little knowledge of a lot of different subjects such as the circumlocations used in avoiding conflict in the Arabic countries and the bafflegarb used by EPR/OPR writers when they want to say someone's really screwed up - but they don't want it in plain language. What I'll translate starts on page 8.

(4 - The position on the Shia:

This subject is complicated and detailed. I have brought it up here so as not to address the general public on something they do not know. But please permit me to present it logically: (trans: Dude - you're messing up, people are concerned, and I'll try to keep this simple and to the point.)

(A) I repeat that I see the picture from afar, and I repeat that you see what we do not see. No doubt you have the right to defend yourself, the mujahedeen, and Muslims in general and in particular against any aggression or threat of aggression. (trans: We're seeing reports that your actions are ill-considered and excessive. It's all over the media, and we're wondering what's going on.)

(B) I assert here that any rational person understands with ease that the Shia cooperated with the Americans in the invasion of Afghanistan, Rafsanjani himself confessed to it, and they cooperated with them in the overthrow of Saddam and the occupation of Iraq in exchange for the Shia's assumption of power and their turning a blind eye to the American military presence in Iraq. This is clear to everybody who has two eyes. (trans: The Shia. They're apostates, they're bastards, and they dared to participate in the loss of both Afhganistan and Iraq. You know it, I know it.)

(C) People of discernment and knowledge among Muslims know the extent of danger to Islam of the Twelve'er school of Shiism. It is a religious school based on excess and falsehood whose function is to accuse the companions of Muhammad { of heresy in a campaign against Islam, in order to free the way for a group of those who call for a dialogue in the name of the hidden mahdi who is in control of existence and infallible in what he does. Their prior history in cooperating with the enemies of Islam is consistent with their current reality of connivance with the Crusaders. (Trans: They're really, really evil because they don't believe as we do, 'k?)

(D) The collision between any state based on the model of prophecy with the Shia is a matter that will happen sooner or later. This is the judgment of history, and these are the fruits to be expected from the rejectionist Shia sect and their opinion of the Sunnis.

These are clear, well-known matters to anyone with a knowledge of history, the ideologies, and the politics of states. (trans: Sooner or later, we're going to have to eliminate them. It's a given.)

(E) We must repeat what we mentioned previously, that the majority of Muslims don't comprehend this and possibly could not even imagine it. (trans: We're smarter than they are, and isn't that a good thing for Islam that we are, and we recognize the evil of the Shias?) For that reason, many of your Muslim admirers amongst the common folk are wondering about your attacks on the Shia. The sharpness of this questioning increases when the attacks are on one of their mosques, and it increases more when the attacks are on the mausoleum of Imam Ali Bin Abi Talib, may God honor him. My opinion is that this matter won't be acceptable to the Muslim populace however much you have tried to explain it, and aversion to this will continue. (trans: However, the media doesn't catch the distinction and the locals aren't buying the bullshit that you're trying to peddle that this advances the cause of Islam. You're killing them, and even if they're apostate dogs they see themselves as Muslims, and this doesn't look good.)

Indeed, questions will circulate among mujahedeen circles and their opinion makers about the correctness of this conflict with the Shia at this time. Is it something that is unavoidable? Or, is it something can be put off until the force of the mujahed movement in Iraq gets stronger? And if some of the operations were necessary for self-defense, were all of the operations necessary? Or, were there some operations that weren't called for? And is the opening of another front now in addition to the front against the Americans and the government a wise decision? Or, does this conflict with the Shia lift the burden from the Americans by diverting the mujahedeen to the Shia, while the Americans continue to control matters from afar? And if the attacks on Shia leaders were necessary to put a stop to their plans, then why were there attacks on ordinary Shia? (Trans: Dude, you're really out of whack here. You're bombing the wrong folks, you're fighting a fight that souldn't be fought right now. You're wasting resources, you're wasting money, and you're pissing off the people that you've got to live among. Yes, we're going to kill them off sometime, but that time is not now, and your focus on this is extremely short-sighted. This is not a good thing, and I suggest you stop it ASAP and start targeting Americans again.)

Won't this lead to reinforcing false ideas in their minds, even as it is incumbent on us to preach the call of Islam to them and explain and communicate to guide them to the truth? And can the mujahedeen kill all of the Shia in Iraq? Has any Islamic state in history ever tried that? And why kill ordinary Shia considering that they are forgiven because of their ignorance? And what loss will befall us if we did not attack the Shia? (trans: You can't convert a corpse. You can't get offerings from a corpse. Your attempt to convert all Shia to fertilizer is the wrong move at the wrong time, and is hurting support. We depend on you to target the Americans, hint hint. We'll take care of the others later.)

And do the brothers forget that we have more than one hundred prisoners - many of whom are from the leadership who are wanted in their countries - in the custody of the Iranians? And even if we attack the Shia out of necessity, then why do you announce this matter and make it public, which compels the Iranians to take counter measures? And do the brothers forget that both we and the Iranians need to refrain from harming each other at this time in which the Americans are targeting us? (Trans: You realize, we're tacitly working with the Iranians. As you know, they're primarily Shia. They want the Americans out, we want the Americans out. They're not happy about your targeting Shias. We need their support - without it we're toast. So STFU about your intentions, you nitwit, before you piss them off also! We'll take care of them in time, but that time is not now!)

All of these questions and others are circulating among your brothers, and they are monitoring the picture from afar, as I told you. One who monitors from afar lacks many of the important details that affect decision-making in the field. (trans: Al Jazeera's watching you make a fool of yourself, and we can only hope there's something we don't know that makes up for the stupidity you're exhibiting. People are wondering why I don't just yank your ass out of there - but you're the man on the scene until you get killed and it'd be nice to have some details behind the ideas of what you're trying to accomplish.)

However, monitoring from afar has the advantage of providing the total picture and observing the general line without getting submerged in the details, which might draw attention away from the direction of the target. As the English proverb says, the person who is standing among the leaves of the tree might not see the tree. (trans: From here, you look like an idiot. Your actions in Iraq are looking pointless and counterproductive. You're causing a lot of trouble by your decisions to indiscriminately bomb civilians and mosques.)

One of the most important factors of success is that you don't let your eyes lose sight of the target, and that it should stand before you always. Otherwise you deviate from the general line through a policy of reaction. And this is a lifetime's experience, and I will not conceal from you the fact that we suffered a lot through following this policy of reaction, then we suffered a lot another time because we tried to return to the original line. (trans: You're hurting us badly - a lot more than helping. Focus on getting the Americans out. Make them the target, not Iraqis, because we're losing serious support from both the Shia and Sunni communities. And we need that support.)

One of the most important things facing the leadership is the enthusiasm of the supporters, and especially of the energetic young men who are burning to make the religion victorious. This enthusiasm must flow wisely, and al-Mutanabbi says:

Courage in a man does suffice but not like the courage of one who is wise.

And he also says:

Judiciousness precedes the courage of the courageous which is second
And when the two blend in one free soul it reaches everywhere in the heavens. (trans: Stop thinking in terms of how many bombs you can put out, and start thinking about placing them where they'll do the most good. And the supply of suicide bombers is drying up, start recruiting the locals. We're doing this for their own good, after all, so they need to start carrying some of the C-4.)

In summation, with regard to the talk about the issue of the Shia, I would like to repeat that I see that matter from afar without being aware of all the details, I would like my words to be deserving of your attention and consideration, and God is the guarantor of success for every good thing. (trans: Listen up. Let me know immediately what your reasoning is, or I'll find someone to replace your ass. You may know the scene, but you're not irreplaceable, and if you don't get your head out of your ass soon you'll find out just how replaceable you are. Our window of opportunity is closing fast, and you're alienating the locals. Stop it. Now.)

It's pretty clear from this letter that Zawahiri's not at all pleased with Zarqawi. I don't know whether it's clear to Zarqawi just how much support he's losing by his actions - but I think that judging from this event he's not getting the message.

Austin Bay has analysis..

J.

Looks like things aren't going as expected.

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | China's spacecraft orbit 'slips'

China's Shenzhou VI spacecraft is not orbiting exactly as planned and will have to be restored to its original trajectory, state-run media say.
The "orbit maintenance operation" would take place early on Friday morning, said official news agency Xinhua.

Gravity has drawn Shenzhou VI too close to earth, the agency said.
Shenzhou VI, which has two astronauts on board, is in a low enough orbit to be affected by the Earth's gravitational pull.

As I've said before - good luck to them!

J.

It's sock-puppet time!

Kennedy: I'll support Kerry in 2008 race - Boston.com

BOSTON --Sen. Edward Kennedy said Wednesday he would back fellow Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008 -- even if Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton also pursues a White House bid.

"If he runs, I would support him," Kennedy told The Associated Press in an interview at his Boston office.

Kennedy called Kerry, the 2004 nominee, an "able, gifted and talented political leader."

He criticized President Bush's leadership and said of the American people: "Every day, I think they regret that John wasn't elected."

Now, I know a lot of folks have respect for the Kennedy clan... I used to be one of them. But in the last 20 years or so... no, there's not been anything to show that Teddy's got what it takes to run the show, whether from the sidelines or as a puppetmaster.

J.

On the difficulties (and expenses) of being an embedded reporter. Man, I admire his dedication, and the dedication of those who go out and get the news and report it, instead of interpreting and spinning what they hear to project the image they want believed.

Michael Yon : Online Magazine: The Embed

J.

The future just keeps getting better.

Siemens AG - Wafer-Thin Color Displays for Packaging

07.10.05 | Color displays may one day be used practically everywhere. And this would be possible even where it’s unprofitable today for cost reasons, such as on food cartons, medicine packaging or admission tickets. At the Plastics Electronics trade fair in Frankfurt, Siemens developers exhibited extremely thin, miniature color displays that can be printed onto paper or foil. And the displays can be produced at very low cost compared to LCD panels. The first displays will become available on the market in 2007.

J.

You've got to read the Fine Print.

J.

I consider myself something of a pacifist. I certainly dislike conflict, try like anything to avoid a fight (or getting into situations which would lead to one), yet I realize that there are situations when there is little to no alternative. High school is an excellent example of this - to be a pacifist in high school is to become a target for abuse, and can play merry hell with your self esteem in a time when it's at its most fragile. Yeah, the abuse may not leave permanent physical scars, but emotional? It's perhaps not surprising I ended up more or less career military. My HS experiences showed me what would happen when a person or country doesn't defend itself, and with the Cold War in full swing I thought it appropriate to join up.

There's a lot of folks who are against war on general principles. Well, good on them. I'm against it myself - but I'm also aware that properly timed applications of force can eliminate a lot of the problems that can cause conflict in the first place.

Witness Bosnia. In retrospect, it might seem like a good idea to make sure one side in a conflict is disarmed and try to make sure that the other side (which retains its arms) is kept under control by diplomatic maneuvering and manipulation. However, if that diplomatic control fails then you've got an unarmed population at the mercy of the agressors. (The fact that the UN and international community wouldn't do anything to protect the helpless is particularly galling. You guarantee support if they disarm, you'd damn well better have that support ready, cocked and locked.)

Diplomatic dancing can also be extended to ridiculous lengths. Witness the foolishness that followed Gulf War 1. Saddam lost, but he retained control of his country. Conditions were laid upon him as a result of his surrender - and he ignored or circumvented virtually all of them. He corrupted the Oil for Food program to his own ends (with the tacit approval of the Germans, French, Russians and the UN) and defied numerous UN resolutions. Mass graves littered the countryside.

I thought at the end of Gulf War 1 we'd gotten off easy. Lot of money spent, lot of ordnance expended, not a lot of casualties. I was in agreement with the UN and international community at the time, that we got him out of Kuwait (which was all we were supposed to do) and show that he'd get clobbered again if he tried a land-grab.

Well, I was wrong. We should have told the UN to stick it and gone on to Bagdad and hauled his hairy ass up in front of a war-crimes tribunal for what he did to his own people.

The pacifistic point of view is that fighting never solves anything. It actually does - if your intention is to take over something that pacifists have, control, or influence in some way. Self-assumed moral supremacy and implicitly becoming a victim for everyone who wants what you've got (and that's what pacifism is when you come down to it) is no match for a knife, a bullet, or a bomb wielded by someone who just doesn't give a shit whether you're dead or not.

As one reader commented in Neo-neocon's post The varieties of pacifism: (Part IIB)--responses to 9/11

There may be nothing more dangerous to civilization than dedicated pacifists. Nothing emboldens thugs and terrorists more than people who will not resist.

'Peace' is simply a one-word shorthand for a rather complex condition, that varies according to the person using it.

Pacifism... is being a willing victim. I'm not a pacifist. Maybe I'm a militant pacifist - but I won't be a victim and will not subscribe to a philosophy (or promote it) that requires me to be one.

J.

It's funny, but a lot of folks trust the media to report things accurately, completely, and honestly. Yet as has been seen with Katrina, they tossed all three things out the window for sensationalistic headlines.

Okay, I understand that ratings are everything. That they live or die by their ratings. That you've got to suck in the viewers, and blood&gore gets much more attention in a 5 second teaser ("Are we all going to die? News at 11!") than reporting good news. But how much damage did they do to their own credibility with their coverage of New Orleans? TCS: Tech Central Station - Media Lied, People Died

And if they'll report so inaccurately, incompletely, and falsely from the continental US, where the conditions were arguably a hell of a lot better than over in Iraq and Afghanistan, then what guarantee is there we're getting the straight scoop from the folks overseas?

J.

Welcome to Horsewyse Magazine

Be sure not to miss the all-important "You want me to stick my hand up WHERE?"

There's a lot of interesting stuff on the web, you betcha... Hat tip to Linda for this one. (Or maybe a rubber glove would be more appropriate...)

J.