Rusted Sky

At the end of the First Act, I made allusions to that dreaded act of nepotism.

Yes, 'tis true. I am indeed indulging in that foul and despicable practice. Why should I do such an evil thing? To favor my own son, and put him in a bit of control over the other guys in the Den?

Expediency.

According to the books I've read, (and I've gone through one or two of them) the time before the meeting is the 'Gathering Time'. And one good use of that time is to have the 'Denner' get the guys prepped for the meeting, with some of the activities that we're going to do IN the meeting. Like teaching a knot, or whatever. One definition I read said

WEBELOS SCOUT DENNER

The Webelos Scout denner is a Webelos Scout who has been elected by secret ballot by the Webelos den for a short term of office, usually three to six months. His responsibilities are determined by the Webelos den leader and Webelos den chief, and might include such things as leading ceremonies, preparing equipment, setting up the meeting room, greeting new boys and helping them get acquainted, assisting with tricks and puzzles, or other worthwhile tasks.

Now, I'd like you to bear in mind that we recently had in the Den two guys who were prone to mild violence and acting out. The first order of business, after the opening ceremony (and there WILL be an opening ceremony each Den Meeting) was to establish rules for the Den. Before that, however - I had a little speech for the guys.

I reminded them that they were WEBELOS. They were NOT Bear cubs, NOT Wolves, NOT Bobcats, and THANKFULLY not Tigers! As such, I expected certain things of them. I expected them to learn what we were teaching. I expected them to act like WEBELOS, not Tigers! It was kind of a kick to see how they were lapping it up - I was loud, I was telling them what I expected and that it was going to be tough... but I was boosting their egos while doing it.

Then it was time to come up with the rules. The starter rules were...

1. No Nosepicking.
2. No Farting.
3. No Wedgies.
4. Be Polite.

This drew a lot of laughs, which was the intent. One guy proudly announced he was going to start giving himself wedgies - and I told him to go right ahead, but don't share that information and don't wedgie anyone else because the law was against giving OTHER people wedgies.

I asked what the first rule should be. It came out as a cross between "No fighting" and "No teasing", so it ended up as "No fighting or teasing."

The second rule came almost immediately and was unanimous - "No Bullying" - when the guy who was attacked in the last meeting told what happened.

I was going to wipe out the wedgie rule - but they insisted on keeping it. This is probably a good thing - I'm not fond of wedgies either.

Number 4... there was no objection to. The guys were all pretty polite (for 9 year olds) and I didn't see a problem.

And then Rule 5 came up. I suggested "Do Your Best", but they didn't like it. Then, noticing one of them looking out the window... I suggested "Focus!" They put it to a vote... and it was unanimous.

Five rules. One for each guy. (I still worry a bit about the Wedgie rule, though.) A nice little microcosm of laws there...

Then it was time for the first game. I had originally planned three, with two of them involving knot-work. The first game was called "Knot-It" - I'd call out a knot, they'd do what they thought it was - and if it was right, they took a step forward. The game was over when one reached the far wall. As it was - they're going to need to work on their knots a bit... but we had three win at once. The prize?

A uniform inspection! I went through a full-bore milspec grade inspection, pointing out the missing and wrong things with humor. It was all I could do to keep from laughing at times, and I think the guys enjoyed it too. I reminded them they were WEBELOS - not Tigers or Bears, who could be excused such things! And they were supposed to wear the uniform right! What would someone think if they saw a Scout going around with his shirt half-untucked, missing a hat, his neckerchief askew, and (oh the horror!) missing his socks! Heck, even I was wearing the right socks! (And I proved it, to much laughter...) I tweaked and folded and had them tuck in their shirts - they looked pretty good at the end of it all.

Then the Den Leader did her thing for a few minutes - explaining they needed to choose a Patrol Name. The name we had - Eagle Patrol - was already taken by the folks who split off from the Den. A list of alternative names were offered, and the guys voted on "Blazing Arrow Patrol." So we're now the "Blazing Arrows"... which considering some of the other possible names, was a very good one.

Then it was my turn again and I gave the guys a choice of two games... "Izzy-Dizzy" or "Lifeboat".

They chose Izzy-Dizzy.

It's a pretty simple game - you run out, turn around a point seven times, bent over and touching the point with your hand - and then run back and tag the next one in line. If you can. The guys loved it, to the point where I had to actually stop the game to go back inside for a snack, and then the Den Meeting was over.

Overall - it was a success. The weather was perfect for a meeting. The guys had fun (I overheard one tell another it was the most fun he'd EVER had in a Den Meeting) and I... I had fun too.

I've gotta tell you, I was expecting a pretty tough crowd, so I was doing my best Drill Instructor imitation, scaled down. The guys went along with it and were having a LOT of fun. I was able to keep control of the meeting, keep things moving, and keep them focused. (Rule 5!)

In the end, I came away feeling like I could do this, and do it right. It helps when you can get the guys to WANT to do it with you, and do it right, for themselves.

But the irony is not lost on me that this is probably about as far as I could get from what I thought I wanted 20+ years back. I was pretty negative on the idea of having kids - so much so that I'd thought about surgery a few times to keep it from happening. And I can look back at how far I've come... and I'm very surprised at the distance from who I was then to who I am now.

The world is indeed a strange and wonderful place. And I'm glad I'm this Den's Assistant Den Leader.

J.

IBDeditorials.com: Editorials, Political Cartoons, and Polls from Investor's Business Daily - Iraq's Golden Silence

Iraq's Golden Silence

Media And War: Ever since the Sept. 10 testimony of Gen. David Petraeus, we've heard less and less from the mainstream media about the war in Iraq. The old adage "no news is good news" has never been truer.

That the media are no longer much interested in Iraq is a sure sign things are going well there. Instead, they're talking about the presidential campaign, or Burma, or global warming, or . . . whatever.

Why? Simply put, the news from Iraq has been quite positive, as Petraeus related in his report to Congress.

It makes me think we're really making progress. Why else would they be going "Oh, look! There's something shiny over THERE" and try hard to steer attention to anything BUT Iraq?

J.

The Copenhagen Post

A new documentary shows that several of the instigators behind the violent Mohammed cartoon demonstrations never even saw the drawings

In a new documentary film, the violent protests in the Middle East over the infamous Mohammed cartoons in 2005 are proven to have been instigated by Islamic leaders who never actually saw the drawings themselves.

But we must take them seriously - we don't want to give offense...

Or do we?

J.

Act, that is, before we're 100% sure that what we target IS what needs to be targeted.

I suppose I could go all philosophical here and ponder over whether we really know anything or whether all is illusion - but screw that.

Let's look at some basics.

1. The Nuke Club is seen as highly desireable by failed states. With this, they can either destroy those who seem to oppress them (IE Israel and the US) or hold them hostage via threat of use to get things they want (IE NK's demands for fuel oil and food after they popped off a nuke 'test'.)

2. In neither situation is the plight of the people inside the countries attempting to develop the Nuke Club truely addressed. Whole lot of money and effort going out, no good result for THEM - and all the time they're told how it's the damn Joos and Amerikkkans who are making their lives miserable!

3. If, by chance, there's a nuke strike on Israel - where do the folks perpetrating the strike think the fallout's going to hit? Yep - Jordan, Syria, and Saudi Arabia. I'm sure Jordan and Saudi are gonna be happy to get some radioactive stuff from Syrians and Iranians who can't restrain themselves.

4. Pre-emptive action is roundly condemned by the international community - but there's a point beyond which waiting for certainty on either intent or capabilities is profoundly stupid, because it WILL lead to death and destruction in wholesale lots.

5. Have you noticed that there were no ringing condemnations of the actions Israel took, aside from a complaint from North Korea? Syria was silent. The usual suspects in the area were suspiciously silent. Iran was silent. North Korea raised a bit of a fuss, and was pretty much ignored. Did you wonder why?

Israel lifts veil of secrecy over air strike in Syria | Jerusalem Post

ABC News: EXCLUSIVE: U.S. Stalled Israel on Syria Air Strike

In early July the Israelis presented the United States with satellite imagery that they said showed a nuclear facility in Syria. They had additional evidence that they said showed that some of the technology was supplied by North Korea.

One U.S. official told ABC's Martha Raddatz the material was "jaw dropping" because it raised questions as to why U.S. intelligence had not previously picked up on the facility.

Officials said that the facility had likely been there for months if not years.

"Israel tends to be very thorough about its intelligence coverage, particularly when it takes a major military step, so they would not have acted without data from several sources," said ABC military consultant Tony Cordesman.

Sadly, I don't believe that the folks in the State Department and the Intelligence communites are loyal to much more than the continuation of their jobs without hindrance by Republican oversight. They, after all, RUN Washington - Presidents are temporary annoyances at best.

Then again, I might be sliding into Troofer territory. Pretty soon, I'll be imagining collusion between the State Department and the Intelligence community to hide this until Israel was attacked, at which point they'd 'leak' info that we knew about this well in advance, but BUSH DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!

I hate being so cynical.

J.

And eventually, they'll realize it isn't.

Counterterrorism Blog: The Sunni Insurgency Has Become a "Disaster": An Estranged Former Ally Lashes Out, Accusing Al-Qaida of Torture and Murder in Diyala

But what happens when those who were true believers stop buying it? In most totalitarian states, not much - because they don't have any way to fight the system. After all, they can't vote the bad guys out of office. In the case of the USSR and Cuba, they can't even leave - they're stuck in their glorious worker's paradise, for better or worse.

However - if they've got GUNS, and realise they've been shafted by their 'liberators' who have 'helped' them fight off the oppressive crusaders - then the folks who were slaughtering them wholesale under the guise of 'helping their brothers' better watch their backs.

In a rather stunning development, the Iraqi Islamic militant faction known as Asaeb al-Iraq al-Jihadiya (a.k.a. "the Iraqi Jihad Union") has issued a new statement dated October 5 suddenly accusing Al-Qaida's "Islamic State of Iraq" of deliberately killing its fighters in Diyala province and mutilating their bodies: "To make things worse, they dug up their bodies from the graves, further mutilated them, beheaded them, and showed them off from their vehicles while driving through the towns. [The ISI] even killed our men’s wives and children." An English translation of the communique is now available for download from the NEFA Foundation website.

Though this is actually the second time this week that similar charges have been leveled at Al-Qaida in Iraq by fellow Sunni insurgents, the source of the latest set of allegations--Asaeb al-Iraq al-Jihadiya--is most unusual. Less than three months ago, the very same organization was openly working in operational partnership with Al-Qaida, and was even rumored to be considering merging its forces with Al-Qaida's "Islamic State."

The Iraqi Jihad Union got what they wanted - and realized the cost was way too high.

J.

The status quo isn't supposed to be disturbed - indeed, it's supposed to be maintained at all costs. Changing the status quo can reduce stability, and that's a bad thing! Or is it?

Jules Crittenden � Concerns About Stability

This is interesting. Concerns about stability in the region stalled attack on Syrian nuke facility.

I’m not sure which stability they’re talking about. There’s the stability enforced by dictatorial regimes in places as Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia. There’s the stability places like Lebanon and Iraq are barely managing to maintain … no thanks to Syria, Iran, al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, the Palestinians, etc., but thanks in large part to the Lebanese Army, the Israeli Defense Forces and the United States military. There’s the stability of Gaza, accomplished in part when one group of Palestinian terrorists decided to throw the other group of Palestinian terrorists off rooftops, but really thanks to the Israeli Defense Forces, which make it impossible for either group to be much more than a nuisance. There’s the stability of the West Bank, where they’ve had enough.

Anyway, so Israel gets the nod, blows up the Syrian nukes, and what happens? Nothing. Syria is hardly likely to want another humiliating ass-kicking. That leaves terrorism. … That’d be different.

Just kidding. Except that ever since Israel introduced some stability to Lebanon, Hezbollah hasn’t been quite on its game. The Lebs, meanwhile, appear to have watched and learned from the Israelis. Blowing the crap out of terrorists and those who harbor them works. It can actually introduce stability to places where stability had been wanting. So the Lebs have been taking care of business in the camps.

In the ME, the 'stability' is starting to crack. For too long we supported terrible leaders and regimes, figuring the devil we knew was better than the devil we didn't. Time to dismantle that thinking, and start something new.

J.

100,000 U.S. troops could leave soon: Iraq president | International | Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - At least 100,000 U.S. troops could return home from Iraq by the end of 2008, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said in an interview aired on Sunday although he proposed that several American military bases stay in Iraq.

Speaking on CNN television, Talabani envisioned faster U.S. troop reductions than U.S. commanders have discussed in public. But he stressed that the pace of withdrawal was up to those commanders and did not explain why he foresaw a faster pullout.

Things have been pretty quiet. Supposedly AQI was going to have a Ramadan offensive, but that kind of.. fizzled. Instead, a lot of the Al Quaeda suppoers have been turned off by the iraqi extremeism - and they've been turning in or killing them off themselves. All things considered, it looks like it really sucks to be Al Quaeda at this point. As the proxy fighters have lessened from Iran and Syria (and you've got to wonder if maybe something else got targeted aside from the Syrian nuke depot, a well-packed training camp maybe?) and the home-grown insurgents have come to the realization that maybe cooperation to get a fair-sized piece of a very large juicy pie might be better than trying to grab all of a very small, dry and unappetizing pie - I think we'll be seeing less and less news from Iraq... and that will be less and less consequential.

It's often been bandied about that we won't know what a 'win' looks like in Iraq.

I don't know about you - but I think we're seeing it.

J.

AlQaedaInHaditha-NatHelms

October 6, 2007 – Buried in the mountain of exhibits attached to the once secret Haditha, Iraq murder inquiry prepared by US Army Maj. Gen. Eldon A. Bargewell is an obscure Marine Corps intelligence summary (see pdf) that says the deadly encounter was an intentional propaganda ploy planned and paid for by Al Qaeda foreign fighters.

Yet they have no problems at all with running propaganda from the other side as fact.

The prosecutors in the case against eight Marines charged with murder and cover up at Haditha still maintain the besieged infantrymen acted solely out of malice and poor judgment when they killed 24 Iraqis there. The prosecution’s investigation was launched after a story by Time magazine reporter Tim McGirk on March 6, 2006 accused the Marines of cold blooded murder in retaliation for the death of a brother Marine.

McGirk received his video “evidence” and contacts from two known Iraqi insurgent operatives already under observation by Marine Corps counter intelligence teams. One of the Iraqi witnesses McGirk relied on had just been released from almost six months captivity for insurgent activities and the other witness was considered a useful intelligence tool by Marines listening to him talk on his cell phone. McGirk never interviewed the Marines, who ironically had prepared a similar intelligence summary in anticipation of his canceled visit.

And the left calls the right (or anyone to the right of them...) unthinking and credulous. Seems to me that there's a decided lack of critical and skeptical thought on the left, especially when it comes to certain items which might not fit the narrative.

J.

They're just hard to spin

.‘Journalists’ Tell Howard Kurtz Why Good News from Iraq Shouldn’t Get Reported | NewsBusters.org

As CNN's Howard Kurtz accurately pointed out on Sunday's "Reliable Sources," few media outlets seemed at all interested in giving much attention to the great news out of Iraq last week regarding September's sharp decline in casualties.

To Kurtz's obvious frustration, his guests - Robin Wright of the Washington Post and Barbara Starr of CNN - both supported the press burying this extremely positive announcement.

I kid you not.

After introducing the subject, Kurtz asked, "Robin Wright, should that decline in Iraq casualties have gotten more media attention?"

This was Wright's amazing answer:

Not necessarily. The fact is we're at the beginning of a trend -- and it's not even sure that it is a trend yet. There is also an enormous dispute over how to count the numbers. There are different kinds of deaths in Iraq.

There are combat deaths. There are sectarian deaths. And there are the deaths of criminal -- from criminal acts. There are also a lot of numbers that the U.S. frankly is not counting. For example, in southern Iraq, there is Shiite upon Shiite violence, which is not sectarian in the Shiite versus Sunni. And the U.S. also doesn't have much of a capability in the south.

So the numbers themselves are tricky.

Wow. Numbers shouldn't be reported because they're "tricky," "at the beginning of a trend," and there's "enormous dispute over how to count" them?

No such moral conundrum existed last month when media predicted a looming recession after the Labor Department announced a surprising decline in non-farm payrolls that ended up being revised up four weeks later to show an increase.

CNN didn't get where it was by reporting GOOD news. People don't pay attention to GOOD news. And 'GOOD' is so, so... relative.

Yet, when good news regarding military casualties comes from the Defense Department, these same people show uncharacteristic restraint in not wanting to report what could end up being an a anomaly.

Isn't that special?

Alas, not seeing the stupidity in this position, Starr, with a straight-face nonetheless, agreed with Wright:

But that's the problem, we don't know whether it is a trend about specifically the decline in the number of U.S. troops being killed in Iraq. This is not enduring progress. This is a very positive step on that potential road to progress.

Hmmm. So, I guess a "very positive step on that potential road to progress" isn't newsworthy, huh Barbara? Even Kurtz recognized the hypocrisy here, which led to the following:

KURTZ: But let's say that the figures had shown that casualties were going up for U.S. soldiers and going up for Iraqi civilians. I think that would have made some front pages.

STARR: Oh, I think inevitably it would have. I mean, that's certainly -- that, by any definition, is news. Look, nobody more than a Pentagon correspondent would like to stop reporting the number of deaths, interviewing grieving families, talking to soldiers who have lost their arms and their legs in the war. But, is this really enduring progress?

We've had five years of the Pentagon telling us there is progress, there is progress. Forgive me for being skeptical, I need to see a little bit more than one month before I get too excited about all of this.

Hmmm. So, a shocking increase in deaths would have "certainly" been newsworthy. However, for a decrease to be reported, skeptical journalists have to be more convinced that it's a lasting improvement.

We are not being served well by media journalism...

J.

You really need to check this out. More and more it looks like the Dems were, um, scammed (I'll be kind) in their choice of a poster family for the SCHIP program expansion.

Michelle Malkin � Graeme Frost and the perils of Democrat poster child abuse Updated

Now, I figure the Dems got scammed on this. Why? Because of two things. One - they wouldn't be STUPID enough to put these folks out without having their data verified by someone, right? And second, they wouldn't be STUPID enough to trot out a family and NOT expect their claims to checked. Do they think we're that gullible, that we'd swallow their story without checking it?

Ah, hell. You got me. Of course they are. Of course they did. The MSM is supposed to fact-check this - and as far as I can tell they did their usual 'excellent' job of ignoring anything that didn't fit the narrative they're trying to put out.

More and more I think there's no damn way the Democrats can be trusted with the reins of power. They're either stupid or devious. If the former, they don't need control. If the latter, they can't be trusted with it. They'll lie at the drop of a hat, and manufacture a photogenic 'family' when needed for political purposes.

There's a lot of poor families out there in need of this, and I think they should have it available. But this example family seems to be making good enough money that they should be getting insurance for their kids... instead of buying real estate, paying hellacious tuition and expecting to pick MY pocket to pay for what they wouldn't buy.

One of the things about having a family is that you HAVE to set priorities and make your choices according to those priorities. Looks like the priorities and choices this family made didn't include basic protection for their children - figuring someone else would pick up the tab. Well, yay for them - but THEIR poor planning doesn't constitute an imperative requirement for OUR tax dollars.

And if you tell me that something like this SCHIP expansion is 'for the children', I'll simply point you at the sad case of Kathleen and Jennifer Bush - where it's very clear that the Democratic Party is creating its own deformed children to show in their political sideshows.

So tell me again why they deserve to run the country?

J.

Iraq insurgency: People rise against al-Qa'eda - Telegraph

...

Mr Kareem and other Husaybah residents claim that the peace that followed the expulsion of al-Qa'eda has triggered an economic revival and restoration of favourite pastimes. Ghanim Mirdie Waleed, coach of the local football team, who celebrated a recent victory with cigarettes, paid tribute to the American role in Husaybah.

"The conflict here was all caused by al-Qa'eda," he said. "We work and play as we like under the coalition security. There are jobs for people, shops are opened and we are very happy."

With al-Qa'eda pushed out, Anbaris are even rallying to a new shared cause with America - a fight to secure the country against Iranian infiltration.

You know, I wonder just what else the Democrats might be clueless on. If they were so far off on this - how far off are they on other things they're planning?

J.

Ummm, okay...

HILL AVOIDS FLAMING BERGER

October 9, 2007 -- CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Hillary Rodham Clinton distanced herself yesterday from close friend and adviser Sandy Berger - who snatched classified documents form the National Archives - after it was revealed he is helping guide her presidential campaign.

"He has no official role in my campaign. He's been a friend for more than 30 years. But he doesn't have any official role," she insisted.

Asked if Berger had an "unofficial" role, Clinton told USA Today, "I have thousands of unofficial advisers . . . and, you know, I appreciate all of that. But he has no official role in my campaign."

But then again, Hillary probably knows pretty well what Berger's keeping in his pants...

This, I think, would be a decided liability to her campaign.

J.

Or rather, what I DON'T see?

What does a 'win' in Iraq look like?

Or is this the media's attempt to go "Oh, look over there! Something shiny!" while hoping desperately that people will forget about Reid and Pelosi and all the other "Anti-Victory" Democrats?

There's still a chance that Al Quaeda can pull it off - but they've SO royally pissed off the locals that it's pretty unlikely.

And John B. suggested investing in the Iraqi Dinar. If you're interested, you can buy some here. I am not recommending this as an investment, I'm not suggesting you'll make money on it. In fact, I think if the Democrats get in and force a pullout, this will be of interest to currency collectors in about fifty years - but until then, you won't get much of a return.

But they WOULD be some nifty bookmarks!

J.

The Nobel Peace prize had a noble beginning - but lately, I'm afraid, it's much more politically aligned than practically based. I'm hoping the following is rumor, not fact.

FT.com / World - Gore tipped to take Nobel Peace Prize

Al Gore, the former US vice-president, on Thursday overtook Barack Obama in a closely watched futures betting market on the next Democratic nominee fuelled by speculation that he would pick up the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.

Although the Nobel committee never informs the winner in advance, online speculators drew energy from the fact that Mr Gore cancelled his attendance at a global warming event in San Francisco on Thursday night, citing an unspecified overseas event on global warming.

Al Gore Should Win the Nobel Prize for Propaganda, Says JunkScience.com, New BBC Report Says Gore Knew 'An Inconvenient Truth' Presented False Facts @ SYS-CON Media

A new BBC report indicates that Al Gore knew that his alarmist global warming movie presented false facts, says JunkScience.com. Al Gore apparently didn't want to include any uncertainty in his movie because it would only fuel opponents of global warming regulation, the BBC report said.

Challenge to Scientific Consensus on Global Warming: Analysis Finds Hundreds of Scientists Have Published Evidence Countering Man-Made Global Warming Fears - Press Release

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new analysis of peer-reviewed literature reveals that more than 500 scientists have published evidence refuting at least one element of current man-made global warming scares. More than 300 of the scientists found evidence that 1) a natural moderate 1,500-year climate cycle has produced more than a dozen global warmings similar to ours since the last Ice Age and/or that 2) our Modern Warming is linked strongly to variations in the sun's irradiance. "This data and the list of scientists make a mockery of recent claims that a scientific consensus blames humans as the primary cause of global temperature increases since 1850," said Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Dennis Avery.

Well, at least AlGore will be in distinguished company.

Update: He got it.

My Way News - Gore, U.N. Body Win Nobel Peace Prize

OSLO, Norway (AP) - Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Friday for their efforts to spread awareness of man-made climate change and lay the foundations for counteracting it.

"I am deeply honored to receive the Nobel Peace Prize," Gore said. "We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity."

Damn, what a scam he's run.

J.

Well, that's where WE are gonna be. Don't know about you. Open thread - we'll be back on Sunday.

J.

I have detailed previously my misgivings about being the Assistant Den Leader. This last weekend was our annual campout at Woodruff Scout Camp in the North Georgia mountains. I was expecting problems - becuase although the first Den (pardon, Patrol) meeting went okay, I was somewhat concerned about keeping the guys busy for the full day. It didn't help that there were some pretty significant traffic problems, and most of the families didn't get there until late. We left early, however, and got up there in plenty of time to choose a decent campsite area and set up. Flat space is at a premium up there, and we might have to get a smaller tent, one that'll fit on the 8x10 foot platforms for the Scout tents.... but we were able to find something that wasn't TOO badly slanted. Other folks had it worse.

I tennd to wake early when camping - this is useful when you've volunteered to fix breakfast. Bacon, eggs, cold cereal, hot cereal, bread, coffee and hot water for cocoa... simple and quick to fix, especially if you've precooked the bacon. Bagged Eggs work VERY well - break two eggs in a baggie with just a little butter, add cheese and meat, salt and pepper, and squish it all together until it's as mixed as you want it. Toss the bag in boiling water, wait three or four minutes and fish it out, put the bag on a flat surface and squish it some to get the uncooked egg out of the center of the cooked stuff, and drop it back in until finished. Then fish it out again, and decant onto a couple of slices of bread or eat on its own. The bacon got dropped in a baggie and tossed into hot water - that worked pretty well, well enough to do it again.

After breakfast, I collected the guys, and we headed down to the morning assembly. Then, on to BB gun shooting and archery.

I've been encouraging the guys to practice their knots - and while waiting at Archery I went back to camp and picked up my bag-o-ropes, 8 6' lengths of 1/2 inch white nylon rope and two hanks of 550 cord. I had them practice square knots - and soon other dens were wanting to practice also! I collected the ropes when we went into the archery range, and then gave the guys the task of guiding us back to the campsite for lunch, and more knot practice.

Whenever we went out after that, I gave the guys the map and told them where we needed to go. They got pretty good at mapreading, pretty fast. One scout, however, had to be reminded that map orientation was important, and just because it shows a right-hand turn on the map, if you don't have the map turned correctly that right turn will take them the wrong way.

I had worried about them being bored, but the knot practice kept them busy. (I knew I had a winning idea when they'd come up to me when they were otherwise unoccupied around the camp and ask me for a piece of rope!) After lunch, we headed out to the slingshot range where the guys got to choose the their target - which was me! These were the LARGE 2-man slingshots, and there I was standing on a hill playing the target and the guys were loving it! They had 36 shots, and I promised the first two scouts who hit me some candy bars - they were trying hard to make it happen. Two parents held the slingshot ends, while the scouts put water bombs in the bucket, then all 5 of them had to cooperate to pull it back far enough to get a decent range on the thing. It was hilarious watching them line up and pull on the guy holding the bucket, and after about 30 shots I was REALLY starting to worry, but the last two guys nailed me in the legs. We did some other activities, and then it was back to camp, and the "Lifeboat" game.

It's really pretty simple - a timed test to see how long it takes to get the guys to untangle a pile of short ropes, fashion a bowline in the end of one, and connect it and the other pieces together wiith square knots. The 'designated swimmer' then has to crawl to the 'lifeboat' about thirty feet away, and loop the bowline around me, then 'swim' back and help the other guys pull me to 'shore'. Yeah, it was a trifle uncomfortable but the guys loved it! Then we went out with a chunk of 550 and a plastic tarp, and I showed them how to do a simple shelter in the woods. Again, they loved it - and they even improved on the design by putting in 'hardwood flooring' in the sheltered area - pieces of tree-trunk and bark!

Then it was dinnertime, and after the Evening Assembly there was a bonfire and skits in the outdoor auditorium. Back to the camp after that - and s'mores... then bedtime. We were all exhausted.

I was worried about whether I could do this - but not any more. It felt... right, somehow - a lot righter than the last three times we've gone up there, with the other Den. The guys were having a great time, the parents were watching me and apparently approving (they told me I did a great job, so I guess that counts for something...) and things went as they should have.

We'll see if it continues - but I'm liking it.

J.

Positive News from Iraq: IGNORE THIS POST!!!1!!

Funny, it looks like a tipping point's been reached. It's rather remarkable how it's essentially ignored by the mainstream media. Doesn't fit the script... Yeah, I know. Good news is no news.

J.

American Thinker: Media Dishonesty Matters

We are being fed false and misleading information, in matters big and small. It has come from trusted sources such as established newspapers, experienced journalists, Pulitzer Prize winners and Nobel Peace Prize winners. It has been going on for a long time, sometimes by carelessness and sometimes by deliberate lying. I have compiled a list of 101 such incidents.

Did you know that Time magazine and other news organizations had a Vietnamese communist on full-time staff in Viet Nam during that war? Do you remember that ABC, CBS and NBC have all rigged cars or trucks with explosives or other devices to make them look dangerous on TV, or that Consumer Reports lied about the Suzuki Samurai enough to put it out of business? Do you know that multiple "veterans" of the Viet Nam and Iraq wars who told of atrocities there were never even in the military? Did you realize reputable news organizations such as the Boston Globe and Reuters cannot tell the difference between a real soldier and a toy doll, commercial pornography and soldiers committing rape, a burning tire dump and a bombed building, a fired and an unfired rifle round, or footage of the North Pole and a clip from the movie Titanic?

J.

That provided a needed staging area and was actively helping you in your fight against terrorism in the ME, how far would you go to piss them off?

You wouldn't? Neither would I. You'd want their cooperation, after all, and intentionally pissing off an ally is a stupid thing to do. However, those wonderfully, supposedly much more diplomatically savvy people in the House, in order to ensure we've got a loss in Iraq by some means or another, have insisted on ramming through a non-binding (in other words, "this thing ain't worth a damn, we know it, but it's all political grandstanding") resolution condemning the Armenian Genocide in WW1.

Why now? Well, why wait until 1915 for the Centennial of the event? Besides, they're not criticising Turkey's government TODAY, they're condemning the Ottoman Empire... which pretty much ceased to exist in 1922.

And for some strange and unfathomable reason, the Turks are slightly offended.

Michael Rubin on Armenian Genocide on National Review Online

Last week, a congressional committee passed a resolution condemning the Armenian genocide. There is no doubt that up to a million Armenians died during World War I, although historians still debate whether their deaths constitute deliberate genocide or are collateral casualties of war.

House Democrats brought the resolution to a vote despite entreaties from the White House to postpone it. For Congress, though, the resolution was less about rectifying history than grandstanding. House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Tom Lantos (D., Cal.) called a vote. It passed. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) pooh-poohed the episode. This was not about Turkey, she explained, but rather “about the Ottoman Empire.” Unclear, though, is why congressional Democrats felt the urgent need to condemn an entity that hasn’t existed for 85 years.

Unfortunately, grandstanding has consequences. Turkey recalled its ambassador; and now the State Department finds itself now devoid of leverage to prevent a Turkish incursion into Iraq to fight Kurdish terrorists. Pelosi’s posturing has put U.S. use of the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey to supply our forces both in Afghanistan and Iraq in jeopardy.

Oh, yeah. At the supermarket, where a spoiled brat will throw a tantrum to get what they want. Or maybe a better example would be in the playground, where one kid will wreck something another kid's done, simply for the pleasure of destruction and causing pain in the other kid. Or perhaps in an office setting, where one worker sabotages the work of another, seeing that as the just reward for a rival. The cost to the company doesn't matter - what counts is knocking the other employee down a peg or two.

World Tribune — Turkey could paralyze critical supply lines to Iraq

"I think we all recognize there were mass murders 95 years ago, 1915," Defense Secretary Robert Gates said. "The problem that we have is that this is clearly a very sensitive subject for one of our closest allies, and an ally that is incredibly important to the United States in terms of our operations in Iraq."

It's getting kind of clear that we've got madmen in office, who are putting their personal grievances ahead of the good of the country. This is just completely, totally, frothing-at-the-mouth crazy.

J.

Update: Comment not approved.

To "Muslims against Sharia" - you don't just come here and cut&paste in the comments and expect me to approve it. You DO realize the actions you're condoning are giving comfort and ideological support to those who WOULD impose Shari'a forcibly on all. It may just be political grandstanding, but it does have consequences, and I'm surprised to find that losing Turkey in the fight against Shari'a is just fine with you.

Try again. Dump the cut&paste, put in something original, and maybe I'll approve it. I'm under no obligation to provide a forum for your comments, or a link to your site. I sure won't do it if you do a repeat of your last comment. But I'm doubtful you'll be back - so many sites to spam, so little time and all that...

J.

I hadn't thought about this - but it's kind of strange a resource of this type seems to be going somewhat unused.

Making Light: Shipping containers

The standard 20 and 40 foot cargo containers seem to be good for from 5 to 10 international trips. Then, they're used for in-country shipping or just stacked up and pretty much abandoned.

However, there's a LOT of designs out there to turn them into housing, either temporary or permanent. And with the concern (admittedly much less now than it was) about emergency housing in case of another Katrina-style event, it kind of makes you wonder why the government hasn't bought a lot of these, installed cheap windows and air conditioners, sliced a door in the side, put in a modicum of furniture, and stacked them for emergency use in case of disaster, instead of buying RV trailers by the thousand and letting them rot unused.

The containers themselves go for under $2 grand for a 40' model. Spray in foam insulation, cut window and door holes, do a bit of electric work and plumbing and put in a kitchenette, water heater, storage and bathroom, and you're looking at another $6-7k or so.

FEMA was paying $60k (according to CNN) for trailers with a lifespan of 18 months.

Of course, transportation might be an issue... but how much of one? You can figure that roads will still be there, or quickly rebuilt into an area. You can only drag one RV-style trailer per truck, so the number of vehicles needed would be the same. And this would be much sturdier housing, well able to ride out another hurricane if properly anchored.

Plus they could be stacked neatly, reducing storage area requirements many times.

So let's part it out. The container would go for (based on EBay prices) about $1700. Modifications and furniture would cost about $5, 6k each. A wall-mount heating and air-conditioner would likely cost about $500 each in lots of a thousand. Less than $10k, and you've got a 300 sq. ft. permanent shelter that's a heck of a lot sturdier than any trailer. Hook 3 around a covered patio, and you've got a semi-ranch style house. Admittedly, 900 sq. ft is a trifle small, but you could add on as needed.

Figure $10k per unit, and you're looking at about $1 billion for a hundred thousand units.

Chickenfeed, to the government. Which is likely why the idea hasn't seen the light of day yet... I'm surprised, though, that it HASN'T been implemented.

J.

I watched with a very uneasy feeling last week while Reid tried to censor a broadcaster he didn't agree with. I haven't listened to Rush in years, but I've known of his support for the US military for about as long as I've known of him. I respect the man, even though I don't agree with everything he says.

After the MoveOn.Org stupidly prominent "General Betray-Us" ad ran in the NYTimes, I figured there'd be some sort of backlash. After all, when you're caught red-handed at something completely idiotic, you're going to try hard to deflect blame for your actions. And there's no better way than to point out "He's doing it too! Waaah!". So, in a speech about fake soldiers and posers who are being lauded by the anti-war crowd, Rush made the comment they were 'phony soldiers'.

And how is that inaccurate? When you try to pass yourself off as something you aren't, you're being a phony. It's simply an honest evaluation.

"Media Matters" took that, and ran with it as their best chance. Reid took it on as a pet cause, spending who knows how many ridiculously expensive Congressional man-hours on an investigation and condemnation of Rush Limbaugh. (Obviously, this was the most pressing matter facing the country at this time.) Reid was so incensed at this that he attempted to get Rush banned from the Armed Forces Radio Network, where he is VERY popular. (Much more so than Reid, I'd venture to guess.)

He even went so far as to have a letter written and delivered to Clear Channel, asking them to make Rush apologize for his horrible statement calling the soldiers 'phony'. It was an outrage! Rush must be stopped!

I took a look at the transcript of his speech, and it was pretty damn clear he was referring to the posers like Jesse Mcbeth, NOT the soldiers who disagreed with US policy in Iraq.

But that doesn't really matter WHAT Rush said, does it? All that's important is the spin, and the left has been spinning this issue as hard as they could to try to deflect attention from their own stupidly inept support of the MoveOn Betray-us ad.

If you've got to dig real hard and take TWO WORDS completely out of context, and ignore completely everything ELSE Rush has done for the troops over the years (while I would be quite surprised to find MoveOn giving ANY money to ANY charity that might benefit soldiers) then you've changed from being a mere critic to a calculating liar.

Now, I'll take it as a given that all politicians are liars of some form or another. But in this case, where the lie is intentionally designed to silence someone who is critical of antiwar efforts should make you wonder - would you REALLY want someone in control of the US Senate or House (or the Presidency) who would attempt such a vile form of censorship through character assasination?

Is that the sort of government you want, where you DARE not disagree? (And spare me the hyperventilating scare stories about how free speech as been stifled in the US - I don't see it. What I DO see is a time and state in our culture where ridiculous statements aren't going unchallenged, which is NOT the same thing. Don't bitch about your speech being taken away when you're disagreed with.) What Reid tried to do with Rush was censor him, stifle his freedom of speech, with the full force and authority of his position - and he was completely and utterly wrong in the attempt to do so.

Of course, accountability isn't exactly a hallmark of the Democrats these days. They were hurt a lot by the MoveOn ad - and this sure didn't help.

But Rush, showman that he is, decided to counterattack. He put the letter up for auction, and so far it's generated $2.1 million in bids (at this time). The money raised will go to charity, and Rush intends to match the winning bid. He's also challenged the 41 signers of this shameful document to do likewise, so the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation could get a nice little chunk of change (about $84 mil) if they come through.

But I think they won't. It's one thing to be generous with the taxpayer dollar. It's another thing completely to be generous with your own money in large quantities.

Rush gets that.

Reid? I don't think he does.

J.

Had quite a bit of real life this last weekend. Had to put together a set of cardboard Roman armor for the little guy's Latin class, moved the main board from Big Blue down to OfficeMax, installed a new board in Big Blue, spent about 5 or 6 hours trying to track down a persistent IE 7 problem on OfficeMax. Couldn't nail the thing down, I think it has something to do with the blocking software I've got installed on the system, but there's a number of registry keys that have become 'read only' in regards to IE install/uninstall processes, and it's messing up the works. However, Seamonkey seems to be doing the job...

Add in two trips to Fryes for parts (one to return a system board that although cheap turned out to be no bargain) and a Patrol Meeting (and the guys are still loving it!) it's surprising I got any sleep at all.

Now I'm running into a BSOD glitch when I try to add in my NVidia card. I'm kind of used to having multiple monitors - and so far I haven't spotted any way to disable the on-board video adapter. Something's causing a problem - I think it's the old ATI vid drivers I had before, when I had an ATI AGP card providing video. (Another thing - it looks like the current trend is to have loads of USB slots. However, on the board I ended up with I don't have a PARALLEL printer connector. Quite odd... and it goes to show you need to pay as much attention to the minor stuff as well as major capabilities. I was looking for a Core2 Duo board, found it at a price I was willing to pay, and kind of missed an obvious lack.)

So hopefully blogging will get back to the regular schedule (or lack thereof) in the next couple of days.

Thanks for your patience!

J.

Since the new system board and processor were put in, I've had a problem with random reboots. I'd be going along and 'click' - the system would reboot. Occasionally there'd be a fast sequence of clicks, or a very rapid 'clickclickclick' for five to ten seconds. I thought there might be a problem with the power supply, or memory, or even the (gads) system board.

Then I thought... that clicking sounds a lot like switch bounce. This case is kind of old... I wonder if the reset switch has gone intermittent on me? I disconnected it from the system board... and I haven't had a reboot in hours.

Okay, Put new case on the list of things to get... sigh.

You can't change just one thing...

J.

Simply Simpatico | The GALLIVANT

It's difficult to imagine he thought he'd get a positive response from posting this. Judging by the comments (if it doesn't disappear) he may become the stuff of legend... He got a LOT of people ticked off with his prima-donna act judging by the number of negative comments (and no positive ones) over the 'Do you know who I am" stunt he tried to pull getting into the green zone in Iraq.

Update 1: Hmmm. Looks like the whole site's been pulled. Not a real surprise there - hope someone got a snapshot of it. If I can find such, I'll post a link.

Update 2: Here it is. Contrast this guy with Michael Yon or Ernie Pyle - he gives journalists in war zones a bad name.

J.

I don't usually have much good (or really that bad) to say about Bill Clinton. This, however, really raises my estimation of the man.

LiveLeak.com - Bill Clinton Takes On 9/11 Conspiracy Protesters

Bill Clinton addressed a crowd in Minneapolis, Minnesota at a fundraiser for his wife's campaign on Tuesday.

Clinton's 50-minute speech, which started about an hour behind schedule, was derailed briefly by several hecklers in the audience who shouted that the 2001 terrorist attacks were a fraud. Rather than ignoring them, Clinton seemed to relish a direct confrontation.

"A fraud? No, it wasn't a fraud," Clinton said, as the crowd cheered him on. "I'll be glad to talk to you if you shut up and let me talk."

When another heckler shouted that the attacks were an "inside job," Clinton took even greater umbrage.

"An inside job? How dare you. How dare you. It was not an inside job," Clinton said. "You guys have got to be careful, you're going to give Minnesota a bad reputation."

But good going, Bill.

J.

Photos show cleansing of suspect Syrian site - International Herald Tribune

New commercial satellite photos show that a Syrian site believed to have been attacked by Israel last month no longer bears any obvious traces of what some analysts said appeared to have been a partly built nuclear reactor.

Two photos, taken Wednesday from space by rival companies, show the site near the Euphrates River to have been wiped clean since August, when imagery showed a tall square building there measuring about 150 feet on a side.

Here's the photo. They took SOMETHING down in a hurry...

J.

Hardware's working fine now, and everything's ticking along great, except for two things.

First, I'm not sure that both cores are being used in the processor. As far as I can tell, I'll need to reinstall XP to activate it, which will bollix up what settings I've got now.

Second - I've got a fair bit of stuff downloaded from Amazon's UnBox service. And the machine's changed sufficiently that my Digital Rights Management licensing is pretty much nonexistant at this point.

Gotta love it... Any advice, anyone?

J.

Note to self - EBay's a good source of inconsequential components - flashy USB hubs, standard cables and such - but when you buy something you'll need to work RIGHT, don't go for a lowball price.

I bought a USB-Parallel adapter, since the new system board I've got is sans external parallel connections. (Ah, another bit of history bites the dust, along with 5 1/4 inch floppies - floppies of any type, for that matter - monochrome-parallel adapters and pre-VGA video boards, the AST 6-Pack Plus and so on...) It arrived today, and tearing open the package I noticed...

It was an Opened Item from the Big Yellow Tag Store. I saw that, and realized I'd wasted my money.

It didn't work - not that I expected it to. I'll see about returning it.

In the mean time, I finally dusted off the near-obsolete JetDirect card I've had stashed away for a while and stuck it into the printer. (An HP Laserjet 4000, if you want to know.) I direct-connected it via a 6' cable (I'll need to get a longer one), activated the on-board network port (I had it turned off since I've got a wireless adapter) set IPs and subnets - and the two items hit it off like old friends who'd forgotten about that $20 that was borrowed a decade ago. I'll get a longer cable - but I think I'll be able to get along fine without a parallel port in the new machine.

Progress is being made. Now to get a new case, get the DRM problem taken care of, and everything buttoned back up.

J.

As previously detailed, I've now connected up my printer with an ethernet cable. However, said cable being about 6 ft long and the printer being located about 10 feet from the computer (Anyone want to buy a 25 ft parallel cable? Soon to be a collector's item?) I figured my best bet would be to get a cable from Office Depot. They had them for merely outrageous prices, and they were on the way (more or less) to Home Depot, where I needed to get materials for a fog chiller. (We take Halloween pretty seriously around here.)

I found the cable at Office Depot... and noticed the price was a bit more than on-line. In fact, about $5 more. I asked if they'd price-match their on-line price, and they wouldn't. That was the wrong answer. I shrugged, thanked the cashier anyway, and walked out. I was in a hurry and didn't want to drag out the manager and make a nuisance of myself until they let me have the cable at the internet price.

Yeah, I know some of you might have. But it wasn't a high-priority purchase, so I didn't feel a need to press the point. I might be a spendthrift sometimes, but I really don't like the idea of being charged extra for actually buying something in a store instead of on-line. (And it was the same item, I checked the product number.)

By now you're probably wondering why I didn't just buy it on EBay. Instant gratification - I wanted to get the cable TODAY, not in a week or so. And I was willing to pay a bit more for that. But I digress...

The next stop was Home Depot - and I had an odd thought. I know they had telephone cable - did they have cat5e ethernet? Turns out they did, about a quarter of the cost of an equivalent length at Office Depot.

You don't really think of Home Depot when you're going after networking accessories. But these days, I guess their thinking is a bit more, um, broadband?

J,

FOXNews.com - New Photo Shows Suspected Syrian Nuclear Facility 4 Years Before Israeli Air Strike

I know there's a certain group of thought that automatically tends to side with the folks who are against the US and Israel. Who believe that the folks who would burn and tear down the fragile edifice of civilization are the heroes, who have no idea of what it would take to build it again.

I'm waiting to see more on this - but more and more I think there was something very, very unpleasant that was averted by what the IDF did. And we may never get all the details.

J.

I must be about ready for one.

I'm not one for wholesale purchase of conspiracy theories. I find the price is too high for the value they impart, no matter how low the initial cost is on the buy-in to the belief system. But I'm kind of puzzled that the Goose Creek terrorists (you remember, those yutes with 'fireworks' who 'just happened' to be wandering around in the middle of the night near a Navy base) haven't gotten more press. Because it's starting to look like those guys weren't the innocent college students they tried to emulate.

They've finally had a bail hearing. And their bail has been denied.

Judge Nixes Megahed Bail Bid

Both are charged with illegally transporting explosives. Mohamed also is charged with trying to help terrorists by teaching or demonstrating the use of explosives. Authorities say Mohamed posted a video to the Web site YouTube in which he showed how to use a remote-controlled toy to detonate a bomb.

"The evidence fails to establish or even suggest any innocent or wholesome explanation for the events that led to Megahed's arrest," Merryday wrote.

"Guns, explosives, fuses, canisters of gasoline, ammunition, welding equipment, GPS devices, all-night interstate drives to an unstated and indeterminate destination, stops to check gun prices and availability, and computers with a recent history of visits to sites that feature the advocates and the means of violence are not attributes that a disinterested but cautious observer associates with a safe and tranquil citizen of the community," the judge said.

"Rather, a person about whom these attributes are discovered is a person whose means, motive and degree of determination are unknown and unpredictable and who is highly suspicious and threatening."

Ah, yeah. Sure.

But what has me concerned is the silence on this. It's almost like there's a (dare I say it? Should I get out the Alcoa?) conspiracy to be silent about this. Oh, you can find stuff on them, but it's certainly not prominent. There's been a Bigfoot sighting, so it's pretty clear that I've got my priorities mixed up!

Then again, the dearth of coverage may be because of something else... OpSec and ComSec. From Wikipedia...

OPSEC is a methodology that denies critical information to an adversary. Unlike security programs that seek to protect classified information, OPSEC measures identify, control, and protect generally unclassified evidence that is associated with sensitive operations and activities.

Communications security (COMSEC): Measures and controls taken to deny unauthorized persons information derived from telecommunications and ensure the authenticity of such telecommunications. Communications security includes cryptosecurity, transmission security, emission security, traffic-flow security. and physical security of COMSEC equipment.

J.

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars

Might download the demo, or might not. The graphics look good, and it'd be interesting to see what ID's done as far as the rendering engine goes...

J.