There are some some good posts and comments over at the Shotgun. A blog that really should be a lot busier than it is. Although, you would expect it too be good given that the current election results are a victory of sorts for its readers. The comments to some of the posts are good too, but some are peppered with sour grapes about not getting a majority and the odd Western separatist rears his head, but see Moonbats on parade here for a doozey from Angry. What he forgets is that the primary motivator behind most progressive thought is narcissism. Narcisissists don't like, nor can they fully understand, those who see the world differently than them. The best thing to do with them is talk past them to the people around them who are still capable of listening to reason and try to influence the herd. Otherwise they have to be sidelined

Hat tips from the Shotgun to "Denton's 10 points" here and how primer on how Harper would govern using the power of regulation as opposed to getting statutes passed in the legislature by Occam here

I agree with Denton on Ignatieff and am glad he got elected. By having the Harvard Prof. defend his principled stand on the Iraq war as a Liberal he helps show the peaceniks that not everyone who supports the US presence in Iraq is a war-mongering, neo-con Bush-o-phile. Or just plain stupid. That, in my view, helps mature the debate on this topic and make drains the fever swamps a bit leaving them a little more prone to listen to reason.

more tv

I've been watching more TV than usual lately. I don't think it's a good thing but more of it is starting to hold my interest. NBC on Thursday's offers some quality programming from 9-10 with My Name is Earl and The Office. You Snobs out there who think the British version was awesome are right. It was. But the NBC version is very, very good. The mockumentary format allows for humour on a lot more levels than a straight-up sitcom because the characters can glance at the camera in a moment of bewilderment or surprise because it's supposed to be there or they can play it straight.

No comment on the cancelling of the West Wing since it was long overdue and had jumped the shark in way back when the President got MS walked in from the rain to announce his re-election bid. There were some good episodes prior to that though and i will cop to being a fan at that time but stopped watching soon after.

The OC has done much the same thing after a promising start. How many times has Ryan lost a fight now? 30?

OH!! The "Tank" marathon on the History Channel on New Years day certainly marks the most enlightened bit of programming in the history of the medium. But that's just me

Best 5 minutes of TV

If you don't take the time to watch the last five minutes of American Idol you are missing the greatest amount of enjoyment in the shortest amount of time that TV can offer. That is when the do a quick summary of the days worst contestants. So many damaged people crammed into such a short time it's like crack.

discovery

Currency Lad notes how two cultures are grappling with the important questions re: man and his world.

http://thecurrencylad.blogspot.com/2006/01/western-and-islamic-journeys-of.html

Bit longer of a break than i thought. I actually expected to do more blogging over the holiday season, but reading, lazing and hacking around with the kids took precedence. All in all a good holiday season. Much was consumed of liquid and solid natures, of course. Now, a few hundred K on the treadmill will get rid of what went in.

try to imagine

I then awake on what is my Tuesday morning, and at 7:00 a.m., I remember the call to my home and the voice saying "Mr. Stokely, this is Maj. Hulsey - please come to the door, your dog won't let us up the driveway and we need to speak to you" and then remembering my fast gait to the driveway and asking, before they can say anything "is my boy dead" and the the words they spoke, with humble sadness in the eyes of Maj. Hulsey and the Chaplin that was with him "we regret to inform you...." But the pain,while there, is more manageable. I think it must be like the rigors and harshness of war - it is always the same, you just adjust.

TAR 08

All that time watching The Amazing Race and i still couldn't decide which Bransen daughter was hottest. Lauren or Lindsay. OK Lauren. Maybe

cory maye

Free Cory Maye. I would have shot too...


http://www.theagitator.com/archives/025962.php#025962

UPDATE: OK OK.... that's assuming the facts are as laid out at The Agitator. I took the time to read the comments at the always enlightening Volokh Conspiracy and would add the following: Let's hope he gets his appeal for a weighing of the trial procedure and evidence presented first. Second, No Knock warrants whould be forbidden on a residence without surveillance first being performed to determine credibility of informant reports and assess for other risks like building entrances and occupant activities.

baghdad danny boy

Fourth photo down here you have to love the "traditional" Iraqi instrument being played for the soldiers to dance to.

(I see that a commentor to that post also noticed the bagpipe)

Watch this space also for all your Iraqi eletion blogging updates.

sledgehammer

I see the Ontario Liberals are going to use the heavy hand of state coercion to meddle lives of families and the raising of their children. This is just appalling:

Ontario to be first to deny driver's licences to dropouts under 18

The statism of this is objectionable on so many levels. I wonder, if most of the dropouts are inner city poor, as i suspect they are in disproportionate amounts, then this will have little effect since transit is far more widely available in urban areas.

Coupled with the Federal Liberals stance on daycare -- that institutional, goverment approved centres are the only options that deserve taxpayer support -- you have a governing ideologoy in the largest province and at the federal level summed up as : big brother knows best. In a speech at UWO last year Christpher Hitchens remarked on North Korea: "North Korea was founded in 1948, the same year Orwell wrote 1984. I wonder if they didn't get a copy of the book and go 'maybe we could make this work'". It appears to me that more than one member of the Canada's governing class may have taken to much of a shine to the books central messages, albiet in the inverse as to what they were intended to convey.

Paul Koring tries and tries

Off to a really bad start:

Photo headline (print edition): "Battle Weary: Cadets await word from Bush on Iraq pullout."

Wrong. Those who attend the Naval Academy are Midshipman, not Cadets. This was not exactly hard to figure out since the first line of the second paragraph of the speech reads as follows:

"This is the first year that every class of midshipmen at this Academy..."

The photo caption repeats the error

(The photo itself was a rather disingenuous bit. There is no news value to snoozing students at the USNA. These young men and women have agreed to serve their country in a time of war and those from the Marines face the very real danger of deployment to Iraq and the threat of death or massive injury while on duty there. What to do other than show them all taking a nap! Nice job.)

Off to a bad start in the article too. The headline (and the photo caption):

“Bush remains vague on date for withdrawing troops.”

Of course he is being vague since the whole idea that there will be a data announced is a false debate. This is being pushed by the Democrats and the media who seem to think that unless a date is decided upon now, then there is no plan and no plan means no ability to leave. It is a rhetorical tool being used to bash the administration since all “good” plans have timelines and timelines mean dates and a time when America will be assured that its sons and daughters are out of harms way. Framing the story this way is wrong and that is why the pushback from the administration has been to focus on achieving goals that allow the US to adjust its presence as the situation changes and stabilizes. Apparently the simple logic that committing to a date means your enemy now has a timeline too, is beyond Koring and his editors

There US will not pack up its gear and drive back to Kuwait on "X" day. There will be a wind down, a transition, a process and they will slowly lower their profile as Iraqi forces improve (more on this below) And, there may never be a complete withdrawal if they get basing rights for some continuing in-country and regional operational capability, which, I think, is to be expected. I find it stunning that the Globe is essentially trying to cover the President’s speech with a news angle that is essentially poorly thought out Democratic talking points.

Opening sentence:

“Under mounting pressure from a war-weary public to bring U.S. troops home”

Wrong:

"But the CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Wednesday night also found nearly six in 10 Americans said U.S. troops should not be withdrawn from Iraq until certain goals are achieved. "
Now this was done after Koring would have submitted his article but “increasing pressure” is just not true from November 10:

A recent CBS News poll found that 50 percent of Americans think we should leave "as soon as possible," with only 43 percent saying we should stay the course.

And

this article shows people’s opinions are greatly influenced by how the question is asked and how it is framed.

“Although Mr. Bush refused to set a target level for troop reductions, senior Pentagon officials have been hinting it could drop to as low as 100,000 by the end of 2006. That would mean bringing home one of every three U.S. marines and soldiers.”

Careful with your numbers. Would that be from current force levels of 160-170,000 which is actually more than on in three? But this is an aberration since they have overlapped the rotation of units in order to have a stronger presence for the first full constitutionally governed elections on December 15. The normal level has been about 130-140,000 which is not quite 1 of 3, but close. Opinionated Bastard has more on this and see his hilarious critique of the Kerry plan in the same post:

“there are currently 170,000 troops in Iraq, up from 140,000 prior to September. The Pentagon quietly raised the number of troops in Iraq for the October and December elections by overlapping the OIF-4 rotations against the OIF-3 rotations. That overlap ends in the first quarter of 2006. "

From Koring

“The President only hinted at troop cuts and shifting U.S. soldiers from Iraqi city centres in Baghdad and the so-called Sunni triangle, where they are particularly vulnerable to insurgent attacks”

Wrong . He didn’t hint at troop cuts, he made them explicit. But the nature of the troop withdrawals is conditional on continuing improvements in the size and capabilities of the Iraqi forces, greatly redusing insurgent activity and wiping out Al Qaeda in Iraq. A "date" is not mentioned

Here’s Bush:

"And as the Iraqi security forces stand up, coalition forces can stand down -- and when our mission of defeating the terrorists in Iraq is complete, our troops will return home to a proud nation. "

Bases… yes yes they turned over a major base in Tikrit and areas of Baghdad, but the US is actually expanding the number of bases in western Anbar province, which is also part of the Sunni triangle, as the Marines finally bring a constant force presence to the Euphrates valley. Ramadi remains problematic, but I think the plan is to limit the flow of weapons and men by controlling the space out to the border with Syria and then deal with that city. Every major town between Ramadi and the Syrian border now has US combat forces close by. Fallujah, between Ramadi and Baghdad, is largely secure and rebuilding, todays single, but deadly bombing, aside. Bill Roggio has been following events in Anbar closely for some time and he is reporting from Iraq right now at Threatswatch.

“Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, who lost to Mr. Bush in 2004, derided the speech.”

"This morning we saw the full power of the presidency to have the entire United States Naval Academy serve as a platform, as a front drop and a backdrop, for a presidential speech, reinforced with a very large sign front and back that says, 'Plan for Victory,' " he said. "It reminds you of an aircraft carrier and 'Mission accomplished.'”

Wow. Before he submitted the article he should have checked out this reaction to Kerry’s talking points by the noted Republican spinmeisters at Daily Kos who found Kerry's rebuttal confusing, patrician and unhelpful. They loved Senator Feingold, although i didn't find it as agreeable, and that analysis was readily available before press time.

And Closing with a quote from Ted Kennedy? Who has no credibility on security and intelligence matters. Please. Ending an article on Bush's security policies with a quote from Kennedy is like ending an article on Kennedy with a quote from the Kopechne family. It's just lame.

swing voter

I know one longtime Liberal voter who, if he sees a good platform from the CPC SOON, will change their vote. He does not care about social issues as much as he is looking to send a message and he wants a reasonable fiscal custodian who will discontinue some of the "bullshit." Some promises about getting tougher on crime, a decent tax cut and no crazy talk on healthcare would definitely seal the deal. He's leery of Harper but will take a chance if he sees in the party platform a reasonable set of ideas whose promises would give the leader a roadmap that he can use to set his expectations and get a sense of the limits. If he get's a lot of blather about same sex marriage and Gomery with no specifics on plans for governance until well into the New Year, he'll likey just stay home on election day. More anedotal evidence that on releasing the platform they should move now.

G and the ladies

So my friend G is wooing the ladies again. While exchanging emails to arrange a friendly dinner with a co-worker -- and ex GF -- the details start to pile up, unresolved issues begin to simmer and he emails her this:

"Are you going to stop being a baby? Because if you're not, let me know so I can make sure the restaurant has a children's menu for you."

Now I know there were other causal factors to that outburst, but it's still damn funny. Ladies, watch out or some of that smooth talk might come your way and before you know it the flinty edged tones of sarcasm will be winning you over too.

it begins

So I have read the Federal Accountability Act (PDF) and, in response to this, it is a good start and enough to at least get me out on election day. It's short on specifics but, hey, let's not set the bar too high just yet. Regarding page six:

Clean up government polling and advertising
The Liberal government commissions some $25 million per year in polling and public opinion research.Much of this polling is conducted by Liberal-connected polling firms. The Auditor General revealed that Paul Martin’s Finance department commissioned polling for which there were “only verbal reports” – nothing was written down so there was no paper trail. Yet the Martin government prevented the Gomery Commission from investigating this part of the Auditor General’s report.

And while the Liberal-friendly ad firms involved in the sponsorship program are under investigation, tens of millions of dollars have been awarded to Liberal-connected advertising firms in other contracts not related to sponsorship. Earnscliffe, the lobbying and polling company closely connected to Paul Martin, has received over $10 million from the federal government since 1993.

Government advertising and contracting must be cleaned up – not used for partisan purposes by government, or for the private benefit of contract recipients.

The plan
Stephen Harper will:
• Ensure that all government public opinion research is automatically published within six months of the completion of the project, and prohibit verbal-only reports.
• Ensure that an independent review is conducted of government public opinion research practicesdiscussed in Chapter 5 of the Auditor General’s November, 2003 report to determine whether further action, such as an extension of the
Gomery inquiry, is required.
• Open up the bidding process for government advertising and public opinion contracts to prevent insider firms from monopolizing government business.

I wonder if the firms that are doing advertising for the CPC are on board? The cynic in me assumes that they aren't because sorting this out before the writ-drop would make too much sense. There is still a way around a transparent bidding process, though. Tell the firm you want to win any contract to bid low. Way low, but feasible. Loss leader low. They can make their profit back when "unanticipated changes" have to be made to the scope of the project and specifications that are significant enough to allow things to be repriced or done on a cost plus basis, but do not trigger the need to re-bid. This is an old trick in large construction projects since the engineers/architects usually fail to think everything through and the resulting adjustments are gravy for the builder. Did you really think Toronto was going to get Skydome for the oringinal estimate of about $150 million (if memory serves). We might have... but after the contract was awarded they added a hotel to the design. Whoops.

duke

I see that Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham resigned from Congress after pleading guilty to corruption charges. A sad end to the man's political career, but there is a Tom Cruise connection. Years ago I first heard that there was a politician named "Duke" Cunningham who was also an Ace F4 Pilot in Vietnam, it occurred to me that Tom Cruise's character in Top Gun Lt. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell had a late father was named "Duke" but what I didn't know until now was how close in the plot line from the movie matches up with the real events of the day that Duke Cunningham shot down three planes. Wretchard at the Belmont Club points to this description of the battle that day in 1972 over North Vietnam:

10 May 1972
This was a bad day for the Vietnamese Peoples Air Force, losing eleven aircraft... Three of the MiG-17s were downed by one VF-96 crew, LT. Randy "Duke" Cunningham and his RIO, LT(JG) Willie Driscoll, flying a Phantom F-4J, ShowTime 100. Combined with two earlier kills on 19 January and 8 May, the victories would make Cunningham and Driscoll the first American aces of the Vietnam War and the first to make all their kills with missiles... They were participating in a strike against the Hai Dong railyards, on flak suppression, when a score of enemy fighters challenged them... Showtime 100 loitered to cover the A-7 fighter-bombers
still engaged. Responding to a call for help, Cunningham took his F-4J into a group of MiG-17s ("Frescoes"), two of which promptly jumped them. Heeding a "break" warning from Grant in Showtime 113, Cunningham broke sharply and the lead pursuing MiG-17 overshot him. He instantly reversed his turn, putting the MiG dead ahead; he loosed a Sidewinder and it destroyed the MiG... Cdr Dwight Timm hasd three MiGs on his tail, one being very close, in Timm's blind spot. Seeing the danger to the XO, in Showtime 112, Duke called for him to "break," to clear the Phantom's hotter J-79 engines from the Sidewinder's heat seeker, thus permitting a clear lock on the bandit... After more maneuvering, Cunningham re-engaged the MiG-17 still threatening his XO. He called again for him to break, adding, "If you don't break NOW you are going to die." The XO finally accelerated and broke hard right. The MiG couldn't follow Showtime 112's high speed turn, leaving "Duke" clear to fire. Calling "Fox Two," Cunningham fired his second Sidewinder while the MiG still inside the minimum firing range. But the high speed of the Fresco worked against it, as the Sidewinder had time to arm and track to its target. It homed into the tail pipe of the MiG-17 and exploded. Seconds later, Cunningham and Driscoll, finding themselves alone in a sky full of bandits, disengaged and headed for the Constellation... As they approached the coast at 10,000 feet, Cunningham spotted another MiG-17 heading straight for them. He told Driscoll to watch how close they could pass the MiG's nose, so he could not double back as easily to their six o’clock. While this tactic worked against A-4s back in training at Miramar, it turned out to be a near-fatal mistake here... A-4s didn’t have guns in the nose... "Hang on, Willie. We’re gonna get this guy!" Driscoll strained to keep sight of the MiG, as Duke pitched back towards him for the third time. Once again, he met the MiG-17 head-on, this time with an offset so he couldn’t fire his guns. As he pulled up vertically he could again see his determined adversary a few yards away. Still gambling, Cunningham tried one more thing. He yanked the throttles back to idle and popped the speed brakes, in a desperate attempt to drop behind the MiG. But,
in doing so, he had thrown away the Phantom's advantage, its superior climbing
ability. And if he stalled out ... The MiG shot out in front of Cunningham for the first time, the Phantom’s nose was 60 degrees above the horizon with airspeed down to 150 knots. He had to go to full burner to hold his position. The surprised enemy pilot attempted to roll up on his back above him... "This is no place to be with a MiG-17," he thought, "at 150 knots... this slow, he can take it right away from you." Now the MiG tried to disengage; he pitched over the top and started straight down. Cunningham pulled hard over, followed, and maneuvered to obtain a firing position. With the distracting heat of the ground...As he started to fire his last Sidewinder, there was an abrupt burst of flame. Black smoke erupted from the Fresco. It didn’t seem to go out of control; the fighter just kept slanting down, smashing into the ground at about 45 degrees angle...While headed back to the carrier, Cunningham’s Phantom was hit by a SAM over Nam Dinh...I could see ocean, then land, then ocean, then land... We were in a flat spin... [in the water after ejecting].. it turned out to be the rotting corpse of a North Vietnamese that had floated downstream, decaying, with its teeth showing. He told Willie later, "I thought it was you at first, but the guy was too good looking."

Cunningham was the only American to shoot down three MiGs in one day. He
would receive the Navy Cross for his heroism and superior airmanship.

(Heavily abbreviated by me. Go read the whole thing. Emphasis Mine)


Here is the relevant quote from Top Gun where Maverick goes to see Viper about his dad and his options:

Yeah, he did it right... Is that why you fly the way you do? Trying to prove something? Yeah your old man did it right. What I'm about to tell you is classified. It could end my career. We were in the worst dogfight I ever dreamed of. There were bogeys like fireflies all over the sky. His F-4 was hit, and he was wounded, but he could've made it back. He stayed in it, saved three planes before he bought it. (Emphasis mine)

So in real life Duke Cunningham stayed in it to provide cover for the still attacking strike planes and in the movie the plot is story is much the same except he is not damaged when he decides to continue combat. Being set upon by a score (20) MiG 17s certainly would qualify as "bogeys all over the sky". Someone with more time to Google this than me may find a link somewhere in which the writer talks about what his infuences were

A few other things that appear in Top Gun:

-Maverick crashes in the ocean after his plane goes into a flat spin just like Cunningham.
-Maverick trained against A-4s in Top Gun, just like Cunningham did in real life.
-Maverick used the exact same maneuver Duke did to defeat their final "MiGs" by pulling up and decelerating and letting the enemy plane continue past.


Did you know Tim Robbins played Maverick's RIO "Merlin" for that final battle scene.

Politics for the Js

I vowed here to stay home on election day if the Tories don't present a plan for government transparency in response to the Gomery Report. If they offer some plans and ideas on some other areas in which a Goverment might play a role all the better. You know, little things like, defense, the judiciary and the Criminal Code, trade and economic policy, etc.

Jay Currie lays out how he thinks things look very bad for the CPC here. I disagree that things are that dire partly out of pathetic hope and partly out of a motivational argument I saw at the Shotgun some time ago which -- and this may be more pathetic hope -- asserts that CPC voters will be more motivated for change than Liberal voters will be to support the Martin regime and drag themselves out to the polls in January. Here's, er, hoping.

All this aside, I find a portion of me agreeing with the other Jay -- Jay Jardine -- here

It shall be great tragicomic theater in any event. I could honestly care less who gets the fucking shiny badge and would much prefer to wrap a pillow around my head for the next few months, but avoiding the combined onslaught of jingle bells and vote-whoring will be nigh impossible.

hillier swings

UPDATE: Colour me impressed. Damian Brooks has a post up showing that that Defence Minister Graham appears to have "followed" my Plan B outlined below. If Minister Graham is looking for advice on other military matters, i charge by the pint.

I said i would get back to this and my follow-up would be that I think Gen. Hillier came out looking like a winner in the aircarft acquisition gamble that he took last week. He swung for the fences on the aircraft procurement but also found himself in a political win-win. If he had of been able to get the aircraft requisition approved by Cabinet it would have been a win for the Forces and given them the equipment they badly need and he would have been perceieved as they guy who got made it happen. He didn't, which isn't really a surprise, however, by pushing this the way he did he can turn to the troops and pilots and say, "boys, i gave it my best" and that in this case the problem wasn't high level leadership coupled with a sclerotic DND procurement shop, but squarely where it belongs, with the politicians in the Liberal party (Bill Graham, who backed the proposal as far as he dared, does deserve some small degree of credit).

Hillier showed the rank and file he was willing to try his best to get them what they need but that ultimately they are hostage to the machinations of the politicians and lobbyists who think that supplying soldiers in the field has regional development implications and Canadian content implications. They are no more than corporate welfare bums taking money from DND instead of "R&D grants" from the Ministry of Industry. Fer crissakes isn't that what regional development agencies like this one are for.

One quibble. If Hillier was thinking tactically about this he should have agreed with Bill Graham that he would go to see Cabinet with Plan B in his back pocket, an alternative which wouldhave divided the procurement up into two pieces by taking the search and rescue aircraft and non-essential items from the procurement initiative and used them as a bone to throw the Cdn firms who want a piece of this. These are the only pieces of the package where a comapny like Bombardier could propose a reasonable alternative aircraft anyways. The corollary would be that there would be no talk of waiting for proposals to see if there are some sort of homegrown substitute for the Chinooks and Hercules, the acquisition of which would proceed immediately. These are proven platforms used by most of our NATO allies and we have experience flying and maintaining them. The US Army is currently in the process of fielding a next generation Chinook and its dual rotors give it the ability to operate in high altitude theatres like Afghanistan and no other helicopter i know of can come close to it. That would have allowed Cabinet to give the lobbyists something and the Forces to get their most high priority items on the fast track.

In the Globe article on Nov 16th one insider specualtes that politics played a role in shelving it since:

"I think there were some people making comparisons to Kim Campbell and
helicopters and last-minute decisions, and they decided this might not be such a
great idea," a source familiar with the situation said. In 1993, the Liberals,
led by Jean Chrétien, reduced Ms. Campbell's Conservatives to two seats in
Parliament after a campaign during which Mr. Chrétien railed against a Tory plan
to spend $4.8-billion to replace the military's 42-year-old Sea Kings. "

This only makes sense if they are worried about attacks from the NDP. They really can't expect attacks from the CPC on actually buying the military something they asked for. And when I first read that they waffled on the procurement I saw this as an opening for the CPC to portray this as another boondoggle like the long delayed purchase of the Cormorants, anti-military bias blah-blah-blah. If this speculation by the "source familiar with the situation" is found to be true then it means the Libs are worried about attacks from the left more than they are about stealing an issue from the right. That can only mean they are worried about vote splitting on the left allowing Conservatives to take a seats as voters disgusted with the Libs on a variety of issues bolt to Jack! and the NDP. If I were in CPC headquarters I would be looking at ridings where all 3 parties were relatively close in vote count as a good place to focus.

CPC

Bob Tarantino and Martin Street have what i think is excellent advice for the CPC.

My take is that some people might give Harper a chance if they like what he says about certain issues. Maybe enough to make a difference where it matters. That means he has to talk about the issues and what the CPC platform is on them. Again and again. Hectoring the Liberals about Gomery is a ridiculous idea. Sure, you want to avoid talking about healthcare, you may be able to get away with that and let Layton take the lead there, but that doesn't mean you can't talk defence, federalism, taxation, trade, energy policy, regional development, fisheries, native issues, taxation again, tranparency in government and many, many other things.

Let me make this clear, if you hammer the Liberals on Gomery but also think you can refuse to outline a clear and detailed CPC policy for government tranparency, I'll stay home on election day. You see, if you take the bad advice of your strategists that talking policy will hurt you and don't even bother to outline a detailed plan to rectify the one issue you will be focusing on, then you're beyond salvation. But, if you talk about CPC policy in other areas then I just might get excited, put up signs, canvas and try and convice a few fence-sitters i know to vote for you or, at least, not vote Liberal.

A final thought, you need to be focused. Look at the returns from the last few elections and isolate the ridings that are close. Look at the demographics and determine the issues that matter. In my riding your healthcare policy would be a winner if you can get the word out. Spend the majority of your time there, shake hands and talk with no more than a whistle-stop courtesy call in the safe seats out west.

Strategic Overview Update

When i first started reading blogs in the summer of 2003, Steven Den Beste was one of the top 5 bloggers on the Net, right up there with Andrew Sullivan, Glenn Reynolds and Josh Marshall. A retired software engineer, he was an "early adopter" who had begun before Sept. 11 and his popularity soared after the events of that day, given that his clear thinking was reflected by a terrific writing style. His site, USS Clueless, was a must read for anyone interested in military, strategic and political issues following Sept 11 and a at least two of his essays were published on The Wall Street Journal's Opinion Journal site. Den Beste "retired" from blogging in 2004 feeling spent and frustrated by the time he had to spend managing comments and the trolls that popular sites tend to attract. It was a loss, but whenever a blogger quits because they just aren't interested anymore, all you can do is wish them well and hope they return in some fashion, even if it is intermittently. You can't demand that someone keep at it because this is, with very few exceptions, an all volunteer occupation which people engage in because they find it rewarding. Thankfully, some of slack Den Beste left in the blogoshpere has been filled by Richard Fernandez aka "Wretchard the Cat" at The Belmont Club, whose long posts and sensitivity to historical context are similar to what Den Beste used to write.

In summer of 2003 Den Beste wrote a long essay titled Strategic Overview:

The purpose of this document is to provide a high level strategic view of the cause of the war, the reason that the United States became involved in it, the fundamental goals the US has to achieve to win it, and the strategies the US is following, as well as an evaluation of the situation as of July, 2003. Most of what is here has been explored in far greater detail in numerous posts made on USS Clueless

It is now late in 2005 and bloggerTigerhawk has taken it upon himself to review and update the essay and Den Beste himself thinks that Tigerhawk has done an excellent job.

The point of this post is twofold. 1 - Let you know that Den Beste is blogging again at RedState and you should read his stuff and 2 - Encourage you to read Tigerhawk's update.

Some key points:

Neither the House of Saud no Pervez Musharref were going to lift a finger against their own Islamists unless they knew that the United States was committed. Only boots on the ground would suffice to prove American commitment after more than thirty years of geopolitical cowardice

My own view is that we are some distance from defeating the Sunni nationalists but that the Shia and the Kurds, acting through the government, will be able to contain it within the next few years. Al Qaeda, though, is on the run in Iraq. We have a chance to humiliate it if we chase it from the region. We must not let that chance slip by

"Since we know that Saddam would try again to develop or buy nuclear weapons
(having tried at least twice before 2003) and we now know that A.Q. Khan would have readily sold him the technology had the heat come off, we would have had to deal with Saddam when and if containment did collapse.]"

Races of Middle Earth quiz

via Hugh Hewitt




Which race from Middle Earth are you? Take the quiz here. Orc is not an option

The Blogspot 100 Challenge

I decided to explore a bit more of the blogosphere than my regular sites by using that "Next Blog" button you see at the top of this and most other Blogspot blogs. Then i decided i might as well do it 100 times and document the results for you, my dear reader(s). Anything in parenthesis is my comment or notation

1 - http://helioski.blogspot.com/ - Livro: Brasil Abaixo de Zero
2 - http://radrobot.blogspot.com/ - Robot-a-day
3 - http://dontwrrybehappy.blogspot.com/ - Lifes Struggles, Lifes Highs & Lows (his first post and he's from Port Huron)
4 - http://varspool.blogspot.com/ - varspool
5 - http://literatilluminations.blogspot.com/ - Literati Illuminations
6 - http://laddclassroom.blogspot.com/ - My Students
7 - http://mydhaba.blogspot.com/ - My Dhaba - A rendezvous to relish the flavor of traditional Indian home cooking
8 - http://tendowningstreet.blogspot.com/ - ten downing street - just passing time, waiting for the knock at the door ..
9 - http://reneereads.blogspot.com/ - Renée Reads Romance
10 - http://kitsune-kel.blogspot.com/ - (not sure but it looks like son lyrics in Portugese)
11 - http://scheurkalender.blogspot.com/ (possibly about a squirrel. there is a picture of one with a machine gun)
12 - http://robertonicolick.blogspot.com/ - nicolickblog - blog di denuncia civile e politica
13 - http://thecurrentme.blogspot.com/ - in so many words
14 - http://evan-essence.blogspot.com/
15 - http://aplacetosleep.blogspot.com/ - slothblog
16 - http://markankcorn.blogspot.com/ - Rabbi Mark Ankcorn - news and writings from the Rabbi of Congregation Shaare Zedek in New York City
17 - http://duvido.blogspot.com/ (this blog had disable the blogspot nave bar so i hit "back" then "next blog" taking me here)
18 - http://cerebral-marv.blogspot.com/ - Dear Diary
19 - http://stollroundtwo.blogspot.com/ - (adoptees in Colorado)
20 - http://hersheythedog.blogspot.com/ - Hershey's Kisses
21 - http://izzieblog.blogspot.com/ - Moosakaka
22 - http://niveaux.blogspot.com/ - Passages à niveaux - Compilation personnelle de citations, de fragments de textes et autres poussières de lecture Parce que les écrits restent...
23 - http://voodoopimp.blogspot.com/ - Forms of thought
24 - http://idversussuperego.blogspot.com/ - ID x Superego
25 - http://junetoda.blogspot.com/ - june's notes
26 - http://ungfrusigrun.blogspot.com/ - Ungfrú Sigrún (very cool design and had also disabled the next blog feature so "back" and "next blog" again)
27 - http://app1eg.blogspot.com/ Appleg's Blog - Another Place to talk about myself
28 - http://islandprojects.blogspot.com/ - Island Projects
29 - http://divyasharma.blogspot.com/ - Divya Sharma - as I walk on the rhythm of life, I feel the bliss, the peace and the happiness, yet I search my own self and the reason for its physical being as it exists in this universe... (mmmmmm-kay)
30 - http://malditaextinta.blogspot.com/ - Que pasa por mi mente?
31 - http://helgithor.blogspot.com/ - Helgi Thor
32 - http://browniie.blogspot.com/ - Brownie
33 - http://txtriathlete2005.blogspot.com/ - Arlington Triathlon League
34 - http://tracywymanmarchand.blogspot.com/ - Tracy's Page - Eclectic Mix: Recipes and Pix
35 - http://minibruce.blogspot.com/ - kickin' it with miniBruce...
36 - http://foursonsandsons.blogspot.com/ - 4 Sons & Sons
37 - http://tracywymanmarchand.blogspot.com/ - (again...odd)
38 - http://keeler.blogspot.com/ - some thinking
39 - http://bobertbridges.blogspot.com/ - nikki and linds
40 - http://academicaesthetic.blogspot.com/ - The Academic Aesthetic
41 - http://beer-wine-liquor.blogspot.com/ - Beer Wine Liquor Anti-Toxin - Cheerz™ is the revolutionary new liquor supplement in tablet or lime flavored 1 oz shots that has been clinically proven to bolster your body's natural ability to process alcohol toxicity. (this appears to be a blogspot spamblog ad for this product)
42 - http://hannahparker.blogspot.com/ hannah's blog
43 - http://tanyakos.blogspot.com/ Kos Life - I'm too much fun
44 - http://fortemisabu.blogspot.com/ - FlipSide - Poetry Photos Rants Art
45 - http://mydesignerclothes.blogspot.com/ - My Designer Clothes
46 - http://eltonhon.blogspot.com/ - built for comfort...
47 - http://vampirellabel.blogspot.com/
48 - http://psyraves.blogspot.com/ - FALPA
49 - http://japhethstauffer.blogspot.com/ In His Image - I was made in the image of God
Now it is my desire to become the image of Christ
50 - http://bumbler.blogspot.com/ CAL Chronicles: red hot summer days
51 - http://coolejay.blogspot.com/ desolation (interesting design. Actually the design is too interesting to have been done by someone who was truly desolated. Especially since they have also disabled the Blogspot nav bar meaning i have to go "back" and "nextblog" to resume)
52 - http://thinking-bluffmaster.blogspot.com/ - Thinking Bluffmaster - The one who fakes bluff is the real bluffmaster
53 - http://outubro-negro.blogspot.com/ - OUTUBRO NEGRO - Blog oficial do evento
54 - http://drakemorrowsbingo.blogspot.com/ - appears to be another spamblog
55 - http://sxxz.blogspot.com/ - Science In Action - Explore real-word math and science here!
56 - http://thalez.blogspot.com/ - vatn
57 - http://jongebreur.blogspot.com/ - Uganda en Tanzania 2005
58 - http://jananned.blogspot.com/ - A day in the lives
59 - http://cafetriste.blogspot.com/ - Lady Be Good - Everything & Nothing (had some idiotic "embrace diversity" mini banner covering the next blog button. Neat code trick but it was actually preventing me from experiencing the truly random diversity of blogspot and instead imposing her idea of diversity with tha link)
60 - http://nobyworld.blogspot.com/ - Noby's World - dream about tomorrow...but live for today...
61 - http://laurasmiscmusings.blogspot.com/ - Laura's Miscellaneous Thoughs
62 - http://tripnaarcada.blogspot.com/ - trip na arcada
63 - http://aguirreivads.blogspot.com/ - Diario perruno de Nintendogs
64 - http://avrillavigne747.blogspot.com/ - [[...Halo of death 2...]]
65 - http://eseryucel.blogspot.com/
66 - http://lletresdelsinore.blogspot.com/ - Lletres des d'Elsinore - Is not this something more than fantasy? (Hamlet I,1) * * * Gentlemen, you are welcome to Elsinore. Your hands, come then: the appurtenance of welcome is fashion and ceremony: let me comply with you in this garb... (Hamlet II,2)
67 - http://eskemas.blogspot.com/ - EsKemas - Tudo na vida faz parte de um "eskema" bem engendrado por alguém...
68 - http://margaridainventada.blogspot.com/ - A Margarida Inventada
"Mas receio começar a compor para poder ser entendida pelo alguém imaginário, receio começar a 'fazer' um sentido, com a mesma mansa loucura que até ontem era o meu modo sadio de caber num sistema. Terei que ter a coragem de usar um coração desprotegido e de ir falando para o nada e para o ninguém? assim como uma criança pensa para o nada. E correr o risco de ser esmagada pelo acaso."(Clarice Lispector, A Paixão Segundo G.H.)
69 - http://katisklutter.blogspot.com/
70 - http://pepecontreras.blogspot.com/ - El blog de Pepe Contreras
71 - http://anashouseofspanish.blogspot.com/ -
72 - http://resistir.blogspot.com/
73 - http://asaziaaasdasofia.blogspot.com/ - A Reflectir...
74 - http://happy-marriage-tips.blogspot.com/
75 - http://losingtheplot.blogspot.com/ - Losing The Plot - The diary of the trials & tribulations of a virgin veggie grower on a Cambridge allotment
76 - http://goddeth.blogspot.com/ - goddeth realm - Try harder sometimes seems hard to try... But if we try nothing stays harder...
77 - http://meliciouslyme.blogspot.com/ - Everything's gonna be alright (neat design with a fade in)
78 - http://gentressmyrrh.blogspot.com/ - Gentress_Rochester of Myrrh - A repository for some of my collage work and various ramblings, occasionally.
79 - http://frets.blogspot.com/ - piece of mind
80 - http://seiten.blogspot.com/ - Seiten Nari - I see what you did there...
81 - http://world15.blogspot.com/ - (very cool design for a blogspot blog and no blogspot toolbar)
82 - http://riddletosolvemyself.blogspot.com/ - I m riddle to myself just figuring out answer.
83 - http://melsgarden.blogspot.com/ - flatlander's garden - my favorite thing about southern California is year round gardening
84 - http://campalto.blogspot.com/ - campo alto - The continuing but ending story van een verbouwing
85 - http://macedonianslife.blogspot.com/ - confessions
86 - http://specialksplace.blogspot.com/ - Special K's Place - A Picture Taking, Poker Playing, Redneck Computer Geek Tries to Say Something Interesting.
87 - http://americanoutrider.blogspot.com/ -
88 - http://dcindex-choop.blogspot.com/ - DCI College Basketball -
The Daniel Curry Index
89 - http://pupilapupila.blogspot.com/ -
90 - http://gabrielleh.blogspot.com/ - Gabrielle's Blog - I'm just waiting for a creative title to come to me...
91 - http://elmarpla.blogspot.com/ - is there anybody out there
92 - http://louisestrips.blogspot.com/ - I Travel - Left UK on May 19th for 10 months of freedom and exploration with a Round the World ticket. Will I find New Zealand as perfect as it was fifteen years ago? How has Australia changed? Will I learn any Spanish in S America?
93 - http://saraholbrook.blogspot.com/
94 - http://rafadelapena.blogspot.com/ - Mi mente electronica
95 - http://helpychalk.blogspot.com/ - Big Monkey, Helpy Chalk -
t of the closet as a human being.
96 - http://alecto.blogspot.com/ - Rituals. - are already dead. Everything we do is an attempt to stave off the end. We dance with finality, amused at our own antics. We surround our decaying skin with things that hold no value and claim they make us happy. We mark our bodies and wrap our flesh. We carve tombs to mark our passage to those who do not care. Our movements are the last throws of our existence. A pathetic attempt at purpose. The wise admit it. The foolish run. But the truth of it remains the same: Life. Is a death rite.
98 - http://rowanshannon.blogspot.com/ - Where in the world...?
99 - http://salemonz.blogspot.com/ - Salemonz News Service - For all your "Where is Joshua Paul Salmons?" needs, SNS provides you with up-to-date goings-on from the front-ish lines of the Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism
100 - http://indigenteandrajoso.blogspot.com/ - INDIGENTE ANDRAJOSO - oda a vida é um sonho ninguem sabe o que quer, ninguem sabe o que faz, ninguem sabe o que sabe" fernando pessoa


There you go. Of this list almost a quarter, maybe more, are not in English. Of the rest there are about 5 I would consider visiting again based on a quick glance.

Possibly The Best Blog Name Ever

Palm Trees in the Ghetto. And he describes himself as occasionally eccentric. A two'fer. I noticed this site in the blogroll at LaShawn Barbers Corner.

Honour

In a follow-up to my simple post of a poppy on Remembrance Day, I think it's appropriate to note the names of some people military people I have come across recently who have done the right thing.

Canadians

General Hillier. Not awarded anything specifc for actions under fire but at least he's not a politician and he's serving in uniform: "We're not the public service of Canada, we're not just another department. We are the Canadian Forces, and our job is to be able to kill people," Gen. Hillier said. He's also showing leadership by taking on the procurement politics at DND. More on that later.

Ernest "Smoky" Smith: Seaforth Highlanders, Ortona Italy, 1944: Canada's last living recipient of the Victoria Cross died in August at the age of 91. "he wiped out two German self-propelled guns and a Panther tank, killed four attacking soldiers, repelled six others, carried a wounded comrade -- under fire -- to medical aid, then returned to guard the road until reinforcements arrived hours later."

United States

Two Congressional Medals of Honor were awarded this past year:

Tibor Rubin: Army (8th Cavalry) for actions in the Korean War (some CMOH are awarded years after based on appeals by former colleagues, etc. The files can be reviewed and updated years after the fact as was the case with Tibor) Rubins citation is almost unbelieveable:

"He inflicted a staggering number of casualties on the attacking force during his personal 24-hour battle, single-handedly slowing the enemy advance and allowing the 8th Cavalry Regiment to complete its withdrawal successfully"

"That night and throughout the next day, he manned a .30 caliber machine gun at the south end of the unit's line after three previous gunners became casualties. He continued to man his machine gun until his ammunition was exhausted"

"Choosing to remain in the prison camp despite offers from the Chinese to return him to his native Hungary"

"Breaking into enemy food storehouses and gardens, he risked certain torture or death if caught. Corporal Rubin provided not only food to the starving Soldiers, but also desperately needed medical care and moral support for the sick and wounded of the POW camp"

Paul R. Smith: 3rd Infantry Divison, War on Terror - for actions in Baghdad, Iraq, 2003:

"Sergeant First Class Smith moved under withering enemy fire to man a .50 caliber machine gun mounted on a damaged armored personnel carrier. In total disregard for his own life, he maintained his exposed position in order to engage the attacking enemy force. During this action, he was mortally wounded. His courageous actions helped defeat the enemy attack, and resulted in as many as 50 enemy soldiers killed, while allowing the safe withdrawal of numerous wounded soldiers"

About half of all CMOH are awarded posthumously.


One Navy Cross in 2004:

Brian Chontosh: 3/5 Marines, War on Terror - for actions in ad Diwaniyah, Iraq 2003: "Without hesitation," the citation said, Chontosh ordered the driver to advance directly toward the enemy position, enabling his .50-caliber machine gunner to neutralize the threat.
He then directed his driver into the enemy trench, where he exited his vehicle and began to clear the trench with an M16A2 service rifle and 9mm pistol, the citation read.

His ammunition depleted, Chontosh twice picked up discarded enemy rifles and continued his "ferocious" attack, according to the account.

When a Marine following him found an enemy RPG launcher, Chontosh used it to destroy yet another group of enemy soldiers.

The attack — described in the citation as "audacious" — cleared 200 meters of enemy trench and killed more than 20 enemy soldiers while wounding several others, it said. "

First woman since WWII to win the Silver Star (third highest award for valor after the CMOH and the Distinguised Service Cross/Navy Cross)

Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester: Army - Kentucky National Guard, War on Terror - for actions near Baghdad, Iraq, 2005: "Hester, Nein and their comrades continued to press the advantage, completely disrupting any plans the insurgents had at a successful attack. After the approximately 45-minute firefight, only three Soldiers from the 617th were wounded. ... Conversely, 27 insurgents were dead. Six others were wounded; one was captured. None escaped. " I read elsewhere that Hester was personally responsible for 3 of the enemy dead, some at close range. One hopes that they were "affirmative action" kills, in that it was close enough so the jihadis could see they were about to get slotted by a woman.

TGIR

Thank God it's Ryeday

Crown Royal meet Royal Crown. I've introduced these two before, they get along extremely well and their comraderie pleases me to no end. Cheers.

Nov11

capncrunch

capncrunch
Originally uploaded by mattclarke123.

Oh, the pain of those Captain Crunch hangovers. Never again you say to yourself....but....

partywithparti

partywithparti
Originally uploaded by mattclarke123.

Party with Parti. DP, MC and an unidentified 8 year old boy

village

village
Originally uploaded by mattclarke123.

Tim - on the right is Citta's, but notice there is no patio. The horror...

yokels

yokels
Originally uploaded by mattclarke123.

Local yokels. No matter where you go there are always a few.

How's all that working out then

I've been added to my first blogroll! I dropped a comment (a grammatically challenged one, naturally. Haste makes waste) over at The London Fog and they added me to their Blogroll. Thanks, Foggers! I wanted to follow-up on the Suzuki item they have posted here.

"He also decries London's spreading suburbs and "gigantic homes," saying
cities need vibrant neighbourhoods that give a "sense of identity and the
sense that you want to do things to make it a better place."

"SUVs should be banned from cities and free transit in core areas should
replace use of private vehicles, he said."

So let's imagine a cool Suzuki-esque place where gas is expensive, most cars are small, public transit is heavily subsidized and widely available, city centres are pedestrian friendly and compact, homes are far more modestly sized than in North America, taxes are high and disposable income is low. Sound nice? Sounds like Europe to me, so let's check in on how well that's all working out in a part of Europe known as France:

waste of money avoided

I was looking at this book in Chapters the other just before my recent vacation: The European Dream by Jeremy Rifkin. But, I thought, this guy could be some crank who cobbled together the book from a variety of loosely tied together facts and some twisting here and there of new economic data. After reading this, this and this am I glad that I opted for Fast Food Nation and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time instead. If you love math, which I do in a very platonic way, you really should read the latter book

rejected blog names

The Pensky File - (from Seinfeld) with the title "Are you Pensky Material?"
- Good but ultimately unsatisfying and this is not a Seinfeld blog
Sector 7G - The part of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant where Homer works.
- Taken by a communications firm and at least one blog. Hilariously the site for the communications firm has the pretentious tagline, "WARNING this site contains original ideas". I suppose that is despite the fact the company's name is based on a location in the Simpsons
PullMyFinger
- Too flippant, although that reason will seem odd to those that know me and you'll see it's sort of taken if you Google it
AllThingsMatty - Nice and all encompassing.
- BUT, ultimately too close to Toronto (or is it NY now?) blogger Christie's site AllThingsChristie . She has a post up now on large sandwiches that was, i think, ultimately started by this BoingBoing post on a 30,000 calorie belt popper.
Mattysworld - maybe later for personal stuff as commentary on this site may well veer off into politcs, ideas and debates, etc.
Approprate Clothing - Good but a bit long for my tastes. It's derived from a Ben Zander anecdote about something his father used to say: "There is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing." Wise man that Mr. Zander.

because you always wanted to know

What an "Atomic Sit up" is:

For those of you who don’t know what an Atomic Sit-up is, it goes like this: Whoever the mark is, you get half the group to say “There’s no way [he] can do an Atomic Sit-Up.” And you get the other half to say, “Of course he can. You can do it [].” This goes on and on for a bit. This is exactly how we got Roby to drink the quart of corn syrup. When the mark finally agrees to attempt to do one, he gets down in the sit-up position. Knees bent, hands behind his head, head on the ground, lying on his back. Then a guy stands behind his head and pins his face down with a shirt. The shirt holds him down and it blindfolds him. Then you pump him up with encouragement and get him to launch his body up to do one sit-up. Of course, it’s impossible and he won’t even be able to get his head off the ground. Then everyone groans and half the group says, “See, I told you” while the other half encourages him to try again. Once he’s in position again and blindfolded, you get a guy to stand over him bare ass. You get the mark all fired up again with words of encouragement. When he launches himself upwards to do that one sit-up on the count of Three, you remove the shirt and he goes face-first hard into someone’s butt. Call it gay if you want, but it’s still hilarious.

The above is from Neil Prakash who tells the whole story here at his blog Armor Geddon

Prakash won the Silver Star for his actions as a tank commander in Iraq. Full story on that here

fill your eyes

For no reason in particular I share with you this passage from The Englishman's Boy by Guy Vanderhaeghe

The Englishman’s boy wasn’t a smiler. Even with the moon standing brave and blue between the funnels of the Yankton, the hard prairie stars glittering ice-chips, the boat rocking in the ebb and lull of the water, he did not treat himself to a smile, especially not when dancing. The quality like niggers and white trash like him to grin when entertaining. “Fly them heels, boy!” they shouted. He flew them. But he handed around no smiles. From the waist up he was rigor mortis, plank-stiff, arms nailed to his sides, poker-faced. But below the greasy pant legs flapped and bucked, the skinny legs jerked and twitched, the boots drummed the deck boards louder and louder. “Buck and swing!” the women cried, and the coins, white as frost, began to skip and bounce about the blurry boots. Around and around he spun, showing himself to the whole encroaching circle like a damn hurdy-gurdy girl, cutting licks and capers on the deck, faster and faster, outracing the wheeze of the mouth organ, the scrape of fiddle, outracing the faces looming dizzily at him against a background of dark water, dark sky, faces glaring white-hot in the light of kerosene lamps.

Fill your eyes, you sons of bitches. Throw your money. This poor whoreson’s a-dancing on your grave. Believe it.

You Gotta Love Father Bear -- Childrens Programming Commentary Part I

I probably watch too much childrens TV. We're a one TV household and most nights the kids get to see a few shows or a video in the evening. I'm really not missing anything in terms of adult programming since the pre-primetime hours and most of the primetime hours are a deadzone, unless it's, oh, i dunno, Shark Week. One character I have come across that does amuse me is Little Bears' father, "Father Bear" for no other reason than he goes fishing in a blazer, waistcoat, shirt and tie. That's some old-school formality I have a certain amount of respect for, even though I have no intention of trying to emulate it myself.

Little Bear is a good show for kids, even if the theme music is irritatingly wholesome and it looks like a traditional cartoon, which is quite a contrast with the hip-hop dance stylings and computerized slickness of the Backyardigans.

Troll free Fall walk

I took my youngest for a walk on this very windy Sunday, largely, I am sad to admit, because the power went out and there was not much else to do. One of my favourite Fall images is that of leaves settled on a dark pond and i wanted to get a picture of that while we were out too.

I also sent Syd ahead to make sure a bridge was Troll free before daddy had to cross it. I mean, if there had been a Troll there, it's better that i am able to run away and tell the authorities, right?

An Unfortunate Exchange

This image is taken from the local phone book and is for a Catholic book store not far from where i live. A friend needed a "Jesus Fish" as a birthday present and we wanted to call to ensure they had them before leaving. Imagine my surprise when i saw the phone number. I commented on the this to the proprietors mother who was looking after the shop when we arrived and she told us how they, obviously, complained to the phone company that this was unacceptable and would like another number. However, they were told that the location dictated the first three digits of the number and there was nothing that could be done. Of course, nowadays they could just get a cell phone, but I suspect the store has been there long before that was an option and, as you might expect, it seemed pleasantly free of demonic activity (at least while we were there).

It's a bit of a stretch to use this as a critique of monopoly capitalism but whereas real estate companies, developers and others banish floor number 13 from some buildings in order to please their tenants, etc.,it takes a rather obtuse telemonopoly to not omit this exchange from the options they would impose on a geographic area that would have a vast majority of its populace who are Christians, practising or not.

OBEY

This blog's sine qua non is summed up well in this image. Note, this isn't a Photoshop job, but rather a photo of a cleverly modified Sobey's sign which was up for weeks last summer. The local pranksters have either read too much -- or not enough -- Orwell and modified the sign accordingly.