I B*tch, Whine and Moan. Therefore I am.

NEW YORK (AFP) - The right of New York City to conduct random bag searches on the subway is on trial...."We have no objection to reasonable searches," said Christopher Dunn, lead counsel for the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) which filed the lawsuit ....

Apart from some grumbles, there has been little public outcry over the policy.

The NYCLU, however, dismisses the deterrent argument, highlighting the fact that advance notice is given of searches and people selected to be searched are allowed to walk away [sounds pretty fookin unreasonable to me, Elmo]
....................................................................................
Apart from making some who might be carrying contraband, feel just that much more edgy? I don't see this as some leaden societal imbalance. Anyone ride the subway lately? I did a couple months back, here in Los Angeles. After London. Man did I feel naked.

"Bush sets out to salvage 2nd term"

No point in clicking on this USA Today link. A compendium of all the wrongs past and present, besetting Dub. It drones on forever. You'd think he was currently wearing ankle chains, aboard a schooner sailing for Elba. The only thing missing from the story, are perhaps the twins being arrested for cruelty to animals. Accompanied by an endearing airbrushed gauzy photo of Hillary holding a kitten.

I must be Van Gogh?

A JAPANESE artist has been paid £5000 ($11,800) of taxpayers' money to drink 48 bottles of beer and then fall off a wooden beam.
The "performance", which took place at an arts centre in Cardiff, has outraged members of the local council and caused bafflement among the public, many of whom do exactly that every Friday and Saturday night, without getting paid.

However, an arts centre spokesman said: "This wasn't just about a woman drinking a lot of beer. This was a powerful piece of art."

Via http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/browse

Remember when showering with the CIA .... never drop the soap

A quite good read this morning over at FrontPageMag, about those nasty pos's over at Langley. Recommended. The whole affair remninds me of a scene out of Apocalypse Now:

Clean asks Willard about the journey upriver, "Is it gonna be hairy?," and learns: "I don't know, kid. Yeah, probably." Chef ("raised to be a saucier") and Willard leave the boat at night, in a stunningly-visual sequence, to search for fruit (mangoes). Dwarfed by the eerieness of nature all around and the trees above them, Chef and Willard (on guard against VC) are attacked by a ferocious but beautiful Asian tiger. Chef is terrified and becomes unglued after retreating to the safety of the boat. Willard vows (in voice-over) that they must "never drop the soap"

Further thoughts, 6:26 a.m.

Though the greater quantity of dross floating around MSM's castle, the last few hours, days and weeks. Is that Bush is a toothbrush mustachioed gent, Rove has pointy ears. And the rest inside the White House, should be watched at family gatherings. I'm still unchanged in my view that this is a CIA clusterf*ck. Anyone else who may still have any more interest in the whole shebang? May find these recent blog entrees worth
a bite.

How Covert Was Valerie Plame (III)? at JustOneMinute blog
http://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/2005/10/how_covert_was__2.html

And Who's Minding The CIA? at Riehl World View
http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2005/10/whos_minding_th.html

Via Political Teen, linking Instapubndit.

Same Link .... Different Writing

Same hyperlink as "bloodstained streets and mangled stalls of wood and twisted metal"

Excise from rewritten, largely different story:

"they were looking for a man in his 20s who refused to buy a ticket on the bus in the Govindpuri neighborhood, leaving behind a large black bag. When some of the 40 passengers raised an alarm, the driver and conductor examined it and threw it out just as the bomb went off

In one hospital morgue, three anguished families fought over the charred bodies of two children -- a girl about eight and a boy about three. One family claimed the boy was theirs, another claimed the girl and the third said the two bodies were their missing son and daughter.

Why are they doing this to me? Can’t a father recognize his own child?' sobbed one of the men. They finally agreed to cremate the bodies jointly, pending the outcome of DNA testing to establish the identity of the children."

The future is here. We have a world where terrror, and the slaughter of innocents is a part of the fabric of life. Where it is normal to discover a bomb on a bus. Where even in the horror wrought, those robbed of their most precious, can act with a calm and quiet dignity.

Hey you, you walking talking bug sh*t. We laugh in your face.

Today's Work of Fiction

'I am losing my mind behind these horrible prison walls'

By ABDULRAHMAN FAKHRI

A BAHRAINI detainee at Guantanamo Bay has written his own chilling account of violence, torture and humiliation at the hands of his captors. Juma Al Dossary's words paint a haunting picture of the brutality, desperation and hopelessness of life in the cages of the notorious US camp in Cuba.

"There is no-one by my side to talk to me in this dark isolation, no-one to take away my pain, no-one I can complain to," he writes.

"I am alone in this foreign land and my only comfort is the Holy Quran."

Via http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/browse

No word on whether Al Dossary has received his Writer's Guild card yet?

There Are Lots of Ways to Increase Tourism in Iran

Tehran, Iran, Oct. 30 – Iran’s Ministry of Education announced on Sunday that 20 million students in primary and secondary schools across the country will chant “Death to America” on Wednesday to mark the anniversary of the seizure of the United States embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979.

“Students across the country will be ringing school bells with chants of Death to America on Wednesday, November 2, and special programs will be held in schools”

The above doesn't seem like one of them however.

Related:
'Numerous Travel Agencies In Iran, Few Tourists, What's the Problem?'
http://www.payvand.com/news/05/oct/1224.html
(via http://jimeo722.blogspot.com/2005/10/iran-where-are-our-tourists.html)

"bloodstained streets and mangled stalls of wood and twisted metal"

No need to click on/through the link. I'm not going to make this another sobby site. In fact, since putting on a blogger badge, I've tended to look at the news at large, the whole. The ambient temp, rather than the fluctuation spikes from the story of the minute.

It's just that this (twelfth paragraph) really stood out while I was reading the story:

"The first explosion hit at 5:45 p.m. in New Delhi’s main Paharganj market, killing 16 people and leaving bloodstained streets and mangled stalls of wood and twisted metal. Within minutes, an explosion at the Sarojini Nagar market killed 43 people and a bomb meant for a bus in the Govindpuri neighborhood injured nine."

All I could think of was those poor streets and market stalls, and that lucky bus (sarc tag on).

The War in Iraq is Over. Please Come Out.

'Japanese Soldier Surrenders 29 Years After the End of World War II'

In 1944, Lt. Hiroo Onoda was sent by the Japanese army to the remote Philippine island of Lubang. His mission was to conduct guerrilla warfare during World War II. Unfortunately, he was never officially told the war had ended; so for 29 years, Onoda continued to live in the jungle ..... Eating coconuts and bananas and deftly evading searching parties ... Onoda hid in the jungle until he finally emerged from the dark recesses of the island on March 19, 1972.

... soon the island was overrun by the Allies. The remaining Japanese soldiers, Onoda included, retreated into the inner regions of the island and split up into groups. As these groups dwindled in size after several attacks, the remaining soldiers split into cells of 3 and 4 people.

... Onoda first saw a leaflet that claimed the war was over in October 1945. When another cell had killed a cow, they found a leaflet left behind by the islanders which read: "The war ended on August 15."

... Leaflet after leaflet was dropped. Newspapers were left. Photographs and letters from relatives were dropped. Friends and relatives spoke out over loudspeakers. There was always something suspicious, so they never believed that the war had really ended.

... Year after year, the four men huddled together in the rain, searched for food, and sometimes attacked villagers ... Isolated from the rest of the world, everyone appeared to be the enemy

... In 1974, a college dropout named Norio Suzuki decided to travel to the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Burma, Nepal, and perhaps a few other countries on his way. He told his friends that he was going to search for Lt. Onoda, a panda, and the Abominable Snowman.4

A wonderful Saturday morning read .... should you continue.

This posting inspired by http://wizbangblog.com/archives/007448.php#101563

Dueling Nuclear Banjos

I'm sure the numbered relationship between those running stories akin to: we didn't mean it. And those running stories: a bloody thorn is a bloody thorn. Currently being aggregated by Google, will change throughout the day (it's now about evenly split).

'Iran sticks by anti-Israel comments' ... 'Top Iran officials back President on Middle East threats'
'Iran 'withdraws' Israel threats' ... 'Iran denies threatening attack'

Some MSM cloacas being complicit in the approaching expanded conflagration. Promoting Iran's duplicitous remarks.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/10/29/iran.remarks/

'Iran denies Israel attack threat'
(CNN) -- Iran ...... saying it .... would not use violence against another country. "The Islamic Republic of Iran is committed to its U.N. charter commitments. It has never used force against a second country or threatened the use of force,"

Others are just lost, lost in a dream, drowning in their hopeless hope.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3161000,00.html

Some have even been dosed with an extremely powerful hallucinogen. 'Iran pledges peace in war of words'

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,17077802%255E663,00.html

Others however.... are not deceived.

http://anechoicroom.blogspot.com/2005/10/world-war-iii-began-yesterday-october.html

Addendum 8:52 a.m.

http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=2166192005

'Defiant Iranian president joins protesters on streets'

IRAN'S new president joined more than a million demonstrators who flooded the streets of the capital and other major cities to back his call for the destruction of the Jewish state. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stood fast behind his Wednesday demand that the Jewish state be wiped off the map and reissued the call during the nationwide protests yesterday.

Marching alongside protesters in downtown Tehran, the 47-year-old president said of the West: "They become upset when they hear any voice of truth-seeking. They think they are the absolute rulers of the world."

And so it goes .....

Addendum 1:10 p.m.

Iranians protest during a demonstration in Tehran, 28 October 2005. Tens of thousands of Iranians took to the streets of Tehran for "Jerusalem Day" -- a carnival-style event heavy on bloodthirsty rhetoric that includes would-be militants signing up for suicide bombing missions.
http://photobucket.com/albums/c353/gmafb/?action=view¤t=mkiu2351523.jpg

Addendum 3:40 p.m.

....speaking (in) at “World Without Zionism” conference .... (the) 49-year-old president.... In his opening words, he praised the Palestinian intifada .... Iran’s enemies are falling, he said. If we keep our nerve, he cheerily observed, “the process of eliminating the Zionist regime will be smooth and simple”.

http://www.thebusinessonline.com/Stories.aspx?Blair%E2%80%99s%20strongman%20act%20over%20Iran&StoryID=2502B4BB-3B06-4F03-9609-1A03C7C0107C&SectionID=CE32B1D2-7454-418B-A470-41A635475378

Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream

I knew of a soiree at Hollyhock House, with a no host bar. Beginning at eight. Only problem ...... my pockets were turned inside out (figuratively), and it was about six-thirty. It was already dark out and, since I was already there .... I wandered in.

Through the side and with a strong wind blowing at my back as I entered. Pushing a swirl of leaves in with me. I made my way to the bar, which was not as long as most in length, but deeper than many in width. And rather casually, not as tall as most in height.



Standing behind the bar was Danny DeVito. I was gonna hit Dan up for something to wet my whistle, when I remembered. That I work there, at the bar. So I sez to Danny: how bout an advance? Just loud enough, so that the man standing next to him, the manager, Charlton Heston, could also hear.

Chuck says: sure, no problem. And asks how much? I say fiddy. Needless to say .... the dream had a happy ending.

Haven't read this yet .... looks really good. I will in the morning.

In the meantime? I guess you yourself can read it ..... nothing stopping you.

'The Fate of Ozymandias'

World Without Zionism There’s a new exclusive club, succinctly named Zionot. It has the elegance and brevity of a mathematical term. Its aim is as lethal as sniper’s bullet.

Consider it a celebration by the Religion of Peace in Ramadan. What are they celebrating? A world finally made Judenrein. According to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, it is imperative that Islam “wipe this stigma (Israel) from the face of the Islamic world.”

This effort, dubbed “The World Without Zionism,” is being co-ordinated during a week of special events in thousands of mosques, schools, factories, etc. It is designed to create a critical mass of jihadist zeal. Syria and Lebanon and even Afghanistan are holding simultaneous activities for the same purpose.

Laughter with the Tears

Not that I'm crying. I really don't take politics all that seriously. In general. Now specifically, as relates the war on terror? Then yes, sometimes I get a little amped.

Anyway, presented for your laughter (or with your tears?) Christmas cards for Libby ... via Mad Science.

Gilla Ga Whack and Skilley Shack ..... Say it Don't Mean Doodley Squat

Truth be told, your intrepid blog host hasn't much of a grasp of the deeper meaning of many of the world's complexities. And I'm flying solo here, without so much as a puppy or a kitten in my lap as I plink away. Sometimes I'm just faking it as I go along. I'd like to say the rest of the time, I'm making it up (sounds cute). But that wouldn't actually be true. Which brings us to this morning's flute of bubbly .....

Whomever or whatever Fitzie is or isn't going to indict (say the designer of the new Dodge Charger). It Don't Mean Doodley Squat. Nothing. Nada. Dee Beeg Zeeero. In my heart of hearts, mind of minds, I believe Dub and his crew went to war, in our best interests. The people of these United States of America. The safety of our lives, in this troubled world in troubled times. Nothing more.

Sure, we can dress it up altruistically and say we were doing it for the Iraqi people. But I believe this was an inward look, with an outward benefit. We simply weren't going to wait until the need was immediate, the horror unmistakable. We acted, we went. We chased Saddam into a hole in the ground, and the Iraqi's got a country and a life [yep not Disneyland yet, but everyone is working on it. (You don't just buy funtioning countries in microwavable packages, in the freezer section of the supermarket)].

What I don't think Iraq was. Was what those deeep thinkers over at DU believe. A plan by secret interests to steal oil, and at the same time put a Starbucks on every corner. Of course, they can think and believe what they like. Even if it bears no relation to .... reality.

Which brings us to Valerie Flame (smiley face). Her compadre with the greasy hair, Wilson. Cheney, Libby, and the CIA. I do not believe anything criminal was ever intended. Nor do I believe any sort of coverup was ever attempted. What I do believe is that good people, with good hearts, and the best of intentions. Were merely trying to keep some unsavory types from stuffing an aurora up their tailpipe. Nothing more.

That's my story and I'm sticking with it.


Addendum 8:11 a.m.

SPECIAL COUNSEL PATRICK J. FITZGERALD TO HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Department of Justice Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald will hold a press conference at 2:00 P.M. EDT today, Friday October 28, 2005, regarding the status of the Special Counsel's criminal investigations.

7th Floor Conference Center
950 Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20530

Addendum 11:26 a.m. This is what an aurora, stuffed up your tailpipe looks like.

http://www.aim.org/special_report/4112_0_8_0_C/

"(If) ... it means that the CIA, perhaps the most powerful intelligence agency in the U.S. Government, was deliberately trying to undermine the Bush Administration's Iraq War policy .... since when is the CIA allowed to run covert operations against an elected president of the U.S.?"

Via Marxbites ....http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1511065/posts

Addendum 2:14 p.m. What I wrote September 30, 2003:

"It might appear to be some sort of pissing contest, between someone in government, and the CIA. He (Wilson) wasn't working at the cafeteria. He was sent to Africa to gather intel. His wife is currently employed there. It smells, he smells. It is not without total improbability, that the CIA is merely engaged in covering their own posteriors. Which might still be a little sore. If there was a larger good to his disclosures (?), it is completely invisible to the politics. If (??), someone in government was engaged in a distant tango with Wilson (repeat question mark). I think it was Wilson who was leading. But, please do go ahead and bitch slap 'em both. Let's get on with the business at hand."

Outside the Beltway's Friday open trackback: "Beltway Traffic Jam"
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/12481/trackback/

On the first day of Fitzmas, the grand jury gave to me ....

On the second day of Fitzmas.....

From everyone's favorite foist grade class ... the Democratic Underground Discussion Forum. Looks like the party over there, is just getting started. Gosh I love those kids.

Addendum 9:35 a.m. From DU

"Word is that Pacifica WILL have special coverage of the Fitzgerald press conference beginning at 2 pm Eastern Time, 1 pm Central Time today. If you're in SF, LA, NY or DC, you can listen to your local Pacifica station on radio. Or online.(check www.pacifica.org for links).
The excellent guest list includes Ray McGovern (27-year veteran of the CIA, and member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity) and John Nichols, maybe Joe Wilson"

[I remember when I was five years old, and was staring down at my first stiffie too]

I'm gonna go ahead and load the internet audio stream for kicks (first time I've ever tried a live internet audio feed). Wish me luck. And if anyone has some antibiotics, I'd appreciate it if you kept them handy :-)

Addendum 9:59

Just listened for a few seconds, and merely the nasal droning sound of the current guest being interviewed, started to make me nauseous.

Body hanging from tree mistaken for Halloween decoration

FREDERICA, Delaware (AP) -- The apparent suicide of a woman found hanging from a tree went unreported for hours because passers-by thought the body was a Halloween decoration, authorities said.

The 42-year-old woman used rope to hang herself across the street from some homes on a moderately busy road late Tuesday or early Wednesday, state police said.

The body, suspended about 15 feet above the ground, could be easily seen from passing vehicles.

State police spokesman Cpl. Jeff Oldham and neighbors said people noticed the body at breakfast time Wednesday but dismissed it as a holiday prank.

World War III Began Yesterday, October 26, 2005. But the World Did Little Note.

My local paper headlined the above linked story (page nine/'Nation&World') with "Bombing Shatters Peace." And of course in the story, we get: "stifled faint peace hopes."

People, there is NO peace. We are currently at war. Israel is currently at war. And the war is growing. Growing ever larger. And it will pull in more countries in the Middle East. There is no peace.

Iran strangley, actually gave voice to their thoughts. Actually said what was on their minds, yesterday. October 26, 2005.

'Iran's New President Says Israel Should Be Wiped off the Map'

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared Wednesday that Israel is a "disgraceful blot" that should be "wiped off the map"

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20051026-1230-iran-israel.html

Sure, easy to dismiss as bluster. That is if one has been living in the proverbial cave. The simple reality? Fifty years of teaching intolerance, of preaching hatred, of sewing the seeds of global murder. Have sprouted. War is here. Murder is now our companion. Look away (?). Do not believe ..... couch your disbelief in hope, in words, even in politics. It will not change thus.

World War III Began Yesterday, October 26, 2005. But the World Did Little Note.

Addendum 5:41 p.m.
Just a little bit louder now
[Just a little bit louder]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1509941/posts

Addendum Friday, October 28 4:45 p.m.

Tehran, Oct. 28 – Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has fired his country’s ambassadors to Britain, France, and Germany, and ordered 18 envoys to be recalled to Tehran, a government official in the Iranian capital told Iran Focus.

http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=4176

It's Been a Long Time Since I've read Bill Whittle or Steven Den Beste.

During the early stages of the war, two Americans as fine as any this nation has ever known. Den Beste was always a little over my head. Requiring time and purpose to read. And Bill was sometimes ummm.... lengthy. And, I lost a little interest in the war's day to day. Spending more time involved in my personal hobby, listening to music.

It's my understanding that Mr. Den Beste had some health issues, but I don't know and haven't bothered to check. Currently he can be seen in more relaxed surroundings at http://denbeste.nu/Chizumatic/
Blogging mostly about Japanese animation, but with a spot of current events tossed in. And lately I've seen him round the sphere, leaving a few comments at various skilled and pointed blogs.

I don't have any excuse for not keeping abreast of Mr. Whittle either. At
http://www.ejectejecteject.com/
Other than the excuses already offered. That, and the fact that I am lazy (sssshh). Of course I would be without shame if I did not mention AllahPundit in the same breath as these giants. Hellooooo .... Sir, wherever you may be?

O.K. Elmo, enough of the long wind .... what is your point? The above linked post (in the header). Is simply THE finest thing I have read on the web, in a month (entire). Yes..... it's a long read. Perhaps too. And, if you run out of steam half way through. That's fine. Promise yourself half of Richard Baehr's: "The growing threat to Israel." (The American Thinker, October 26th, 2005). You won't regret it.

Via http://discardedlies.com/

Open Societies

Bush administration drops ‘bunker buster’ plan

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration has abandoned research into a nuclear “bunker-buster” warhead, deciding instead to pursue a similar device using conventional weaponry, a key Republican senator said Tuesday.

Ostensibly, this a small budgetary matter [having given the link only a quick perusal apriori (seems that is the genesis for the story)]. Nixing the funds for the initial or continued development/research.

We know about this, because we DO live in a transparent society. This isn't Iraq pre invasion, Iran, or Syria. We operate on general principles. Often slow in functioning. Sometimes satisfying these principles, makes the job of protecting us, more difficult.

Myself, I don't think it the best of ideas to publicly discuss the mechanics of ending Iran's turn to the darkside (especially our Govt's or military's toolbox items). Doesn't mean Iran's days as a potential or real nuclear threat, aren't numbered.

P.S. That party won't be televised.

A Disturbance in the Force

Lots goin' roun the sphere the last few days and weeks (longer actually), about Pajamas Media (I really should go through the Althouse posts, which I haven't even begun to look at yet). To me, more interesting than the wheels falling off of a virtual car. Is the story of the story. All the different perspectives on offer, different experiences with the principles. And the thought/s brought to bear indirectly, tangentially, and in/on the general idea of Pajamas Media.

It wasn't as much a problem needing to be solved (or the ever present soiled MSM laundry, needing air). So much as a reaffirmation of the sphere. Seeming to take place all by itself. Auto correcting, auto pilot.

Courtesy of some chilly willy bloggers, giving us surprisingly sharp polaroids of the bedroom scenes. Others weighing in with some tasty (but reserved) snarkiness. And yet others coming from on high, hitting us with feather pillows, sleeved in cases of rainbow prints.

Whatever Pajamas Media is, whatever it was supposed to be. It won't displace, or replace that which already exists. In the physical, virtual or spiritual realms. Either through magic beans or a force majeure of prattle. Seems to me, change will come the usual ways (in ever smaller, but faster increments).

Remember back when, when certain sites became subscriber, pay to play? Tell me that wasn't strange. And how long before most sites had stopped requiring you to fork over your mailbox address? I don't know if Beta was better than VHS. I do know one constortium didn't like the posted price on offer per pound. And promptly went out and bred, raised, and drove to market, it's own fuggin herd.

So while it certainly appears that there are some very select cuts on display in the deli case. It doesn't mean that there aren't other places to shop, or that any of those shops are putting up velvet ropes.

Related links:

http://www.personaldemocracy.com/node/742
http://althouse.blogspot.com/2005/07/pajamas-media-vs-blogads-bloggers.html
http://althouse.blogspot.com/2005/08/more-pajama-talk.html
http://althouse.blogspot.com/2005/08/harsh-blow-for-pajamas.html
http://dennisthepeasant.typepad.com/dennis_the_peasant/2005/10/sorry_but_youre.html
http://www.thepoorman.net/2005/10/22/there-is-so-much-fucking-love-in-my-heart/
http://www.randomfate.net/MT/2005/10/17/my-experience-with-pajamas-media/
http://political-football.blogspot.com/2005/10/new-media-blog-network-for-elitists.html

Addendum 10/26/05 12:45 p.m.

Wired is running a story online today: Will Pajamas Media Wake Up Blogs? But, as usual with MSM ..... miss at least half the story (in my estimation). I.E. the current currents swirling around a small part of the blogosphere. Almost as if the blogosphere doesn't even exist. Strange that.

http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,69335,00.html

For the life of me, can't get the links to go hyper. So, I've stopped trying.

Via http://dailyfisk.blogspot.com/2005/10/will-pajamas-media-wake-up-blogs.html

The Boom Boom Room

This oddball out of this world link, is rated R. Mature content. Quite interesting none the less. As much as Hollywood romanticises space travel. Long term travel will require some cool customers.

'Out-of-this-world sex could jeopardise missions'

Sex and romantic entanglements among astronauts could derail missions to Mars and should therefore be studied by NASA, warns a top-level panel of US researchers.

NASA plans to return astronauts to the Moon by 2018 and later on to Mars. But a round-trip mission to the Red Planet would probably last at least 30 months and carry six to eight people. That would be a hotbed for intense crew relationships, says a report by the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS).

Palinkas says long-term space missions may be similar to extended periods in the isolated and confined environments of Antarctic research stations .......

The Wolverine Marching Band Ain't What it Used to Be?

No disrespect intended. Saw 'em a few years back, during the Rose Parade. The eighth wonder of the world.

Not for the squeamish.

Rediff India Abroad
October 16, 2005

Although the October 8 earthquake is a great human tragedy, for the human traffickers it is a perfect 'business opportunity'. The mafia has become active creatively. Human smugglers are collecting information about children and women who have lost their parents and spouses. They visit various relief camps, pretend to be the close relatives of such victims and claim their custody.

I was witness to one such scene. "I don't know them. They are not my relatives. Please don't send me with them." This was Ayesha Bibi, a 16-year old girl at the Rawalpindi General Hospital. Two men -- Shafiq and Karim -- wanted to take her with them. According to them, Ayesha was their niece.

'She is mentally retarded. She would often not recognise her real mother who has died in the rubble in Muzaffarabad. We are her uncles and have come to help her,' claimed Karim. The hospital, faced with a desperate bed shortage, discharged her to the man without verification. .....

Dingleberries on Parade.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Nadler today called for Special Counsel Fitzgerald to expand his investigation to include a criminal investigation to examine whether the President, the Vice President, and members of the White House conspired to deliberately deceive Congress into authorizing war.

“The CIA leak is only the tip of the iceberg,” Congressman Nadler said. “This is looking increasingly like a White House conspiracy aimed at misleading our country into war – manufacturing evidence, smearing and silencing critics, manipulating media. (An) orchestrated effort by the President, the Vice President, and other White House officials to lie to get support for the Iraq War.”

This excise has been "de-echoed."

Via http://www.odograph.com/

Head 'em up, move 'em out. Move 'em on, head 'em out. Rawhide!

Rollin', rollin', rollin' .......

Experts Warn of “Peak Pony”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans have had it tough over the last few weeks, with President Bush approval ratings below 40%, the indictment of .... Tom DeLay .... (and) the expected indictment of several senior White House officials .... Republican woes have been a boon for the pony markets, which have seen prices soar to historic highs due to increased demand from ecstatic liberals.

This spike in demand has led many experts to warn of a near-term pony shortage, and led to fears that the world may be approaching “Peak Pony”, the point at which nations are no longer able to meet their vital pony needs.

For most of the 20th century, ponies were primarily used as imaginary companions for giggling pre-teen girls. However, the market base for ponies has expanded considerably in recent weeks and months, as liberal euphoria has reached .... giddy heights


Via ghost in the machine.
http://denbeste.nu/Chizumatic/

Don't Listen to the Nihilists. Democracy is a Beautiful Thing.

At first I laughed when I read this at Iraq the Model, and thought .... hmmm those Iraqis sure have a dark sense of humor:

"One friend siad to me 'I was shocked when I saw Awad Al-Bandar (the chief of the former revolutionary tribunal) who sent countless numbers of people to execution ....
This former "judge" complained to the court demanding his igal (traditional headwear) ... and said that he won’t speak until he has his igal on his head again .....

my friend wondered 'were victims of that very man allowed to do the same?' one columnist commented on this issue in a newspaper by saying 'defendants in the past wouldn’t demand any headwear because after all what’s the benefit of one if the head itself was going to leave the body in a matter of a few hours?!'."

Then reading a little further, I was sad. Sad for the families of Saddam's victims. Sad that life could be so cheap.

And then, then I was happy. Happy that people never knowing a just society, now were:

"The mother who lost her father, husband and brother was calmer .... 'yesterday we avenged the blood of our martyrs, I can’t say how happy I was to see fear and anxiety in Saddam’s eyes'."

And then I was amazed. Amazed that recent articles are discussing whether or not democracy in Iraq, is/isn't will/won't stem terrorism. (As if things were better when Awad Al-Bandar was the 'judge', and killing was fast, efficient, and private. And his victims had no lawyers or igals).

Murderers may come, and murderers may go. Democracy and justice are forever.

That's two. Two ..... two disgust's in one

I'm watching a few minutes of Charlie Rose last night. Having stopped for a moment, during remote scan. And he's got Christiane Amanpour in Baghdad, covering Saddam's trial.

There she is in all her splendor. Humming her warm soothing, marbled vocal tone, with her firm but comforting demeanor. Unable to mask that exact crystaline moment, brilliantly on display. Of the beginning, of the media rehabilitation of Saddam Hussein.

Sickening. Revolting.

Looking at Charlie's website, t'would appear to be a rebroadcast of Wednesday's show (?). But since I don't watch him, and didn't see the program's beginning, middle or end. Your guess is as good as mine.

Disgust number two? All referenced broadcasts, are only available for purchase. As audio or video. No free transcripts ($9.95). It's pay to play or pay to read.

That's O.K. Charlie .... I understand. I like Schramsberg too.

Bush Bashing .... Cali Style

Bush motorcade leaves other folks fuming
Dana Bartholomew, Staff Writer

One hundred Brentwood kindergartners, were all set to go see "The Wizard of Oz" on Friday when their first-ever field trip was blocked by the nation's 43rd president.
President Bush, his Marine One helicopter grounded by fog, brought morning rush hour to a standstill while his motorcade proceeded from West Los Angeles through the San Fernando Valley to Simi Valley for the dedication of the Air Force One Pavilion.

Julie Fahn, a volunteer mom at Kenter Canyon Elementary in Brentwood .... "My poor children - they were so disappointed. They're all so sad. They were inconvenienced by a silly motorcade down Sunset (Boulevard)." .....
One glamorous Westsider suggested an alternate route for the president. Another wielded a sign that said simply, "Impeach Bush."

Like many from a region that overwhelmingly cast votes against Bush in 2004, Page was critical of the president's decision to disrupt the nation's busiest freeway commute.
"Canyon parents, they are not happy with (Bush) right now," "He's not at the top of any list." "The kids did not see the wizard."

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain

Well, I had one of those wow/feel so stooopid moments last night. Following my curiosity, and taking a few steps off my own well worn web path/s. And then not being able to stop. Clicking on most every new link, and then clicking on that link's links. Reading the often eye opening, or side splitting comments.

I said this blog isn't about LGF, it ain't. LGF was only the reason I said foog it. I'll put my own name, on my own mast, and own up to my own thoughts. I can thank CJ for kicking me off his site, honest. Thank You.

The purpose of this post and links? Just kinda of a follow up on the gestalt of my very first post here, in my new bouncing baby blog, the Anechoic Room. A confirmation what many hipper than thou's already knew. A possible reason/s why the esprit de corps at LGF, just ain't what it used to be.

Me, gotts a bazillion rickety skeletors in me closet. So, I can write about right and wrong, comment about the world at large. But I don't want anyone to think I've encouraged the impression of myself, as an example of integrity. Besides, it's the life I've led, the experiences I've had. Which gives me my voice.

Me, learned most all of life's lessons the hard way. I'm not complaining, I learned a few of them. One of the ones that I learned?

It's the integrity stupid.

http://www.thepoorman.net/2005/10/22/there-is-so-much-fucking-love-in-my-heart/

http://www.randomfate.net/MT/2005/10/17/my-experience-with-pajamas-media/

http://political-football.blogspot.com/2005/10/new-media-blog-network-for-elitists.html


With some further thoughts, updates, links, blah blah, blah

http://anechoicroom.blogspot.com/2005/10/disturbance-in-force.html

Tuesday, October 25, 2:04 a.m.

Waiter, waiter, percolator!

I love coffee, I love tea
I love the java jive and it loves me
Coffee and tea and the jivinU and me
A cup, a cup, a cup, a cup, a cup!

Oh, slip me a slug from the wonderful mug
And I cut a rug till IUm snug in a jug
A slice of onion and a raw one, draw one.
Waiter, waiter, percolator!

Ink Spots ..... Java Jive


Yeah, I like a good cup, and since I've been off the cancer sticks for nearly two months now. I've ended up bumping up my caffeine, from 2-3 half cups a day, to 5-6. My favorite means is a small aluminum percolator (exactly five minutes, very low gas flame). Course, haven't done it that way for the last five years, using the Melitta 102 ceramic filter holder instead (a number four paper filter, instead of the specified number two, makes less splash).

For the last week? I been doing it different. Mug, water, and coffee stirred in. Covered with plastic wrap (rubber band circlip, vent hole in plastic). Nuked [maybe 10-20 seconds less than the water alone. Frantically bubbles much earlier than just the water alone (leave room for the coffee to 'rise')]

Pour the sludge into the naked filter. Drink. Say aaaahh (or say ummm?). Certainly not as linear, convenient, or as neat (for you OCD types). But worth a try. I measure half as much ground coffee per cup, as I did before.

Don't Know How I Missed This One?

But then it's late and I'm tired. And it seems so strange/bizarre/comical. That I'm having a hard time placing it the realm of reality. Via Gateway Pundit.

'Over lunch at White House, Bono lobbies Bush'
Associated Press
10/20/2005

WASHINGTON - Before going onstage in a Wednesday night concert, U2 lead singer Bono lobbied President Bush ..... The rock star and the president had lunch in the private dining room off the Oval Office ..... Bush .... also gave Bono .... a tour of the Oval Office.

Bono told Rolling Stone magazine in an interview before they dined that he was not intimidated to meet Bush or any other leader.

"They should be afraid, because they will be held accountable for what happened on their watch," Bono told the magazine for an article on newsstands Friday. "I'm representing the poorest and the most vulnerable people. On a spiritual level, I have that with me. I'm throwing a punch, and the fist belongs to people who can't be in the room, whose rage, whose anger, whose hurt I represent.

"The moral force is way beyond mine, it's an argument that has much more weight than I have. So I'm not feeling nervous." Bono said he is "capable of having a row" if he does not get what he wants. "I'm a big-mouthed Irish rock star. Of course it frustrates me."

No comment required .... wink, wink, nudge, nudge. Know what I mean?

The idea is not to provoke Iran

BERLIN (Reuters) - The
International Atomic Energy Agency is unlikely to refer
Iran to the U.N. Security Council when the U.N. agency's board meets next month despite fears Tehran is seeking nuclear weapons, diplomats said.

From further down in the link:

"The approach is not to refer Iran to the Security Council at the moment," an official from one of the so-called EU3 countries told Reuters on condition of anonymity. "The idea is not to provoke Iran."

Well now that we cleared that up :-)

This user is blocked

Well, comes a time when you have to speak clearly. Not mumble. And turn down the volume control on too much noise. Too many echoes. Certainly was quite amused to find the above: "This user is blocked." On my profile over at LGF.

No matter. While I had posted some over the last few years, both before and after registration was instituted. And liked certain aspects of the lizard horde, most definitely admiring many posters/participants. Lately it had become nothing more than an echo chamber. A dog and pony show. Many recognizable names from the past, no longer present. Decorum lacking. Taken over by a cadre of blowhards. With the lead content often mostly designed to elicit an emotional response. And threads often taken up with cooking, the weather, word of the day. Those few left in posession of measured reason, can barely be heard above the din. The firmament and clarity was gone.

I have some ideas what this blog is about. I can say it isn't about LGF. That is provided only as a reference. A global position. A place I had visited. Not who I was before visiting, or who I am now, or who I will be. I am not of one mind, or one thought. Nor do I live in one dimension. So, while I'm no longer a lizard, I'm still a neocon, still me. Which means I do rather enjoy being under the canopy of a large tent. A wide and broad one. With lots of different people. With different thoughts, views, and ideas. Ones I admire and respect. All citizens of these United States of America. In a time of war.