August 31, 2008
I don't mean to be disrespectful about your sexiness
But let's face facts. Much as I suspect is the case with many Flea-readers, my first memory of Governor Sarah Palin was from her appearance making Craig Ferguson an honorary citizen of Alaska, from whence the naughty librarian observation.
Sexiness Update: Lifetime NRA member, Sarah Palin firing an M4 in Kuwait.
Change you can believe in Update: Sarah Palin for Vice President (via the Jawas).
Kansas: Carry On Wayward Son
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
August 30, 2008
Hyper-American
Mark Steyn on Governor Sarah Palin: hyper-American.
Grace Jones: Pull Up To The Bumper
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
Wind up
Will's politics are unsound. Details to follow. And that.*
* Not linking anything in particular there. Just saying.
August 29, 2008
My American cousins
Think of this not so much as an election. Think of it as a national IQ test. On the one hand you have a Marxist community organizer and his plagiarist running mate. On the other hand you have a bona fide hero and his running mate, Governor Sarah Palin. True fact:
Let the Laura Roslin comparisons commence. Even al Guardian is impressed despite her being the obvious huntin', fishin', shootin' candidate. But then these suggest a difference class position than they do in Blighty.
At 44, she is a youthful addition to the Republican ticket. Sarah Palin is an avid angler and hunter, a member of the politically powerful National Rifle Association, and her husband has native-American roots. She is also a former runner-up in the Miss Alaska beauty contest.
Canadian Flea-readers should also know she manages a hockey team. And -- as the Guardian alludes -- her husband is an Eskimo.
Update: Fred has spoken.
Update: Wow.
Update: "A ship in harbor is safe -- but that is not what ships are built for." Seriously. This locks up the Evangelicals, the fiscal conservatives, the libertarians, and what with her biography -- and that of her husband -- has an astonishing appeal to conservative democrats, and especially union men in the northeast. Not to mention Clinton supporters. This ticket could take Boston. I exaggerate, but only slightly.
"There is only one candidate who has truly fought for America and that man is John McCain."
And she pronounces nukular correctly. God, I am in love.
Update: Governor Palin knocks President Bush for being in bed with the Saudis. About. Time. I have been blessed with a lot of good news this week. Sarah Palin for Vice President is the best.
Adventures in publishing
Now my sidebar has disappeared and I do not have time this morning to look under the hood. Yay, internet!
Update: All working now. Sweet.
Chairs don't abuse people
While his heart seems to be in the right place, David Matas should already know better having written on the UN Human Rights Commission as an abuser's caucus and a blind from which to attack Israel. More worryingly, Matas appears not to understand there are laws against incitement to violence independent of the drumhead courts he persists in defending.
David Matas argues that chairs don't abuse people. But, David, people abuse people... with chairs.
The Bangles: Going Down To Liverpool
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
In Quebec, people are moved too often by passion and too little by intelligence
Jay Currie comments on Liberal strategy in the event of an election. The trick is to generate excitement for the less than exciting Stephan Dion.
August 28, 2008
Pretty machine
The Summer Glau Chronicles season 2 starts September 8; Agent Bedhead has details. Also, pictures.
War and peace
Captain Robert P. Wagner is welcomed by the people of Georgia as Coast Guard Cutter Dallas arrives at the Black Sea port of Batumi to render humanitarian assistance. To the north, Russian missile cruiser Moskva and two smaller missile boats are anchored at the port in Sukhumi, the capital of Abkhazia.
* The Black Sea is a very small pond for superpower games.
* Syrian "president" Bashar al-Assad has been on a Russian arms purchasing spree with an aim to buy the Iskander-E tactical missile system, in addition to Pantsyr-S1 and Buk-M2 ground-to-air missile systems and Su-30, MiG-29SMT and MiG-31E fighters. I cannot see more Syrian fast air would make much difference to the balance of power, they require Syrian pilots with the bottle to make use of them.
* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed decrees recognizing South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states. David Rivkin. and Carlos Ramos-Mrosovsky say that while the West's reaction to events has been feeble there is a way to put a sting in soft power response.
* In apparent violation of the Convention of Montreux, NATO warships in the Black Sea now outnumber the Russian fleet (hat tip to AoSHQ).
"Obviously, there are other NATO-affiliated nations out doing things," the spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Web Wright, said. "But I can't speak for those nations."
Nuance.
August 27, 2008
The map is not the territory
Note to Stephen Harper: A "world class" science station for the Arctic is nice. A flotilla of armed ice breakers sporting Canada logos would be nicer yet. It's nice to be nice.
The broken spring
Christopher Hitchens on the Prague Spring and the return of Russian imperialism (via the Drink Soaked Trots).
Updating with whatever the MSM thinks is worth mentioning next to the glory of BO:
* United States Coast Guard cutter Dallas is to bypass its scheduled stop at the Russian occupied port of Poti and make steam for Batumi instead.
* Arguably useful talk by Western powers contra the Russia's recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, contrary to Security Council resolutions to the, uhh, contrary. Talk is one thing, Condi banging a shoe -- or better yet, one of those boots -- on the table at the UN would be quite another.
The Fixx: Secret Separation
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
That is no moon
That is the biggest grain of salt I have ever seen connected to a Flea-post. The subject: George W. Bush, Barbara Bush, and Aleister Crowley (via comment at Rantburg).
I do not expect most Flea-readers to share my fascination with Crowleyanity in all its particulars. But this being the week of the Democratic National Convention it seems appropriate to post on the theme of "people with believe anything".
August 26, 2008
Un-bloody-breakable
A reminder not only of what we have gained but what we have lost, an example to those of us still capable of discriminating between right and wrong and perhaps - just perhaps - a hope for civilization to come to its senses before a new Dark Age. My hero: Gene Hunt.
Also popular with the ladies.
And how can you fail to warm to a man who doesn't care what he looks like? How different from our shallow, image-obsessed times in which politicians and policemen spend hours thinking about the colour of their suit, and whether they should touch up their hair colour. In fact when Hunt's accused of being an "overweight, over-the-hill, nicotine-stained, borderline-alcoholic homophobe with a superiority complex and an unhealthy obsession with male bonding", he retorts: "You make that sound like a bad thing."
Life on Mars, quite possibly the most important television of our time and a starter course for anyone in need of insensitivity training.* Life on Mars suggests there are many, many people who want to recover our sense of duty, our common sense and our capacity for the blindingly obvious.
Examples: The best insult of all time. And, from the final episode of Ashes to Ashes, something better than a speech on St. Crispin's Day. There is still an England. Though if you are like me and don't like even tangential spoilers, you might want to save that last link until you have watched the show(s) from beginning to end.
The other show** being Ashes to Ashes, only slightly less awe inspiring than Life on Mars - the '80s being slightly less unreconstructed that the '70s - but with Keeley Hawes ("Bollinger knickers") the spin-off has its obvious compensations. Though it is depressing Keeley does not remember the '80s per se.
Directly related case study: Tim Priest is old school police. His essay addresses the failure of multiculturalism (Australian edition), Muslim racism against non-Muslim - and especially white - Australians and what happens when the police stop knocking heads (via Small Dead Animals).
Must have this: The Rules of Modern Policing - 1973 Edition.
* Enormously grateful to Kathy Shaidle for this concept.
** The other, other show being the American remake. I cannot imagine it is any good.
The English Beat: Mirror in the Bathroom
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
Nice harder
Both houses of Russia's parliament urge their government to recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The independence of Georgia, not so much. Needing no particular encouragement to be getting on with, the Kremlin mocks the West with a threat to Moldova as a by the way. Don't they understand Canada wants to be friends? Let's try being nice harder.
Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, said he was not bothered if more than a decade of post Cold War rapprochement with Nato was halted altogether. "We are ready to accept any decisions up to halting relations altogether," he said. The president also issued a chilly warning to Moldova of a military response if it followed the Georgian example of trying to regain control of its own breakaway region of Transdniester, whose rebel leadership has long been backed by Russia.
They are not much bothered about the WTO either.
* Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman consider the strategic implications of Russia's move -- more hotels on the board, please -- saying Russia's aggression is not just a threat to a tiny democracy on the edge of Europe.
The sad thing is, we in the West really do want to be friends of Russia and still believe saying it more vigorously is going to change anything. All I am saying is, give anti-aircraft and anti-armour systems a chance. Our previous forbearance has failed the people of Georgia and, by extension, liberty itself.
* Stephen Harper heads back to the Arctic. Shame he is not packing a military ice breaker or two to take with him.
* Not clear on the notion Russia is a member of the G8, the Canadian government intends to "consult with its allies" in NATO and... the G8. Here's an idea: Take it to the United Nations Security Council. No wait...
* Michael Totten: The truth about Russia in Georgia.
RTWT.
Hewlett Packard and Staples
Still suck. It takes seven to ten business days for parts to arrive once they have got round to ordering them. That was on August 18.
Tick tick tick.
August 25, 2008
Oh, the humanity
The Taliban have a plan for what they’ll do if they capture a British soldier. They intend to set up a webcam for a live internet broadcast and then skin him alive. The news comes as no surprise to anyone who knows the first thing about the Taliban.
Macy says his comrades vowed to shoot themselves rather than fall into Taliban hands.
Meanwhile, Canadian-born BBC employee, Lyse Doucet attacked television news coverage for failing to show viewers the Taliban’s “humanity”. Here is a suggestion, Lyse. You go talk to the Taliban and have a word with them yourself. I am certain those fluffy bunnies will appreciate your Rousseau-coloured glasses and treat you with the same respect they do their own women. Remember: It is all relative and who are we to judge.
Related: Madonna is a stupid bitch.
This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we'll be lucky to live through it.
Syria has reopened the port of Tartus to the Russia navy.
Updating as time permits and in so far as the MSM deciders care to report on the subject:
* The BBC has footage of a train full of fuel blown up by a mine near Gori.
* Georgian civilians captured and recently freed by Russian and South Ossetian forces on Saturday described beatings, forced labour and miserable living conditions in prison.
* A stark testimony to the power of persuasion versus the power of whacking Putin on the nose with a rolled up newspaper, the head of Russia's Federal Atomic Energy Agency Sergei Kiriyenko is to visit Iran to finalize the launch date of Bushehr power plant. If only we could harness the sun that shines out Barack Obama's ass, I am certain he could teach the Russians to sing in perfect harmony and keep them company.
* Victor Yushchenko: Ukraine has become a hostage in the war waged by Russia.
ISS Training Ltd.
Wealthy benefactors of the Flea might consider sponsoring me in a foot surveillance course in London. As vacations go, it sounds much more interesting to me than lying around on a beach.
August 23, 2008
Let me answer that question with a head-butt
Dr Kristin Aune, a sociologist at the University of Derby, has authored a report claiming Buffy the Vampire Slayer is "slaying" (lols) church attendance among women. Nothing the Church of England has done -- or has failed to do -- enters into it, apparently.
Also, chicks dig vampires.
XS vs. Potap: Ti pomnish
The words "Ukrainian" and "RnB" have been made to rhyme. Ish. Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
August 22, 2008
Americans play Monopoly, Russians chess
Spengler has another go at great power politics and the contretemps in Georgia. Settle in for yet more misdirected world-class snark.
His Monopoly analogy is genius if not entirely convincing. For me, a game like Total War has far more to do with building up economically productive assets - hotels, if you will - than tactical skill or strategic genius. I figure I can always outspend my opponents and buy my way out of trouble. Before his meds got to him, Hitler was arguably a strategic genius. Fat lot of good it did him when all those American refrigerator factories retooled. And all those German Jewish physicists he kicked out of the universities needed big infrastructure, and especially a robust power grid, to make damned certain the job would get done one way or another.
Spengler's suggestion the West abandon Ukraine for the mirage of Russian help in the Middle East is simply contemptible. It is also to miss the point of America's real strategic strength: The appeal of its founding ideology. I like Ed's intervention at Rantburg.
Report from Tbilisi
Michael J. Totten doing the reporting American deciders won't do. This is the first time the word "Cossack" has been dusted off for the contingency. If the hat fits.
Toronto Star readers approve. Remember: Canada is "looked up to" as a "peacekeeper" and an "honest broker". Isn't that nice? It's nice to be nice.
* Nuclear assassination and steppe banditry have an effect on the tenor of the times. Or the Telegraph, as the case may be. "Ivan from Moscow, the hotel guest from hell."
It's not until paragraph six that NATO, a 26-nation alliance with 900 million people and nearly half of world GDP, unsheathes its mighty sword, boldly declaring "Russian military action" -- not aggression, not invasion, not even incursion, but "action" -- to be "inconsistent with its peacekeeping role."
* Writing for the Guardian (WTF?), Martin Kettle argues Russia's invasion to crush the Prague Spring began the slow death of Labour as a party.
Women of CVN 76 USS Ronald Reagan
With a tip of the hat to the music of Shania Twain. Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
Related: Where there is a sea there are pirates. May God help us if the United States is no longer willing or capable of upholding the law; Canadians have no clue how the global trade so many of sneer at is made possible. Closer to the problems at hand -- and to the harsher realities of life -- Indians, Koreans and Japanese do not take our current world historical situation for granted. The following suggests eastern democracies no longer feel confident in the ability of the United States Navy to patrol the high seas (and, happily, has introduced me to the useful term "monthend").
The last, best hope for mankind may be India. If Starfleet turns out to be fueled by curry and Bollywood musicals I am going to call it a result.
Sometimes I believe that this less material life is our truer life, and that our vain presence on the terraqueous globe is itself the secondary or merely virtual phenomenon
McSweeney's presents selections from H.P. Lovecraft's brief tenure as a Whitman's Sampler Copywriter. As the title of this post suggests, Lovecraft is difficult to parody adequately. I have no doubt that to watch him choose from a box of chocolates would have been terrifying opened a yawning dreamscape of abyssal dimension made tolerable only by the inadequacy of a simian nervous system to correlate that which it cannot apprehend.
You must not think me mad when I tell you what I found below the thin shell of chocolate used to disguise this bonbon's true face. Yes! Hidden beneath its rich exterior is a hideously moist cherry cordial! What deranged architect could have engineered this non-Euclidean aberration? I dare not speculate.
Directly related: Dark Republican magic (via Five Feet of Fury).
More geography: The New York Post reports on H.P. Lovecraft's Brooklyn apartment, the soul of which he described as being "something unwholesome, something furtive, something vast lying subterraneanly in obnoxious slumber." The current tenant? A children's books marketer; she has been having vivid dreams.
August 21, 2008
Tuned to a dead channel
Zoe Ebb considers a Neuromancer teaser poster.
Indeed. Sadly so too does the threat of craptastic casting: Hayden Christensen as “Cage”... no thanks.
By non-sucking contrast is the trailer for Book of Lies starring as it does Joss Whedon and Christopher Hitchens. Cainites of the world, take note.
Женя Отрадная: Уходи
No clue but she has this Jessica Alba thing going on. Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
A reasonable spot to post Russia updates as time permits:
* Gabriel Schoenfeld thinks Russian nuclear threats are no bluff. With approximately 5000 short range nuclear weapons, Russia's arsenal is now ten times the size of America's in equivalent weaponry.
Given the risible response of most Western powers to the attack on civilization launched from Afghanistan, the contemptible display put on by the Royal Navy in the Gulf and the fate of America's allies in Georgia, Canadians should take little comfort in the NATO alliance or in the nuclear shield provided by our southern neighbours (for which so many in our Establishment show nothing but scorn). Given Russia's threats, its claims on our territorial sovereignty, its actions in violation of treaty commitments and international law and its casual brutality toward an all but defenseless democracy, we should take Russia's nuclear threats in deadly earnest. Canada used to host American nuclear weapons. Canada has the technology and infrastructure to arm ourselves if we but choose to. It is a shame Canada does not have a conservative government; we might conceivably address the problem like men.
* “So the Russians view you as the American side, even though there are no Americans here.”
“Yes,” she said. “Because our way is for democracy.”
* Russia enjoys the French peace occupation plan so much they are taking it to their friends at the United Nations to rubber stamp. I suspect the Canadian anti-war puppet head shortage will be resolved as soon as the Americans can be blamed for standing in the way of "peace".
* The United States and Poland have signed a deal to deter an "Iranian" missile threat. Because of all those missiles Iran has pointed at Poland. Russia ridicules NATO (and who can blame them). Ethnic cleansing in Georgia. But not the bad kind like in Darfur. The other kind that Toronto Star readers agree with.
* The United States Navy is en route to Georgia to render humanitarian assistance.
It said USS McFaul (DDG 74) departed from Souda Bay, Crete, on Wednesday and the cutter Dallas (WHEC 716) will depart later this week. McFaul and Dallas are scheduled to transit into the Black Sea and arrive in Georgia within a week, according to the U.S. European Command.
Death had to take him sleeping, for if Roosevelt had been awake there would have been a fight
One reason among many -- though by far the most important -- I admire John McCain is that he is a man of honour. I think Ace has it right to as to why now the McCain campaign should decide it is going after the University of Illinois for records that would shed light on Obama's connection to unrepentant terrorist, Bill Ayers.
But when an opponent pisses him off, he goes for the jugular, in a "dirty" way. I don't think it's dirty. But he would normally call this sort of thing dirty himself. It becomes not-dirty when his opponents, or their supporters, do dirty stuff themselves.
So thanks, Andrew Sullivan! You successfully made Bill Ayers, Bernie Dohrn, and Obama's long and fast friendship with them an issue.
And if dueling were still legal, McCain would not be pissing around with university records. My advice to Team Obama: Carefully avoid saying anything about McCain's wife. I am proud to say most of my close friends think along the same lines as McCain on points of honour.
Related: Joseph Brant's dueling pistols. They are from an age when "Canadian" did not rhyme with "peacekeeper".
Hewlett Packard customer service sucks (possibly, blows)
Canadian Flea-readers considering an HP laptop - or a gold-plated warranty from Staples - should be advised the floor room sales pitch about repair times in the event of a problem is gold-plated bullshit. When I bought the computer I was told HP's service time was excellent and that repairs averaged three days; this was an important factor in my decision not only to buy the computer but to shell out for a three-year warranty.
I dropped off my laptop for repair August 5; two full days after it broke down... Staples would not take the machine without a case number and their customer service could not assign a case number due to being closed Sundays and holiday Mondays. Two trips to Staples and three very polite phone calls later and all the customer service people can tell me is HP now has the laptop and as of August 18 has ordered parts for repair.
No expression of regret and no apology, not even an expression of chagrin for being employed by tossers. And certainly no offer of compensation for my weeks of lost work on my music production machine. Hewlett Packard: You suck. You too Staples.
August 20, 2008
Framing the issue
This post on Georgia will be updated as time permits.
Kevin Coleman presents a hypothetical on cyber-warfare.
The Georgian government relocated their President's website to a sever on U.S soil (in Atlanta Georgia) and connected to the U.S. Internet backbone. Would an attack on the Georgian President's web site (hosted within the U.S.) be considered an act of aggression against the United States and ultimately an act of cyber war?
Yes - is one point of view supported by the fact that the attack is against components of the internet infrastructure owned by a U.S. company and located on U.S. soil.
No - is one point of view supported by the fact that the attack is against the web site that represents an individual/leader of a foreign government.
DefenseTech is welcoming comment at the linked post.
* Russia's attack on Georgia in 2008 must have consequences. Revoke the games.
* “The thought of the US Air Force on its way would have deterred even Vladimir Putin.” (hat tip to Will)
* Former Prime Minister and Speaker of Finland's Parliament Paavo Lipponen shows Canada is not alone in discovering its former Prime Minister's has pimped out to gangster oil interests.
* Russians preemptively excuse themselves from a NATO exercise in the Baltic. Meanwhile, Georgia excuses itself from the Commonwealth of Independent States; let us hope there are fewer fireworks than the last time Georgia succeeded from the States.
* Russian forces on Wednesday have built a sentry post just 30 miles from the Georgian capital. A puppet-head shortage appears to have crippled anticipated Canadian "anti-war" demonstrations.
* NATO member Turkey stonewalls on allowing American medical aid to transit the straight into the Black Sea. Good luck with that NATO membership, Georgia.
Zhanna Friske: Ya Bila
Nothing against Russians per se, you understand. Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
Update: Oops! Had the wrong video linked. Here is Viagra's Popytka. After a second listen it becomes very catchy.
Bondmobile
The Ford Ka is to feature in the next Bond film.
I agree this is not a supercar but Olga surely puts a positive spin on the vehicle. Then there is my favourite Ford Ka advertisement.
Unrelated but self-explanatory: Kate Beckinsale in a bikini.
August 19, 2008
Strategic minorities
This Georgia post will be updated as time permits.
Christopher Hitchens explains -- with all the patience he can muster -- that South Ossetia is not Kosovo (via the Drink Soaked Trots).
Perhaps one could mention just some of the more salient differences?
RTWT.
* Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt: Those Russian nuclear weapons? What, me worry? If I was the Lithuanian Foreign Minister, I might not have the same confidence on the subject or, for that matter, in NATO.
* Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has been accused of avoiding criticism of Russia's war on Georgia in the hopes of securing Russian support for her presidential bid. I confess this news leaves me with conflicted loyalties.
* Signs of resentment in Georgia near the Black Sea coast: a bridge had new graffiti reading, "Russia Occupier" beside a swastika. Careful, Georgian resistance fighters lest ye call down the wrath of Canadian human rights activists. Or snap happy lawyers with nothing better to do in public washrooms.
* Tbilisi has become a new West Berlin. Expect BO to turn up once he realizes this could be his JFK moment. Of course, that would mean actually putting himself in the line of Russian guns today instead of Russian guns forty years after the fact. Georgians know better.
* Instapundit suggests the Ukrainians take precautionary measures.
I say, why wait?
* In lock step agreement with Toronto Star readers, Pat Buchanan defends the "swift and decisive" action of "Russian patriot" Vladimir Putin.
AnasteZia: Volchitsa
File this one under bread and circuses. Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
Vaguely on topic: Another reason to support Olympians if not the Peking Olympiad... WWTDD? helpfully posts - so not safe for work - nude images of Sweden's Sara Boberg. While I generally avoid profanity here, I make no pretensions to the Flea being a family publication. Even so, I recognize this is an entirely gratuitous link.* The fact Boberg is a member of the Swedish crossbow team means I could not quite forgive myself for not posting it.
Compare and contrast with Football Under Cover. I realize Scandinavian libertinism and Iran's improv version of The Handmaid's Tale are not the only two moral orders on offer. But of the two it is obvious which is more respectful of the liberty and dignity of women.
* (cough)How to game your "Alexa traffic rank"(/cough) (cough)site analytics(/cough) Oh hell, "Google PageRank". "Increase your traffic". "Sara Boberg nude" "nude Olympians" Etc. Etc.
Update on a closely related topic: Viz the search key phrase, "womens beach volleyball".
The self-interest of the state-employee class
The ever cheerful Theodore Dalrymple considers British childhood, the murder of Scarlett Keeling and the abduction of Shannon Matthews.
...
The implication is clear: with more public spending of this kind everywhere in the country, administered by Guardian readers and their peers, everything will be all right. It won’t matter in the slightest if children either have no fathers, or different fathers every few years.
There were celebrations in Dewsbury at the news of Shannon's rescue and a "feral element was out in force" at the Moorside estate. This is England.
"We were obviously really glad that the little girl was found safe and well, but to see people up there drinking and jumping around, and hearing about all the different dads... it was embarrassing - embarrassing for Dewsbury. It's not about one group of people being superior to another in behaviour - obviously, most of the white population just lead normal family lives - but you wouldn't get that behaviour in the Asian community."
Careful, Yusuf. In Canada you would be up on thought crimes charges for bringing the English Gamma class and their Alpha administrators into the hatred and contempt they have so richly earned.
Saddleback Civil Forum
I missed the Saddleback Civil Forum the first time round. CNN has video highlights.
More: SDA had read the tea leaves.
August 18, 2008
Imperial fleet invades San Francisco
That's no moon. From the comments:
Also, the case for the Empire.
Related: It is a known fact that most English people are on the side of the Empire. Come to think of it, some of the American pilots have been giving me the evil eye around the hanger, like.
The idiot's answer
Toronto's current version of The Big Issue, London's famous charitable newspaper for the indigent who would otherwise be begging, is called The Toronto Street News. It reportedly has an editorial line not unfamiliar to many campus newspapers and leftist community blogs (via Five Feet of Fury).
"It's a little left wing," the General said. "Real out there."
Also similar in perspective, al-Guardian.
"I consider them a supporter of the paper."
August 17, 2008
Ten seasons could be a stretch
Say you are Ron Moore, fresh from the success of your derivative synthesis of Firefly steady-cam shots and leftist equivocation in the face of genocide ground-breaking series, Battlestar Galactica. If your prequel plans are colouring even the hardcore fans skeptical, there is always that stack of unused Next Generation holodeck one-offs to fall back on.
"To keep them occupied and give them an outlet for privacy, they've been given these virtual-reality modules," writer/producer Michael Taylor said in an interview. "They each have a little corner to call their own, and it can be anything they want it to be. A place they can be alone, they can do some sort of activity or be in some time period. It's whatever they want."
I can hardly wait until a virtual-reality module malfunctions and crew members can no longer tell whether they are back in reality or stuck in a recursive simulation. And the Virtuality Robin Hood episode. Oh, the fun they will have. I still do not envy the droid stuck with module cleaning duty.
Also, I like shows about ships and aliens. They don't call it skiffy for nothing.
Facts on the ground
Updating this periodically as time permits.
Ukraine is to open its missile defense network to "European and other foreign powers".* While I confess I had no idea Europeans had any missile defense other than the one graciously designed, developed, financed and operated by American tax payers, this sounds like a sensible move.
Perhaps in anticipation of hundreds of thousands of demonstrators taking to the streets of Paris and London and San Fransisco, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov explains there is no timetable for withdrawal from the independent, United Nations recognized state of Georgia. Call me cynical but I suspect he need not have bothered. An alphabet soup of so called human rights organizations and so called anti-war activists seem utterly indifferent to reports of slave-taking "forced labour" and continuing Russian military operations in violation of an internationally brokered ceasefire.
The Canadian Jewish Congress no longer stands alone as the World Congress of Russian Jewry accuses the wrong people of genocide. It is difficult to find fault considering Russian society as a whole has decided to fight a meaningless, grubby, bullying little war even as their civilization faces catastrophe from another quarter.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is offering strong support for NATO membership for Georgia. Also for closing the barn door.
Near uniformity in support of Russian imperialism in comments at The Toronto Star. Historical sidebar: Toronto citizens crowd the port to welcome President Jefferson Davis. More recent historical sidebar: Prime Minister Stephen Harper waves a piece of paper. That was a couple years ago and he is even more wrong now. Military force is the only thing that will resolve this dispute.
*Confusing: My impression of the last few days has Al Jazeera leaps and bounds ahead on covering Georgia. Perhaps their derth of Jennifer Love Hewitt weight loss coverage leaves a hole in the schedule they are consequently forced to fill with "the news".
Update: Ukraine offers "Europe" and America access to its missile warning systems involving two satellite tracking stations located at Mukachevo and Sevastopol.
August 16, 2008
Technical difficulties
My August 16 posts seem to have become entangled with my August 15 posts. Will update as I figure out what is going on...
Update: This is going to take some thinking... In the meantime, please enjoy my entangled posts and my currently non-entangled Anonymous post from today.
Operation: Cult Fiction
Due to my annoying habit of speaking in paragraphs, I did not quite complete an idea I was trying to advance on the Michael Coren Show. In response to (justified) concerns about anti-Catholic bigotry, I wanted to draw a line between criticism and contempt and - more importantly - between theological disagreement and arbitration of such disagreement under the law. I pointed out that I am Protestant and that this means by definition I am in disagreement with aspects of doctrine and hierarchy advanced by the Roman Catholic church. That is, after all, the (human, to our mind) institution against which we are protesting.
It is no business of the government to intervene in religious disagreements of this kind. Incitement to violence... actual violence... is another matter entirely. It is true any number of bigotries are tribalism dressed up in theological language. It is also true many take whatever their creed as justification for mayhem and slaughter from lone maniacs to psychopathic state-actors. But mere disagreement about the truth cannot be the province of the government, let alone rogue bureaucracies or criminal bureaucratic cliques acting with the power of the government.
My creed holds I must have the freedom to be wrong; to deny salvation itself. It holds that the nature of salvation is such that it may only be discovered and accepted as a free gift. My virtue cannot be legislated, let alone the fate of my soul.
Scientologists should be free to believe whatever outrageous UFO nonsense they wish. But I must be free to describe their UFO nonsense in those terms and be free to discourage the overly credulous from believing Scientological faith and practice where a high credit card limit may purchase their ersatz salvation. Once the government steps in to say that my disagreement may bring Scientology into hatred and contempt I can only reply, yes, that is the precise idea. There are many ideologies that should be brought into hatred and contempt, must be if liberty - civilization itself - is to survive. That our law is incapable of distinguishing between opposition to an ideology and incitement to violence against the con artists and rubes who advance it is to show not only badly written law but a Canadian Establishment that has lost the capacity for reason.
Agent Bedhead has thoughts on Tom Cruise and informative links on the wagon to which he has hitched his star. Enturbulation explains today's Cult Fiction event and hosts links to protests in your area, including Toronto.
Ask yourself: What kind of "church" sues to prevent public discussion of its theology? What other cults use thought crime legislation to enforce opinions that cannot win converts by reason and example? What other ideologies dismiss disagreement as false consciousness and insist on the power to indoctrinate the children of their opponents?
CRTC approves Canadian porn channel
Must have 50% domestic porn. YJCMTSU.
Nothing is so unbelievable that oratory cannot make it acceptable
Ace hosts a great moment in public debate; worth your time if only to watch a grown "man" crying toward the end.
The destruction of the universities will only come to an end once employers realize exactly how low the bar has been set for advanced qualifications. It might also help if parents realized just what their money is buying. My only hope for the future is the inventiveness with which university undergraduates selectively disregard the expertise of their professors.
August 15, 2008
Nai tebe kachka kopne
Note to Russian military delegations: Is this something you want to advertise?
God bless Ukraine.
Related: Taking a break from rape and pillage and assorted war ("Who are we to judge?" /the left), Russian forces destroy Georgian ships in port. A report on a naval battle between Georgian forces and the Russian Black Sea Fleet. The Chief of Ukraine's General Staff declares limitations on Russian fleet movements based at Sevastopol will be enforced. If Crimea is on the board, this could get interesting.
President Bush: It is time to for an enthusiastic joint exercise with the Ukrainian military. Prime Minister Harper*: I would suggest Canada participate but it would be a waste of your time and mine.
* Interesting fact: Canada's Stephen Harper is leader of the "Conservative" party.
Update: John McCain, "We are all Georgians."
Update: "The West, collectively, failed in this crisis." Frank words from John Bolton.
Update: The "rather unsettling idea" the blogosphere may know as much as more than the US government knows about the situation.
Update: Murdering bastards.
Official 2008 Olympics Song: Please Ignore The Communism
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
Michael Coren
I want to thank the Michael Coren Show for the opportunity to participate in yesterday's blogger's round-table featuring Kathy Shaidle, Bob Tarantino and Jason Cherniak. Mr. Coren and his production team were all extraordinarily gracious and welcoming. I was delighted to learn of common interests in chocolate and lively conversation.
Update: Enquiring minds want to know about the ring I was wearing; that being the Pagan Burial Signet Ring by Alchemy Gothic. Mine has much finer detail than is suggested by the early '90s vintage catalogue photo.
Gene genie
A study published in the journal Behavioural Neuroscience suggests variations in the COMT gene may account for different reactions to horror films. Some people scream while others - for example, me - laugh (hat tip to Agent Bedhead).
The scientists found that those carrying two copies of it were significantly more startled by frightening images than others. By contrast, those who had one copy of the gene and one copy of another version were able to keep their emotions in check far more readily.
I am going to go out on a limb here. Many people react to disturbing images by blaming themselves or those nearest to them for the horror; by attempting to make the images stop by denial, conspiracy theory or surrender.
And some of us develop a cold rage and a determination to make certain nothing like it ever happens again. People with our genetic variant are called "sane".
August 14, 2008
Gangsterism
Johns Hopkins University scholar, Svante E. Cornell explains some of the differences between Abkhazia and South Ossetia (hat tip to Will) and details Russia's strong arm, bullying gangsterism in the region (some of those last descriptives are mine and added for colour, etc.).
RTWT. I am grateful the New York Times thought to publish the piece. But then the left can generally be relied upon for their support until President Bush - or another responsible adult - decides to actually do something about the problem.
Update: Russian soldiers are reportedly "jovial" as they go about their banditry. Russian bloggers approve. Turn that smile upside-down: Ukraine has threatened to blockade the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
Bee Gees: Nights on Broadway
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
You know you need time off when...
... you almost go to sleep in the dentist's chair waiting for a cavity to be filled. It is the only moment I have had to myself - and finding myself with no other pressing responsibilities - for some weeks. Still, better than the alternative.
Related: If you're here, who's home disappointing your parents?
Unrelated, and one of the advantages of keeping busy: Kathy Shaidle, Bob Tarantino, Jason Cherniak and I are guests on the Michael Coren Show tonight, August 14.
Update: We are taping this afternoon, I believe the show airs this evening.
August 13, 2008
Guidance for the perplexed
Lest anyone confuse Russian imperialism in Georgia with the shelter provided to the people of Kosovo by the United States Air Force (via the Drink Soaked Trots).
Elsewhere in the aetherwebs, Spengler gets it exactly wrong.
On the contrary, fundamental American interests are at stake. The first of these is America's fundamental interest in liberty. As we have recently been reminded, the United States is not a nation, it is an ideological construct. It is worse for Americans to aquiesce before tyranny than it is for Canadians, we northerners have lower expectations of our government and - more importantly - of ourselves.
It is difficult to fault Spengler for his failure to grasp the point; his is that all too common cynicism proud to describe itself as "realism". But he should know better than to misunderestimate America's second fundamental interest at stake for it is not a product of Enlightenment or modernity but recognizable to every great power unto the Dark Ages and furthest antiquity: America is a great power - the greatest that has ever existed - and no great power may allow its clients to be so abused.
Update: Russia's Abkhazian proxies offer a case in point.
Next: Tbilisi.
Update: "Russia does not need a global force-projection capacity; it has sufficient power to muscle its neighbors and thereby humiliate not merely its enemies, but their entire moral pretensions as well." This and many more sensible observations from Victor Davis Hanson.
And why not? This is the same foreign policy advocated by every Western "progressive".
Related: On the uselessness of thumb-sucking international organisations.
...
The world has become used to despising the United States for its foreign policy since 2001.
If it wishes to live safely, it had better reverse that opinion, and start to engage constructively in the search for a means to show Russia that appeasement does have an end.
Mary Margaret O'Hara: I Don't Care
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
August 12, 2008
Melodies bring memories that linger in my heart
A BBC news team reporting from Georgia came under (a not terribly effective) attack by a Russian warplane. Ricky bin Ricardo offered the following comment at Rantburg:*
Not to worry. George Brown has issued a strongly worded statement as the Russians overrun Georgia.
* Thanks to Angelweb for pointing out my garbled code, now repaired.
Update: "Meanwhile, the anti-war left take to the streets in the thousands to condemn the imperialist aggressors. Any moment now."
Road to recovery
I recently received a note from Danjel Bout describing Road 2 Recovery, a fund raising charity ride for a Fitness Challenge Foundation and Veterans Administration program for veterans recovering from physical and psychological wounds. I am publishing Danjel's letter here with his permission; it is difficult to imagine a better cause.
I haven't had the opportunity to write to you since we chatted back and forth about my blog in Iraq, 365 and a Wakeup, so I hope this doesn't strike you as inopportune. Please know that if this wasn't an issue I felt deeply about I wouldn't clutter your inbox with this email.
More then two years have passed since those fire bright days in Iraq, but several Soldiers I served alongside still struggle to recover from the physical and psychological wounds of our deployment. Within the last year the Veterans Administration (VA) has started to implement a new recreational therapy program to help my Soldiers, and others like them, begin to become whole again. The program utilizes cycling to help injured Soldiers regain a sense of normalcy and accomplishment during their recovery process. Cycling is a low impact activity that combines the health benefits of physical activity with the psychological benefits of being outdoors, and it has been shown to reduce depression and accompanying issues.
The Fitness Challenge Foundation and the VA would like to expand this program to allow more Veterans to take advantage of this important program, and I am committed to helping them meet this challenge. On September 28 of this year I will take part in the Road 2 Recovery, a charity ride from the San Francisco VA facility to the West Los Angeles VA facility to help fund the expansion of this program. 100% of the funds raised from this ride will be used to expand the cycling trauma recovery program to other Soldiers in need.
You can help expand this important program, and help build a therapeutic path that injured Soldiers can use to reconnect with their community by making a tax deductible donation to the Road 2 Recovery. Making a donation takes only a moment, but it will have a profound impact on those most in need of help. To make a donation simply navigate to: http://www.r2rriders.com/sponsor/, annotate Danjel Bout as the rider you are sponsoring, and make your donation.
America's heroes didn't hesitate to sacrifice their very lives in the defense of this nation, please don't hesitate to help me support them in their time of need.
Thank you for caring,
Danjel Bout
Combichrist: Without Emotions
Lest anyone imagine there is never any actual dancing involved: Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
Related: Exterminate!
We ain't heavy
Writing for The Torch, Babbling Brooks cites Lew MacKenzie on Canada's ersatz heavy lift role in Afghanistan, another $300m for the Russians (what extraordinary timing we have) and what is most probably the last word on NATO.
Bin Laden though the West was a paper tiger; he was not far wrong. Perhaps he was mistaken to think there is something remaining we might identify as "the West".
August 11, 2008
August 09, 2008
America is not a place
It is difficult to kill an American because America is a dream. An idea.
With a grateful tip of the hat Mr. Bowers from an American born in the wrong place.
One World, One Dream
One People, One Reich, One Leader.
Good enough for the CBC. During the Beijing opening ceremonies, Peter Mansbridge farted out an opinion to the effect that Western governments considering a boycott could hardly ignore a "quarter of humanity" but managed to leave the entrance of the Iraqi delegation totally unremarked. Canada is in the peculiar position of being able to say whatever it wants about its largest trading partner, say nothing that is not muttered from kowtowing position to its second largest parter and to do so while sporting a smug grimace in place of a smile. This as we celebrate "the Olympic spirit" and recapitulate every moral and strategic failure of the 1930s.
Not to worry; I expect Canada's future Prime Ministers will have no trouble finding another meaningless apology to offer the survivors.
Suggested reading: Kenneth Dean and Brian Massumi's First and Last Emperors, Chapter 2; "The Elimination of Strength: Absolutism, the Body of the Despot, and the Rise of the Chinese Empire".
Stay strong. Do not yield.
Christopher Hitchens considers individuals who, bafflingly, maddeningly, absurdly, cannot be broken (via the Drink Soaked Trots).
Add John McCain to that short list.
August 08, 2008
The one fighting form of Christianity
Michael Coren writes a tribute to G.K. Chesterton. To me, one quote stands out above all the others (hat tip to the Parental Units of the Flea).
We can only pray.
The Cars: Moving in Stereo
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.*
* You can actually dance to this one. Or swim.
My girl is so not done yet
Senator Hillary Clinton is leaving her options open for a floor vote at the Democratic convention. For the catharsis.
“I happen to believe that we will come out stronger if people feel that their voices were heard and their views respected. I think that is a very big part of how we actually come out unified,” Clinton, D-N.Y., said to applause.
Related: VDH on Democratic buyer's remorse. I am convinced that a floor vote for Hillary means another President Clinton. Then the Iranians would have something to worry about.
Arrogance
You know you are in trouble when you are offered sensible advice from Muammar al-Gaddafi.
"In the event of a decision against Iran, this country will suffer the same outcome as Iraq... Iran is not any stronger than Iraq and won't have the means to resist (a military attack) on its own," Qadaffy said. "The challenges are greater and exceed Iran's ability to reply"
August 07, 2008
Thanks for the endorsement, white haired dude
I do not care what people say: I love Paris Hilton. See you at the debates, bitches.
Grimethorpe Colliery Band: Knight Templar
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
August 06, 2008
Posh's proletarian past
Sweet as she is, I never imagined Victoria Beckham to be frightfully frightfully; that accent will not cut glass. But it is important to post this news of Posh genealogy if only to irritate Will (hat tip to Agent Bedhead).
Pfaender, you say? Pfascinating.
The Best Heavy Metal Songs Based on Fantasy Novels
Best top ten list ever.
After the jump, check out a few of my favorite heavy metal songs inspired by fantasy novels.
Potentially more contentious is the Top 50 Hottest Sci-Fi Girls of All-Time. Chacun à son goût and that. For example, the image used for No. 49 could be found in a book available to Grade 7 students at J.H. Putman junior high; I remember it vividly and would have rated Ripley much more highly.
Casting Virginia Hey as as the first true James Bond villainess is an intriguing idea. And it is difficult to argue with their choice for No. 1. Missing from the list: Jenny Agutter as Jessica 6.
Best Obama Facts
These best heroic truths about Obama should come in handy for American voters this election cycle.
2. When a tree falls in the forest, Obama hears it.
3. Obama can clap with one hand.
4. Prometheus was punished for plagiarizing Obama.
5. Obama can make a journey of a thousand miles without a single step.
6. Socks worn by Obama are used for climbing walls in Spiderman movies.
August 05, 2008
Horizonally enabled
Far be it from me to take issue with the guys at Ace becoming metros concerned about their waistlines; it is a function of age. Also, as Gabriel Malor points out, physics.
Ace is an Atkins enthusiast, apparently. For me, it is has just been a question of moving the body a bit more while putting a little less food in the body over time.
Just as well as I have a television appearance to contend with presently. Kathy Shaidle, Bob Tarantino, Jason Cherniak and I are guests on the Michael Coren Show, August 14. I have enough to worry about avoiding a human rights complaint without inflicting too much Flea upon Canadian viewers.
August 04, 2008
It is always the quiet ones
It turns out I was too quick to blame Methodism for a recent stabbing and beheading incident on the TransCanada Highway; it is, after all, only a tiny minority of Methodists - and the writings of their most sacred scrolls - that consecrate such behaviour.
Judging by the reported mutilation and flesh-eating, Badger practiced the old religion. They used to call it "going Wendigo".
Flea-readers are urged to use caution in reading the linked AP piece. The above details are far less gruesome than reportage on Canada's Facebook response to this atrocity. Though 2000 does sound like a whole lot of wall posts.
Take both pills; see what happens
Find out Which Movie Hero Are You at LiquidGeneration.com!
Via Agent Bedhead who is Xena or something.
Literary tattoos
Inspired by the Telegraph, John Stoehr believes a trend for literary tattoos is underway.
Which says more about his preconceptions than it does about ink enthusiasts. As for me, the letters "John" and "3:16" tattooed across the knuckles are sufficient literary allusion to get the point across.
Zombie Girl: The Darkness
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.
Top 13 Vampire Babes
Heckler Spray's attempt to list the top thirteen vampire babes is an admirable if ultimately misguided exercise. My ardour for Kate Beckinsale is unswerving and second place is most probably hers to keep. But Anne Parillaud should have taken the top spot; no contest (via Agent Bedhead).
Tangentially related: The more convincingly argued seven biggest *sshole computers in science fiction.
August 02, 2008
The moment a man sets his thoughts down on paper, however secretly, he is in a sense writing for publication
"Only one recording of Raymond Chandler's speaking voice survives, a BBC interview conducted with Chandler in 1958 by none other than Ian Fleming." Miskatonic.org hosts it here. This via Ace, who observes.
Especially Katee Sackhoff
...
Kevin Smith moderated an hour long panel for SCI FI Channel's original series Battlestar Galactica on July 26 at Comic-Con International in San Diego. The panel featured stars Tricia Helfer, James Callis, Michael Trucco and Katee Sackhoff and executive producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick.
Katee Sackhoff likes it when the Galactica fires its guns. She thinks it's neat. Just saying.
Related: Hot chicks with guns on tv.
Combichrist: This Sh*t Will F*ck You Up
"Some industrial dance styles are similar to psy-trance dance styles. Both look as though they're in a forest with many wondrous animals. The rivet-head just happens to be stomping on them."
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance (nsfw lyrics).
自由万歳
The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's destroyer Kongô, equipped with the state-of-the-art Aegis missile defense system, launched the Standard Missile 3 (SM3) interceptor missile that hit the target (ballistic missile),12/17/2007; with soundtrack.
Also, note to China: This is not the Royal Navy. Think very carefully before waking these people up.
Related: Making Russian commercial shipping a hard target for latter day Barbary pirates. Note to the pirates: These are Russians, not the United States Supreme Court. They do not care about your "rights".
August 01, 2008
A major incident
No word on the identity of the suspected maniac person of mania. If I guess he is a Methodist do I win a prize?
"He calmly walked up to the front (of the bus) with (the victim's) head in his hand and the knife and then dropped the head in front of us," Caton said, adding he believes the suspect later returned to the back of the bus and was seen later "taunting police with the head in his hand out the window."
Caton said the suspect appeared calm.
"What struck me, it was like he was at the beach or something," he said.
Comments closed due to the obvious.
Kate has video. Warning: Repeated use of the word "buddy". Not so much of the words "I tried to stop it."
Revamped
Lost Boys: The Tribe: Quite possibly the worst film ever made. And not in a good way. I admit to some hyperbole - I have seen worse - but nothing that quite so thoroughly violated my teen years. In short, it sucked.
I will concede Autumn Reeser is quite fetching so silver lining and that.
Totally and completely unrelated result of researching this post: Jennifer Love Hewitt is really hot when wearing transparent dress.
The value of science fiction
Nine legendary authors present their ideas on why SF is important to readers and what it teaches them. Poul Anderson, Jack Williamson, John Brunner, Harlan Ellison, Clifford Simak, Frederik Pohl, Gordon Dickson, Damon Knight and Isaac Asimov are fascinating to me more for their self-presentation than they are for their (arguably banal) opinions.
Related: The teaser poster for Terminator: Salvation.
Tracy Chapman & BB King: The Thrill Has Gone
Now is the time at the Flea when we dance.