March 31, 2009
We flatter ourselves that our idols are clever because they are not made out of wood, but silicon
Spengler offers a meandering review of a new English translation of a "20th-century classic" of Hebrew literature, And from There You Shall Seek
All possible worlds
Ron Moore describes the idea as "a little too cute" but I rather like this alternate ending to Battlestar Galactica.
March 30, 2009
Methinks they dost protest too much
Janet Daley makes a point that should be obvious to Marxists. A technical term for the mistake is reification - Verdinglichung, actually - i.e. treating a social relationship as if it were a thing.
It is, if anything, an anti-system: the aggregation of human behaviour as it goes about fulfilling particular wants and needs. It can be described in anthropomorphic terms, such as "ruthless" or "benign" but of itself has no motives and no objectives. (Gordon Brown is more than usually fatuous when he insists that markets need to have "values": only people have values, methods of exchange do not.)
We could also usefully deploy the word "irony" except such would be to lend credit the protesters have not earned. Not one in a hundred Marxists has bothered to read Marx let alone attempted to make sense of the gaping pot holes in his logic.
A nightmare scenario
Ebola hemorrhagic fever can kill up to 90 percent of victims (via Warren Ellis).
Less than 24 hours later, an experimental vaccine — never before tried on humans — was on its way to Germany from a lab in Canada.
How to react to hostiles
Overheard on a frequency reserved for emergencies on a Europe-Dubai flight. Too good not to post despite sounding rather apocryphal.
Aircraft: This is a Unites States aircraft. I am in Iraqi airspace.
Air Defense: You are in Iranian airspace. If you do not depart our airspace we will launch interceptor aircraft.
Aircraft: This is a US Marine Corps FA-18 fighter. Send ’em up. I’ll wait.
overheard on a Europe-Dubai flight Air Defense: … (Total silence follows.)
Amanda Palmer: Ampersand
"What's so great about Amanda Palmer?" asks Agent Bedhead. Flea-readers may judge for themselves.
March 29, 2009
The Strange Adventures of H.P. Lovecraft
Ron Howard is set to bring The Strange Adventures of H.P. Lovecraft to the silver screen.
March 28, 2009
If you can make a flea cooperate with you, you're probably good at politics
The lost art form of Victorian Flea Circuses.
When I say "union" you say "power"
While CUPE holds on to pole position, I have a special loathing for SEIU. Watching them picket themselves makes for a promising start to my weekend.
We will insist that action be taken, uh, one way or another
Rumours of US ground forces in "Pakistan" to the contrary, President Obama's new Afghan strategy is said to shift emphasis to training the Afghan military. Key points:
* Triple US aid to Pakistan to $7.5bn over 5 years
* Help Afghan govt rely on itself while better and more honestly ensuring its people’s security
* Build up and train the Afghan security forces
* Boost civilian govt in Pakistan and strengthen economic opportunities for Pakistanis
* Urge UN to take a lead role in generating world assistance for Afghanistan and Pakistan
* Overhaul the way US foreign aid is managed, funded and allocated
* Set up a new contact group on Afghanistan, including Iran
* Ensure that aid to Afghanistan is accompanied by steps to ensure greater govt accountability
* Send US engineers, agricultural and other experts to Afghanistan to help counterparts
* Encourage Afghan govt in its efforts to convince moderate Taliban to lay down their weapons
* Strengthen efforts to build Pakistani security forces capable of defeating terrorists
This looks remarkably sensible to me with the following caveats: i - how does this strategy deviate from the Bush administration's or, indeed, from what a McCain administration might have done, ii - what is that $7.5b going to be spent on in "Pakistan", and iii - vague pronouncements about foreign policy "overhaul" somehow contrive to say nothing and leave me fearful of some farcical linkage between the jihadis and support of Israel.
Like ozone, or gunpowder
Astronauts attempt to describe the smell of space.
"When you repressurize the airlock and get out of your suit, there is a distinct odor of ozone, a faint acrid smell," Jones told SPACE.com, adding that the smell is also similar to burnt gunpowder or the ozone smell of electrical equipment. "It's not noticeable inside the suit. The suit smells like plastic inside."
The smell, he adds, only occurs on a shuttle or the space station after a spacewalk and is unmistakable to astronauts working with the spacesuits and equipment that was used in the vacuum of space.
Now for an explanation of that awesome Tie Fighter sound.
March 27, 2009
I’ve just had the strangest dream…
Top 15 totally unexpected endings for Battlestar Galactica. My choice is too obvious to bother pointing out.
Sexist poll updated
A comment left at yesterday's political cheesecake post by the inimitable Taylor & Company should school me to link with greater care. Talk about beauty and the beast, they're both; a veritable confectionery selection of "moonbats and criminals".
The Russian-Estonian woman was bounced from chair of the Estonian European Movement for embezzling 40,000 Euros.
One of the Swedes is consistently on record being highly critical of Israel, even saying that it should be prosecuted for war crimes.
The Angolan is the daughter of the country's Marxist President-for-life (since 1979).
One of the Finns was a member of the European Parliament and spent her time there watering down banking regulations. She is now leaving to become Managing Director of the Federation of Finnish Financial Services, a lobbying group. She was awarded a "Worst conflict of interest" award by some wag group at the "Worst EU lobbying Awards".
With a few notable exceptions it is a laundry list of kleptocrats and failed ideas dressed up in beautiful outer garments.
March 26, 2009
Also an effective barrier against the Worm? Legalizing marijuana
Scenes from the Mexican war on drugs.
Pro-tip: The Spice must flow. Best take care not to prevent on Worm migration. Also, those suckers are like a vacuum cleaner on lint when it comes to sucking up illegal immigrants so fair dues.
The way to hell
You know you elected the wrong guy when your President is well to the left of the Czech prime minister. Though admittedly Mirek Topolanek appears to be something of a fluke this is only because the word Europe has become synonymous with France.
The US plans to pump $1trillion into its financial system by buying up treasury assets and mortgage securities, along with a $787bn economic stimulus package of tax rebates, health and welfare benefits. But many EU leaders have urged member states to exercise fiscal restraint on government spending, rejecting calls from the US for more stimulus deals.
Budget restraint and stiffer banking regulations appear to have sheltered Canada from the first, worst effects of the current mess. Obama, by contrast, seems determined to reward failure.
Sexist poll announced
Vote for your favourite hot politician. Orly Levy almost had my vote but it's Julia Anastasia Bonk all the way, baby.
More here.
March 25, 2009
The first rule of censorship is that you cannot talk about censorship
The Australian Communications and Media Authority is now threatening $11,000 dollar a day fines for linking to sites on its internet blacklist. So much for my escape-to-Australia plan.
The move by the Australian Communications and Media Authority comes after it threatened the host of online broadband discussion forum Whirlpool last week with a $11,000-a-day fine over a link published in its forum to another page blacklisted by ACMA - an anti-abortion website.
Also featuring Kumar as Ricardo Montalbán
The new Star Trek trailer includes at least one spoiler; an irritating, gratuitous addition to the back story of two of the main characters. I would like to say it is sufficiently irritating for me to give the film a pass but - let's face facts - I am going to see it anyway.
And the thing is set to premiere in Sydney, Australia, for no apparent reason.
Someone get the Alberta Human Rights Commission on the phone.
March 24, 2009
Arcattack: Faraday Fun- Imperial March
Quite possibly the best thing in the history of ever.
Also this. Which makes my live show look like an insignificant bag of crap. Have to. Step up. Game. Somehow.
Damn, just checked and Rusty already has this.
Made you look
The cynical among you may think posting a suggestive image of Grace Park is a shameless bid for traffic. And you would be right. I can only imagine the raised eyebrows as I link to yet more cheesecake photos of scifi babes; take this generous collection of Battlestar Galactica actresses, for example.
My counter-argument is pictured above.
Second look at: Nicki Clyne.
Oh hell, while I'm at it: Agent Provocateur lingerie sales are soaring.
March 23, 2009
George Galloway: A Security Threat
"... being a Member of Parliament in the UK doesn't give him any special privileges when it comes to entering this country."
Brave New World
Sixty thousand staff working in UK transportation, shopping centres and public buildings are to be trained as amateur terrorist-watchers.
Also inflaming religious tensions, British Muslims massacring their fellow citizens at home and Her Majesty's armed forces abroad.
Not that I am in favour of the scheme. Until recently, we used to call armed, vigilant citizens "the general public". These days you can be entrusted with the responsibility to report on your neighbours to Big Brother but heaven forbid you should be entrusted with a firearm to protect yourself from them (your neighbours or Her Majesty's government).
March 22, 2009
An extraordinary situation
When you can no longer write the words you want to write, play the music you want to play, wear the clothes you want to wear, learn the things you want to learn or love the people you want to love then yes the jihadis have already won. That is not only their plan; that is the entirety of their religion. To take all the small pleasures in life and replace them with slavery and rape both here and in the hereafter.
That goes double for playing the games you want to play. Take cricket, for example. Such is the new normal.
Shashank Manohar, the BCCI president, said the tournament had been relocated "because of the extraordinary situation existing this year."
This is a shameful decision; a sickening decision. There is a difference between foregoing small pleasures in favour of a productive self-discipline and foregoing small pleasures out of cowardice or indifference. When we have decided nothing whatsoever - not even our freedom - is worth the fight we will almost be right; not about small pleasures but about ourselves. We will have proven we are not worth fighting for.
There is an exception to this rule: We may sometimes have to forego our small pleasures due to the exigencies of war. Fair enough. But by all means then let us make war.
Mr & Ms Costa Del Sol
The BBC's Euro Test calls me a sceptic. But then the BBC does not think "liberty" or "democracy" are possible answers to question No. 19 (via AoSHQ).
This group are the Euro sceptics. They feel we've gone too far already. They want Europe for trading purposes and holidays but nothing more.
Bear McCreary: All Along the Watchtower
I thought the finale was extraordinary.
Related: The 12 Pies of Kobol.
March 21, 2009
A note to the Speechers
George Galloway has not been denied entry to Canada for fear of what he might say. George Galloway has been denied entry to Canada in accordance with the law, viz Section 34(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, which bans those who provide material support for terrorist groups.
I would prefer Galloway was arrested at the airport and tried for crimes against civilization but I will take what I can get. My heart pumps purple piss for his freedom of speech. His freedom of speech is not at issue.
Pat Condell: Free Speech is Sacred
"I claim free speech as my religion." He gets his steam up about half way through minute 4.
Via Quotulatiousness. See the above post on a related note..
Fox news belittles and mocks the Canadian military
Chris Taylor via email.
1) Canada wouldn't be able to routinely underfund its military if it weren't so very close to the heart of the American security umbrella; and
2) It's ridiculous that the CF can barely keep its critical trades recruiting and logistics act together long enough to wage war for a decade.
This is, after all,. the second time we have taken an "operational pause" in the past six years. Meanwhile USN and USAF have been flying and fighting in the Gulf since 1991, no operational pause. Of course they are also suffering from a lot of airframe aging, so maybe they should have.
March 20, 2009
Cassandra should take her own advice
Given my build up to Zack Snyder's film adaptation of Watchmen, Flea-readers might be forgiven for wondering why I have taken this long to comment on success or failure of the project. I think he did a brilliant job, actually, and Snyder's ending - while not canonical and therefore abomination - is actually a more elegant solution to the plot than Moore's own. There is a limit to what any adaptation can accomplish and I believe it is a mistake to nitpick oneself out of enjoying the thing. Not a gripping critique, I realize, and one reason I have taken so long to offer it. But there is a bigger problem.
I am a great admirer of Alan Moore, obviously. Not only for his work as a transformational comics writer but also as an interpreter and popularizer of the work of Aleister Crowley. That said, Moore falls into the same trap as many - perhaps most - intellectuals: simple-minded anti-imperialism coupled with cultural condescension toward the United States.
These views can be as simplistic and ugly as Moore's wrong-headed, crude assessment of American values by way of comment on the American comics industry or they can take a subtler form. Take Moore's appearance on Flea-fav Prisoners of Gravity. Ruminating on Watchmen, Moore poses an hypothetical about how the public would really react to the presence of heroes among them. Would they be grateful for their saviours or would they fear and resent them?
Ask yourself how the free people of the West think about the American military that shields them - particularly since the barbarism of 9/11 - and the question answers itself. It is a shame Moore's attitude reflects the fear and resentment he warned against decades ago. Given the fate of comic book writers in the Dark Ages barbarism on offer as an alternative to what we have got, Moore's anti-Americanism creates an unfortunate subtext to all his work.
Not so for Zack Snyder's Watchmen (small spoiler here). The twin towers of the WTC still dominate New York's skyline in Moore's alternative 1980s. They are not an accident. They are a visual counter-argument to lazy criticism of American civilization; a visual rebuke of the idea it is the best of all possible worlds or nothing.
March 19, 2009
Alphacat: Single Ladies
On the plus side, an Obama presidency is much more interesting* than an alternate universe McCain presidency. Especially once you take the goatees into account.
* I seem to recall an ancient Chinese proverb along these lines.
The persistence of adamantium
Marking the 35th anniversary of Canada's only real superhero, April is Wolverine Art Appreciation Month.
Vincent van Gogh, C.M. Coolidge, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Rene Magritte and Edward Gorey takes may be found here. I quite like Salvador Dali's effort pictured above.
The Salamander and the Butterfly
In an attempt to work out how many editions of The King in Yellow are to be found between the 1895 first edition and my copy published in 1902, I stumbled across a controversy as to quite which edition is the first (I gather there were three 1895 printings). There is a strong case to be made for the Salamander edition, apparently.
What is probably the most compelling evidence for which is which is the change in text between the two versions. This text change makes the Salamander version stand alone from the Butterfly version despite the fact that the Butterfly version has thicker, better paper and the feel of a cut paper edition.
Follow the link for details. More about my 1902 edition once I have sorted out the identity of its original owner to my satisfaction...
The old ways, the ancient tactics
Viking longboats were so effective, so quick, there was nothing a crew could do to prevent them from coming aboard. So let them.
Ironically, the general design was adapted from the Vikings own merchant vessels, but there were two changes that proved to make all the difference. The European ship builders constructed little wooden forts in the front and rear of the ship. They called these wooden castles the "stern castle" for the one in back, and the "forward castle", or "fo'c'sle". Quaint names that echo with past blood and terror.
The idea was to let the Vikings come aboard if they so chose, while the crew retreated to their forts. The pirates would be out in the open, vulnerable to any sort of attack, while the crew fought from relative safety.
Another idea whose time has come again. RTWT.
March 18, 2009
Study on a Possible Israeli Strike on Iran's Nuclear Development Facilities
Some bright sparks have belatedly, almost noticed Israel is entirely capable of addressing Iran's nuclear ambitions. What the think-tank boys can't tell us is if Israel - and by extension, the West - is still interested in defending itself from physical annihilation.
Extrapolating from analyst assessments that the most advanced Jerichos carry 750 kg (1,650 lb) conventional warheads, Abdullah Toukan of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said 42 missiles would be enough to "severely damage or demolish" Iran's core nuclear sites at Natanz, Esfahan and Arak.
And a small note to the propagandists at Reuters: There is an excellent reason Israel's strategic air bases are located near population centres. It is the same reason Israel's remote trackless wastes are located near population centres.
Penumbra Update: Britain's leadership is beneath contempt; beneath fisking.
So... if I cannot build an atomic weapons industrial base in my backyard, I can take my grudge to the nearest human rights commission.
Everything in moderation (especially moderation)
French Defence Minister* Herve Morin claims an August presidential election in Afghanistan could be just the ticket for opening "dialogue" with "moderate elements" within the Taliban.
Herve Morin, you ignorant slut, jihad is the strict application of sharia law.
* Surely a thankless task.
March 17, 2009
Mayan carvings of cosmic monsters, hidden in the jungle for 2,000 years
Mud People. Wood People. Then the gods made Flesh People and you know the rest. Or at least so much as can be contained in a gelatinous colloidal suspension, garnered by a limited meat-based sensory apparatus and synthesized by an ideology of children's fairy tales laughingly dressed up as science.
"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age."
-H.P. Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu"
National economies
The English want jobless immigrants to get out. The Poles have the same idea. The Australians - not to be outdone - demand English immigrants learn to speak English.
A leftist ex girlfriend of the Flea claims our Obama New World will see the restoration of "national economies". Enjoy!
So it begins
The people cede their power to Leviathan only so long as Leviathan wants the job. When Leviathan sleeps our default setting is a war of all against all.
...
Meir and Shvuel made it clear that they would go after all released killers, and not only those who attacked their family. “The plan is to reach each and every one who has Jewish blood on his hands and to give them a field trial – the meaning should be clear,” Shvuel said.
Wizard People, Dear Reader
I have rarely wished I was responsible for the work of another artist as I am when I listen to Brad Neely's Wizard People, Dear Reader.
March 16, 2009
Miss Atom
Eager to recognize Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence, Russia’s nuclear power industry has found "Miss Atom" (that's the link, trust me) in the form of Ekaterina Bulgakova.
Lest curious Flea-readers tire themselves googling for Alyona Kirsanova.
New Model Immigrants
Next up for historical revisionism: rehabilitating the Vikings. Dr Maire Ni Mhaonaigh, whose name appears to be a silly leftist contrivance on the part of someone who pretends to ethnicity (hey doctor, the alphabet called, you forgot your "u"), believes Britain has much to learn from the Viking example of positive immigration. Her colleague, Dr "Fiona" "Edmunds", believes we are naive for assuming a "simple opposition" between "Vikings" and "natives".
Most probably because her home has not been "burned to the ground" and her family "raped" and "enslaved". An honorary Viking comments.
If you have a separate law for any part of your country, you have in fact divided it up into two countries. A good present-day example of this is of course Cyprus, and we all know how well the Greeks and Turks get on together. You can imagine what will happen when Sharia law rules the roost in certain areas of our cities.
Well meaning Irish academics are urged to move to Luton. But if they are named Maire or Fiona they might be prudent to dress modestly.
March 15, 2009
Back to Durban
A small note for the attention of every Jewish person who voted for Barack Obama. Call me meshugga but I expect plenty more notes are on the way.
Society doesn’t need newspapers. What we need is journalism.
Clay Shirky addresses all too thinkable technological change as newspapers meet the internet and go splat. The underlying logic of the problem - or rather, the underlying logic of denying the problem - is applicable to so much more than paper and ink.
When reality is labeled unthinkable, it creates a kind of sickness in an industry.
Substitute "country" for "industry" and you have Canada's body politic. And much of the West, for that matter.
March 14, 2009
Everybody has won, and all must have prizes
The UK is set to abandon school league tables measuring exam results and replace them with measurements of wellbeing.
Parents will also be surveyed on their views of the school under the Government proposals - which some critics have dismissed as 'happiness league tables'.
Sharia law in Italy
It is not only the Swat Valley that has been conceded to the Taliban. For many in the West, there is nothing to surrender - no patriotism, no pride, no history, no civilization - so why not get it over with. The nullity they have made of modern life makes the prospect of a new Dark Age appealing to them.
As to their sisters and wives and daughters - let alone their daughters' daughters - to hell with them. Such is the selfish logic of a suicide.
In the first trial, the three were sentenced for sequestration and abuse. The court acknowledged that the teenager had been "brutally beaten up" for having "dated" a non-Muslim and, in general, for "living a life not conforming with the culture" of her family. But on appeal, the family was acquitted because the court deemed that the young woman had been beaten for "her own good."
As to what possesses The Jerusalem Post to spell sharia, "shari'a" is anyone's guess. It is a dangerous precedent. In Canada, we surrendered our apostrophes to the French and look at the state we are in now.
Bring Your Own Squid
Spoiler warning for Watchmen.
I should have something to say about the film soon.
March 13, 2009
Exactly
Richard Littlejohn comments on the latest expression of our societal lunacy: Hiring Jalal Ahmed to work as a baggage handler.
Airport officials insist: 'He would be in a supervised environment at all times.'
Somehow, I doubt that's the kind of 'supervised environment' most of us would like to see him in. That would involve orange jumpsuits, armed guards, razor-wire and large dogs.
Good news
Morena Baccarin is set to play a lead in ABC's reboot of V.
I am still expecting a) to be told Earth deserves to be conquered and her water plundered by aliens due to "our" (by which we are all meant to understand "their", i.e. "neoconservative") human plundering of Earth's natural resources, b) ham fisted comparisons of the occupation of Earth with the occupation of Iraq (e.g. Baccarin telling us we are either with the Visitors or against them), c) overt apologetics for Nazism and jihadism (expect the human resistance to deploy suicide bombing as a tactic by episode three at the latest), or d) some combination of the above and fresh abominations I have yet to conceptualize.
But it has Morena Baccarin so no harm, no foul.
Schulz City
Frank Miller's Charlie Brown (via William Gibson).
Me timbers shiver at the thought
Japan joins a growing international fleet of the clueless off the coast of Somalia. The mission: anti-piracy. Which I gather has something to do with providing pirates with directions back to their home ports.
I will trade you one flotilla from any navy of the 1920s - armed with 1920s technology - for the entire United Nations task force. This is not an engineering problem. Our grandfathers knew how to deal with pirates.
Dinga dinga dee
Wired calls it "the most atrocious defense video of all time."
March 12, 2009
England expects, regardless
Hardy: “Aye, aye sir.”
Nelson: “Hold on, that’s not what I dictated to Flags. What’s the meaning of this?”
Hardy: “Sorry sir?”
Nelson (reading aloud): “‘England expects every person to do his or her duty, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religious persuasion or disability.’ - What gobbledegook is this?”
Hardy: “Admiralty policy, I’m afraid, sir. We’re an equal opportunities employer now. We had the devil’s own job getting ‘England’ past the censors, lest it be considered racist.”
This hardly counts as parody these days. RTWT.
March 11, 2009
The best single issue of a comic ever created
SF Gospel argues there are at least four Alan Moore stories slightly more deserving of praise than Watchmen. The best argument is for "Watchmaker", i.e. Watchmen issue #4.
Correct. And don't miss "The Anatomy Lesson" either; arguably the mother of all reboots.
It's the Allah, stupid
Robert Kaplan has a go at Narendra Modi, chief minister of Gujarat and the "brightest star" in the BJP. For all I know, Modi may be completely reprehensible but with Kaplan keeping The Atlantic's Sullivanesque editorial line in mind this is not the article to convince me. For example, Kaplan makes a couple drive by comparisons of Modi with Adolph Hitler only to half-heartedly dismiss them. This is not just a problem for Godwin's Law; it is Sartrian "bad faith" passing for journalism.
There is a recurring trope - one I had thought dead - in Kaplan's argument. It is difficult to say if his assessment of Gujarat or the legacy of the Mahatma beats the equivalent Wikipedia entries (though once suspects their content to be eerily similar) but one gem of socialist editorializing stands out.
It gets worse. This is the Kipling of today's United States military? Kaplan forgot to throw in global warming/"it's all about oil"/some such other canard. Though I suppose what was published was already more than enough apologetics for one subordinate clause. In Obama's America, we are back to "globalization" as the pre-9/11 intellectual grievance of choice. Inshallah.
tl;dr
Charlie Booker considers literary lies; I will jump straight to the conclusion (via Walter Benjamin).
March 10, 2009
The Poachers
Muslims in England hurling abuse at Her Majesty's forces returned "home" from the battlefield. Blood pressure warning upon reading, indeed.
This via per DrewM. of Ace of Spades HQ who usefully adds.
We are staring into the abyss
This could get out of hand.
...
In its statement of responsibility the Real IRA said it deliberately shot the Domino's workers because they were British "collaborators" providing food to the enemy.
Singes mangeurs de fromage
France continues to live down to expectation.
March 09, 2009
Unclear on the concept
Ann Coulter schools the New York Times (via Ace).
Her closer is a kicker. RTWT.
Firehoses and underwear
This stuff just writes itself. In an alarming Doomsday Clock kind of way.
Eau de nerd
Step 1 - Acquire Star Trek cologne.
Step 2 - Vaseline on the camera lens.
Step 3 - ???
Step 4 - Profit!
There are three fragrances planned for 2009 with the monikers "Tiberius" "Red Shirt" and "Ponn Farr."
Via Agent Bedhead.
In some cultures, four is an unlucky number
The March rankings for Canada’s Top 25 Political Blogs. Thanks again to Robert Jago for the time and the effort to run - and post - the numbers.
It is part of my culture to laugh at people with silly beards
A Muslim police officer claims he was forced out of his job by colleagues who made fun of his beard. Trust me, you need to see the beard. In my humble opinion, he should sue his barber; the police were trying to do him a favour.
And there are some small details he might have forgot to mention to the tribunal.
Neat trick that: Nine months on full pay and a return to work after you have been fired.
As to the woman, British law requires four adult male Muslim witnesses for a rape allegation to stick. The temptress should consider herself lucky she is not up on charges for shaming her family.
Hat trick
India has once again tested its indigenous missile defence system; once again successfully intercepting an incoming ballistic missile. India is working toward a "viable defence system" by 2010.
Dhanush was simulating the trajectory of ballistic missiles with a range of 1,500 km, similar to Pakistan’s Ghauri.
Remember: "Scientific consensus" once sneered at and dismissed ballistic missile defence as an impossible Star Wars fantasy. Not that the Empire were experts on the subject either, but something to keep in mind the next time some neo-pagan half-wit tells you global warming climate change is settled science.
Great expectations
Iain Martin is unhappy at the reception of Britain's Prime Minister at the Obama White House. The resulting post is a breath of fresh air. Or at least a first whining puff as a continent wide gas bag of false expectations starts to deflate over Europe.
The comments are amusing. I post a representative example here for your edification.
We are being forced to live out the fantasies they had mused upon the steps of Princeton and Harvard, that perhaps they had walked arm and arm with the real men and women who brought racial equality to America. This couple, their handlers and their lackeys are a juggernaut of adolescent and theoretical policies squarely focused on a misguided pursuit of reparations for crimes never committed against them. They are dangerous people not just for the US, but, any country that may need our support.
God help us all and pray that America rids itself of them in the 2012 election.
Týr: Stýrisvølurin
Performing March 23 at the Opera House in Toronto, unless I am mistaken.
March 08, 2009
I. Wants. It.
The USN is selling Sea Shadow and its floating dock. One caveat: A marine museum is "a bloodthirsty, paperwork ridden, permit-infested, money-sucking hole..."
The barge, by the way, is the only fully submersible dry dock ever built, making it very handy -- as it was 35 years ago -- for trying to raise a sunken nuclear-armed Soviet submarine.
Quite a bit more there about the barge than the Batmobile which is probably as it should be.
Plan view: The Google Earth Community considers Sea Shadow and the Hughes Mining Barge.
Help NASA name Node 3
I am voting "Xenu", obviously.
March 07, 2009
The Five Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration
Re-reading of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire*, I found myself considering that classic fan question: If wizards can use magic, how is it the Weasley's are poor? Megan McArdle hits most of the obvious economic highlights/plotholes of the J.K. Rowlings' oeuvre, dismisses the "I am expecting too much from a children's book" defence (quite right, too) and throws in some class war smears for good measure.
McArdle is not alone. Ilias Yocaris has considered the anarcho-capitalism of the wizarding world; worth the read a self-parodying Le Monde editorial. Daniel Levy and Avichai Snir, by contrast, have put together a less than edifying sounding round up of the political economy of Harry Potter (perhaps the full text of "Popular Perceptions and Political Economy in the Contrived World of Harry Potter " is a better read).
An intractable problem? Far from it. Rowling, perhaps conscious of fan concerns, provides an answer. Stephen Morris explains in reply to a discussion of Harry Potter and monetary policy**.
Beyond Hogwarts provides a handy summary of and conjectures concerning the Five Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration. A more general discussion of magic in Harry Potter may be found at Wikipedia.
* In connection with a project I am working on.
** Good to see The Economist doing a good job again, if only in the comments.
Related economics: It is not so easy to make money from the Potter franchise as one might expect.
Another country
Dark Roasted Blend reports on Dickens World; surely this is the amusement park of the Flea. From the same source, and better yet, is news of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, set to open at Universal Orlando.
March 06, 2009
Frig
Sea trials for the INS Shivalik, India's new stealth warship*, have been delayed by up to three months as the Obama administration sorts out who its friends are. General Electric has been ordered to halt work on the gas turbines Shivalik needs for a quick turn of speed.
Related: The Indians plan to have a home grown aircraft carrier by 2014.
* Sux to be Canada, by the way.
The other side of the mirror
Yes, yes, Watchmen and all that. I have nothing to say until I have seen the film. In the meantime, news Dark City
I would be just as happy if he makes The Tripods.
Ok, a link: Ozymandias feels contempt for your genitals.
Also: This cannot be good for Alan Moore's digestion.
Dalek of the deep
I never find anything this cool when I am dredging swamps.
March 05, 2009
Shut up or I’ll saw your head off
Confronted with medievalism, Toronto police - as usual - choose to do nothing. Allegedly.
I was there, there are no pictures, filming and taking pictures was prohibited (they seem to have a problem with the general public hearing what they say) it was reported to the police who chose (as usual) to do NOTHING…
Via Blazing Cat Fur.
A special relationship
One unanticipated (to me, at least) benefit of the election of the new President is watching the first of many nations delirious with support for Barack Obama thrown under the bus as it suits the man's purposes. Take the UK, for example. After Obama rolled out the less than welcome mat for the Queen's first minister of oh-God-don't-sit-me-next-to-him, at least one Telegraph columnist has had enough.
That was some short honeymoon. My heart pumps purple piss at the thought of the Obama administration; so little time in office, so quick to squander the goodwill of the French. I mean the English. As-Salam Alaikum.
Related: The swelling ranks of the disaffected and the disappointed.
Audi Shark
This Audi hovercar concept would make a fine addition to the Fleet of the Flea. Got some crime fighting to get to. In the near future. Possibly involving robots.
March 04, 2009
The accursed share
The ancient Egyptians dealt with excess productive capacity by whiling away the summer months building pyramids. Faced with the same problem, we send our non-contributing zeros to grad school.
How to talk to women
This exclusive full interview with real life Lara Croft - 23-year-old gymnast Alison Carroll - is strangely mesmerizing. I notice the channel is advertising "How To Talk To Women" alongside Tomb Raider: Underworld.
Now composing my own note: "Dear Alison, The name is 'Lara' not 'Laura'. Best, The Flea".
Remember these words if asked: Alison Carroll makes a great Lara Croft because of her "gutsy attitude". Both of them. And she has "SAS training", apparently.
The following is presented for the edification of Flea readers - and stray Jawas - concerned by potential costume and equipment inaccuracies.
March 03, 2009
Without peers
In Canada, we now have to debate whether an accused has the right to face an accuser. So much for Magna Carta.
She removed her veil to get a drivers license. She can remove her veil in court.
Wireless
A massive outage in wireless and internet service prevented yesterday's publication of the Flea. No word yet on what the problem might have been; Rogers' incompetence is strangely un-newsworthy.
Disappointment
Snoop Dogg has revealed he is not as bright as I thought he was.