The Wrong Kind of War

It's not that we don't have enough troops, it's that we have too much war.

Sheesh.

bc

I've never understood how Condi made that mistake. She's never been married, right? Has she ever said, "my husband..." correctly? Seems so weird to me... beyond Freudian.

We also note that the mostly XY neocons have left the sinking ship while the XXs are still operating the pumps and plugging the holes. Of course The Dark One a.k.a. the Pepperer is still around, but what choice does he have ?

Perle's also the guy I heard on WaPo radio actually say, "Democracies don't attack other countries."

Sometimes isolationism seems like such a good alternative. I'm struck by how the administration sanctions these studies and solicits opinions and then rejects the study results and advise/dissent process as defeatist.

Where I work, it's common for someone to say, "x is my office wife," or refer to y as "my other husband." If x is single, she might say, "my husband (insert laugh here)said . . ." Actually, it's pretty funny. I just assumed it was something like that.

I called my lifetime best friend on Sunday, Dec. 3, because her 56th birthday was the day before, on Saturday. She has not been out with friends the night before, but in the late afternoon and early evening had been with her sister in her first grade classroom, prepping for the coming week's lessons. Of course, the conversation turned to her son, Staff Sgt. Ryan.

The good news is that he survived his second tour in Iraq, and he's now back in the states at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He and his young wife, also originally from Bakersfield, and their baby boy were going to fly home to Bakersfield for an early Christmas celebration with families. Her eldest son (a college grad training to be a fireman, working only as a bouncer in a bar on weekends, and taking a history class at college for fun) was going to drive north from San Diego to join the early festivities.

I could feel the joy in my lifetime best friend's voice. Her glee replaced the doubt and uncertainty I'd heard during previous phone calls.

I know that she and her son don't discuss Iraq much or the war. I do know that young Ryan was involved in training the Iraqi military. I don't know where in Iraq, or what the conditions were like, or if the circumstances were at all like what Thomas Ricks described in his recent series of articles about how miserable and inept some of those aspects are. (I guess since young Ryan is home, this lets Ricks off the hook for writing an article about this, huh, Joel--and he can hold on to the e-mail addresses I gave him for a while?) I also don't know exactly what young Ryan's job repsonsibilities were and how happy or frustrated he was in performing his assignment with the 101st Airborne.

This I do know. That young Ryan will not have to redeploy until May 2008 to Iraq. His mom had already rapidly calculated that the next presidential election won't occur until the fall of 2008. So Ryan could be back in the midst of the conflict when Americans decide who the next commander-in-chief will be.

And I took it upon myself to do some reading between the lines of the talk I had with my friend. Young Ryan wants new skills. His goal is now to learn how to fly helicopters, which would mean training and reassignment to Alabama. Safer than artillery and training the Iraqi military? I fervently wish it. Let's hope his request gets a stamp of approval. Let's pray that the military or the Iraq Study Group or Gates at the Pentagon or Congress or Condi and the female power brokers figures a way out of this mess.

And I'm wishing this small family one of the merriest Christmases they've ever had.

An interesting idea that the Bush White House is full of women who are in love with the President.

Could this guy be charming enough to have lotharioed his way to the Oval Office? Hmmm.

Could the GOP's turning on Bush be partially attributable to people simply feeling used by a charming but immature lover who's gotten himself into a spot of trouble, and just want to get out of a destructive relationship before he drags them down with him?

Now, where's that Harriet Miers letter from October '05?...

Oh, wait, it's in here:
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/achenblog/2005/10/all_the_presidents_men_and_wom.html

bc

Sorry to break the train of thought, but thought I needed to check in.

I am devastated to report that my fondest hopes for my vacation were cruelly dashed yesterday. You may remember I had hoped to be poolside by 1 p.m. As it happened our plane was delayed by fog in Charlotte for nearly 75 minutes, and I didn't make it poolside until nearly 1:45. Fortunately, they have grief counselors standing by, and with the help of some strong emotional therapy and support, an a truly excellen t mohito from the swim-up bar, I was able to pull myself together and deal with it.

Or as my wife said this morning, "Oh, darn. Another day in paradise."

This place really sucks. We're on the 3rd floor, and when I go out on the balcony by the hammock the view is off the pool, which is way too far away, maybe...70 yards? And on the far side of it is the beach, with aview of the Caribbean sunrise. Yuck. Who needs that? The bathroom has a shower, all in marble, large enough for three. Hot tub for two. Complimentary bottle of red wine when we arrived, and a complimentary fruit basket and bottle of brut when we got back from dinner and found little choclates on our pillows. I mean, really. One stinkin' little piece of choclate? Could they spare it? And the 30-inch flatscreen high-definition TV on the wall only gets 30 or 40 channels. This place is worse than a POW compound.

After forcing down our gruel-like breakfast (I had various fresh fruit, parma ham, toasted bagel and cream cheese, tangerine juice instead of orange juice (what an outrage!!!), etc., I went poolside with the laptop (they have wireless all over the joint) and tried to find the boodle, but the glare from the sun was so strong I couldn't see the screen, so came inside. A storm actually came up out over the Caribbean, and it was kind of beautiful watching it sweep over the water and come this way.

Tomorrow to escape this pestilential hell hole, we're taking a trip to Isla Mujeres, and on Tuesday they are forcing us to take a bus ride to tour Ek Balam and Valladolid. I'll go--but they can't force me to like it, the b@ast@ards!!!!

Yesterday I brined my bad leg in the Caribbean for an hour before switching to the swim-up pool. Hilarity ensued at the swim-up bar when a guy attempted to wade away from the bar in the waist-deep water while juggling three mixedd drinks he was carrying. There's step-off, and he didn't see it, and mis-stepped, and wound up spilling his drin ks in the pool, and getting poolwater in them. The eight or ten of us at the bar laughed like hell, and he waded back laughing himself, and got new drinks. There was a bit of pina colada slick on the water for a few seconds, but sincfe the pool is 600 feet long, it disipated pretty quickly. Troopers that we are, we dealt with it stoically.

Gotta run--they're making us tour the property and get a complimentary $100 gift certificate. This morning after breakfast I took a quick tour of the "sports book" room, a big room next to the casino with about 20-big screen TVs, on which they have all the weekend football games. And there's a wall-size chart showing all the latest Vegas odds, etc. on all the major sportgs (though I didn't see any curling, so of course I asm outraged, as any good citizen would be).

I'm telling ya, it's just one darned hardship after another.

More later.

'Morning, Cassandra.

Once again Americans are being forced into a type of warfare for which they are not trained. We need men and women trained to be cops, not warriors. If this means establishing an additional branch of the military, so be it.

Maybe she's blocking out one wild night in Vegas and instant annulment after?

I am torn whether I should say anything, me being Canadian and all, but...Blindly jumping in.

What you missed by having a really strong and vibrant military with deep structure and a deeper traditional talent pool, was the ability to find those who think outside the box. Is it possible that the military's strength is also its weakness?

The wrong kind of Christianity (commenting about the previous Boodle)?

Rev. Pat Robertson, the conservative televangelist and onetime Republican presidential candidate, invested (heavily) in Liberia. In 1998, Robertson's Freedom Gold Ltd. invested $8.5 million in a gold mining operation in Liberia. Charles Taylor (elected in 1997 and at whose campaign rallies the following chant could be heard "He killed my pa, he killed my ma, I'm going to vote for him") was to get a 10 percent stake in the operation when it went public. With the investment, Robertson and his organization became staunch defenders of Taylor's regime, often publicly praising Taylor as a fine, upstanding Christian mand and fellow Baptist. Freedom Gold's manager, James matthews, said that in the twelve trips he made to Liberia from 1998 to early 2002, he had not found "any reason to confirm these reports" of widespread human rights violations in Liberia. [No, of course not.]

--Doug Farah's 2004 "Blood from Stones: The Secret Financial Network of Terror"

Joel wrote: "I would suggest that any discussion of a surge of forces into Baghdad should be put in terms that would make sense to the soldier being asked to go there and risk his or her life, and to the soldiers already there."

I think that's the argument many proponents -- McCain, notably -- have been making. More troops means a stronger force and more safety for those already there. In other words, we owe it to the troops to send a stronger force.

I wince at the idea, but in a way feel like a temporary ramp-up may be the best path toward getting out altogether sooner, and with some integrity.

As much as I'd like to endorse simply bringing all the troops home right now, does anyone else think this could lead to the worse possible outcome? I know much of the violence is directed at U.S. troops, or is sparked because of the anger over our presence, but pulling up the stakes leads to...what? Is anyone willing to risk that?

More troops now means faster training for Iraqi security forces and a faster trip home for our troops. I hope.

Mudge, next year maybe we can get you a hotel room in the Green Zone. Or would a condo in al Anbar be a better choice? I hear rates there are about as low as they've ever been.

Be strong, Mudge.

Your valiant sacrifce will be remembered, my friend.

Your suffering will not be in vain.

And Wilbrod, that 11:16 made me laugh, though GW Bush is no Britney Spears... is he?

bc

I should add that these days I'm trying to think about the war by completely cordoning off any (all) negative thoughts about this administration and the fact that we should have never been in Iraq in the first place.

Since I am not smart enough to figure out how to get us out of Iraq, I pass along this piece of web time wasting:

http://www.flashbynight.com/test/

I will hold off on my own score until I figure out how bad I have to lie to maintain my reputation.

Bc, the man used to drink enough to drill a hole through his liver to China.

Unfortunately, I don't think the military's ever been much of a place for those who think outside the box. Isn't that what basic training is all about? I make sure you never leave the box?

Before anyone takes offense at this, I don't meant that there aren't any great minds in the military--because there are. And I know that the best and brightest still do run the show (if we could only get the worst and dullest in the White House to listen to them).

Shock and awe is a great strategy if you can truly shock and awe. These are people that have been fighting each other and various invaders for several centuries. Obviously their awe threshold was much higher than anticipated.

bc: "Could this guy be charming enough to have lotharioed his way to the Oval Office?"

He slept his way to the top? That would be extremely tiring, "swaying" such a large fraction of the electorate. However, it would explain why the Bushies were satisfied with winning just the slightest hair more than 50% of the electorate.

"No more, please! I just can't do it! I can't. 50.1% is good enough. I still have nightmares about that awful Harris woman."

Poor guy. Talk about politics and bedfellows.

Jimmy Carter bungled the Iran hostage rescue by trying to engineer the optimal size of the strike force with no allowance for error. Rumsfeld fell victim to the same hubris, but on a much grander scale.

Enough boodlehogging for now.

We should have parachuted in with cute lab puppies, kittens, foals, kids, and lambs for the "Shock and Awww" offensive.

Heck, if the war was going badly, we'd have to pull out the big Panda cannon...

"Big Panda Cannon" would be a good Boodle-name.

And don't forget the chinchilla commando force for Afghanstian, too. Those rodents are just darned cute, and they can infiltrate urban environments (too bad they're not particularly wily).

http://groups.msn.com/charmcitychinchillas/yourwebpage4.msnw

or maybe a good p0rn name...

Actually, I was kind of thinking that those who were more prone to thinking outside the box but still make it in the military, are now put into the technical computer side of the thing, where years ago, they might have found a home somewhere.

And speaking of the military sort of. On the news last night, they spotlighted a program called Wreaths Across America. It started with a fellow who never was in the military laying some wreaths on the graves of soldiers who died for your nation. In just a few short years, its grown huge with ceremonies at cemetaries across the nation.

A very moving peice, and to that gent who started it all, nice. Just really nice.

I received an email this morning entitled "prayer chain for our military"--various photos of the troops in Iraq praying and/or mourning their fallen comrades. The young woman who forwarded it to me had added: "And let us also pray that the evil tyranny that placed these brave men and women in their current position causes no more harm than it already has, and that one day, human decency, respect for man and womankind, love and faith will once again rule this great country."

I was so proud of my co-worker for crafting this comment--it's perfect because the right wing fanatics who sent the email will think she's agreeing with them and the radical leftists she sends it on to will see what she's really saying--everybody else can just stay happily in the middle.

Mudge, I just printed off your agenda, and your current Mexico experience for mrdr. I'm not sure what he thinks of it, but there are giggling and guffawing sounds coming from his office.

He has informed me that for your scheduled item at 4:23 p.m., he considers you near godlike, or at least pretty darn brave.

(Ok that was me inserting the brave part. dr)

The other guy is showing three aces and I'm 10 high. Only thing to do is double-down, right?

Tell all the people that you see
Follow me, follow me down.

Wilbrod, funny. It's also not too late to drop in Jimmy Carter for the Aw, Shucks campaign.

If I type *30*, you all know what I mean, right? (I think it's rigged! I know I got all the math, history and geography questions right.)

Not to mention that it's obvious Elvis is the square root of a kilogram.

28

Despite that troublesome lineup [in Mosul], of all of the divisions occupying Iraq in 2003-4, it was the 101st Airborne, commanded by Maj. Gen. David Petraeus, and headquartered in Mosul, that was the most effective in launching an effective counterinsurgency campaign. ...

Petraeus had more education about counterinsurgency operations than any other division commander in Iraq. During the 1980s he had earned a Ph.D. in international relations at Princeton [Joel's alma mater], where his dissertation subject had been the effect of the Vietnam War on U.S. military thinking about the use of force. In the course of his research he had read deeply into the French experience in Indochina. While the French didn't win there or in Algeria, the vanquished often learn more from a war than do the victors. "Counterinsurgency operations, in particular, require close civil-military cooperation," Petraeus wrote in his study. He warned against U.S. military attitudes tht impeded "the crucial integration of political and military strategies." Also, he noted that the use of force may be necessary, but by itself "it is seldom sufficient." ...

"Plainly stated, the 101st Airborne waged a different war in the north than was waged in other parts of the county," Maj. Wilson wrote. "Winning the hearts and minds of Iraqi people was the guiding purpose of all civil-military actions in the north." While the other divisions conducted "anti-insurgency" operations, aimed at killing the enemy, he concluded, the 101st waged a "counter-insurgency" campaign, meant to undercut the support for the enemy."

--Ricks' "Fiasco"

So, dr and TBG, what if the box wasn't even correctly formulated in the first place--Bush's rationale for waging war? Didn't we already know about the box (insurgent warfare, historically), yet decided to wage a lighter, leaner conventional war with superior technology with no planning for what to do strategically once we'd rolled over Iraq? Is the mess, or situation, at this stage really a political battle or a military one? Will more troops, or firepower, or policing, win this war--a conflict Tom Friedman of the NYT recently labeled "a medieval religious war."

Hree's what I don't get: the majority of 9/11 hijackers were Saudis, Saudis being Sunni. The Saudis summoned Dick Cheney recently to their country for talks. Only a handful of days ago, the Washington Post reported that the Saudis want us to continue our presence in Iraq. Are we now a proxy army for Saudi Arabia, so that Saudi Arabia won't be involved in a bigger war on a bigger stage with the Shiites of the region, including Iran?

And yesterday, Laura Bush, on NBC, the same station that did that incredibly sentimental story about laying Christmas wreaths on tombs of soldiers, reported that Bush's low poll numbers are squarely the media's doing. As for the war dead--they don't know or care, they're dead. All of this honoring is for the sake of the living.

I return you to your regularly scheduled fun and frivolity.

Castro's near death? I'll believe he's dead when I see the mass re-invasion of Cuba from Miami.

Embargo policy on Cuba: 56 years. Leader change: nil.

Embargo policy on Iraq: 13 years. Leader change: nil.

Napoleon's embargo on England: Leader change: nil.

We don't need people who can think outside the box leading our country. We need people who CAN THINK. I know Clinton couldn't have dropped the embargo for fear of looking soft, but as events in Iraq have showed, the embargo hurt the populace a lot more than it did Hussein.

Also, one wonders the wisdom of a people hearing for 10 years that the shortage of good and anything else is blamed on America, and then going in with guns and expecting them to liberate us.

When America turns it back on a country, we should stop expecting them to grab their chests and collapse in agonies of misery and hurt. Didn't work 56 years ago, didn't work in 2000, doesn't work today, and it will never work. Only thing it profits is the bootleggers.

Once again, science brings the boodle to a crashing halt. And just when I was making progress on my new theory of imaginary numbers (*Elvis* numbers).

Wilbrod, you gotta give sanctions a chance: Let Kim Jong Il go without iPods, Rolexes and Courvoisier for another six months and everything will be hunky-dory.

Mangled syntax day-- overcondensed this thought:

"Wonders if it was wise to let people sit under an embargo, not even getting essential medicine, food, etc. in fair trade and giving Hussein a perfect excuse to blame America for EVERY bit of his policies that wound up depriving his country of wealth of growth for 13 years... and then going in to "liberate" Iraq with guns and so forth, leading to further hunger and disruption of life.
And THEN to expect them to welcome us with flowers from the gardens of Babylon and much cheering and slain fatten calves, etc."

Okay, that's going from mangled syntax into Faulkner spasms.

Until the word "winning" is given a firm definition, Iraq will remain a horrendous monster that will consume American lives, Iraqi lives, American wealth, and everything else with which it comes in contact. Right now, the de facto definition appears to be that we will have won when Iraq is a stable, peaceful democracy in which all creeds are respected within the bounds of the rule of a nonsectarian and secular law. This would make Iraq a better place even than the main sponsor of the war: us. Obviously, this is a silly standard.

What level of imperfection can we accept into a definition of winning? We cannot wait for an unconditional surrender, such as we obtained to end hostilities in WWII. There is no organized leadership with which to negotiate, and those leaders that do exist, have no qualms about sending their endless stream of followers to be killed endlessly. There is no one to make a principled surrender for the good of his people.

Will we have won when there are no more insurgent attacks against us? It seems likely that the only way to achieve that is by permitting the massacre of one entire religious sect. Even then, neither of the principal Iraqi sects appears fond of us. This strategy clearly is insane, and thus we cannot expect a cessation of all hostilities as a definition of success -- at least, not if our only means to achieve the goal is military.

Will we have won when the Iraqi Army is ready to fight? Unlikely. It appears that the main goal in accepting training is to become better capable of fighting the coming religious Civil War. We may choose to leave at that time, but it would signal the beginning of the *real* bloodbath.

I'm running out of definitions. Militarily, we have lost, a term which is much easier to define -- we have no control over where, when, or with whom we are compelled to fight. The enemy has complete control of the field. We should admit it and leave and let the horrendous battle be joined.

Sorry, my page didn't refresh and it looked as if I'd killed the boodle.

Mudge,

Sorry to hear about the appalling conditions at your gulag.

On the bright side, you could be one of these poor souls overtaken with Montezuma's revenge on a cruise ship, for the third time in two months. Story below:

http://www.marinelink.com/Story/ShowStory.aspx?StoryID=205374

Also sorry that I couldn't make the BPH, or plain old boodling for that matter. No real, original excuse, just the same, lame, old one: busy, busy.

I just remembered: I have another recipe I created (possibly recreated actually, but I did think it up myself independently) once for Thanksgiving (sorry this is late, but it might just work for an x-mass dinner, or any dinner for that matter):

Buttered Brown Sugar Carrots

A bunch of long thick carrots (I figure one or two for each guest)
Brown sugar
Butter

Take the carrots and slice them in half lengthwise (Be careful, as this is a dangerous operation)

In a skillet melt the butter (enough to create about a quarter inch pool) and add the brown sugar (as much as you like I guess, I used about a half tbl for each tbl of butter)

Place the carrots in the skillet flat side down

With a large spoon pour the butter and brown sugar mix over the carrots continuously while cooking

Cook until soft (you may have to this in batches, depending on skillet size and carrot quantity)

Serve in a warm casserole dish (if done in batches you may need to warm them up in a microwave before serving, which is what I did, cause I made them at a friends house, and we ate at another)

Everyone at dinner said they were the best carrots they had ever had...

Yeah, like there's not already a cheap knockoff industry going strong in Taiwan of everything ever exported by America, Byoolin.

Rome solved the Attila the Hun problem by sending Pope Leo out to chit-chat with Attila, not by embargos.

ancienthistory.about.com/cs/attilathehun/a/attilathehun.htm

This strategy used to be called a parley. Nowadays it's called being soft with the enemy.

Oh, I want to add a note: One guest who hadn't taken any cause he doesn't like carrots decideed to try a bite after hearing all this praise. His response: "They taste more like Sweet Potatoes than Carrots." Unfortunately, he didn't like Sweet Potatoes either...hahaha...

I wonder if this proposed troop increase for Iraq operations is a Rovian negotiating ploy to confuse the issue and stave off demands for a drawdown until the Administration can figure out what to do next. As JA points out, it seems we were just talking about reducing the number of troops, now we're talking about sending more.

You know, the kind of ploy that might turn an election that would have been a referendum on an incumbents' imcompetent prosecution of an unnecessary war and trying to turn the electorate's attention to domestic "values" issues.

"Ignore that man behind the curtain!"

bc

Going off-topic momentarily, I see that the Stardust mission really captured extrasolar stardust (Like, older than the sun. Or Mudge.).

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/061214_real_stardust.html

Also, I see that new census data shows a significant increase in Wiccan membership:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121500598.html

No word on how this is related to the White House Distaffers.

bc

The Presidential Medal of Freedom was created by President Harry Truman in 1945. Historian David McCullough wrote a biography about Truman in 1992. Bush would like to be compared to Truman according to the Washington Post homepage, therefore, McCullough wins a Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded today.

Really, I *like* McCullough. But Joel, be quick. Figure out who'll be the next president will be and what former president they admired most, write the biography, win the medal. If you're really lucky, it'll be George Washington! Hey, didn't Robert Kaiser of the Washington Post also write about Truman? He dodged my question about whether his dad worked for Truman during one of his more recent chats.

Was Philip Kaiser Robert Kaiser's father? Just wondering how young Robert got such a plum foreign correspondent's position for the Washington Post in London at such a tender age? Yes, I am guessing.

http://www.trumanlibrary.org/oralhist/kaiserp.htm

bc,
Liked better the census data story's opening graf at the NYT:

Americans drank more than 23 gallons of bottled water per person in 2004 -- about 10 times as much as in 1980. We consumed more than twice as much high fructose corn syrup per person as in 1980 and remained the fattest inhabitants of the planet, although Mexicans, Australians, Greeks, New Zealanders and Britons are not too far behind.

I don't hold much hope for the success of the Parley Method, at least with this administration. They won't even talk with the friends (e.g. Syria) of its enemies, much less with the enemies themselves.

Of course, with this admin, they're likely to think Attila the Hon was from Baltimore.

yello... another addicting game from the site you cited earlier...

http://www.flashbynight.com/strips/

Joel wrote: "I would suggest that any discussion of a surge of forces into Baghdad should be put in terms that would make sense to the soldier being asked to go there and risk his or her life, and to the soldiers already there."

GodKnowsWhy said (and quoted JA abovely)
I think that's the argument many proponents -- McCain, notably -- have been making. More troops means a stronger force and more safety for those already there. In other words, we owe it to the troops to send a stronger force.
--
I agree, despite deep regrets about our being there. I would like to hear more from soldiers and former soldiers about exiting with value placed on those remaining.

Bias here, bigtime: I have a special forces brother who is in/out constantly. He is sick about the youngest and newest soldiers, many of the reservists who pull rural check-point duty.

As we pull out, the youngest and the least and the last standing risk so much.

(Just one view. Generally, I want to hear from soldiers about this, and less from pols.)

Linda, I think the problem goes back even farther, far to eighties at the very least. It takes decades to develop stuff, to engineer, to research technologies. In the 80's and early 90's when decisions on what kind of technology they would use what strategies they would train by. Its deeper than a president or single term of an individual.

Someone above wrote that the army is not really an army so much as a police force and that they should go in as such. In many respects this is what I see too.

Back in WWI there was a belief among the military leaders that infantry could succeed against machine guns. That this tactic consistently led to slaughter did not deter these leaders. They figured that what was needed was just an additional surge.

TBG -- I believe what Perle said was "Democracies don't attack other DEMOCRACIES." A variation on Thomas Friedman's Golden Arches Theory of Foreign Policy; he points out that no country that has a McDonald's has ever attacked another country which also has a McDonalds.

I'm going with The Onion on this:

Christmas Brought To Iraq By Force
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/56648

I think it's a critical warning sign that the military and civilian leadership feel compelled to invent new terminology for their tactics (which they mistakenly think of as strategy). Viz.: a "surge" rather than "reinforcements." Deploying "forces" or "troops" rather than "men" (albeit, not all the "men" are men). "Shock and awe" rather than "blitzkrieg." The fact that these actions do not have a convenient and politically palatable designation after thousands of years of the development of military techniques and terminology suggests that either these are tactics that have been eschewed by military geniuses of the past, or the tactic has a perfectly good name against which the civilian populace and/or the military would revolt because they recognize it for a bad idea; or, of course, it may be a perfectly respectable ancient tactic, but the leadership is unaware of its history and thus is trying to reinvent that wheel without any genuine experience.

It is, of course, possible to invent new tactics and new strategies; but unless you have evidence that you are a military genius, you should be cautious. If you actually ARE a military genius, then I submit that you already are in the habit of considering your plans and their consequences. You would not be a military genius if you were in the habit of trying random or ineffectual ideas to see if they'll work THIS time.

I submit that there is strong evidence against the argument that anyone in the curent leadership (civilian or military) is a military genius. The evidence is against any of them even qualifying as competent practitioners.

Eight bells on a Friday afternoon is not the time to ask this, but I'll give it the weekend to stew:

I need help with where on the web or in stores I can find the following Christmas present for my wife: She got hooked on the NBC TV / Internet show, "Treasure Hunters". Although generally she doesn't * like* web surfing, (she is just getting the hang of buying things online, like Christmas gifts, to the chagrin of my credit cards), she got turned on to this TV / Web show. She would like to do more of that type of game.

We do not own any type of video game machine. We sure as heck don't want to mess with anything like: shoot-em-up, or car racing, or chopping the heads off of drooling space aliens. But, if I * must * get a video game machine, I will.

I'd just like to find some thought provoking, entertaining, mental challenge - or detective-type games that she would enjoy on a PC, or a game machine, if need be.

Any ideas, anybody? I'm clueless on this one.

Holiday gaming?

Try the Sims. You create people, in house, etc., set up characteristics, work/live variables and then, they play out in front of you.

I started playing to check out the mildly x-rated options, to make sure my son did not play with the See-her-take-a shower option....or the knowledge-act so spoken of in the Bible....

Does this make sense?

Don, the PC game "You Don't Know Jack" is a trivia type game in a fun format that might fit the bill.

For anyone else considering games, the non-video game "Cranium" is a good one; it has many different challenges as part of the game;ie pictionary style, charades, trivia, humming tunes, etc so that you don't get the trivia masters making it boring for everyone else.

http://thesims.ea.com/us/
And here is the wikipedia entry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sims

Snip from Wiki
Overview

As with many Maxis games, The Sims is a departure from most other computer games, which tend to have a definite goal or objective. Instead, the game focuses entirely on the "lives" of virtual people called "Sims," placing the player in control of their virtual "world", and their daily activities such as sleeping, eating, cooking and bathing, to name a few. Will Wright, the game's designer, likes to refer to it as a "digital dollhouse." Though players are encouraged to make their own characters, many of the pre-made characters have become popular in their own right.

Home page at last!

Fyi, I just posted on the kit a speech by NASA's James Hansen about being muzzled when he spoke out on global warming.

History buffs: Look tomorrow for my story on a new exhibit on the French and Indian War.

And have a fantastic weekend.

Re, games. Thanks, those are ideas to consider. We played "Crainium" once at a friends house. It was fun.

The aspect of the Treasure Hunters game that appealed to my wife was the object/clue finding effort that was instantly rewarded by being allowed to progress to the next level. I'm thinking that detective type games must exist out there. As I said before, though, I'm "clue-less".

I do have an old mental challenge/puzzle PC game called "Jewels of the Orient" that is like some high powered Mensa challenge. It's too obscure and too hard to be any fun.

Iraq should be all about testing and evaluating techniques and training. We need to train a whole generaton of Army Intelligence Officers and they need to do the entire spectrum of activities from screening, evaluation, recruitment and control of assets. The troops need to learn cordon and search operations and also how to spot and process casual informants. These are just examples. This is our chance to have the best trained military in the world. We talk of training terrorist. This is our operation. Kill the terrorist and train our troops. When everyone is trained we can leave. No need to over do it.

I want to do a little mini-essay on the horrors of Calvinism, and the evil, dreaded consequences of an innate sense of moderation.

Case in point: I mentioned they gave us a complimentary bottle of brut champaigne. My wife and I were way too tired to drink it, so it's in the mini-fridge, and we may in fact not ever drink it while we're here, so it'll ride back on the plane with us, I suppose, along with the complimentary bottle of red wine.

Next to the mini-fridge in the credenza is a mini-bar, with four bootles of booze in a rack, upside down with built-in dispensers, so all you have to do is hold you glass under it and dispense away. There's a bottle of Jose Cuervo Special tequilla, a bottle of Bacardi white rum, a bottle of MacArthur's scotch, and I can't see the label of the fourth bottle because it's kinda dark there and I didn't bring a flashlight. But that's not the point. In the mini-fridge besides sodas are cans of Tecate and Dos Equis beers.

All this booze is compliumentary (OK, it's built into the price of the joint, I realize that), but the point is, I could pickle myself in liquor for the next week, it wouldn't cost me one thin dime. And of course, since this place is an all-inclusive resort, including any and all booze at the bars, restaurants, swim-up bar in trhe pool, and waiters serving the beach and pool areas, all one has to do is lazily wave one's hand, and the booze of your dreams will appear momentarily.

Paradise, right?

We had lunch in one of the restaurants here; this one specializes in Mexican cuisine (as opposed to Italian, seafood, steakhouse, Asian, etc.). There must have been 30 or 40 choices in the buffet, plus yards and yards of condiments, extras, salads, breads, you name it.

More paradise, right?

Here's what I had: I started with a salad, basically some lettuce and chunks of tomato, with some garbonzo beans, 3 cubes of swiss cheese, a couple of small pieces of Canadian ham, some diced surimi, and three small cubes of jicama, which I tried because I never had it before (it's a root veggie, looks like a giant turnip, but tastes kinda sweet if a little bland. But I liked it.) They had something the sign said was "Xnipec sauce." I have no idea how to pronounce that, but I'd take a wild guess at "Shnee-peck." This looked like what I thought was finely diced red onions, but instead of the skin being reddish purple, the entire piece was a very light shade of purple, kind of like it was pickled like those purple pickled hard-boiled eggs. I figured, how can it be? Diced onions, right? And I like to try new things I've never had before. I put a teaspoonful on top of my salad. BIG mistake. Whatever these things were, they were basically diced napalm. Yikes. This wasn't the kind of hot that takes a minute or two to sneak up on you. This was the kind that when a single teeny tiny dice hits your tongue, your entire mouth screams, "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND, YOU IDIOT?" Talk about pain. They ought to use this stuff as an anaesthetic while you're having root canal, because if you had two or three pieces on your tongue, an oral surgeon could remove four impacted wisdom teeth, and you'd be oblivious.

But I digress. I picked the Xnipec fire botulism dice out of my salad, and proceded. I ate about 2/3 of it, because I was saving room for the main course. I went back to the buffet and got two soft tacos that they make up to order right in front of you, one beef and one chicken. I had a teaspoon of beef with chipotle sauce (bland, to my surprise). I had a tablespoon of pasta salad (bland). I had a few more little spoonfuls of this and that. When I came back to the table, I had a plateful of food, but nothing anyone would find remarkable or even memorable.

I had eaten maybe two thirds of the salad, and maybe half of what was on this plate. I drank two small glasses of diet coke.

And here's where the Calvinism comes in. I didn't clean my plate. I took way more than I could eat, in part because it's a buffet and that's what we all do at a buffet. I could have gorged myself, eaten five heaping plates of food, and drunk myself in to a stupor. Instead I had a modest salad and a soft taco-- AND FELT GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY. I didn't clean my plate. I took more than I could eat. I only ate about half of what was on the plate. I drfank the equivalent of a single can of diet Coke.

WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS WRONG WITH ME?

Answer: Calvinism, and a New England temperament.

I'm not going to touch a drop of the four bottles of booze in the credenza. I probably won't drink a single beer from the fridge. Yesterday I drank about 8 ounces of beer at lunch, had a mohito at (in) the pool, and had a black Russian at dinner. That was my entire alcohol intake for the day--and about twice my "normal" level. Tonight at dinner I may have another mohito, and maybe go crazy with the wine: two glasses instead of one.

Calvinism. Moderation. This is crazy. I didn't WANNA be this way. It wasn't my idea. I never planned it. I took a plate of food, ate half, and -- surrounded by tons more food -- had a minor twinge of conscience that I didn't clean my plate. There's enough booze at my fingertips to float Rush Limbaugh, and I'm not going to touch it (sorry, martooni, if this is causing you pain).

Crazy, crazy, crazy. I mean, it's nearly 4 p.m., and I really AM looking forward to a mohito in an hour or so. But it's just one lousy drink, when I could have seven, if I wanted, at zero cost and with virtually zero consequences. I could be blotto by the time Jeopardy coimes on, but won't. Why? Beats the hell out of me.

John Calvin, may you rot in hell.

SCC: Upon reflection, it's probably spelled "mojito," yes?

Si.

*Lifting arms in triumph*

I have slain the mighty boodle dragon!

Behold, it hath been down for a good count of three hours solid!

Now to go handle those pesky Huns...

Whoops, looks like the only thing I slew was the refresh part of the boodle.

I actually believe that the certain someone who said "husb" actually considers the man her "husb."

Mudge, so you didn't take what you didn't want? Sounds like a good deal to me!

Hmmm, I think I disagree with the whole "the women in the administration are in love" thing.

All of them that I know of, whether or not they are *good* at their jobs, are qualified for them, and I'm sure had to work at least four times harder than any man to get the appointment. I think the "they are in love with GW" is another guise of the old "she must have slept her way in." Also, of course, there is *still* talk about their clothing (arjhghghghgrhgh!!!).

I find the whole suggestion offensive, actually.

Sheeesh, Mudge, you're scaring me, here.

Somebody, call an ambulance.

Somebody else, call the Archbishop.

Mudge, shipmate, listen to me. It'll be OK. Deep breaths. You're just having a post man-o-pausal, pre-bacchanal, high anxiety attack. Maybe a little performance anxiety thrown in for good measure. Trust a guy that's had prostate cancer to know all about, ahem, anxiety.

Just slip into the thong that Ms. Mudge snuck into the suitcase at the last minuet. Don't look at me like that, it's there. Over on the right side, in back, on the bottom. Found it? OK. Next, you and Ms. Mudge tiptoe to the hot tub. You're a big boy, I'll let you figure it out from here. But I want a * full * report in the morning, sailor. Remember, deep breaths.

Mudge I feel your pain. Mrdr in particular feels your pain. He's crying in the back office at the injustcie of it all.

You just have to hold on and win one for the gipper.

This is a great little piece about the Bush's interview for People Magazine where Bush says he has no trouble sleeping at night. That's only one of the stupid remarks he and his wife made.

The comments are great...

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2006/12/bushs_first_com.html

DonfromI70, you need to talk the the younglings. Or at least mine. Kerric and I went to lunch yesterday, and he spent a whole hour talking games with me. I asked that motherly question, 'so why'd you need all those systems?'

I shall wake him up for you (Its not that he keeps odd hours, its that he is a professional sleeper)

Kerric....

SCC: Visgnome, not Visgoth.

Gosh, Mudge, I hope you're not sickening for something. But please bring back that Xnpipec stuff back, it sounds like the best appetite suppressant ever invented ;).

If anybody wonders why I post so much.. this deuced boodle won't refresh on F5, I have to post... Somebody needs to ride the AchenHOG a bit to find why it's going lame.

It refreshes just *fine* for *me.*

Yoki, I understand your irritation. There is a certain amount of fanatical (one might even say zealous) devotion within the Bush Adminstration. Among the males, this is interpreted as devotion to neoconservative "ideals" that are shared with Mr. Bush. Among the female members of the administration, it is interpreted as devotion to Mr. Bush, personally. I cannot say whether this is an accurate reading. It may just be a matter of the vernacular available to discuss one's motivations -- a straight woman may express devotion to a man, but a straight man wants to distance himself a little and so expresses devotion to a shared philosophy. "We're working side-by-side, under his leadership" vs. "I'm working for him." Printed remarks from Harriet Miers, Karen Hughes, and Condoleezza Rice have (I think I recall) expressed a starry-eyed devotion to W -- they seem to have accepted W as their personal savior and Messiah. Male administration members may feel the same way, but express it in different language.

Or, it may all be a load of nonsense.

Yes, it could be that they are all secretly Clones of the Queen, and Bush is just the stated proxy and puppet for the Queen of the Neo-Cons.

Yoki, Harriet Miers said Bush was one of the smartest men she'd ever met. Either she really, really doesn't get out much, she's an really blatant brownnoser, or...

Of course she's a brownnoser! And she's not very bright, either. Maybe he really is the smartest man she's ever met. Sad reely.

I know people in Houston who know Bush, and they are serious when they say he can't read.

dr you should know better than to randomly say I can provide knowledge.

DonfromI270 - unlike my silly mother insists, I am not an ultimate expert on games. The genre that you are searching for is a diffucult question to say the least.

Tune Cooties

Here's an excerpt of a Shouts and Murmurs column from the December 11, 2006 of The New Yorker

INFLUENZA 529, or Entrenched Ditty Derangement. The infected person displays an inability (in the worst cases, lasting months) to rid his cortex of an unusually repugnant melody. (In some extreme cases, lyrics are part of the malady.)

Symptoms: Early signs include innocuous humming in the workplace. In later stages, the sufferer may believe that he hears voices in his head. A large body of clinical literature exists on the topic (see " 'Horse with No Name' Phenomenon"; "Complications Arising from the Theme to 'Walker, Texas Ranger' "). In one famous case in New Jersey (known in medical circles as Embedded "Jessie's Girl" Phenomenon), manslaughter resulted.

Never go to excess, but let moderation be your guide.
Cicero (106 BC - 43 BC)

Moderation in all things.
Terence (185 BC - 159 BC), Andria

Moderation in all things is best, but it's pretty hard to get excited
about it.
Mason Cooley

If one oversteps the bounds of moderation, the greatest pleasures
cease to please.
Epictetus (c. 50­-120)

Moderation, the noblest gift of Heaven.
Euripides (480 or 485-­406 B.C.)

A slightly more personal post on my blog:

wilbrodthegnome.blogspot.com

I have 2 links to two nice columns by Joel there which were right on topic.

When is the holiday BPH part II again?

>I find the whole suggestion offensive, actually.

I do too, but because I believe it's all too possible.

Mudge, you're going to need to remedial hedonism lessons. I think you wore yourself out with that pre-vacation post. Hang in there... start eariler. For instance, I'd make mimosas with the champagne and finish it by 2nd breakfast, as a hobbit might say.

I found this Xnipec salsa recipe. The ratio of habanero chiles (the hottest of them all) to everything else is incredible.

"The Mayan word for this mixture (xnipec) means "nose of the dog," a vivid description of its sinus-clearing effects.

4 chiles habanero, seeded and diced
1 onion, diced
1 tomato, diced
4 limes, juiced

Soak the diced onion in the lime juice for at least 30 minutes. Add all the other ingredients and mix. Salt to taste. Serve with grilled fish or grilled chicken. Caution: Extremely hot!"

BTW, I posted the quotes on moderation, forgot to sign it.

My favorite quote about moderation is "All things in moderation, including moderation."

Splurge a little now and then-- in moderation. So you are staying through Christmas for a Mexican resort Xmas? Do they decorate christmas cacti for the guests?

>Moderation

"Everything in excess! To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation is for monks!"

From "Time Enough for Love" by Robert Heinlein

I like that one too Wilbrod. It sort of gives me permission for the occassional excesses.

I'd rather not take an excess of anger, ennui, or any of multiple major diseases, thank you, Error.

"Everything in excess! To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation is for monks!"

Or, as Tony Bourdain so colourfully said, when urging the populace to try new flavours, "Your body is not a temple, it's a ******* amusement park!"

Wow, the Boodle has been mostly on topic today.

This is somewhat concerning.

Error Flynn is one of those people that I think I would really really like if I met him -- I even think we have some good knock-down, drag-out, intellectual-type arguments and part with good feeling all 'round.

Now, just because he's running for president doesn't mean you have to start lobbying for the job of House Counsel now, Yoki.

Then again, with the red tape for licensing and the visa applications, maybe you should have started 3 years ago ;).

Don from I-270, you had me giggling helplessly there. Oh the horror of a thong!

This is for Don.

If your wife wants to try non-violent, PC-based, puzzle games, we (pronounced "Himself") recommend:

The Myst series. Myst (1), Riven (2), Exile (3), Revelation (4) and End of Ages (5). 3-5 are the most recent and would probably only run on newer 'puters; if you have an older system, craiglist or ebay will have the original three on offer.

Syberia & Syberia 2;
Voyage;
Realms of Illusion.

All of them involve myths and codes and chivalry. There are deaths, but they are poetic expirations.

This will tell you something about Himself's weltanschauung.

I have also heard that the new Wii video system gets major thumbs up from the distaff side, particularly the sports games (tennis and golf). I will be able to report more fully on or about December 26, as #2 will receive the system and 4 games for Non-Denominational Winter Festival.

It is a good thing I am not lobbying for House Counsel; I would have to get one of those Margaret-Thatcherite, upcombed, hairsprayed dos, and wear boucle suits and court shoes. I cannot do any of them without compromising even my few principles.

I shall retire in between 15 and 25 years, and when I do, I plan to have a grey buzz-cut and wear nothing other than jeans and white t-shirts and skater shoes (with good lingerie underneath) until the day I die.

Yoki,
I try every day to get us off topic, and what thanks do I get?

Nada, rien, nothing!

It has been an exhausting week, and even the Ghost Whisperer fails to delight. The show just hasn't been the same for me since they showed Melinda waking up in the middle of the night in full make-up and false eyelashes.

And speaking of a lack of credibility, what's with those commercials where one spouse "gives" the other spouse an expensive new car as a gift? What, are they supposed to be rich but with separate bank accounts? If I unilaterally spent $30K on a vehicle for my wife I fear her first action would be to attempt to run me over with it.

nichts, ничто, 何も, لاشيء, ingenting, τίποτα!

I know just how you feel, maggie.

I cannot begin to describe how much I missed you all today. This working thing s#cks. As a 'temp' I have no status, no Internet, no nothin' - but I'm getting paid so I won't complain too much. I have only had time to skim the boodle so I may be repeating something here, but anyway... There is an article in The New Yorker this week by George Packer (unfortunately there isn't a link) that I am trying to finish reading. He is profiling an Australian named David Kilcullen who has been studying counterinsurgency and is now at the Pentagon. The one quote that stood out was Kilcullen discussing Al Qaeda's leadership, "If bin Laden didn't have access to global media, satellite communications, and the Internet, he'd just be a cranky guy in a cave." We've been fighting this war wrong from the beginning and I personally think it's too late for a change in tactics to make any difference. But then, I haven't finished the article, maybe I'll learn something.

RD, I agree about those car ads. I seem to have no tolerance for ads lately. There's one for Vehix, I think, with the woman and dog in the convertible, the dog is wearing goggles. It was so cute the first couple of times I saw it but they have aired it continually for weeks now and am beyond annoyed.

Just spent two hours making fudge and packing up cookies to give as gifts. Tomorrow I'll be delivering them and at night we have the granddaughters for a few hours. By Sunday, I'll be toast.

'Mudge... Free drinks sans consequences?

You're definitely on my guano list until you return to less-than-balmy climes and get splashed by a bus (preferably a VW Bus) hitting a pothole full of nice cold slush.

To be honest, I'm not on the "dry" wagon any more, so feel free to have many of those whatchamacallits for me. Got bumped from that ride too many times and finally figured out why -- tell me I can't have something and I'll be obsessed by it. Might be able to fight it off for a month or so, but eventually I reach a point something akin to "terminal velocity" and all he11 breaks loose. This time around I realized that absolute abstinence wasn't going to fix me and decided to try something new -- set rules and live by them. In other words, I'm attempting (and so far succeeding) to walk the "moderate" path. I still go to meetings here and there (they do keep me honest), and I know that I need to be much more on guard than the average person, but so far so good. They like me at work again, I don't freak out when I see a cop car on the road, and Mrs. Martooni has been... well... she likes me too.

In any case, enjoy the vacation knowing that winter is waiting for you. Patiently. Like a stalker.

;-P

We rode in to the resort with two others couple; the men were lawyers and law partners in Kansas (civil and "matrimonial," apparently the euphemism for "divorce") and we had dinner with them tonight at the Italian restaurant here, which was really top notch.

The point is, I came within a microsecond of blurting out, "Oh, I have a few friends who are lawyers, one of them in Oklahoma, one or two in Canada, and one from our area," but stopped myself in the nick of time when I realized and follow-up would necessarily require me to say, "Well, they aren't exactly 'real' friendfs, since I've never met them; they're just imaginary friends. The want in Kansas has a beautiful singing voice, wants (maybe) to be a judge. Uh, I have no earthly clue what her name is, but she has one son named Ivan. One of the others is a Canuckistani who lives in Haute Maine, and his father's name is Carl, and he is imaginary, too. And another imaginary friend is completing law school and had a massive take-home test she was completing just the other day, and...er...I don't zackly know her name, either, just her initials. Ya, there's this boodle, and it's run by a guy name Joel, who likes to sit on his porch, and then there's Hal the Schemer, who won't open the pod bay doors, and then there's nearly a hundred other imaginery friends I have who sometimes wear tinfoil hats and are named martooni, Loomis, TBG, mo, bc....uh...is this weirding you out? Cuz it all makes perfect sense...."

Fortunately, I caught myself in time, and said nothing. Another narrow escape, and another senseless detention in the psych ward narrowly averted.

I'm sending deeply sympathetic vibes to Bad Sneakers. Also, that whole New Yorker volume is gold. I got it last night, and I'm rationing myself. The personal memoir is pure poetry, and the medical story is terrifying. And there is *really* funny cartoon.

Martooni (you danghippy, you), hope that works for you. When I try your method, I'm good to go for about 6 weeks (just long enough to lull all of us into a false sense of safety), and then all hades burns up around me and my family. Its all or nothing for me.

'Mudge misses us!! (well, you!).

Yeah, we're keeping the torch of hope alit for you martooni.

I know what Yoki means about the "moderate approach"-- I have to restrict my caffeine intake, and every so often I do slip off the wagon or increase intake more than I should.

The problem is not just that it's bad for my health condition, it's that I have a sensitivity to it which causes sleep disturbances, sleepiness, headaches and generally pretty bad withdrawal symptoms which can make things even worse.

I found a low but constant dosage helps reduce withdrawal and permits me to have my cuppa tea.

I've been battling caffeine withdrawal headache for the last umm 9 hours and it's only recently eased up.

When I was on the wagon it's normally less than 120 mcg caffeine intake (equalivent to 2 cans of soda or 2 cuppa tea made with single teabags). Lately? more like 5.

I long ago decided NEVER to get a taste for alcohol in the first place. (It's also contraindicted for me)-- fortunately the facial flushing it causes is pretty darn unpleasant-- feels like I had a first-degree sunburn.

That and I worked with 95% pure alcohol as a bench cleaner in labs so the smell basically keeps me thinking it's about as edible as Pine-Sol.

So... phew. I can't even handle soda, booze would deep-six me in no time flat.

Needless to say, I really wish the FDA would require all who add extra caffeine to their ingredients to list the specific levels of caffeine. Soda vary widely in caffeine levels so I stick to 2 types I like, or caffeine-free brands, but caffeine can be added to various foods.

A scoop of mocha ice cream would probably have enough caffeine to keep me awake 3 days straight and developing Outer Martian Sanskrit syntax.

We all have our struggles with the forbidden fruit, but I think it is so ridiculous for mine to be caffeine.

Just say you cyber with lawyers in your online swinging couples group, Mudge. Then it will all make perfect sense to them, and it's more believable than the truth.

martooni,

I have been on the path you're describing for awhile now. I'm not the kind of person who wants to do without anything I enjoy. You can minimize, and moderate. You try to go for zero, it's just counter-productive.

Too funny, Mudge. I find I have that at least once a week where I'll bring up some interesting tidbit from the boodle. Where'd I hear that? Umm, oh you know, around.

Hang in there, martooni.

I'd like to apologize for my woefully deficient boodling of late. Christmas is the insane season for litigation, because everyone wants to settle THEIR file before year end. Mudge, ask those family lawyers how they like the pre-Xmas season (holiday custody disputes). The good news is that this big honking trial that would have been most of April and May settled.

I'm looking forward to the French and Indian War kit.

I HATE TECHNOLOGY!!!

I was supposed to go upstate tomorrow morning, but one of the network guys put in a security patch tonight, and it corrupted the database on one of my disaster recovery boxes. So tomorrow a.m. I'll be on the phone with all my colleagues, running tests, applying fixes and (one hopes) putting off the production patch until after the holiday software freeze. (If I took the server down now to fix it, 4 people's beepers would go off, so I'll wait. Plus I have to find mine from whence I threw it).

Mudge, Martooni, do you share?

2 labs in the house. You'd think one of them would have returned it already.

SSC: mine whence

Schoomaker told reporters yesterday: . . "We should not surge without a purpose, and that purpose should be measurable and get us something."

. . . . . Absolutely. Middle East experts predicted before Bush's War that America would be in a lose-lose situation, with a democratic Iraq eventually becoming an ally with Iran. . . . . That is hardly the something we would want.

The wrong war? That's a understatement. All wars are wrong for America. We fight wars different than our enemies. Our government puts tight handcuffs on our Troops. So, we're in a dirty country fighting this wrong war, getting blown apart by people who were raised to hate America. Than our Military has to look over their shoulder worrying about American politicians waiting to arrest and jail them. Can you imagine the hyper state our kids are in walking around the streets in that nightmare. I'm sorry, in America,we aren't raised to hate, kill, beat, chop, rape, and with a history like their's. I can't speak for everyone, but, wake up, get us out of there. Now.. We aren't the Ottoman Empire. Sorry President Bush, I know you think you are. And for once, in the long history of the Mideast, thousands of years, all foreign nations leave and give them at least a thousand years of having no foreigner's up their behinds...

A little excitment last evening. ss, who is the horse trainer living with us right now, got a call from the stable last evening, that the horses were being bothered by cougars. So off she went to see if she could give a hand. There were 3 that she saw last night, and according to Fish and Wildlife, they've been giving more than a few people the whillies.

There have been cougar sitings in the area for the last several years. The area is populated area with lots of 2-4 acre subdivisions and several small villages. Along with that, just 4 miles north of my house is the southern boundary of Elk Island National Park. Between my house and the Park is a provincial integrated use area, part wild area with hiking trails, horse trails, biking trails, part community pasture, and scattered to the east in between is enough farmland to make animals like cougars entirely comfortable. Around farm yards, and subdivisions, for the cougars, its like one big lunch.

The wildlife officers scared them off last evening, but they did say to keep an eye out. They will come back and when they do, Wildlife will bring out some dogs to track them.

This seemingly odd event has a very real to each of you connection. OIL. One theory is that all the oil development up along the Alberta Saskatchewan border, indeed all over Northern Alberta is presurring them south.

This month's cover story in Esquire is about Bryan Anderson, an army veteran who came back from Iraq minus both his legs and an arm. The picture on the cover shows what he traded for: a purple heart medal lies in his prosthetic left hand.

He doesn't talk about politics or about what kind of war it is or should be. He does say that if he had a son, he would advise him not to join the Army. But for the rest, he doesn't need to say anything. His whole existence is an argument that no kind of war is the right kind. This man is 25 years old. He was a gymnast. For the rest of his life he'll be--as he jokingly says--discounted, "75% off".

It's a a sin, a shame to our nation and the human race, that collectively we haven't yet realized that war is not--is never--the answer.

Karen, didn't someone say that wars is failed dimplomacy or something like that?

Medical science has advanced so far, and is saving so many who would never have made it before. But the cost is so high.

I just don't know if there are any absolute rights and absolute wrongs. Maybe its just all the law of unintended consequences.

kber, I wonder how much war is a male thing. Though I'm not into sports myself, I certainly support them - any and all sports - as an excellent substitute for war. Those of us who have given birth, or have the ability to do so, don't seem to be so fixated on using violence as a means to get our way. I didn't completely oppose invading Iraq, but the lack of planning for the aftermath makes me sick.

Anybody here read Trudeau's Fisher House blog? There was an account of a unit's Thanksgiving Day activities that just blew me away. Let me see if I can find and post it.

Trudeau's blog is The Sandbox. The article that blew me away was posted December 1. Hal wouldn't let it post; I guess it's way too long.

http://gocomics.typepad.com/the_sandbox/

Aren't all the Washington Neocon's pantsies? Aren't these the men who skipped Vietnam, or avoided military service all together? How many of them were on their high school or college football teams where they learned the limits and personal consequences of brute force?

How many of them ever gave themselves concussions trying to stop a dive or a sweep with 300 lb linemen coming at you? Or how many of them ever took a punch in their face or a kick in their guts by other men, even if in a controlled environment like a karate school? Not to mention having to kill or having their best friends killed in actual combat?

Nah. The Neocon's are given too much credit. The Pentagon wonks who supported them in the 1990s are learning the truth about these folks: they don't squat about real people, real engagements, and the reality of the limits of American power.
Its not about the women around Bush loving him.
And what's wrong with the women around you loving you, anyways? Some of us men have the potential to have several wives at once, but I guess those Neocon pantsies wouldn't know.

Good morning, friends. Good morning, Mudge. It does sound as if you, my friend, are suffering in that place (smile). I laughed so hard at your description and your take on the food. And Don, if I had been drinking coffee, it certainly would have been on the screen. Thong?

Think about this for a minute. Scripture states that the reason men fight wars is because one man has something the other man wants, so hence that man takes it. Does that apply in Iraq?

Think about this also. Why would an army made up of people that are not aware of how many live in their own country suddenly become literate of another country's culture? Just does not gel to me.

Think about this. When we fought in Vietnam, were lessons learned from that? It seems someone should have retain some of that information and put it to good use, such as training techniques and that kind of thing. Many times countries just have people, a lot of people, not all that weaponary(?) and technology. And what the people have is depravation. And that my friends will fuel anything.

And as to our President, I will never believe that he was made President because of his IQ. I may be wrong, and may God forgive me if I am, but race was the issue, as it always is in this country. What insitution or policy does it not touch, name one?

I did not get a chance to check in yesterday, still under the weather to some extent. Still have the g-girl while her mother is working. I have music, and I love it. Missing you guys, and hoping that you have a great Xmas.

Loomis, on the news there was some talk about town in Texas call Vidor. The news folks say African-Americans should not be caught there after dark. Is that the case? And I don't say that to be offensive, just want to know if that is so. Thought perhaps you might have the 411.

Have a great weekend. Give God some of your time, show your family that you love them, and try real hard to get some rest. Prayers have been said, and blessings sought, and may you come to know that God loves us so much more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ.

kb, that is sad, but I understand so many of our young people are missing limbs, and the numbers are really high. So young, so very young.

Mornin' all... (and to you too, Mudge, Mister Hangin' Out at the Swim Bar All Day Drinkin' Bottomless Whatchamacallits While Nubile Young Goddesses Prance Around in their Thongs)

We're having a heat wave here today -- already up to 37F. Maybe I'll break out the Bermudas and fire up the grill. Oops... now the little weather toolbar thingie says we're down to 36F. Oh well... I guess I'll have to wear socks with my sandals.

Kbert... so right. War is never the answer. I've been proudly displaying a "War Is Not the Answer" bumper sticker I got from the good Quaker folks at the Friends Committee on National Legislation (you can get yours here: http://www.fcnl.org/index.htm).

Speaking of Quakers, it would sure be interesting to read some of their viewpoints in the "On Faith" section.

Anyway, in addition to buying (and finally figuring out how to use) my fancy Razr cellphone, I've stuck another toe into the 21st Century and started my very own blog. Only two articles/rants so far, but both are related to Iraq. Feel free to drop by at http://www.danghippie.com and let me know what you think. I'm still working on prettying it up, so please excuse all the drywall dust.

Speaking of drywall... (sigh)... today I get to hang 14 sheets of the guano.

And speaking of guano... Holy Guano! Look at the time! That drywall isn't going to hang itself (though I just might before the day is done).

Later, my boodlin' friends...

Peace Out :-)

The problem with strict pacifism is that it treats all armed conflict the same. This requires a true pacifist to endure a lot to the philosophy. Not to protect the weak, or to intervene to prevent genocide, or to defend one's home from invasion, takes a lot more sacrifice and moral certitude than many can muster.

SCC: endure a lot for

To see how difficult it is for pacifism to survive as a philosophy - look no further that the French and Indian War. Many of the powerful Quakers in Pennsylvania abandoned pacifism quite quickly when it was their homes that were being threatened.

Speaking of the French and Indian War, here's Joel's review of an exhibit that's recently opened (like, yesterday) at the Smithsonian:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121502025.html

I knew he wouldn't be able to resist mentioning the bit with the tomahawk.

bc

Double plus good job there, Joel, on the F&I War exhibit column. Funny and informative. And since my daughter is, in fact, in sixth grade, a refreshing change from the official narrative we have been plowing through. (I mean, for some reason, they seem to have skipped that whole "washing hands in brains" bit.) Finally, I must admire your stealth and cunning at scoring this particular assignment. For I have a sneaking suspicion that you knew a lot of the background material going in.

Gosh darn it, late to the party again. Howdy all. Mudge, nothing wrong with moderation, just do what you like. Cassandra, I sent you a book for yourself. Re: the topic, I have two comments.

First, I like my solution for Iraq more the more I consider it: let's give it to the Chinese, reserving a percentage of the oil production. The Chinese need the oil, they're very good at suppression, and their army is huge.

Second, re: Bush adoration. He didn't get elected because so many women find him attractive, including Laura, Condi, Harriet & Karen. It is that those are the ONLY FOUR WOMEN IN THE COUNTRY who find him attractive. Thus the natural cluster.

Today is our big holiday open house, must start moving soon.

Rummy's legacy and his goodbye-and-good-riddance ceremony yesterday, as per Dowd at the NYT (She also casts Bush not as Truman, with whom the president would like to be comnpared, but as a late LBJ):

It was surreal: the septuagenarian who arrogantly dismissed initial advice to send more troops to secure Iraq, being praised as "the finest secretary of defense this nation has ever had" by his pal, the vice president, even as a desperate White House drafted ways to reinvade Iraq by sending more troops in a grasping-at-straws effort to reverse the chaos caused by Rummy's mistakes.

Just imagine the send-off a defense secretary would have gotten who hadn't sabotaged the Army, Iraq, global security, our chance to get Osama, our moral credibility, the deficit and American military confidence.

Cassanda,
You can Google Vidor, Texas.

So I Googled Vidor, Texas and now I understand why you didn't want to get into the details, LindaLoo. What an awful history. Interesting that most of the so-called sundown towns were in the north and west.

Slyness, that's because the black population was limited enough they could do that sundown policy as their version of racist bullying.

Imagine trying to do that in South Carolina.

Wilbrod, it never would have worked around here. The two races lived side-by-side for too long. I once heard a presentation by a historian/geographer type who studied where people lived in Charlotte, say, a hundred years ago. They did live side-by-side. It wasn't till later that neighborhoods for one or the other race developed.

Hey all boodlers. I haven't been on the boodle for weeks. I see a few new names. I'll have some time in the next week get in a wee-bit-a-boodlin'.

Iraq: reading all the books on Iraq tends to make me a little crazed. So i read one every other month or so.

Just finished "Imperial Life in the Emerald City" by Rajiv Chandesekeran.

My god. The disaster started right there. It's an astonishing read.

The impression I got (other than the chills up and down my spine) was a group of college kids involved in an intense mock experiment of designing and promulgating laws for a new "country." No involvement or knowledge of that country is necessary. And just like a college experiment with no consequences --most of the CPA folk walked away congratuling themselves on a job well done. They had installed a flat tax rate and rewrote the traffic laws. There was a sense of great accomplishment.

It's really terrifying.

Also -- on troop surge. Al-Maliki says his government does not want any more American troops in their country. He is against this idea.

But heck, he's only the prime minister of a pretend-sovereign nation. I wonder if any Iraqis at all have been involved in discussions about troop levels, etc.

It doesn't seem as if any were. Which further undermines the Iraqi government Bush is trying to prop up.

If Bush puts more troops in Iraq against the wishes of the Iraqis -- god help them all.

gotta go now. will try to check in later.

CollegeParkian,

The day I caught my son undressing his Sims, I knew I would never have to worry about him bringing home a boyfriend to Thanksgiving. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

He recently bought a M-rated video game and then went out and bought a new video card and got it all installed before I got home from work.

Love the F&I War article. We tend to ignore our tie-in to European wars. The War of 1812- was a side theater in the Napoleanic wars.

Fort Necessity is one of the more obscure National Parks that we went to just to fill a square on our National Parks Passport. It's interesting to see displays about one of the most lop-sided losses in American and proto-American history.

Thanks, Ivansmom.

Attempted to heat a cheese pizza, and it turned out like the highway. Black as me. Oh, well, don't have another one to burn without going to the store. Maybe we will try sandwiches. That a lot safer too.

I keep thinking that we, and when I say we, I mean our military should know by now the different ways to fight a war. It just seems to me that when people don't have the guns and technology that some countries have, they're going to use what they have. They're going to fight in the trenches, not up front. They're going to do sneak, for lack of a better word. I think the word I need begins with a "g", but I can't spell it.

And I suspect they (the other country) do not care about the body count. Less people, more for those still breathing.

I don't know squat about warfare or anything else, but it just seems to make sense. Perhaps my thinking is warped.

I had neighbor that was a Vietnam vet, and he often talked about how he trained young men to fight in that war, because at first they didn't know how. They had to change tactics. The enemy fought sneaky, hiding and taking victory wherever they could. He said so many of our young men at the time were not prepared for the kind of warfare that was needed there. Sounds like history repeating itself?

RD, I don't believe war solves the problems that humanity faces, just don't think it is the answer. I do, however believe in a country defending itself.

Guerilla gorillas, Cassandra?

You might not know squat about warfare Cassandra, but you have lots of common sense, something that our leaders sorely lack. I think your description of how guerillas fight is pretty much dead on.

Just a driveby post, getting ready to pick up the granddaughters for an outing at a place near here called Edaville Railroad. Get to ride a train and look at Christmas lights. Never been there before so I know my explanation is lacking in detail. Will fill in the gaps later, if they're worth filling.

When I think of sacrifices for the war effort I immediately think of the examples set by Laura and George Bush. I mean Laura wore that cheap little gown the other day to some fete when it was such a mark-down that several other lesser women also were wearing it. And George, I mean is he living lean and sacrificing or what? With his vacation time cut to the bone, the hours of reading official reports, his plans to send more troops (I know, but HE thinks its a personal sacrifice), and who knows what else that he's too modest to share with us. Has the privation been worth it? Just ask W.

milkeasr

"lesser women"?

I don't know Mikeasr, but I do know irony when I read it, Cassandra!

Mary had a little lamb
The doctors were surprised

yellojkt | You might have a problem if the kid starts putting up posters of Betty Rubble.

We'll lamb-aste you for that later, Boko. I posted about white fawns today before a packing frenzy.

I just came across a "chickenhawk" site that is so perfect. By the definition, a chickenhawk is somebody who has avoided serving in war but nonetheless is very gung-ho about war.

"Chickenhawk HQ"

http://www.nhgazette.com/news/chickenhawks/chickenhawk_headquarters/

Also just check the main site:

http://www.nhgazette.com/cgi-bin/NHGstore.cgi?user_action=list&category=+NEWS%3B+Chickenhawks

Some of the top links don't work but the barking heads etc. certainly do! Read and learn!

Well, it's dinnertime Saturday,and there seemed to be a lull.

I've just been delivered from a pre-Christams get together were we discovered that Mother Goose is funnier if recited in a loud Scottish accent and liberties are permitted with the text. And why can't the kids go out and play in the garage?

I received a previously pawed copy of J.P. Donleavy's 'The Unexpurgated Code; A Complete Manual of Survival and Manners.'
I will never loan this book. Lending this book will turn a deadbeat into a thief.
I get a little cranky after seven copies and ," Oh I gave it to Bart" seems a weak defense.
On the bright side, this is the perfect Christmas gift, scary perfect really.
That it's used is a nice touch.

Sorry, I meant to say I would never lend the book. Chlorine bleached books are very difficult to loam.

It's pineing for the fiords.

All hail the undisputed boodle-killer, Sir Boko999 of Whateversville999.

Sadly I am one of those who can enjoy watching "It's a Wonderful Life" nearly every year. So the Quack Doctor will have to wait to bring the boodle back to life, unless another Mummer wishes to take up that role...

Couple of quick items, first, Joel Daze of Futures Past and Present. Or something.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/13/AR2006121300087.html

Secondly, more evidence that the Bush Administration's Space Plans include a six-shooter or two (as I occasinally point out, they don't feel completely beholden to a 40-year old document). Or, if you can't win your wars on earth, feel free to wage them in Heaven.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/16/AR2006121600791.html

bc

I abdjure and deny that characteriztion. A quick plotting of post times clearly indicate a pre-boko decline.

Joel's column in the magazine is great.

Did anyone ever read, back when you could drink the water, breathe the air, and go by sleigh to Grandma's house, a book by John D. McDonald called "Wine of the Dreamers?"

McDonald got there first.

Joel's alternative title for that was:

"It's a Wonderful (simulated) Life."

Fits.

Cassandra and Wheezy, maybe you're both right . . . . I appreciate your comments.

I've had to jump in, and start a blog. Let me know if it should just be deleted.

http://yokiskitchen.blogspot.com/

nellie,

"Wine of the Dreamers" was John D. MacDonald's first novel and one of his rare forays into science fiction. I have two copies of the paperback edition of it retitled "Planet of the Dreamers". I have never read it since they are too fragile and valuable to open. I think you are the first person I have ever met that has read it. My hat is off to you.

See, chlorine bleach. I told you. If only people would listen.

Boullibasse... I had it for the first time on a Christmas eve at my uncle's house and I loved it. He was a chef, but he told me he got the recipe from Frugal Gourmet (honest!), he swore he did nothing special in the way of kitchen mojo.

I've had it exactly twice now for Christmas. Maybe this year again too. That would be nice.

Did #2 hate fish BEFORE she worked as a sous-chef or afterwards? My brother couldn't eat chicken for a year or so after working at Roy Roger's-- he said he couldnt stand the smell of stale chicken blood.

I know what my bro means-- flashbacks are one thing, but taste/odor triggered flashbacks are the pits.

If it helps, Yoki, I used to say I would be a vegetarian when I grew up just so I wouldn't have to eat fish sticks anymore. I did like tuna fine as a kid.
Around when I was a teenager, I had already concluded that I truly, truly hated fried seafood of any sort, and if tuna was ok maybe if nobody was looking, I'd try some new kinds of fish. So I did... and also, got to be eating salmon, trout, etc. as I was a teenager.

My mom disliked fish herself and she finally hit on a way to cook it so she could stand it-- delicious. (The key is lemon and garlic to destink the fish and to pick milder fish types).

So it could be that the fish dishes at home improved. I have a friend who doesn't like fish but will actually eat the fish my mom cooked.

Wilbrod, you are pretty amazing!

#2 hated fish before she worked at the restaurant (also eggs, but that is a different story). I'm still amazed that she could filet halibut, de-beak squid, etc. without disgorging, but still refuses to put fish in her mouth. Very odd indeed.

Today's NYT story on the Anglican church is hard to believe. So it's not just a friendly community get-together, but they really take the nonsense seriously?

Good morning, friends. Morning, Mudge, are you still suffering? The weather here is so warm, one can hardly conjure up thoughts of a white Christmas. Today should be in the seventies.

Need a good recipe for a pineapple cake. Will surf the net to find one. Of course, if there are any ideas out there, please pass them on.

I don't need cake, but I think I would like to try and make one. It has been so long since I baked a cake.

Believe it or not the g-girl is up. No chance of getting another nap, and I really need one, didn't sleep much.

Nani, I hope your Xmas is so good. Lindaloo, I read some of that stuff. Too hard. Yet I realize these events are not isolated. North Carolina has its own can of worms to deal with too.

Have a good day folks. Enjoy your weekend. I shall attend a Xmas party this afternoon after church, and I hope to enjoy it and savor the fellowship. After so much death and sadness this year, good moments are to be treasured and saved, for they speak to that great love of God, wherein He loves us so much more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ.

Yoki keep up with the blog, chuckled at the Rona Ambrose bit, we have had more than a few discussions in the office about her lately - not sorry to see her go.

Need some positive thought from everyone, my Dad is now in the hospital, with what appears to have been a heart attack. He is good right now, and will have an angiogram early this week. Cross your fingers it is nothing serious.

And Yoki I understand your non fish eating child perfectly.

dmd, I hope your Dad is on the upswing... that's always tough, but they have such great tech now if he made it to the hospital he'll probably be fine.

Morning Cassandra!

And here's a pick-me-up from AP:
"HARPERCOLLINS TERMINATES JUDITH REGAN. "

Too bad they're just referring to her employment.

dmd | Best wishes for your Dad and family.
Your're going to be busy. As a word of encouragement, my uncle had a serious heart attack and bypass surgery three years ago. He and my aunt bought a 'wee house' they spottied while RVing last month.

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