A First Time For Everything

Today is the first time that your friendly neighborhood Super Fly is posting on 29th February. The last 29th February was in 2004, several months before this outstanding blog came into existence. Leave it to Caesar and Gregory to give us a calendar that left an extra day in the year on a Friday. Why not a Saturday? Why not make it an automatic weekend day? So much for Saint Gregory being "wise". He should have taken lessons in wisdom from Father Time.

Today, I'm posting a video that I find hilarious. Don't think of it so much as "Why did Fly post a Mandy Moore video?" Think of it more along the lines of "Sweet! Fly posted a spoof of VH1 Pop Up Video!"



In other news, I'd like to once again criticize the media - I know, something new and different for me. Why? Because they leaked Prince Harry's mission in Afghanistan. Now, although I'm an Anglophile, I have mixed feelings about the continued existence of the royal family. Prince Harry in particular has been a real wanker in the past, particularly with his Nazi arm band stunt back in 2005. That having been said, it doesn't come easily for those who have been raised in both the public eye and relative luxury to go to war and fight for their country. Both Prince Harry and his older brother Prince William have made that commitment, and worked hard over the last couple of years. Threats from insurgent groups put his unit in jeopardy if he'd deployed to Iraq, so a quiet deployment to Afghanistan was a good alternative.

Even the filthy hippies at the BBC had kept it quiet. So who leaked it? An Australian paper a while ago, and now the Drudge Report. I'm all for media openness, but having worked in journalism in various forms since I was fifteen, and currently writing as a journalist for an undisclosed media outlet, I can say from experience that there needs to be responsibility in reporting. This isn't smearing some politician who's done something stupid or immoral; it's jeopardizing the lives of coalition soldiers by revealing strategic and operational information. The people who leaked this should be ashamed of themselves, and they should be shunned by the few responsible journalists who are still floating around out there.

Right then, time to get ready for work. Have a great weekend, folks!

Fly Report: 29th February 2008

Good morning. Mighty Mo built this city. She built this city on rock and roll.

It's 45° Fahrenheit and cloudy with with wind in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 54° Fahrenheit with partial clouds.

A barrel of oil is trading at $101.78 - whiskey tango foxtrot. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 12,582.18. The exchange rate is $1.99 for £1, or £0.50 for $1.

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is cool. The picture at the Orkneyjar Photoblog is not new.

Today's scripture reading is 2 Kings 8. The Fly is reading Good News, Bad News by David Wolstencroft.

All I want is a picture of you. All I want is to get right next to you.

Auspicious Marriages

Today's theme is marriage, and not just any type of marriage: the tragic type. Today's video clip is the last two minutes of my favorite classic James Bond flick, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, starring George Lazenby.



In the coming year, I may renew my goal of watching all of the Bond flicks. I tried that in 2004, and was making good progress until my trip to England. I even had "Spy Nights" that featured me cooking for a group of people in attendance - nice!

At any rate, the second marriage that I can't help but see as doomed to failure, although I wish it the best opportunities for success, is the alleged marriage (unsubstantiated by any form of photographic evidence) of a kid I went to high school with. The guy originally told people to call him by his online alias (from the days of the BBS): Falcon Supreme. Unfortunately for him, once he figured out that this was a bad idea (probably the result of relentless taunts) it was too late: he'd been branded Falcon/Falcon Supreme for the rest of high school. He found me on Facebook yesterday; I didn't respond to him, but I did look at his profile, and it claims that he's married. It makes me wonder who would see fit to accept a marriage proposal from that guy. Yikes.

On a completely unrelated note, in case any of you (particularly fans of the fantasy genre) had any doubt that terrorists are evil, I present to you Sheikh_Ahmed_Yassin. Now, compare him to Saruman. See what I mean?

Right then. Time to go save the world.

Fly Report: 28th February 2008

Good morning. How in the name of all things glaven did Falcon get married before me? Falcon! Falcon Supreme! That just ain't right.

It's 43° Fahrenheit and rainy with wind in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 50° Fahrenheit with afternoon rain.

A barrel of oil is trading at $98.80 per barrel. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 12,694.28. The exchange rate is $1.99 for £1, or £0.50 for $1.

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is cool. The picture at the Orkneyjar Photoblog is not new.

Today's scripture reading is 2 Kings 7. The Fly is reading Good News, Bad News by David Wolstencroft.

Tuba mirum, spagrens sonum, descendit in inferno.

Mittwoch Geposten

I'm going to try to keep this brief. Sixteen hours without an operational computer really showed me how much time I sink into this thing. Yikes.

Long-time readers of TSTF will know that I've been Anglican for several years now, and that I ditched the Episcopal Church when it went fully crazy in 2003. Judging from one of the YouTube channels I've subscribed to, maybe there's hope for the Episcopal Church yet. Here's Father Matthew Moretz; how "The Amazing Atheist" can be under the "Related Videos" header, I don't know, but go ahead and have a look.



Somewhat encouraging, and quite educational. If the Episcopal Church doesn't figure itself out and get its act together, an all out Anglican war may be looming on the horizon. Since there's such a tight control on citizen-owned artillery here in the States (and even worse in England - I'm against Howitzer control) that we orthodox Anglicans may have to reach back into hallowed antiquity and "get creative" with the old standby: siege weapons, and specifically Trebuchets.

When I was at [Generic State University], Super Dave kept talking about building a scale model of a trebuchet. He built a tiny one, similar to this one; but we always wanted to build a big one, and it just never came together. It's amazing that there are so many other methods. Another friend from university, who we'll call The Wine Wench (trust me, she'll think it's hilarious) sent me this link, which chronicles the construction of a trebuchet... -esque creation made largely from an industrial robotic arm. Awesome. One of my favorite web comics had a comic about trebuchets a couple of weeks ago. Also, back in Hometown, I have a used book about two guys who built a catapult - technically not the same as a trebuchet, but that's beside the point. (For the record, it's a French word and it's pronounced "treh-byu-shay", not "treh-byu-chet".)

Interestingly enough, and incorporating both paragraphs, there's actually a patron saint of artillery and military engineers: Saint Barbara! Artillerymen still celebrate Saint Barbara's Day every year in early December.

Remember, folks: if your church goes so crazy that parishes and dioceses start seceding in protest, constructing a siege engine capable of inflicting colossal property damage with large stones is an option that should remain on the table. Whoever said that those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones did not own a trebuchet!

Fly Report: 27th February 2008

Good morning. Saith Big Orange to The Artista: "Yeah, you could never be married to Surfer Dude if you're afraid of fire."

It's 41° Fahrenheit and rainy with wind in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 52° Fahrenheit with afternoon rain.

A barrel of oil is trading at $101.01 per barrel - bollocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 12,684.92. The exchange rate is $1.97 for £1, or £0.51 for $1.

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is cool. The picture at the Orkneyjar Photoblog is not new.

Today's scripture reading is 2 Kings 6. The Fly is reading Good News, Bad News by David Wolstencroft.

I'm already gone, I felt that way all along.

Work Perks

One of the decent things about working with tech support folks is that when your AC adaptor goes tango uniform, it's not too tough to scare up a loaner. My adaptor had been finicky for a few weeks, and it finally crashed last night - I don't think I did anything to mess it up, but who knows? Compliments of "Jason" in India, Dell is shipping a replacement to me since my system is less than a year old.

I would have liked to have had a post that involved siege weapons for you folks today, but obviously that didn't come to pass. On the bright side, I got a decent amount of sleep last night, and I was at work earlier than I've ever been before, which meant that I got to leave early as well. Great success? I think so. Stay tuned, I'll have something up for y'all tomorrow morning.

Fly Report: 26th February 2008

Good morning. Mighty Mo is the best big sister a guy could ever have. She's also the smartest and most fabulous girl blogger ever. Amen.

It's 48° Fahrenheit and rainy in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 47° Fahrenheit with sunshine.

A barrel of oil is trading at $98.46, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 12,570.22. The exchange rate is $1.00 for £0.51, or £1.97 for $1.00.

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is cool. The picture at the Orkneyjar Photoblog is UNKNOWN.

Today's scripture reading is 2 Kings 5. The Fly is currently reading Good News, Bad News by David Wolstencroft.

Don't you worry about your mind.

Mayday

Hey folks, my power supply for my laptop died, so posting will be practically non-existent for the next couple of days. Mighty Mo will be helping. Check back.

Much Ado About Kosovo

Note: This is my latest submission for my parallel writing endeavour.

On Sunday, 17th February, Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia. Thus far, the international response to this unilateral declaration has been mixed. Several prominent governments, notably the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Turkey, and Afghanistan, have acknowledged Kosovar independence, while several other major nations, notably Russia, China, and Spain, have refused. A number of other countries, such as Greece, Romania, Israel, and the other component nations of the former Yugoslavia, have withheld their support for either internal reasons, or to avoid complicating their relations with Serbia.

Kosovo has existed in various forms since at least the fourth century BC, during which time it has been incorporated into the Ottoman Empire, Albania, Yugoslavia, and finally Serbia. The majority of Kosovo's population consists of ethnic Albanians, most of whom are moderate Muslims; the Kosovar culture is pluralistic, and tensions between the Albanian majority and the primarily Serb minority on the basis of religion have been minimal. During the numerous conflicts in the region following the collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, violence has occurred primarily upon ethnic divides, although such notable Islamist militants as Abu Hamza al Masri are believed to have participated in an Arab mujahideen against the Serbs.

The relationship between Serbia and the semi-autonomous province of Kosovo in the 1990's was extremely complex, and the narrative includes violence perpetrated by both the Serbs and the Kosovars. In 1999, the violence between the two, instigated in large part by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), led to an intervention and bombing campaign by NATO forces against Serbia. Since 1999, Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), and overseen by the NATO KFOR peace keeping force. Kosovo's declaration of independence was met by celebratory marches in Kosovo itself, featuring the waving of American flags; and anti-independence demonstrations in now-neighboring Serbia, which still considers Kosovo to be Serbian territory. These demonstrations led to the storming and torching of the American embassy in the Serbian capital of Belgrade, prompting a withdrawal of American personnel.

As mentioned previously, NATO's involvement in Kosovo has been controversial from the start. Some saw the need to support a campaign aimed at cutting off alleged ethnic cleansing; others believed that NATO was backing the wrong side in a conflict between the Muslim Kosovar Albanians and the Christian serbs, a conflict that continued to be instigated by the terrorist attacks of the KLA. Still others believed that intervention had been unnecessary, arbitrary meddling, particularly when a major part of the justification for war came in the form of charges of "ethnic cleansing" and "mass graves" that failed to materialize in significant numbers once NATO forces entered Kosovo.

To their credit, since the 1999 intervention, the former Kosovar rebels have formed a stable, peaceful, pro-Western government. Part of the justification of some for supporting Kosovo's independence bid is based precisely on this: despite its violent past, the majority Muslim country has avoided violence since the 1999 war, embraced stability, and normalized its relationship with the outside world. This justification has some merit, although critics will cite the fact that such precedents are unlikely to influence other Muslim-dominated nations in North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia; European Muslim nations like Turkey, Albania, and now Kosovo are influenced more by European culture than by their predominately Muslim faith.

The question then remains: if nations such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Turkey have recognized Kosovo's independence, why have other nations such as Russia, China, and even Spain refused to do the same? Although the relationship between Russia and its former Yugoslav satellite of Serbia can't be dismissed as a major factor, one underlying reason for this refusal to recognize Kosovo is that it sets a precedent. The Spanish have been engaged in a conflict with Basque separatists for decades, and Russia has kept a tight leash on separatists in Chechnya (and, to a lesser degree, Dagestan) for years; and China faces formal separatist ambitions not only from Taiwan, but also from such occupied western provinces as Tibet. The recognition of Kosovo's independence puts these countries in a precarious position, as one can interpret the course of events as a justification for initial violence in pursuit of an independent state based almost solely on ethnic divisiveness. For this reason, the immediate Turkish recognition of Kosovo's independence is somewhat surprising, given continued conflicts in the Kurdistan region.

Although Russia has indicated that it would veto a United Nations recognition of Kosovo in the Security Council, the UN administration of Kosovo and its immediate recognition by several prominent nations lessens any chance that Kosovo will one day find itself again under Serbian influence. However, the international community can only wait and see what happens as the dust settles on this continually tense situation.

Fly Report: 25th February 2008

Good morning. It was on that day I put a jihad on them. And if you don't believe it, then you'd better kill me now, because I'll put a jihad on you, too.

It's 41° Fahrenheit and partly cloudy with wind in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 40° Fahrenheit with snow.

The average price of oil is $98.66 per barrel. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 12,381.02. The exchange rate is $1.97 for £1, or £0.51 for $1.

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is cool, but isn't really related to astronomy. The picture at the Orkneyjar Photoblog is not new.

Today's scripture reading is 2 Kings 3. The Fly is reading the Counterinsurgency Field Manual alone and How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill with a friend.

Take my heart.

What Happens in Vegas

What happens in abu Ghraib... Stays in Vegas! Behold, pictorial evidence of the sheer chicanery and tomfoolery of my last trip to Las Vegas, Nevada before the Escape from the Mojave Tour. (By the way, for those who don't recognize the feet, that's a copy of Dave at Caesar's palace - the third of three of the same statue that I've seen, one of the others being the original, and both of the others being in Florence, Italy.)

Not much time to write this morning, but I'll have an article up on Monday about the chaotic response to Kosovo's declaration of its independence from Serbia. In the mean time, here's the final of four videos that remind me of my time spent in Engaland: "Laura" by the Scissor Sisters.



Have a great weekend, folks, and remember: abu Ghraib was an isolated incident perpetrated by a handful of wankers, and not a symptom of some sort of overarching conspiracy to torture prisoners. Oh, and, you know, double-decker bus and all that. Cheers, mates!

Fly Report: 22nd February 2008

Good morning. You should never get drunk on something that was made in Mexico.

It's 37° Fahrenheit and mostly cloudy with wind in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 49° Fahrenheit with sunshine.

The average price of oil is $97.83 per barrel. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 12,284.30. The exchange rate is $1.96 for £1, or £0.51 for $1.

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is amazing. The picture at the Orkneyjar Photoblog is new.

Today's scripture reading is 2 Kings 2. The Fly is reading the Counterinsurgency Field Manual alone and How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill with a friend.

You say in love, there are no rules.

Thurstagmorgeninsomniakrieg

Excuse me, but you're going to sit through some strong language... For just a sec.

To the asshole from the 909 area code (Ontario, CA) who decided to call me last night at 01:42 and 01:43 and say next to nothing, please drive about two hours north on I-15, park your car on the side of the road, and then stand in the middle of the road. If possible, please have someone record it, and then mail me the footage of you getting your stupid ass smashed to bits, hopefully by a Mack truck. You're responsible for me losing an hour and a half of sleep during the night when I was supposed to be catching up on sleep, and for that, your stupid ass deserves to be the victim of carnage.

Other than that, just a couple of quick things. First, I have to admit that I missed the total lunar eclipse last night. I'm actually a bit disappointed about it, but I'll survive; I'm sure that APOD will have some great pictures in the next couple of days. Second, for anyone who knows what the Drake Equation is, I found this blurb about how asinine it is. Another reference to the Drake Equation is at one of my favorite links from Michael Crichton. Bored at work? Educate yourself about physics, compliments of the Fly.

Continuing with songs that didn't get much play in the United States (I don't think), but that remind me of Engaland, here's the latest: the Darkness with "Love is Only a Feeling".



At least they're not wearing spandex in that one. I'd rather see goofy British dudes dressed up as hippies than pretty much anyone wearing spandex. I had a friend in elementary school who wore spandex bike shorts to school almost every day, and it wasn't pretty.

I haven't had a beer since Monday. I can't wait to have one tonight. It's going to be awesome.

Hokelie dokelie. Have fun, kids!

Fly Report: 21st February 2008

Good morning. Saith Mighty Mo's date: "You have Rascal Flatts on your iPod? You realize they're 'N Sync with a banjo, right?"

It's 52° Fahrenheit and mostly cloud in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 48° Fahrenheit with sunshine.

The average price of oil is $98.53 per barrel. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 12,427.26. The exchange rate is $1.94 for £1, or £0.51 for $1.

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is cool. The picture at the Orkneyjar Photoblog is not new.

Today's scripture reading is 1 Kings 23. The Fly is reading the Counterinsurgency Field Manual alone and How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill with a friend.

You broke the bonds, and you loosed the chains.

There's Nothing I Can Say

... A total eclipse of the... Moon!? Okay, this isn't about the Bonnie Tyler song. For those of you who don't generally check the Astronomy Picture of the Day, it's worth checking out today because it gives a bit of information about tonight's lunar eclipse. I'm going to attempt to have a look, and I hope you folks will at least have a look if you're able. I still remember the first one I saw when I was in the eighth or ninth grade, and using my little telescope to see Saturn right next to it.

Continuing one of two themes for this week, here's the lesser of two videos for "These Words" by Natasha Bedingfield, one of a number of songs that remind me of my time in Engaland. This, like yesterday's feature, was one of the songs that played incessantly over there, and that I heard almost no trace of over here. Very peculiar. The video's below, but due to disabled embedding (why would people even do that?), here's a link to the video I prefer.



For some reason, that one in particular reminds me of a girl I dated in 2007. I think it's a combination of her looking remotely like Natasha Bedingfield (tall, thin, long blonde hair) and me having purchased the album right around the time we were dating. At any rate, the other theme from this week has been parody videos of the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers by Chai Productions. Here's the third and final installment.



My hat really goes off to Tony and Paul Chai, the guys who made these videos with their friends. By the way, can anybody tell me what the ancient Nintendo reference is from? They turned what was a cheesy television series for kids into a really entertaining spoof. I look forward to seeing more movies from these guys as they post them.

I could go for a beer.

I'm going to try a new recipe this week or this weekend, assuming I can find the time. Some of you may remember that I started occasionally making Sharba Libya. I've been meaning to try Shepherd's Pie for a while now, and yesterday evening I bought at least most of the makings - included my very first glass pan. One thing that astonishes me, both with Rachael Ray's recipe and Shepherd's Pie that's served in restaurants, is that people will actually make it with beef. Yes, I realize that beef is wholly excellent, but shepherd's don't herd cattle. The "shep" part means sheep. I'll be making my version with lamb like a real man.

Okay, it's once again time for me to get ready for work. Stay safe, ladies and gentlemen.

Fly Report: 20th February 2008

Good morning. One time, I dreamed that I was in a public library that was under attack by Uruk-Hai. True story.

It's 39° Fahrenheit and partly cloud in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 49° Fahrenheit with sunshine.

The average price of oil is $98.86 per barrel. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 12,337.22. The exchange rate is $1.95 for £1, or £0.51 for $1.

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is very cool. The picture at the Orkneyjar Photoblog is not new.

Today's scripture reading is 1 Kings 22. The Fly is reading the Counterinsurgency Field Manual alone and How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill with a friend.

I reached out for the one I'd tried to destroy.

You're So Vain...

... You probably think this post is about you.

My "big sister", Mighty Mo, can tell anyone who's willing to listen that while I'm generally a very upstanding young man ("Boy Scout", the Crypto King calls me), I can also be a total ass on occasion. A lot of the time, I'm not even trying - I just turn obnoxious, or I overlook things. For example, when I'm particularly impressed with something, a gift or a good beer or something, sometimes I'll either say or neglect to say things that I should(n't) say. It's one of those things I have to work on every day, like the Fly Report or enjoying technical manuals from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. (In their defense, NIST does some great work with WWV.) At any rate, sometimes when I'm really impressed by a gift, I'll forget to verbally say thinks like "Shukran!" or "Domo!" or even "Danke schoen!"

Okay, so why is there a picture of my bathroom sink, and some cryptic nonsense about me being an ass? Well, two people will know why; one in particular, my beloved but confused "big sister", will just laugh and call me an ass. It's what I've come to expect.

So, I just have to throw this out there - Castro stepped down? Crazy. I especially loved the BBC pictorial that claimed that... Well, I'll just quote it:

But Fidel Castro retained enough public support to become one of the world's longest-serving leaders.

"Retained enough public support" my ass! He jailed and tortured anyone who opposed him! Real torture, not like that waterboarding nonsense that everyone's got their shorts in a jumble over. And how about this bullet in the BBC's main article:

Target of many CIA assassination plots.

As if the CIA is some evil land, and instead of General Hayden, it's run by the Dark Lord Sauron! How dare the evil forces of Mordor, I mean the CIA, target such a benevolent despot as Fidel Castro? Honestly!

Right then, bed time. G'night, folks!

Sick and Tired

The Fly's mighty power (sorry Ariadne, couldn't resist) doesn't allow him to get "sick", per se. The types of illness that would keep ordinary mortal men away from work merely make the Fly angry. I'm not so much "angry" right now, but I have a bit of a bug that's annoying me. It doesn't help that I haven't gotten a full night of sleep the last two nights running, but both times have been for good reason. Thus, I'm sick and tired, though differently than the singer Anastacia in this video for one of my favorite songs from my time in Engaland.



Too bad she never had widespread success over here. Every time I hear that, and a few other songs, I'm reminded of the summer of '04. I'll post the rest of those videos over the course of the rest of the week.

Long-time readers, some of whom will remember stories of Annoying Girl, will remember that I've been studying Arabic over the last couple of years. I'm trying to pursue it with renewed vigor lately, and as I was doing some research I came across an article about the Bismala. I found two items interesting in that article: the one about the Christian version (which I've learned to write and say), and the part about Queen. Go check it out.

Here's the second of three "lost episodes" of the Power Rangers, also hilarious.



I'm not sure if I've posted this, so if I did, I'll do it again. I've written several times about independent journalists Michael Yon and Michael Totten, both of whom either are or were in Iraq. These guys are worth listening to, even when I have differences of opinion with them (which is seldom). Those of you who follow my writing, if any, may remember my article about Saif al Islam al Qaddhafi. I've had a fascination with Libya for several years now, and Michael Totten has an article about his trip to Libya that's worth reading. Go have a look.

I don't know about my heart, but my arms sure feel achy breaky. I'd best get moving. Have a great Tuesday, folks!

Fly Report: 19th February 2008

Good morning. Oh hallelujah, our problems are solved, we have banana bread.

It's 46° Fahrenheit and fair in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 49° Fahrenheit with sunshine.

The average price of oil is $96.03 per barrel. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 12,348.21. The exchange rate is $1.95 for £1, or £0.51 for $1.

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is cool. The picture at the Orkneyjar Photoblog is not new.

Today's scripture reading is 1 Kings 21. The Fly is reading the Counterinsurgency Field Manual alone and How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill with a friend.

I'm dreaming, you're awake.

Epic Monday

Hey folks! Some of us have to work today, but I won't leave until I've passed on a few things.

I know a number of my regular readers are coffee drinkers. Behold: the case for tea. I'll disagree with Dr. Mao on one thing, though: milk and sugar is the only way to go.

I went to see Jumper with some folks from church yesterday. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was actually very good, and demonstrated to me that Hayden Christensen suffered largely from poor scripting in the Star Wars flicks for which he's best known.

Behold! Some Asian-American kids making fun of the Power Rangers! Hilarious!



Right then, off to the pub for a... I mean, time to get ready for work. Have a wonderful holiday, folks! God bless every last one of our American presidents, even that incompetent jackass President Carter!

UPDATE: I almost forgot! That movie, Jumper, involves Samuel Jackson getting hit by a double-decker bus! Just like the Whore ought to be! Awesome!

Fly Report: 18th February 2008

Good morning. Fascinating new thing, you delight me, and I know you're speaking of me.

It's 48° Fahrenheit and partly cloudy in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 41° Fahrenheit with partial clouds.

The average price of oil is $95.62 per barrel. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 12,348.21. The exchange rate is $1.96 for £1, or £0.51 for $1.

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is cool. The picture at the Orkneyjar Photoblog is not new.

Today's scripture reading is 1 Kings 20. The Fly is reading the Counterinsurgency Field Manual alone and How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill with a friend.

Time is a train, it makes the future the past; it leaves you standing in the station, your face pressed up against the glass.

The Arrival of Little Red

True friendships run deep, and can't be separated by mere physical distance. One of my best friends, originally from college and continuing to this day, is Big Red. We shared many a lecture together from such great instructors as Professor Augustus and Professor Ustath. I was lucky to attend Big Red's wedding to Mrs. Red, whose picture would be in the dictionary next to "kickass" if "kickass" were in the dictionary.

For the last nine (or so) months, eight or nine trimesters I think, Mrs. Red has been pregnant. I got an E-Mail this morning filled with pictures! "Little Red", otherwise known as Keegan Isaiah. I'm totally stoked! I can admit that I'm often jealous of my close friends, most of whom are married, and several of whom have munchkins already. Really, though, how can you look at a picture like that one and not be completely overcome with joy and support for such outstanding people, who are going to be such outstanding parents? Why do I know this? Because they're outstanding friends.

Congratulations, Big and Mrs. Red, and welcome to life Little Red. I can't wait to meet this little dude.

Super Fly Friday! Super Fly Friday!

Friday! Al Jamhaa! Freitag! Booyeah! Boom-shaka-laka! It's the weekend! Awesome! Wooooo!

Why did I do that? I don't know. It boggles the mind. How about you? How are you doing, folks? How was your Singles Awareness Day? Entertaining? That's the healthiest way to approach Saint Valentine's Day if you're not spending time with someone who you can't get enough of: find the comedy in the situation. One thing I found entertaining, for once, are these two articles about how men and women act on dates to indicate if they're interested or not. Gentlemen, do you ever encounter any of these signs? Ladies, do you ever see this kind of behavior? I found both articles to be entertaining and accurate - not surprising, since they're based on the experiences of an Army Special Forces interrogator, instead of the usual mindless mutants that MSN most often tasks with creating their constantly-changing content.

A couple of notes on the writing front. First, remember this article that I wrote for my parallel writing endeavour, and posted on Monday? I mentioned the other day that it was linked by one of my favorite security blogs. Well, yesterday when I got back from work, I had this forwarded E-Mail waiting from my managing editor:

[The Fly]'s article entitled "This Ain't...." is obviously one written by a person who is blind to the crimes committed on a daily basis by Israel. In my opinion, the true threat to the security of the world comes from the Zionist regime in Israel. All the atrocities committed against the civilians in the surrounding and within Israel will result in reactions which one day will lead to a war that no one can control. The only way to the world peace is to have America stop supporting the Israeli regime and have them deal fairly and peacefully with its neighbors.
God Bless

This means two things:

I've been able to write in such a way to ruffle some feathers (while being diplomatic - that was one of my least controversial articles!)

At least two people, other than me and The Artista, have read my article! Awesome!

Also on the writing front, I had lunch yesterday with a former colleague of the venerable LtCol Schoutter, one of my instructors from ROTC in college. LtCol Schoutter recommended that I get in touch with him. Well, during the course of the lunch, we came to find out that A) he wants to write a book and B) I'm a writer/editor. I'm dropping my card off with him later today. A book like this could set me up for life - if it actually pans out, of course. Very exciting! Great success!

What's that? You want a video for the day? Something to keep you entertained? Look no further! (Until you're done watching the video, after it's done you can look further at the rest of the post. And then leave a comment.)



Oh, and in security news, it's been a great couple of weeks for the good guys and a bad couple of weeks for global jihad. Coalition forces in Balochistan captured Mansoor Dadullah, a major Taliban commander and brother of a Taliban commander who was killed last year. The next day or thereabouts, a car bomb killed Imad Mughniyeh, the Hezbollah commander who masterminded bombings of the American embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut in the early 1980's, among other horrible attrocities. And about two weeks ago, a missile attack in western Pakistan killed Abu Laith al Libi, another top Taliban commander. These are big stories, folks. Like Ron Burgundy, they're a big deal; people knew these people.

Okay, folks, time for this friendly neighborhood Super Fly to get ready and hit the road. Long live the Republic! And may the Whore be hit by a double decker bus (pictured below), in God's mercy!

Fly Report: 15th February 2008

Good morning. Saith Big Jimbo: "My wife's high maintenance... Which makes me wonder why she's married to me!"

It's 43° Fahrenheit and partly cloudy in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 43° Fahrenheit with sunshine.

The average price of oil is $95.82 per barrel. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 12,376.98. The exchange rate is $1.97 for £1, or £0.51 for $1.

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is cool. The picture at the Orkneyjar Photoblog is not new.

Today's scripture reading is 1 Kings 19. The Fly is reading the Counterinsurgency Field Manual alone and How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill with a friend.

And I know it aches, and your heart it breaks, you can only take so much. Walk on.

J. Geils Had it Right!

I had "write" on my list of things to do yesterday. LSG sent me a link, so I'm going to start by piggy-backing off of a young married couple who blog together. They have a list of seventy-one items (because they couldn't figure out one hundred) to celebrate their one hundredth blog post. I'll start this off with twenty-five random facts you might not have known about me.

1. I've lived in three states, and two countries: an undisclosed northwestern state, the United Kingdom, California, and currently Virginia.
2. I've been to the following states: Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Louisiana, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, New Jersey, Maryland, and the District of Columbia.
3. Of the states listed above, I was only ever in an airport in Utah, Colorado, and New Jersey. I only ever drove straight through New Mexico, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, and West Virginia.
4. Outside of the United States, I've been to Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, and Italy.
5. I have one brother, [Twitley], who's twenty-two and lives in Wyoming.
6. I'm horrible at most kinds of math. I have been since I was a little kid. I'm very good, however, with money, and with spatial math/geometry.
7. I graduated with almost as many ROTC credits as credits in my major, despite the fact that I'd dropped from ROTC less than halfway through college.
8. I spent four years expecting to get a Bachelor of Arts degree, and changed my plan in my last year of school after doing poorly in second year German. It all could have been different if someone had explained what the term "definite article" meaned.
9. My favorite fiction book is "The Terminal Experiment" by Robert J. Sawyer. My favorite non-fiction book is "How the Irish Saved Civilization" by Thomas Cahill.
10. I'm the proud owner of three embalming manuals.
11. When I was in high school, I played no sports. I was president of the forensics team, advertising manager for the school newspaper, and in the electronic media class.
12. I've known people who are better at saving money than I am, but not very many of them. Since I moved away from home in April of 2006, I've only borrowed money from my parents once, and that was to buy a plane ticket to fly home a couple of months after I'd moved to California. I've taken several trips and moved to Virginia without using credit, all on money I'd saved up.
13. My favorite candy is probably Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.
14. I've turned into a bit of a beer connoisseur over the last year, based largely on the fact that I've had two different parties (my aunt and uncle, and Michelley) give me books about beer.
15. I've had three dogs: Buck, Majo, and Jack. All of them have been black labradors.
16. I was the Most Outspoken guy in my senior class. Imagine that.
17. I once skipped a concert by the Spin Doctors, one of my top five favorite bands of all time, to spend the evening with a girl.
18. During my first election in 2000, I voted absent-tee. I punched my ballot (with chads and everything!) with my Leatherman tool while watching "American Pie".
19. When I was in my first two or three years of college, I shaved every day unless I wasn't leaving the house. Now I shave twice a week, maximum.
20. I got bored this winter in Virginia, so I grew a beard. I shaved it, and now I'm growing it again.
21. I saw "Gladiator" in the theater instead of going to my senior prom. I'd been shot down by four girls.
22. I'll eat almost anything, although I'm extremely picky when it comes to vegetables. I can cook almost nothing. I want to learn how to cook shepherd's pie.
23. Someday, when I settle down, I'd love to build a house out of shipping containers. I had this idea independently after seeing pre-fab container buildings at my old job, but apparently someone else also had the idea.
24. I love shooting, and I was on the ROTC pistol team for two years straight. This was good news for me, because I was horrible at close order drill.
25. In college, I used to have "Spy Night[s]" where I would invite friends over, cook food (steak is easy, as is pasta!), and show a spy comedy followed by a 007 flick.

Twenty-five is probably sufficient for this post.

* * *

So, today is Saint Valentine's Day. I'm gonna be honest with y'all: I'm not feeling it. I'm not even really feeling that vindictive about it; more indifferent than anything else. As usual, I'm not dating anyone, so I don't really have any big motivation to observe at all. Even so, I looked up the corresponding entries on the comprehensive source for all knowledge, Wikipedia. Here's their article on the actual Christian saint. Interestingly enough, under the entry for the day, the sidebar lists as observances:

sending greeting cards and gifts, dating

Dating? Really? That's Wikipedia's expert call on how Saint Valentine's Day is observed? So, in my continuing efforts to reflect that I'm a hard-ass and a curmudgeon, I present to you the most appropriate of all videos for today.


Oh snap! I hope you all have an outstanding Saint Valentine's Day, whether it's being celebrated with someone you can't get enough of, or making every effort to ignore it altogether.

* * *

Okay, I'm excited about one more thing, and I have to talk about it because... Well, because that's pretty much what this entire website is for, me talking about stuff I think about. Frequent readers know that every other week, I post an article that's also published elsewhere. Now, I'm not going to post that link, but I have some news that I found to be very exciting. My managing editor sent me this link a while ago. Yesterday, the dude linked to one of my articles! That means that I'm not the only one reading them! Brilliant!

Okay, folks, time for me to start getting ready for work. Remember: love stinks!

Oh, and I suppose this would be a perfect opportunity, since today comes about four days before the thid anniversary of my most noteworthy breakup, to reiterate that my ex-girlfriend, the Whore, should be hit by a double-decker bus (pictured), in God's mercy. Keep reaching for the stars, folks!

UPDATE: I'd just like to give special thanks to The Artista, who informed me of the snow outside long before I would have discovered it on my own - by walking outside to leave for work. Thank God for four-wheel drive!

Fly Report: 14th February 2008

Good morning. You were an accident.

It's 43° Fahrenheit and cloudy in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 34° Fahrenheit with morning snow.

The average price of oil is $93.64 per barrel. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 12,552.24. The exchange rate is $1.96 for £1, or £0.51 for $1.

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is boring. The picture at the Orkneyjar Photoblog is not new.

Today's scripture reading is 1 Kings 17. The Fly is reading the Counterinsurgency Field Manual alone and How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill with a friend.

You say in love there are no rules; sweetheart, you're so cruel.

The Wednesday Brick

I slept like a Brick last night. Not like Brick Tamland; like a real brick! After that short night yesterday, it was nice to get caught up.

Couple of things. First off, I saw this article about maintaining heart health on MSN this morning, and I'm happy to report that I'm about halfway there. I don't take aspirin daily, I don't have regular physical contact with women, and I'm not married (yet); I also don't eat much tuna (though I can start) and I don't have a dog (yet). There's a history of roundness on my dad's side of the family, and he's worked hard for years to avoid the multiple heart attacks my granddad suffered from. I may as well start early, right?

Last night it was "too close to call" when I went to bed, but Senator McCain swept Governor Huckabee last night in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington DC. I'm not sure whether Governor Huckabee will drop out or not, but it's obvious that both he and Governor Romney will be players in the Republican Party for a long time, and that's probably a good thing.

Okay, a couple of YouTube videos, and then I have things to get done. And Mighty Mo, you'd better keep your mouth shut on this one! Okay, out of sheer boredom a few weeks ago, I decided to look up a couple of music videos from when I was in high school; movies that happen to have featured the boy band NSYNC. Okay, here's what was apparently their first video. Now, here's their video from their next album a couple of years later. So, what does the Fly's analytical mind pick up on?

Look at the difference in Dancing With the Stars player Joey Fatone between the two videos. Aside from the facial hair, he looks like he put on about fifty pounds between the shooting stages of the two videos. (Just for clarification, Fatone is in a white shirt/yellow jacket in the first video, red pants and black shirt in the second.) He went from looking like he was about seventeen and rail-thin to looking about forty. Crazy.

Note in both videos how little screen time Lance Bass gets. We all know now that Justin Timberlake is the fan-favorite, as evidenced by the fact that we never stop hearing about him and who he's produced a song or an album with, who he's nailing, et cetera. According to the Wiki entry, Bass barely made the group since he couldn't dance. This begs the question: how could he have become openly gay now if he couldn't dance then?

Wow. Did I just write up a post that was half about a boy band? That's going to sting if anyone leaves comments.

Okay, one more interesting link. Long-time readers will know that I'm in the long and drawn out process of learning Arabic. Yesterday, as I was looking up the Basmala, I came across another Wiki page listing Christian terms in Arabic. I know that Friar Dave, at the very least, will probably take a bit of interest having studied linguistics (mainly Latin) extensively. Many people figure that every last Arab is also Muslim, but there are Arab Christian communities in Egypt (intermixed with the "Copts", a phrase with both ethnic and religious connotations) and Iraq (intermixed with Chaldeans, Roman Catholic descendants of the Assyrians), among other places. Give it a look if you have even a passing interest in linguistics or cultural comparison.

Right then, time for a nice hot shower. Be safe, folks.

Fly Report: 13th February 2008

Good morning. I hope that we as a nation can ask ourselves honestly: how many "Bring it On" movies do we really need?

It's 45° Fahrenheit and fair in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 47° Fahrenheit with clouds.

The average price of oil is $93.02 per barrel. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 12,373.41. The exchange rate is $1.96 for £1, or £0.51 for $1.

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is boring. The picture at the Orkneyjar Photoblog is not new.

Today's scripture reading is 1 Kings 17. The Fly is reading the Counterinsurgency Field Manual alone and How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill with a friend.

Woo me, sister.

Cute With Chris

I'm not sure if I've ever shown you any clips of Cute With Chris, a YouTube show produced by Chris Leavins. It never fails to leave me with a smile, so here's the latest installment...


... And just for good measure, I'll post another one of my favorite clips.


I had a remarkably late night last night, which led to a remarkably late wake-up this morning, which means that I don't have much time. Let it be known that against my will, kicking and screaming, I'm not going to post a couple of hilarious texts. Someone who's reading this won't let me. You owe me!

Keep it real, folks. Word.

Fly Report: 12th February 2008

Good morning. Saith one of The Artista's students: "Ms. [Artista], which state is New England? I thought it was in America!"

It's 46° Fahrenheit and fair in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 47° Fahrenheit with clouds.

The average price of oil is $93.41 per barrel. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 12,240.01. The exchange rate is $1.95 for £1, or £0.51 for $1.

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is cool. The picture at the Orkneyjar Photoblog is not new.

Today's scripture reading is 1 Kings 16. The Fly is reading the Counterinsurgency Field Manual alone and How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill with a friend.

Do you hear me when I sing? You're the reason I sing. You're the reason why the opera is in me.

This Ain't Your Granddaddy's Cold War

Note: This is my latest submission for my parallel writing endeavour.

During the Cold War, the East versus West debacle was initially characterized by extended proxy engagements between the forces of one side against sponsored forces of whichever client state happened to be the chosen venue. This was the case in Korea, Vietnam, and Afghanistan. As the 1970's came to a close, engagements decreased in their overall scale, lasting days or weeks. The best example of this was the U.S. invasions of Grenada and Panama. The conclusion of the Persian Gulf War in early 1991, followed several months later by the collapse of the Soviet Empire, left the world believing in the greatness of America. The Cold War was over, and the West had won; and after America's first sojourn into Iraq, it was apparent that American military prowess was an unstoppable engine in the quick and decisive spread of freedom and stability.

Seventeen years later, some question exists as to whether or not the Cold War actually ended in 1991. And contrary to the notions of a new era of peace and stability, conflicts that were previously unified into the overarching guise of the Cold War have splintered. With the overwhelming international focus on the controversial war in Iraq, many of these splintered conflicts are overlooked. Given that the United States is currently in a presidential election cycle, what follows is a brief review of the major enduring and emerging security issues around the world.

The most prominent threat to global stability is the Islamic Republic of Iran. Iran has been a state sponsor of terrorism for years following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which exchanged a repressive Western-backed dictatorship for a repressive radical Islamist dictatorship. The Iranian regime, led by a council of religious authorities, has been linked to terrorists from Lebanon to Afghanistan. Iran is a major developer and exporter of missile and rocket technology, and the last decade has witnessed the revelation of an illicit nuclear program. Although the Iranian government repeatedly declares that their nuclear ambitions are aimed solely at generating electricity, many experts claim that Iranian conduct indicates a desire to produce a nuclear weapon. Iranian leaders and spokesmen have frequently called for the utter destruction of Israel. Iran recently tested a rocket, which the French government claims to be incapable of operating in space. The launch of this rocket has even made the Russian government, the major foreign logistical supporter of Iran's nuclear program, question Iran's goals (BBC, Guardian).

In Asia, the People's Democratic Republic of Korea has developed missile technology for decades. Like Iran, North Korea is believed to be a major exporter of ballistic missiles, most of which are derivatives of the venerable Soviet SS-1, best known as the "Scud". North Korea has also built and tested nuclear warheads, in contravention of international laws and treaties to which North Korea had been a signatory. Although some question exists as to whether or not the North Koreans would use these weapons for any purpose other than extortion, negotiations and aid agreements have thus far failed to compel the North Korean government to meet deadlines for disabling their reactor at Yongbyon. North Korea has already seen one transfer of power following the death of founder Kim Il-Sung in 1994. While his son, Kim Jong-Il, does not appear to be in immediate danger of dying, his health is frail and his death could throw the country into further chaos. North Korea will continue to be a threat to security and stability in the region into the foreseeable future.

The issue of the ballistic missile threat from Iran and North Korea has led the United States to develop a ballistic missile defense system, consisting of ground- and ship-based radar and interceptor missile systems. As a result of this development effort, which is being conducted in conjunction with Japan, South Korea, Poland, and the Czech Republic. Two of these countries, Poland and the Czech Republic, were formerly part of the Soviet sphere of influence. For reasons that are not entirely clear, the Russian government has continually protested the development of the ballistic missile shield, to the point of threatening to withdraw from various Cold War era treaties, resuming Cold War era bomber patrols, test-firing missiles off the coast of France, and developing new ballistic missile systems (1, 2, 3, 4). These activities have been dismissed as "saber rattling" by many; but while Russia is unlikely to launch a ballistic missile in anger, the very existence of these assets denote increasing tension and decreasing stability in Russo-American relations.

Perhaps more alarming than a resurgent Russia is the growing influence of the People's Republic of China. China is a growing strategic rival to the West, although this rivalry is tempered in some ways by the interconnected nature of Chinese and Western economies. China continues to expand its sphere of influence, having conducted December war games with India in December. The Chinese People's Liberation Army has worked during the last several years to engineer home-grown ballistic missile submarines and expand amphibious capabilities, both of which make the maintenance of a stalemate with Taiwan difficult. The original Cold War saw the development of dual-use space technology, and the Chinese have channeled resources into manned spaceflight in recent years; the Chinese space program has also produced an anti-satellite weapon, which continues to concern Western governments. The Chinese government has increased trade and influence in South Asian countries such as Kazakhstan and Afghanistan (BBC, AFP). China has also focused on courting Africa in a sort of "checkbook diplomacy", offering money to African governments in exchange for resources without any apparent regard for the future of the African people or the human rights records of their governments. As if these developments were not enough to raise concerns about the international role of China, "Brand China" has taken a major hit in the last two years over lead-based paint in products shipped globally, as well as poisoned dog food. Further, several western governments revealed this summer that the Chinese government has made concerted efforts to hack into sensitive government and military computer systems (BBC, CNN, Fox, AFP). This threat from Chinese online espionage is so severe that both American officials and the British Security Service have deemed China the number one threat to government- and commercially-sensitive data.

These are merely a handful of the major conflicts and issues that the next American president will deal with upon taking office. This brief refresher makes no mention of the growth of malignant Islamist groups in Algeria, Libya, Sudan, Somalia, Lebanon, the Arabian Peninsula, and South Asia. It makes no mention of the increasing stress on the faltering NATO alliance, or the South Asian arms race and its juxtaposition with instability in Pakistan, or the impending death of Fidel Castro and its potential to ignite a repressed Cuban populace. It says nothing of the impact that market instability will have on security and stability in the coming decade, or the issues that environmentalists will raise that will further limit technological and strategic options, or the continued instances of chaos that rages throughout the developing world.

Unfortunately for the next American president, this is not our grandfathers' Cold War. That war was comparable to a large game of chess. The Cold War of the twentieth century is more like eight or ten simultaneous games of chess, each of them coupled with a game of risk, a debate tournament, and advanced accounting homework. As Americans go to the polls in November, their choice of America's next Commander in Chief will be crucial in the selection of an individual who possesses the experience, resolve, and versatility to engage these challenges successfully.

Fly Report: 11th February 2008

Good morning. Saith Surfer Dude: "One time, I ate Molly's science project!"

It's 45° Fahrenheit and partly cloudy in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 38° Fahrenheit with morning snow.

The average price of oil is $91.89 per barrel. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 12,182.13. The exchange rate is $1.95 for £1, or £0.51 for $1.

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is cool. The picture at the Orkneyjar Photoblog is not new.

Today's scripture reading is 1 Kings 15. The Fly is reading the Counterinsurgency Field Manual alone and How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill with a friend.

Someday she's gonna come back from far away.

Freitag in Februar

I spent three and a half hours writing an article yesterday about why Senator John McCain is not a liberal, and why those who have claimed that they won't vote for McCain, or would rather vote for Obama or Clinton, need to seriously consider what they're saying. Then, in the penultimate paragraph, my computer shut off. It was all gone. Every last word.

Bollocks.

The "economic stimulus" plan has been passed in Congress. My understanding is that I'll receive something on the order of $600 in four or five months, too little and too late to really do much help to the economy (tax cuts would have been good, tax rebates are a joke). I'm not sure what I'll do with the money, but I'm planning to invest some of my tax return money, so maybe I'll put it toward that purpose. This, ladies and gentlemen, is why we need John McCain sitting in the Oval Office.

Oh, by the way, remember my open letter from last week? Well, as I've been watching Spooks, I've discovered two things.

The reason that Amazon yanked the product is that disc three is defective - when you can get it to play, it's a repeat of disc two. Bollocks.

It's also shitty! Good drama, decent scripts, but whoever wrote it doesn't read the newspaper.

The fact of the matter is that Mossad does not stage two raids on British security officers, particularly not in a single season. Mossad doesn't use Yemeni Jews to frame Arabs as terrorists and hostage takers - they don't need to, Arab terrorists do that all by themselves. I'll give the writers a modicum of credit for one or two reasonable scenarios, but honestly, environmentalists threatening to blow up the barriers that hold back high tide on the Thames estuary? Really? They couldn't do a better job for the fifth series cliffhanger than that? For crying out loud, they only do ten shows a year! Each episode is a full hour, but still! They couldn't have an al Qaeda, or Hezbollah, or Hamas cell taking hostages, or staging a repeat of the 7/7 bombings?

Okay, time for your friendly neighborhood Super Fly to get ready for work. Have a great weekend, folks!

Fly Report: 08th February 2008

Good morning. I'll Rochambeau you for it!

It's 48° Fahrenheit and partly cloudy in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 36° Fahrenheit with wind and afternoon snow.

The average price of oil is $88.55 per barrel. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 12,247.00. The exchange rate is $1.94 for £1, or £0.51 for $1.

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is cool. The picture at the Orkneyjar Photoblog is not new.

Today's scripture reading is 1 Kings 14. The Fly is reading the Counterinsurgency Field Manual alone and How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill with a friend.

I see your face, I see you staring back at me.

Fly Report: 07th February 2008

Good morning. I can't kick the habit.

It's 45° Fahrenheit and rainy with wind in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 39° Fahrenheit with wind and morning snow.

The average price of oil is $87.56 per barrel. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 12,200.10. The exchange rate is $1.96 for £1, or £0.51 for $1.

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is cool. The picture at the Orkneyjar Photoblog is not new.

Today's scripture reading is 1 Kings 13. The Fly is reading the Counterinsurgency Field Manual alone and How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill with a friend.

It's no secret that a conscience can sometimes be a pest.

Fly Report: 06th February 2008

Good morning. Tears stream down your face when you lose someone you cannot replace.

It's 43° Fahrenheit and rainy with wind in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 32° Fahrenheit with snow.

The average price of oil is $88.39 per barrel. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 12,264.13. The exchange rate is $1.96 for £1, or £0.51 for $1.

Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is cool. The picture at the Orkneyjar Photoblog is not new.

Today's scripture reading is 1 Kings 12. The Fly is reading the Counterinsurgency Field Manual alone and How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill with a friend.

Looking for to fill that God-shaped hole.

Atomic Tuesday Night

Hey folks. This is shaping up to be an odd week, in no small part because this will be the second night in a row in which I'm in bed before 2100 (last night it was before 2030, so I feel old). I still haven't even read Chazza's response to me on her blog, I haven't written up what I'll write up about "Little Brother", but I did want to write up a few thoughts about Super/Atomic/Tsunami/[Insert Obnoxious Adjective Here] Tuesday.

On the Democrat side, it looks as if there are some big, early wins for Senator Obama. I think I've mentioned before that, with whatever respect may be due to Senators Obama and Clinton, I'd rather have Senator Clinton as the nominee because I think that she'll be easier to beat. This isn't to say that I don't think that both of them are immensely beatable, but I think Senator Clinton would be easier and as high as the stakes are, I'd rather not have things be more difficult than they need to be. It appears that these two will be duking it out for a while, and I have no problem with that; I'd love to see the eventual nominee arriving at the Democrat convention and the presidential debates as figuratively bruised and beaten as possible. Anyway, as you can imagine, very little of my focus has been on these two, as it's going to be one or the other of them, I approve of neither, and I'm content to wait until the decision has been made to start my own strategizing and commentary.

What I am curious about is the Republican race. It's taken an interesting turn over the last month and a half or so. Senator McCain, who I've respected immensely for a number of years (even when I disagreed with him), has come back from the abyss to become the front-runner. Governors Romney and Huckabee haven't given up yet, but after tonight I think that the race will essentially be over. There are a few things that I want to comment on, but it may come out as a bit of a ramble; for once, I'm not terribly worried about format and coherence. (Mo, stop laughing.)

First thing's first, although I've developed more and more concerns about Governor Mike Huckabee, I've been able to develop a healthy respect for him, and I think that his candidacy has been great not only for the Republican party itself, but for the party's image: suddenly the part of "rich old white men" has been shaken up by a dirt poor Arkansan whose campaign was run on a proverbial shoestring. I hope that Governor Huckabee stays active in the party, and I wouldn't be surprised at all to hear news of Senator McCain inviting Governor Huckabee to be his running mate. For those of you who didn't catch the news, Huckabee took West Virginia from Governor Romney's grasp when Senator McCain's delegates were told to back Governor Huckabee - I'm biased, but I think that shows a genuine regard between Huckabee and McCain, and excellent (if slightly dastardly) cunning on Senator McCain's part.

And speaking of Governor Romney... I really, really wish I could allow myself to walk away and not say this, but Mitt Romney has destroyed almost every ounce of respect I was able to generate for him. If by some miracle he becomes the nominee, I will easily support him over either Clinton or Obama, but he's practiced a near-total lack of tact, decorum, class, judgment, and any number of other adjectives I could name. One of the biggest reasons cited for his downfall from what could have been an easy ride to the Republican convention was the fact that he out-spent his rivals on almost nothing but negative advertisements. The most common thing I hear is that "nobody knows who Mitt Romney is"; unfortunately for Romney, that's his own fault. He could have easily spent that money on positive campaigning, getting his own compelling story out, and instead he blew it and turned what could have been a completely positive race into a slightly negative one. Why slightly? Because if you look back, essentially all of the nasty exchanges, save for people calling Congressman Paul to account for the bizarre and naive things that come out of his mouth, have been related to Mitt Romney. The candidates didn't attack each other, they attacked Mitt Romney in response to Romney's attacks on them.

Further, Governor Romney seems to be flailing. I'll decline to post a link since it's to Yahoo(!) and they yank their news after a few days, but Romney has taken accidental pot shots at Senator Dole, he's either authorized or verbalized outright lies about his opponents, he's flip-flopped, and it's absolutely shameful. In the aftermath, there are going to be a lot of pundits who claim that "Evangelical Christians couldn't rally behind Mitt Romney because of his Mormon faith", and it's going to be complete and total bullshit. People are rejecting Mitt Romney because the more you see of him, the more he appears to be an inconsistent, self-righteous, libelous asshole. I've known a lot of Mormons in my life, I have several who have turned out to be great friends. You know the "Christians" who spout off lines about Mormonism being a cult? Yeah, I know more about Mormonism than those people, and I was willing to give Romney a pass, even though he demonstrated every single trait that makes Mormonism weird and unpalatable. Mitt Romney's self-destruction had nothing to do with his Mormon faith, and everything to do with uncivilized behavior. As I said, I'll still vote for him if he's the nominee, but if it comes to that I'm going to honestly feel as if I'm voting for a "conservative" version of Bill Clinton or John Kerry, and I loathe that idea; oh yeah, and I'll do it with the full expectation that my vote will do nothing to stop us from hearing the phrase "President Clinton" or "President Obama" come January of '09. Shameful.

And Senator McCain? As I've mentioned before, I don't agree with him on everything, and if I had to I could name off five or six examples off the top of my head. I'm astonished, though, at the absolute loathing that's coming out of the mouths of so-called "conservatives" these days. There are people who are ignoring McCain's speeches, voting record, military service, pretty much everything about him, and making claims like "there's no difference between McCain and Clinton". It's bullshit, plain and simple. Not only is Senator McCain a real conservative, he's a real conservative who understands that real policies and programs are more complex than catch phrases. Anyone who reduces the complex immigration reform legislation that failed in Congress to the phrase "amnesty" is an intellectually lazy simpleton who should seriously reconsider whether casting a ballot is appropriate. Anyone who reduces the complex nature of McCain's legislation with Senator Lieberman to "McCain buys into the global warming hoax" is a similarly lazy jackass, and they shouldn't be voting either. Additionally, whether you like Senator McCain or not (and I can concede that some people have legitimate gripes with his record), if you're a conservative, or even if you care about this country and don't think Senators Clinton or Obama should set foot in the White House without being escorted by a tour guide, it's important to understand that Senator McCain is going to be our nominee, and it accomplishes nothing to take pot shots at him and whine for ten months. The treatment Senator McCain has received in the last couple of months from talk radio and various other pundits is shameful, it's a slap in the face to the conservative movement in America, and it should stop immediately.

And for crying out loud, will someone please shave Mitt Romney's head? The smarmy look on his face is bad enough, if I have to keep looking at that big helmet hair of his I think I'm going to vomit.

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Okay, two more quick things, and then I'm going to bed.

First, I want to make it clear that Virginians, and probably people in a few other states, are stupid. Hundreds of Virginians showed up to their polling places today, got angry, and called their local government offices to complain. What was the issue? Virginia votes next Tuesday. I appreciate the fact that people are interested in this primary cycle, but honestly, not knowing that your state isn't voting? That's just asinine. I'm not going to go so far as to say that "Virginians are the stupidest redneck morons on the planet", because it's not true - I've spent time in both Savannah, Georgia and Hammond, Louisiana, and Virginians have nothing on those folks. Still, it's pretty pathetic.

And second, speaking of throwing up (and I let Mighty Mo know this earlier today), I think Cracker Barrel needs some serious help. I'm sure they do a lot of business, and appeal to all of the "salt of the earth" types who have no regard for the maintenance of a healthy arterial diameter - God bless 'em! - but I walked in there twice today to drop off something for a friend who works there. Both times, there was sickening country-ish music playing, there are all sorts of jam and other food-related items for sale in the entryway, rocking chairs for sale on the patio... I felt like I'd gotten myself trapped in a cross between Charybdis and the Country Bear Jamboree. Wow.

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Okay, I feel better. Goodnight!