30 January 2009

AMF: You Little Wankers

Hey folks! I hope everyone's had a fantastic week. This post will be fairly brief. I'm in the midst of cleaning a lot of extraneous crap out of my childhood bedroom so that my folks can start looking into remodeling it. It hasn't had a major remodel in more than twenty years, and when they did that one they were making it a kids' room. I have a tendency to keep things that don't really need to be kept, and some of the items I've found in here have been fascinating. Just to name a few:

  • college recruitment literature, circa 1999
  • [Generic State University] fraternity recruitment literature, circa Summer 2000
  • Linksys ethernet card, purchased Fall term 2000 (for fraternity life), never installed, still in original shrink wrap
  • four boxes (two hundred rounds) of 9mm ammunition
  • two pistol magazines
  • many, many pieces of ROTC paperwork, including a sheet that likely constituted the only formal orders I ever received

    Needless to say, it's been a trip down memory lane. I'm making slow progress, but slow progress is more than I've been able to accomplish in the nearly three years since I left [Hometown], or any time before. Once I get back to Van Diemen's Station, I want to do a similar process in order to scrape out stuff that I've been carting across the country for three years now. Mrs. Mike Nelson and I have actually discussed the benefits of simplifying one's life, and liquidating crap that you don't need to keep around is a good step in that direction.

    Speaking of Mrs. Mike Nelson, she watches the following video at her own peril - although given her peculiar sense of humor, she might actually appreciate it. Either way, you've all been warned.



    Today's satellite image is F.E. Warren Air Force Base outside Cheyenne, Wyoming.

    I have a few stories to share, but I'm going to save them so that I have something to post on Monday. I hope everyone has an excellent weekend!
  • Fly Report: 30th January 2009

    Good morning. I heard a dirty, sordid, seedy rumor that Disco Stu likes disco music.

    It's 7° Centigrade and rainy in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 44° Fahrenheit with partial clouds.

    A barrel of oil is trading at $43.39. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 8063.23. The exchange rate is $1.43 for £1, or £0.70 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 Deuteronomy 3. The Fly is currently reading the U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual, FM 3-24/MCWP 3-33.5.

    Consecutive days without CCG: 101

    I'm starting a landslide in my ego.

    29 January 2009

    Fly Report: 29th January 2009

    Good morning. I've got another idea.

    It's 7° Centigrade and cloudy with wind in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 33° Fahrenheit with light snow.

    A barrel of oil is trading at $41.39. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 8375.45. The exchange rate is $1.43 for £1, or £0.70 for $1.

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

    Today's scripture reading is Deuteronomy 3. The Fly is currently reading the U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual, FM 3-24/MCWP 3-33.5.

    Consecutive days without CCG: 100

    Today's a day without me.

    28 January 2009

    President Bush Deserves Credit

    This is my latest submission for my parallel writing endeavour.

    The inauguration is over, and for many the initiation of the Obama Administration is bittersweet. While many of President Obama's rabid fans have seen their bizarre, insatiable obsession fulfilled, others will miss President Bush. His supporters will miss his support for issues that they feel to be critical to the continued success and prosperity of the United States of America and the world at large. The perpetually angry will miss the target of their irrational hatred. And, in a peculiar twist, late night talk show hosts in particular will miss the president whom they lambasted in good times and in bad, no matter how effective his policies or deliberate his attempts to limit "Bushisms". (Some have already claimed that they are reticent about making jokes about Obama due to his popularity, among other reasons.)

    President Bush was certainly deserving of criticism, on a wide range of issues. He failed to accomplish all of the goals he set for his administration, some of his initiatives were ill-conceived, and others were poorly executed. On the other hand, now that he has left the Oval Office for the greener pastures of Preston Hollow, Texas, President Bush deserves to be exonerated for at least one policy that has been unrealistically criticized based upon historical misperceptions: his handling of the economy after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

    Many seem to look back on two of the last century's presidential administrations with rose-colored glasses: that of Bill Clinton, and that of Franklin Roosevelt. Misperceptions, inaccurate and incomplete information, and political bias have led many to unfairly color President Bush's post-9/11 economic policies as foolish and counter-productive. The most bizarre of these accusations posits that, rather than lowering interest rates and telling Americans to pour money into the faltering economy to fuel its reinvigoration, Americans should have been directed to tighten their belts. These claims have become particularly prominent during the recent economic downturn, and will no doubt conjure images of rationing and the command economy of the Great Depression and World War II.

    Americans, particularly the members of what we now call the Greatest Generation, are proud of having endured, survived, and outlasted the Great Depression. They are also proud of having turned a sluggish industrial base into the Arsenal of Freedom that defeated Fascism; liberated Europe, Asia, and parts of Africa; and set the stage for America to serve as the economic and military juggernaut that would go on to crush the virtual slavery of Communism in the initial months of the 1990's. It was the Greatest Generation who endured attrocious hardship and turned it into the moral and social catalyst for making America the great nation that it is today. Those who perceive the influence of a Divine hand in the course of history can easily see the impact that the Great Depression had on this process, and upon American history. And, despite the astonishing successes of America's brave men and women in today's critical wars abroad, one might easily wonder if a generation raised in the decadence of the 1980's, 1990's, and the early years of the twenty-first century would have had the resolve to do what their predecessors were able to do. Indeed, the Great Depression is rightly seen to be as much a defining factor in the history of America as World War II, the Cold War, or the Golden Age of the post-war years.

    Because he presided over nearly the entire Great Depression, and all but the final months of World War II, Franklin Roosevelt is credited with having accomplished the unimaginable: pulling America out of financial straits so dire that they would define the history of American economics both before and after, and defeating the seemingly unstoppable military engine of German, Italian, and Japanese Fascism. While his predecessor, Herbert Hoover, is derided and accused of having done "too little, too late", FDR's experimental strategy of massive deficit spending, extreme taxation, protectionist tariffs, and government-organized labor is credited with having saved America from these dire financial straits, paving the way for America's greatest military victory and its ensuing golden age. In addition, the so-called "alphabet agencies" - a core element of the national strategy for jump-starting the corpse of the American economy - are remembered for having employed the populace while building dams, bridges, and other public works that remain to this day. This is the perceived legacy of the so-called "New Deal".

    The Greatest Generation should be proud of their accomplishments - perhaps more proud than any other generation in American history, save perhaps for the generation that won America her independence in the waning years of the Eighteenth Century. All living Americans should rightfully look on them with awe and wonder, and none should ever dare accuse them of anything less. In fact, as some authors now acknowledge, the Greatest Generation was able to accomplish these things despite the inept, negligent meddling of FDR - in a sense, their accomplishments are that much more astonishing when one considers that FDR's policies made the task of ending the Great Depression, fueling, and operating the Arsenal of Freedom more difficult than it could have been. Unfortunately, America's institutional memory of having accomplished such astonishing feats, coupled with the memory of failed policies like rationing and exorbitant taxation, have led many to believe that big government and a tightly controlled economy, and not the forces of the free market, are the solution to economic trouble.

    The years of 1941 and 2001 were similar in several ways. Although many remember President Clinton as an otherwise effective administrator whose administration happened to coincide with certain personal scandals, few remember that President Clinton also passed a recession on to his successor following the collapse of the aptly-named "Dot-Com Bubble". When the worst attack on American interests since the bombing of Pearl Harbor occurred in the eighth month of President Bush's tenure, America was left with a recovering economy and a foreign security threat - similar in some ways to the dual economic and security challenges of President Roosevelt's ninth year in office. As a result, there was criticism in 2001, and criticism continues today, because President Bush neglected to shift America into a so-called "wartime economy" - massive deficit spending, epic government programs, a controlled economy, and rationing. Ignoring the root causes of the current softening economy, some cite President Bush's refusal to take these steps as the impetus for America's current woes.

    FDR was wrong, and President Bush was right. Whereas President Roosevelt's policies failed year after year to drag the American economy up by its bootstraps, President Bush's directives to cut key interest rates and encourage home ownership and automotive purchases helped to ensure that the recession that he inherited from his predecessor was a shallow one. While the rationing schemes of Roosevelt and his theorist economic advisors perpetuated an ultimately futile attempt to rewrite the rules of modern economics, President Bush's policies ushered in fifty-two months of economic growth. While the economy under FDR competed for primacy with those of the Soviet Union, Germany, Japan, and other strategic competitors, it currently appears that Americans may have already seen most of the worst effects of the global economic downturn as the American economy begins a long road to recovery, while both competitors and partners abroad continue to languish in uncertainty. And to be completely fair, the root causes of the current economic dilemma can be traced back to policies that were enacted during historically recent eras in which President Bush's political opponents controlled both the Executive and Legislative branches of the Federal government, while FDR deepened the Great Depression without any noteworthy political opposition.

    The bottom line is that poor leadership lengthens and complicates difficult times, while good leadership shortens and dulls their sting. President Roosevelt's poor leadership and ignorance of economics resulted in a Great Depression that was both longer and more severe than it needed to be. It was only by putting every last able-bodied American male under arms, and sending the majority of America's able-bodied women to work as "Rosie the Riveter" in order to defeat Hitler and his allies that the Depression was finally brought under control - and truly, America's economy did not reach pre-crash normalcy until the post-war years. Meanwhile, despite claims that America is now in the midst of the worst economy since the Great Depression, it should not take an English literature student to realize that "worst since" means something wholly different than "equal to" - and it should not take an economic genius to realize that the current economy is nowhere near as bad as that of the Depression era.

    President Bush deserves credit for leading us through what could have been a far more severe recession following 9/11, and history will remember him for acting swiftly, despite external pressure and unfair criticism, with effective measures that limited the impact of the current recession. Those who are not historically misinformed will also credit him with having resisted calls for rationing and big government programs - a surefire recipe for a longer and more severe recession. Imperfect chief executive or not, President Bush certainly deserves credit for this, among numerous other things.

    For more information about the real legacy of the New Deal, consider reading New Deal or Raw Deal?: How FDR's Economic Legacy Has Damaged America by Dr. Burton Folsom, Jr. A lecture by the author is available as a podcast download from the website of the Heritage Foundation.

    Fly Report: 28th January 2009

    Good morning. I just keep replaying the whole thing in my head. I can't believe my last words to Maude were, "No foot-longs."

    It's 6° Centigrade and fair in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 27° Fahrenheit with light snow.

    A barrel of oil is trading at $42.26. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 8274.85. The exchange rate is $1.41 for £1, or £0.71 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 Deuteronomy 3. The Fly is currently reading the U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual, FM 3-24/MCWP 3-33.5.

    Consecutive days without CCG: 99

    Where do we go from here?

    27 January 2009

    Drones, Boston, and Archived Files

    Hey, folks! Happy Tuesday!

    First and foremost, I'd like to direct your attention to a new feature on today's Fly Report: Consecutive days without CCG. Many of you will remember several years ago, when chat transcripts with CCG were a fairly common sight here at TSTF. All of that content was taken down when CCG violated a promise not to look for my blog, then violated a promise not to read my blog, then totally flipped her **** when she found everything I'd posted about her. She similarly flipped out twice in '08, after which points she made no attempt to contact me for months on end. (Let it be known that I stopped seeking CCG out a long time ago, so it's not as if I'm losing any sleep over this whole turn of events.) Anyway, the last time that she contacted me and lost any semblance of acceptable adult behavior was on 21st October 2008. Just because I find it entertaining, I will continue to keep a running track of how many days it's been since I last heard from her, and will maintain this tally for no less than one year. Though some of you will think I'm crazy for doing this, look on the bright side: at least it will be updated more often than the Orkneyjar Photoblog has been!

    I'm in the third quarter of my vacation, and now's crunch time to get my childhood bedroom somewhat cleaned out (it would help if my parents didn't have a tiny garbage can) and see a few more people before heading back to Van Diemen's Station. I have a few items worth mentioning.

    Have you ever seen the infamous "Chocolate Rain" viral video? Have you ever watched Blame Society Productions' epic YouTube comedy, Chad Vader? What would happen if you combined the two? Watch, see, laugh, and enjoy.



    Here are a few other miscellaneous items:

  • From the Crypto King: tactical rifle drills
  • Must-Miss Travel Destinations
  • Survey: College freshmen politically engaged (AP) (as if that's a good thing - college freshmen are almost as politically gullible as college seniors)

    I started this blog on my old Hewlett Packard Pavilion desktop computer that was purchased in December of 1998. The thing is hopelessly obsolete now, but it has a lot of data that I want to remove and archive. I've spoken previously with the Crypto King about the possibility of yanking the hard drive out of the tower and using a converter kit to temporarily turn the internal hard drive into an external, at which point I could use my current machine (a Dell Inspiron notebook, in case anyone was really that curious) to archive the necessary files, wipe the unneeded ones, and run virus and spyware scans since the software on the old one is also hopelessly out of date. At that point, I could return the old hard drive to the old machine and use it for some purpose, though what purpose that would be is somewhat unclear (particularly since it's fairly difficult to get files off of the thing using its only writeable medium: 3.5" floppy diskettes. I also found something that I'd searched for for ages while I've been working on cleaning out my bedroom: an old Linksys ethernet card that I'd purchased for the HP right before my brief week of fraternity living, still in the original plastic. Assuming I could successfully install that, the Crypto King says that this could also be a feasible method of transferring those files. During February, I plan to try both methods, just for the sake of my own education. I don't ever plan to be a computer technician, but it never hurts to figure that stuff out for personal and professional development purposes. I'll probably post pictures about the whole thing.

    I was unaware until a few days ago that many of the venerable and beautiful F-4 Phantom II fighter/bomber/recon aircraft is now being converted into the QF-4 Phantom Drone for various Navy and Air Force testing and training purposes. The original article I saw on Saturday is here. Interestingly enough, Danger Room carried an article yesterday about the QF-4's recently-tested ability to fire missiles. As the Danger Room writers point out:

    Could this become more than a mere experiment? Well, the idea of attacking enemy air defenses with a drone seems like a life-saver. Doing it with a QF-4 drone sounds like a money-saver, too. Those HARM missiles cost over $300,000 each. If you have four of them on a QF-4, the whole package comes out to $2 million or so. That's a small fraction of a [MQ-9 Reaper attack drone]'s price tag [of about $13M per aircraft].

    Could this be a new lease on combat life for some of these beautiful aircraft, which remain in the active inventories of a number of countries? If so, I believe it would be welcomed by many.

    I think I've talked previously on this blog about the Boston classic More than a Feeling, but even if I didn't, it's a great song. In a recent Facebook survey of twenty-five random facts, Mrs. Mike Nelson noted that she could listen to this song on repeat forever - not a bad idea if you ask me, and it's even been covered by an air band on Scrubs. Well, do you remember the 1990's pop group No Mercy? I learned yesterday that they actually covered More than a Feeling, too! Behold!



    Not bad at all.

    Alright, folks, today's a big day and I need to make it a productive one. One final note: I saw Mormon Buddha and his beautiful family for the first time in nearly two years (wow) last night, and it was truly excellent. If you're reading this, dude: thanks for such an awesome evening. With that, I bid you all a good Tuesday. Be sure to check in tomorrow for my latest submission to my parallel writing endeavour.
  • Fly Report: 27th January 2009

    Good morning. Saith Brooklyn: "I'm a very selective extrovert."

    It's 8° Centigrade and fair in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 24° Fahrenheit with partial clouds.

    A barrel of oil is trading at $44.84. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 8116.03. The exchange rate is $1.40 for £1, or £0.72 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 Deuteronomy 3. The Fly is currently reading the U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual, FM 3-24/MCWP 3-33.5.

    Consecutive days without CCG: 98

    I've known her since, since she was a little girl with Spanish eyes.

    26 January 2009

    Stuff Fly Wants: January 2009

    Field Gear
  • British special forces style rucksack (available at Silverman's in London, item number 35116) - £89.99
  • British SAS smock (available at Silverman's in London, item number 22001) - £90.00
  • British Desert DPM trousers and shirt
  • MARPAT Desert Utilities - $67.90
  • Six Color Desert Utilities - $39.90
  • Tiger Stripe Utilities - $39.90
  • Khaki Tru-Spec Tactical Response Uniform trousers (2) - $89.80
  • Sand Crye Precision R6 Field Pants - $105.00
  • UDT/SEAL Team Swimmer Trunks (2) - $71.90
  • Multicam Hunting Shirt - $27.95
  • U.S. Army ACU tan sweat-wicking uniform T-shirts (3)
  • Under Armour Cold Gear
  • Carhartt Double Front Logger Dungarees (2) - $93.00
  • 5.11 Tactical Polos (3) - $119.97
  • Rubbermaid 48 Gallon ActionPackers (2) - $69.99
  • Molon Labe patch - $5.49
  • FN FAL

    Miscellaneous Clothing
  • Royal Marines T-Shirt - £10.96
  • More Cowbell T-Shirt - $17.99
  • Position Wanted: Pope T-Shirt - $20.00
  • RvB Sarge shirt - $16.95
  • RvB Sarge beanie - $15.00
  • Clan Cleland tartan kilt and kilt pin - $400.00-$700.00
  • Utilikilts Knee High Celtic Weave Socks - $10.00 NEW

    Household Items
  • Union Jack
  • Amazing Pasta Maker - $39.95 [click me]
  • Fouled Anchor lapel pin - $3.00
  • Walther PPK
  • Orkney satellite map
  • Britain and Ireland Map - $10.99
  • Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East Map - $10.99
  • Roman Mainz Gladius
  • The Maxim Coffin Coffee Table - $4135.00
  • Stikfas Assault Team - $22.99 (Amazon price $20.99)
  • Stikfas Alpha Male Legionnaire - $12.67 NEW
  • Pawleys Island Tri-Beam Hammock Stand - $140.00
  • Pawleys Island Beach Quilted Hammock - $222.00 (Amazon price $184.36)
  • Discipline poster - $19.95
  • Sangean ANT-60 Short Wave Antenna - $17.95 NEW
  • book case

    Books
  • Travels of ibn Battutah - $18.00
  • Bravo Two Zero by Andy McNab - $7.99
  • Contact Zero by David Wolstencroft - $7.99
  • New Deal or Raw Deal?: How FDR's Economic Legacy has Damaged America by Burton Fulsom, Jr. - $27.00 (Amazon price $17.82)
  • Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning by Jonah Goldberg - $27.95 (Amazon price $18.45)
  • Passport to World Band Radio, 2009 Edition by Lawrence Magne - $22.95 (Amazon price $15.61) NEW

    Entertainment
  • MI-5 Volume 6 - $79.98 (Amazon price $71.99) NEW
  • Best of Chris Isaak (CD & DVD) - $24.98 (Amazon price $22.99)
  • James Bond Ultimate Collection - Volumes 1, 2, 3, and 4 - $359.92 (Amazon price $234.52)
  • 24 - Seasons 1, 2, 3, and 4 - $269.92 (Amazon price $154.53)
  • Space Above and Beyond - Complete Series - $41.99 (Amazon price $36.98)
  • Reno 911! - Season 2 - $39.98 (Amazon price $31.99)
  • Kids in the Hall - Seasons 1, 2, 3, and 4 - $179.90 (Amazon price $155.98)
  • Gladiator Extended Edition - $39.98 (Amazon price $29.99)
  • Apocalypse Now Redux
  • Gattaca - $14.94 (Amazon price $10.99)
  • Mars Attacks! - $9.98
  • Switchfoot - Nothing is Sound - $18.99 (Amazon price $13.99)
  • Switchfoot - The Legend of Chin - $11.98
  • Stephanie Schneiderman - Live at Kung Fu Bakery - $15.98
  • Mystical Chants of Carmel by the Carmelite Monks - $18.95
  • Fly Report: 26th January 2009

    Good morning. I hear Fort Wayne is the Brussels of the Midwest.

    It's 7° Centigrade and partly cloudy in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 7° Fahrenheit with snow.

    A barrel of oil is trading at $46.92 - uh, oh. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 8205.16. The exchange rate is $1.36 for £1, or £0.73 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 Deuteronomy 3. The Fly is currently reading the U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual, FM 3-24/MCWP 3-33.5.

    As long as the night is calling blue and black, oh yeah yeah yeah.

    23 January 2009

    AMF: Models and Not Models

    It's been an interesting couple of days.

    On Tuesday evening, over at the family homestead, I was playing around on Facebook and got a friend request from a girl who I went to high school with. We were in French class together for two years, she was exceptionally shy and quiet, and I think I talked to her a grand total of one single solitary day. As fate and irony would have it, I was flirting with her that day. Yeah, I know. "The Fly, flirting with a girl? I would have never guessed something so critically obvious!" Well, friends, it's true. Anyway, a day or two later, her friend came to me and told me that the girl, whose name from here forward shall be Enigmata, came to me and told me that Enigmata really liked me. Being sixteen, I was, of course, freaked out and never talked to her again. She ended up dating this guy in my neighborhood who was my age and a total toolbag, and although I'd occasionally wonder whatever happened to her, I didn't ever wonder for that long before my mind strayed to more interesting and important topics, like Cheetos or Martin Van Buren.

    Anyway, I get this friend request, and the picture of the girl is totally smoking hot. Like, unrecognizably hot - I remembered her as being an almost unhealthily slim girl with a butterface. The girl in the picture looked quite a bit different - as in, cosmetic surgery different. However, being the amicable and curious guy that I am, I got to talking to her through private messages. As it turns out, she was discovered by a modeling scout, has lived in Japan and Naples, is divorced from a Japanese man and has two kids, one of whom resides with her in [College City]. She has a degree in criminal justice, and still travels regularly to do modeling work. I think that there may be some more. Very surprising, but good for her, right?

    Well, when I dug deeper into her Facebook profile, I found additional pictures, including this one. After consulting with my fact checker on all things, Mighty Mo, I discovered the peculiar truth: that the profile/"modeling" pictures that she posted are, indeed, images of other people (theoretically real models). I immediately recognized the girl in the green top in the above picture - she's precisely who I remember from French class. Oh, yeah, and did I mention that she wants to have dinner next Friday night?

    On the flipside, I also found a girl whom I knew quite well growing up, from kindergarten through graduation, whom we'll call Command Post for the sake of this post. I sent her a message to confirm that she was the same person I remembered, as she looked a bit thinner and a lot blonder than I remembered her being. As it turned out, it was the same person, and once I could look at her profile, I saw that she had a couple of websites - and actually is a model. How strange is that turn of events for the course of about forty-eight hours?

    Beyond that, I had drinks with my cousin last night, and saw my other cousin who was over at his house. I wouldn't have guessed when I left for Zoo Station or Van Diemen's Station that I'd end up hanging out with those guys, but they both seem to have turned out pretty well. Today I'm having lunch with my Islamic history professor, and Miss Tina, and who knows what else.

    I miss my S350 and FR200. I'm looking forward to listening to them when I get back to Van Diemen's Station. On a related note, I looked up crystal radio yesterday. When I was in college, one of my friends gave me a MiniLab Crystal Radio kit as a gift, and I spent an afternoon assembling it. Mine wasn't anywhere near as good as the one on the box, and it only picked up one station, but I was still amazed that you could do something like that. I think I might send one to Mighty Mo and/or Father Time - Mighty Mo because it would be a good diversion for her and Man Toy, and Father Time because he's been a radio enthusiast since his college days in the early twenties or so. He probably built a ton of them out of old razor blades, chalk, Wrigley's chewing gum, and Lucky Strike cigarette butts that he got in his K-ration packs.

    I've added two new blogs to the buddy blogroll: Guns and Eyeshadow and Opened Window. Go check them out and leave some positive comments.

    Right then, I probably ought to get working on a few things before I leave the house. Have a great day, folks, and check back soon.

    Fly Report: 23rd January 2009

    Good morning. If heaven and hell decide that they both are satisfied...

    It's 5° Centigrade and partly cloudy in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 28° Fahrenheit with light snow.

    A barrel of oil is trading at $42.13. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 7960.00. The exchange rate is $1.38 for £1, or £0.72 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 Deuteronomy 3. The Fly is currently reading the U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual, FM 3-24/MCWP 3-33.5.

    Everything's just fine... Just fine.

    22 January 2009

    In a Little While...

    ... Surely you'll be mine. In the mean time, here are some fun links to get you through the day.

  • Five Recession-Proof Careers
  • 10 Female 80s Cartoons That Ushered Us Into Manhood
  • History Will Remember Bush Well by Marc A. Thiessen
  • Bush Was Right When It Mattered Most by Karl Rove

    I have another article about President Bush that I'll post when I find it. That's it for today. Vacation must go on!
  • Fly Report: 22nd January 2009

    Guten Morgen. Jawohl!

    It's 5° Centigrade and partly cloudy in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 48° Fahrenheit with afternoon snow and rain.

    A barrel of oil is trading at $42.12. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 8028.18. The exchange rate is $1.37 for £1, or £0.73 for $1.

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

    Today's scripture reading is Deuteronomy 3. The Fly is currently reading the U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual, FM 3-24/MCWP 3-33.5.

    Did I waste it?

    21 January 2009

    Random Wednesday Stuff

    From Harley: the ChainSAW. Awesome.

    For those of you who always thought that Storm Troopers were inept, this next video is for you.



    And finally, a video for my big sister, Mighty Mo: the Carlton Dance!



    That's it for today. Check back soon.

    Fly Report: 21st January 2009

    Good morning. Those aren't muskets!

    It's 3° Centigrade and partly cloudy in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 53° Fahrenheit with sunshine.

    A barrel of oil is trading at $40.77. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 7975.14. The exchange rate is $1.40 for £1, or £0.71 for $1.

    Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is lame and unrelated to astronomy. The picture at the Orkneyjar Photoblog is not new.

    Today's scripture reading is Deuteronomy 3. The Fly is currently reading the U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual, FM 3-24/MCWP 3-33.5.

    It's a bitter pill I swallow here, to be rent from one so dear.

    20 January 2009

    Regeneration

    I've been home for a few days now, only a little of which has actually been spent in Hometown. So far, most of it has been spent at the family retreat near the/ocean.



    There's no mobile phone service here, so I'm in a unique position of only being available by Internet, which is far easier to limit. It's not that I don't want to be reachable, there's just a certain calmness to eliminating that one element of communication. At any rate, aside from studying some Arabic, I haven't done much in the last couple of days, and haven't really felt the need to. I still feel as if I'm transitioning into this vacation, even though it's already in full swing. At the same time, I feel as if it's almost over, even though it's really just beginning. Odd feelings to have. We'll see how things go.

    I exchanged E-Mails with Brooklyn overnight, and she recommended that I look up the song "I'll Follow You Into the Dark" by Death Cab for Cutie. There's a great live acoustic performance of it here, but I'd like to share this cover by Kina Grannis. The song itself reminds me of the story of Orpheus and Eurydice from Greek mythology.



    That's it for today, folks. I hope everyone's well.

    Fly Report: 20th January 2009

    Good morning. Part of me died when I let you go.

    It's 3° Centigrade and partly cloudy in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 55° Fahrenheit with sunshine.

    A barrel of oil is trading at $37.52. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 8241.96. The exchange rate is $1.47 for £1, or £0.68 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 Deuteronomy 3. The Fly is currently reading the U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual, FM 3-24/MCWP 3-33.5.

    Tonight, thank God it's them instead of you.

    19 January 2009

    Fly Report: 19th January 2009

    Good morning. I French kissed Kelly Kapowski.

    It's 5° Centigrade and rainy in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 56° Fahrenheit with sunshine.

    A barrel of oil is trading at $38.32. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 8281.22. The exchange rate is $1.47 for £1, or £0.68 for $1.

    Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day is cool, although the constant attempts to prove the existence of non-existent life on Mars gets pretty tiresome. The picture at the Orkneyjar Photoblog is not new.

    Today's scripture reading is Deuteronomy 3. The Fly is currently reading the U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual, FM 3-24/MCWP 3-33.5.

    Put on your boots.

    16 January 2009

    AMF: Freezing Fly

    Okay, Van Diemen's Station, Old Dominion, has gotten to the point where it's cold enough for me to call it cold. I still prefer the cold to the heat, though. As I write this brief post, I'm wearing:

  • boxer shorts
  • pajama pants
  • warm-up pants
  • long-sleeved T-shirt
  • hooded sweatshirt
  • down vest

    I'm also sitting in my best heat-retaining chair (the Crypto King's old LoveSac with a fleece blanket and a saddle blanket wrapped around me. I'm still a bit cool, but I'll survive.

    So, here's the scoop: I'm going on holiday. For two weeks. To Hometown, and surrounding environs. I leave tomorrow. I can't friggin' wait, because I haven't taken anything more than a government-mandated three day weekend since July, and I haven't been home since April. This is going to be awesome. Blogging will probably be somewhat light while I'm home, as I'm going to make a real effort to take it easy and rest, in addition to seeing some folks. I should have a post up every few days, though, so be sure to check in periodically. Regular posting should resume during the first week of February.

    For now, I bid you all good day.
  • Fly Report: 16th January 2009

    Good morning. I wonder if real crime scenes have all of the bodily fluids that they always find on CSI.

    It's 7° Centigrade and partly cloudy in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 47° Fahrenheit with sunshine.

    A barrel of oil is trading at $38.65. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 8212.49. The exchange rate is $1.46 for £1, or £0.68 for $1.

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

    Today's scripture reading is Deuteronomy 2. The Fly is currently reading the U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual, FM 3-24/MCWP 3-33.5.

    I'm hanging on.

    15 January 2009

    Finally, Some Perspective on Gaza

    Note: Here's my latest submission for my parallel writing endeavour.

    Stephen Spielberg's 2005 film Munich introduced a new generation to the 1972 Munich Massacre and its aftermath. The massacre was the culmination of an invasion of the Munich Olympic Village by Palestinian terrorists, which ended mere hours later with the deaths of eleven Israeli athletes and coaches, as well as five of the eight terrorists. The games would eventually continue after a day's suspension. The massacre would lead the Israeli government to respond with Operations Spring of Youth and Wrath of God, which were depicted in the 2005 film.

    In 2004, I had occasion to meet the son of a European athlete who had competed in the 1972 Olympics. The athlete in question left Munich with a silver medal despite having been favored for gold. The final competition for the athlete in question fell on the day after the games' suspension, which apparently resulted in a change in the conditions for this particular event, that in turn resulted in victory for the competitors who won the gold medal, and silver for this particular athlete. I was silent, but aghast, when the son volunteered the reason for his father's inability to bring home the superior medal: instead of blaming the terrorists who engineered the tragedy, he essentially blamed "the Jews" for being taken hostage in the first place.

    Unfortunately, this sort of anti-Israeli (or possibly pro-Palestinian) bias is common across the world, and tends to manifest itself in subtle ways in many media outlets. This is not to say that many of the Arabs living in Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, or in a sort of de facto exile abroad are undeserving of sympathy; nor is it to say that Israel deserves a blanket amnesty from critical coverage in the media. However, one of the unfortunate results of the long and complex history of the situation is that media coverage of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict tends to be both biased and incomplete - when two or three thousand years of context amount to the equivalent of a graduate level thesis, the path of least resistance for an article of ten paragraphs or less tends to require that journalists leave out key historical details, leaving readers with opinions based on an incomplete narrative.

    The Israeli assault on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip has produced a great deal of fallout during the course of the last two and a half weeks. From worldwide demonstrations both critical and supportive of the Israeli action (and alleged Egyptian collusion), to Iranian clerics registering suicide bombers online, to the impact of an Israeli vessel and an "aid boat" carrying more protestors than relief supplies, the situation in Gaza has stirred the emotions of those on both sides of the issue while simultaneously rekindling debate on such topics as terrorism and proportionality of armed response to attacks.

    For their part, the members of the European Union have seemed somewhat disunited, or at least poorly coordinated, in their statements. While German Chancellor Angela Merkel has stated that the terror of Hamas cannot be accepted, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called for an immediate ceasefire, as French President Nicolas Sarkozy has approached Syrian President Bashar al Assad in an attempt to get him to coerce Hamas into backing down. To their credit, the Bush administration has endorsed a cessation of violence, but pointed out that any ceasefire must be reached based on policies that will lead to peace in the long term, not just a return to the constant barrage of terrorist violence that the Israelis are currently fighting to stop.

    Additional global responses to the conflict have been both tragic and fascinating to watch. In a barely-reported incident that evoked memories of the Iran Hostage Crisis, hundreds of Iranian demonstrators stormed a British diplomatic compound in Tehran in protest of perceived British support for the Israeli operation. In another insufficiently reported development, the Iranian government called for the use of oil supplies as a weapon to stop the Israeli operation. Not to be ignored where infidels were involved, al Qaeda deputy commander Ayman al Zawahiri released a statement blaming both Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and President-Elect Barack Obama for the Israeli operation (AP, CNN). In one of the more surprising developments of the last two weeks, increasingly Iran-friendly Venezuela has expelled the Israeli ambassador, and Israel has considered responding in kind (CNN, Jerusalem Post).

    Although terrorists rarely win battles on the ground, they frequently win major victories in public relations wars. One of the most stunning developments of this Israeli operation has been Israel's dominance of the information war - unprecedented for a sovereign state fighting a radical terrorist group. The attacks on Gaza commenced after months of planning, during which time Israel was able to maintain unprecedented operational security all the way up to the initial bombing, which came days before Hamas had expected due to successful Israeli deception operations. Although pro-Palestinian groups have made an effort to exploit such websites as the social networking giant Facebook in order to conduct fundraising operations, both the Israeli military and private citizens have used such websites as YouTube and Twitter as force multipliers in their information operations. This information war has even included Israeli mobile phone calls to Gazans urging them to leave their homes prior to air strikes on Hamas positions in neighboring buildings - a demonstration not only that Israeli intelligence can pinpoint clandestine Hamas positions, but also that they have the information necessary to avoid civilian casualties with pinpoint accuracy. Israelis have even waged online war against Hamas websites. This level of coordination is truly staggering, and thus far it has served Israel well as it continues to apply focused force to eviscerate Hamas' military capabilities.

    The Israeli efforts have been supplemented by a surprising number of pro-Israeli editorials from a handful of columnists, many of them writing for the Times of London. Two days after Israel's first air strikes began, the Times' published a column by foreign editor Richard Beeston titled Hamas has precipitated this confrontation.

    Ever since Hamas militants seized control of Gaza from the Palestinian Authority 18 months ago, a full-scale military confrontation with Israel had been inevitable.

    Hamas is committed ideologically to the destruction of the Jewish state and its replacement with an Islamic alternative over the full territory of the British Mandate of Palestine.

    [...]

    With the open support of Iran and Syria, the Islamic movement has smuggled arms into the strip and pioneered the use of homemade rockets to terrorise the quarter of a million Israelis living near Gaza. The latest target of Hamas rockets was Ashdod, Israel’s second-largest commercial port, 23 miles (35km) north of the Gaza Strip.

    Other Times headlines have included That's enough pointless outrage about Gaza, Israel acts because the world won't defend it, and No way forward while the Hamas hydra lives - all of which make a concerted effort to put the situation into its proper historical context. December 29th also saw a column in the Wall Street Journal entitled Palestinians Need Israel to Win. On December 30th, the Guardian published what may very well be the most sober, realistic opinion piece on the crisis, entitled What victimology does not account for by Carlo Strenger. A self-described outspoken critic of Israeli policies, Strenger writes:

    Abba Eban, Israel's dovish foreign minister for many years, coined the immortal saying "The Palestinians never miss a chance to miss a chance." Even though lives are lost almost every hour now, I ask the reader to bear with me for a brief excursion through history.

    Eban was right: Palestinians never miss a chance to miss a chance. They make every conceivable wrong decision. This does not constitute an excuse for Israel's policies, but it makes it impossible for Israeli governments to take risks for peace. Every government is primarily responsible for its citizens' security, and Israel is no exception. So far, Palestinians have forced Israeli governments into hardline positions by their policies.

    Strenger goes on to make an extremely fair, even-handed observation:

    Let me be very clear: I think that Israel needs to let go of the West Bank as soon as possible, and I believe that the population of Gaza must be given the opportunity to live in peace, prosperity, liberty and dignity. But how on earth can the Israeli electorate be convinced to subscribe to this idea, as long as Hamas pushes every button of Israeli fears about its existence? How are we to open the borders, when Hamas cares more about smuggling in materials for rockets than medication?

    I have fought for, and will continue to argue, for broadminded Israeli policies. I am impatiently waiting for the moment in which there will be a Palestinian state and in which no Palestinian child will have to see an Israeli soldier in his or her lifetime. But the Palestinian decision-making process is making this very difficult, if not impossible.

    Beyond simply joining the throng of unexpectedly fair and even-handed editorials about the crisis, Strenger touches on an important factor in the conflict between the two sides: while even most Israelis now consider a two-state solution to be the only viable course for peace between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs, the simple truth of the matter is that when Israel has withdrawn unilaterally from territory it has occupied (southern Lebanon in 2000 and the Gaza Strip in 2005), these withdrawals have invariably resulted in aggressive and perpetual attacks from Hezbollah and Hamas, respectively.

    Meanwhile, as various world leaders and journalists decry Israel's occupation and settlement of the West Bank, the Golan Heights, and East Jerusalem, the fact that these areas remain peaceful while unoccupied Gaza serves as little more than a humanitarian disaster area whose sole export is rocket fire leaves little justification for Israeli disengagement. In point of fact, as controversial as the continued occupation of these areas may be, if one assumes based upon historical precedent that leaving the West Bank and East Jerusalem would only result in two additional staging areas for firing rockets, it becomes easy to see why the only morally and politically defensible policy is continued occupation - the Israeli government, imperfect but ultimately responsible, saves both Israeli and Palestinian lives by continuing its assertive security operations in the occupied territories. Whether one advocates a one-state or two-state solution, all should be able to agree that it is unreasonable to expect any sovereign nation to cede territory with the expectation that such a move would result in a clear and present danger to its citizens. It appears that many columnists seem to understand that, even if only for this specific situation.

    Of course, this even-handed coverage of the Gaza conflict is not universal. The BBC, ever ready to make victims of those whom they perceive to be oppressed, ran a piece last Monday entitled Gaza conflict: Who is a civilian? - an opportunity to complain about moral ambiguity while retracing the line of perceived ills committed by Israel. The aforementioned Times, deserving credit for at least offering a balance of pro- and anti-Israel columns, ran a piece by William Sieghart entitled We must adjust our distorted image of Hamas in which he wrote, among other things:

    Who or what is Hamas, the movement that Ehud Barak, the Israeli Defence Minister, would like to wipe out as though it were a virus? Why did it win the Palestinian elections and why does it allow rockets to be fired into Israel? The story of Hamas over the past three years reveals how the Israeli, US and UK governments' misunderstanding of this Islamist movement has led us to the brutal and desperate situation that we are in now.

    The story begins nearly three years ago when Change and Reform - Hamas's political party - unexpectedly won the first free and fair elections in the Arab world, on a platform of ending endemic corruption and improving the almost non-existent public services in Gaza and the West Bank. Against a divided opposition this ostensibly religious party impressed the predominantly secular community to win with 42 per cent of the vote.

    Palestinians did not vote for Hamas because it was dedicated to the destruction of the state of Israel or because it had been responsible for waves of suicide bombings that had killed Israeli citizens. They voted for Hamas because they thought that Fatah, the party of the rejected Government, had failed them. Despite renouncing violence and recognising the state of Israel Fatah had not achieved a Palestinian state. It is crucial to know this to understand the supposed rejectionist position of Hamas. It won't recognise Israel or renounce the right to resist until it is sure of the world's commitment to a just solution to the Palestinian issue.

    Despite Sieghart's continued assertions that Hamas leaders were good, educated, secular people whose only goal was the establishment of a Palestinian state, a comment from a reader in London served as a brief and effective counter to Sieghert's claims:

    I have visited West Bank and Gaza and have studied Hamas extensively. Clearly this writer has no idea what they stand for. They are a rejectionist movement that denies the right of Israel to exist. Irrespective of their good works on the ground their political aims are anathema to the peace process.

    Another misguided article, this one from the Guardian, made a logical mistake that is common among British and Irish pundits when discussing terrorism. In a 5th January column, Columnist Mick Fealty's tagline reads: "If Northern Ireland has any lesson for Gaza, it is that finally both sides have to choose a political rather than a military solution." Unfortunately for Fealty, beyond ignoring the crucial role that British military operations played in the eventual peace deal in Northern Ireland, the Northern Irish conflict has no lessons for Gaza, as I have discussed previously. The comparison made by Fealty and other British- and Irish-based terrorism commentators breaks down immediately upon recognizing that the Provisional IRA was never as radical as Hamas. One need look no further than Hamas' stated goal of the total destruction of the state of Israel. Had the Provos indiscriminately targeted unarmed civilians (within the borders of England proper, not Ulster) with constant rocket fire for no other reason than they were British, Fealty might have a point. The comparison crumbles further with the realization that the Provos never called for the total destruction of England, and never called for England to be replaced with a pure Irish state.

    The fact of the matter is that such historically and culturally ignorant columns as those written by William Sieghart and Mick Fealty are disconcerting and ultimately counter-productive, particularly after Western countries have suffered from and fought side by side against terrorists in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere who make European terror groups like the Provisional IRA, ETA, and Baader-Meinhof look like small potatoes. However, poorly conceived articles such as these seem to be in the minority. This is fortunate, for as Hamas terrorists state that Israeli children are legitimate targets (Guardian, Times) and violate Israeli humanitarian ceasefires (CNN, Times), Israel's information warriors will need all the help they can get. Still, the fact that so many columnists are providing a rational perspective on the situation - realistic about Israel, but justifiably more critical of Hamas - is a welcome change from the wishy-washy coverage that so many media consumers have come to expect.

    For more information on the ancient and modern historical context of the present conflict in Gaza, I highly recommend Why They Fight: The Story of the Arab/Israeli Conflict, an audio recording by talk show host Michael Medved.

    Fly Report: 15th January 2009

    Good morning. I love it when my days are greatly successful.

    It's 8° Centigrade and rainy in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 41° Fahrenheit with partial clouds.

    A barrel of oil is trading at $39.54. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 8200.14. The exchange rate is $1.46 for £1, or £0.68 for $1.

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

    Today's scripture reading is Deuteronomy 2. The Fly is currently reading the U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual, FM 3-24/MCWP 3-33.5.

    You're dangerous, 'cause you're honest.

    14 January 2009

    Stuff So Far

    Most of the rest of my stuff arrived today - four packages. At this point, all I'm waiting on is the Gina Elise Pin-Up Calendar and the Molon Labe patch, neither of which have shipped to the best of my knowledge. On display to the right is a picture of all of the loot that's been delivered thus far.

    I have a few things to get accomplished tonight, and tomorrow's post is going to be the article that I intended to post today, but I wanted to give you all a quick post for the evening. Tonight's satellite image is Thermopylae - yes, that Thermopylae - and if you're a fan of guy humor and your name isn't Mrs. Mike Nelson, you might enjoy this video.

    Overall, today's been fairly productive, and I intend to finish it out that way as well. There are a lot of things to get done by the end of the week, and the reason for that will be revealed with time. Have a great evening, folks.

    The Fly's Economic Stimulus Package

    Last night, I read an E-Mail about veterans and their sacrifices that was sent to me by Sam-Wise - he's a bit forward-happy, but most of what he sends is worth looking at. For some reason, it got me thinking about the era in which the so-called "Greatest Generation" lived. These were the kids who grew up during the Great Depression, won World War II, and were largely responsible as the adults of the 1940's, 1950's, and 1960's for turning out country into what it's become today. At the risk of offending Father Time, who's one of the better representatives of his generation, the "Baby Boomers" who were the children of the Greatest Generation had a decidedly poorer track record overall.

    I was taught in high school that President Roosevelt - Franklin, not Theodore - pulled the United States out of the Great Depression through unprecedented deficit spending. I learned that it was this experimental approach that eventually pulled America out of the most dire of economic straits. It wasn't until after I graduated that I started learning the truth, as evidenced in this podcast from the Heritage Foundation and this book: that FDR was a corrupt and crooked communist in everything but name, and that the so-called "New Deal" was a spectacular and unmitigated failure.

    It's difficult for me to watch today as our so-called leaders so colossally botch every single last aspect of their job of managing the complex and amazing machine that is the United States, but I get equally frustrated when I learn of past mistakes of the same type. As I've learned more about just how negligent - criminal, really - FDR and his cronies were in their management of this country during the horror that was his prolonged administration, I've become frustrated beyond my capacity to describe it: not quite despondent, but not far off.

    Where am I going with all of this? Here's the thing: as I read that E-Mail from Sam-Wise, and it talked about the amazing sacrifices that the Greatest Generation made, I wondered to myself: What would have happened if it had been my generation, many of whom have severe behavioral and personality problems resulting from our lack of any comprehension of true want or need, who had been called upon to do what our grandparents or great-grandparents did? What about the Baby Boomers? What if the generation that led us to give up in Vietnam had been called upon to defeat fascism? Could it be that the deprivation that this generation suffered under the chronic negligence and corruption of FDR directly contributed not only to their work ethic and unprecedented success during the 1950's and 1960's, but also to the astonishing double-win of World War II?

    To put it in perspective, a quote from the last chapter of Herodotus about the deprivation of the Persians and how it influenced their culture is appropriate. Keep in mind that this was written no later than the 420's BC.

    It was the grandfather of the Artayctes, one Artembares by name, who suggested to the Persians a proposal which they readily embraced, and thus urged upon Cyrus:- "Since Jove," they said, "has overthrown Astyages, and given the rule to the Persians, and to thee chiefly, O Cyrus! come now, let us quit this land wherein we dwell - for it is a scant land and a rugged - and let us choose ourselves some other better country. Many such lie around us, some nearer, some further off: if we take one of these, men will admire us far more than they do now. Who that had the power would not so act? And when shall we have a fairer time than now, when we are lords of so many nations, and rule all Asia?" Then Cyrus, who did not greatly esteem the counsel, told them, - "they might do so, if they liked - but he warned them not to expect in that case to continue rulers, but to prepare for being ruled by others - soft countries gave birth to soft men - there was no region which produced very delightful fruits, and at the same time men of a warlike spirit." So the Persians departed with altered minds, confessing that Cyrus was wiser than they; and chose rather to dwell in a churlish land, and exercise lordship, than to cultivate plains, and be the slaves of others.
    - Herodotus 9.122

    It isn't tough to consider the impact that the deprived upbringing of young people in the 1930's had on economics in successive decades. It's also fairly easy to figure through the likely impact that the Depression had on subsequent social developments. However, despite having considered (and been taught) about the impact of the Depression on the Germans in World War II, I'd never considered what impact the Depression had on the American ability and resolve to win the war vis a vis the mindset of young men serving in the military and young women working in the factories. Any of you who are reading this are more than welcome to post your thoughts.

    * * *

    So, now that I've sort of passively written about the virtue of deprivation, I'm going to talk about my own semi-shallow pursuit of pointless material wealth. However, I sleep on a Cabela's Outfitter XL cot, my home furnishings are half cheap and half donated, and I don't use my heat, so I'd say that I make a pretty good effort at compensating. Moving right along...

    When I wrote this post, I was watching the Sports Night 10th Anniversary boxed set, which includes less cast/crew commentary than I had originally expected. The set includes bonus discs for both seasons, though, so I'm looking forward to breaking those out and checking out the content. Hopefully, it will be worth the amount of money that I've now spent on this show since 2005: roughly $160.00 as it now stands, with two copies of the original box set, and now the enhanced box set that actually has some special features in it.

    So far, out of the... Uh... Okay, let me check. Okay, so between Wednesday and Sunday, I ordered products from seven different sources, eight if you count that third party vendor through Amazon. One of those orders (the Amazon one) got turned into two shipments, so I've been expecting a total of eight shipments. One arrived Saturday, and one arrived yesterday, completing my order from Amazon. So... Okay, so I'm just going to make a list at this point.

  • From Amazon: Stikfas Safari woman and jungle cat, hockey player, and assault team (package one, delivered Saturday); Sports Night 10th Anniversary boxed set, Quantum of Solace (and other short stories) by Ian Fleming (package two, delivered yesterday) complete
  • From the Rooster Teeth store: Sarge beanie and Sarge shirt shipped
  • From Tad Gear: Molon Labe patch back ordered
  • Hot for Words 2009 calendar shipped
  • Chuck Buy More polo shirt and two Nerd Herd lanyards shipped
  • Gina Elise's Pin-Ups for Vets 2009 calendar no clue
  • Ranger Up My Carbon Footprint T-shirt no clue

    If you're still even reading this, you'll note that two of those read no clue. I received a notice through Yahoo! (which means that it was the shirt, I think) that said something had been shipped from Durham, North Carolina via USPS, but it didn't say what or from whom. How's that for lousy customer service? So I guess it's likely that I haven't gotten a shipping confirmation for that calendar yet, but that the non-descriptive E-Mail was from Ranger Up. So, out of a total of eight packages, two have been delivered, four are identified and en route, one is unidentified and en route, and one probably hasn't shipped yet. Believe it or not, writing and thinking through this has actually been interesting and envigorating for me - I love coordinating and organizing stuff like this, as silly as that may sound.

    I hope the rest of it arrives this week. Hmmmmm.

    I've also added a few items to the Stuff Fly Wants list, which will be published in a week or two. There are a number of changes, based partly on my recent shopping spree and partly on newly available products. Here's what I've added.

  • Sangean ANT-60 Short Wave Antenna - $17.95
  • Passport to World Band Radio, 2009 Edition by Lawrence Magne - $22.95 (Amazon price $15.61)
  • MI-5 Volume 6 - $79.98 (Amazon price $71.99)

    I'll start considering the purchase of these items once February rolls around, and then I'm probably all set for stuff and spending money for the next few months.

    * * *

    Today's Satellite Image: site of the Pharos of Alexandria, the ancient world's most famous lighthouse (more information here)
    Today's Video: Cast of Frasier parodies Star Trek: Voyager with Kate Mulgrew



    This post is more than sufficient, and highly indicative of my anal retentive and excessively analytical personality. Have a great Wednesday. Check back tomorrow.
  • Fly Report: 14th January 2009

    Good morning. Saith Brooklyn: "I could be a lesbian until it was my turn."

    It's 0° Centigrade and partly cloudy in Kirkwall. In Cody, the forecast calls for a high of 38° Fahrenheit with afternoon snow.

    A barrel of oil is trading at $40.89. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 8448.56. The exchange rate is $1.45 for £1, or £0.69 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 Deuteronomy 1. The Fly is currently reading the U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual, FM 3-24/MCWP 3-33.5.

    Sweetheart, you're so cruel.

    13 January 2009

    Ten Thousand Repetitions

    There were plenty of most excellent distractions last night, and all of the days this week will be abnormally timed. I did a quick scan of the news yesterday, and came up with three stories worth bullet pointing, and another from '05 that I may have posted before but will post again nonetheless.

  • Iran uses front companies to flout US export ban
  • Somali Pirate's Body Washes Ashore With $153,000 - Oh, to be the wanker who found that body. Do any of you know what I could do with that kind of money?
  • Waiter Charged Over Arabic Chant at Jewish Wedding (unintentionally, but it's still worth the read for your entertainment)
  • In Libya, pages fade in once-touted Green Book - A piece on how Colonel Qaddhafi's "Green Book", which I've spoken of on previous occasions, hasn't turned out to be all he claimed of it.

    Today's video is the conclusion of Stikfas: War and Pieces



    Today's satellite image is the Hawthorne Army Depot, which is used by the Marine Corps and other groups for various types of training (in addition to storing munitions). Pictures of the Marines training at Hawthorne in early 2008 can be seen here.

    So far, from all the stuff that I've ordered, I've only received the Stikfas - surprising, since when I ordered my first set back in '07, they took for-freakin'-ever to arrive. I've gotten notices that a lot of it has been shipped, and a notice that my Molon Labe patch is on back order. Nothing arrived yesterday, so I assume that all of the stuff that's shipped should start absolutely crashing on the rental office at my apartment complex starting today. Good times.

    Okay, the last thing for today is a new blog project that I was recruited into by the Crypto King, AKA "Chops" apparently. I forget where he saw it, but he saw something where a guy did ten thousand repetitions of a particular skill - knife-drawing, I think - over the course of 2007, and then repeated it over the course of 2008. So we talked about it, he started an impromptu blog, and I got involved. Instead of drawing knives like him, I'm going to be studying Arabic in one way shape or form. Last night while I was soaking my feet, I was flipping through Arabic flash cards. I recognized and could read some of the stuff on the cards, but I think I've only ever seen some of those flash cards two or three times, one of those times being when they were made in the first place (which is probably pushing at least six months at this point). The words shouldn't be too tough to pick up as long as I do the flash cards repeatedly - say, fifty a night or so. I need to make some more of them, but I think the relevant point here is that the accountability of being involved in a blog about it (and having the Crypto King bugging me online) should be a good catalyst to actually get me to study. You can go check the blog out here. I probably won't update it as often as I update TSTF, but check back there every few days to check on our progress. It sounds like he's going to try to recruit some other guys, too. Will this be the next Internet blog sensation? We'll see.

    Alright, folks, check back in tomorrow for my latest submission to the parallel writing endeavour. For now, have a great day!