First?

A Holiday DeBrief sounds like a good time.

Of course, in my case it would be a Holiday DeBoxer.

Unless I'm feelin' saucy, then it would be a Holiday DeNada.

bc

First? :-)

Dangit, a tie!! Let's go to the replay...

:-)

And of course, now we have to watch the NFL dance around the fact that they'd already signed "exclusive" contracts with stations in Boston, NYC and Manchester (gotta keep the candidates current on sports!)...

Dammit, dammit, dammit...

CNN -- Ex-Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has died, according to media reports. Bhutto's husband said she was shot at a rally where a suicide bomber detonated, killing several of her supporters.

This is going to be major, major trouble, Scotty. And as bad as it is, I doubt anyone can say they are surprised in the slightest.

Breaking news on major TV networks: Benazir Bhutto assassinated in Ralwapindi, Pakistan. Forget the barley.

dammit, indeed

Subdued morning greetings boodle.

From all accounts Bhutto's regime was as corrupt as they get, and her personal wealth was built on that corruption, but it took great physical courage for her to go back to Pakistan. I will now go ride the Pinellas Trail with Mr. F and contemplate how important physical courage is in a presidential candidate. (Seems like McCain rises to the top there, too bad I disagree with him on almost everything but torture and immigration.)

The worldwide shortage of barley and hops is affecting beer prices. Since I am not an avid beer drinker this has little effect on me, but others may be more concerned.

The Christmas bills are beginning to roll in and I am loathe to open them. Past experience suggests that that doesn't make them go away.

No, 'Mudge, not any kind of surprise at all, unfortunately... *SIGHHHH*

In case you missed this important news regarding Pakistan on Christmas Eve:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/24/world/asia/24military.html

U.S. Officials See Waste in Billions Sent to Pakistan

By DAVID ROHDE, CARLOTTA GALL, ERIC SCHMITT and DAVID E. SANGER
Published: December 24, 2007

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- After the United States has spent more than $5 billion in a largely failed effort to bolster the Pakistani military effort against Al Qaeda and the Taliban, some American officials now acknowledge that there were too few controls over the money. The strategy to improve the Pakistani military, they said, needs to be completely revamped.

In interviews in Islamabad and Washington, Bush administration and military officials said they believed that much of the American money was not making its way to frontline Pakistani units. **Money has been diverted to help finance weapons systems designed to counter India**, not Al Qaeda or the Taliban, the officials said, adding that the United States has paid tens of millions of dollars in inflated Pakistani reimbursement claims for fuel, ammunition and other costs. ...

The $5 billion was provided through a program known as Coalition Support Funds, which reimburses Pakistan for conducting military operations to fight terrorism. Under a separate program, Pakistan receives $300 million per year in traditional American military financing that pays for equipment and training.

yello, according to the Drudge Report (I always like to cite highly reliable news sources), the owner of the Bunny Ranch (ranch of ill repute)(apologies to Padouk and upstanding, morally correct lagomorphs everywhere) AND his girls are all supporting your man Ron Paul. I'm sure the good doctor is thrilled to be getting that all-important hooker demographic.

No surprise in BB's assassination, the muslim extremists said they would doit at all cost when she came back.
Barley is an important grain for the English system of measurement. One pound is customary the weight of 7000 barleycorn i.e. 7000 grains. Many definitions of an inch were used, but a most common one was the lenght of 3 barleycorn. So the English system of measurement is based on barley for both mass and distance.

Christmas gifts are the least of it. I am sometimes struck by how much of my income goes for things that, as a single man, I wouldn't much care about. Life insurance immediately comes to mind, followed quickly by customized window blinds and integrated water filters.

Indeed, if it weren't for that whole "family" business I certainly would not be living in a four bedroom house in the suburbs. I would be living in a studio apartment with a massive sound system and an unusually large aquarium. You know, like I was circa 1987. The price of college would be an abstract statistic, like the exchange rate of the Yen.

But I became a family man and sole paycheck provider. I would never imply that I am the only one who works, for my wife has more than a full time job dealing with our demanding offspring, as well as keeping track of those pesky little details like mortgage payments. She is management. I am labor.

And it works pretty well except, now and then, when I am forced to remind all those who live in my household that my job is not just an annoying little hobby. It is the financial underpinning of the luxurious lifestyle, what with *two* televisions and all, to which they have grown accustomed.

Yet, despite the occasional shocking, nay criminal, lack of appreciation for the copious fruits of my labor, I know that on some level they understand the truth. And even if they don't, I do.

So each morning I get up early, take the dog out, feed the bunnies, and slip quietly away. I accept my responsibilities, and take them seriously. Except, now and then, purely to maximize my overall productivity, I indulge in a few, modest, distractions.

Like this.

I survived the 2nd day of Christmas, only 10 more to go! Let me see, *checking calendar for parties and social events*, Hmm..., I'm free tonight, but Friday check, Saturday check, Sunday check, New Years Eve check, and that brings me to, what? a little over half way through?

today sounds like a good day for a diet!

Wow, that dirty-word filter is fussy. One little surfer term and the whole thing gets held for review.

How long until we begin to hear rumors of sending troops to Pakistan? Sniper fire was reported at a rally for a rival politico in Rawahlpindi (sp?).

Congratulations on not calling bunnies rodents, Mr. Erudition Curmudgeon.

Rumor has it that the Giants plan to enhance their chances for victory by using Navajo codetalkers to send in the defensive signals.

The apparent murder of Bhutto is, obviously, very bad news. Instability in Pakistan, more than any other country in the region, scares me because of its importance to suppressing the Taliban, its cold war with India, and those pesky, pesky nuclear weapons.

One of the nicknames for Bhutto was "a kleptocrat in an Hermès scarf." A picture of her in better times here:

http://dowdreport.blogspot.com/search/label/pakistan

Of course, picking the right guy or gal in that region of the world is a troublesome task. Mushy is no winner either.

Ron Paul has also been photographed in the company of known white supremacists. On Meet The Press he suggested that a more market based approach in the 1800s would have eliminated the need for that pesky campaign of Northern Aggression. How he mentally reconciles the implicit federal interference that would have been required with his state rights views was left to the imagination of the viewer.

Ron Paul has won the endorsement of Andrew Sullivan and is occasionally championed by George Will, both men whose intellectual heft I admire, if not always agree with.

And never mind that funny money stuff, Pop Socket...

:-)

Back to barley: While barley is not one of the explicit topics, the definitive work on cereal grains is THE STAFFS OF LIFE by E. J. Kahn Jr. which ran in multiple parts in the New Yorker in the early 80s. I only read the article on potatoes when it first appeared, but it was quite exhaustive. Its section on the Potato Famine ignited my low-level ire at the genocidal indifference of England to the plight of my ancestors.

The book is out of print and the HoCo library does not have a copy, but the NYT review is available online:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B05E1D61338F937A25757C0A963948260

In some ways the book may be a precursor to our current boodle-fueled obsession with the food chain.

In "Mushroom", a book I haven't gotten around to re-reading lately, one of the lighter sub-plots is the Keystone Kops attempts by Pakistani "intelligence" agents to steal nuclear secrets. If an entire nation can be said to suffer from a Napoleon Complex, Pakistan is it. And we know how dangerous Napoleon turned out.

Oh come now, I'm sure that nice Dr. Paul was just helping the white supremacists get a better deal on some "Made in U.S.A." bed sheets! After all, can a man who wants to do away with the Department of Education, the Department of Energy, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Emergency Management Administration, the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Federal Reserve Board be all bad?

I'm writing a piece that touches on parallels between 1968 and 2008 and what happened in pakistan is a tragic echo.

A burst of spending, here. Even a (relatively cheap)HD DVD player, plus a couple of disks to see if it works. Then there were the bathrooms' cheap recessed-in-the-wall medicine cabinets. I don't think anyone installs them in new houses any more, but one of the big hardware stores was selling nice stainless steel ones, so handsome that maybe I can put off replacing sinks and wallpaper for another half-decade.

Bhutto knew the risks, and I have to admire her for not fleeing Pakistan after the bus bombing. India survived a number of assassinations, but I wonder about Pakistan.

1968? I'm reminded of "MacBird!", a 1967 play.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/04/AR2006090400993.html

cowabunga
surfs up
hang ten
long board
carve
wipe out
hodad

Just testing. Am I getting warm, RD?

In 1968, "Oliver!" won the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director, beating out "The Lion in Winter" Zeffirelli's "Romeo and Juliet" and "2001 A Space Odyssey" (which was not even nominated for Best Picture). These events, linked with the election of Richard Nixon marked a sharp downturn in the ongoing decline of civilization.

Saw the film Charlie Wilson's war last Friday, the day it opened. This snippet of a review, from a longer piece by Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune, appeared in our local paper last Friday morning:

Why isn't this topical comedy more compelling? Tom Hanks plays Texas congressman Charlie Wilson, backer of the 1989 covert war in Afghanistan; the resemblance to America's current foreign-policy entanglements is soft peddled.

Hre's Michael's full review (and some excerpts, below) and worth a read if you head to see the movie:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-071221wilson-story,0,767009.story

A member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, U.S. Rep. Wilson strong-armed expenditure increases to aid the Afghan rebels. After the end, the film says in its one edgy and complicated stance, the U.S. underfunded the peacetime, paving the way for the rise of the Taliban. And look where we are now.
...When he's [Hoffman's] off the screen, the film settles back into its brisk but shallow business. It is well made as far as it goes. I wish it went beyond its own carefully prescribed limits of the commercially acceptable.

I can't help but think of Crile's 2003 book and the part San Antonio played, not only in the covert ops, but also in Wilson's psyche:

p. 15:
The CIA's time-honored practice was never to introduce into a conflict weapons that could be traced back to the United States. And so the spy aency's first shipment to the scattered Afghan rebels--enough small arms and ammunition to eqip a thousand men--consisted of weapons made by the Soviets themselves that had been stockpiled by the CIA for just such a moment. Within days of the invasion, containers from a secretive San Antonio facility were flown to Islamabad, Pakistan, where they were turned over to President Mohammed Zia ul-Haq's intelligence service for distribution to the Afghan rebels.

p. 19:
What caught Wilson's attention, however, was the reporter's conclusion that the Afghan warriors were refusing to quit. ... Against all odds, there was a growing rebellion under way against the Red Army.

As he read the dispatch, Wilson found himself thinking of the Alamo and the letter Colonel Travis wrote to the people of Texas just before Santa Anna attacked: "The enemy has demanded surrender. I have answered the demand with a cannon shot. I shall never surrender or retreat."

The Texas congressman had first gone to the Alamo when he was six years old. He had been there many times since, and each time it had left him teary. Most American's can't understand what the Alamo means to Texans. It's like Masada to the Israelis. It sums up what it means to be a man, what it means to be a patriot, whant it means to be a Texan. Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett, and all who stayed with Travis that day paid the ultimate price, but they had bought time for Sam Houston to mobilize the Texas army to defeat Santa Anna. This is what brave men did: win time for others to do the right thing.

Did anyone who has seen the movie" Charlie Wilson's War" come out of the theater and wonder if Wilson should be portrayed as a hero (as director Mike Nichols would have us believe) or as a villain? I do not understand the Golden Globe's decision to place this movie in the comedy category, describing the film as political satire, since Crile's book is nonfiction.

Part of the message of CWW, in a trademarked Sorkin hit you over the head metaphor, is that the consequences of actions are not always immediately apparent.

And if you don't think it's a comedy, you aren't getting the jokes, as dark as they are. My wife normally eschews any movie described as a dark comedy, but the star power and good reviews overcame her inhibitions. Since much of the movie focuses on the funneling of arms through Pakistan, current events can't hurt traffic if you can market the connection tastefully. Which I doubt you can.

Didn't really mean to kill the Boodle. I'll let it sleep.

A friend of mine pointed out something about the video from Pakistan: There is little hint of police presence or anything like authorities taking control of the crime scene.

Amazon shows some used copies of "The Staffs of Life" available. I haven't checked abebooks to see how many copies they show.

1968 was a horrible year with LBJ deciding not to run then King's assassination and the riots that followed and then Kennedy's assassination then the disaster of Chicago and the rise of George Wallace and ultimately Nixon's election. That year was an awful mess. I will be intrigued to read what comparisons between it and now that Joel finds.

Good afternoon, friends. Well, nothing much changes in this world, does it? Men still kill women, and especially those that have the nerve to talk, and God forbid, act on that talk. I suspect, the President of Pakistan, will be the next President of Pakistan, you think?

I just keep thinking that after giving birth to the male species of this world, women would get just a tad more respect. Wishful thinking?

I hope someone can get some control of the situation in that country. Don't these folks have nukes?

I had a date with the laundry room this morning. So many clothes, and there were other ladies there too.

Everyone is gone. The daughter, the g-girl, I'm here alone. So quiet, so very quiet. I will study and read. It is cloudy and cold outside. I think we're going to get some more rain. God is good.

Scotty, Mudge, Slyness, Martooni, and all, a good day to you.*waving* Martooni, I hope you're feeling better. And you too, Wilbrod.

Have a great day, folks. The news about the asassination(?) have dampen my spirits some. I'm not familiar with the politics of the former prime minister. We just never get enough of killing. The grave never says, enough.

God loves us so much more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ.

Joel this blog is funny as hell. I know the thread has turned to other topics (already!) but I just wanted to throw that in.

Joel always writes incredibly funny holiday columns for some reason. He wrote one a few Thanksgivings ago that was also hilarious; I remember the LA Times picked it up and ran it here in Cali cause it was so slammin.

ok - i've clearly had my head in the sand - someone please explain to me why bhutto's assisination is going to cause so much trouble?

Thinking about 1968 and the Bhutto assassination made me (natch) think of the wonderful French film "Z" which may have been made in '68 (or maybe '69) about politics and a military junta in Greece, the assassination of a popular democratic figure, the coverup of government involvement, the courageous prosecutor, etc. Although Bhutto was not by all accounts quite so heroic as the fictional character played by Yves Montand in the film, the parallels are still striking. I'm sure that this recent trouble can and will be dealt with by Mussharef with a couple of decades of martial law and suspended elections "until calm is restored."

To the real mo,

Bhutto was a political rival to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf who recently declared martial law. He is supposed to be our ally in the the War on Terra, but is suspected of cutting deals with Islamic fundamentalists hiding in the Afghani border, where Osama Bin Laden may still be.

The elimination of Bhutto gives Mushy a stronger hand. If the assassination of Bhutto was done by fundamentalists, it would be a warning to others that oppose them. And some say it's unlikely such a plot could succeed without the implicit approval of the Pakistani intelligence agency which is accused of skimming aid meant for anti-terrorist operations.

We recently resumed sales of F-16 fighters and other advanced weaponry despite Pakistan's non-compliance with nuclear non-proliferation treaties. Their top nuclear scientist had ties to all the other baddies we don't want having nukes.

The situation in Pakistan is unstable and only time will tell if control by a military dictator or a fundamentalist revolution would be worse for us and/or the rest of the world.

Bhutto's assassination is a big deal for the rest of us who are not related to her, because she was apparently the only person with enough popular support (and the ability to physically enter the country) to pose a stumbling block for Musharraf. Now, we are more than ever stuck by the Bush administration with placing the future of our nation in the hands of a foreign dictator. Musharraf is our man on the Indian sub-continent. We have made ourselves dependent on him in our efforts to defeat the Taliban and al Qaeda. Bhutto could have hindered him, or maybe even eliminated him (politically) if she had garnered enough popular support. That could have given us the wiggle room to disengage so deeply from Pakistan. Instead, we are right in there with Musharraf, forced to claim that this SOB is one of our great friends in the struggle to achieve universal democracy (but not One World Government -- that would be so wrong!).

oh ok!!! i get it now! thanks for the explanation... sheesh! just when you thought it couldn't get any worse!

i'm sorry to be so dunce! but i work in the gubmint and i'm surrounded by so much foreign policy ramblings that after a while it sounds like "mwha ma wa ma wa" and i end up ignoring everything else...

Cassandra, I think you are not correct to view this as an example of thinking it's OK or necessary to put down a woman who speaks up. Last I checked, religious zealots and suicide bombers appeared to be content with murdering anyone nearby that they could cozy up to, regardless of age or gender.

If anything, you could view this awful crime as a backhanded compliment -- recognition that a "mere woman" has sufficient political power and prowess that she cannot be ignored but must be "dealt with" (like Indira Ghandi). So, take heart! Women have gained sufficient respect that the world's homicidal loonies are now ready to assassinate individual women to further a political agenda. You're not just a statistic any more. You're a target.

sirin - I agree. Joel does have a special knack for the holiday kit. I suspect this is due to the endorphin rush that comes from speaking the word "Spatchcock."

Bhutto was no saint. Gender aside, she followed the typical strongman paradigm where personal authority is more important than the rule of law. She survived largely because of her strategically-dispensed largess and her family name. Remember, corruption drove her out of the country.

Still, in a nation in which the military is pretty much the only stable institution, her cult of personality certainly served as a counterweight to military rule. My worry, of course, is that now that the hope many embodied in her is gone, riots and other nastiness will occur. This would be bad.

Stumbling slightly on-topic, the grain (as in barley grain) is still in use as a measurement of specific humidity. Moisture in the air is measured in grains of water per pound of dry air and is commonly shortened to "grains of water" or just "grains". I have been using that unit for a quarter century and never knew its origin. You learn something everyday. Thanks, sd.

Hi Sirin! Glad to see you back so quickly. You've usually been a hit-and-run boodler. Did you finish your cookietown yet?

Today is Son of G's 19th birthday. Sigh. If I could have known, 19 years ago, that I would have such a son, friend, companion, debater, resident comic, etc... Well... actually I did hope I would!

Cassandra, I think of you today, how you lost your son, and hold him a little bit tighter. We had a nice breakfast out together just Mom and Boy. Can't take him out to dinner tonight as Girlfriend arrives on the train this evening and she will be the one celebrating with him over a fancy Greek restaurant dinner. Sigh.

He's so happy about that, he's over the moon. I love seeing him that way.

:-)

TBG;

Many happy returns for Son of G (and many more Mom/Boy breakfast/lunch/dinners)!!!

*HUGS*

:-)

RD,
I'm thinking more it leads to us having to support a thuggish bully that when overthrown causes us more grief then than it would to cut him loose now, e.g., Shah of Iran. Or Saud Royal family.

Happy birthday to SoG. He's still never told me who he is on Wonkette. I'm so nosy.

Happy birthday wishes to SonofG.

Happy Birthday, Son of G!

mo, did you get my email? If not, email me at scomstoc at nwlink dot com. If you have time - TIA.

I think it's hard to know how much more corrupt Bhutto's regime was versus any other Pakistani regime. The fact that she was willing to go back when she knew her life was in danger is impressive - especially when her father and brothers had been killed, and her mother and she had been jailed. Seems like assassination rarely leads to better outcomes.

yello - you are right that our only realistic option is to support Musharaff while simultaneously working to engage him. But I don't think we had any other real options to begin with.

The administration seems to have been *very* careful about not actively supporting Bhutto so as to avoid putting Musharaff in a corner. I don't see Bhutto's death really changing our policy much. I suspect that the US will work hard to engage whomever is in power.

I am always torn by events in Pakistan, and the military's role. The Pakistani military as a whole is "professional" in that the leadership is often trained in the West and is the most deeply secular institution in the country. They just can't seem to get through that sticky wicket of civilian leadership, which is essential in the US ideal of citizen soldier and the American warrior ethos.

My views, when expressed in the presence of Pakistani officers of Mr. F's acquaintance leads to lively discussion of whether or not there is a universal standard of soldiering. Rommel is often noted as a general whose values conformed to what Americans consider the great value of a-political military leadership and that is part of what Churchill and others saw as greatness even though he was an enemy. However, a Pakistani General might argue that had Rommel been more political a great tragedy could have been averted. Watching what happens when armed religious factions get hopping makes one wonder if it isn't in our best interest for Pakistan's military to continue to hold sway. Not that Pakistan should be worrying too much about what is in our best interst, I'm just saying.

frostbitten - that was a very insightful comment. Thanks!

TBG - say Happy Birthday to your son for me!

Much of the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has strong fundamentalist ties and is considered by some to be one of the enablers of the 9/11 attacks. It's a rather flea-bitten bed we have chosen to lie in over there.

Here at Chez Frostbitten our money is on the ISI being behind Bhutto's death. The military doesn't control the ISI though, and it is our own fault we must lie with fleas. We backed off from supporting the military once it was clear Pakistan would match India in nuclear status but turned a blind eye to the ISI's ties with fundamentalist terrorism and ceded to their demands that arms to the Mujahedin in Afghanistan be funneled through their hands.

RD-thanks, I'm blushing.

Frosty, I'm not sure if Rommel had been more "political" earlier in his career he'd have made any difference to anything. But toward the end, he did get political insofar as he became one of the leaders of the plot to kill Hitler. When the bomb failed to kill Hitler, it cost Rommel his life. [The evidence on whether Rommel was actually involved is unclear, and there are also two versions of the story of his execution.] So if he was political, it cost him his life. If he was innocent of the plot -- apolitical, as it were -- then it still cost him his life.

Let the conspiracy theories begin!

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/yossi_melman/2007/12/bhutto_conspiracy_theories_wil.html

SonofG, I know you're lurking here, Happy Birthday, young man!

I suspect that Bhutto's assasination - like JFKs - may have several layers of complicty between groups or factions who normally do not play well together. I'd expect that al Quaida is probably behind this in the overall scheme of things (and almost certainly the suicide bombing), but I wouldn't be at all surprised if someone suggested that the low level of crowd security was not an oversight by Musharraf's government, and that some of the resources - possibly even the marksmen pulling the triggers on those terrible rifles - had some ties to a government in the region, possibly even Pakistan's.

For those that wonder what the significance of Bhutto's assasination is, I would answer that even though Bobby Kennedy was never President of the US, his death certainly changed the course of US history.

Not that I'm suggesting Bhutto was Pakistan's Bobby Kennedy, but she was a candle of hope to a lot of people in that country. And a distict threat to those in power in that country, some of whom are in the government, some who are most certainly not.

Now, the big questions are how Musharraf handles the civil unrest and what the Bush Administration (ahem, *Cheney*) is going to do about the situtation as it unfolds.

American military force may *not* be an option in a situation of significant civil unrest and bad guys on the loose *in a country that we KNOW has WMDs*.

Sheesh.

bc

The situation in Pakistan casts a dark shadow over Christmas for me (understatement, I am sure).

One sad reality that the end of the Cold War teaches us is that authoritarianism can hold back nasty, brutish religious-ethnic-tribal forces.

If Joan Didion quoted W.B. Yeats about "slouching toward Bethlehem" I want to tweak that into "sliding toward Bedlam."

Sigh.

The discussion of barley leads me to a spirits note and a person history note:

Barley is the classic grain in the malt that gives us "uisce beatha," which translates as "water of life" and give us that word "whiskey."

Generations of McQ....ancestors grew barley for both Bushmills and Jamesons. The relatives sold the crop according to religious allegiance. They drank brands thusly aligned, also.

That the situation in Northern Ireland is better is hope for the world. However, it took so d&^%$%$ed long, that I fear what can happen while we wait for some corners of the world to work out their tribal excesses.

Dag.

My paranoia makes me type too slow.

I was hoping to get "First," on the Illuminati/Oliver Stone-esque conspiracy theory post.

bc

Mudge-true about Rommel's life and end, but my point is less about Rommel than it is about the view of current Pakistani officers about what constitutes the "professional" way for the military/politics/government leadership to intersect.

We need to be careful about two things I have little hope this administration can handle- 1. abandoning our values, who we are, in search of stability and 2. foresaking stability because another country's values, who they are, does not conform entirely with ours (or our self interest).

Here's a barley salad I highly recommend:
http://www.albertabarley.com/recipes/salads/mexican.shtml

I use it more as a suggestion than gospel. Adjust to taste.

bc,
I am sure that whatever Trilateral Commission/Muslim Brotherhood/Elders of Zion spin you could come up with is a pale shadow of the Real Story.

Tim and others: I'm doing a little backboodling here, and feel compelled to mention that some could argue that the US deals with countries that have nuclear weapons or other WMD capabilities somewhat differently than those we think are developing them.

Please see North Korea, Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq for examples.

A thought: Is the Nuclear Club a global Old-Boys (in a manner of speaking) club?
[or is that a Cold-Boys Club?]

bc

Hi all! I was going to post a frivolous item earlier, but then saw the news about Bhutto and lost all my silliness, along with all the air that was in my lungs at the time.

Sorry to have missed all the holiday cheer. It's so hard to boodle when your only computer is in the guest bedroom that is occupied by said guest.

Although I am happy to report that Raysdad and my brother were able to set up the new television and remote speakers without assistance of a teenager (or the instructions, it would seem). Through a local charitable organization we've found someone who can use the old one, too.

Happy B-day to Son of G and hello to Sirin--thanks for the pictures of the holiday village.

The comments on the main WaPo article about the assassination are about what you'd expect...

Heavy on the mud, very light on actual thought.

*SIGH*

TBG - HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BDAY TO son of g!!!! (please give him a big bear hug for me - tell him he's my fav guy under 25 and over 5!! *snicker*) (and a very happy belated bday to you tbg!)

mostly - i got your email - i'll respond shorty!

It is my assertion that the likelihood of a conspiracy theory is in inverse proportion to its complexity.

(Of course, that's what they want us to believe.)

In just days before a tightly contested election, the popular but controversial female politician known for her strong family ties to a previous leader is senselessly assassinated. The incumbent leader, her major political rival, declares martial law and vows not to leave office until order and stability are restored.

Pakistan could just be a dress rehearsal for October Surprise 2008.

Story concept ©2007 by yellojkt.
Screenwriter Guild registration pending.

I really don't think Musharraf is cheering about this turn of events. If anything, the chaos this murder might prompt puts him in a far more vulnerable position than he was before.

You better vanish, fast, yello. I hear the faint sound of the black helicopters aproaching.

thup thup thup thup thup thup thup thup thup thup thup thup thup thup thup thup thup thup Thup Thup Thup Thup Thup Thup Thup Thup Thup Thup Thup Thup Thup Thup THUP THUP THUP THUP THUP THUP THUP THUP THUP THUP THUP THUP THUP THUP THUP THUP THUP THUP

Oh, my, yellojkt. Good thing Mr Ml doesn't read the Boodle.

mo, who you calling "shorty"? Harumph - hahaha!

yello - you just made the little hairs on the back of my neck stand up!

oops! that was an scc - i meant shortly - the fsm knows i can't call ANYONE shorty - i think the only one shorter than me is wilbrod and we all know she's a gnome!

I want to cast Will Smith as the Vice Presidential candidate that smells a rat and Alan Rickman as the mysterious agent that knows more than anyone else. Helen Mirren gets to play the doomed candidate, and there's a role for Angelina Jolie that I haven't outlined yet, but it will require a lot of private rehearsal time.

I have no doubt that the Reel Story will involve the Bavarian Illuminati, Microsoft, and the Q.

Obviously, a Paramount Production.

bc

Tim, you are probably correct in that assessment, but this woman was more than likely seen as a huge threat to not only the present leader, but many of those that still believe women should be seen, not heard. I'm sure there are more complicated issues surrounding the death of the former prime minister, but when all things are uncovered it still boils down to what it boils down to, as in who pulled the trigger. And that's not to make it simplistic or any of that, but her death does put the present administration where it wanted to be, in office and there for awhile, don't you think? There have always been bright and intelligent women in the world, and there will continue to be, regardless of the treatment.

TBG, please give son of G my happy birthday wishes for him, and a great evening with his girlfriend. I'm so happy for you, and the wonderful relationship you and your son share. And yes, I miss my son, and think about him everyday. I often think back on the conversations we shared and the things we laughed at together.

JA, the kit is delightful and funny. I'm always in awe how you do that. You make it seem so easy.

Yello, I recommend that you cast our own Mo as the femme fatale. She's so hot, she'll melt the silver screen.

mo as the mysterious woman in black that always seems to be in the wrong place at the right time. I like it. We can make TBG a reporter that stumbles on the truth only to have her life threatened. 'Mudge is her cynical world weary Germondesque managing editor that has seen it all. bc will be the commandeered taxi driver that leads our hero to safety in the signature car chase set piece.

Raysmom is the senior campaign official that gets to say "Stay out of this, it goes higher than you realize." Tim can be the exposition expert that gives the hero the clue that lets him fit the whole conspiracy together. RD will have to remain an uncredited technical adviser.

Anyone else can feel free to cast themselves in whatever role they want.

I gladly accept "Germondesque," along with "LouGrantesque." MickeyRooneyesque, not so much. Not at all, in fact.

I assume that AndyRooneyesque is also off the table.

I will both fly helicopters on screen and serve as technical advisor for all "black" ops. Also, I'll be the official uniform and salute nitpicker for any military personnel portrayed.

I'll be the goofy sidekick who hugs his way out of yet another sticky situation.

:-)

don from i-270 - you just made my millennium!

I'll take the role of senior advisor to Raysmom, the person TBG and Mudge call when they want to know the real scoop on what's happening.

Someone stick a bucket under Mudge. He seems to be leaking.

I love it, yello.... of course in the end... hilarity ensues... we can only hope.

I just hope we can film on location... in Mianus, of course.

Perfect, Slyness! Everyone knows that the senior advisor is the real power center. The campaign advisor is a mere figurehead, a position I aspire to.

Who gets to play the Wilford Brimley character, saying "I got me a pocketful of supeenies here?"

And we a need a heroine who stands there squealing in horror when good guy and bad guy come to fisticuffs.

Honestly, I know it's fun, but if Musharraf really intended to use this as an excuse to put a loyal soldier on every street corner, he would have done so by now.

Ignatius has a nicely nuanced piece on Bhutto.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/27/AR2007122701479.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

Back in the real world, tonight I get to attend an overnight "sleep study" with my daughter. What fun. But without it how will she ever pass her sleep test?

Wilford Brimley and I are like, twins.

It's when you don't hear the helicopter blades that you have to worry. Gotta go pick up more tin foil on my way home.

Thanks Cassandra! And Sirin too...

An editor told me today about Bhutto coming to the Post about 15 years ago to meet with the editorial board. Said she was just strikingly beautiful and smart and had this exquisite British accent. The editor was quite shaken by what happened today. I am eager to read the analysis and see the TV coverage tonight. The footage today of the casket being carried from the hospital was pretty amazing (reminiscent of Khomeini funeral in Iraq).

I have to mention one more thing about my Mom. I told her to try to fly standby on an early flight to Jacksonville, a non-stop. She and my step-dad wound up spending the entire day yesterday in National airport and only got out on their originally booked flight and wound up back in Hogtown at a quarter to 2 in the morning. So by any objective measure it was a horrendous travel day. This is what my Mom told me on the phone: "It was wonderful. We did lots of people watching. I ate a baked potato, and read an entire issue of The Economist. And we were together so it was just fine."

I would have made a CAREER of complaining about that travel day.

"And we were together so it was just fine." Joel, I know exactly what your mother is talking about. I love being an old married person.

Joel.. your mom sounds like the fine lady I've always assumed she is. Thanks for sharing her sunny outlook with us, even if you don't share it with her.

I realize today how little I watch TV news. If I'm going to watch video, I'll see it online in bits and pieces. The all-[fill in the blank]-all-the-time coverage these days has led me away from TV news and deeper and deeper into my Now Playing list on the Tivo.

And may I add that since we are rarely home with the TV off, it seems advertisers are really losing out by turning us off.

I stand by my spatchcock-induced euphoria theory for your high-quality holiday kits.

Joel, not for the first time I am impressed by what a strong and delightful woman your mother must be.

that musta been one GREAT baked potato!

You can fly standby these days? Who knew?

Great story, Joel. It explains why you are the way you are.

Before I forget, happy 19th to SonofG! He's a great guy, and I hope he and the gf have a lovely dinner.

I've been thinking, this week, about the community we have here. Remember a couple of Christmases ago, when the blog went dark for the entire week of Christmas? And nobody really fussed about that? I'll bet it didn't enter Joel's mind to turn out the lights this year. Too much going on, too many people to talk to. I love it.

Joel, thanks for sharing that story about your Mom, it be nice if there were a lot more people in the world with such a positive attitude.

Going back to watch Harry Potter, The Goblet of Fire before I commit any more typos. (Scary parts are over now - I am such a wimp - the 7 year old did not budge from the TV!)

Back to work today to find major computer problems, the darn machine forgot me. Tech services spent most of the day finding my email, reconnecting the various printers I use and generally making sure I could function. Still have to recreate a few shortcuts and all of my bookmarks for the web.

Happy Birthday to son of G. Joel, I concur with others regarding your mom. She is one heck of a lady to have such a sunny attitude during that airport incarceration.

To be sort of on topic for a moment, because I did my shopping early, I got my bills early. Last weekend I paid all my Christmas bills, left me broke but happy to have it behind me.

Slyness, I wasn't around here two years ago but I can agree that it was nice to see what everyone was up to over the past week and to be able to join in on occasion.

Off to the sleep center. It will be just me. My daughter. And a bunch of medical technicians. It'll be just like a Pajama Party!

Maybe we can do each other's hair.

Me too, Sneaks, I hate to have Christmas bills after the holiday, so I try to get it all bought and paid for beforehand. I'm still waiting for the broken cup from the set of china I bought for my older daughter to be replaced. I made that order in September.

Absolutely no time to back-boodle, but I wanted to say...one of my thoughts when I saw the headlines (out of the loop today, changing locals) was "Obama just lost." In the footnotes of the history books, it'll be a matter of circumstance.

But I'm cynical about campaigns and elections.

I wouldn't put too much effort in doing her hair, Padouk; they're going to wire her head up like Medusa (in a painless sort of way, of course). But you'd look good in a Prince Valiant, or maybe a Billie Ray Cyrus mullet, with a bit of Fade going on, on the side. Or the T-Shane blue spiked look.

My own Mom has become an avid Economist reader.

LiT... please explain if you can.

Biscuit time, TBG! We should be in Chapel Hill...

Slyness, since he was promised boodling for christmas... how could he go dark?

Joel, sounds like a fine story you're working on. I can see why you chose to kit in order to ehrm delay writing the tough parts.

With some deadlines, it's hard to control the urge not to learn Sanskrit, take the dog on a 10-mile jog, consume 15,000 calories, write the outline for your next novel... before you do the actual assignment. That's what I call frenzied guilt. You can't be relaxing and not working on it, but you can't just slack off either because you are on the clock.

Barley is a good word. It's slightly funny. There have been early Mesopotamian goddess statues with heads of barleycorn.

And I happen to know some barley trivia: barley is one of the earliest domesticated grains, originating in the fertile crescent. It was a favorite food of the gladiators in Rome.

And from Europe to East Asia, and onwards through Canada, wherever barley was grown, barley coffee/tea was also popular. The correct term would be tisane (water-based solution), rather than tincture of barley (aka beer).

The barley is roasted and/or ground up before making a tisane of it.

My grandma grew up drinking barley coffee before bed. I originally drank barley tea in a Korean restaurant, though, and a friend's parents drink barley tea by the gallon. In Korea they even have barley soda.

Barley tisanes are still drunk in Italy.

Barley infusions are okay, I like them as a decaf hot drink, but they need to not be overroasted or not properly ground/filtered, otherwise it tastes burnt or can irritate the throat. A touch of chicory probably would make it absolutely dandy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mugicha

The british use unroasted barley for barley water. It's even been used as filibuster fuel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barley_water

General overview and history of barley:

http://www.vegparadise.com/highestperch410.html

I grew up with stockyards beef and barley soup.

2 1/2 lb Beef bones
1 gallon water
dash of garlic
1 cup chopped onions
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup chopped barley

Simmer 3 hours, skim and remove meat from bones. Set meat aside.

Add 16 oz chopped tomatoes.

In 1/4 cup of melted oleo (or oil), saute 7 minutes the following:

3/4 cup finely diced celery
1/2 cup or more diced potatoes
1/2 cup finely cut cabbage
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup sliced green beans.

Add to soup and simmer 20 minutes. Add 5-8 oz corn, 1/2 cup finely cut spinach, meat. Simmer 10 minutes.

(Taken from my mom's recipe files).

I have not actually made this, so I can't say if my mom wrote it correctly. It is difficult to get beef bones here, so I'm unlikely to make it anytime soon.

Joel, that was a great story about your mom. My parents were the same way,they would go anywhere and make a Great day out of doing absolutely nothing. People watching I think is a lost art of our generation. We have too many Ipods,Iphones and just too many electronic gadgets to keep our eyes and ears busy. Just to sit back and take in the simple pleasure of watching people go about their everyday lives is really fun. Heck half the fun of going to any live sporting event is to watch all the people.

I do that a lot up here in west by god, but I am usually watching nature and animals in their natural setting.

Maybe we should all do that, turn off the Iphone and just watch the world go by.Get back to the simple little pleasures in life.

Slyness... YES! Go 'heels!

And Len Elmore actually said, after hearing the crowd at the Dean Dome yelling "We want biscuits!," "It seems like they must have some sort of promotion here for free fish sticks."

We have a happy Mr. G in the house tonight now, too. All in all, a good day today for the G family.

Yes! Simple little pleasures like playing with dogs!

I'm now fielding applications for playdates, just check this site out:

http://www.washhumane.org/adopt/adoptdog.asp

Spider Dog has an awesome name, doesn't he?

The best thing that happened to barley was the discovery by the Scotts.

It's been snowing here since the 24th but been warm so the accumulation never gets more than a half inch. We have been feeding the quail and lots and lots of birds. Bird seed has been costing more than Scotch.

Pakaistan is a worrying situation. But at 70, I only worry for the future generations. The statements by our quarling nomines don't give the future much hope.

SCC on the spelling in advance.

Time to go get some red wine and some of my old fashion potato, bacon and onion soup that has been simmering since 2 PM PST.

Quails being fed scotch instead of birdseed to save on cost, hmmm...

Looks like bh could wind up eating some quail on top of drunken noodles very quickly.

Happy Birthday to Son of G! In 20 years you will catch up to your mom.

With all this talk about barley, I'll now go back to hearing Traffic's version of "John Barleycorn Must Die" in my head.

Wilbrodog!
Would you consider playing with me? I am orange and white and love to eat,sleep and and have my human rub my chin till I fall asleep. You know the simple pleasures in life are the best ones.

Do you play with cats? Or just terrorize them?

Mmmm, bh, sounds yummy. Can you share the recipe? We do that so well here.

Mudge, did I tell you I made your vegetable soup last week? We had it for Christmas Eve dinner and several other times. There's still a couple of containers for lunch. I've tried and tried but hadn't succeeded with veggie soup till yours. It went over well with the family, too.

I forgot to mention that we saw "Sweeney Todd" last night. If you like Tim Burton, you'll like the movie. Very darkly shot, lots of blood, a bit of humor here and there. Not a great movie, but not bad. Of course I love Johnny Depp so I'm prejudiced.

Hi TBG...I'm just arriving, unpacking, etc.
Such a shock to crank up the computer and see the headlines. I don't have much time right now, but the upshot of my thoughts is that the current administration has plenty of time to take yet another international crisis to new levels of horrific. International experience will become the watch phrase, and Obama's lack thereof is woeful compared to some of the other candidates. I suspect insurmountable.
Which would be a shame...putting aside all the international implications, this country was primed to take on some of it's own dirty secrets in the next election. Maybe we will get some of it cleaned and pressed, and maybe the chance to take care of more will come again soon.

If Death is the final dignity, then doggie diapers is the secong-to-the-last-one.

Phineas, who is a 13-year-old- plus Westie, was put into a doggie diaper today. It just depressed the hell out of him. He went into a 'how-in-hell-can-you expect-me-to-walk-with this-thing-on me?, and limped to his doggie bed where he stayed for about 3 hours. I took the diaper off so that he could go outside to pee, and it was completely dry. And this was after 4 'accidents' today. He is suffering from a bladder tumor, and the doctor said that he'd live about 3-6 months, about 9 months ago.

I like Tim Burton movies and Johnny Depp, so Sweeney Todd is on my list of movies to see - when it's not threatening to snow.

LostinThought... thanks for clarifying. It's a shame that lack of foreign policy experience can kill a campaign... just look at where all of the Bush admin's foreign policy experience has gotten us.

Hope all is well and that you're finding everything in order. I also hope you're settled in long enough to be able to spend some quality boodling time.

SCC: Of course I meant "indignity". When will I ever learn to "preview?"

I'm now watching tonight's rerun of 30 Rock (my new favorite TV show) and after this hilarious exchange between Jack Gonaghy (Alec Baldwin) and Devon Banks (Will Arnett)...

Devon: You familiar with the Church of Practicology?
Jack: You mean the cult that was invented by Stan Lee?
Devon: No, I mean the religion founded by the alien king living inside Stan Lee.

... I found this great Wikipedia page...

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

Joel, don't hold back on the Mom stories, and please pass on whatever wisdom you can, too, heaven knows we need it.

That barley tip is actually pretty valuable.

I read this to my daughter, with emphasis on that line "Are you performing a parody of yourself?" That is a great line, very funny and she and I both could imagine saying it to each other.

So then, I said to her, Are you always just yourself, or are you sometimes expressing the ironic idea of what you suppose other people think you are? And she thought about it and said, yeah, sometimes I'm kind of making fun of myself when I get really extreme.

It's inevitable if you are a strong and original personality, and in addition if you are self-aware, you can't help getting into feedback loops sometimes.

It's a blessing if someone can be unselfconscious while being different from everybody else--very rare, too.

Kurt Vonnegut is responsible for three of the fictitious religions. As a practicing Bokononist, I am also familiar with the Church of God The Utterly Indifferent. I haven't read Slapstick in a long time, so I had forgotten about the Church of Jesus Christ the Kidnapped. I may have to brush up.

The Professor, I've never had a cat want to play with me. How does that work? I'm told I can't chase cats, and I'm not keen on getting my nose scratched for fun.

For my feline references see this picture:

http://wilbrodog.blogspot.com/2007/03/truth-about-cats-and-dogs-and-ducks-and.html

Glad you liked the soup, Slyness. Since explaining that you got the recipe from an imaginary curmudgeon might not go over too well, or require much too much explanation, feel free to go ahead and tell people you made it up yourself, or it's an old family recipe, or whatever.

'Night, Boodle.

Wow Wilbrodog you are a big fellow, but quite handsome. I have a big black dog that chases me under the porch, that is till I nipped his nose. He doesn't chase me anymore. I am sure we could be buddies,
all I have to play with are birds,chipmunks and lizards and they are all quite delicious too.

Hey Professor! I don't much like to run around and play anymore, but we can sit at the back porch door and watch the birds, chipmunks and lizards. Or sit on the couch and watch some TV. The bigs ones here seem to like it.

http://tbgboodler.blogspot.com/2006/12/model-cat_08.html

Hey Molly,your even more handsome then Wilbrodog!! let's make it a date, that is after I get a little nap.

pj, here is some barleycorn for your ears, it is excellent

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q4LvXZNOuI

One of my favorite albums

Thanks, bill. When pj mentioned that song, I was going to go to youtube to see if it was there, but got distracted.

kb, those are interesting ideas, about being a parody of yourself, and feedback loops. I'll have to watch out for that more. Joel's mom must be a saint. I would go nuts if I had to spend an entire day in the airport - especially if I was with my husband!

I discovered barley?? What??? :-)

Maggie, I'm so sorry about Phineas. I hope he comes to understand the situation soon. *HUGS*

Good morning, Scotty, Slyness, Mudge, and all. *waving* I'm still alone, and slept so hard. The fingers look like ballons. So stiff. I looked at the news most of yesterday, and the people of Pakistan just really looked sad. I hope things settle down for them.

Joel, your mother sounds like a lovely person. I wish at times I could be that patient and calm.

Remember the letters I wrote to the editor here at my local paper? Well, I tried to shut that down because I felt like some folks were getting too hyped about it. I'm still getting phone calls about the letters, and people are still writing about those letters. Most of the feedback has been good, but I feel funny when people call and want to talk about the letters. I think part of the problem is the hearing impairment, not knowing exactly what is being said, and also accepting compliments. I'm not good at that. I think there is also a bit of anger on both sides, and I just don't want it to get crazy. Talking about race is fine. The scary part is action.

I hope the g-girl is enjoying herself. I miss her. I know she is giving someone a world of trouble. I have yet to talk to my grandsons. I've called, but no one calls back. I will try again today.

I listened to Ron Paul yesterday on CNN, and this guy wants us to play dead, no? He thinks everything should shut down. He's scary to me. I don't believe we should involve ourselves in every battle, but we can't hide our heads in the sand either. And shutting down most of the government isn't helping. In a perfect world his ideas might be valid, but we don't live in a perfect world. During the whole interview, the only time he smiled was when Wolf talked about the money. I guess he doesn't want to get rid of "everything".

Have a great day, folks. The weather here yesterday was beautiful. The sun came out, and it wasn't so cold. Rain in the forecast for today, but that's good.

Hi, Maggie O. I hope things are going well for you. And how are you doing, Pat?

God loves us so much more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ.

Jeez, Wilbrodog and Professor, will you two please go get a kennel?

Unfortunately, I think everybody needs to read today's lede story on the role the U.S. played in getting Bhutto to go back, and then you have to read David Ignatius's column about her.

When you're all done that, you probably ought to read that excellent piece on Richard West and how his spending at the Smithsonian Indian Museum was over-the-top out of control. It's a long piece, five pages, but worth it -- and it concludes at the bottom of page 5 with this lovely parting shot:

"Chalan was apologetic in the e-mail to West and noted that Leipold was only trying to protect West from embarrassment: "Please note, that she is only trying to keep your life Washington Post free for your last two months. *smile*"

------------

Seems being "Post-free" didn't work out too well. Of course, that should be "Washington-Post-free," with hyphens. But heck, it was an internal e-mail, and nobody proofs internal e-mails.

It's been clear for quite a while, though, that the all the top brass running the Smithsonian are/were out-of-control for some time, which is one of the saddest, most anger-producing things I can think of.

Today, Dec. 28, 2007, is also a day that may (or may not) live in infamy: today my second-oldest granddaughter, Clarissa, turns 16, and is to be released upon an unsuspecting world and its highways. Happy birthday, Clarissa. (She's the super-affectionate one who likes hugs. But she's also the one who marches to not only a different drummer, but to an entire percussion section, including congas, snares, traps, bongos, and kettle drums, hammered-out trash can lids, djembes, tablas, changkos, hollowed out logs, tambourines, and cajóns [a kind of drum, although the word is much, much too close to another Spanish word that means something else entirely]). World, you have been warned.

OK, onward to complete the final day of a grueling three-day work week during which the halls of gummint have been as deserted as a ghost town with tumbleweeds blowing down the aisles between cubbies.

Hi Cassandra! Since you asked, I'm doing OK. I can still stand on my own 2 feet, but walking around poses a different set of challanges, especially since the kids have been home for a week and their stuff is everywhere. Every step seems to take more and more effort as the days go by, even in my own house.

I've been missing the Christmas decorations, especially the lights that brighten the neighborhoods and shopping malls. The darkness is getting me down, but when I feel like whining, I think of people like you who so gracefully carry a heavy cross, and it keeps my attitude in check.

Right now, our house is really, really messy, and my wife and i have friends and family coming to visit. But if I think about it, I would much rather have a really, really messy house and friends and family over to visit than have a really, really messy house and Not have friends or family over to visit.

Cleaning it up is going to take teamwork!

Pat, when I think of you, my mother always comes to mind. Don't be depressed, and I know that's not easy, but I so admire you and your family. You're going to be fine, and you are just fine. I still have the tree up, not going to take it down. I'm waiting on my daughter to do that. I took the outside stuff down, but just don't have the heart for the tree. Give my best to your family.

Hi Pat,

I was thinking to go over and find you at the Balancing Family On the Head of a Pin Blog. Glad you stopped by.

Sorry that you feel down; you certainly have your reasons. However, this is not the authentic you. I hope you are playing guitar early in the morning, watching silly movies, and browsing seed catalogs with your gardening buddies. Sneak beans? Your family is in my prayers.

Steely grey sky with hints of shell pink on the edges. Damp but not a bad morning.

Maggie O. Oh dear on Phineas. We need our dignity, don't we....even doggies. Westies sport a Cary-Grant veneer, don't you think?

G'morning all, hey Cassandra. It's foggy in the mountains and the forecast calls for steady rain this evening. I am grateful for that!

Pat, your feelings are completely understandable, but I hope you don't let them get you down. You are an inspiration to us all.

On a funny note, I dreamed in the night that Mr. T and I were visiting grand country homes in England, and I had a shy bladder because the bathrooms had no stalls. Brains come up with strange thoughts!

Hey Pat!! *extra-furry Grover waves* :-)

Ai chihuahua!!!

Hey all you blogspot bloggers, be careful out there!!!

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/?hpid=news-col-blog

:-O

Not much of a sky in this poorly lit morning. The ground is white as we got another couple of inches of snow yesterday and the sky is light grey, there is not much contrast between the two. This would be a black and white world but for the patches of red worn by the male sapsucker and hairy woodpecker taking turns at the suet feeder. The females come at the suet feeder too and contribute to the black and white theme. Hopefully the cardinals will show up later. The red of these birds sets out beautifully against fresh snow.
Maggie, I know your feelings. The giant old lab has trouble walking in loose snow this year. The poor dog's back leg sometimes slipped from underneath it and it falls on its side. Jumping and running in loose snow has always been one of its greatest pleasure so it is sad to se it confined to the cleared or hardened areas.

Now THIS, from the Boston Globe, is funny!

TNT analyst Kenny Smith said the Celtics are flirting with the Bulls' NBA record of 72 regular-season wins. Fellow analyst Charles Barkley responded by saying, "If they win 72 games I'll walk [from the TNT studio in Atlanta] to Phoenix in a Speedo."

"That would be worth winning 71," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. "I don't want to win that [Barkley in a Speedo]. That would be ugly."

:-)

S'nuke,
Thanks for the warning. I and my sockpuppets will be more vigilant. I may have even gotten one of those StormWorms already, but I'm too lazy, er, vigilant to ever download unknown codecs just to play a greeting card.

Groggy start to what could be a slightly busy day.

'Mudge, I think you'll particularly enjoy today's "Get Fuzzy"...

http://members.comics.com/members/common/affiliateArchive.do?site=washpost&comic=getfuzzy

:-)

Very much, Scotty, thanks. I love "He'll be in charge of my speakage."

Geez, just when I got off my lazy butt and posted the Origin of Jumper on http://jumpersbloghouse.blogspot.com/

I think since the problem is now known, and since I have no links to this junk in my blog, it's safe.

As usual Cassandra sums up Ron Paul. He's an interesting fellow. I have however a historical bellyfull of States Rights. I prefer the Ninth Amendment in these matters: "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained BY THE PEOPLE." (my emphasis). It's fascinating reading about the short shrift the Ninth has historically received. http://www.constitution.org/9ll/schol/pnur.htm

bill everything,

Thanks for that Traffic clip. That was excellent. It's sad to think that Chris Wood and Jim Capaldi are dead, though. It's time to pull out "John Barleycorn" and "Low Spark" records again and give them a listen.

Jumper,
That movie has Hayden Christensen and Samuel L. Jackson in it. Let's hope it's better than the last couple of movies they did together.

Hey Joel (and others)... maybe you can come up with a scheme like this to raise money to pay for Christmas presents...

Egypt to Copyright Pyramids
by Rayad Abou Awad
Tue Dec 25, 2:00 PM ET

CAIRO (AFP) - In a potential blow to themed resorts from Vegas to Tokyo, Egypt is to pass a law requiring payment of royalties whenever its ancient monuments, from the pyramids to the sphinx, are reproduced...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071225/lf_afp/egyptantiquitieslaw

My favorite part of the article...

Samir Farag, head of Luxor town council in southern Egypt, home to the legendary Valley of the Kings, said that it would be difficult to prohibit use of pyramid shapes.

"We can't forbid people from using the name of Luxor and copying monuments from (Luxor) city, which is the world's richest city for monuments," he said, adding that "tourists going to Las Vegas doesn't affect our city's business."

There is a tourist trap is Xian, China that has a sphinx attached to a pyramid. Would they pay double royalties or would that count as an original work?

Is a person who builds a sphinx a sphinxter?

*drumming fingers, just waiting patiently for TBG's comeback line. You all know what it will be:*

No, Mudge.. I think that's a sphinx who's never been married.

WAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNK! No, no, no, TBG. That's not it. You were supposed to say something like, "Yes, and I think there's one living in Mianus."

I'm very disappointed. I can't do all the heavy lifting around here by myself, you know.

In Mianus.

Don't try to make up.

I could have sworn I read in "Chariots of the Gods" that sphinxters came from Uranus, 'Mudge.

You did, Scotty, but everyone knows von Danikin was full of crap, and a total charlatan. They came from Pleides. The Grays brought them. Jeez, do I hafta explain everything?

The piece on Rick West brings several thoughts to my mind. Although the article gets front page play and goes into great and lengthy detail, no illegal activities are charged, not a one. The sole purpose seems to be to embarrass the Smithsonian and West, who has already retired from his position as director. Much is made of the $30,000 cost of the retirement video. Every year the White House produces and releases, at taxpayer expense, a video of Barney the Bush dog. The WaPo puts this on its web page without any comment as to the cost of production, just a sort of general "Aww, how cute!" The level of detail in the article, and the fact that internal emails are quoted verbatim says to me "Disgruntled employee!" loud and clear. Over the past few months the Post and the Congress have laid into the Smithsonian for its sins, real and perceived, at the level of high administration and board members, with a notable exception. No one has questioned any of the ex-officio board members about their lack of oversight. The Vice President, Chief Justice, three members of the House and three from the Senate are on the Smithsonian board, but none of these folks have been interviewed by the media or grilled by any committees. Cheney in his seven years in office has never once attended a Smithsonian board meeting, not one, but no one is blaming him for failing in this duty. One does not kick a dog with teeth that large.

I'm not trying to justify a pattern of expenditure which is pretty obviously excessive, but I am trying to point out a couple of things perhaps less obvious. 1) West operated within the rules in force at the time and nothing in the article says otherwise. 2) The Post has found an easy target for investigative reporting. Although its public profile is high, among federal agencies the Smithsonian is the smallest of the small, without a cabinet level protector. 3) Although every one of the major figures in this story- Small, Burke, West, the guy from the Business Ventures office whose name escapes me at the moment- have resigned or retired, and none of them have been charged with illegal activity, the net result of this and similar reporting is to further damage the prestige and limit the fundraising potential of the national museum system. Why would we want to do that?

I'm in Caribou Coffee with a slow connection. I'm not sitting in a cushy gummint office with speedy Interwebs not working.

We would want to do that, K-guy, because the management of the Smithsonian is clearly, repeat clearly, waaaay out of control. It is [OK, was, past tense] spending money lavishly and foolishly, and quite obviously knows it, viz.: the e-mails and discussions about public perceptions, etc.

I agree completely that the piece screams "disgruntled employee." However, I say, "Good for him or her." Yes, there is obviously a whistleblower in the woodwork somewhere feeding this stuff to the OMB and the Post. That seems to bother you, but I say "Good for him/her/them." Yes, they are clearly disgusted with the behavior they've seen.

You point out that it has all been legal and within the {then-existing] rules. That's true. But isn't that itself a problem? Doesn't it suggest to you the rules d@mn well ought to be changed? They already rescinded the "unlimited leave" portion of the directors' terms of employment; obviously, somebody somewhere thinks it was excessive.

I don't see the fact that West and Burke and whatshisname have or are retiring is relevant. Are you suggesting that since they are going or gone we should all just say "Byegones" and the Post shouldn't report it?

What has the relative size of the Smithsonian got to do with anything? It is THE national museum system; it belongs to US. It's conduct in these kinds of things ought to be impeccable and beyond reproach. Yes, the Post has been "smearing" it -- and rightly so. West and Burk were using well over a hundred days A YEAR of PAID leave to do stuff that was only marginally relevant to their jobs, and some of it not at all.

The $30k goodbye video was flat-out inexcusable. It has no relevance to the [also inexcusable] White House dog video.

The only way to get the Smithsonian management to shape up is to expose it to public scrutiny and criticism. Sweeping it under the carpet, as you appear to be suggesting, (a) won't work, and (b) is a Richard Nixonism: "It would be wrong...but we could do it."

While some of West's travels did seem to be connected to his admirable fundraising, most of those connections are murky at best. Is it wrong to point out a situation where funds for a struggling national icon might have been better spent? I think not.

I've heard of the fog of war, but this kind of constant revision is astounding...

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/12/28/pakistan.friday/index.html

*SIGH*

Curmudgeon, all of these activities (except the video) occurred during the tenure of now departed Larry Small. You propose to punish his replacement (a far, far superior individual) for Small's sins.

As far as the disgruntled employees go, I can't say everything that I know and or suspect regarding that because I am too close to some of this, but I can assure you that they have personal agendas, big ones, which have nothing to do with cleaning up the Smithsonian.

The size and power of the agency has a great deal to do with the level of press scrutiny. Ever hear anything about waste and corruption at DOD, CIA, FBI, DIA, Agriculture, Treasury? The Pentagon wastes $250k in the time it takes me to walk from the bedroom to the bathroom in the morning. When's the last time you saw an highly placed individual at the Commerce Department's expenses scrutinized for five pages in a lead article in the WaPo with absolutely no illegality at bottom.

What I am attempting to point out with regard to the Barney cam, et. al., is the difference in the way that the questionable use of public funds is treated by the press. If it's terrible to spend money in this way, and it is, then they should point that out each and every time, not selectively.

You appear to have nothing to say on the subject of the board members. Neither does the Post. I find that odd, at least in their case.

Lastly, I am simply asking, in light of the fact that all of the responsible parties are departed from the institution, what real benefit is realized by continuing to prominently trumpet their questionable activities? Lessons have been learned and policies have been changed already. Tarring those blameless successors tasked with rehabilitating the institution or vowing never to contribute again serve no good purpose if the goal is to make the Smithsonian better.

Just starting to get caught up with news and noticed this in the Globe today, a reprint of a column written by Benazir Bhutto just before she returned to Pakistan.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071018.wcobhutto18/BNStory/International

Re the West spending scandal, my Crow nation relatives say this:

We (Native Peeps) have arrived, to spend into lavish lasciviousness....and not even a casino indian at that.

I wish you could hear this delivered with perfect western laconic style.

*chirp chirp chirp*

If you're looking for diversion this weekend, go see "Juno." It's smart and funny, well written and well acted, well paced and less than 2 hours long. The young lady who plays the title character,
Ellen Page, does a great job. It's PG-13 and deals with teen pregnancy in a good way.

k-guy,
I want to see Juno but I might wait for the DVD. I was watching Ellen Page in Hard Candy on cable until my wife made me turn it off as she was threatening to castrate the pedophile she had entrapped. Talk about rough justice.

I like the casting of Juno because it has Jennifer Garner and a partial Arrested Development reunion.

Mudge, The Professor ditched me to do some back-alley seranades with Molly the cat.

So, you still want me to reserve a kennel for you? I keep thinking a hotel room would be better-- big and soft beds, but if you really want to surprise your wife, I guess that WOULD work.

(Man, humans are even stranger than gnomes)

K'guy-thanks for so articulately saying what I thought while reading the Smithsonian article. I particularly bristled at the implications that West made trips tied to his choice of retirement locales that were made only because of those choices. Should Mr. F casually mention he'd like to buy a cottage in New Zealand I hope no reporter is around to question his recent duty there. Has no one at the Post ever traveled on business and then thought, "boy this would be a great place to retire?" Did West commit sins of excess and wastefulness? No doubt. But the double standard applied in the reporting of the "scandal" is beneath the Post.

It really looks as though the Larry Small regime at the Smithsonian is over.

I guess that in figuring out what's appropriate at the Smithsonian, you need to look at fundraising practices elsewhere in the museum/nonprofit sector, compensation practices for executives, and the Smithsonian's special role as our national museum (and an important international research agency) in its dealings abroad. I'm in favor of having the Smithsonian representing American culture, science, and museum expertise. If that means a museum director should be travelling a lot for fundraising and outreach purposes, that's laudable--so long as costs stay in line.

Stanford, where West is a trustee, got into a mess with Federal science funding agencies some years ago by charging to research overhead things like flowers in the President's house and much of the cost of building new facilites. The president resigned, plans for vastly expanding the campus were cut back, overhead was cut, and a humbled Stanford got back to business as usual. But "elite" universities still seem to charge the Feds higher overhead than plain-vanilla universities.

I just read my convoluted post. Bottom lines:
1. The Smithsonian competes with similar institutions for personnel and funding. It may need to offer rather plush salary and perks to executives.
2. It's fairly normal for elite nonprofits to get greedy and even to be run for the benefit of their execs and maybe donors than for the general public. Congress, the IRS, and watchdogs have useful roles here.

yellokjt, I don't want to spoil, but I will say that although it is definitely Page's film, Garner and Bateman's characters and the changes they go through make a great contribution to the story.

Note this exchange in the Jonathan Weisman chat today:

Re: Gut candidate: That's where the truth lies, right down here in the gut. Did you know you have more nerve endings in your gut than you have in your head? You can look it up. I know some of you are going to say "I did look it up, and that's not true." That's 'cause you looked it up in a book. Next time, look it up in your gut -- I did.

Jonathan Weisman: Thanks, Stephen Colbert. And let's not talk about nerve endings. This is a family show.

All right, 'fess up. Who's the "Gut Candidate" poster? Mudge? Yellow? bc?

No, not me, CowTown. And if it had been me, I'd have signed it Curmudgeon. Or "Waldorf, Md." if it was in a serious vein.

Being Canadian lots of hype about Ellen Page up here, I was watching Hard Candy last night as well but stoppped about the same point as yello's wife.

I don't follow many chats other than Weingarten and occasionally Sietsema or Liz Kelly. And I'm from Fo,MA.

William Arkin has a pretty good column at http://blog.washingtonpost.com/earlywarning/2007/12/bin_laden_killed_bhutto_how_bl.html#more about not jumping to conclusions about al Qaeda killing Bhutto when there are approximately a dozen or two dozen other worthy suspects.

Yeah, rounding up the usual suspects could include about everybody. Anybody seen Condi Rice lately? She was the one that bought into sending Bhutto back into the fray to give the regime a veneer of respectability. I don't want to say she has blood on her hands, but...

Lots of talk today at work about Bhutto and in the inevitable conspiracy theories floating around. And although I object to conspiracy theories in general, a friend of mine pointed out why conspiracies are especially ill-suited to assassination.

Conspiracies, by nature, are carefully thought out plots by rational individuals working behind the scenes. Their intent is to secretly control things. The operative words are secret and control. A good conspiracy is one that changes the world without the world even being aware of it.

But assassinations, and monstrous destruction in general, are the enemy of control. They induce chaos and repercussions that are impossible to predict. Further, their shocking salience is sure to attract unwanted attention. Such acts are characteristic of passion and anger, not the calm and rational impulses of a secretive conspirator.

So, I assert, that while oil prices, voter registration, water policy, and the persistent popularity of Céline Marie Claudette Dion, are all reasonable candidates for conspiracies, acts of great violence are not.

David Brooks of the NYT has some links to the best essays of 2007 in yesterday's and today's columns. Well worth a look.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/28/opinion/28brooks.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin

So, RD... you wouldn't call the 9/11 attacks a conspiracy?

It fits your definition perfectly. And the resulting chaos was exactly what the conspirators were looking for.

RD,
And the burning of the Reichstag building?