A Fresh Boobie

I've gotten a couple of complaints for having recycled boobies on Friday, so here's a new one. Happy Friday.

We Need More Ruins

(photo taken on the San Juan River by Zymurgian)

For Shaun Mullen, should he stop by.

The Pundit Spin

Because I woke up in someone else's bed, I watched some of the Sunday "bobbleheads" this morning. Left to my own devices I never bother to watch them, but due to a variety of inducements it happened. And it was too early to start drinking.
I saw "meet the press" and "this week" in the company of a die hard Hillary supporter, and there was a lot of room for debate, but I was mostly appalled by the triviality of it all. Apparently Obama's "bitter" comments are the most important statements of the campaign season. St. Sleazy can't tell a Sunni from a Shia, but the pundits love him for his "straight talk." Shrub admits that he endorsed torture, but that was awhile ago so it isn't worth talking about. Nope, the pundits know that Obama's "gaffe" is what really matters. Every word must be properly parsed. After all, we can't have a president who "misspeaks" now, can we? If he sounds "arrogant" or "elitist" that might reflect badly on America.
How the hell did these people end up on TV?

Sunday Funny

Saw this over at badtux the snarky penguin, and thought it should be shared. It's almost sadly funny because it's almost true.

This Weeks Boobie

Leave it to Sweaterman to post something I never even thought of. Happy Friday.

4/11: A Momentous Occasion

"I could never do that," murmured Flounder, wide-eyed.

"Sure you could," Bluto said encouragingly. "Why not?"

"I've never been able to throw up, even when I was sick." Flounder looked very worried.

Bluto threw a comradely arm around his shoulders."Mark my words, Flounder: before you leave the Delta House you'll be booting like a pro."

Well, George W. was supposedly a Delta, although not a member of Delta Tau Chi, the fraternity immortalized in "Animal House". But, since George was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon - and thus a Delta - I'd like to think that the roving band of criminals in the White House and the rest of the Administration would act like the Delta house, who have "booted" all over our country, and would like to belt out a chorus for International "Louie, Louie" Day.

This song, the lyrics of which are quoted below, has an immense history, including a 31-month investigation by the Effa-Bee-Eye, and anyone who has been to college (or who has been even the most slightly hip over the past 20 years, has tried their hand at singing the lyrics - sober or drunk - has heard it). I'm not sure what some folks think about the lyrics, but after all this time, I'm willing to believe it's a song about a lonely sailor trying to get home to see his lady. And the fact that approximately 1500 versions of the song have been recorded kind of skews my mind to the idea that it's not a subversive song out to "destroy the fabric of America."

So, in honor of the day, here's the lyrics, as best they can be compiled (but get a beer or some Purple Jesus punch first):

The Kingsmen (1955)

Louie Louie Lyrics

CHORUS:

Louie Louie, oh no

Me gotta go

Aye-yi-yi-yi, I said

Louie Louie, oh baby

Me gotta go

Fine little girl waits for me

Catch a ship across the sea

Sail that ship about, all alone

Never know if I make it home

CHORUS

Three nights and days I sail the sea

Think of girl, constantly

On that ship, I dream she's there

I smell the rose in her hair.

CHORUS

Okay, let's give it to 'em, right now!

GUITAR SOLO

See Jamaica, the moon above

It won't be long, me see me love

Take her in my arms again

Tell her I'll never leave again

CHORUS

Let's take it on outa here now

Let's go!!

Another Reason to Hate the Yankees

Like many baseball fans, I hate the Yankees. Now they've gone too far:

Yankees recall Gonzalez, start him at SS

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP)—While the New York Yankees awaited the return of Derek Jeter and news on Jorge Posada’s shoulder, they put Alberto Gonzalez in the starting lineup at shortstop against the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night.

Letting the worst attorney general in history start at shortstop? That's just wrong.

*I know that it's a different Alberto Gonzalez, but I found it amusing.

Added: He's playing well. And to think that he's been having a hard time finding a job...

Walking Through the Park....

...and reminiscing....

So, I'm finally back in school, almost 20 years to the day I left.

It's kind of familiar, but still a new experience, as it seems that many new buildings have gone up, everyone's wired, and, of course, I'm sitting in the (new, to me at least) student union typing this post.

Twenty-five years ago, I would've had to go next door to the Engineering building and get in the computer lab to type this up and email it. And, let's face it, pretty much the only folks I could've emailed it to 20 years ago were my fellow professors and students, who I saw every damn day in the lab anyway, and wouldn't have even bothered.

The times they have done changed. Well, except for the pretty girls in jogging shorts running around the mall. Nowadays, I can snap a picture with my phone (I just did), and send it to my old college roommate up in the Pacific Northwest without a single pause of consideration (although I do wonder if his phone gets pictures).

Like I said, times changed. But, at least the Engineering building is still open and I got to sneak in and see my old T.A.'s office, even if I was leading a dog around with me, and we ignored all the "No Pets" signs. Twenty-five years ago, the Engineering, Computer Science, Architecture, and the Main, Science, and Medical Libraries were the only buildings that were open 24/7/365, and I know, because I spent way too many hours than a human being should writing code at 3 a.m. and eating out of vending machines. I guess some good came out of all that (wireless access for one), but it's still nice to get a look of surprise when I pull a mouse out of my bag to plug into the laptop. "Mouse?, they say. Why not use the trackpad?" Hell, people, when I was your age, we had to build our own mouse out of wooden blocks! A-and, we had punch cards, dammit!"

Wow. Gettin' crotchety in my old age. If'n I don't watch myself, I may go out to the mall area and yell at those young'uns to "Git the hell off my lawn!"

There's still a band playing and some activity going on out on the mall, and Old Main is still a nice place to watch the sunshine. And, some Mensa for high schoolers organization in doing science qualifications (sponsored by Raytheon) all over campus are walking by with the strangest looking experiments (it looks as if someone made a windmill with eggshells for the blades).

But, that's all for the travelogue. I'll try post if I get a chance to go to South Tucson for some real food, but otherwise, sometime when I get back to the homestead.

Enjoy the weekend!

St. Sleazy Needs a (Running) Mate

In the dying light of the last days of my old brewery, we still talk politics. Tonight, we had a bit of fun choosing running mates for St. Sleazy McCain. My choice was Charles Barkley, but Ted Nugent won the straw poll. I have to like the person who put Paris Hilton (who?) on the list. So, who should St. Sleazy McCain (running) mate with?

Another Friday Boobie

Sorry that I haven't been posting much lately. I haven't felt like I've had much to say. So here's the Friday boobie. Enjoy!

Why I Shouldn't Complain

My water is fixed, and I really shouldn't complain. A minor inconvenience, but not a disaster. A day without a shower may be less romantic, but it's really nothing. Other folks have had to deal with hurricanes, tornado's, blizzards, and earthquakes. I've spent days in the wilderness, and liked it. Sometimes we bitch about the smallest things. Thanks for the kind comments.

Is This a Prank?

Today started with a morning aggravation. I went to take a shower...no water. I was pretty sure that the bill was paid, so my immediate suspicion was that one of the housemates was celebrating April 1st. No such luck. Looking outside, the city is tearing up a large chunk of the water main. Dear city of Flagstaff: it would be really nice if you would tell us ahead of time before engaging in such projects. And, as April Fool's jokes go, I didn't find this one amusing.

Baseball and Our Shrub

Zymurgian and I watched last night's season opening Nationals-Braves game (OK, the season actually opened in Japan), and were forced to listen to shrub opining in the announcers booth with Jon Miller and Joe Morgan. While it was painful to listen, I really wish that shrub had stuck with baseball instead of going into politics. His intellectual bankruptcy was mostly harmless when he was screwing up the Texas Rangers rather than the whole country. I love baseball, but I'd happily sacrifice my favorite team if it meant that shrub was safely out of the presidents office. We were a lot better off when he was trading away Sammy Sosa than we are now with him trading away our future.

Neckties

Zymurgian and I are talking about neckties. I admit that I know how to tie a windsor. My father was a politician, so I had to wear a necktie. With my father gone, I haven't worn a tie in more than a decade. But I still know how to tie a Windsor. The necktie is no longer used for it's original purpose, which was to be a knapkin. In an earlier time, this was a valuable skill. To wipe your face, and still look good. Can you tie a tie?

Odd Events in Iraq

One of the many problems with taking sides in the Iraqi power struggles is sorting out the loyalties of various groups of Iraqi people. Take this incident:

It appears that Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's ultimatum to Shiite Muslim militiamen to surrender to the Iraqi government might not be working precisely as he had intended.

When nobody had turned up by Friday, Maliki gave members of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr's Mahdi Army militia 10 more days to turn in their weapons and renounce violence.

Instead, about 40 members of the Shiite-dominated Iraqi army and National Police offered to surrender their AK-47s and other weapons this morning to Sadr's representatives in the cleric's east Baghdad stronghold of Sadr City.

One of the police officers told journalists assembled at Sadr's office that he was heeding a call by an Iraqi cleric based in Iran, Ayatollah Fadhil Maliki, to stop fighting fellow Muslims.

"We came here to tell our brothers, the followers of Sadr, that we will not be against you," said the officer, who was dressed in civilian clothes and had his face covered with a scarf and dark sunglasses.

Sadr's representatives refused to take the men's weapons, saying they belong to the government. Instead, the representatives offered the men olive branches and copies of the Koran.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2008/03/iraq-not-quite.html

(my bolds)

Part of the army and police are more loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr than they are to Nouri al-Maliki. This is a problem that American soldiers are stuck in the middle of, thanks to the idiocy of our shrub.

Late Boobie

Sorry I'm late, and the boobie takes a bow.

Iraq's Getting Worse

I really haven't felt like posting on the latest increase in violence in Iraq. I've been depressed enough, so thinking about impending disaster isn't high on my agenda. But what I'm seeing appears quite ominous, and the media is (as usual) clueless.
The cease-fire with Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi army appears to be over. While Sadr's militia is lightly armed and (mostly) poorly trained, they number in the 60,000 to 80,000 range and have the support of several million Shia. al-Sadr had been content to avoid confrontation and await the end of the American occupation before pushing for more power, but his tacit control of Basra may have been too great a challenge to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Basra is the key to the oil:



al-Maliki's hold on power is tenuous at best, but he does have the support of both America and Iran. As usual, read Juan Cole for more in depth analysis, but here are a few bad signs:

Al-Zaman reports in Arabic that members of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq
(ISCI, formerly SCIRI, led by Abdul Aziz al-Hakim); the Da'wa Party led by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki; and the Badr Corps paramilitary of ISCI have fled their HQs in Basra and Kut, because of the threat that they will be stormed by Mahdi Army militiamen [seeking revenge for the current offensive], In fact, some such buildings already have been attacked.

Eyewitnesses reported clashes on Tuesday in Sadr City, east Baghdad, led by Mahdi Army militiamen against American and Iraqi forces. The latter had encircled Sadr City, while the Mahdi Army roamed its streets within. The sound of gunfire could be heard, and helicopter gunships were seen hovering above.

http://www.juancole.com/

This could turn into a very bloody escalation very quickly:

BAGHDAD — With the United States providing air cover and embedded advisers, the Iraqi government on Wednesday expanded its offensive against Shiite Muslim militias from the port city of Basra to the capital of Baghdad — and many of the provinces in between.

The day saw street battles in Baghdad and Basra, mortar attacks by Shiite rebels against Baghdad's Green Zone, bombing by U.S. aircraft and encounters that left government tanks in flames. More than 97 people were reported killed and hundreds were wounded since the operation began early Tuesday.

In Baghdad's Shiite Sadr City neighborhood, clashes between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi security forces supported by U.S. forces left at least 20 dead and 115 were injured. By early afternoon, people took to the streets in protest of the Iraqi government.

Mortar rounds crashed into the heavily fortified Green Zone for the third straight day, injuring three U.S. government employees, all U.S. citizens, said U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo.

Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, who's directing the operation from Basra, gave the armed groups 72 hours to give up their weapons and surrender without consequences, warning that they'd be treated as outlaws if they didn't.

But al Sadr demanded that Maliki leave Basra and send a parliamentary delegation to hold a dialogue. Maliki immediately rebuffed the demand.

Maliki appears to be taking a huge risk in confronting the volatile city, which is dominated by the Mahdi Army.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/31662.html

Of course, the "success in Iraq" crowd are already spinning events. Check out this headline:

"New Iraq fighting arises from surge's success, Pentagon says"

I had to read that twice, just to be sure I wasn't hallucinating. They really are saying this:

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The Pentagon on Wednesday said an eruption of violence in southern Iraq, where US-backed government forces were battling Shiite militias, was a "by-product of the success of the surge."

Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said it showed that the Iraqi government and security forces were now confident enough to take the initiative against Shiite extremists in the southern port of Basra.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080326/pl_afp/iraqunrestuspentagon

Whether this is propaganda or delusion I'll let you decide, but it's flat out wrong. The potential civil war that has been simmering in Iraq is now much closer to boiling over, and the American occupation forces are too small to contain it if it does. This could be a very bloody spring in Iraq.

Bhutanese Democracy

Back on New Year's day, I posted on Bhutan's move to democracy (http://pygalgia.blogspot.com/2008/01/starting-year-with-positive-news.html). Today, we have the results:

THIMPHU, Bhutan - Long known as a quirky holdout from modernity, the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan ended a century of absolute monarchy Monday by electing a staunch royalist as its first prime minister. So it goes in Bhutan, possibly the first country in history where a king had to convince his people that democracy was a good idea.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080324/ap_on_re_as/bhutan_elections

Well, it's a step. They voted to replace the monarcy with royalists. Compared with the rest of the world, Bhutan looks pretty sane.

As the Toll Passes 4,000

A sad milestone, the number 4,000. 4,000 soldiers dead in a needless and pointless war. 4,000 families who've lost a loved one for no good reason. 4,000 reasons we never should have invaded Iraq, and 4,000 reasons we need to end the occupation as soon as possible.

Round numbers seem to have a symbolic impact. 4,000 stirs an emotional response that the prior number of 3,996 did not. Round numbers are easier to grasp as "statistics" when a long, slow process is grinding on. The individual numbers don't get much attention until they total up into a round number.

For the Iraqi's there aren't any round numbers to mark. The death toll has been so overwhelming that the world has stopped counting. We only get "estimates", as if Iraqi's don't really count. Some tragedies don't get quantified.

Today four more families are grieving as a result of the horrible misguided policies of the administration. They join 3,996 families before them. They don't feel like "statistics" or a part of a round number. They feel the pain of losing a loved one.

And for what? Iraq was never a threat to the United States, despite the administration's scary rhetoric. The invasion was an exercise in imperial hubris, and the ongoing occupation is the result of a stubborn refusal to face reality. It was morally wrong to use military force in an attempt to impose our will on Iraq, and was doomed to failure from the start. The ongoing disaster of occupation is, and will remain, morally wrong; therefore it is also doomed to failure. A variety of statistics may be reported, but that doesn't change the most basic fact: the occupation is morally wrong.

Brave and honorable soldiers are losing their lives for no good reason. They are not statistics, but good people who are serving the country. My thoughts and sympathies go out to they and their families. But for the administration that chose to waste their lives I have nothing but anger and contempt. The administration should be prosecuted for their criminal actions, including the deaths of 4,000 soldiers.

We need to end this war.



Added: More here:

Iraq war's 4,000 fallen

Last Dregs Of The Blue Palace

Hi! This is Zymurgian, signing on. May be my last post on this here blog, as the times they are a changing, for me, lately. I'm contemplating being a rent-free forest dweller for a few weeks, for to save for a bus ticket someplace amiably different. Could be Duluth, Lake Mary Road, New Paltz, Doney Park, Seychelle Isles, Gethsemane or Cleveland... Anyway, methinks it's just about time to step upon the on-ramp, metaphorically speaking, maybe.
All the other contributers to this blog are all about politics and economics and such heady stuff. Such topics bore me completely. Sorry. So I guess that makes me the stupid one. I love extravagant, original, wildly chaotic intricate prose. I brew my ales that way too!
i just bottled my latest batch of homebrew. She, I have dubbed OAKED WEE-HEAVY INDIA PALE ALE. For the initiated, diastatic and proteolytic enzymes were manifested; activated, mashed, predomitably through 15 lbs of Maris Otter, at 153.5 degrees F plus one lb dom Crys 120 lovibund , 120 minute mash, a great deal of Columbus, 90 min roiling boil in two cauldrons, one set to carmelize. Force chilled .Edinburgh Ale Yeast, started day before in erlenmeyer, plugged Cascade, plenty of it, dry hopped in primary, with oak chips, Irish moss, gypsum, isinglas. Racked twice. Anyway, I really think the gods smile on this batch, folks!
The man ya'll know as Pygalgia is not only a great housemate, also a dear friend of mine ; teacher of many oeuvres... If he says my homebrew is good, chances are it is. Two weeks from now, hopefully we will read Pygalgia's discourse upon OAKED WEE-HEAVY IPA.
Meanwhile, too much dust on my backpack.
I remain,
Zymurgian