Far East Cynic

Today was pretty good day. Which is good because on the whole its been a so-so year. However even a so-so year here, still beats any of the so-called “good” years I spent living the “typical”, mind numbing, soul smothering existence I had with my ex and my ambition………..

Tonight the S.O. and I shared a dinner that had both US and Japanese traditional food. I made a pork roast and black eyed peas ( for money and luck), she made Soba noodles ( for long life). She also cleaned the apartment, which is a Japanese tradition to welcome the new year……I left her to it, I went and played golf. We made plans to visit the shrine tomorrow and make new years intentions. In Japan, many people go on New Years eve and welcome the New Year at the shrine; as the 108 bells are sounded. (I have no idea of the significance of the number..).

I have some prognostications for the new year, but decided that first I should take stock of the year about to end. So here, in no particular order is a rundown on the 2005 that was for yours truly.

Stats:

-The USAF was only able to complete 68% of the missions that were contracted with them on time. DHL made 96% of theirs. There is a lesson somewhere there.
-Played 81 rounds of golf ( that I logged, that does not count a few blow up rounds that I thought were not good for my handicap…….).
-Logged 97,567 frequent flyer miles ( one one airline…also 30,000+ plus on “brand X”….that’s a good thing!)
- Visited Singapore 4 times.
- Visited Hong Kong 4 times
-Went to Bangkok for the first time in 3 years….Definitely need to go back.
-Went to my parents house twice.
-Went to Taipei once.
-Posted 283 posts since I started this blog
-Have had 21,000 or so visitors to my blog…
-Saved a lot more money than I used to, not as much as I could or should have….
- Had a lot of frustration and also had a lot of fun!
-Did not go to my favorite pub in Tokyo near enough.
-Paid 30% of my post-tax income in Alimony. Also gave away 39% of a hard earned retirement to a worthless whore who does not deserve anything but a Louisville Slugger to the forehead. Thanks Pat Schroeder, thanks a lot. You can join the line waiting for the bus……..

This year was a very topsy turvy one for me. Started off on a high note as I thought I had real sweetheart deal lined up to get the job I had been scheming to get, for over a year. A month later it was shot down in flames by institutional stupidity on the part of the company I would have gone to, leaving me to flail around and locked into my current existence for a good deal longer. It did lead me though, to start this blog.

Watched a lot of things happen with the world, the US government and the US military that just made me pause. Some examples:

a) Realignment fever was every where. Did not matter if they actually contributed to mission accomplishment, but it helped keep flag officers employed. Shook my head again as I realized that this year, the US Navy was almost 90,000 people smaller than it was in 1991, but still had exactly the same number of flag officers as it had prior to Desert Storm.

b) Watched the war in Iraq drag on for another year. Troop levels stayed the same, violence continued, and the President was on TV over and over again trying to convince me that somehow all this sacrifice was benefiting the security of the United States and not just a bunch of useless Arabs. For 12 months I still remained unconvinced.

c) Watched with amazement the series of natural disasters that befell the world. Played a small role in the Tsunami relief effort. Watched the USAF get lots of credit, even though they could not get there right away and could not do half the things the Navy did…………..

d)Kept my head above water in Japanese, but did not make near as much progress in proficiency as I would have liked to.

e) Decided that Bill O Reilly, Sean Hannity, and Rush Limbaugh all need to kiss the front end of a bus moving 50 miles per hour.

f) Took the S.O. on two trips and got not near enough “reward” for my efforts…….

g) Thanked God in heaven for the 7th year in a row that I was able to break free from the clutches of those who thought their medical license and/ or professional position gave them a right to meddle in my private life. You know who you are……You can join Bill O’Reilly in kissing the front end of the moving bus. “I’m still here you greasy bastards!!!!”.

h) Watched a lot of really good people pass on from this world……

k) Wrote John Murtha a letter of support. Wrote Rick Santorum a letter telling him to go suck eggs and I hoped he would listen to John Murtha…….

l) Read a lot of articles that made me think, some that just made me angry and some that were just plain stupid. ( Michelle Macangalang, in case there is any doubt, you fall into the last category.

m) Was really envious of the life that Spike is living in Hong Kong. By my count, he has nailed more women in the last year than I have in the last 10………

n) Watched with amusement as Hong Kong opened Disneyland. And continued to close the door on democratic reform………Good Job , Sir Bow Tie!

o) Watched another year go by with Kim Jong Il not doing the decent thing and dying………

p) Watched with amazement as the US government caved into the Japanese government, on an issue the Japanese government did not ask them for any concessions on. Namely, agreeing to move Carrier Air Wing 5 to Iwakuni from Atsugi. Had to pick my jaw up off the floor when I found out that loser of an idea came from the Navy’s mis management, and not the Japanese. Good job guys! You took something that was not broken and decided to really screw it up………

q) Watched the stock market go both up and down…..and always at the wrong time for me…….

r) Generally found myself agreeing with her:

s) Decided I was never going to really understand or agree with most of what he says:

Unfortunately, the other side offers me nothing either………..

t) Worked hard to squeeze “efficiencies” into our transportation scheduling. Of course all the money we saved did not come back to us or the organizations we support. It just went to pay the bill for the war……..

u)Took time each week to remember those who gave all……….regardless of politics, stop and pray for their familes…who had a worse year than most of us……..

v) read some good books:

w) wondered mightily what the coming year had in store……….

x)y)and z). Remembered the hardest working people in the US. The Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and lots of other places, doing a thankless job, doing it well, and asking nothing in return but to be respected by their countrymen…….most of whom are not being required to do anything to support their efforts. Hoping and praying that the new year brings a huge change to that kind of attitude. And homecomings for lots of these great human beings.

That’s a good place to stop. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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Its new years eve! I love the whole traditon of a long boozy party, with the countdown to New Years, followed by sloppy kisses with whatever willing member of the opposite sex you can find……( Unless the wife or girlfriend is there….in which case you have to give her the obligatory, first..). S.O. hates countdown parties. So in about an hour I will venture forth to my favorite little bar to count down to new years and she will watch the “Red and White” show, a huge NHK entertainment extravaganza lasting 4+ hours and is a competition between the Red and White teams. (Personally , I think its fixed..). Maybe later when I come home at 11:45 to watch the TV coverage of the shrines, we will share a glass or 4 of this:

The great thing about living in Japan is that you can tie one on, go to bed and still wake up in plenty of time to eat lunch and watch the ball drop at 2 PM in Times Square. Hopefully for all of you, some of those new hours of the new year will be spent intertwined with one ( or more) of these:

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Today I went with the S.O. to into downtown Tokyo. We went to meet a friend of hers from her days working for a big bad American corporation. Her friend still works for said corporation as a project manager and engineer. He is , depending on your point of view, an American’s worst nightmare or best hope for the future, Born and raised in India, educated in both India and America, and holding down great responsibilities for a global corporation. He’s also a really good guy.

So tonight we went to his favorite Indian restaurant ( I know nothing about Indian food) and let him do the ordering. Wise choice for he ordered an excellent dinner of Nan and various curries and meats. Quite tasty if I do say so myself.

Then it was off to Millenario. Millenario is a 4 block arch of lights that they have put up every year I’ve been here. The S.O. and I had one of our early dates there walking through with the herd. In what has to be yet another bad omen, this will be the last year they do the light display here in Tokyo, due to construction scheduled to begin in Otemachi next year.

Here is what it looks like:

Taken at the end of the walk…….

When we got to Tokyo station they were announcing it was going to be a 2 hour wait to get to the beginning, there were that many people to see it. We said nuts to that and decided to walk around the surrounding area and see what we could see. As luck would have it, a hole in the traffic barriers had been opened to bring in an ambulance so we were able to fold in behind that and move on in as if we had been there all along. Timing is everything they say.

Walked through, oohing and ahhing at the proper points and I also took great pleasure watching all the cell phone cameras at work:

Remember when a phone was just a phone?

After that we adjourned to one my little British pubs for a beer and some more conversation. All in all a good evening. Tomorrow is new years eve, look here for my prognostications…………

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Just got back from a drunk-ex at the club. Won more rounds than I lost ( proving the old adage “You can’t lose in a crowd…….”. ) Lots of truths and lots of cash exchanged….

Anyway…….

Here is the “Great Communicators” take on the matter:

“Some continue to think of the world’s best military as a laboratory for social experiments. Well, I’m here to tell you that nothing could be further from the truth. We are at peace today and we have that peace through strength, and you, our military, are the providers of that strength. Most importantly of all, you are not wagers of wars, but keepers of the peace.”

What he said.

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Tonight, in keeping with the rest of the un-welcome change that seems to be ever present these days, the NHK TV show “Project X” had its last broadcast.

Project X is a weekly documentary show on NHK that documents achievements by everyday Japanese, or groups of Japanese. Its been on a 6 year run which just happens to correspond to the length of time I’ve been here. So you’ll forgive me if I take the show’s cancellation as a bad omen.

The S.O. likes the show and she introduced me to it, because I liked the show’s catchy theme song. Sung by Miyuki Nakajima (?????????the song: Chijyo no Hoshii (?????Star above the earth), is a great song and quite inspirational. You can download the song here.

Miyuki Nakajima

By the time it gets to the chorus (????????????????????Swallow (as in bird) from the sky high above, teach me, star above the ground) your feet are tapping and you are all pumped up. The ending tune ( also by Ms Nakajima) , Headlight Tailight is pretty good and a sad, but hopeful tune. (????????????????? ???????????Headlight, tailight, the journey is still not over) .

Its a little above my comprehension level (a lot actually) in Japanese, so I have to stay glued to the S.O. and my electronic dictionary to understand it all. Nonetheless, the subjects are all folks who otherwise would get short shrift in the history books. They put the show together in an interesting fashion and try, as best they can to turn these construction and other achievements into something very dramatic. Oftentimes they succeed, mainly due to the narration of Tomoru Taguchi(???????, personal interviews and flashbacks, as well as clever use of popular background music, much of it from American movies. Some examples of the stories they told are of the man who invented VHS tape for JVC, the struggle to build the underwater tunnel between Honshu and Hokkaido, the story of a famous chef at the Imperial Hotel, the first Japanese to get to the South Pole and the struggles Mazda had to win on the racing circuit. As you can guess its focused on Japanese progress and development since the war. I think that is the shows underlying message, kind of parochial: that Japan has hope for the future and ordinary Japanese are accomplishing great things.

The program has been broadcast in 18 countries in the native language including Iraq, garnering the following comment from the Japanese foreign minister:

In the meanwhile, back to work on getting my show renewed for another season! More to follow. Stay tuned to this blog for all the latest developments……………..

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I hope every one had a great Christmas and that Santa brought each of you something you wanted. I got what I wanted mainly because I had to pick it out myself. Some of the spirit of the occasion came rushing out of my sails when the S.O. asked if I had receipts for all the gifts I bought her………….

Me: “Yes, but you cannot see them. Then you will know how much I spent on them.”

Her: ” But I will need the receipts to take the gifts back……….I can just keep the money…….”

Me: ” No you can’t, the refund goes back to MY credit card…..” (Thinking that I should have just gone to a bar instead of Christmas shopping at this point….)

Her: “Oh”.

I believe this is what is known in the language of computer programmers as a “Do-loop”…… It does, however, re-affirm my basic theory that the instincts of the female of the species are the same; regardless of point of origin………

Did get the obligatory phone calls done and had a good time making dinner for the S.O.’s Japanese friends who came over for Christmas dinner. One of them, Akemi, speaks no English. So dinner was an interesting exercise in concentration to understand the women as they talked increasingly faster in Japanese. I must be making progress on that score however, as I understood most of the conversation. They all liked my honey mustard ham though, so the dinner can be considered a success.

Yesterday, suited up with long johns, sweaters, corduroy pants and my golf shoes and went out to play my first full round of golf in about 3 weeks. Winter golf is both a good and a bad thing. Once dressed properly with layers and layers, its really not so bad. The dilemma of course is what do with one’s hands, since I find winter golf gloves to be too thick to give me the control I want. Opted for a summer glover instead and kept my hands in my pockets at other times. Worked OK and thanks to that “winter roll” the ball gets, I actually had a decent score for a change. Actually not a bad way to spend the day. After all things could be worse:

Actually, my Christmas was too low key; I could have used a couple of more Yuletide parties. It seems however, with the passage of time, as if I will be spending the perfect Christmas the way that Hemlock does:

It’s that day again – the day every year when the Journal publishes its immensely tiresome In Hoc Anno Domini editorial, penned in 1949 by the late Vermont Royster, frequent winner of the Conservative Journalist Who Most Sounds Like A Seafood Chowder Award during the Cold War era. When I first read it (15 years ago?) I was impressed. But its quasi-Biblical style gets more wearisomely pious with each reading. On a brighter media note, The Economist’s annual double issue – the ultimate brain candy – came out yesterday. All I need is that, a bottle of Harvey’s Bristol Cream, a selection of chocolate, marzipan, crystallized fruit and real lokum with cardamom and nuts, and a warm cave where no-one can find me – and my Christmas is complete.

I agree with him about the editorial by the way, it does become wearisome after the 15th or 20th reading……..

Finally, courtesy of John Cole, its the time of year for the holiday of Festivus:

The annual airing of the grievances!.

John has particularly summed up mine especially concerning organizations that just break your heart: The Democratic party, The Steelers and the Pirates………..

Ja ne!

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I did something very uncharacteristic last night. I left the S.O. to go to bed, while I went to Midnight Mass. That’s remarkable for me because: a) I’m not Catholic and b) the last time I was in this church was for a memorial service some 10 months ago. Amazingly, the building remained standing, although the surprise I am sure, was great.

I spent too long sitting through southern Methodist and southern Baptist protestant services to convert to Catholicism, however I have genuine respect for the Mass and find it to be more comfortable for me. I like to think that the Mass is interactive worship, you don’t just go and sit through the sermon the way one does in Protestant churches. The minister has enough things to scold me for, to be sure, but I was not in the mood. I just wanted to stare up at the cross and pray for guidance and help. For friends, for myself. I believe firmly that God heard these prayers, now whether He chooses to take notice of them is another matter–and solely up to Him.

The Mass ended, I walked home in the cold night air. There was not a cloud in the sky, which is even more amazing when one considers that it has snowed just about every where in Japan except the Kanto plain this week. It was cold but a really beautiful night. Could not really resolve anything on the walk either, except whatever is going to come this coming year, I’ll just have to deal with, one way or another.

Perhaps it was just such a night 2000 years ago:

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.

Luke 2:2 ([And] this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

Luke 2:3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

Luke 2:4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

Luke 2:5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

Luke 2:6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

Luke 2:7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

Luke 2:8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

Luke 2:9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

Luke 2:10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

Luke 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:12 And this [shall be] a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

Merry Christmas!!!!

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Merry Christmas everyone!

It’s Christmas eve here, evening time to be exact. In true procrastinators form, I did the last of my Christmas shopping today, 24 December, probably paying more than I should have for the S.O.’s big gift ( A Yamashita 9.75mm pearl pendant…..). She better like it! Certainly I payed enough for it.

Also, in a means only a woman can engineer, I paid for my Christmas gift from the S.O.; a home theater system. Since I can shop at the exchange, and they had a 100 dollar off special on the system, I bought it on the promise from the S.O. that she would give me the money equal to the value of the gift. Me, I would be just as happy if I could get the gift in trade…;-) , but I don’t think the S.O. is going to give it up in the quantity required…sigh.. ;-0 .

I did, however, watch something unique today. On NHK this afternoon they had “Rudoplh the Red Nose Reindeer” animation special. Its the original from 1965 dubbed in Japanese. I watched it as good Japanese listening practice, plus I did not have to struggle with the translation so much, since I have seen this show probably 30+ times in my life. Nonetheless some of the Japanese interpretations were interesting. For example, the song “We are Santa’s Elves” was translated as ???? ?????????????( “We are the people santa likes” ). “Bumbles bounce” was translated as “Bumble jump!” . Not quite the same, methinks.

That got me thinking about why it has been so hard for me to get into a Christmasy spirit this season. Part of has to deal with worry about the future and what do with: my job, the S.O., and where to live., However, more of it has to do with the lack of change from the normal everyday routine. The TV Christmas specials have something to do with that I think. Usually during a “normal” Christmas season I will (try to) watch:

Its a Wonderful Life ( several times…at least until the little bastards at TBS bought the rights!)
A Christmas Story
White Christmas
A Charlie Brown Christmas
The Grinch who Stole Christmas ( Cartoon version, not the crass movie ripoff!)
Rudolph
Miracle on 34th Street ( the original B&W version, although the remake is not too bad…….this movie is also known as the story of my sex life!)
Donovan’s Reef (Don’t ask me why this is here, I just like it!)
Holiday Inn
The Santa Clause………(just the original, not the useless sequel)
About Last Night…( No Christmas connection here, just an excuse to watch….Unless you count Jim Belushi walking through the snow saying, ‘Tits and ass, Tit’s and ass, bonnie blue, bonnie blue, bonnie blue!’)

Which one is the best? That’s easy. A Christmas Story is without a doubt my favorite Christmas movie. The story is well told, tastefully done, genuinely funny, and original. While most folks focus on the “BB gun” piece of the story, for me it is the description of the boy’s father ( “My old man was the connoisseur of using the “F” word”; ” Over the years I got taste many kinds of soap in my mouth, I found Palmolive to be the best….” .

They don’t write stuff like that anymore. I sure wish they did…………..

Merry Christmas!
Froliche Weinachten!
????????????

Be careful out there!………..

And of course its good to be at the top:

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Its the holiday weekend! Today was the emperor’s birthday, a national holiday here in Japan lots of people out and about. Known as Tenno no tanjobi (????? ) it is one of 2 times in the year that folks can get into the imperial grounds. Yesterday was freezing but folks still came out..

Even Santa came to pay his respects:

Of course it was freezing out side so after the emperor made his brief 3 minute appearance there was a need for these:

And perhaps later on that evening, a chance to retire and open “presents”:

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One of the great moments in Navy history was the “Revolt of the Admirals”. A long time ago and a galaxy far away, another stubborn President and a “transformational” Secretary of Defense were also seeking to emasculate the Armed Services because of devotion to a flawed idea:

The Revolt of the Admirals offers the modern officer an opportunity to study the elements of true character. Others in the incident likewise decided that there were matters of principle more important than their careers. Leader of the charge was ADM Arthur Radford, who at the time was Commander in Chief, Pacific. CAPT Arleigh Burke, certain that he would not be selected for flag rank despite his invaluable wartime service, headed up Radford’s Washington office. Concurrently, President Harry S (The Buck Stops Here) Truman’s Secretary of Defense, Louis Johnson, canceled the carrier United States (CV-58), whose keel had just been laid. Secretary of the Navy John Sullivan then resigned in protest and soon afterward Chief of Naval Operations ADM Louis E. Denfeld was fired summarily for his stubborn support of Radford and Burke. The whole sordid affair shook the Navy, but junior officers in the Navy took heart from the positive aspects of the blood bath, for they knew that their leadership had the courage to stand up and be counted when it mattered. The actions by our Navy’s leaders were truly examples of character and superb leadership. There are many others such as this over the years, but the Revolt of the Admirals stands as key in my time. -RADM Jigdog Ramage speaking in the Tailhook magazine.

Now here in the world of Rumsfeld it looks as if the professionals may have had enough. From the Washingotn Post:

Washington Post
December 21, 2005
Pg. 31Revolt Of The Professionals

By David Ignatius

The national security structure that the Bush administration created after Sept. 11, 2001, began to crumble this month because of a bipartisan revolt on Capitol Hill. Newly emboldened legislators forced the administration to accept new rules for the interrogation of prisoners, delayed renewal of the Patriot Act and demanded an investigation of warrantless wiretapping by the National Security Agency.

President Bush has bristled at these challenges to his authority over what has amounted to an undeclared national state of emergency. But the intelligence professionals who have daily responsibility for waging the war against terrorism don’t seem particularly surprised or unhappy to see the emergency structure in trouble. They want clear rules and public support that will allow them to do their jobs effectively over the long haul, without getting second-guessed or jerked around by politicians. Basically, they don’t want to be left holding the bag — which this nation has too often done with its professional military and intelligence officers.

I met this week with a senior intelligence official who has spent much of his career pursuing terrorist targets. I asked him what he thought, watching the emergency structure come down around him. “We all knew it would,” he said. The interim structure was inherently unsustainable. But he noted that the very fact that the nation is debating rules for interrogation and surveillance of suspected terrorists demonstrates the success the intelligence agencies have had since Sept. 11 in disrupting attacks.

The civil liberties debate is indeed a welcome sign that we are returning to normality. We wouldn’t be anguishing over these issues if terrorists were continuing to fly airplanes into our skyscrapers. As we learned after Sept. 11, a frightened nation loses its sense of balance. Now that the nation feels more secure, we insist anew on the rule of law. Presidents may claim extraordinary powers in times of crisis (and Bush is hardly the first), but the checks and balances inherent in our system push us back toward the center line drawn by the Founders.

One little-noted factor in this re-balancing is what I would call “the officers’ revolt” — and by that I mean both military generals in uniform and intelligence officers at the CIA, the NSA and other agencies. There has been growing uneasiness among these national security professionals at some of what they have been asked to do, and at the seeming unconcern among civilian leaders at the Pentagon and the CIA for the consequences of administration decisions.

The quiet revolt of the generals at the Pentagon is a big reason U.S. policy in Iraq has been changing, far more than Bush’s stay-the-course speeches might suggest. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is deeply unpopular with senior military officers. They complain privately about a management style that has stretched the military to the breaking point in Iraq. For months they have been working out details of troop reductions next year in Iraq — not just because such action will keep the Army and Marine Corps from cracking but because they think a smaller footprint will be more effective in stabilizing the country.

A similar revolt is evident at the CIA. Professional intelligence officers are furious at the politicized leadership brought to the agency by ex-congressman Porter Goss and his retinue of former congressional staffers. Their mismanagement has peeled away a generation of senior management in the CIA’s Directorate of Operations who have resigned, transferred or signaled their intention to quit when their current tours are up. Many of those who remain are trying to keep their heads down until the current wave of political jockeying and reorganization is over — which is the last thing you would want at an effective intelligence agency.

The CIA, like the military, wants clear and sustainable rules of engagement. Agency employees don’t want their careers ruined by future congressional or legal investigations of actions they thought were authorized. Unhappiness within the CIA about fuzzy rules on interrogation, and the risk of getting clobbered after the fact for doing your job, was a secret driver for Sen. John McCain’s push for a new law banning cruel interrogation techniques.

President Bush needs to do what he so often talks about, which is to provide strong leadership. In place of the post-Sept. 11 emergency structure, the country needs clear rules that Congress can debate and finally endorse. It may be, for example, that the NSA does need more agile and more flexible techniques for wiretapping suspected terrorists, like those the president secretly imposed in 2001. If so, it’s time to amend our laws. Framing clear rules that meet traditional American legal standards is a sign of the nation’s recovery from Sept. 11 — and it’s a process that will serve, above all, the professionals fighting terrorism on the front lines.

One can only hope that this is the case……….

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Bush mounted a vigorous defense of his order authorizing warrantless eavesdropping on overseas telephone calls and e-mail of U.S. citizens with suspected ties to terrorists. He contended that his “obligation to protect you” against attack justified a circumvention of the traditional process in a fast-moving, high-tech battle with a shadowy enemy.

On the other side are the civil libertarians, or so they claim. If however, there were a democratic president at the podium they would be loudly supporting him and in my opinion Hillary Clinton would be just as likely to tap phone lines as George Bush is…(especially her husband’s….). However they make some great points about the potential implications of this (ab)use of presidential power:

I think that George Bush truly believes that he is acting in the best interests of the American people and that the taps will only be limited to acting against terrorist subjects and not folks (like me) who want to arrange a tryst with my big breasted neighbor. I also can assume given his management style, that he is not actively involved in choosing the targets of the surveillance, so what his minions choose to do is an important question.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions they say, and however well intentioned the President’s motives are, this course of action is full of peril. I do not know who is right here, but I do know that the very fact that we are accepting of this type of behavior means that we are strarting down the slippery slope to ….who knows where.

One potential destination was documented about 15 years ago in Parameters, the magazine of the Army War College. I thought about that article this weekend when the news first broke. I read it in 1992, when seeking solace while working for a psychopath, I took to spending long lunch hours over at the Armed Forces Staff College library. The article is by Charles Dunlap and postures how a military coup of the United States could occur.

Go here to read about The Origins of the American Military Coup of 2012.

Nonsense you say? Read the article closely and you will see that many of Mr Dunlap’s suggestions have come true in a fashion, particularly the acceptance of using the military for all kinds of non military, non traditional missions. His comments on the growing isolation of the service culture from American society in general hit home now, as well. For the character of General Brutus, simply substitute the name Clark ( Wesley or Vern, does not really matter which) and see if a chill does not run down your spine.

Bush may mean well, but what about the next guy… or God forbid, his own Vice President?

Skippy-san

P.S. If you don’t like my view, Professor Bainbridge offers some other reasons why this type of domestic surveillance is a really bad thing…..

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Took another one of those Blog quizes today thanks to Bothenook. They did not have anything better that appealed to the pruient interest so:

You’re a Freaky Kisser

When you kiss, you want to experience something new A new technique, a new partner, a new piercing… And your own personal kissing style is very unpredictable There’s no saying where your tongue or hands will go

What Kind of Kisser Are You?

And speaking of kissing, here’s a kiss I’m sure you don’t see every day in Beijing, courtesy of Battlepanda:

Can you come up with a good caption for this?

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Repeat this to yourself

O Father of mercies and God of all comfort, our only help in time of need: We humbly beseech thee to behold, visit, and relieve thy sick servant Ann, for whom our prayers are desired. Look upon her with the eyes of thy mercy; comfort her with a sense of thy goodness; preserve her from the temptations of the enemy; and give her patience under her affliction. In thy good time, restore her to health, and enable her to lead the residue of her life in thy fear, and to thy glory; and grant that finally she may dwell with thee in life everlasting; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

No arguing now, just do it. “They lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, “O Lord, you are God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them; (WEB)”

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Time Magazine that is…………

With all that is happening in the world this year, you know those minor things like the war, a couple of HUGE earthquakes, the Tsunami, some major upheavals in foreign policy; they decide that Bono and Bill Gates are the most important people on the planet?

There is only one correct response to that:

What in the hell were they thinking?

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18 hours of sleep is a wonderful thing ( although non- continuous). Spent this morning catching up on the news and also checking on paying some bills and figuring out when the ex will hit me up with a new bill………

The news is interesting to say the least. First and foremost is the Iraqi election, hailed as a triumph for democracy in Iraq and further proof that Administration policy in Iraq is on the right track. Even some of the so-called liberal main stream media are reporting it as such. You’ll forgive me if I restrain my enthusiasm for a while longer. Yes the Iraqis have voted, however we still do not know the results of said election, and whether the forces of Islamic moderation or extremism have been enabled in Wiemar Iraq. Furthermore the election really only has meaning to me for one thing: That perhaps finally, we can look a bit closer to the day that America quits that hell hole brings its troops out and back to more reasonable pursuits. As I pointed out earlier , and James Fallows has well documented, the election in and of itself may not exactly be the milestone we hope. The Iraqi Army still has a hell of a long way to go to “Stand up, so we can stand down”. Richard over at Peking Duck has an interesting summary:

There comes a point when all you can feel about Iraq is cynicism and pessimism. It will take more than a feel-good photo-op to turn that around, especially after we’ve seen so many in the past few years. Remember the big “handover,” which so many were touting as the dawn
of a new day for Iraq? Remember the ecstasy over the last election, when the photos of the purple-fingered Iraqis were touted as prof of some sort of triumph? Remember how many times we were told victory was “around the corner,” freedom was “on the march” and the “backbone of the insurgency” was broken? (Hell, anyone remember the Mission Accomplished banner?).

Each cause for buoyant optimism was soon (very soon) quashed by more death and more mayhem. Today it might be different; perhaps today really is the moment we’ve all been waiting for, the dawn of a new day. But remember, this whole exercise was not about giving people the right to vote. It was about protecting America from terrorism. Every step of the way, we’ve been lied to and disappointed, made increasingly cynical and skeptical. The cause for the war morphed from protection against imaginary mushroom clouds and looming stockpiles to one of liberty and freedom. Those are lofty ideals and beautiful things, but America doesn’t go to war to give people the right to vote. If we did, we’d have invaded China and North Korea and Saudi Arabia long ago. > This, of course, violates the mil-blogger party line and I am sure I will be pounced on by other folks, but Richard’s sentiments are also very close to mine. I only care about success in Iraq in the context of how it gets American troops out of an occupation that was, in the words of a colleague, the wrong war at the wrong time. I just want to get this little adventure over and done with . I’m glad that John Murtha spoke out because he is at least provoking the correct debate, and I believe he simply took a position that was 180 degrees opposed to Bush to get that discussion out in the open. For that he is derided as a surrender monkey and a “cut and run opportunist”. Based on the latest polling data, his actual stated position (vice what people say he said) is in line with the American people:

In the poll, when people were asked in an open-ended question the main reason the U.S. should keep troops in Iraq, 32 percent said to stabilize the country and 26 percent said to finish the rebuilding job under way. Only one in 10 said they wanted to stay in Iraq to fight terrorism; just 3 percent said to protect U.S. national security. “You’ve got to finish the job,” said Terry Waterman, a store manager from Superior, Wis. The whole world is looking to us for leadership. We can’t have another Vietnam.”
Other recent polling has found that when given additional options, many people favor a step somewhere in between having troops leave immediately and staying until the country is stabilized.
Some 49 percent of Americans now say the war with Iraq was a mistake, according to the poll of 1,006 adults conducted Tuesday through Thursday. That compares with 53 percent in August. Two years ago, only 34 percent of those surveyed said the war was a mistake.
“Whether the war is a mistake is less relevant than what we should do now,” said John McAdams, a political scientist at Marquette University in Milwaukee. “A fair number of people may think it’s a mistake, but still don’t want to lose.”

Which, if you carefully parse what Murtha said, is the point he was making. He also did not want the malevolent CEO’s running DOD to use up America’s greatest asset, its military, by mortgaging its future. Troop rotations at the current rate will burn the folks out, despite Rummy’s denials to the contrary, or his continuing refusal to acknowledge that they are doing more with less and will have to make do with even less in the future ( at least if they are in any service but the Army………). Murtha is hearing that from his Constituents and from sources inside DOD. His only crime was believing them, and not Rumsfeld.

What about the soldiers on the ground? The repeated disconnect between what they believe and what is reported in the press? That’s a legitimate question and one the the Commander of Central Command has taken on board. He points out:

He is amazed as he goes around the country and testifies before the Congress how many of our countrymen do not know or understand what we are doing or how we are doing. There are very few members of Congress who have ever worn the uniform (of our Armed Forces). He said that the questions he gets from some in Congress convince him that they have the idea hat we are about to pushed out of Iraq and Afghanistan. There is no relation between this and the reality on the ground. As he goes around the region and talks to troops and junior officers he is very impressed by their morale and their achievements. They are confident that they are capable of defeating the enemy. You will never see a headline in this country about a school opening or a power station being built and coming on line, or a community doing well. Only the negative things will get coverage in the media.

He told the mid-grade/senior officers to go to their local Lions Clubs when they go home and tell the people what they are doing. If they don’t get the word out, the American people will not know what is really happening.The insurgency is in four of 18 provinces in Iraq, not all 18. You do not hear about the 14 provinces where there is no insurgency and where things are going well. The insurgency in Afghanistan is primarily in Kandahar province (home of the Taliban) and in the mountain region on the Pakistani border. The rest of the country is doing well.Iraq now has 200,000 soldiers/police under arms and growing. They are starting to eclipse the US/coalition forces. Their casualty rate is more than double that of the US. There are more than 70,000 soldiers under the moderate government in Afghanistan and growing.

He predicted that the insurgencies in the four Sunni provinces in northern/central Iraq and in Southwestern Afghanistan will be there for the foreseeable future, but they will be stabilized and become small enough so the moderate governments will be able to keep them under control. 2006 will be a transition year in Iraq and that will see the Iraqi forces take much more of the mission from the US forces. This is necessary to bring stability to Iraq. We need to be fewer in numbers and less in the midst of the people for the moderate Iraqi government to succeed.

And so the conversation continues.

Now you might ask, “Hey Skippy, why are you so damn negative? He’s the commander, you might ask, doesn’t he know what he is talking about?”

To which I would reply, “Yes he does, but in the end its the details that are not said that really count.”

Because both Richard and Gen Abazid are not incorrect in their data, proving only that objective analysis still counts for something and is an art that is being rapidly lost within the military.

First, it is probably useful to look at a map and ask some questions about the 4 out of 18 provinces statement:

It is true, as U.S. officials often point out, that the violence is confined mainly to four of Iraq’s eighteen provinces. But these four provinces contain the nation’s capital and just under half its people.

Lets look at the population density map:

Now lets look at the map of attacks in the past year. Notice how they match the population density pretty closely ?

And then finally, lets not take the 200,000 number at face value but dig down a little closer shall we? Here is what one finds(from Fallows data):

Most assessments from outside the administration have been far more downbeat than Rumsfeld’s. Time and again since the training effort began, inspection teams from Congress, the Government accountability Office (GAO), think tanks, and the military itself have visited Iraq and come to the same conclusion: the readiness of many Iraqi units is low, their loyalty and morale are questionable, regional and ethnic divisions are sharp, their reported numbers overstate their real effectiveness.The numbers are at best imperfect measures. Early this year the American-led training command shifted its emphasis from simple head counts of Iraqi troops to an assessment of unit readiness based on a four-part classification scheme. Level 1, the highest, was for “fully capable” units those that could plan, execute, and maintain counterinsurgency operations with no help whatsoever. Last summer Pentagon officials said that three Iraqi units, out of a total of 115 police and army battalions, hadreached this level. In September the U.S. military commander in Iraq, Army General George Casey, lowered that estimate to one.Level 2 was for “capable” units, which can fight against insurgents as long as the United States provides operational assistance (air support, logistics, communications, and so on). Marine General Peter Pace, who is now the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said last summer that just under onethird of Iraqi army units had reached this level. A few more had by fall. Level 3, or “partially capable” units, included those that could provide extra manpower in efforts planned, led, supplied, and sustained by Americans. The remaining two thirds of Iraqi army units, and half the police, were in this category. Level 4, “incapable” units, were those that were of no helpwhatsoever in fighting the insurgency. Half of all police units were so classified. In short, if American troops disappeared tomorrow, Iraq would have essentially no independent security force. Half its policemen would beconsidered worthless, and the other half would depend on external help for organization, direction, support. Two thirds of the army would be in the same dependent position, and even the better-prepared one third would suffersignificant limitations without foreign help. The moment when Iraqis can lift much of the burden from American troops is not yet in sight.

It’s those details that get you every time. That’s one thing I’ve learned working for the government………… Remember that when the president talks tonight…………

Skippy-san

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