Far East Cynic

The Blue Angels are 60 years old this year. I admit it, I am a sucker for Air Shows.

It also means it’s been 20 years since this video was produced, which is still-by my book-one of the coolest Naval Avation videos ever…………

I still get pumped up when I see it or hear the song!

And the best part? Not one Hornet in it.

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Its amazing what 9 hours of beer free sleep can do for a person……….

Back at work now, and all I can say is, I’m ready to go back to Singapore! Of course, I need to save some money to make up for all that I spent last week, but every one has his cross to bear.

Speaking of money its still not too late to give to the Valour IT charity. Details here.
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The Countervailing Force has published a link to this, which examines the case of Major Jill Metzger who was alledegly kidnapped in Kyrgystan. I say alledgedly because the alternative version of the story has all the elements of a great ready room movie: sex, fraternization, a cover-up and even an abortion (possibly bothched) thrown in. Holy Freaking Zoomies Batman! That would not happen in today’s gender neutral, woman friendly, macho denying Air Force would it? Surely not, because we know when boys and girls are deployed together they never have sex right? If this is true, then it has best selling book written all over it. It can sit next to another book coming out soon: “Great Naval Academy quarterbacks I have ‘known’ ” by Midshipman “X”. Coming to a Court Martial near you.

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According to Wonkette, some drunk gamblers put new meaning into the words, “Vote Early and Vote Often”.

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According to Japundit, here is another good reason to go to a Japanese University:

A survey of Japanese students found that 62% of Japanese university coeds are not virgins, a rise of 10 percentage points since the last survey six years ago. This compares with only 11% of female university students in 1974 who admitted to having sex.

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Check out the latest cover of Newsweek:

I’m not sure that’s what it really looks like!

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Speaking of things that are going to be painful to watch, according to Billmon :

It looks like the folks at Halliburton better get ready to bend over and drop them:

Rep. Ike Skelton knows what he will do in one of his first acts as chairman of the Armed Services Committee in the Democratic-led House: resurrect the subcommittee on oversight and investigations.
The panel was disbanded by the Republicans after they won control of Congress in 1994. Now, Skelton (D-Mo.) intends to use it as a forum to probe Pentagon spending and the Bush administration’s conduct of the Iraq war.

Skelton: (pulls on rubber glove) This is going to hurt — a lot.

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Finally, with something I KNOW is true, and happens to me every time I visit the Lion City, is quite expertly described by Expat at Large. The video on “How to blow up an MRT train” is true by the way, I must have watched it 15 times while waiting for the MRT-with a shitload of coins in my pocket. They are now back in a jar, waiting for the day I can finally take them and turn them in some place……..

Sigh………

My plans for today that is.

After finally gathering strength and sustenance I set out on an ambitious plan. Go up and down Orchard Road and search for a Swatch store. Got to Paragon shopping mall and decided to head down to the Starbucks for some java.

While I was down there sipping my coffee, reading the Straits Times, the heavens opened up. My first clue should have been the increase in the number of people in Starbucks, hovering like vultures, eyeing my seat and wondering when it would be vacated by this ang moh.

So I headed up the stairs and out the door only to find that it was raining. I mean REALLY raining-sheets of rain in fact. It was so dark out side I was wondering if the street lites would come on. That’s not supposed to happen at noon!

Now as luck would have it, your’s truly did not have an umbrella with him. No worry, I thought, since tropical rain showers don’t last very long. I’ll just wait it out here or buy an umbrella.

And therein lies the problem. The rain was not stopping. (Its still raining now some 4 hours later). Being at the Paragon Mall meant the prospect of finding an umbrella was non-existent. Unless you want a Prada umbrella. All of the shops are high end fashion type places. Not my speed at all.

I walk around some more,buy a newspaper, try to get another cup of coffee. No seats to be had. Finally, in desperation, I decide to make the dash between the Paragon and Lucky Plaza. Its STILL pouring mind you. However I steel myself and dash up the side walk, dodging people with umbrellas and girls with soaked blouses. (Which actually is kind of nice……..).

At Lucky Plaza the entrepenurial spirit is alive and well. Street front merchants are scrambling to get racks of umbrellas out to the front of their stores. Found one with a S$6 price tag. Stand in line behind a whole bunch of people with the same idea.

Now properly armed, I set off on up the road. Finally gave up on the rain quitting and making it down to the Boat Quay to see the Speedboat regatta and settled into my favorite little bar for some beers and then work my way here to an internet shop.

Which is full of kids playing interactive games with each others on the banks of game computers. These kids are serious about it, saddling in for 2 hours or more-at least if what they are paying the clerk gives any indication.

I did also make it to Borders Books and bought some books for the trip back. Bought 2 books: Once a Fighter Pilot by Jerry Cook, and a George Orwell anthology with Animal Farm and 1984. I’ve read both Orwell books before, but in the current circumstances it seemed just the thing to read on the plane heading back to Nippon tomorrow.

I also read another book this week that has me eyeing a new career. It’s called Confessions of a Bangkok Private Eye:

This looks like a job for me!

It’s a pretty easy read. Sadly the majority of his stories are the same. Western guy goes to Thailand. Goes nuts with all the nookie around him. Finds a bargirl that he thinks is the “one”. Tries to do a Pretty Woman kind of thing and save her from being a sex worker. Pays her a salary, goes back home, expects her not to hook till she can get a visa to enter (fill in the blank). She simply pockets the money and keeps on fuckingtrucking.

A familar drama. Still it is written in a very conversational style and the descriptions are familar to anyone who has been to Bangkok, Pattaya or Phuket. He also offers some insights into Thai culture and life. (Warren Olson is fluent in Thai and Khmer). It is portrayed as fiction based on fact.

I’m really bummed, I wanted to get around a lot today. The rain just made it slightly too hard. Did meet some cool Scottish folks in the bar though. So when you have to change your plans, you can find other things to do.

And besides, it gives me a reason to have to come back. That’s a great thing!

Time to pack, prepare and then head out for a few final hours of fun!

Skippy-san

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Got back into Singapore early yesterday evening. Raining cats and dogs when I got to the hotel. That put a little damper on the evening but not much. Just the day here then back to Japan and back to normal life. Which is good because I spent too much money on this trip.

Enough politics for the week. I’ve been sitting here in the room OD’ing on CNN since its really the only channel to watch. None of the movies on the TV are any good.

Soon it will be out on a mission-searching for a watch for the S.O.

Last night was interesting. I made the full circuit Boat Quay, Clarke Quay, Orchard Road………being Friday night every place was packed. Lots of beer to be had.

Reading the paper this morining I came across this little tidbit from a Muslim Cleric in Australia:

In the religious address on adultery to about 500 worshippers in Sydney last month, Sheik Hilali said: “If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it … whose fault is it, the cats or the uncovered meat?

“The uncovered meat is the problem.”

The sheik then said: “If she was in her room, in her home, in her hijab, no problem would have occurred.”

He said women were “weapons” used by “Satan” to control men.

“It is said in the state of zina (adultery), the responsibility falls 90 per cent of the time on the woman. Why? Because she possesses the weapon of enticement (igraa).”

Most Australians were not amused……………….

Got to go!

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Before I jump into politics, I would just like to point out a couple of things……………..

1) Looking up at the sky from this little island in the middle of the Indian Ocean is simply amazing. Its just like being at sea because you see so many stars. I still have not found the Southern Cross though I spent a lot of time looking for it on my way home from the bar. I would have thought that one and a half degrees below the equator I would see it.

2) Seeing the lights of ships in the lagoon is equally enchanting.

3) The girl who sold me my T- shirts had a nice ass.

Anyway………………

Has GWB had an epiphany? I’ve now watched him in two different press conferences and he sounded very different, than he has sounded in recent weeks. It means either one of two things:
a) He truly realizes that he should sent Donald Rumsfeld packing earlier-and that the now former SECDEF mislead him about what limited land power could accomplish. Or b) he is playing a very cynical game in that he wants to suck the opposition in by throwing them a bone.

What is clear is that Bush had decided to do this before the election. So why not, as some conservative bloggers have argued, do it back in August so you could then go through the campaign showing willingness to change. Lying at the 11th hour makes very little sense. Either he really thought he could pull a rabbit out of is hat or he had to bludgeoned into realizing reality. Either one is not a good reflection on Bush’s Presidency.

Now many of you may be wondering why I have been down on Rumsfeld for so long and why I am so estactic that he finally go out and apply for Social Security. I’ve disliked Rummy since 2001 for one reason. He said one thing, and always did another. And what he did was never in the interest of the working Soldier or Sailor.

Deny it if you wish, but it is true. Consider if you will what would have happened if 9-11 had not happened. The reliable data has it that the Army and the Navy and the Air Force would have been raped in the QDR. The fact that Rummy would even consider such cuts, when his boss had promised to restore American military resources is troubling.

Second, when it came to pay and benefits, he never ever stepped up to the plate. In fact he did just the opposite, while he said he supported the troops his personnel chief, Dr Chu, went out of his way to screw them over.Look at this years defense budget. Senior flag officers get a 8.9% pay raise, the working Soldier got 2.2%. And he endorsed proposals that decided that since the Army was strained, he felt it was more important to sacrifice personnel from other services , while simeltaneoously pushing plans to cut their numbers-exacerbating the burden.

Rummy was in love with a stupid idea called transformation:

In his classic study of the Korean Conflict, “This Kind of War,” T.R.
Fehrenbach expressed the conventional wisdom on land power’s importance: “You
can fly over a land forever; you may bomb it and wipe it clean of life . . . but
if you desire to defend it; protect it; and keep it for civilization, you must
do this on the ground, the way the Roman legions did . . . by putting your young
men into the mud.”

But that view came into question in 1991, after the U.S.-led coalition
crushed Saddam Hussein’s forces in Desert Storm with what seemed a combination
of air power and information technology. Influential observers argued that this
proved that a “revolution in military affairs” was underway, with information
technology diminishing the importance of land power.

Some went so far as to suggest that traditional ground combat had become a thing of the past, that future U.S. military power would be based on precision strikes delivered by air or space assets, perhaps coordinated and directed by a handful of special operations soldiers.

There was no question that the Army needed to undergo a substantial transformation to remain strategically relevant.(However as will be seen they already knew that…..) Then-Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki pushed hard to replace difficult-to-deploy heavy forces with medium-weight, wheel-mobile combat brigades supported by an advanced gunsystem.

As Donald Rumsfeld became secretary of defense in 2001, the Pentagon
embraced a more radical understanding of this “transformation,” aiming at an
“information-age military force” that “will be less platform-centric and more
network-centric.” Unfortunately, as military historian Fred Kagan has observed,
Rumsfeld’s understanding of transformation is vague and confused. It is based on
false premises and lies at the heart of our problems in Iraq.
Rumsfeld’sattitude toward land power illustrates this. Early on, the secretary actuallysought to go far beyond the Army’s plan and reduce the Army’s force structure
from a mix of 10 heavy and light active-duty divisions to eight or fewer light
divisions. He wanted to move all the Army’s heavy forces – armored and
mechanized infantry – to the National Guard. As thinly stretched as our forces
are today in Iraq and Afghanistan, imagine how things would be if the Army were
20 percent smaller and lacking in regular heavy forces.

He could have been a hero. All he had to do was embrace the end strength numbers that were in Colin Powell’s “Base force”: 14 Army Divisions, 33 Wings, 12 CVBG’s and a 3 Division Marine Corps. Imagine how much better off the Army would be if it had more troops to rotate sooner, a year in country is ridiculous.

Rummy thought like a CEO. Except there was no stock in the company being sold to enhance shareholder value. Like a good corporate CEO, he felt if he could lay off enough employees, he could reap profit. Problem is public and military service is not about profit. It is about readiness to respond.

Then, when it came to easy things like supporting cancellation of the USPFSPA. adequae body armor, better support for the troops he lashed out.

Add all of these together……he should have been on a differnt A/C longt ago………

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Ding dong the witch is dead!
The wicked old witch of the E-ring is dead!
Ding dong the wicked witch is dead!

Hi Ho the merry o! Hopefully, Dr Chu will go!
Vote a fairer pay raise next year!

RUMSFELD IS GONE!

I guess it was that or go hunting with Dick Cheney. I’m listening to Torie Clarke try to defend his worthless record as I write this.

Dear Ms Clarke- Go f**k yourself! Rumsfeld failed in his major mission as the SECDEF, namely resourcing the armed forces properly for the level of effort required of them. He apppointed senior DOD leadership who were more properly dedicated to screwing the troops when it came to end strength, pay and benefits, veterans entitlements, and his bullshit ideas about “transformation” .

Now, if the President is serious about the “long war”, the new SECDEF can get on with banging on desks about why, if we are so committed to staying in Iraq, the nation is not making its armed forces big enough to meet its commitments.

This makes me happy!

I am suprised however, that Bush did this so soon. Makes me wonder if this was already on the table well before the election, in case the Republicans lost- which means that Bush and others lied when they said no changes were anticipated in leadership in DOD. Tell me again the man is not political.

Maybe Rummy did it on his own………I doubt it.

John Lehman was the guy to appoint, but for now, have to wait and see how this guy Gates will do. At least he is portrayed as being different.

So Dr. Chu, when are you heading for the exit ramp……..? The sooner the better , you stingy bastard, you.

BIGGER ARMY!
BIGGER NAVY!
BIGGER AIR FORCE!REPEAL OF THE USFSPA!

HOO! HOO!. Who says voting does not get results!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If the vote of last night accomplished nothing more than this—-it was worth it.

Now for the new SECDEF and Congress: SHUT UP AND PAY THE BILL!

Time for a beer.

This is the best day the US has had in years!

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What’s the best thing about the election last night? Getting to hear all the sanctimonious pundits and bloggers from the Bush side of the aisle whine………..

Because like their idol from Texas, they are more comfortable categorizing everything into short ideological sound bites that are all black or all white; cleverly ignoring the details- especially when it comes to the Bush adminstration’s economic policy, foreign policy, or resourcing of the military. There the boy from Crawford and his pals are experts at saying one thing and doing another.

And now finally at long last, they may be have to faced with the reality that the American people may have finally seen through it. And they are tired of hearing it-especially when it comes the little fracas over in Iraq. 60+ percent of Americans agree with me-they are tired of seeing American names appear bordered in black on their TV screens , for a band of people who have not proven themselves worthy of the investment.

Instead the White House (and others) will portray it as the fault of the voter. “Surely you must see by giving the Democrats power in the legistlature, that you letting forth the forces of doom and liberalism”. They want you to believe that America will be like this Doonesbury cartoon that appeared in 1984 (which I cannot seem to find in a visual format right now):

“Morning in Mondale’s America—Mom, I can’t find my marijuana! Five bucks for a carton of milk! Honey- I’m off for my abortion!”

Here is the problem with that line of thinking. It ignores the new realities and facts.

Lets look at them shall we?

First, Americans are not as blind as some would have you think. They have Nancy Pelosi and others sized up. However they also realize that slowly, but surely, a new breed of Democrat is being born. One that is helping the party to free itself from the chains of the two “F’s”-fags and feminism. The problem was they had sent signal after signal that they were tired of hearing “Stay the course.” And “Full Steam Ahead on Iraq”-as well as “I love Rumsfeld!”

So they had to yield the only baseball bat they had. At least I had to.

Second, despite what the Democrats are saying, they are not going to be able to effect radical changes in the national agenda. Now if they do increase the minimum wage, help the middle class who have been ignored by Bush’s tax cuts, and do something about health care access and cost-well that would be something.

However that ignores a couple of things. One, George Bush is still president. And now he will be able to veto at will, because it will be their bills, not his, that he will have on his desk. I predict that after 6 years of no veto-even when it was needed-you will see the veto pen run out of ink.

Which points out reality number 2, which as pointed out to Phibian Even if the Dems win the remaining two Senate seats-which is not guaranteed-any margin of control in the Senate is razor thin and all it takes is one homosexual affair, bribery scandal, or puppy molestation to change the math. Speaking of molesting puppies, since Lieberman won, he can finally come out of the closet as a Republican-you can bet the Rove phones are busy trying to convince him to do just that.

With Leiberman firmly in the President’s back pocket, its the same as having a majority on issues that count-like the war in Iraq.

Bush gets to direct foreign policy and has control over the military. The Congress may yell and hopefully hold him better to account, but in the end Bush will still call the shots which means that 2 years from now there will still be 144,000 US hostages in Iraq. The Congress people know they cannot cut off funding for the troops-this is not 1975. The American public won’t stand for it at all. They want their troops well paid, protected, and most important of all, home. However if the polls proved anything, we as a nation are confused about how to do that.

Now, if Bush were smart he would sacrifice Rumsfeld- but that assumes he’s smart.

Now if the Democrats were smart, which a lot of them are not, they have to read between the lines carefully and not assume this gives Hillary a red carpet to the White House. This is about that “new breed ” I talked about earlier. If they don’t pick up on that-well have fun shivering in the audience at the inauguration in 2009.

In the meantime- real problems will fester in between: Iran, KJI, that “real” threat from China-both military and economic-just to name a few.

And finally, you can all say a prayer for the poor guy who becomes Joe Sestak’s lead staffer. He’ll be working for a known psycopath. (Ask anyone of the poor bastards who had to work for him in the Navy!)

Still, for me its a good day. Its nice here where I am, the beer is cold, and George Bush just got told no.

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Packing up this morning heading for a place where connectivity is limited.

So I doubt I will be able to comment on the election for good or ill for abbout 4 days.

If you are in the US go vote! I, of course, would prefer you vote against the President and his lackeys, but that is your choice. Regardless of how the election comes out, the US is still in for a long slog in the Arab world. One it chose to undertake. So when you vote remember these folks: The members of the armed forces who have to make it work.

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Or at least it seems that way sometimes.

The last 48 hours have been rather interesting to say the least. Let’s see, where to begin?

Saddam got the death penalty. There is a big surprise. What is probably the bigger issue is how long it took to get to that foregone conclusion. That in a way is a good analogy for the whole American adventure in Iraq. Something that takes way too long to get accomplished. Now the case goes to appeal which could last equally as long. People will crow about how it is justice served. That may be true, but it hardly represents a watershed for the Iraqi government. Normal nations don’t have death squads walking around Sadr city working for some bonehead cleric. From an Iraqi standpoint however it will probably be a catharsis. From an American stanpoint, our objective was accomplished back in 2003.

Meanwhile back here on the small island I learned a few things. Lesson 1)-don’t drink a lot of beer while watching rugby. That’s right, Singapore had its sevens this weekend. Silly me, I thought it would be a big thing like I had always imagined the Hong Kong sevens. So I was very surpised when I went to the matches on Saturday and discovered it was not national teams playing it was clubs. One of the games I watched was between Papua New Guinea and a Japanese club. The Japanese guys got crushed. But the beer was cold.

Back to the hotel after dinner, where I promptly fell asleep for a good 3 hours. Finally got myself up, cleaned up and out the door again to Chijmes. Opened the door to Father Flanigans only to find the place full of folks in costumes. Funny I did not see a sign saying there was a private party. I went back out the door to check. No sign. Back in, buy a beer and settle down to watch the festivities. Turns out it was the party of the Gaelic association of Singapore. They were having a charity auction and had a projector showing slides of the Gaelic games in Shanghai. I was more interested in the really cute girl in the Red Dress talking to her Australian friend dressed up as Wonder Woman. No luck though and finally had to move on.

Up to Insomnia and a few more beers. Place was packed. Finally at about 1 am I realized I needed to go home. Which I did. Did not even jump in the gene pool for a swim

Sunday was a struggle to get up. However I did finally get moving a headed on up to Kranji and went to the War Memorial there. Its really something to see. Very sobering to say the least.

On to work tomorrow!

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Getting ready to head out the door………

But I wanted you guys to see this. Thomas Friedman captures my rage better than I can. I just drink it away. He writes it. READ!

Insulting Our Troops, and Our Intelligence
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: November 3, 2006

George Bush, Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld think you’re stupid. Yes, they do.
They think they can take a mangled quip about President Bush and Iraq by John Kerry —a man who is not even running for office but who, unlike Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney, never ran away from combat service — and get you to vote against all Democrats in this election.

Every time you hear Mr. Bush or Mr. Cheney lash out against Mr. Kerry, I hope you will say to yourself, “They must think I’m stupid.” Because they surely do.
They think that they can get you to overlook all of the Bush team’s real and deadly insults to the U.S. military over the past six years by hyping and exaggerating Mr. Kerry’s mangled gibe at the president.

What could possibly be more injurious and insulting to the U.S. military than to send it into combat in Iraq without enough men — to launch an invasion of a foreign country not by the Powell Doctrine of overwhelming force, but by the Rumsfeld Doctrine of just enough troops to lose? What could be a bigger insult than that?
What could possibly be more injurious and insulting to our men and women in uniform than sending them off to war without the proper equipment, so that some soldiers in the field were left to buy their own body armor and to retrofit their own jeeps with scrap metal so that roadside bombs in Iraq would only maim them for life and not kill them? And what could be more injurious and insulting than Don Rumsfeld’s response to criticism that he sent our troops off in haste and unprepared: Hey, you go to war with the army you’ve got — get over it.

What could possibly be more injurious and insulting to our men and women in uniform than to send them off to war in Iraq without any coherent postwar plan for political reconstruction there, so that the U.S. military has had to assume not only security responsibilities for all of Iraq but the political rebuilding as well? The Bush team has created a veritable library of military histories — from “Cobra II” to “Fiasco” to “State of Denial” — all of which contain the same damning conclusion offered by the very soldiers and officers who fought this war: This administration never had a plan for the morning after, and we’ve been making it up — and paying the price — ever since.

And what could possibly be more injurious and insulting to our men and women in Iraq than to send them off to war and then go out and finance the very people they’re fighting against with our gluttonous consumption of oil? Sure, George Bush told us we’re addicted to oil, but he has not done one single significant thing — demanded higher mileage standards from Detroit, imposed a gasoline tax or even used the bully pulpit of the White House to drive conservation — to end that addiction. So we continue to finance the U.S. military with our tax dollars, while we finance Iran, Syria, Wahhabi mosques and Al Qaeda madrassas with our energy purchases.

Everyone says that Karl Rove is a genius. Yeah, right. So are cigarette companies. They get you to buy cigarettes even though we know they cause cancer. That is the kind of genius Karl Rove is. He is not a man who has designed a strategy to reunite our country around an agenda of renewal for the 21st century — to bring out the best in us. His “genius” is taking some irrelevant aside by John Kerry and twisting it to bring out the worst in us, so you will ignore the mess that the Bush team has visited on this country.

And Karl Rove has succeeded at that in the past because he was sure that he could sell just enough Bush cigarettes, even though people knew they caused cancer. Please, please, for our country’s health, prove him wrong this time.
Let Karl know that you’re not stupid. Let him know that you know that the most patriotic thing to do in this election is to vote against an administration that has — through sheer incompetence — brought us to a point in Iraq that was not inevitable but is now unwinnable.

Let Karl know that you think this is a critical election, because you know as a citizen that if the Bush team can behave with the level of deadly incompetence it has exhibited in Iraq — and then get away with it by holding on to the House and the Senate — it means our country has become a banana republic. It means our democracy is in tatters because it is so gerrymandered, so polluted by money, and so divided by professional political hacks that we can no longer hold the ruling party to account.

It means we’re as stupid as Karl thinks we are.

I, for one, don’t think we’re that stupid. Next Tuesday we’ll see.

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Went around the city yesterday. Suprisingly for me, I covered a lot of ground. Out to Bugis and had some lunch checking my hawker center chicken rice x in the block. Walked back past Raffles after having been over to Arab Street. It was mid-day and the call to prayer was sounding out from the mosque. Sounded to me like a cat having its tail pulled. Looked at rugs and scarves-I’ll need to go back so I get one for the S.O.

The papers here are talking about the opening of Parliment here. Interesting make up if read it right. 82 of 84 seats are held by the Peoples Action Party. For what appears to be a robust population that is suprising to me. It shouldn’t though. Especially when you consider that Lee Kuan Yew is still showing up in the government-despite the fact he has not been the Prime Minister for 16 years.

It made me wonder. This is not really a democracy and the people here are smart. Why don’t they complain about it more? The simple answer is that the population is living well and really is more concerned about day to day life. I don’t necessarily agree with that. I think what you find is that the government here ensures that there is conformity. They have sued and jailed some of their opponents. Did you know that? Its true.

What I think is really the case is that as long as Lee Kwaun Yew is around, Singapore will do what he says. I read in the paper today his ideas about governing. It sounds good till you get to the meat of it, namely doing what is right for the majority. Which is Chinese like he is.

It seems to me that LKY’s attitude does the citizens if Singapore a huge disservice. He presumes to tell them what they want. Could you imagine if his son the Prime Minister was facing a revolt in Parliment? Except thanks to the way they have arranged that, it cannot happen. Geroge Bush would love this place…………

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Got into Singapore about 11:45 last night. Unlike Japan I was in the hotel by 12:30………..Why can’t Narita get immigration and luggage right like they do at Changi.

Just got done eating breakfast and reading the Straits Times. Can’t be all bad when you can start the day doing that!

Now its off to walk off last nights beer down in the Bugis area.

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Laundry done, body clock reset, a few regular meals under my belt. Must mean its time to head out again, which is why I am drinking beer in the lounge while I type this. Heading the opposite way this time. Down to my favorite city on the planet and then out to a few points west from there.

When I was in the States last week, I was suprised how many people actually like Fox news. I don’t, I’m a concerned CNN fan. I ‘ve read a lot of accusations of how they are firmly emplanted in the Democratic camp. These same folks wrote that while criticizing their broken government series of broadcasts last week. Now me, I thought it was a good set of broadcasts and it was just as unsparing of the Democrats as they were of Republicans. In particular I liked their show on the Democrats being the party of two left feet. Which, as we discovered with John Kerry, are firmly planted in his mouth.

Today they also had a piece on what they called “micro-targeters“, which are the firms that both parties pay big money to profile the average American voter. Using information from shopping, credit card use, internet surfing etc they have come up with a “typical” Republican and Democratic voter:

KAYE: Microtargeters know what you read, what kind of coffee you drink, even if you have caller I.D. These tidbits help political parties customize their business and bring it to your front door. Did I mention microtargeters know where you live, too?

(on camera) Here in Folcroft, Pennsylvania, how do microtargeters know which house is Democrat and which house is Republican? Well, a Republican household’s DNA includes a playset in the front yard, a minivan in the driveway, a computer that’s a PC and more dogs than cats. Republicans also, according to microtargeters, watch football, not basketball. Oh, and they don’t smoke.

Their neighbor, the Democrat, has a very different political DNA. They’re more likely to have a hybrid car, an Apple computer and a platinum credit card. They shop at upscale stores, buy gourmet wine and cheese and own both dogs and cats.

(voice-over) Armed with tiny electronic databases, canvassers from both parties go door to door, pushing issues your political DNA tells them you care about.

If you’ve been identified as a likely opponent of the Iraq war, Republicans may target you with messages about other issues, while Democrats may focus on the war.

I shudder to think what my profile must tell them…………….

“Voter who likes beer, women, and bars in Wanchaia nd other seamier neighborhoods. Buys cheap wine, watches old movies and listens to 70′s rock and roll. Surfs blogs and other porm sites.” I probably fall somewhere under the label “lunatic fringe”.

Speaking of warped DNA, I invite you to check out the following article examining my favorite little hypocrite, Michelle Malkin. Its long, but accurate -and well documented from her own words. Its got her sized up about right:

Depending on who you ask, Andy Kaufman was either one of the twentieth century’s most innovative comedians, or just a guy with a talent for pissing people off. Kaufman made a career out of confusing people. The public was never quite sure what was real, and what was an act.He didn’t tell jokes, he played them. And he played them on his audience.According to popular belief, Kaufman became ill with cancer and died in 1984.

Ever see the body? Didn’t think so.

Kaufman, it turns out, is alive and well… and not only that, he’s still in the public eye,hiding in plain sight. He has adopted a new persona.

It was a subtle transformation: a little extra padding here and there, a little collagen in the lips, and presto: Kaufman’s new character was born. In the end, however,
he played it too deadpan, for too long. His routine became so outrageous, we finally realized that it was all a joke, and we recognized him.

Yes, it’s true: Michelle Malkin is actually Andy Kaufman.

Andy,if you are reading this, my hat is off to you. I never thought you were very funny, but I have to admit: the Malkin thing was a masterful performance.

Don’t believe me? Fine… for a few moments, let’s pretend that we’re taking Michelle Malkin seriously. The best way to show that it’s all a joke is to treat it as if it weren’t: to examine it soberly, and to keep a straight face as long as possible.

Who is Michelle Malkin? If you don’t watch Fox News or read right-wing blogs, you might not have heard of her. In a nutshell (an appropriate container, in this case), she’s Ann Coulter, but without the sense of humor. Or at least, you might think she has no sense of humor. But remember… it’s Andy Kaufman under that wig.

What are a few of Malkin’s favorite talking points? Liberals hate America. Illegal immigrants are destroying us. Invading Iraq was the right thing to do. The blabbermouth press threatens the War on Terror. Oh, and throwing Japanese-Americans into internment camps during World War II? That was a good thing. (1)

Malkin’s beliefs are certainly to the right of mainstream American, and for that matter, they’re to the right of the Right. But the mere fact that a viewpoint is outside the mainstream does not necessarily mean that it’s wrong, or that it isn’t worth reading. Popular commentators on either side of the political spectrum can serve as a barometer of liberal or conservative opinion. Reading Malkin, however, one quickly realizes: her columns are not really a barometer of the Right. They’re more like a rectal thermometer.

Read the whole thing. Then tell me if you do not view the little Filipina in wholly different light from now on. Wonder if she can sue R.E.M. for royalties?

Ja ne……………….

H/T to Wonkette!

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Tonight I have just 3 questions.

1) What do Democrats and Iraqis have in common? They both know how to f**k away a good deal when it is in their hands. The Iraqis punt a golden opportunity to move away from a dictatorship because they are more concerned about stupid Muslim ideas; and the Democrats, because they did they same when they did not kidnap and gag John Kerry.

Regardless of what it may have been intended to mean, a Massachusetts liberal, telling an audience that “if you don’t get an education you wind up stuck in Iraq” is asking to get pummeled. Especially when there are a record number of master degree and PHD holders who are, by the way, stuck in Iraq-executing a flawed policy instituted by a flawed set of decisions by the President and his Secretary of Defense.

That’s what Kerry could have said. He could have pointed out that America’s best, the finest minds and hearts this nation can produce are being shipped off to defend a bunch of useless Arabs, who refuse to renounce violence and solve their problems themselves, are being mired in a conflict that does nothing to achieve what they took an oath to do-defend the United States.

That’s what Kerry could have said and probably he still would have been attacked, but the attack would have been predictable. He would just be another “cut and runner”-an assertion easily defeated these days by just about anyone who has meaningful ability to think. No, not poof head. He has to say something stupid.

Friends don’t let former presidential candidates talk off the cuff.

This whole issue is even worse if you examine Kerry’s words in context. When you look at the items preceding and after, it was clear he was deriding Bush’s inability to realize and understand the Middle East situation, and what a fantasy democracy is in an Arab, undeveloped country-all it means is who can steal the most. However, because he did not think it through, it has given the Bush campaign machine, which is far more effective than the one he uses to govern, a huge sound bite they can use before the elections.

Which gets to my central point these days. With the Republicans you have to show the details-which are often 180 degrees opposite from what they say, but the opposition simply lacks the training, the discipline, or the quality to offer an effective response. The nation needs a higher quality Democrat-and Kerry ain’t it.

Question 2) Why has the Iraqi government not arrested or killed Muqtada el-Sadr? Instead, the scruffy, dirty, black rag headed follower of the apostate prophet(lack of capitalization intentional since he is neither a prophet or worth following) gets to make requests of the Iraqi prime minister and he gives in. In return he still gets to keep his legions of armed followers, many of whom want to kill Americans , roaming the streets of his neighborhood that needs to razed.

Question 3)- I finished reading FIASCO on the plane back. It makes you just shake your head in disbelief. Now there are those who I am sure disparage the book, but when you read it you realize that Ricks writes pretty fairly about the military and his conclusions are hardly in favor of immediate withdrawal. Instead, he argues because of the choices that the United States made early on-particularly the failure to understand what we were getting into and the failure to execute the original war plan as drafted, we are where we are now. And there is no guarantee we will win. In fact his best possible outcome, namely that we occupy the country for 40 years like we did the Philippines is indeed depressing. So the question is-Why have not the architects of that policy been held responsible and fired?

I hate it when people argue the circular argument, namely that by fighting in Iraq we won’t have to fight terrorists elsewhere. They glom on on the the words of Thmas Sowell:

However we got into Iraq, we cannot undo history even recent history , ?by simply pulling out and leaving events to take their course in that strife-torn country. Whether or not “we stay the course”, terrorists are certainly going to stay the course in Iraq and around the world.

Political spin may say that Iraq has nothing to do with the war on terror, but the terrorists themselves quite obviously believe otherwise, as they converge on that country with lethal and suicidal resolve.

Whether we want to or not, we cannot unilaterally end the war with international terrorists. Giving the terrorists an epoch-making victory in Iraq would only shift the location where we must face them or succumb to them.

As I said, its a circular argument. Terrorists are in Iraq because that is where the targets are. However they are not exclusively there and had we never invaded, they might not have found such an enabling environment. Iraq simply gave them another stadium to play in.

Terrorism has already metastazied throughout the world. And in the long run it will take controlled does of medicine, and antiseptic protections at home, to keep the disease contained. Which is why I will continue to say that whole “war on terrorism” idea is flawed. Crime is something to be contained and reduced. Smarter minds than me have argued that. Al Quaeda is weaker, but like the Cosa Nostra not eliminated.

However at least till 2009, “the war” will “stay the course”. And they will have been enabled this week by the inherent ability of Democrats to display buffoonry in the face of favorable circumstances. When you wake up Wednesday morning with a Republican Senate and / or worse, and a President who will take it as vindication that nation somehow approves of his bungled policies, remember here that I told you so.

Friends don’t let Kerry talk. Tell Teresa to cut off his allowance.

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