Oct 26 2010
Whenever I see someone post one of those stupid “Miss Me Yet” posters with the picture of the stupid man who destroyed the first decade of the 21st century for America-I can’t help but think they have the picture wrong.
It is the father, not the son who should be on the poster.
Him- I miss. Especially in today’s whacked out Teabagger world.
Oct 25 2010
Today is the anniversary of three different battles. The nostalgics and historically myopic among the blogosphere will focus on St. Crispin’s day. The more nautically minded will focus on the fact that it is anniversary of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, an American naval victory-but as Herman Wouk pointed out, nonetheless a monument to the subhuman stupidity of warfare-”a giant blind man’s bluff played out with men’s lives and a nation’s resources“.
In today’s times- I prefer to take a repeat look at another battle-fought in the middle of a war foolishly embarked upon and then poorly executed. It is the best historical analogy that I can think of for our current predicament in both Iraq and Afghanistan-where now, as then, the pride of a nation’s youth has been ordered to pursue a far off war for purposes that were not in the overall British national interest.
The lessons of all three conflicts remain as Wouk so elegantly stated-”Either war is finished or we are.” It would appear we have yet to learn that critical lesson for humanity. I keep hoping that next year I won’t have to print this story because there will be no more American troops in either Afghanistan or Iraq. The reality is that we will be involved in this war without end for a long time to come. So perhaps it is good to remember the results of the enterprise.
Background:
The proximate cause of the war was a dispute about over who had precedence at the holy Places in Jerusalem and Nazareth. Tempers frayed, violence resulted, and lives were lost. Tsar Nicholas I of Russia demanded the right to protect the Christian shrines in the Holy Land and to back up his claims moved troops into Wallachia and Moldavia (present day Romania-where I was this summer) then part of the Ottoman Turkish empire. His fleet then destroyed a Turkish flotilla off Sinope in the Black Sea. In an early instance of propaganda, British newspaper reports of the action said the Russians had fired at Turkish wounded in the water. According to one source, “Russian domination of Constantinople and the Straits was a perennial nightmare of the British and with the two powers already deeply suspicious of each others intentions in Afghanistan and Central Asia, the British felt unable to accept such Russian moves against the Turks. Louis Napoleon III, emperor of France, eager to emulate the military successes of his uncle Napoleon I and wishing to extend his protection to the French monks in Jerusalem allied himself with Britain.” (Remember, Turkey controlled the holy land….).
So the war began in March 1854 and by the end of the summer, the Franco-British forces had driven the Russians out of Wallachia and Moldavia. The fighting should have ended there, but it was decided that the great Russian naval base at Sevastopol was a direct threat to the future security of the region and in September 1854 the French and British landed their armies on the Crimean peninsula. This set the stage for the battle of Balaklava, of which the Charge of the Light Brigade was a part.
The Charge itself:
1.Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward,All in the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.”Forward, the Light Brigade!”Charge for the guns!” he said:Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.
2.”Forward, the Light Brigade!”Was there a man dismay’d?Not tho’ the soldier knew Someone had blunder’d: Their’s not to make reply, Their’s not to reason why, Their’s but to do and die: Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.
The light brigade consisted of the following units: The 13th Light Dragoons were placed on the right of the front line, the 17th Lancers in the center, the 11th Hussars on the left but slightly behind the regiments to the right of them. The 4th Light Dragoons and the 8th Hussars formed the second line. Here is what the battlefield and the valley they rode up looks like today:
3.Cannon to right of them,Cannon to left of them,Cannon in front of them Volley’d and thunder’d; Storm’d at with shot and shell,Boldly they rode and well,Into the jaws of Death,Into the mouth of Hell Rode the six hundred.
4.Flash’d all their sabres bare,Flash’d as they turn’d in air,Sabring the gunners there,Charging an army, while All the world wonder’d:Plunged in the battery-smokeRight thro’ the line they broke;Cossack and Russian Reel’d from the sabre stroke Shatter’d and sunder’d.Then they rode back, but not Not the six hundred.
If you expand the picture you can see the arrow pointing to the right shows the valley the Brigade rode through. From the history of the 13th Hussars:
The first line consisted of the 13th Light Dragoons on the right and the 17th Lancers on the left. Lord Cardigan placed himself alone in front of the line, a little on the left of the center. The 13th and 17th then moved off, and when they had covered rather more than 100 yards the 11th Hussars, who were in the second line, moved off also. In due course, and at about the same interval, came the 4th and the 8th. During the day the 11th had been on the left of the first line, but the narrowing of the valley and the width of front occupied by the Cossack battery at the east end necessitated a contraction in the first line. As it was, the 17th Lancers overlapped the right of the battery, and the 11th Hussars, in support, just brushed the guns with their right flank. The 11th it will thus be seen, did not actually cover the 17th but charged down the valley nearer to the Fedioukine Hills. The 11th the 4th, and the 8th were in echelon. Consequently the 4th came into the battery full front, while the course of the 8th was as against the Russian left. Captain Nolan started to ride with the charge, and it is believed took up a position in the interval between the two squadrons of the 17th At any rate, it would appear that thence he darted out when he rode obliquely across the front of the advancing line.
You can see the set up on this map:
Not exactly an envelopment……….
The brigade lost over 400 men out of a starting figure of 673. Tragic but small in comparison to the 16,000 that died of the cold and disease that came from the botch the British made of logistics in the Crimea during the following winter and summer…..
Nevertheless, what went wrong?
In a word, leadership…lack of it. A commander failing to take account of the fact that he was on a hill and could see what was going on and his troops could not! Add to that a whole lot of class and professional rivalry, coupled with some petty bickering and outright loathing, and you get a recipe for failure:
George Charles Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan, in overall command of the cavalry and subsequently promoted to Field Marshal, was an imperious aristocrat who was promoted to high position over more proficient professional officers because of his social connections. He let a personal quarrel with his brother-in-law – Lord Cardigan, commander of the Light Brigade- reach such a point that their respective staffs refused to co-operate and an order from Lucan to Cardigan was misconstrued, leading to the charge. Thomas James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan was a “stupid, overbearing, arrogant, vindictive” general whose ancient title and great wealth overcame his inability to command in the eyes of the military leadership. To make matters worse, the ‘galloper’ who delivered the message, Captain Nolan, despised both of them.
This background lead to a fatal miscommunication:
It appeared that the Quartermaster-General, Brigadier Airey, thinking that the Light Cavalry had not gone far enough in front… when the enemy’s horse had fled, gave an order in writing to Captain Nolan, 15th Hussars, to take to Lord Lucan, directing his Lordship ‘to advance’ his cavalry nearer the enemy…….When Lord Lucan received the order from Captain Nolan, and had read it, he asked, we are told, ‘Where are we to advance to?’ Captain Nolan pointed with his finger to the line of the Russians, and said, ‘There are the enemy, and there are the guns’, or words to that effect, according to statements made after his death…
There is an interesting picture of Lord Cardigan and Lord Luncan painted in the “Flashman” series of books. From another text though, it is clear neither were were well liked: “At the time, Lord Cardigan was known to be a “blockhead” and Lord Lucan was considered a “pedant”"
5. Cannon to right of them,Cannon to left of them,Cannon behind them Volley’d and thunder’d; Storm’d at with shot and shell,While horse and hero fell,They that had fought so well Came thro’ the jaws of Death Back from the mouth of Hell, All that was left of them, Left of six hundred.
6.When can their glory fade? O the wild charge they made! All the world wondered.Honor the charge they made,Honor the Light Brigade, Noble six hundred.
Copied from Poems of Alfred Tennyson,J. E. Tilton and Company, Boston, 1870
I shall leave it to others to make any kind of a connection to this history and current events. However it is interesting to hear the rhetoric of the time. Anything here sound familiar?
“I believe that if this barbarous nation(Russia) the enemy of all progress……should once succeed in establishing itself in the heart of Europe,it would be the greatest calamity which could befall the human race”
Lord Lyndhurst in a speech to the House of Lords
Oct 25 2010
Recently, I have seen several stories on TV about how “whore” is the new “ N”-word for women. Now a long time ago I pointed out that there was only one really bad word when it comes to women.
So whenever I hear someone talk about the “w” word being the equivalent of the “N” word-all I can think about it this:
I’m taking it back.
Oct 25 2010
A box of chocolates-or a case of scotch. You never know how weird it will get.
After seeing rather quickly the burg of San Francisco, the S.O. and I drove down to Monterey. (This being after our abortive excursion to Union Square for the second time. No-I am not buying you Tiffany jewelry, just because you say you want it. Not without massive doses of softening up sex first!).
While cruising around Monterey- I had to go see the 17 mile drive. If for no other reason than to see a golf course I will never have the money or the skills to play:
And houses I cannot ever, ever, ever afford to live in:
All yours for one low price!
In the course of driving around the 17 mile drive though, we stumbled upon this interesting bit of photography:
Firebird + model = Who knows? But there was a whole host of support folks to make sure this model got her shots out:
A bizarre look if you ask me-but the car was nice!
The next day we were off to Point Lobos:
As you can tell the weather was getting bad-but it was still a great view and a neat place to go.
See the rest of the pix here.
Oct 24 2010
Of the United States that is.
I spent the last week in San Francisco and also a night down in Monterey. After just over a month back in the smothering existence that is life in Shopping Mall-it was great to be back where there was lots to do and exciting things to see. California may have a lot of problems right now-but it also has a lot of things going for it that other states can never hope to match.
Especially a backwards thinking chunk of farmland and fat people called Alabama.
There are only four large cities in the United States that I dream about living in from time to time. San Francisco is one of the them. (The other three are Reno, Pittsburgh and Boston). Contrast that with the 10 or so I would move to tomorrow in Asia and / or Europe. (See the bottom of the post for the list).
I know, I know, by saying I like San Francisco I might as well be like Miles: “Yeah, right. Yup, I’m a homo. Yeah. Yeah. Just make up whatever you want and that’s what happened. Okay? Write out my gay confession and I’ll sign it. Okay? ”
Nonetheless-San Francisco is the only large city in California I like. Los Angeles? Forget it. San Diego? Shopping Mall amplified 100 times. Sacramento? Aside from its proximity to Tahoe-nothing to recommend it. There are lots of smaller towns in California I like though-but mostly just to visit.
No, San Francisco is the place in California I would not mind living. The problem is, the only way I want to live there is to actually live within the city, NOT out in its suburbs. And that takes money-lots of money to live the lifestyle I would like to live. I am not blind-California is a state where you pay and pay and pay for the privilege of living there.
But San Francisco seems to me to have a distinct character-its neighborhoods are different and the feel of the city is unique. Since I lived in Nevada for three plus years, I am very familiar with San Francisco. However when I was there in the 90′s, the city seemed run down, a wasted shade of it’s former greatness.
Today-the city seemed to be much cleaner. Even Market Street seemed clean. And while they still need to break out the billy clubs and have a brutal crackdown on the homeless people there, it did seem as if the numbers of those poor unfortunate souls was reduced. And we covered a lot of neighborhoods while there.
We utilized the public transportation and our trusty steed from Hertz:
Interestingly enough-this Altima was a hybrid. And I was very pleasantly surprised with it. It took some getting used to how quiet it was in city traffic-but it performed better than I expected it to racing down the PCH to Monterey.
The NLCS championship series was going on this week-and the town was out in full force to support the Giants. Since I had personal business to attend to on Wednesday, I was able to dispatch the S.O. long enough to be able to sidle up to the bar in one of the cities unique watering holes and watch the game.
Of course the S.O. dragged me down to Union Square-there the home of Tiffany and Bulgari ( Seems her birthday is coming up-as if I would be allowed to forget that!).
Fortunately, I was able to escape relatively unscathed, wallet-wise, and we meandered by trolley over to the Ferry Terminal for lunch. That place has become much more gentrified than I recall it being. It did have a great Vietnamese place for lunch though-which we took advantage of:
Great Pho Ga soup here!
It was evidently also the beginning of Fleet Week-but I did not see any Navy ships down by the bay.
But the weather was great while we were in San Fran-not so great down in Monterey. A clear blue sky greeted us early in the week:
You can see the rest of our San Francisco pictures here.
Oh yes, I promised the list of cities:
Asia:
Singapore
Hong Kong
Tokyo
Osaka
Taipei
Bangkok
Seoul
Kuala Lumpur
Shanghai
Europe:
Munich
London
Dublin
Brussels
Vienna
Frankfurt
Marseilles
Berlin
Koln
Maastricht
Prague
Oct 24 2010
H/T to Mark Warren.
Oct 23 2010
Then I could have seen all kinds of people go nuts because the S.F. Giants are going to the World Series.
And the Yankees are not.
So while its depressing as all get out to be back in Hicksville-there are at least a few things to be glad of.
Oct 22 2010
No time to post today. Jumping in the car and driving through Carmel and the Carmel Valley.
But just had to note this so you know where I stand on this-NPR got it wrong on Juan Williams. His statement was not bigoted, and represents how a lot of Americans feel. Whether Muslims and worthless Arabs like it. I don’t like gettting on planes with Arabs on them myself-sue me. That Williams stoops to talk to idiots like O’Reilly and Hannity is not the issue-and I think was at the heart of the firing.
But that doesn’t make it right. NPR needs a reasonable man, and if they can allow other folks on the network-they can have Juan Williams on the network. I like him-and hate to see this happen.
More later-the beach is calling!
Oct 19 2010
If you are going to be a darling of the Teabagger nation charged with defending the Constitution. You might want to actually read it:
WILMINGTON, Del. — Republican Senate nominee Christine O’Donnell of Delaware on Tuesday questioned whether the U.S. Constitution calls for a separation of church and state, appearing to disagree or not know that the First Amendment bars the government from establishing religion.
The exchange came in a debate before an audience of legal scholars and law students at Widener University Law School, as O’Donnell criticized Democratic nominee Chris Coons’ position that teaching creationism in public school would violate the First Amendment by promoting religious doctrine.
Coons said private and parochial schools are free to teach creationism but that “religious doctrine doesn’t belong in our public schools.”
“Where in the Constitution is the separation of church and state?” O’Donnell asked him.
When Coons responded that the First Amendment bars Congress from making laws respecting the establishment of religion, O’Donnell asked: “You’re telling me that’s in the First Amendment?”
Her comments, in a debate aired on radio station WDEL, generated a buzz in the audience.
“You actually audibly heard the crowd gasp,” Widener University political scientist Wesley Leckrone said after the debate, adding that it raised questions about O’Donnell’s grasp of the Constitution.
Oct 19 2010
Busy day tomorrow-and it will probably be a long one. So I am about to go to bed.
However the S.O. and I found a great place to have REAL chinese dumplings in San Francisco. Not Chinese food fashioned to American tastes-but real Shanghai style dumplings.
The place is over in Parkside-well south of Golden Gate Park on Tavaral Street. It is just a small, hole in the wall with only about 7 tables. But take it from the both of us-the dumplings are great.
It seems to be more of a local, Chinese favoring place-although they do consent to let Gweilo’s like me and the hated Japanese in as well. We were lucky and got a table right away. 15 minutes later we would have been waiting. We had Shanghai Soup Dumplings and what would be called in Japan sui-gyoza with shrimp and spinach in them. Both of us had the Chicken Wonton soup with wide rice noodles. All was good-along with some Anchor Steam Beer.
San Francisco I think, must be a lot like New York-lots of little restaraunts off the tourist path with excellent food, that only locals and select others know about. This place is one.
Kingdom of Dumpling
1713 Taraval Street
San Francisco.
It is not a bright shiny place-so if that is a downer for you give it a pass. But if you like a good place with good food (a hole in the wall, of which there are so many in Asia)-then go.
Oct 19 2010
Greetings from not so hot SFO. In fact-it is darn right cool here tonight. Another week-another trip. This is just the way I like it-like Ryan Bingam, I am one of those guys who enjoys the life and times in “Airworld”. In fact-I down loaded that particular book for my kindle and am reading it now.
But having watched the movie Up in the Air again this weekend-it struck me that a guy who lives in Omaha, probably would not be jetting between cities in the Midwest in rather comfortable airplanes with first class seats in them. No, he would have his ass packed into a Canadair Jet like the rest of us poor bastards-leaving his bag on the jetway and hoping it shows up again. Funny, the movie really did not show that side of the travel equation. Living in Shopping Mall-I have come to despise the Bombadier corporation.
About halfway through the book now-thanks to the fact that United routed me to Dulles so I could catch the continuation of a flight from Paris to the West Coast. THAT is something I would prefer not to do again. Except for the fact it put me over the top for maintaining Elite Status with Star Alliance for another year. Like Bingam-that is important; and since I have not been in Asia since June, it has been a lot tougher to attain.
All the things you probably hate about travelling -the recycled air, the artificial lighting, the digital juice dispensers, the cheap sushi- are warm reminders that I’m home .
And beer and sightseeing-don’t forget that.
Oct 17 2010
It is not often I agree with The Hill-so skewed and un-objective are most of their pieces; but even a broken clock is right twice a day:
“I think attacking the outside money, and specifically attacking the Chamber, is of very limited value to the White House,” said former Rep. Martin Frost (D-Texas), who headed the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). “I don’t think it makes much difference in the election.”
That point of view is probably pretty much spot on-and while the flow of money into campaigns is obscene, and unecessary-thanks again Justice Roberts for another piece of political pornography- the Citizens United decision-it would not be having such an impact if there were not a deeper issue that voters have coalesced around-the economy.
As I pointed out earlier, without an effective communications strategy-that pierces the incredible ignorance of the average American voter, “getting the policy right” matters not one bit.
The better path is to warn voter just how much the GOP and its new found “friends”, will fuck up things that matter to them-like Social Security, jobs, and just about everything else. Problem is-the voter, thanks to the Teabag noise machine already believes that Obama has fucked it up. Even when he hasn’t.
So there looks to be really no place to go-but to just let the wave flow over us. And then let the GOP own the continuing descent into the pit-begun for us by George W. Bush. The only silver lining-is that people will get to see these people for who they really are.
Enjoy war without end and a jobless recovery. It will be
Oct 17 2010
When the baseball playoffs come into full swing. Let see who to root for?
Pirates and Cubs were out of the running by April 30th. ( Sigh-what else is new?). Now it is down to Yankees, Phillies, Rangers and Giants. Add to that, the fact that in the American League they don’t play real baseball. Rangers? (You know who owned them right?). Giants? They stole Barry Bonds years ago. (And began paying large sums of money for steroid induced home runs).
Still- a Phillies Rangers is a potential series. Because the alternative is just unthinkable. The Evil Empire must be stopped!
Oh, and it is Steelers Browns today too. So consider this an open thread. Give me some ideas for new things to write about. ( Richard, I have not forgotten your idea about the S.O. Like Christmas-its coming).
Oct 16 2010
The Galactic Empire goes on a recruiting drive:
Plus-Nine reasons why it sucks to be an EWOK:
Everyone knows Ewoks are evil miniature hellbears who enjoy nothing more than using their cute appearance to lure unsuspecting people into their forest traps and bludgeoning them to death using rudimentary tools before feasting on their tenderised flesh.
9. Height restrictions suck! Only allowed on the children’s rides at Disneyland. Also not allowed to operate most heavy machinery.
8. People occasionally confuse you for a koala, when you clearly descend from the drop bear family.
7. Difficult to get the girls – ladies don’t like dating guys who are shorter than them.
6. Even if you do get the girl, she will probably be an Ewok and, let’s be honest, they’re not great lookers.
5. C-3PO would be just about the shittiest god I could possibly imagine.
4. All that fur makes Summer a real bitch. Don’t even get me started on waxing that bikini line.
3. The language barrier makes it difficult for humans to distinguish between Ewok for “You look nice today” and “Holy fucking shit, watch out for that AT-ST!”
2. Tendency to be cast as comedy sidekicks in action sequences, even if you secretly have the ability to absolutely and inexplicably decimate the technically and numerically superior invading force using a couple of logs and some stones.
1. People find it difficult to take you seriously when your name is Wicket and you don’t wear pants.
More good stuff on The Death Star PR department can be found here.
Oct 16 2010
The problem with a trip like this last one is that with “social” dinners thrown in-it leaves little time for booming or blogging. I opted for booming and let my blogging slide. I’m home for the weekend now and catching up.
A whole group of people are up in arms about the recent article by Mark Halperin about the Obama administration’s failure to communicate.
Barack Obama is being politically crushed in a vise. From above, by elite opinion about his competence. From below, by mass anger and anxiety over unemployment. And it is too late for him to do anything about this predicament until after November’s elections.
With the exception of core Obama Administration loyalists, most politically engaged elites have reached the same conclusions: the White House is in over its head, isolated, insular, arrogant and clueless about how to get along with or persuade members of Congress, the media, the business community or working-class voters. This view is held by Fox News pundits, executives and anchors at the major old-media outlets, reporters who cover the White House, Democratic and Republican congressional leaders and governors, many Democratic business people and lawyers who raised big money for Obama in 2008, and even some members of the Administration just beyond the inner circle.
Now the douchebags writers of idiot conservative blogs are all agog saying “See? We told you so?”. I find that very laughable because they are conveniently forgetting that there was not a good alternative on the GOP side of the aisle in 2008. Sarah Palin? Please-she was a deal breaker from day one and still is. John McCain? Which John McCain-the guy we knew in 2000 or the useless asshole who has trashed everything he used to believe in to placate a noisy mob within his own party.
And it also ignores the fact that a lot has been accomplished-even though the President gets absolutely zero credit for it. If McCain had won we would still have over 100,000 troops in Iraq, for example.
Nonetheless-it would be well for key decision makers in Obama’s circle to pay heed to what Halperin is saying. Because Obama is losing the communications battle. If he has a message-no one is hearing it.
Part of that is the Teabag noise machine-aided and abetted by Fox News, but that is not all of it. Obama bears a lot of blame too-he has not been a good communicator, and he has picked his fights poorly.
As a result-Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are the symbols of the Democratic party and that’s not good for anyone.
In 2009 Obama missed a huge opportunity to slap both of them in the face by not vetoing the Omnibus spending bill. It was a no brainer and he could have made the case that he was hear to save the Democratic leadership from its worst impulses. He would have gone a long way towards building a bridge towards moderate Republicans.
But he did not-and then he dawdled while Glenn Beck and Saint Sarah made millions feeding the Teabagger beast. As Dick Armey fiddled, Rome burned. As the summer of 2009-he never made a case that could have been easily made-that the nations health care system is broke and real Americans are getting screwed at the drive through by insurance companies. Oh they made some noises-but they never bundled it up into a coherent message that today’s attention deficit afflicted, factually impaired, average American could understand.
So if the supposed GOP wave happens-as it appears it will, you can trace the beginnings of that wave back to August 2009. Because that is when the Teabag noise jammer first kicked into high gear and the Obama administration did not field any effective countermeasures-like shooting the jammer down.
The question now however, is whether, Obama will actually take an objective look at his past two years and make the required adjustments to allow the truth to be heard.
And that is where Halperin’s thesis should probably be examined closely. Because they actually have done a lot more than they are getting credit for-but its not being heard or acknowledged by the 65% of us who don’t smoke on the teabag crack pipe. If you don’t do something to change the perception-the perception, however flawed, becomes reality.
Time will tell if they actually do it or not-and I hope they do. There is too much at stake to simply lie down and allow the country to be steamrolled into the Hobbesian hell that your friendly neighborhood douchebag tea partier wants to cast you into.
