Read this, please, if you are at all interested in Iran and nuclear weapons: http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/Stopping-Iran-br--Why-the-Case-for-Military--Action-Still-Stands-11085

Also, last evening I received a couple of comments on my most recent posting, Californicated (which you can see, below). There are a couple of typos in my responses, for which I apologize--hey, Steve ran me around the tennis court for 90 minutes yesterday, my back hurt afterwards, and oh yeah, I had a beer with dinner. Those are my excuses; that's the best I can do.

AJ

TO LIVE IN FREEDOM'S LIGHT IS THE RIGHT OF MANKIND.

Music of the Day: John Scofield, Hand Jive

Two things here this time.

First, some time back in this fine space I wrote about the nut-jobs in a group called the California Coastal Commission (see my post entitled What Planet Are These People From?); this group sued the U.S. Navy to prevent the Navy from training its sailors to use sonar to detect underwater threats both here at home and abroad. It all had to do with sonar causing undersea creatures to become disoriented (something akin to what happens regularly, apparently, in official bodies in California) and, thus, a danger to themselves. The latest news is that President Bush has given a specific executive order to over-ride some court decision in favor of the undersea creatures and against the Navy. This is not, however, the last word; other courts may become involved--but for the moment, sanity prevails. . . .

. . .and second, except in the People's Republic of Berkeley, California. The City Council there just voted 6-3 in favor of banning U.S. Marine recruiters from the city--the exact language is as follows, and if this doesn't make the hair stand up on the back of your neck, I'm not sure what will: If the Marine recruiters don't leave they will be considered "uninvited and unwelcome intruders" in the great city of Berkeley. All of this has to do with the so-called "don't ask, don't tell" policy that has a certain segment of the Berkeley population up in arms (oops, that's not right is it?). Last time I checked the Islamofascist's position on homosexuality was somewhat more restrictive than "don't ask, don't tell," and the last time I checked the Marines were doing everything in their power to protect us from those folks in the Religion of Peace who would gleefully torture and murder any and all of us, regardless of our sexual "orientation." Those folks would genuinely be "uninvited and unwelcome," at which point the members of the Berkeley City Council still left alive might want to reconsider having some U.S. Marines nearby.

AJ

TO LIVE IN FREEDOM'S LIGHT IS THE RIGHT OF MANKIND.

Music of the Day: Mike Stern, Is What It Is

The Dems have lost their hair candidate, the former Senator from North Carolina, their "populist/progressive" candidate, the insufferably lachrymose and saccharine John Edwards. From the outset, the man was an empty suit, a poseur claiming humble roots while living in a mansion next to trailer-dwelling neighbors, mere regular North Carolinians of average or below-average means. What his electoral appeal was remains a mystery to me--while in North Carolina during the 2004 presidential campaign, I saw a bumper sticker that reflected nicely the feeling of the locals for both John Kerry and their own spawn, John Edwards, to wit: Flush The Johns. One got flushed in '04 and the other self-flushed himself today after a pointless and empty "campaign" for the nomination of his party. Pretty will only get a fella' so far, I guess. . . .

It seems as if Dem voters now must choose between the considerable toxic baggage hauled around by The Mrs., not the least of which is her husband, the Former Narcissist in Chief, or the seemingly empty vessel that is Mr. Obama whose sole platform plank seems to be "change," whatever that means. If I were a Dem, I'd be tempted to embrace change if it meant finally jettisoning the Clintons, in all their various slimy and reptilian iterations, so maybe Mr. Obama would be my man, no matter how empty.

As for the Reps, we must choose now between a man who cannot raise his arms above his head, Senator McCain, and a man who, like Edwards, seems to spend a lot of effort fixing his hair, Governor Romney. The former Mayor of New York City has called it quits (that great sigh of relief you heard when Rudy pulled the plug was the gang in caves all over Afghanistan who now figure they can further live to plot and murder with the scary and perhaps vengeful Giuliani out of the equation), the former governor of Arkansas (what the hell is up with Arkansas?) seems to be on life support, Fred Thompson has either disappeared or just moved on to another phase of his "campaign," no one can tell for sure.

Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich have opened a pizza parlor on the planet Whackazoid, from which Kucinich hails; Dr. Paul can attempt to foist his bizarre libertarian notions on the Whackazoidians while Kucinich welcomes Shirley MacLaine for occasional visits while they eat vegetarian pizza and plot a successful return to Earth to completely take over Cleveland, Ohio. Why Cleveland?

AJ

TO LIVE IN FREEDOM'S LIGHT IS THE RIGHT OF MANKIND.

Music of the Day: Tom Scott, Them Changes

New champions have been crowned in Australia, which means that I can now get back to the "bidness" of reading again. This evening I finished Beevor's book about Stalingrad and as RB suggested to me a month or so ago in a phone conversation, it was an amazing read. WARNING: Not for the faint of heart. Germans and Soviets being as cruel and inhuman to one another as possible. Not good reading before bedtime. Still, an important book for the lessons one can glean from it. . . .

Next Sunday I guess I will succumb to the football-thing again for the one remaining game of the season. I don't really care much who wins, as long as it's interesting. Maybe the commercials will be entertaining. Maybe the half-time show won't be wholly offensive. If nothing else, the game will provide an excuse to drink beer in the daytime. As an old AFL fan from the 60's, I guess I'll have to pull for the Patriots, but I cannot imagine suffering a stroke if the Giants win instead.

This evening we received our first computer-generated phone call of the 2008 election, a call from a perky sounding college sophomore (just guessing, but that's what she sounded like) stumping (if that's the right word) for Hillary Clinton. If they are able to track how fast people hang up, I may be in the running for some kind of prize--forty plus years of tennis means my reaction time is pretty damned good, and I hit the "end" button on the phone before the recorded wench could get another word in after "Clinton." Cat like reflexes!

AJ

TO LIVE IN FREEDOM'S LIGHT IS THE RIGHT OF MANKIND.

Even though we have eight feet of snow on the ground outside, I'm fully engaged in tennis--the Australian Open. It's in the 80's there, which sounds wonderful, and it's really hard not to watch the best players in the world doing battle on the beautiful new blue courts in Melbourne, so reading has taken a back seat to staring at the TeeVee.

Friday night MLB and I attended a hockey game and then came home; before turning in we decided to check the action in Melbourne and the Roger Federer match against Tipsarevich had just begun, so we watched a bit. And then we watched some more, because it was good, and Fed wasn't playing all that well and was in some danger of losing. So we watched as he mounted a comeback, and then we watched as Tipsarevich went ahead, again, and then we watched as Fed finally tied the match, and then we watched as Fed won 10-8 in the fifth set. The match was finally over. It was 3:15 in the morning. We were exhausted. Max the Wonder Dog started barking at 7:30am, so I was up and out of the nice warm bed, making coffee, taking the poor blind beast for walkies, while MLB slept for two more hours. I don't remember much else from the day. . . .

So, my reading schedule has been interrupted by superior tennis--but here's what I'm working on at present:

Antony Beevor's book, Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege,1942-1943.
Ross S. Carter's book, Those Devils in Baggy Pants (thanks to Dr. Phil).
P.J. O'Rourke's book, On the Wealth of Nations.
Daniel Hendrex's book, A Soldier's Promise: The Heroic True Story of an American Soldier and an Iraqi Boy.

Once the tournament comes to an end next weekend, I'll be able to get back to the books, with some reports to follow here.

AJ

TO LIVE IN FREEDOM'S LIGHT IS THE RIGHT OF MANKIND.