Look at this flooding in Iran. Cars just getting washed away! An Iranian woman at Bible study last night mentioned the flooding. I haven’t seen or heard word one about it in the States.
Category: World Affairs
Another Weird Dream…
I dreamt that my family was moving my Dad’s parents, who passed away years ago, to a new place. I can’t say where this place might have been but in the dream I thought it was some place like Dagestan or Chechnya. It was very third world and rundown but mountainous, and beautiful. The backyard had a fence running from one side of it diagonally across the yard. At the break in the fence near the back, you could see far off into the distance over a complex of lakes but there was a drop off of hundreds of feet right on the other side of the fence. Also, the fence was falling down near where it connected to the house and I was afraid that my grandfather would wander back there and fall through the fence off the cliff. I can see this all so clearly in my mind it is bizarre. Later as we were trying to settle in my grandparents, a group of military policemen pulled up in personnel carriers and started approaching the house. The last thing I remember was winding down a slope through a maze of houses and vegetable gardens trying to get away.
Global Warming?
I know a lot of people don’t believe that the earth is warming and, if they do, they don’t believe the warming is caused by humans, or gaseous cud-chewing quadrupeds for that matter. I am not going to argue either case though I believe in both of them. I will just state the facts.
It is January 30th. I live in the mid-Atlantic states outside of Washington, DC. I am showing 71 degrees on the thermometer on my balcony at 1620. My heat is off, sliding glass door to the balcony has been open since last night, and the thermostat in my apartment reads 76 degrees. Something doesn’t seem right in the world to me.
Cardinals of the Kremlin or the Red Menace?
I took these pictures of this cardinal in Waller Mill Park in Williamsburg, VA. I stopped there to walk on the way home from my trip to Suffolk. It was a great walk, the scenery was refreshing, but I could have done without the school bus full of kids who were out in paddle boats and/or walking around making too much noise.
Nonetheless, getting these pictures of the cardinal in a park located just across the highway from “The Farm” was ironic. Read some Tom Clancy if you do not understand the reference. And put a parka on because we are going to get all “Cold War” now.
In Afghanistan, High-tech Intel Fails Commanders, as Does Seeming Lack of Low-tech intel, Boots on the Ground Needed
According the Washington Post article, “As Marja assault progresses, coalition considers challenges in rebuilding area,” dated 20100221, the commanders of the 5000 U.S. Marines inserted into the Marja area of Afghanistan (long standing Taliban stronghold crisscrossed by impassible canals (built by the U.S. after the Soviets left) and center of opium production) expected, based on overhead imagery, to find a functioning local government and police force.
However “…when Marine officers reached the area, they discovered that two-dimensional images can be deceiving. What they had thought was the flat roof of the municipal building turned out to be a concrete foundation, and the police station was a bombed-out schoolhouse.” I worked in military intelligence (yes, oxymoron, I know) many years ago. One tenet we followed then and I assumed, probably erroneously, we followed now is that we should base significant actions on intelligence that can be confirmed by at least two sources.
The U.S. military has been in Afghanistan since 2001. Now, as I stated previously, Marja has been a Taliban stronghold for some time. Presumably it is not an easy area to insert a U.S. intelligence officer or a Special Forces team without detection. Nonetheless, I find it very hard to believe that there was no intelligence on the ground in Marja (human intelligence, HUMINT in the vernacular of the U.S. intel community) that couldn’t verify the status of the local government center or police station. The Marines did not go in there without warning…in fact there was plenty of warning…to give civilians the opportunity to evacuate.
That unfortunately gave the Taliban plenty of opportunity to set a bunch of IED’s to welcome the Marines. What a blast to have you here, eh? Here is the bottom line for me; use multiple sources to verify your intelligence and work with the Afghan government to verify your intelligence. If the mission to Marja had been a secret, and one that had not been shared with the Afghani government to avoid leaks, I could understand this intelligence failure. However, it was not a secret and I find it hard to believe that there was no one on the ground that couldn’t tell the U.S. that what were thought to be functioning organizations, the local government and police force, were in fact shells of their former selves.
As such, an occupation/pacification strategy was initiated based on the false assumption that there was a functioning local government and police force to take the place of the Taliban.
War Is Hell, Especially If You Have to Fight Your Fellow Man/Woman
According to the Army psychiatrist alleged to be responsible for the recent shootings at Ft. Hood, TX, as cited in the Washington Post article, Fort Hood suspect warned of threats within the ranks, dated November 10, 2009, “…the military should allow Muslim soldiers to be released as conscientious objectors instead of fighting in wars against other Muslims.” What the hell???!!!!
I am vehemently anti-war and I can sympathize with this guy. Had such a policy been in place years ago perhaps World Wars One and Two would have been minor battles rather than global conflagrations. However, I firmly contend that the majority of the wars over the course of history…up until about the late 17th century… were fought for religious causes. I don’t think it is necessary to go into those details to prove my point but can do so if necessary.
More recent wars have been the result of economic/imperialistic/nationalistic desires. Nonetheless, religious differences continue to be a major cause of disagreement from the individual to the national level. We could certainly take the “as a Muslim, I should not be compelled to fight against fellow Muslims” to a higher level and suggest that as human beings we should not be compelled to fight against our fellow man/woman! That is the stance I would take were I a conscientious objector…
Is it significant that a radical Muslim cleric with whom the alleged perpetrator had contact over the years commented, according to the Washington Post in the same article, on his web site that “…a Muslim who “properly” understands his religious obligations cannot serve as a U.S. soldier, as American forces are engaged in fighting Islam and occupying Iraq and Afghanistan.”? Only time will tell…eh?
Bibimbap..What Is It…Really?
In the Washington Post article, “Eating Well on Singapore’s Seedy Side,” dated 09/27/2009, a particular Chinese dish, no name, is said to be tossed “bibimbap style.” There is absolutely no indication of what “bibimbap” is in the article. I know, only after having spent the greater part of ten years learning Korean and living in Korea for seven of those years, what bibimbap is…a Korean rice dish.
Certainly, 98% of the Washington Posts readers won’t have a clue though. The only similarity to bibimbap that the Chinese dish has is that they are both served in hot clay pots filled with rice. In Korea, vegetables, sometimes fresh, sometimes slightly marinated, including seaweed, kimchi (do I need to clarify that one?), bean sprouts, shredded Korean radish, perhaps some meat, etc, are placed on top of the rice. Oft times, a fried egg will top the whole concoction and always a side of kochujang, red pepper paste, will be included.
One then adds the desired amount of kochujang and mixes up the whole deal and noshes away. It is more of a summertime dish but really can be served year round. My well thumbed Korean to English dictionary defines bibimbap as a “rice hash, boiled rice mixed with subsidiary articles of diet. Bibim means “hash” or mixture. Bap refers to a dish based on rice. Bibim Naeng Myun, for example, is a cold noodle dished with assorted mixed vegetables.
It’s a shame that the Washington Post could put such an obscure reference in an article and then never elaborate on it. I assume that the writer felt confident that the reference was common knowledge and that the editor didn’t have a clue otherwise.
I Watched “Dances with Wolves”
I thought “Dances with Wolves” was an excellent movie. Who can find fault in the scenery, the cultural assimilation, the poignant love story, and the painful killing fields? I feel bad for the Indians and their homeland and lifestyle. It is a travesty what the white man did. Unfortunately we keep doing it, at least to the homeland…
Memories and Melancholy
I got a bit melancholy the other day as I was reading the travel section in the Washington Post. For some reason, the article I was reading made me think about Canada and places I had been to there repeatedly due to work. One place is St. Georges de Beauce in Quebec, another is old Quebec City, and the other is Toronto in Ontario. St. Georges and Quebec City were places I went to for business and pleasure when I worked for Canam Steel and Toronto I went to for business while I was working for DDi…that was a pleasure also.
St. Georges is a fairly small town where Canam’s IT department was headquartered. I remember fondly (not fondling) being entertained on the town by my Canadian coworkers. At the end of trip up there I would usually take a couple of personal days at my expense in old Quebec City. It is probably not much harder to find an old world, read “European,” environment than Quebec City in North America expect perhaps for Montreal.
My favorite place to stay in old Quebec City is the Hotel Le Clos Saint Louis which is comprised of two old merged townhouses with a variety of accommodations that were always reasonably priced, especially, considering the location and included a free breakfast in the basement of the place, which kind of put me on edge, being in the basement that is.
I have a vague recollection of departing the place very early in the morning one time, waiting for my cab to the airport, and realizing I had left one of my bags in the foyer and already dropped off my key. There was no one on the front desk that early and repeated attempts to roust someone via the door buzzer were futile. I had no cell phone at the time but when the cabbie showed up we used his phone to call the hotel to no avail. Meanwhile, I needed to get to the airport! Finally, as desperation was peaking, some folks came walking out the door, I ran in, grabbed my bag, jumped in the cab, and made it to the airport on time.
Toronto has supposedly the largest immigrant population of any city in the world…over 50%. That in and of itself meant good things to me. I met people from all over the world and ate their food. The remarkable friendliness and kindness of the immigrants made me question why there was so much strife and hatred in our world. Toronto’s location on Lake Ontario, thankfully, makes up for it’s unbelievable flatness. Best of all though were the friends I made at DDi Toronto. We worked hard together, we had some good times, they had a birthday cake for me in the office one day, and I went out with a few folks who treated me to dinner that night.
So I am a bit sad thinking back. I have been out of work for so long that I reflect back on the work relationships that so define our day to day existence. They really did and continue to mean a lot to me.
Preparing for Chaos and Surviving on the Local Grid
The August 9, 2009, Washington Post article “Apocalypse Later? I’m Going Local Now,” by Doug Fine struck a nerve with me. For six or nine months now, probably as long as I have been unemployed, the stock market crashed, health costs escalated, and my savings dwindled, I have been thinking that I need to work on my survival skills including learning how to hunt for my own meat and raise my own vegetables.
These are just a couple skills out of many that one might need should we see a total breakdown of life as we now it. Doug Fine addresses these issues quite well. He lives on a ranch in New Mexico, and along with like-minded neighbors, is trying to attain a lifestyle in which he is self-sufficient as possible. In his own words, “I’m examining my place in a hypothetical post-oil, post-consumer society 40 years in the future.”
This includes using solar power, getting milk from goats, growing his own produce (irrigated w/o electricity) or buying in locally, raising chickens for eggs, etc. Doug talks of a society in which one barters for goods and services and ponders providing security for his family in the case of a breakdown of civil society. His three year experiment in self-sufficiency has lead him to believe that “the only way I can become truly independent (a word I like even better is “indigenous”) is through incremental steps based in a local economy.”
I have some good friends in Vermont from whom Doug Fine and those of us who have similar concerns about the eventual collapse of systems and supply chains could learn a lesson. They have grown their own vegetables, hunted for meat, raised cows, chickens, goats, etc, to provide for food throughout the year. They heat their home with a wood stove and have no AC’s. They barter services such as vehicle and farm equipment repair and meat butchering and packaging for other services and goods.
They really have a head start on preparing for chaos and surviving on the “local” grid.