Unit 731

Chilling description of the infamous Japanese Unit 731 and its still lingering legacy:
http://www.city-journal.org/2010/20_2_germ-warfare.html. Though the Chinese were the predominant victims, there were also captured American and other Allied soldiers and airmen who went to their deaths at the camp, courtesy of the Greater Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere.

The Agony of it All

Existentialist firefighter:

http://www.theonion.com/articles/existentialist-firefighter-delays-3-deaths,17500/

Q&A

Great questions of the day followed by some thoughtful answers:
http://www.forkparty.com/50-yahoo-answers-fails-stupid-questions/. Especially insightful is the answer to a "chode" question, along with advice regarding a young man's sexuality.

With Kilo Company

Interesting report and video footage of Kilo Company of the 3/6 Marines:
http://militarytimes.com/blogs/battle-rattle/2010/05/25/kilo-company-squads-engage-insurgents-after-ambush/. Coincidentally, the old man was part of the 3/6 during his time in the Pacific War. He would be real proud of the guys in the Corps now, but not sure he'd want to trade his Garand for an M-4 (have you seen the recent reports on what a pop gun it's turned out to be?). They need an infusion of some moth balled M-14s, STAT.

Science in the Octagon

Der Spiegel summarizes the Climategate battle:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,695301,00.html. The conclusion is that there really isn't one.

Caine Talks

A pretty good interview with Michael Caine:
http://www.avclub.com/articles/michael-caine,40644/. Hope Caine has more than a few pictures left in him--I'll miss him when he's gone. He's done a lot of stuff which he gets a lot of mention but probably my favorite is his turn as Peachie in "The Man Who Would Be King," a role Caine was born to play and which Kipling would have heartily approved had he been around to see it. Caine is also the rare acting talent who isn't completely full of shit and has a sense of humor about himself. Too bad there are only so few of them.

Landis Sings

Disgraced cyclist Landis admits he's a lying cheat and names names, including the sainted Lance Armstrong:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703691804575255410855321120.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read. I know a guy who used to do competitive racing in Austin and hung out with the riding jocks at Nelo's, the long time bike shop that served hard core biking types. He long ago told me that the word among the community was that Armstrong was "dirty" in terms of the doping charges leveled at him by hysterical frogs and other Euros, enraged that a grotesque American type was leaving everyone in the dust, smelling the fumes of his designer drug exhaust. Looks like it just might be more than smoke to that rumor.

A lot of people are into the whole Armstrong deal, with the yellow bracelets and inspiration from his struggle to beat cancer. I'm on board with Armstrong as a superior athlete with a razor like focus to emerge victorious--he's in the same category with other sports greats--the Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods types. That also can make him a little callous in regard to people around him and Lance has sometimes acted a little ungraciously while doing his living large thing. This all has me thinking of another Texas guy; one named Roger Clemens. At least with Lance, he won't have Debbie Clemens to throw under the bus when it all really hits the fan.

Jesus Examined

A fairly long and thoughtful piece on the scholarship of who Jesus was, what he might have said and done, and what those in the field of historical analysis think about H(h)im:
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2010/05/24/100524crat_atlarge_gopnik?currentPage=all. Good reading. Nothing earth shattering here if you've done any reading of stuff done by biblical scholars. Certainly discomforting if you haven't. I've read and listened to a lot from many of the scholars mentioned in the article, namely Ehrman, Crossan, and Johnson. Out of those, I tend to come down pretty much in agreement with Ehrman's take when it comes to Jesus and the religion that changed from being of Jesus to being about Jesus. Won't spoil it for you if you are not familiar with him, but pick up "Jesus Interrupted" by Ehrman or listen to one or several of his courses that are available by The Teaching Company--great for road trips.

Fun at ABC

ABC recently announced that a producer type has decided to retire and devote herself to counseling high school kids and a dutiful reporter at the New York Observer relayed this happy news. Trouble is, he didn't really get the real story. Read the letters following his puff piece:
http://www.observer.com/2010/media/top-abc-news-producer-leaving-network-become-high-school-guidance-counselor-0. This is truly wonderful stuff. A big thanks to Lurch for finding this.

Jack on Tract

Kevin Robbins writes about golf for the Austin rag and has a damn interesting blog:
http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/golf/index.html. Skip down a little and watch/listen to the interview with Jack Nicklaus on a new course he's building at Horseshoe Bay in the Texas Hill Country. The Golden Bear has built a lot of courses around the world and what's fascinating about listening to him is that even in his seventies, the guy is still completely hands on--he isn't mailing it in with his name on the resort and someone else doing the work. No, he's making calls on every hole in terms of design, layout, revisions, etc.

Nicklaus has built quite a few courses in Central Texas, namely The Hills at Lakeway, considered by many to be one of the finest layouts in the state. About a year or so ago, I played one of his recent designs (also in Lakeway) Flintrock Falls and found it downright harder than hell and the word, "punitive" kept coming into my mind during the round along with how I could go about selling my golf clubs and taking up sailing or heroin. I'm pretty sure that Jack was in a really pissy mood the day he drew up Flintrock. Maybe Ohio State just got their ass kicked or someone stocked his cooler with Rolling Rock. Anyway, have some game if you intend to play there. Or, a lot of Budweiser. Or, Rolling Rock.

Ol' Hef

A sort of reflective piece on Hugh Hefner and what Hugh Hefner wrought:
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/the-playboy-and-his-western-world-15430?page=all. About midway, Martin Amis appears with a few jewels of consideration.

In my misspent youth, Playboy was the gold standard as far as nasty magazines went, only to be replaced by the bolder, Penthouse, sometime in the seventies (I think). There were also, Jugs, Oui, and then later Hustler and High Society and others of that ilk. Our mags were typically stowed in caches in garages or in dugouts in the woods nearby where cussing was perfected, occasional cigarettes were smoked, and lies exchanged regarding the alleged fondling of attractive females. The hard and sometimes frequent rains in the Houston area played hell on magazine collections--we'd return after some turd floater and find a mass of molded and stuck together pages that would often foil even our most intense efforts to separate stuck together pictorials. That was instructive on many levels, most notable of which is that I have valued accurate weather forecasts ever since. They often save lives and prevent page sticking.

Walter Percy

I need to read this:
http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Walker-Percys-Weirdest-Book/23835/.

In other news, saw the new Robin Hood flick yesterday afternoon. So-so. Scott didn't really tie the story up very well and it drags. Essentially, it's a set up for future sequels--Robin doesn't become an outlaw until the end when the dastardly King John reneges on a deal to make common Englishmen free and happy with a chicken (or rat) in every pot. Before then, we have Robin returning from the Third Crusade, engaging in a lot of fighting and grunting, and then winding up in Nottingham and impressing Marian with his rippling biceps and command of the Magna Carta. All in all, okay but I'm guessing the sequel (if it appears) will be a tighter story.

Rachel Maddow Makes a Sidecar

Just like the title says:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvqcFo8yqU4. I'm pretty sure that Rachel was the smartest lesbian in her class or in the room, even if it's a large concert hall waiting for the Indigo Girls to hit the stage. Intensely bright and likable but she's adopted this straw man shtick on her show which became tiresome long ago. Also, Rachel, please put on some jewelry--the large expanse of bare neck is glaring. No charge for the fashion tip.

I'm going to order a sidecar on my next trip to a bar which will be in approximately eight hours from now. Will let you know how it turns out.

Evil Apparently Isn't Interesting

There are at least two huge caches of archives detailing monstrosities committed and abetted during the reign of the Soviets that are generating no interest in the West:
http://www.city-journal.org/2010/20_2_soviet-archives.html. None. Nada. Zip. As is pointed out, the trail of death and misery caused by the criminal lunacy of communism makes Hitler and fascism amateurs in the big game of evil yet that isn't compelling to the NYT types who usually go for something depicting outrages committed against what they learned as social justice back at Temple Beth El Day School and then Hah-vud. Guess it isn't sexy when your heroes were stooges for the Politburo instead of the Reichstag.

Liberal Stuff

Slate publishes "the most liberal products" in America:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/browbeat/archive/2009/09/03/and-the-most-liberal-product-in-america-is.aspx?obref=obnetwork. A few chuckles here. First, I didn't know that Stella Artois was a beer that liberals enjoyed--I would have thought Left Hand or some brew from Oregon with a cool label would meet that definition. I think that it's also considered hip to drink PBR in young liberal circles. I don't know--I'm not young or cool or anything so WTF do I know. The other stuff on the list you'll never see my using, except a Frisbee which I used to enjoy throwing in college but didn't dwell on "universal health care" while doing it. Rather, most of us were in deep contemplation of various female parts between tosses. We'll report back after Slate follows up with its conservative product edition. Smith & Wesson should be on the list along with anything from the Cabela's catalogue.

Dunphy's Take

Jack Dunphy is the alias of an LA cop who occasionally opines something for the knuckle dragging rag, The National Review. Here's a bit of common sense cop logic as it applies to the controversial Arizona law regarding illegals:
http://article.nationalreview.com/434023/illegal-immigrants-and-the-arizona-law/jack-dunphy?page=1. Here's a guess: if President Obama had proposed something along the lines of what Arizona did, there would be some desultory protests from the Phoenix ACLU chapter and some Unitarian congregations here and there but it would be largely glossed over by the press as a "pragmatic" measure to address a gnawing problem. The NYT would have said something along the lines of Obama willing to enact "bold" ideas and think outside the box, something his unimaginative predecessor did not have the proper education to accomplish.

Mick and Keith in Exile

The WSJ has become one interesting source of all things, exemplified by this little piece on the Rolling Stones, where they get Jagger and Richards to talk a little about the process of recording "Exile on Main Street"
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703880304575235853394576906.html#mod=todays_us_personal_journal, Good stuff. The Stones were sort of my "go to" band back in the old days of 8 track tapes and driving without seat belts. Whenever I hear something from "Exile" or "Sticky Fingers" it takes me back a little and I was lucky in the sense that the Stones were there during my youth instead of what passes for much of rock or alternative today. I'll shut up before sounding completely like the old man yelling at the kids to get off the grass.

Cocktails Anyone?

Apparently, the Brits (not the Americans) get the credit for inventing cocktails:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/06/who-invented-the-cocktail/8105.

A Good Hood?

The first review of Ripley Scott's take on Robin Hood is in and it appears that he's spun a ripping good yarn:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film-reviews/robin-hood-film-review-1004089608.story. The critic complains a little with certain liberties taken in the story but from what I've read, Robin Hood is the perfect story to embellish--there is no "one" certain gospel concerning who Robin actually was, what he did, or what the hell it was all about. Hope it is good--can't recall the last time I had much of an interest in seeing something.

Torture Porn

Explained here is why people apparently like watching this stuff:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/05/10/centipede.torture.movie/index.html?hpt=T2. Not to come off sounding like a pansy (maybe I am) but I just don't enjoy seeing people suffer through torture or cruelty even if their names are Nancy Pelosi or Keith Olbermann or Cameron Diaz. I do know people who seem fairly well adjusted who like "Saw" and "Hostel" and other films of that genre and seem to be highly entertained by the whole thing and are able to sleep at night. Not me. For whatever reason, those kind of images tend to stay with me. I do like war movies, however, especially those that more realistically depict warfare. Maybe it's me that's messed up.

Frogs Take a Stand

Once every decade or so, I agree with the French and Hitchens explains it convincingly:
http://www.slate.com/id/2253493/. Christopher is a very bright lad--much smarter than his teachers thinking his own thoughts and all and about the half the time annoys me with some of the tangents he follows. The other half of the time, I'm sure he bugs the other half of the population. I couldn't agree more with him on this veil deal with the Muslim fanatics living in France for no other reason than to suck the marrow provided by idiotic welfare states while at the same time plotting their demise. Good going, Hitch.

Today's Engrish

Good ruck.

Berlin After the Fall

Der Spiegel publishes a cache of just discovered photographs of Berlin at and after the fall to the Soviets:
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-54631-5.html. Fascinating stuff. Not so much for the German women who were there and subject to the rapists of the Red Army.

Obama Picks Kagan

Apparently, Elena Kagan gets Obama's nod:
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2010/05/09/2298210.aspx. I'm guessing there's not a sex tape lurking in her past, so she should pass all of the background checks and she's without a big track record, so Kagan will probably make it through the judiciary committee and will get sworn. Her profile says she's from New York and only took up driving well into adulthood. Great. There's about twenty thousand Elena Kagans in my neighborhood that can't steer a Prius into a parking space or come anywhere near approaching the speed limit in their daily regimen of impeding the nation's progress. There should be a law against that.

Big Fish

Nineteenth century whaling was a blast:
http://www.neh.gov/news/humanities/2010-03/Whaling.html. Not. Read "Heart of the Sea" about the whale ship Essex and you'll never want to head out of port on anything without twin screws and multiple GPS devices again.

Screen Shots

Nice ones:
http://www.urlesque.com/2010/04/06/hilarious-tv-screenshots-and-freeze-frames/.

Phobias

FP is in with some blurbs of world leaders and their supposed phobias:
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/05/04/profiles_in_phobia. Kim doesn't like to fly, Ghadafi prefers tents, Merkel doesn't like dogs, Bush (allegedly) doesn't like horses, and some nut job from Burma is essentially, a nut job. Though Merkel doesn't like dogs (what a dick Putin is) it does appear that she is nevertheless, quite nurturing.

For the record, I don't like rats. Clowns and midgets (little people) are also a bit of a problem. I could probably use some help.

Gadhafi Speaks

Der Spiegel does an interview with the Lion of Libya:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,692626,00.html. He doesn't like Switzerland (he would like to see it dissolved) but thinks President Obama is a swell guy. Interesting stuff. I'm pretty sure that he is a committed urine drinker.

Gorism

VDH talks about limousine liberals and their standard bearer, Al Gore:
http://www.victorhanson.com/articles/hanson050510B.html. Some folks, I guess people on the left, become highly upset at the hypocrisy of the right on issues like moral values every time a Republican politician gets caught tapping his foot in the men's room or is found to have a drug problem. Which is worse--the "do what I say, not what I do" of Gore and the top dogs of the left or the bible thumpers on the right? Your call--we report, you decide.

Commentary: Al Gore should be beaten with a board. Hard. And, daily. That is all.

The King--Backed Up

Apparently, Elvis' death was a direct result of him not being able to take a good, country shit:
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2010/05/05/exclusive-elvis-presleys-doctor-claims-died-embarrassing-case-chronic/?test=faces. Had his momma been alive, this wouldn't have happened as every good Southern mother is regularly checking to see if her young uns are regular. Also, his mother would have been cooking for him and using grease stored in a canister next to the stove--that stuff damn sure kept generations of Southern boys moving their insides--I know it did the trick for me. Outside of cereal, I think that everything I ate had as its genesis a solid foundation of rancid, lard laden, and great tasting grease. Too bad, Elvis. You should have stopped off for fried chicken on Sundays.

Hump Day: Cinco de Mayo Ediccion

In honor of the French defeat at Puebla (in fact, any French defeat), a hearty salud to all.

On Roethlisberger

David Epstein of SI suggests that Roethlisberger's boorish behavior is due to concussions:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/david_epstein/05/05/ben.roethlisberger/index.html?eref=sihp. Essentially, he theorizes that frontal lobe damage is responsible for being an ass. My question (not answered) is why someone who had a shit load of concussions like Troy Aikmen didn't resort to banging coeds two at a time? Epstein, and the good folks at SI will typically and relentlessly pursue any and all social justice angles in any freaking story that the magazine covers, so you have to take that into account. They can report about guys pitching washers in Cuero and you'll come away convinced they're nothing but racist crackers because an aggressive civil rights agenda is not in the group's charter. Anyway, my own take is that Roethlisberger is a clueless dunce who is a good quarterback. He's not the first.

Engrish

From the NYT:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/03/world/asia/03chinglish.html?pagewanted=all.

Call me unadventurous, non-progressive, unexciting, or whatever but I've got no desire to visit China. The last time my mother in law went, she reported having to take a dump in a hole in the floor on more than one occasion. At this stage of my life, I'm not keen on that nor getting food poisoning on a frequent basis. I don't mind an outhouse while I'm at a ranch somewhere because I'm not expecting a lot in the way of comfort. I'm just not keen on handing over a lot of cash for the opportunity to fly across the Pacific for the privilege of dropping trou in some really awful facilities. There you have it--just not Peace Corps material at the moment.

Mickey Rourke

Great commercial from Deutschland:
http://filmdrunk.uproxx.com/2010/04/friday-free-for-all-mickey-rourke-plays-himself. Remember Mickey Rourke from long ago? "If you don't have dreams, you have nightmares."

Yucking it Up

They had the White House Correspondents Dinner--read all about it from the Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2010/05/03/GA2010050301514.html?sid=ST2010050203242. I don't see a problem with the dinner, nor with the president yucking it up, throwing down jokes written for him by the Daily Show. Good for him/them. What I do find remarkable, is that when the same dinners are held when a knuckle dragger is in office, the press will grab some joke meant for that audience and use it to cast said knuckle dragger as "insensitive" to the plight of the unfortunate or "out of touch" with the suffering going on here and abroad. Happens. Every. Time. Not so when someone from the ranks of the enlightened is in the oval office. Funnier still, if you call the Post or whatever other paper reports on the thing, they'll stare at you with that quizzical look on their face like you've just shown them a new knot that they can't figure out how to tie. It's called being tone deaf and I see it every day. It's the same thing you get from folks who wish we could return to the days of all the news coming from the old three reliables, decrying the partisanship in today's multi-channel arrangement of news sources. These same gentle souls will give you that same blank look when you remind them that Uncle Walter and John Chancellor and Garrick Utley et al were not exactly middle of the road types and it was due to their consistent tack or spin on the news that brought us those lying LYING philistines at Fox or whatever. Then again, we now have to live with MSNBC so maybe Uncle Walter wasn't so bad after all.

Rambo Body Count

http://laphamsquarterly.org/visual/charts-graphs/?page=64.