Plame Outed by 5 Yr Old Son

Super secret super spy, Valerie Plame was outed yet again -- this time by her 5 year old son.

The Washington couple at the heart of the CIA leak investigation had their cover blown by their small son as they tried to sneak away on vacation on Thursday.

"My daddy's famous, my mommy's a secret spy," declared the 5-year-old of his parents, former diplomat Joe Wilson and retired CIA operative Valerie Plame.

Hilarious. Mr. Fitzgerald may have found the key witness.

Science to Answer Burning Question - Does This Outfit Make My Butt Look Big?

One of the greatest female sartorial dilemmas - 'does my bum look big in this?' - is to be answered by a team of researchers.

Experts are launching what is thought to be the world's first scientific study into how clothing can affect the appearance of the female rear. The team from Heriot Watt University's School of Textiles and Design in Scotland believes the study could have major implications for retailers.

Female volunteers wearing hundreds of different types of clothing will have their rears photographed for the study. Participants will then be asked to look at the pictures to assess how big or small each model's backside appears.

The study will examine how various designs, colours, patterns and fabric types affect perception of bottom size.

Now husbands and boyfriends everywhere will have a new answer to perhaps the most famous of all trap questions. "Well honey, according to the Heriot Watt study, the dark color does have a slimming effect, however that is somewhat countered by the texture of the material." Unfortunately, I don't think the response will have any better impact than current alternatives.

Becoming My Dad, #1

Every so often, my son humbles my impression of my own "with-it-ness". I left this as a comment on one of Bogus Gold's posts and thought it worth putting up here.

True conversation between Young Master Nordeaster (age 17) and me. A commercial comes on the TV...

Young Master Nordeaster: I like this song.
Me: I just can't get into the hip-hop thing.
YMN: That's not hip-hop, it's rock.
Me: Son, I've been listening to rock for 30+ years and that ain't rock.
YMN: Dad, you're now officially old.

He's right. But so was I.

Actually, Young Master Nordeaster has turned me on to some pretty good music the last couple of years (Flogging Molly, Deathcab, Snow Patrol, several decent Christian alternative bands). I don't dislike all of the new music, but do dislike most of the "popular" new music.

Human Rights Watch listed extended playing of music by Eminem and Dr. Dre as an act of torture. Personally, this is one time when I have to agree with HRW. I'm wondering...does that mean next time a bass thumping moron drives by my house I can call 911 and charge him with subjecting me to torture? I think I'll give it a try.

Another Mass Grave In Iraq

Construction workers laying a water pipeline in the Iraqi city of Karbala Monday found a mass grave containing the remains of up to 20 people, police in the southern city of Hilla told CNN.

The gruesome find was about 800 meters (half a mile) from the holy shrine of Imam Hussein.
The grave is believed to contain the bodies of people killed by Saddam Hussein's security forces during the uprising of 1991.

Yet,

"Hundreds of lawyers from around the world have volunteered to defend Saddam, most from Arab countries."

And one nut-job former U.S. Attorney General

The Poles Get It - Again

Poland has closed it's investigation into the alleged "secret CIA prison" within Poland.

Government spokesman Konrad Ciesiolkiewicz would not comment on any findings made by the probe, which Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz ordered in early December.
"The case was closed last week," Ciesiolkiewicz said.

He said Zbigniew Wassermann, the minister in charge of intelligence services, coordinated the investigation. Wassermann's report was delivered to a parliamentary commission in a closed-door session last week. Members of the panel declared themselves fully satisfied and decided to drop any further investigation.

The spokesman said the government does not plan a separate announcement of the findings.

To the Polish goverment's credit, the hearings were conducted behind closed doors and not in the media. The Poles understand what should be obvious -- that national security and intelligence issues sometimes require a closed door policy. Polish officials are satisfied, case closed. No need to grandstand, air dirty laundry, and level hyperbolic charges. Our minority party could take some lessons from the Poles. This is yet another example of Polish people grasping the price and worth of freedom far better than their Western European counterparts.

UPDATE: And again...

Poland's government on Tuesday asked President Lech Kaczynski to keep the country's troops in Iraq for another year, reversing plans by a previous government to bring them home in early 2006. (Full Story)

Deputy Defense Minister Stanislaw Koziej said troop levels would be cut from around 1,500 to 900 in March.

Christmas Favorites

Last week I spent a little time enhancing my Christmas music library. I love Christmas music, not in the first week of December, but on those days when I'm doing my last minute errands and wrapping presents, it really puts me in the Spirit. That got me thinking. Why not put down my favorites in a post and then invite others to share theirs. Maybe someone will clue me in on some good stuff I'm missing. Then I thought, why not do one of those lists that invite people to share other info about their Christmas favorites, dislikes and traditions.

Top 10 Christmas Songs:

Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht (Silent Night) - Nana Mouskouri
Oh Holy Night - Celine Dion (yes, I know she's anoying, but I really like her version).
Away In the Manger - Any church's young children's choir.
A Mad Russian's Christmas - Trans Siberian Orchestra
Christmas Eve / Sarajevo - Trans Siberian Orchestra
Oh Little Town of Bethlehem - Nat King Cole
Peace on Earth / Little Drummer Boy - Bing & Bowie
Have a Holly Jolly Christmas - Burl Ives
What Child Is This? - Mahalia Jackson
Merry Christmas Baby - Bonnie Raitt and Charles Brown

Honorable Mention: Do They Know It's Christmas - Band Aid, What Child Is This? (Greensleeves) - Dominique Piana, Happy Xmas - John Lennon (as much as I try not to, I still like it), Oh Come All Ye Faithful - Nat King Cole, I Believe In Father Christmas - ELP. It's not specifically Christmas but Jeff Beck does a beautiful slide guitar solo version of Amazing Grace.

Christmas Eve or Christmas Day: Christmas Eve

Favorite Christmas movie: A Christmas Story

Favorite animated Christmas special: Little Drummer Boy (Rankin and Bass)

Describe your typical / traditional Christmas meal: We don't have one. It varies from year to year. but always, there is cranberry pudding for desert.

Best Christmas Meal Ever: Prime Rib, Mashed Roots (combo of sweet potatoes, Yukon golds, and parsnips), salad, asparagus, Pinot Noir and a family tradition - cranberry pudding.

Most Exoctic/Distant Place You've Spent Christmas: Princeville, Kauai, HI (I used to live there).
Best Christmas gift you ever gave: Not sure.

Best Christmas gift you ever received: Let's just say it was exactly what I wanted.

Worst Christmas gift you ever received: Socks.

Have you ever re-gifted? No, but I have given used CD's/DVD's from CD Warehouse.

Best Christmas bonus from work: An ornament, yep an ornament - that's it.

Worst Christmas shopping experience: No brawls. I drove to 5 different stores to find the one gift I was looking for. One store that didn't have what I wanted told me they did when I called on the phone. I don't believe they even checked.

Merry Christmas to Everyone

Apologies for the lack of blogging. I've been on vacation the last couple of days, spending some time with Young Master Nordeaster. We took in King Kong two days ago and did the usual last minute errand running. My parents came up late yesterday afternoon. We will be celebrating Christmas today, as I have to get Young Master Nordeaster back to his Mom's this evening. It's an arrangement that has worked quite well. Growing up, my family was more of a Christmas Eve family. My ex's a Christmas Day family. I'm very thankful that we have not just a civil, but about as healthy family relationship and a divorced couple can have.

I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas.

Roswell Flying Saucer Reporter Dies

ROSWELL- A U.S. Army lieutenant who issued a now-famous news release that sparked decades of speculation about whether aliens really crash-landed here in 1947 has died.

Walter Haut, a former spokesman for the now-defunct Roswell Army Air Field, died of natural causes Thursday in Roswell, his daughter Julie Shuster said Sunday. He was 83.

Haut listened closely on July 8, 1947, as base commander Col. William Blanchard dictated information about a recovered flying saucer and ordered Haut to issue it. The Roswell Daily Record ran a bold headline July 9, 1947: "RAAF Captures Flying Saucer on Ranch in Roswell Region."

The same day, an Army statement was released saying the recovered wreckage was only a weather balloon. "I guess they changed their mind," Haut told The Associated Press in 1997.


...In 1991, Haut and two other men founded The International UFO Museum, of which he was president until 1996. More than 2 million people have visited the museum since it opened in 1992, Shuster said.


Whether it was a saucer or a spy balloon, we owe a great debt to Mr. Haut for spurring some fantastic and some enjoyable but not-so-fantastic science fiction stories and movies that are now a part of American culture. Thank you, Mr. Haut.

Torture Victim Barbie

A disturbing story from the U.K....

Girls hate Barbie so much that many admit torturing, maiming and even decapitating the doll.
The all-American toy has become a "hate figure" among seven to 11-year-old girls, who regard Barbie as a "babyish" symbol of their earlier childhood.

Researchers from the University of Bath questioned 100 youngsters about their attitudes to a range of branded products. The study found the iconic doll provoked the strongest reaction. "When we asked the groups of junior school children about Barbie, the doll provoked rejection, hatred and violence," said Dr Agnes Nairn.

"The meaning of "Barbie" went beyond an expressed antipathy; actual physical violence and torture towards the doll was repeatedly reported, quite gleefully, across age, school and gender. "The types of mutilation are varied and creative, and range from removing the hair to decapitation, burning, breaking and even microwaving."

Academics found that the girls' violent hatred of Barbie was linked to the doll's "rich symbolism".

Evidently and unfortunately, the socialist/feminist agenda is going swimmingly in the U.K.

God First, Footballer Second

In a survey of 2,500 British 10 year olds, Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, finished second in a poll asking who was "the world's most famous person". Rooney's second place ranking put him just ahead of Jesus, but behind God. Fourth on the list was another footballer, David Beckham who edged out The Queen. The rest of the list was as follows: 6. Harry Potter, 7. Beyonce, 8. Father Christmas, 9. Robbie Williams, 10. Simon Cowell.

The survey also found that becoming rich is the top priority in life for today's children. Becoming famous came in 2nd.

Kids were also asked to name their biggest dislike in the survey - with the majority citing "drunk people". Smoking is the second dislike, followed by litter, graffiti and war.

With all the anti-war press in England, I'm surprised that war came in 5th on the list of dislikes. Also, with such high marks for footballers and Beyonce edging Father Christmas, I wonder if the survey skewed towards boys.

We Just Need to Understand Them

In his address from the oval office last night, president Bush gently but firmly rebuked those who "think the terrorists would become peaceful if only America would stop provoking them." To people with this viewpoint we just need to try to better understand those who would commit terror.

The president said he has a different assessment. "The terrorists do not merely object to American actions in Iraq and elsewhere -- they object to our deepest values and our way of life. And if we were not fighting them in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Southeast Asia and in other places, the terrorists would not be peaceful citizens -- they would be on the offense, and headed our way."

Read this story coming out of Thailand and Austraila and decide for yourself which viewpoint is more accurate. To me, this story is more evidence that leaders like John Howard and George W. Bush ARE the ones with the better understanding of those who would commit terror.

Memorial events for the Asian tsunami that killed hundreds of thousands of people could be attacked by terrorists. A warning that the Thai ceremonies may be targeted by extremists has been issued by the Australian government.

So, a memorial service for those reflecting on an event that killed 200,000 people, a vast number of whom were Muslims, is a target for terror. I guess if only I had a better understanding, I could see that is the kind provocation worthy of retribution.

Remembering the Bulge

Mitch Berg reminds us that today marks the 61st anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of the Bulge. Mitch includes links to one of my favorite stories of heroism and bravery -- the story of Lt. Lyle Bouck and his platoon of scouts pinning down and delaying 3,000 Germans, killing hundreds of elite German troops. The stories are here and here.

I first read the story of Lt. Bouck in Junior High. It was in the "Battle of the Bulge" book in the Time-Life series on WWII. I don't believe these books are still in print, but if you're looking for a great gift idea for a young person or adult who is a WWII history buff, you couldn't go wrong with these. I think I read 2/3 of the 39 books our school and public libraries had in stock. The books have general history, interesting individual accounts and amazing pictures.

There are amazing accounts of bravery and tremendous history lessons in the story of the Battle of the Bulge. If you haven't seen the mini-series "Band of Brothers" a couple of the episodes have a tremendous portrayal of siege of Bastogne through the accounts of E Company of the 101st Airborne Division. The set is the best 12 hours of television I have ever seen and would be another great gift idea. The CNN story above references a new book "The Longest Winter" by Alex Kershaw. I might have to check that one out as well.

Mitch also raises two other great points: The movie "Battle of the Bulge" was perhaps the worst WWII movie ever made (In my opinion it's close between that and Kelly's Heros), and Mitch opines on how Joe Biden would have reacted as the German's counterstrike pounded allied forces. Fortunately, the word quagmire had not entered the U.S. Congressional lexicon, yet. Read the rest.

Ben Stein's Final "Morton's" Column

I've always liked Ben Stein. He's one of those super-intelligent guys who is elloquent and simple at the same time. His final "Monday Night at Morton's Column" is worth the read...

How can a man or woman who makes an eight-figure wage and lives in insane luxury really be a star in today's world, if by a "star" we mean someone bright and powerful and attractive as a role model?

Real stars are not riding around in the backs of limousines or in Porsches or getting trained in yoga or Pilates and eating only raw fruit while they have Vietnamese girls do their nails. They can be interesting, nice people, but they are not heroes to me any longer.

A real star is the soldier of the 4th Infantry Division who poked his head into a hole on a farm near Tikrit, Iraq. He could have been met by a bomb or a hail of AK-47 bullets. Instead, he faced an abject Saddam Hussein and the gratitude of all of the decent people of the world.

Read the whole thing...

UPDATE: Hat tip, Surfergrrl.

Hennepin County Lifts Smoking Ban

In what was somewhat of a surprise, Hennepin county commissioners voted 4-3 to peel back the current smoking ban and adopt a looser ban that is more consistent with the Ramsey county ban. The new ban ALLOWS BAR OWNERS TO CHOOSE to allow smoking as long as less than 50% of their revenues come from food. The 4-3 vote came as a bit of a surprise. The new ban goes into effect the first of the year.

The bans issued in Bloomington, Golden Valley and Minneapolis are still in effect, so bars in these municipalities will remain under those city bans which essential mirror the current Hennepin county ban. In reality, only about 3% of Hennepin county bars & restaurants will be impacted by the new ruling. Still this is a victory for all those who believe in the rights of individual property owners and is definitely a David beats Goliath story.

A lot of credit goes to bar owners like Sue Jeffers of Stub and Herbs and so many others who lobbied not only on annecdotal evidence but also worked diligently to compile hard facts, figures and research. It shows what a group of citizens can do when they band together and present a well reasoned case. Even big money special interest groups like MPAAT and the American Cancer Society can be backed down from their social engineering agendas.

They Think With One or the Other, but Never Both

This article from Skynews sheds light on a phenomena that many say at least figuratively exists in humans...

It's official, males with big testicles have smaller brains - at least in the case of bats. Bats cannot be well-endowed in both areas, according to a discovery by scientists at Syracuse University in New York. Their study shows a biological trade-off between brains and sperm, with the creatures 'opting' for one or the other.

It seems females are to blame for the evolution of the male species. They are unusually promiscuous, so natural selection pressure has led to males evolving enormous testicles to tempt a mate. The male bat is unable to sustain a large brain and high fertility levels.

Experts at the university say the genitals of some bats make up a whopping 8.5% of their body mass. That compares to a maximum of just 0.75% for most apes. Researchers found the link between testicle and brain size after looking at 334 different bat species.

8.5% - They better start growing bigger wings.

Iraq - The Voting Has Begun

The parade of the purple fingers has started in Iraq. While the general public votes on December 15, those who will be working on election day (police, military, hospital workers, etc.) as well as detainees have begun casting their ballots. Omar at Iraq the Model has photos of early voting. Turnout for the elections is projected at 68%. Absentee voting for Iraqis living abroad starts tomorrow in 38 cities in 15 countries. Sunnis are expected to participate at much higher rates than in previous elections. Here's hoping all goes as well as expected.

There is also a way for U.S. citizens to show solidarity with our Iraqi brothers and sisters as they make another stand for freedom and democracy - purplefingerforfreedom.org.

What Christmas Carol Are You?

I picked up this quiz from the Night Writer. I think it hits fairly close, although I am a fan of contemporary versions of classics and traditional secular Christmas Music as well. My personal favorite is Silent Night, Holy Night or more precisely Stille Nacht, Heilege Nacht in German accompanied by accoustic guitar (the way it was first played). My uncle, Dale sings it beautifully. Nana Mouskouri does a fantastic rendition as well.

You are 'Hark! The Herald Angels Sing'. You take Christmas very seriously. For you, it is areligious festival, celebrating the birth ofthe Saviour, and its current secularisationreally irritates you. You enjoy the period ofAdvent leading up to Christmas, and attend anylocal carol services you can find, as well asthe more contemplative Advent church serviceseach Sunday. You may be involved in Christmasfood collections or similar charity work. Themidnight service at your church, with candlesand carols, is one you look forward to allyear, and you also look forward to the familyget together on Christmas Day.

What Christmas Carol Are You? (link to quiz)

Interestingly, I thought the description for my favorite, Silent Night, Holy Night fit me best, so I guess the quiz isn't perfect. Therefore I say, I am...

You are 'Silent Night'! You really enjoy Christmas, and you like your Christmases conventional. For you, Christmas is about family and traditions, and you rather enjoy the rituals of going to church at midnight and turning off the lights before flaming the plum pudding. Although you find Christmas shopping frustrating, you like the excitement of wrapping and hiding presents, and opening a single door on the Advent Calendar each day. You like the traditional carols, and probably teach the children to sing along to them. More than anyone else, you will probably actually have a merry Christmas.

Yeah, that sums it up very nicely.

The Good Guys Just Can't Win In the MSM

The critics in the MSM are already finding fault with the shooting of a bombing suspect at the Miami airport. I don't understand one angle of focus. Evidently, the fact that the bombing suspect's wife was yelling that he's bipolar has some relevance to the story (assuming the agents even heard her). Ok, a guy who is acting frantically and saying he has a bomb is dangerous and needs to be stopped, but somehow a mentally ill guy acting frantically and saying he has bomb is less dangerous? I would think the mental instability makes him more of a risk.

The same sentiment was raised a few years ago here in Minnepolis when police officers shot and killed a Somali man carrying a machete who was not responding to orders to stop. I didn't get it then either.

On the Today Show, Katie Couric couldn't understand why we can't institute a policy to "shoot to wound" or in some other way "whithout resulting in the person's death"? It ain't the movies, Katie. The hero can't just wing the bad guy at will with just enough accuracy to stop his actions but not enough to kill him. Get out to the gun club and give it a try or actually listen to trained law enforcement officials, then come back to that question. What would you be saying if this was a bomber who was only wounded and managed to still detonate an explosive? I'm guessing it wouldn't be praise for the U.S. Air Marshalls.

If the man who was shot was indeed not a bomber, then his loss is unfortunate, but I am comforted to know that our agents our willing to act quickly and decisively to protect our safety.

Beer - The Mirror To A Country's Soul

A while back, Doug at Bogus Gold put up a post or two that rankled a few Belgians. He revisited those today in this post, all of which inspired my hypothesis. You can tell a lot about a country and it's citizens by the beer they produce. Below I've listed my impressions of beers from around the world. For the most part the metaphor works quite well.

Belgium - Highly nuianced, subtle, soft, pretentious and overated.

Ireland - Hearty, yet masterfully artful.

Australia - Simple, boisterous and strong.

Canada - Strong and a little rough and rugged (ok, the metaphor only works east of Vancouver and west of Toronto and maybe east of Quebec)

England - Great taste, somewhat bitter and edgy, but reliably among the best in the world.

Germany - Complex, old world, very well engineered, but lacking a little bite.

Czech Republic and Poland - Not flashy, but well crafted with great chacter.

France - Irrelevant.

Mexico - Nothing special, but still a lot is exported over the border to the U.S. (ok, that was a reach)

Japan - Slightly dry and understated, nothing flashy but solid quality.

America - Highly entreprenuerial and diverse (micro brews), drawn from a variety of immigrant cultures. Mass produced, mass consumed, and lacking charm, yet highly successful (macro brews).

What I Did on My Blogging Vacation

From about 3rd through 7th grade you could count on your first assignment being a "What I Did on My Summer Vacation" essay. I thought a similar report would be a good way to return from my blogging hiatus.

My vacation began with a business trip for a client/project that I genuinely enjoy. In the meantime, I picked up another project which has the potential to be a very interesting venture. I also completed one which was pure drudgery. Ho well, you have to take the bad with the good. In general, I consider myself both blessed and lucky to have a job that I look forward to almost every day.

Young Master Nordeaster is a high school junior and has begun looking into colleges . We went to our first seminar last week, hosted by UND's Aerospace program. Very impressive. The upside, it's a first rate program. The down side, well, it's in North Dakota. We had a great chat on the car ride home. At his age I viewed high school as a sort of purgatory that you muddled through until the real learning and personal growth started. I'm not sure if that's quite how he sees it, but it is great to see he's excited about college.

I've also been going through the heck of rolling my old 401K into two plans (my current work plan and another IRA) -- an extremely frustrating process. Every time you think you have all the paperwork completed, there's a request for another form. None of it can be done on-line so there is this string of snail-mail delays that turn what should be a one hour, or at worst a 3 day process into a two or three week ordeal.

I'm also in a major home remodeling mode. I have a 1920's home. This week I had what I affectionately referred to as the "The Beast", removed from my basement. The Beast was my gravity furnace which I'm updating to a modern, efficient furnace, central air and updated electrical. The new duct work is being laid as I write this. In a way, I'll miss The Beast. It was virtually silent and produced a very gentle heat, almost like radiated heat. However, it was an asbestos lined monstrosity that occupied about 1/3 of my basement and was very inefficient. I should gain most of the expense back on the re-sell and reduced gas consumption over the years. The most amazing part -- I qualified for reduced, fixed rate financing through MFHA. Now that I'm enjoying the benefits of a government program, do I have to vote Democrat? Actually, loans that help homeowners maintain and improve their property, particularly in older neighborhoods don't seem all that "un-conservative".

Next projects -- a bathroom re-model, and then getting myself back into shape.