November 19, 2004

Bits and Pieces

As Monteith noted when he forwarded this... Bad Truck! No Cookie!

Here's some good news. heheheheh. For Ted Rall. He thinks he got dropped for being insensitive to 'Special Needs" children. (In Ted's case, that would be self-mockery, and acceptable). No, Ted, you got dropped for being a mostly unfunny a$$hat, and have turned yourself into a niche cartoonist worthy of the local arthouse rags, not a national newspaper.

Chortle. I don't think we'll see Ted in the dole line anytime soon, however.

Bloodspite pointed it out to me - and he Dances! (Truthtelling - I lifted the "now is the time we dance line from Ghost of a Flea)

Then there's this bit of good news - Canada's [version of] Cynthia McKinney has been booted from her party, and is now an 'Independent.' Lesson? You can say and do anything you want about Americans and President Bush - but don't dis the Prime Minister! I find the term "turfed" interesting when used to describe getting the boot.

Last, but not least, some Good News, Bad News. First the good.

BRUSSELS -- Canadian Gen. Ray Henault woke up Wednesday morning the shepherd of a handful of aircraft, fewer than 30 warships and about 60,000 soldiers.

He went to bed Wednesday night the chief military adviser to an alliance of hundreds of ships, thousands of aircraft and more than a million soldiers.

Good news for the General it appears, and a rose for Canada - although I dunno if switching to 'adviser' is all that great a shift.

Prime Minister Paul Martin said Henault's election is a reflection of the esteem in which Canada and its military leadership is held.

''He will help an alliance of paramount importance to Canada and the world, and bring a Canadian perspective to NATO transformation and operational readiness,'' Martin said in a statement.

The bad news? Feh - aviator!

Henault, Canada's chief of defence staff and a 36-year air force veteran, was elected chairman of NATO's military council Wednesday, edging out his Danish rival for the alliance's top uniformed job.

Hat tip to CAPT H for the last two bits of Canadiana!

John | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBack (1) | I think it's funny! | Politics
» Aaron's Rantblog, aka Aaron the Liberal Slayer links with: Talented Replacement for Ted Rall
Comments on Bits and Pieces
Instapilot briefed on November 19, 2004 09:07 AM

Did you mean Carolyn Parrish (vs. Cynthia McKinney)?

Aviator, huh? Heh.

John of Argghhh! briefed on November 19, 2004 09:29 AM

I was apparently being too subtle for the aviation community... I was equating Ms. Parrish with Ms. McKinney. Must be a Geek With Large Craniums thing.

Damian briefed on November 19, 2004 10:38 AM

Hey guys, type in "addlepated douchebag" into Google and see whose name comes up. You can thank the blog quebecois for that neat little trick.

And aviators aren't all bad...just the pilots. I remember an ANav buddy of mine getting asked by a kid at an airshow why his wings were different than the pilots' wings. He gently replied "It's because my parents were married." (After getting a dirty look from he kid's dad, he explained he was only joking. And before you decide to acquaint me with some depleted uranium, so am I, Dusty.)

cw4billt briefed on November 19, 2004 12:48 PM

Dusty,

Reference the above, I've got your six. Cleared in hot across the line; break right, toward the friendlies.

Negative suppression on the Cobra... ='

John of Argghhh! briefed on November 19, 2004 01:41 PM

Yeah, I'll just stand out in the open while you guys bomb the position next to mine.

Sheesh.

Instapilot briefed on November 19, 2004 01:55 PM

John,

I just read it too fast...had you said "Canada's version of..." I would have caught it.

John of Argghhh! briefed on November 19, 2004 02:48 PM

Therein lies the whole CAS dilemma... exceptin' Hogs, all y'all are moving too fast for us ground-pounders to be comfortable with your target id!

cw4billt briefed on November 19, 2004 07:59 PM

Cobras for CAS, no bout adoubt it.
If there's any question about target ID, ya just land, dismount the gunner and send him forward to make polite inquiry of subject target.
If he sticks his hands up enroute, the target gets waxed.
If he does the ol' "duck and cover" halfway there, the target gets waxed.
If he sneezes, the target gets waxed.
See? It's quite simple--"Don't make me come over there."

Chris in India briefed on November 20, 2004 12:12 AM

On a serious note, the article about General Henault's election tries to make an assertion that his position is ultra-important. Um, yeah, but not exactly. The alliances's top uniformed job is Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (now aka SAC Operations) and then Supreme Allied Commander, Transformation not the Chairman of the Military Council. CMC has all the reward of herding cats and half the importance. The operative word is commander, which is not an elected position in a military organization.

Look at some of the significant historical figures who have held the SACEUR position. Ike, Ridgway, Haig.

If the WP had ever come through Fulda and Hof, would anyone care about the CMC? No, but the SACEUR would have been front page every day. Who was the CMC while Clark was SACEUR and bombing Serbia?

cw4billt briefed on November 20, 2004 08:53 AM

If the Sovs ever rolled through Fulda or Hof (I still think they would have been nuts not to go the North German Plain route), SACEUR would have been bumped from page 1 about noon due to a spate of "Elvis is working at a 7-11 in Memphis" reports...

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