Delicious Beer Alert

West Coast IPA from Green Flash Brewing Co. in San Diego is deliciously hoppy. That is all.

Summer Surge Data

Nice job, Kevin Drum.

Violence Metrics

	June/July 2006	June/July 2007	Change
Iraqi Military and Police Killed	349	429	Up 23%
Multiple Fatality Bombings	110	82	Down 25%
# Killed in Mult. Fatality Bombings	885	1,053	Up 19%
Iraqi Civilians Killed (All violent causes)	6,739	5,300	Hard to say1
U.S. Troop Fatalities	104	187	Up 80%
U.S. Troops Wounded	983	1,423	Up 45%
Size of Insurgency	20,000+	~70,0002	Up ~250%
Attacks on Oil and Gas Pipelines	8	143	Up 75%

¹Methodology changed dramatically between 2006 and 2007, so numbers are highly suspect.
²Number is for March 2007.
³Numbers are for June only. No July numbers are available.

Infrastructure Metrics

	June/July 2006	June/July 2007	Change
Diesel Fuel Available	26.7 Ml	20.7 Ml	Down 22%
Kerosene Available	7.08 Ml	6.3 Ml	Down 11%
Gasoline Available	29.4 Ml	22.2 Ml	Down 24%
LPG Available	4,936 tons	4,932 tons	Down 0.1%
Electricity Generated	8,800 Mwatts	8,420 Mwatts	Down 4%
Hours Electricity Per Day	11.7	10.14	Down ~14%

⁴No numbers available for June/July. Figure is extrapolated from May and August numbers.

h/t Yglesias, who adds that

the surge is working if your definition of "working" doesn't require a decrease in violence or an increase in the viability of Iraq's basic infrastructure.

Nicely done.

This is just nuts

Man, shit is totally out of control. I am actually frightened. Just a tidbit from Glenn Greenwald:

McConnell clearly described that in 1978, we enacted a law prohibiting warrantless eavesdropping; the Bush administration broke that law repeatedly; and the telecommunications companies actively participated in that lawbreaking. And now -- as a matter of national security -- the Bush administration is demanding that Congress pass a new law declaring that telecom companies are immune from any and all consequences -- both civil and criminal -- in the event they are found to have violated the law. It is hard to imagine open contempt for the rule of law being expressed more explicitly than this.

Sometimes I am of two minds ...

Legal wiretaps on rise in Colorado

The number of phones secretly wiretapped by Colorado law enforcement hit a 10-year high last year, leading to large drug busts statewide while raising concerns about the privacy of innocent people.
The increase in the court-authorized wiretaps was led by the U.S. Attorney's Office, which used 108 wiretaps in its first year under U.S. Attorney for Colorado Troy Eid. That's four times the number used in the 12 months prior to Eid's August 2006 arrival, according to data from his office.
State prosecutors, meanwhile, got permission to use 43 wiretaps in 2006 - more than in the previous nine years combined, according to an annual report by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

... but actually, I think I'd rather err on the side of civil rights, thank you very much.

Mark My Words

Brandon Marshall is going to be a star receiver in the NFL.

Worried about the Broncos defense, though, I have to admit.

This'll kill you, part II

Part II:

This'll kill you

And if it doesn't, you might want to check for a pulse. A dying man giving it his all: So Many Roads, 7/9/95, pt. 1

Unuterrably poignant

Jerry doing Visions of Johanna on 3/18/95, pt. 1

Potter Post

Just finished reading Harry Potter books 1-6. Have #7 ordered and will probably read it on Sunday.

Not sure where things will go. There's a great blogpost somewhere that has given me some ideas, so what little is below is probably not of my own devising. Anyway, a few thoughts.

1) R.A.B. is Regulus Black.
2) The Hog's Head barman, Dumbledore's brother, has a role to play.
3) Harry is, himself, a Horcrux. I believe he's the one from Godric Gryffindor, because I believe he is descended from GG.
4) I had thought that HP would have to sacrifice himself (Jesus-like) to get rid of the Horcrux, but it's been made clear that the 7th bit of Voldemort's soul, the bit residing in his body, has to be destroyed last, so I don't see how that will work. But I do think Harry vanquishes V and dies in the process.
5) The International Relations/diplomacy angle will figure in, as both sides compete to form coalitions with the various other kinds of magical creatures.

Really neat books, good to read them all again.

Update: here's one of the posts I cribbed from.

And this one by Russell Arben Fox.

Some Colorado Camping

Summer 2006, Turquoise Lake. Wildernet. Beautiful, to be sure. But a little overcrowded. Running water was a big plus for TW.



On the way home, K#4 got to go horseback riding on "Hawken" ... with Mount Massive in the background!

Summer 2006, Pearl Lake State Park. Wildernet. Gorgeous, serene, tranquility!!! Highly recommended if you are looking to escape for a few days. Didn't catch any fish, but lots and lots of crawdads there to keep the kids entertained. We did some canoeing thanks to TW's friend and had a great old time.

Summer 2007, Golden Gate Canyon State Park. Wildernet. I thought this would be a cheesy day-visitor type of place, since it's so close to Denver, Golden, Boulder, etc. But boy was I wrong. We were in the Aspen Meadows area, which is tent camping only, at about 9,000 feet. Beautiful spot, nice and serene. No action at all on Dude's Fishing Hole, though the views from there are pretty nice, with some especially nice rock outcroppings. Big downside, not mentioned in any guides or descriptions that I saw, was that cars are parked away from campsites. So, for our campsite (#35), we had to hoof our stuff maybe 200 yards to our campsite. D'oh! The creek isn't much either. But this was a beautiful, tranquil spot.

Summer 2007, Pawnee Campground on the shores of Brainard Lake, near Indian Peaks Wilderness, in the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests. Wildernet. Ahhh, the Rocky Mountains. This place is incredible. Gorgeous views of glaciers and glacier trails. Snow still on the ground at the campground (elevation ca. 10,300). Easy catching of brookies on Powerbait in Brainard Lake -- Ks 1-3 all caught, #s 1 and 2 totally on their own. K2's was actually a beatuful 14" rainbow. Massive hailstorm put a damper on our second day, but this places is truly glorious. We'll definitely be going back, if only for day trips.

Up second week of July 2007, fly fishing on the Arkansas!!

'zackly

Farls, in a long post considering various things having to do with the case some are making for invading Iran, says this about Iraqi WMD:

While the allegations about chemical weapons formed the center of the administration's case for war, the real problem is not that the administration was lying (although it was), but rather that Iraqi WMD, even if they existed, did not furnish a plausible reason for war. It doesn't excuse the administration to say that its sin was two-fold; on the one hand, it lied about the existence of WMD, and on the other it lied about the implications of WMD. Even if the United States had found a rump WMD program, it would not have justified the war, and I doubt very much that it would have affected the course of the insurgency. Like an attack on Iran for supporting Iraqi insurgents, invading Iraq for having WMD was stupid on its own merits.

Exactly. This was, in my view, the soundest reason for opposing the Iraq War at the time. It just wasn't necessary.

"Sack up, people"

Classic.

Battle of Algiers, again

Saw Battle of Algiers again today. Great stuff, and so resonant with US in Iraq. You've got your torture, and your generic willingness to forego legality at the altar of lethality and alleged effectiveness. You've got Mathieu telling the media to toe the line (though US MSM ca. 2007 would never dare to ask such tough questions, nor politicians to give such frank answers). You've got moral ambiguity all over the place. You've got your major power unleashing and eventually losing to forces that it seemed not at all to understand. Etc. Really strong film.

Tenure!

'nuff said.

Parlez-vous EU?

This here is some classic EU-speak. Still, it's amazing and imporant to see ridiculous, artificially-precise and seemingly legalized procedural arcania representing the presumptive response to disagreement -- as opposed to, oh, I dunno, war.

In addition, until 31 March 2017, if members of the Council representing at least 75% of the population or at least 75% of the number of Member States necessary to constitute a blocking minority as provided in Article [I-25(2)] indicate their opposition to the Council adopting an act by a qualified majority, the mechanism provided for in the draft Decision contained in Declaration nº 5 annexed to the Final Act of the 2004 IGC [shall apply]. As from 1 April 2017, the same mechanism will apply, the relevant percentages being, respectively, at least 55% of the population or at least 55% of the number of Member States necessary to constitute a blocking minority as provided in Article [I-25(2)].

From Council Conclusions to the recent summit, via James Wimberley at The Reality-Based Community.

Midnight Express

Saw Midnight Express for the first time a few nights ago. I guess it looked interesting based on the Blockbuster online description.

Feh. Didn't like it. Was not persuaded or in the least moved by the main character's descent into madness. Poorly acted, phony feeling, in particular in the rendering of the Turkish as monsters, but also in Billy Hays's initial indifference to being imprisoned. Didn't really get the point of the British-educated guy in section 13 (the nuthouse part) ... whole thing just felt lame and overdone to me.

One of imdb's commentators refers favorably to it as a "delicious, homoerotic S&M-tinged slice of the 70's", which I guess is about right. (Not the 'delicious' part, mind you, NTTAWWT.)

Wait, Oliver Stone was involved? Shocking that it would be lame.

Oh well. Two thumbs down.

Judgment at Nuremberg

Saw "Judgment at Nuremberg" for the first time last week. Loved it. I wish our current regime would take a look at this and see how those accused of even the most heinous acts should be treated. The way we treat our captives expresses who we are, not who they are.

I like the way the movie builds up our sympathies for Dr. Ernst Janning, played by Burt Lancaster, only, at the end, to remind us that he was, indeed, guilty. However bad the system in which we find ourselves, and however much we try to rationalize doing bad things because alternatives are even worse, we are still responsible for the bad things we do. Janning had choices and he chose to do some very bad things.

Anyway, good flick.

Generous Americans

We give lots more in charity than Europeans do. Not at all surprising to me.

On the Road

Just read this for the first time. Loved it. Have a few quotes that I'd like to single out but don't have the book in front of me. Anyway, a neat American adventure that's utterly without a purpose, which purposelessness, of course, makes it deeply suspect in today's America.

Of course have seen it said many times, but I was struck by how much this anticipated Kesey's trip. Also read The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test a few months ago, and of course it sounds like Neal (Dean Moriarty) didn't change a lick in the 15+ intervening years. What a wild man.

FWIW, I see that Naropa University is doing a Kerouac Festival next week. Looks like fun!

Britain's Surveillance Society

"The World" had a fascinating and frightening report on surveillance in Britain.