Octopodial Chrome

Today Britain paid off the last instalment of its debt for money & equipment we lent during the Second World War—$42½ million dollars. The pages of history turn…

Ever wonder what those hand signals used by soldiers mean? Never fear, the Internet has provided this handy list of close-range engagement hand signals for your edification.

According to news reports, Saddam Hussein has been hanged in Baghdad, by Iraqis. He richly deserved this punishment, one he had doled out to many thousands who deserved it not. The fools at Amnesty International (some decades ago, a respectable organisation) stated, The rushed execution of Saddam Hussein is simply wrong. It signifies justice denied for countless victims who endured unspeakable suffering during his regime, and now have been denied their right to see justice served. How wrong can they be? Justice has most definitely been served: Hussein’s heart beats no more. The man who had men fed into grinders dangled at the end of a rope.

One can only hope that his end is a beginning for Iraq. The old order is done away with; let the new order take its place. For my own part, I’m rather more pessimistic than that—still, I can hope.

From the Washington Post comes a great do-it-yourself guide to writing an asinine Christmas movie. It’s shameful that we celebrate the birth of our Savior with saccharine.

From the Rocky Mountain News comes this recipe for snow cream:

• 1 gal. snow
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 2 cups milk

Stir sugar & vanilla into snow, add milk to thicken.

I just made a quart of it. Wow! Great stuff. Next time I’d blend the milk & sugar before adding; otherwise it’s perfect.

You want clean snow; for normal snowfalls just put a bowl outside. In my case I scooped some snow out of a clean drift.

Divid Zucker (of Airplane fame) takes on the Iraq Study Group. Can’t say we weren’t warned…

Thanks to Senators McCain & Feingold, their Senate colleagues, the House of Representatives, President Bush and a majority of the Supreme Court, political speech is being censored in America. Never mind the First Amendment; never mind our historic liberties. This is real, folks: a blatant power grab by incumbents determined to silence their challengers.

It appears that many root canals will be avoidable, as a new technique can be used to regrow dentin. Anything which prevents dental pain is good in my book.

I recently found a nineteenth century exam. It was meant to be taken in 8th grade (although 7th graders were also allowed to take it), by students in Saline County, Kansas. This was a rural area, but I doubt most students today would pass it; indeed, I had some slight trouble with a few parts. Nowadays our educationists are more concerned with self-fulfilment than with education.

From Epionons.com comes DrFaustus’s December Mix. Read the entire article (which has comments on each piece), but here’s the list of titles:

1. Snow Patrol: Chocolate
2. Matt Pond PA: Holiday Road
3. Pezband: Baby It’s Cold Outside
4. John Mayer: Waiting on the World to Change
5. Steely Dan: Reelin’ in the Years
6. Simon & Garfunkel: Homeward Bound
7. Warren Zevon: Keep Me in Your Heart for a While
8. Fountains of Wayne: Valley Winter Song
9. The Pretenders: 2,000 Miles
10. Supertramp: Even in the Quietest Moments
11. The Flaming Lips: Do You Realize?
12. Semisonic: Closing Time

I’m downloading the songs now, but just from the familiar ones and the mix notes it sounds like DrFaustus knows his stuff. I first discovered his January Mix, which sounds just about perfect for that month, and can’t wait to move forward through the rest of the year.

Yes, Virginia, sometimes stupid people become programmers. I’m not certain how they graduate and get jobs, but it happens. Perhaps they bribe those who should be failing them and turning them away.

Milton Friedman died a few weeks ago; it seems a fitting tribute to link to the open letter he wrote Bill Bennett regarding Drug Prohibition. From the letter:

You are not mistaken in believing that drugs are a scourge that is devastating our society. You are not mistaken in believing that drugs are tearing asunder our social fabric, ruining the lives of many young people, and imposing heavy costs on some of the most disadvantaged among us. You are not mistaken in believing that the majority of the public share your concerns. In short, you are not mistaken in the end you seek to achieve.

Your mistake is failing to recognize that the very measures you favor are a major source of the evils you deplore.

And:

Drugs are a tragedy for addicts. But criminalizing their use converts that tragedy into a disaster for society, for users and non-users alike. Our experience with the prohibition of drugs is a replay of our experience with the prohibition of alcoholic beverages.

Milton Friedman’s was a brilliant and penetrating mind; his death is a great loss to our republic.

Countryman’s Cooking is back in print, but I’ve thus far been unable to find a source for it here in the States. It looks just wonderfully excellent.