Horizon Zero

A Joke I Heard Today

44% of respondents to a recent poll said they would actually prefer a third term for George W. Bush.

52% of Democrats surveyed complained that's what they're getting right now.

Hopenchange!

Winter Approaches

It's snowing in Lebanon, which is about twenty minutes to the west of us.

A Thought Experiment

Pretend for a moment that you are a civilian in Afghanistan. Maybe you're a construction worker, maybe a farmer. You work hard and keep your head down.

Maybe the government has a new building project that would pay well. Maybe the security forces are asking you to help identify some suspicious individuals that are crossing your lands.

Then you hear that the President of America has announced that he's sending more troops - only he's also announced when they're leaving.

The Taliban and Al Queda take a dim view on collaboration. And they have a very broad definition of what constitutes collaboration.

How likely are you to stick your neck out to help the international peacekeepers when you know all the fundamentalists have to do is lay low until June 2011 rolls around?

Meet the New CinC, Same as the Old CinC?

After taking more time to review things than it took the previous administration to actually topple two hostile regimes, President Obama is set to announce that he is going to send an additional 34,000 troops to Afghanistan.

Rumor is that the increase (don't call it a surge!) has an expiration date built in: some time around May/June 2011.

The far left is furious. Apparently, when Obama spent all of 2007 and 2008 talking about Afghanistan being The Necessary War they were either not paying attention or assumed Obama was lying. Neither alternative is very flattering to either party.

The right is not happy with this talk of an expiration date. Why bother to commit to an increase if we announce ahead of time just how long the enemy has to worry about holding on for? "Until you're all dead" seems a lot longer than "One year, two tops" and would tend be a lot more likely to demoralize me.

One other observation: It took Obama twelve months to poke and prod the numbers before finally coming to the same decision that George Bush would have likely made. Does that make him Just Like Bush, Only Slower?

And which side of the political spectrum would that comparison infuriate more?

Whither the Retail Support Brigades?

This weekend, post Black Friday, the media storyline was that spending was about on par with last year. This was great news, the storyline went, because it was supposed to be ever so much worse. Thus, surpassing lowered expectations meant it was a success and proof of economic recovery. Or something.

Today, however, comes word that spending on Black Friday was actually about 8.6% lower than last year. Which doesn't fit the narrative at all.

Now, I'm not entirely certain that a drop in Black Friday spending automatically means doom for the Republic. Some people just might want to save some this year - can't blame that. For myself, and I suspect many others, the key reason why I wasn't out looking for zomg bargains is simple. No one was making stuff I wanted this year.

It happens. I've got a nice TV. I've got a good computer. There's only been one or two movies worth hunting down to own. Ditto for video games. I don't cook much so I don't need amazing time saving appliances. I buy my books on-line and last year's ensemble still works for me. In short, I'm consumed out, thank you very much. My gift giving prep work is already done, too.

And as I said, I imagine the same applies to lots of folks. When you add in uncertainty about the economy, the monstrously bad ideas sitting in the House waiting for Senate votes, and growing fears of long term double digit unemployment it's not too difficult to see that people may be looking at that BluRay player and deciding that DVD is good enough for them.

Also, if you want me to buy more crap, maybe make it less craptastic.

In Which I Gracefully Submit to the Inevitable

National Novel Writing Month draws to an end tonight, and alas, I shall not make it. I estimate I'll come in at a semi-respectable 23,000 words rather than the 50k needed to actually "win".

I could point many fingers (curse you, Bioware and Blizzard!) but in the end it comes down to my own fingers not hitting keys often enough. Procrastination has long been my companion.

Still, 23k words is a good start, and I've a solid outline and summaries for every chapter I didn't get to. There's nothing to stop me from finishing what I've started.

Nothing to stop me but me, of course. ;p

The Long, Dark Tea-Time of the Writer's Soul

So, the good news, I suppose, is that I'm only behind on my NaNoWriMo attempt by 15,000 words or so. It's a pretty steep deficit, but still recoverable.

Hopefully.

I'm averaging about 900 words per hour when I manage to clear time to write. I'm hoping that I can use that to my advantage this weekend and just steamroll ten or twelve hours worth of words Saturday and Sunday.

50,000 words is a lot, ya'll. And it's only barely a novel. Most publishable works have to be at least 80k.

Still, I'm farther this year than I ever got the last two years, so that's something.

And I'm not out of the fight yet.

Final Fantasy XIII Launch Date

At long last!

March 9 2010.

My poor PS3 will finally have something to do.

Precursor to Star Trek Style Replicators?

NASA is testing a device that uses an "electron beam" to melt metal and build new objects layer by layer.

So it won't be making Flibbonian Sunrises or inferior caviar anytime soon.

Shootings at Fort Hood

Article up from the local paper. Post is still locked down, and one of the shooters is said to still be on the loose.

UPDATE: Two suspects in custody.

UPDATE: 3:48CST - Unconfirmed reports of more shootings in two of the housing areas on post. Death count up to 12, including one of the shooters.

UPDATE: 4:00CST - MSNBC reports that "unnamed administration officials" have divulged that one of the shooters was an Army officer with "an Arabic sounding name".

UPDATE: 4:15CST - ABC News reports the captured gunman is Major Malik Nadal Hasan.

UPDATE: 4:22CST - Friend of mine says there are no Malik Nadal Hasans on AKO.

UPDATE: 4:30CST - Additional confirmation of the ID coming in from other media sources?

UPDATE: 4:54CST - Texas Gov. Rick Perry says there were three shooters - one dead, two in custody. Have they confirmed that the other two actually were shooters?

NEXT DAY SUMMARY: Hasan NOT dead. Other two people in custody were held for questioning but released. Hasan was reportedly very critical of US foreign policy vis a vis Iraq and Afghanistan and was angry about being called up for deployment. Allegedly also made posts on line defending the idea of suicide bombings.

Other stuff about more shooters at other parts of the post have not been confirmed, and were most likely false.

I imagine the blaming will begin shortly, now.