urban legend

Slowly and without much notice, it is being revealed that the coalition of the willing fighting in Afghanistan have significantly inflated news of the taking of Marjah in Helmand Province, not a metropolitian stronghold of some 80 000 souls but rather a dusty little village with a mosque and a few shops.  This success was touted as a major turning point for the allies and was hoped to justify the prolonged effort.

what's up, buttercup?

To counter the general mood of the weather that's yet heavy and gray, H and I are trying to brighten up the place a bit with some flowers--actually, call them Narcissi, jonquils or daffodils.  I like the round-about etymology of daffodil the best: like the mythology of Narcissus, the name daffodil comes from the Greek word asphodel for the ghostly flowers that grew in the fields of the purgatory of Hades where mediocre souls grazed on them, and things were perfectly neutral and gray, like today's sky.  Maybe that's why the flowers bloom at this time of year, just before world is gob-smacked with the full force of Spring time, as an early signal that nature is about to re-awaken.

vade retro satane

The Times of London reports that the Holy See's equivalent of the Department of Homeland Security, the chief exorcist, is attributing the perennial spate of scandals to demonic possession in the Vatican and suggests a purging is in order.
 That article was cheap sensationalism and intented to be derisive.  It is a very serious issue that must be redressed and handled transparently, and an exorcism may or may not be part of that reconciliation process.  No one is suggested that blame is shifted and that people were not responsible for their actions--like the Pope's failure to recollect any bad press curried by his Regensberg cohorts, which is either attributable to dishonesty or a failing memory, whichever is worse--and nothing redeemingly diabolical.  Reading the story, however, I noticed right away that the chief exorcist and I have the very same silver and enamel crucifixes.  The Church is mired in controversy but it will emerge from it better and more accountable, and hopeful no one will have to repeat these repeated sufferings.  Hang in there, baby.

dazzling, but where is the pop!?

Yesterday, the Onion posted a very astute article on the dwindling attention span of the media's average readership.  I found the lampoon to be pretty clever, as I do much of the work that the Onion has done over the decades--that is when I remember to check it.  I wonder what kind of dedication it takes to turn on as opposed to tune in.  What kind of virtual roadie archival dedication does it take nowadays to keep up with all the frentic and mindless competition?

compliance & complaints newsletter

I am rather forcibly included on quite a lot of mailing list, most of which are not worth a second glance.  The Winter edition of the EEOCCR newsletter is the most absolutely franjabulous bureaucratic circular that I've seen in a long time.  Not only is the organization headed by friendly chap named "Spurgeon," the marginalia quotes Proust, has information on historic tourist destinations in Washington, DC, has a section called "voidably vague verbiage" that advises against obfuscation by being generally non-commital, and discusses at lenght the 2008 passage of GINA (Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act), as amended.  Electronic publications are certainly scatter-shot, but I think the actual deed of sending something to print made people a little more selective about what passed as informative and comprehensive.  I am certainly not knocking the Equal Opportunity Office, despite being mired in the muck of abbreviations--after all, GINA indentified the gay-gene and then subsequently made it an outcast, I just think an old fashion fan club is a more fitting forum.