Mark Bossingham

Virgins and BMWs

THIS SORT of sickening/amusing story comes to us via Reuters, a news service even more unreliable than the Associated de Presse. Written in an oh so culturally sensitive way, it shows you where your Live 8 money went. The idea that this pig is the "last absolute monarch" in sub-Saharan Africa is pretty tricksy in a region where murderous dictators are a dime a dozen. But as Reuters is known to say, one man's absolute monarch is another man's thug. Regardless, clearly Swaziland virgins know their cars. But personally, I would have held out for a coupe.
    LUDZIDZINI ROYAL VILLAGE, Swaziland -- Fifty thousand bare-breasted virgins danced for the king of Swaziland yesterday, vying to become his 13th wife.
    King Mswati III, the last absolute monarch in sub-Saharan Africa, arrived dressed in a leopard-skin loincloth to watch the ceremony called the Reed Dance, which he has used since 1999 to pluck brides from the ranks of girls dressed in little more than beaded miniskirts.
    Wielding machetes and singing tributes to the king and queen mother, called "the Great She-Elephant," the girls danced around the royal stadium in the hope of catching the eye of the 37-year-old monarch. "I want to live a nice life, have money, be rich, have a BMW and cell phone," said one of them, 16-year-old Zodwa Mamba, who wore a traditional brightly colored tasseled scarf and not a lot else.
    Many maidens, who come from villages across the country, dream of joining the king's wives, who each get a palace and a BMW sedan.

Navy to the rescue

HURRICANE KATRINA just kicked the crap out of the gulf states. But the Navy is, as usual, responding quickly and efficiently. P.S. This is an old ship. I spent a few days in Marine Corps berthing aboard her. An unusual experience.
    NORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- The amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) and other U.S. Navy assets are making preparations to provide assistance in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, if needed.
     Bataan is currently underway in the Gulf of Mexico and standing by to provide assistance as needed in hurricane-affected areas.
    Based in Norfolk, Bataan is underway for previously scheduled operations, and will remain in the vicinity of impacted areas until otherwise directed. If called upon, Bataan brings unique humanitarian capabilities to the scene.

News from the East

NEED A babysitter for the rugrat? Well, here in Japan, one is on the way as reported by the Mainichi Shimbun.
    I Robot
    A child-shaped humanoid robot that can recognize about 10,000 words and work as a house sitter will go on sale in Japan in September.
    The "Wakamaru" robot can recognize the faces of up to 10 people and talk to them. When linked to mobile phones, it can also work as a monitor to check situations at home, such as a burglary or someone falling ill, Mitsubishi-Heavy Industries Ltd. said in a statement Monday.
    Mitsubishi-Heavy said it would be the first time a robot with communication ability for home use has been sold.
    "This is the opening of an era in which human beings and robots can coexist," it said.

News from the East

COMPLEMENTS OF the Mainichi Shimbun, we learn that there has been a bloodless transfer of power at the nation's top yakuza gang.
    Japan's largest underworld gang, the Yamaguchi-gumi, formally appointed a new head Saturday, a media report said, marking the first change in power for the group in 16 years.
    Kenichi Shinoda, 63, the former No. 2, took over in a ceremony held at the gang's headquarters in the western Japanese city of Kobe, the Kyodo News agency reported citing an unnamed source familiar with the syndicate. Police were unable to confirm the report.
    Shinoda -- known as Shinobu Tsukasa in the underworld -- takes over from Yoshinori Watanabe, 64, who stepped down last month.

Another Saudi takes dirt nap

IT'S UNFORTUNATE that Saudi Arabia is a purported allie. In this war, which your grandchildren will be fighting--let's call it the Islam War--Saudi Arabia is the enemy's financial and spiritual base.
     But at least one of the the bad guys was killed in the last few days. This is a far superior outcome to the Army's "catch and release" program underway in Iraq. If Iraqi judges are going to release the enemy to kill again, I begin to question our involvement in this exercise in "democracy."
    Read Michael Yon's deservedly celebrated reporting from the front lines to see the deadly results when these judges let these Islamicist troops go after the Army has already caught them at least once. It's been said, and can't be said too often--the Iraqis need to get their asses in gear when it comes to their own security.
    No, I'm not advocating the Berkeley Maneuver (cut-and-run), but a change in the rules of engagement that results in a lot fewer prisoners.
    I digress. At least this guy got the reward he so richly deserved.
    In other Iraq news, coalition forces killed Abu Khallad, a major facilitator of foreign fighters and suicide bombers into northern Iraq, during operations in Mosul Aug. 25. Multiple intelligence sources and tips from concerned citizens led multinational forces to a location in Mosul where known foreign fighter facilitator Khallad, a Saudi national, was located.
    Upon arrival, multinational forces stopped his vehicle, a gunfight immediately ensued, and Khallad and an unidentified terrorist were shot and killed.
    Recent detainees have alleged that Khallad had contacted recruiters in Saudi Arabia to coordinate the movement of foreign fighters and suicide bombers into northern Iraq. Once in Mosul, he allegedly directed the distribution of the foreign fighters and suicide bombers to various terrorist cells operating in Mosul.
    He was also allegedly active in support of the foreign fighters smuggled into the Mosul area. According to detainee reports, Khallad supplied them with money, weapons and bomb-making materials. Detainees further stated these resources were from donations from the same Saudi contacts who recruited and sent the foreign fighters to Mosul.

Using and abusing the dead

IT'S ONE thing for "Mother" Sheehan and her motley band of Bush-haters to turn SPC Casey Sheehan (Bronze Star for heroism) into symbol of the cut-and-run crowd (something he would have never done; he died on a volunteer mission to save some Army brothers). It's quite another to use the sons and daughters of other Americans for their despicable ends. Now, these families are fighting back.
    Military families disturbed by a sea of crosses erected by anti-war protesters near President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, have removed crosses bearing the names of their fallen children and transferred them to another site to show support for American troops in Iraq.
    Anti-war protesters "never asked for my permission to put up a cross for my son for their cause," said Gary Qualls, whose son was killed in Iraq. "They are not respecting our sons and daughters."
    The rival cross camps are evidence of a growing public backlash against the anti-war campaign of California activist Cindy Sheehan, who blames Mr. Bush for son Casey's death in Iraq and has called for immediate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan.
    Gregg Garvey's son, Army Sgt. Justin Garvey, 23, was killed in Iraq in July 2003. On Tuesday, Mr. Garvey of Keystone Heights, Fla., removed two crosses bearing the name of his son that were posted at the Sheehan demonstration site -- dubbed "Camp Casey" -- outside the Bush ranch.
    "I also picked up crosses of two colleagues [of his son], after their parents gave me permission to remove their crosses as well," Mr. Garvey said yesterday.  "One by one, [Mrs. Sheehan's] crosses are coming down," said Mr. Qualls, whose son, Louis Qualls, 20, was a Marine reservist killed in Fallujah last fall.
    Mr. Qualls, an Army veteran from Penwell, Texas, said he has removed three different crosses bearing his son's name from the nearly 600 erected on the narrow road leading to Mr. Bush's ranch. Each time he removed a cross, protesters replaced it, he said.
    Last weekend, Mr. Qualls transferred the crosses to a site in downtown Crawford that's been nicknamed "Fort Qualls." Mr. Garvey moved his son's crosses there as well. By yesterday afternoon, friends and relatives of 13 other fallen soldiers had followed suit.

Fifth column journalism II

FIRST LET'S begin with a definition from Webster's New World College Dictionary Fourth Edition.
    Fifth column: Any group of people who aid the enemy from within their own country.
    Now let's move to a story by Jack Kelly that perfectly illustrates what aiding the enemy in this wired, 24/7 world is all about. Kelly begins:
    Unspinning the NY Times' military mendacity
    Colonel Thomas Spoehr is annoyed with New York Times reporter Michael Moss, for what I think is a good reason.
    Spoehr is the director of materiel for the Army staff. He had a good news story to tell Moss, which Moss converted into a bad news story.
    Is it any wonder that 60 percent of the American public doesn't think they are being told the full story about what's going in Iraq and that the mainstream press has a "political agenda"?

   

My ships

USS Pensacola (LSD-38); USS Saratoga (CV-60); USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19). Only the Blue Ridge is still in commission. Click to enlarge.

Casey Sheehan

BOTTOM LINE: George Bush didn't steal SPC Casey Sheehan out of his bed and murder him. In fact Sheehan enlisted, and after his first hitch, REENLISTED. He was on track to be an Army lifer. A significant fact unmentioned by the Associated de Presse et al.

Best of the Beat

THIS WEEK'S story (no story last week due to the Obon holidays) by Louis Templado is a cool, literally, look at kakigori, the Japanese version of a sno-cone, plus an investigation of some amazing oddball ice creams. Go to Asahi.com to read the whole thing.
    Sea Urchin ice cream: How cool is that?
    The sidewalks are melting and you are desperate for a way--a tasty way--to cool off. Here's a little secret: Take a train out of town and go deep into the Chichibu hills of Saitama Prefecture. There, in an area known for its river rapids, you'll find the venerable Asami Reizo, a warehouse stocked with natural ice made from local spring water.
    Now in high summer, the Asami family that runs the warehouse is shaving down its premium ice to create kakigori, the concoction of snow, sweet adzuki beans and fruit syrups. It is Japan's traditional response to the heat. If you go, though, don't expect to be alone.