Fish Fear Me

Quote of the Day

"Necessity knows no bounds."

Read the whole thing. Perhaps it is human nature to judge the past from the context of the present. I've come to think of that behavior as an indicator of whether I am dealing with a child or an adult though, and it's often not obvious until someone opens their yap. I haven't read other commentary on President Obama's press conference last night, but I think how he answered the questions on enhanced interrogation were instructive.

Update: Escort81 over at TigerHawk offers up a timely video that I think illustrates this point, where Jon Stewart calls Harry Truman a war criminal for dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Easy for him to say from his nice and comfy chair more than six decades later. There's even more to chew over in that clip about his views on enhanced interrogation, but I have to run(Truman comes in at about 5:50 in):

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Cliff May Unedited Interview Pt. 2
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More: Two points on President Obama's press conference last night. The coverage I've seen has highlighted his condemnation of waterboarding as torture. I have not seen any critical media coverage of this assertion(emphasis mine):

And that's why I put an end to these practices.  I am absolutely convinced it was the right thing to do -- not because there might not have been information that was yielded by these various detainees who were subjected to this treatment, but because we could have gotten this information in other ways, in ways that were consistent with our values, in ways that were consistent with who we are.

Prove it. I call bullshit until anyone gives me some evidence to back that up. I think it's a crock and a flat-out lie by President Obama.

The second statement I haven't seen covered is this(again, emphasis mine):

So when I made the decision to release these memos and when I made the decision to bar these practices, this was based on consultation with my entire national security team, and based on my understanding that ultimately I will be judged as Commander-in-Chief on how safe I'm keeping the American people.  That's the responsibility I wake up with and it's the responsibility I go to sleep with.

And so I will do whatever is required to keep the American people safe, but I am absolutely convinced that the best way I can do that is to make sure that we are not taking shortcuts that undermine who we are.  And there have been no circumstances during the course of this first hundred days in which I have seen information that would make me second-guess the decision that I've made.

President Obama is dancing along a dangerous line here. It would not surprise me if there were no persons captured in the last 100 days who needed to be coerced, even to the point of waterboarding. The heavy lifting to date in that regard was done years ago. What about the next one? Well, the president says he "will do whatever is required to keep the American people safe".

Really? It seems to me that he has undermined the legal cover for actually doing whatever it takes, which so far has proven to be waterboarding at the most extreme, and substituted a policy that basically says "we'll figure it out some other way". Well, I hope that works out, I really do, for the sake of all Americans and specifically my friends and family who live and work in places like New York City and the LA area.

What CIA operative will now do "whatever it takes" knowing that the president who ordered that, and the nation who he or she would do it for, would ultimately condemn them? Perhaps ones who would are out there and they would do it anyway.

I'm not sure we, as a nation, would deserve that sacrifice though.

No Way

Way:

What's in a name? U.S. pork producers are finding that the name of the virus spreading from Mexico is affecting their business, prompting U.S. officials to argue for changing the name from swine flu.

Stupid hysteria. Whatever happened to countering ignorance with, dare I say it, information? And I find the first paragraph below to be freakin' hilarious in it's stupidity:

The Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health also objected to the name, saying the virus contains avian and human components and no pig so far has been found ill with the disease.

 And there is growing sentiment in the farm sector to call it the North American virus -- although disease expert Anthony Fauci told a Senate hearing the "swine flu" designation reflected scientific naming protocol.

Geez. Well, I have two pork chops that will be slathered in BBQ sauce and grilled tonight if the rain will give me a break. I have absolutely no qualms about chowing down on those because I always make sure that I handle all meats, including poultry, carefully and I make sure they are properly cooked. I'm more afraid of catching something from fresh produce these days than the meat I buy.

On a related note, this is why I get irritated when the occasional e. coli. story pops into the news. What is not mentioned enough in my opinion is that no one would get sick if the meat was handled and cooked properly. That means avoiding cross-contamination by using separate utensils for meat than other foods and washing your hands after handling meat. That means cooking food to the right temperature for the right amount of time. This is basic stuff and it is not difficult. All meat should be treated this way at all times.

Go forth and eat pork if you are so inclined. Even if the swine flu virus was present, and there is no evidence so far that it would be, proper handling and cooking would kill it easily. Just like always.

Note: just to make it clear here, when I use the word meat I mean any dead animal flesh, including any fish or wild game. Just because something is "natural" does not mean it can't carry a germ or parasite. Sloppy handling of any meat can lead to a rather regrettable situation. That's just the way it is.

The Favre Side

Have we heard the last about Brett Favre as a Minnesota Viking?

The Green Bay Packers made sure Brett Favre didn't get his wish last year when the future Hall of Fame quarterback decided he didn't want to retire after all and attempted to force his way to the archrival Vikings.

But this year there will be nothing to stop Favre from wearing purple -- if that's what he truly wants. The New York Jets, who acquired Favre from the Packers last year, released him off the reserve/retired list on Tuesday. The 39-year-old Favre retired, again, after last season and in a statement issued by the Jets on Tuesday said he doesn't plan on coming back. For now.

With his release from the Jets on Tuesday, Favre is free to do whatever he wants. That's assuming the NFL would let him un-retire again, I'm not sure exactly what the rules are there, but I don't think there would be any roadblocks and the article says he can sign with any team he wants.

So to answer the question above, no, at least not until he signs with someone else. The local sportswriters are going to keep this story alive as long as they can, it's just too good not to use given the dubious talent that the Vikes have at QB right now. All in all it should be good for a few months of insanity and that doesn't bother me at all at this point. If it becomes a circus in July that would be a problem I think, but hopefully the Vikings management won't let it get that far. But does he even want to and would Favre as a Viking be a good thing?

I would rather take a shot at predicting earthquakes than try to divine what Brett Favre will do. Provided his arm is recovered and he can still throw, anything is possible. On the second part of the question, I can see how it could be a good thing under the right circumstances. The first would be Favre having to earn whatever role he will play and be happy about it. That could be as starter, or it could be off the bench/mentor. I'm not sure if his head is in a place to handle that, but maybe. The second would be a reasonable contract that would fairly compensate Favre for any contributions on or off the field and yet not put pressure on Childress to play him just because he has a big contract.

Under those circumstances it could be good for the Vikes. If nothing else, the speculation will be entertaining for awhile. And then there's the torment it will cause many Green Bay fans if he does sign with the Vikes. But that's just gravy.

Jefferson

An interesting letter(via a comment on Protein Wisdom) from Thomas Jefferson to John Colvin in 1810:

The question you propose, whether circumstances do not sometimes occur, which make it a duty in officers of high trust, to assume authorities beyond the law, is easy of solution in principle, but sometimes embarrassing in practice. A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high duties of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to written law, would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the end to the means.

The entire letter at the link.

I sense a slip
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Tuesday Odds and Ends

The banality of stupid. New Yorkers are not the only ones highly attuned to low-flying planes or unusual flight patterns, so how it would be considered a good idea to surprise people anywhere with a "photo op" like they did with Air Force One over New York yesterday is beyond me. And why did it have to be a secret? I don't get it.

The Minnesota Vikings had a good draft this year and are pretty well set to have a competitive training camp. Veterans should take note I think. For example, I probably wouldn't really say it, but if I was the head coach I would be tempted to notify all of the wide receivers that anyone who shows up to camp and immediately pulls a hamstring would be cut. Show up in shape or lose your job!

I'm reexamining my position on enhanced interrogation techniques given the release of the OLC memos a couple of weeks ago. Wading through the BS and the partisanship surrounding this issue makes me kind of ill. The legal and moral aspects are complicated enough without the misinformation being spread around and trying to figure out who is credible and who is not. And since they released the memos on the legal reasoning then they might as well release official information on what results were obtained so we can get the whole truth. Some deny that that matters, but I don't think you can balance the moral duties on each side of the argument without it.

It's a bad time to come down with a cold. I started sneezing and sniffling on Sunday, but it looks like I shook it off. Just a regular spring cold. Given the relatively mild swine flu cases in the US I'm not overly concerned about it at this point. Wary might be the right word. The general advice about washing hands and staying home if you are sick seems reasonable for anytime as far as I'm concerned. And like always, it probably doesn't hurt to have a couple weeks worth of food in the pantry and freezer in case things get worse. Beyond that it's just wait and see what happens.

It's True

Life is better with grilled cheeseburgers.

It just is.

Oops

Yeah, it also seems to me that a "Sorry about that" would be in order here:

Two weeks after a wayward 102-pound artillery shell fired from Camp Ripley, Minn., narrowly missed their house and plowed an ugly path through their woods, a central Minnesota couple is still shook up.

"We haven't gotten an apology," Kathy Nelson said Wednesday night of the April 7 incident at her longtime family home just south of Pillager.

There's a pic of the shell at the link.

According to the story the shell landed almost 8 miles off of Camp Ripley property. 8 miles. I was never an artillery guy, but that seems like a monumental screw-up to me. Firing artillery is pretty much a science these days, and even though they were testing something I would think they could get the safety margins a little closer than 8 miles.

Since the incident, Camp Ripley has added new restrictions on weapon-testing companies, Nieber said.

Right. Probably something along the lines of "Joe" doesn't get to play with the cannons anymore.

The Cascade River...

...on a damp and chilly day on the North Shore. They said rain yesterday, but we got snow. They said snow today, but we got rain. The NWS needs to give their magic eight ball a kick(click pics to enlarge):

It felt like a cold rain forest. A couple more pics below.

Sweep

Well, the difference a few days makes. After a mostly dismal four game series against Toronto, the Twins completed a sweep of the Angels today with a 3-1 victory. Glen Perkins went eight full inning and gave up only the one run. Even better, he only needed 84 pitches and kept the bullpen, except for Nathan closing the ninth, off the field. This is on the heels of Kevin Slowey's seven inning, two-run performance on Saturday.

Today was a nice "small ball" win for the Twins. They could have gone into a funk after the Toronto series, I started to as a fan, but they shook it off and swept a good LA Angels team. By the way, what the heck city do the Angels play for? I remember a couple of years ago when they came here that the tickets said "The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim". "Angels Angels", sounds like a fighter pilot movie or something. Anyway, I thought that had been resolved and now they are just the Los Angeles Angels. But I noticed this today on the Strib's main Twins page:

 
But if you click on the box, you get this:

 
So which is it?

North Shore

Greetings this morning from the North Shore of Lake Superior. It is 36º here this A.M., with a brisk wind from the NE to drive the occasional periods of light snow. The deck on the lake is a bit invigorating, but it's not bad at all up in the woods(click a pic to enlarge it):

There are still some patches of snow in the woods and along the road where the plow had piled it up. Most of it has melted though, and all along the drive up I saw rivers roaring like I have rarely seen. The effect of that is to leave a slick of silty water that hugs the shoreline for much of the way from Duluth to Grand Marais:

I don't think I've ever seen that so widespread before, but I don't get up here at this time of year all that often

The good news: Sammy's PPA prescription seems to be doing the trick, thank goodness. We also have a new trick for getting into the backseat of the SUV. First she hops onto an old suitcase, then up to the floor of the vehicle, then up on the seat. I had tried that before with a couple of different items including a cooler and a box and failed. The suitcase appears to be just the right height and width for her to get her whole body up on it before the next step. Who says old dogs can't learn new tricks.

The bad news: Deer. Everywhere after Duluth. Well, not terribly bad news, but it did make for a tenser drive than usual. Nothing has greened up along the roads so the deer are pretty much the same color of the roadside vegetation. It got really bad as the light faded. A couple of times I came right up on them before I spotted them along side the road. The problem is you're not sure what exactly they are going to do. Stand still? Bolt into the woods? Bolt across the road? A couple of times they started to do the latter, but backed off at the shoulder. Not before I hit the brakes and got a little adrenaline rush though. If I didn't know better I would think they were screwing with me.

Short trip this time, but it's good to get out of town for at least a few days.