A faux Captain Louis Renault Award [First Class] to tgirsch, Publius and most of the rest of us on the left for attempting to be “shocked” to learn that the Shrubbery has just been using the Religious Reich for their votes and doesn’t really have any values.

You would have thought that in one of the extended conversations that Pat, Jerry, or Dr. DontBee always seem to be having with G-d, this might have come up.

I’ve noticed a number of people referring to General Sir Richard Dannatt, Chief of the General Staff, as being the equivalent of the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and that is incorrect. His position is the same as the US Army Chief of Staff.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Graham Eric “Jock” Stirrup, GCB, AFC, DSc, FRAeS FCMI RAF is the Chief of the Defence Staff, the equivalent of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and the highest ranking officer in the British military. [Yes, they spell it with a “c”, not an “s”.]

In my post on Sir Richard, I neglected to include his remarks on the BBC this morning that he was concerned not merely with the health of British army today, but with its existence in the long term, i.e. he was concerned that current operations are likely to cause permanent damage to the army unless changes are made quickly.

First, it should be absolutely clear that it is extremely unusual for a senior British military officer to speak to the media on any issue that is deemed to be political. The British model is for the Royals, the military, and the permanent civil service to defer political questions to the current government.

This why the Daily Mail article, Sir Richard Dannatt : A very honest General and the BBC follow up, Army chief defends Iraq comments are creating such a stir.

They both follow a leaked report to the Blair government from the military that it was time to pull out of Iraq. It is now assumed that the leak was true, and it was the failure of the government to take any action that led, first to the leaking of the report, and, now, the general speaking out publicly.

A shorter version, without the hype, of what the general said: we need to pull troops out of Iraq where we can’t win, so we can use them in Afghanistan where we can.

[Read more →]

Yes, it’s Friday the 13^th again. The 13^th falls on a Friday more than any other day of the week, so get over it. It’s only valid in in English and Portuguese speaking countries, so go visit a Spanish-speaking neighborhood for the day.

If you want to blame someone, it’s the calendar of Pope Gregory XIII that created this imbalance.

Cat-in-the-Box

This is so trite.

[Editor: Ringo checks off another cat guild requirement, climbing into every available of box.]

Friday Ark