Saturday, September 22, 2007

[blogfocus saturday] taking the rest of the world to task

Never had the chance to wear one of these

Last of the three part series profiling bloggers who have either trangressed the unwritten rule or with whom I disagree. This evening it is the turn of the rest of the world:

1. Welshcakes is charged with exciting our sensibilities, with little chance of consummation:

Coming back with Simi from our walk, I suddenly "felt" that I didn't have it on any more, and, placing my hand on my neck, realised I was right. There was no sign of it as we retraced our steps, so a frantic search of jewellery box, dressing table, sides of sofa and chairs ensued. Then I "felt" something again. I looked down and there it was, inside my bra!

2. Meanwhile, Lady MacLeod is making us equally hot under the garments with her Hammanizing:

After another killer workout (I don’t know, sometimes I just get on a tear) I stripped down for the hamman thinking if it’s as good as last time that will be great. After this experience I have decided that when next someone ask me, “Why are you staying in Morocco,” the answer, “The hamman,” will suffice! Samira led me inside to the salon at the end of the hallway, so thick with steam I could not see the other walls and filled the wooden pail with warm water, then dumped it over my head and lathered me down with the black, thick, granular substance they use for soap.

3. Sean Jeating has made a grievous error speaking of G-d's wife when everyone knows, as the feminists have assured us, that G-d is a she:

Mr Ernest W. Chambers once again proves the importance of his being: The 70-year-old Senator of Nebraska (U.S.A.) sues God.

My closest friend Tetrapilotomos first reaction: "I am relieved Mr Chambers did not sue God's wife, too. The more I am looking forward to the trial. It would be interesting to see how Mrs. God manages the earthly affairs, while her husband is living behind bars in his own country."

The term "chain reaction" springs to mind.

4. I charge Maryam directly with making us green with envy about her exotic location:

And there are, ahem, other issues with this Casablanca B&B as well....The huge arrangements of fake flowers (oh why, oh why?) must go. The fountain in the entryway with no water must have a drink. The entire reception space must check into an interior design clinic for a facelift. The heavy, old fashioned draperies must be retired. The velvet and velour pillows and coverings everywhere (oh, gulp, those bedspreads) must be put away for all but a few cold months a year.

5. I'm counting Charles Robertson as non-UK rest of the world and take him to task for rank cynicism vis a vis politicians, whom we all know to be altrusitic and with the people's interests at heart:

Job cuts will only be a problem if the politicians cut the wrong ones. Unfortunately, they will be more likely to cut whole services rather than find efficiencies within them [...] Also, conveniently, cutting whole services makes better headlines. I would like to think politicians wouldn't hold public services to ransom like that, but it's hard to see what else Senator Le Sueur is doing here.

6. I challenge Cassandra, domiciled somewhere near the Mediterranean, to explain how one is "having a cold" - clearly cunningly designed to distract from the main import of her post:

Blogging will be limited the coming days. For one, I'm having a cold. But more importantly, I am playing surrogate mum to a two months old kitten called Vile Thomas Tripod. He's been hit in the street by something or other. One hind leg is broken and the nerves are severed. He's having surgery tomorrow. Number One Cat has never seen such a vile creature in her life, so a peaceful feline coexistence is probably not on the cards. I'll have to take a closer look at adoption.

7. Kizzie misunderstands the west if she thinks they're going to stop misunderstanding Africa, which they should:

There are a lot of overlooked small "good" things in Africa. When it comes to female representation in parliament, Rwanda ranks number 1. I wonder if this achievement in Rwanda is "good". Ghana remained one of the most peaceful countries in the world and the most peaceful in Africa although its neighbours are at war. Isn't Ghana a good example of a stable African country?

Wives are sometimes press-ganged into piracy.

8. Alas, dear Colin, a once noble mind, here o'erthrown:

There! That's what I think of ye. Before an hour's out, I'll stove in your old block house like a rum puncheon. Laugh, by thunder, laugh! Before an hour's out, ye'll laugh upon the other side. Them that die'll be the lucky ones. Avast belay, yo ho, heave to, and if we're parted by a shot, we're sure to meet below!

I'm sure we will, old chap and hope to meet you all too on Wednesday evening, assuming we'll not have walked the plank.

[sarko] what's wrong with this picture?

Do you see the same thing as me? Though Sarko was elected on a reform platform for French society, though the French rejected the EU Constitution, look at the blending and equal status of these flags.

[swift reactions] that gives me an idea

Jon Swift has started a nifty scheme called Swift Reactions and the idea is that he features those who comment, mention or link his site. He includes even his most inarticulate and cowardly detractors:

Lest you think I am only going to feature comments from people who agree with me, the first comment comes from my most frequent commenter, Anonymous, who writes in reference to my piece "John Kerry Goes Nucular":

"Just a bit of advice, you f---ing idiot. You might want to do a spell check before posting your moronic opinions on the web. It's spelled nuclear, buttf---!"

As always, thank you very much for your helpful comment, Anonymous.

Why can't I get abuse like that?

I'd love to give commenters or frequent visitors a bit of a mention but don't currently have any systematic way to do this. Have to give it some more thought.

By the way, check out this Larry Craig number. I'm saying nothing.

[10 000 buddhists] setting the example

Nearly 10,000 Buddhist monks marched through Myanmar's second largest city, Mandalay, on Saturday, their biggest demonstration since launching a street campaign against the ruling military junta five days ago.

Analysts said the escalating marches by monks were a sign that what began as civilian anger at shock fuel price rises last month was becoming a more deep-rooted religious movement against the military, which has ruled the former Burma in various guises since 1962.

Would that the silent Christian leadership would take an equally courageous stand against the evil junta ruling western nations now.

[russia] caviar in crisis

There's been a lot of talk on the net about Tim Ireland's demise and the naughty Russians.

Sorry but there is a far greater crisis - just what are we going to do without our fish spawn?
Beluga caviar, a symbol of ostentatious dining and luxury, costs about $US1400/kg in Moscow markets but sells for up to £3700/kg in London.

What's going to happen to those prices in the light of this?

Mr Ivanov, widely regarded as a leading contender to succeed President Vladimir Putin in 2008, said he could do without caviar if sturgeon fishing was banned.

"If we banned catches for a period of time then I would certainly survive," Mr Ivanov told an investment conference, RIA news agency reported. "We would repair our national wealth in this time after we so rapaciously annihilated it," Mr Ivanov said.

[gordon brown] david cameron, election

Not one.

They can.

Friday, September 21, 2007

[tramvai] eight roubles of entertainment

Well I seriously don't know where you could pay eight roubles anywhere in the world and have that sort of entertainment. I'm writing, of course, of simply coming home just now. Yes - tramvai time again on Friday evening. Where do I start?

Perhaps at the beginning.

The day conspired to be classic from the very beginning. It was atmospherically misty, droplets fell from the turning autumn leaves but by afternoon, the rain had set in.

To end the day I had a "pair" at the uni at 18:40 and they're my most difficult group but my definition of that might be different to yours. It's almost impossible to mount adequate defences against the charm of these eight young ladies and my theory is that this might stem from them not being city girls [they come from another town], so I let them out early because they just were being too perfect and I couldn't stand it any more. So I decided to walk down to the tramvai and thence home.

Bad move.

The streets were deluged with rain, everything was black, glistening and a lake, I pulled the black leather cap down lower and set off wading through the water until I reached the café we always used to drive to and there was a young lady I knew from three years ago, now administering the place in jaunty uniform and she laughed fit to burst when I told her I was going home by the tramvai.

Plus she had her hair tied back that way and that's not fair, in my book.

By this time the other girls had all come up in their Egyptian outfits and were vehemently joining in the conversation until other customers wondered just what was going on up at the bar. One omelette and one apple pancake and green tea later and it was time to go home and write this.

Bad move.

See what happened here.

[the nutcracker] and the art of motorcycle mayhem

Here's the revelation for today - I once danced in a production of The Nutcracker. True - I was Drosselmeyer and Clara arrived by motorcycle, brum-brumming down the central aisle, to be met by me at the stage.

I wanted to ride the bike but the owner wouldn't let me.

So it was with interest whenever I read about a production of the Nutcracker being sold out.

Especially when it is choreographed by Peter Wright [of Spycatcher fame?].

By the way, I wasn't a real ballet dancer because my equipment didn't stick out far enough beneath the cling-wrap tights. The boys showed no interest in me at all, in fact.

I could ride a motorbike though.


[car of the future] more technology the answer?

How far can the development of the automobile go? In the light of the oil crisis, drastic solutions seem to be indicated:

At last week's Frankfurt Motor Show, Mercedes unveiled a concept car that literally reads the road ahead, looking out for potholes and adjusting the suspension to cushion the occupants from the blow. It is the latest in a long list of sophisticated driver aids that seem more at home in a fighter jet than family transport.

Wonderful stuff for the techies but isn't the problem of the future more with what is it going to be powered?

Thursday, September 20, 2007

[housekeeping] changes

I'm in the process of going MacBookPro 17" and Broadband. Then I'm going to need a heap of advice from the techies.

My reasoning might seem strange - it's not for Skype or for any of the other goodies. At least initially. It's for being able to run 20 sites along the top at one time, accessed super-quickly and then to use that time to read them at leisure and comment.

Half the net time - double the time visiting. That's the plan.


[dr. johnson] sean jeating remembers

There's a blogger around who runs Omnium, a chap occasionally named Sean Jeating and the secret is that English is not his first language. Nevertheless, he did what almost all of us did not - celebrate Johnson's birthdate - September 18th, 1709 and looked at the man in some detail:
Tonight I shall have a nice drop of wine on the 299th anniversary of Samuel Johnson's birth. And I do feel glad having a "treasure" to share with connoisseurs of the English language.
Sean then quotes from The Listener, September 24, 1959, Vol. LXII. No. 1591, when such matters were handled better:
[W]e undervalue the many kinds of writing whose main qualities are not peculiar to literature, writing whose matter is so close to common experience that we do not think of it as imaginative, and whose manner is so much that of ordinary human discourse that it hardly occurs to us to discuss its literary form.

The distinction between the world of art and of life becomes irrelevant in extreme cases of this kind of writing, because both their subject-matter and their mode of communication are common to both.
Completely agree. For all Johnson's "bow-wow" style, as Henry Herbert, 10th Earl of Pembroke termed it in Boswell's Johnson, his letters, his aphorisms, his simple common sense wisdom has yours truly an earnest devotee.

In short, Johnson was a cool dude. Sean's Listener article observes:
When Boswell remarked ‘But I wonder, Sir, you have not more pleasure in writing than in not writing’, Johnson refused to be drawn: ‘Sir, you may wonder’.
I see, in Johnson, a man who thoroughly enjoyed his life as a whole, of which writing was but one part. He is so much more than his writing and is rightly accorded his place in English letters, whatever his shortcomings, as perceived by his detractors.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

[blogfocus wednesday] n.a. under the hammer

Philadelphia, where WC preferred to be

Now, continuing the theme of posts or posters I disagree with, all these North Americans are here because they've contravened the unwritten rule in some way, as explained below. If you're a North American and you're not here, then chances are you haven't contravened anything yet:

1. JMB is listed this evening on the grounds that she's complaining about malfunctioning rental cars with flashing danger messages. She should have taken the chance and lived on the edge - after all, that's what she's paying for:

First an aside about the trip to Philadelphia. I had arranged to rent a car from the local car rental agency in my daughter's hometown. Being the micro-manager that I am, I went to pick it up the day before we were to leave. I went over the car briefly with the agent, no scratches, tank full, nice clean new car. No problems. I drove it home only to find out that suddenly messages were flashing on the dashboard. Trunk ajar! Oil needs service! Neither of which were likely to be true, and in fact were not, but this car was not acceptable. Back to the agency where the only car left was a larger, fully loaded Mazda 6 which he would give me for the same price but had dried paint spilled on the upholstery of the back seat. Well, as this was the only available car, I accepted it.

2. Pantheist Mum has me staring at the screen after this. I think she's going somewhere but where?

So how many parenting blogs have you read where mom is grousing about the CRAZINESSS! The INSANITY!!! of her day? ...packing lunches and making breakfast and "Oh, honey? Have you put on your deodorant? Have you brushed your teeth? Clean underwear?", signing the homework logs and cleaning up the dog barf and writing a check for band fees while trying to remember why the cat is out of food... (and that all before 7 am). Have they written about the after school juggling? The overlapping activities full across town while trying to assure all homework is done BEFORE the night's ventures, equipment makes it to the activities, all permission slips are signed, and crabby children get a quick peanut butter sandwich between soccer and baseball so they don't explode in the middle of practice?

3. The Fake Consultant falls into the Buckeye Thoughts category [later] - I have a vague idea of what it's about but it's a mystery for those of us across the pond:

More than 55% of Americans, by the Wall Street Journal’s count, even after this giant “product placement” we saw this week, believe this war cannot be won. Last week, that number was 62%. If history repeats itself that number will go back up as our perceived probability of “winning” goes back down.

You will not chase off any likely D voter by beating this point to death every chance you get. Most of the “purple” voters are leaning this way as well, if the numbers are correct.

There is nothing to be gained by being cautious. There is nothing to be gained by worrying that voters might be turned off by our aggression. There is everything to be gained by proving to the voters we are the real patriots.

4. Odiyya's cynicism about our leaders got him onto the list - shame on him for thinking the same as me about the APEC announcement: Leaders Agree to Aspire to Stop Global Warming:

So what is an aspirational goal? Clearly its a huge step forward for all nations. Now instead merely having industry set their own targets for reductions and ignore them, they will now have to "aspire" to reach them. For greater clarity here's YourDictionary's definition for aspire:

1. To have a great ambition or ultimate goal; desire strongly: aspired to stardom.

2. To strive toward an end: aspiring to great knowledge.

3. To soar.

Spirits are soaring now that leaders have endorsed an inspired plan to inspire industry to aspire towards the ultimate goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

5. Lord Nazh is on this list this evening because fun things are just not allowed in a serious blog and as an important blogger, he has to set the example to the kiddies:

These 16 police comments were taken off actual police car videos around the country:

#16 “You know, stop lights don’t come any redder than the one you just went through.”

#15 “Relax, the handcuffs are tight because they’re new. They’ll stretch after you wear them a while.”

#14 “If you take your hands off the car, I’ll make your birth certificate a worthless document.”

#13 “If you run, you’ll only go to jail tired.”

#12 “Can you run faster than 1200 feet per second? Because that’s the speed of the bullet that’ll be chasing you.”

#11 “You don’t know how fast you were going? I guess that means I can write anything I want to on the ticket, huh?”

6. Dave J is on the hitlist this evening because he's attacking my favourite polly [check this link for my eulogy of Dick]:

In reference to Dennis Kucinich's recent move to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney, all those present agreed that the evidence is sufficient enough to impeach him, but that the ensuing bureaucratic swamp of attempting to do so would postpone his actual removal from office until around August 2008, at which point it would no longer really matter, and we would have wasted millions of dollars, and a great deal of congress' time. The general attitude was that we should have moved to impeach Cheney in 2002, and that even that long ago, the evidence would have been sufficient to do so.

7. BobG's post doesn't seems to have much wrong with it at all. It doesn't. He's on the "attack list" because he's dropped me from his blogroll [don't you get any ideas now]:

I'm not much into sweets such as candy and soda pop; I tend to prefer fresh fruits for my sugar. One of the few exceptions is homemade fruit pie, especially with my wife's pie crust, which is the best I have ever had. This was a new type, an apple and pear recipe that I found over at Kit's place. I took a picture, but didn't use a flash, so it came out with a weird yellow cast over the whole picture because of the type of lighting it was sitting under. Homemade pie with a mug of Kona coffee...life is good.

8. Matt, of Buckeye Thoughts, waxes lyrical about Boilermakers, whatever they are. I think I vaguely understand what's going on here but not completely [see photo] so that's why Matt's here this evening:

Hail hail to Old Purdue, all hail to our old gold and black

Hail hail to Old Purdue, our friendship may she never lack

Ever faithful ever true, thus we raise our song anew (Boiler Up!)

Of the days we've spent with you, all hail our Old Purdue!

For those in doubt about the first down chant, click here. Warning: Strong Language

Writing of an "I.U." game, Matt notes:

That was one of the days/games/nights I will never forget for as long as I live. Brees' pass right at the end of the game went right past us. The energy that night as we rushed the field and tried to take down the uprights...I get shivers just remembering about it.

I get shivers, Matt, just trying to understand it.

So, dear reader, the third part of the Disagree series - Rest of the World - is scheduled for Saturday evening. Don't miss it.

Something to do with human pyramids, I think


[ant quiz] wonders in wildlife

Meat-eating ant - watch out!

You thought the previous quizzes were difficult? This one's going to really stump you:

1] Some societies are described as superorganisms because the colony appears to operate as a unified entity. One example of this is:

a. The one-eyed trouser snake

b. The Ant

c. The Democrats

2] The species not found in Iceland is:

a. The arctic fox

b. Mice

c. The Ant

3] Termites are sometimes mistakenly thought to be related to:

a. The Ant

b. Financial cabals

c. The Wasp

4] Animals with poor to mediocre eyesight include:

a. The Cheetah

b. The Owl

c. The Ant

5] Societies where queens themselves can live for up to 30 years, while workers live from 1 to 3 years include:

a. Victorian society

b. The Ant

c. The Badger

6] Organisms which survive the winter by going into a state of dormancy or inactivity include:

a. The Ant

b. Parliament

c. Women

7] The animal whose communication is accomplished primarily through chemicals called pheromones is:

a. Chemical Ali

b. The Jellyfish

c. The Ant

8] The animal which attacks by often injecting chemicals like formic acid is:

a. The Embalmer

b. The Ant

c. The Swordfish

9] Animals which can specialize in their work, based on their previous experience, include:

a. The Ant

b. Cabinet Ministers

c. The Lesser Spotted Dweeble

10] The culinary delicacy "escamoles" is a Mexican dish based on:

a. Mexicans

b. Vice-Presidents

c. The Ant

[tar sands] canada sits on barely usable oil


This article was referred to me by Two Wolves: Tar Sands: Part 2 by Chris Nelder, originally written for Energy and Capital and it's severely abridged to fit it into a blog front page.

It touches on problems faced by Canada and ultimately the U.S. in using Alberta tar as one of the sources of fuel for internal combustion engines.

Water

- plants typically use two to four barrels of water to extract a barrel of oil - currently enough to sustain a city of two million every year.

- water ends up toxic, some of it reused, vast amounts pumped into enormous settlement ponds as toxic waste.

Energy

- needs over 1,000 cubic feet of natural gas - to produce one barrel of bitumen.

- consume about 4% of Canada's natural gas supply.

- quadrupling production would consume 16% of the supply

- estimates over the next ten years exceed the projections for available amounts of natural gas

- proven reserves of natural gas will be gone in about eight years

- after gas, the next obvious choice is nuclear energy - costs and water usage still a problem.

- total Energy Return On Investment around 5% to 10% but with oil over $60 it still makes economic sense

- other processes like "toe heel air injection," are being looked at.

Labor

- perennial shortage of skilled labor

- workers want a bigger piece of the action.

Environment

- primeval boreal forest the size of Florida is being blighted

- toxic sludge in huge tailings ponds

- industry pays next to nothing

- every barrel of oil uses enough natural gas to heat a family's home for four days.

Therefore there is the scenario of us sitting in our cars burning up the environment with the only limit in our minds vague ideas of environmental difficulties and the limiting cost of increasingly pricy fuel and this being supplied at all costs through a very inefficient and damaging process.

As my Min pointed out, the Arabs have only to drop the price below 50 dollars and still make a profit and the whole tar sands wastage then becomes pointless. This is how the middle-east has the west over a barrel.

Bob Ebersole [oilmanbob] says:

Its time to do the heretofore unthinkable, and demand that no more internal combustion engines be sold new in North America, and go full tilt into Alan Drake's Electrification of Rail program.

That's the rationale coverage of the issue.

Another point of view has it that far from being indifferent to the blighting of the landscape, making it unfit for human habitation and destroying all eco-systems, the driving force for this energy madness is quite happy to see this state of affairs and will do all it can to continue it.

Verse 6:12 here states it clearly.

Just an alternative point of view, that's all. But still these are words. I myself have sold my gas guzzler which I admit simply transfers the problem to someone else.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

[science] religion and evolution

Angelic?

Wolfie believes science is not a religion:

There are many within science who attempt to elevate the scientific method to the position of religion which in itself is a dishonest practice. Science is nothing more than an intellectual tool and can only offer support to philosophical enquiry but there are many who believe, in their nihilist delusion that it can supplant philosophy.

The power of belief can be astounding, but one should be discerning in whatever you believe and belief can and will define your personal reality. Its up to you whether you create a heaven or a hell.

Gracchi agrees:

Scientific method is simply the idea that if you have a hypothesis about the world you then test it in an experiment, nothing more nothing less. Therefore that cannot prove or disprove anything you say about a supernatural event or person because obviously that isn't testable.

Commenters here generally see science and religion as mutually exclusive and I imagine they'd also see the latter as untestable. Christians might be upset with me for this analogy but it seems to me that Christianity is quite testable, in the way that LSD is testable - you're not going to know, until you're actually on it, if it works or not.

In other words, the proof comes to those who've signed on but will never come to those who haven't. Therefore all argument between Christians and non-Christians is pointless.

So where does that leave evolution? Where indeed, with so many turning against it now? Is it testable or is it merely theory [good theory though, quite logical] about the origin of the earth?

Simian?

[body image] how important is it

I don't want to start getting all feminist here but this one had me thinking:

I am a healthy, active and happy 26-year-old woman, surrounded by other seemingly healthy and happy women. We should be in the prime of our young lives: embarking on careers, travelling, falling in love, thinking about the future, fearful of buying a house, partying too hard, working too hard — but loving it all. And yet this year two 26-year-old women in my extended circle have died before their time. Too young. Too unnecessary.

In a nutshell - body image, eating disorder, unlucky, dead. These were the extremes but there's a lot happening in between. Why do girls do it? Why do they concern themselves with an unrealistic ideal dictated to them by the media, fashion and peer pressure? Why are they doing it younger and younger? Why is the unreasonableness seemingly getting worse and worse, as with alcoholics?

If the girls over here can be an indicator - it's one third for the boys, one third for the appreciation of other women and one third for their own self-confidence. For myself, it's basically because I'm with girls who care so much about appearance that it can affect relations and for my own pride that I watch how I look.

The test is when I'm with the guys but even here I think I'd still dress smartly, if not sartorially or fashionably. But die of an eating disorder? Well, someone is going to have to explain this one to me. It doesn't compute.

[readers] as soon as rl allows

Again the constant problem of answering your comments, particularly on the debunking of science post, the comments raising some interesting issues which are crying out to be addressed.

Then there is getting to your sites with the help of the reader. It's uppermost in my mind, I assure you but you would also see, by the low number of posts from me currently, that RL is intruding something awful.

But we're winning the battle.

[playing g-d] the mindset of those in power [2]

Hamilton - played g-d at Gallipoli

If you've read the last article, "playing g-d: the mindset of those in power", you possibly still think so what? Even if these people are as dastardly as all that, what's wrong with that? They keep it to themselves and all's well. We don't see them - they don't see us.

Wrong. We see it very much.

Result from the Mindset

Nixon and Kissinger, from the released phone transcripts:

Nixon: There are other methods of getting intelligence. You understand what I mean?

Kissinger: Yes, I do.

Kissinger gives directives to Haig:

He wants a massive bombing campaign in Cambodia. It's an order, it's to be done. Anything that flies on anything that moves.

Kissinger's professed concern with the biosphere:

On page 149: Then there is the entire range of New Age issues: proliferation, environmental, cultural and scholarly exchange, among many others.

Rummie enjoys a round of golf while generals protest and the slaughter continues in Iraq

The Method

Senator Overman: It was charged that Trotsky got $10,000 here.

Col. Hurban: I do not remember how much it was, but I know it was a question between him and Miliukov.

Senator Overman: Miliukov proved it, did he?

Col. Hurban: Yes, sir.

Senator Overman: Do you know where he got it from?

Col. Hurban: I remember it was $10,000; but it is no matter. I will speak about their propaganda. The German Government knew Russia better than anybody, and they knew that with the help of those people they could destroy the Russian army.

[The committee then adjourned for the day and the next day the matter was not mentioned nor ever again.]

On board the S.S. Kristianiafjord, the passenger list has been described by Lincoln Steffens, the American communist:

"The passenger list was long and mysterious. Trotsky was in the steerage with a group of revolutionaries; there was a Japanese revolutionist in my cabin. There were a lot of Dutch hurrying home from Java, the only innocent people aboard. The rest were war messengers, two from Wall Street to Germany...."

Sutherland - a man with no country, not unlike me

Lincoln Steffens was on board en route to Russia at the specific invitation of Charles Richard Crane, a backer and a former chairman of the Democratic Party's finance committee. Charles Crane, vice president of the Crane Company, had organized the Westinghouse Company in Russia, was a member of the Root mission to Russia, and had made no fewer than twenty-three visits to Russia between 1890 and 1930.

Richard Crane, his son, was confidential assistant to then Secretary of State Robert Lansing. According to the former ambassador to Germany William Dodd, Crane "did much to bring on the Kerensky revolution which gave way to Communism."

The Stockholm legation cabled the State Department on June 13, 1917, just after Trotsky crossed the Finnish-Russian border:

"Legation confidentially informed Russian, English and French passport offices at Russian frontier, Tornea, considerably worried by passage of suspicious persons bearing American passports."

Somewhat tardily, in mid-August 1917 the Russian embassy in Washington requested the State Department (and State agreed) to "prevent the entry into Russia of criminals and anarchists... numbers of whom have already gone to Russia."

This is the tried and trusted method. Financing someone and setting him in motion, then drawing in the machinery of state to prevent him after it's too late.

Read on - the corruption of power

The spiritual comfort the U.N. offers at its HQ