In the Methow Valley, at Wolf Ridge

It's always nice to be back in the Methow Valley. Mountains, rivers, critters, heat, friends, and family.
---o0o---

Hey now - Iko Iko

I have been watching Treme, David Simon's (The Wire) new show about New Orleans, and Iko Iko was one of the songs last week.  I've always liked this tune, since hearing the Grateful Dead perform it in the 80's.  I have heard at least ten other versions, including Dr John's. 

"Iko Iko" is a New Orleans tune about two tribes of painted up Mardi Gras "Indians" colliding in a Fat Tuesday parade. The lyrics come from Indian chants and local catchphrases. The song, "Jock-A-Mo", was written in 1954 by James "Sugar Boy" Crawford in New Orleans, but people almost always think it is a much older folk song.  I know I did, until I looked it up today.  According to Wikipedia, "the main melody bears a strong resemblance to the guitar riff in "Son de la Loma" recorded by the Trio Matamoros. "Son de la Loma" was written by Miguel Matamoros sometime before May 8, 1925."






Iko Iko


My grandma and your grandma
Sitting by the fire
My grandma says to your grandma
"I'm gonna set your flag on fire"

Talkin' 'bout
Hey now
Hey now
Iko iko an nay
Jockomo feena ah na nay
Jockomo feena nay

Look at my king all dressed in red
Iko iko an nay
I bet you five dollars he'll kill you dead
Jockomo feena nay

CHORUS:
Talkin' 'bout
Hey now (hey now)
Hey now (hey now)
Iko iko an nay (whoah-oh)
Jockomo feena ah na nay
Jockomo feena nay

My flag boy and your flag boy
Sitting by the fire
My flag boy says to your flag boy
"I'm gonna set your flag on fire"

(CHORUS)

(bridge)

(hey now)
(hey now)
(hey now)
(hey now)
Jockomo feena nay
Iko!

See that guy all dressed in green
Iko iko an nay
He's not a man, he's a loving machine
Jockomo feena nay
---o0o---

It's OK to sack a General

by Pablo Fanque
National Affairs Editor

A General, George Washington, insisted that our form of government should have a military controlled by civilians.  And we know from history--in particular in Latin America and Africa--that military controlled by the military all too often launch coup d' etats, and if not an actual coup, will operate as a shadow government.

Most famously, no doubt, are the cases of Generals McClellan and MacArthur.  McClellan treated Abe Lincoln like a hopeless country bumpkin.  General MacArthur generally treated Harry Truman with disdain, and whenever possible ignored his orders and went his own way. 

Harry Truman on MacArthur (from Merle Miller's Plain Speaking:

"I fired him because he wouldn't respect the authority of the President. That's the answer to that. I didn't fire him because he was a dumb son of a bitch, although he was, but that's not against the laws for generals."

"I have finally concluded... decided that there were times when he . . . well, I'm afraid when he wasn't right in the head. And there never was anyone around to him to keep in line. He didn't have anyone on his staff who wasn't an ass kisser."

Lanky Link, on the other hand, had more patience than Truman.   In letters to friends, General McClellan often referred to President Lincoln as an "idiot" and "the original gorilla."  And worse, he publicly disrespected The Link and took insubordination to an all new level.   Lincoln once called on McClellan at home and waited several hours to see the general before a servant told him that McClellan had gone to bed. I'd have canned him on the spot. 

It became clear that McClellan did not want to lead his army into battle.   To justify his yellow streak, McClellan chronically overestimated the enemy, and claimed the Confederate army in Virginia was twice its real size. When pushed to make a plan and stick to it, McClellan became resentful.  Lincoln finally ordered McClellan to attack the Confederates in Northern Virginia.  McClellan ignored the order.

"If McClellan does not want to use the army," Lincoln wrote, "I should like to borrow it a while." When McClellan finally did show signs of life, instead of invading northern Virginia, he loaded his army on boats, sailed down the coast, and landed on a peninsula between the York and James Rivers.  After an extremely and deliberately sluggish march, the army came within six miles of the Confederate capital of Richmond before being beaten back by a smaller, poorly-equipped force led by General Robert E. Lee.  Later, McClellan and Lee fought to a brutal and costly stalemate at Antietam.  McClellan refused to follow Lee as the southern forces bugged out.

For six agonizing weeks, Lincoln and McClellan exchanged angry messages, with Lincoln pushing his recalcitrant general to finish Lee off.

On November 5, 1862, Lincoln finally gave him the boot.   McClellan tried to even the score, and was nominated by the Democrats to run against Link.  Lincoln won.  Again.

As we mentioned here yesterday, it's also time for General Stanley McChrystal to hit the bricks. This is not the first time he has disrepected his Commander In Chief.  But then, Afghanistan is Obama's War, and McChrystal was his hand-picked man to lead that war.  That war hasn't gone so well; the best you can say today is that we've made a little progress.  Insubordination aside, it may be time to shake the pumpkin and try some new leadership.  Even his most rabid defenders pulled back after the now famous (but yet to appear in print) Rolling Stone profile/interview of General McChrystal began widely circulating throughbout The Beltway.

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs today gave an indication McChrystal is in the doghouse, or worse.  He told  reporters "There has clearly been an enormous mistake in judgment to which he will have to answer for," and chracterized "the magnitude and graveness of the mistake" as "profound."

Gen. McChrystal also took an arrow yesterday from the man who recommended him for command, Defense Secretary Robert Gates.  "I believe that Gen. McChrystal made a significant mistake and exercised poor judgment in this case,"  Gates said.
---o0o---

Don't be a wuss, BHO! Pablo Fanque reflects on Gen. Stanley McChrystal, and why Pres. Obama should have fired him as soon as he read the misguided (read: treasonous) Rolling Stone interview

By Pablo Fanque
National Affairs Editor
Photograph courtesy of The White House


The man leading our war effort in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, apologized today for granting an interview with Rolling Stone, in which he is portrayed as a lone voice of sanity who feels betrayed by The White House. 

The General has now been ordered to appear in person at the White House tomorrow.  Much press has been devoted today to speculation he will be ousted.   If we were in the President's army boots as Commander-In-Chief, we would publicly accept McChrystal's apology and then dismiss him.  His treachery in Rolling Stone aside, it's not like he is skillfully steering the Afghanistan conflict to a victorious conclusion. 

The Rolling Stone article quotes an aide to McChrystal saying the General was "disappointed" with President Obama after their first meeting, a meeting he felt the President was unprepared for. The article also accused Ambassador Karl Eikenberry of betraying McChrystal, in a leaked memo that said he doubted Afghan President Karzai was a good enough leader to justify propping up his government.

"Here's one that covers his flank for the history books, now, if we fail, they can say 'I told you so' " RS quotes the general as saying.    He goes on to say that the "real enemy" are "the wimps in the White House."

In Kabul today, General McChrystal issued a press release saying, "I extend my sincerest apology for this profile. It was a mistake reflecting poor judgment and should never have happened."  Really?

Take him out, Mister President.  And don't wait for the meeting tomorrow.  He dared you.  Stand him up and knock him down.
---o0o---

The Chalk Drawing

---o0o---

Eva Cassidy

Eva Cassidy could sing practically every genre...and sell it!  What else can you say?  She's had far more success being gone than she did while she was here.  There are even a couple of movies about her coming out, more--I suspect--about her pretty sad story than about her talent. I think Over the Rainbow is probably her biggest "hit."



---o0o---

Bigfoot makes his presence known in the southland

We like to think that the range of the Sasquatch, or Bigfoot, is mostly in the Pacific Northwest and Canada, but there have been numerous recent sightings in the east, below the Mason-Dixon line:

A Virginia man says that he is about to locate Bigfoot.

A North Carolina man--who swears he is sober in the audio clip--claims to have recently seen a Bigfoot on his property. 

---o0o---

The Beat/The English Beat perform free in downtown Seattle this Wednesday

Hey Seattle--the English Beat are playing a free outdoor concert in Seattle at noon Wednesday. Their shows are musically excellent, and they touch the heartline with their warm, two-tone spirit and human goodness. I love these guys.  Dave long ago transcended that very serious mien of the 70's (see video, below) and radiates waves of warmth, optimism, and wit from the stage. 


---o0o---

The best music you'll hear today: Jake Shimabukuro covers George Harrison on the ukulele

This is probably the best music you'll hear today.  I've never heard the ukulele sound so beautiful.  What an incredible cover by Jake Shimabukuro of a great George Harrison tune.


---o0o---

Adios,and Namaste to Mrs. G. and The Women's Colony Website/blog

I was really sad to hear that Heather Gee and her confederates at The Women's Colony (http://thewomenscolony.com/) are pulling the plug on their very popular and important blog. She broke new ground, and I honestly thought TWC would become one of the most important sites in the entire blogosphere (and maybe even generate a... living).

Most of all, I will miss Mrs. G's literate, funny, shocking, intelligent and thoughtful writing. She really brought something important to the world of blogs, and she will be sorely missed. I hope she is pulling the plug to work on something long-form. I may not be a part of TWC's core demographic, but I found their passion, diligence, and professionalism inspiring.  Namaste, Mrs. G.
---o0o---

Del Brummet's spontaneous poem, from way back

In honor of our son Del's graduation tomorrow night, here is a movie of a spontaneous poem Del created when he was about six years old. . .
---o0o---

Remembering the changeover, when the United States went metric

By Jack Brummet, Social Mores & Customs Editor

The U.S. went metric roughly 43 years ago.  We didn't quite get there. 

I remember diligently studying (circa 1963-64), the metric system in preparation for the big changeover. There would be no more pints or acres or inches. All the kids in school  received a small bundle of wooden blocks corresponding to various metric length and volume measures. And we had numerous class sessions devoted to hammering in the new way.  Yes, the U.S. was slated to go totally metric 43 years ago. However, we were somehow unable to shuck the customary US units system (our version of the Imperial system).   Was it business that killed the change?  Or us? 

You may also remember JFK's physical fitness initiative. The entire country would be buffed up by about 1970. Of all those initiatives, the only one that appeared to have caught fire was the move toward hydration. We were told to drink eight glasses of water a day without fail. OK, we may be fat and unable to determine what a metre or millilitre is, but we are well-hydrated. We won that one!  Everywhere you go people are carrying water bottles, plastic, metal, Nalgene, and even in Camelback packs with special bladders and hoses, so you can drink while moving. 

Much is made of the imperial system's basis of the size of a foot, or the distance between your knuckles. And yet the metric system is based on the speed of an electron, I think. Does that make more sense than the distance between some emperor's knuckles?

I wonder why have we not converted, or tried to convert, to metric for our measure of years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds? Why was it so important to convert linear and volume measures, but not the temporal ones?

As far as I can tell, some foods and fluids are sold my metric measure, but not much else.  You buy saffron by the gram, but other spices are sold by the ounce.  But one industry made the conversion (mostly):::::::::::::::::::::::::Hootch!  Gargle!  Whiz! Wine! Whiskey!   Beer is sold by the fluid ounce, but whiskey and wine: totally metric. The formerly beloved fifth or pint of whiskey is now the slightly smaller 3/4 of a litre bottle. Those little bottles of wine you buy on the airplane: 187.5 millilitres (or, 1/4 of a 750 millilitre bottle [the "new fifth"]. So, we may have really sucked on our adoption of metric measures, but the drunks have it down pat, at least on the fluid measures.  However, the liquid a bartender pours from a metric bottle almost always goes into a shot glass measuring ounces. 

'Time' Switches To The Metric System - In 2007, Time managing editor Rick Stengel attempted to force the U.S. towards the metric system.   A memo informed writers and editors that from then on, all measurements will be expressed in "both imperial and metric equivalents." Clearly, Stengel is waging a losing battle in a war we lost decades ago.  I haven't checked up on Time in these last few years to see if they have held steady or not...

Here is Stengel's memo on taking Time metric:

"Time is going global. And metric. Starting with the next issue, we will provide both imperial and metric equivalents for distance, weight, volume and temperature. (We've been doing this for some time in our graphics. Now we'll extend this to the general text as well.) This will help ensure that one text works for all of our international editions."

"In most cases, we'll use the imperial measure first and then show the metric equivalent in parentheses: five ft. (1.5 m); 170 lbs. (77 kg); 5 gallons (19 liters); 98.6 degrees F (37 degrees Celsius)."

---o0o---