Nirvanix Inc., a cloud-based data storage company, on Tuesday sought bankruptcy protection from creditors, without citing a reason.
The San Diego-based company listed assets and debt of $10 million to $50 million each, according to chapter 11 documents filed in Wilmington, Del.
The company, calling itself "the leader in enterprise cloud storage" offers cloud storage solutions designed specifically for customers with security, reliability and redundancy requirements, according to company statements. Customers storage products are built from the ground for the largest media and entertainment companies, financial institutions and technology companies.
"For the past seven years, we have worked to deliver cloud storage solutions. We have concluded that we must begin a wind-down of our business and we need your active participation to achieve the best outcome," Nirvanix said on its website.
It said it would assist customers in either returning their data or transferring it to similar platforms offered by International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM), Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG), Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN).
In March the company appointed Debra Chrapaty as CEO, the former chief investment officer of mobile-game developer Zynga Inc. (Nasdaq: ZNGA), according to a statement.
Khosla Ventures IV LP, a venture capital firm focused on technology, owns more than 70 percent of both the Series 1 preferred stock and the junior preferred stock as well as 15.5 percent of the common stock, court papers show. A venture capital unit of Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) owns more than 20 percent of the common equity, and 17 percent of the Series 1 preferred and about 22 percent of the junior preferred. Valhalla Partners II LP owns about 25 percent of the common stock and Mission Ventures III LP owns about 24 percent.
The case is In re Nirvanix Inc., 13-12595, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington).


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Coelocormus huxleyi är en sjöpungsart som beskrevs av William Abbott Herdman 1886. Coelocormus huxleyi ingår i släktet Coelocormus och familjen Didemnidae. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Källor

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huxleyi

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Lord Narf Tickets
Lord Narf Tickets 866 535 5167
Home > Concert Tickets - Cheap Concerts Tickets - Concert Tours 2020 > Lord Narf Tickets
Lee DeWyze February 03, 2023, 07:45 pm
Popa Chubby February 04, 2023, 07:45 pm
American Authors February 10, 2023, 03:30 am
Ruthie Foster March 08, 2023, 07:45 pm
Jeffrey Martin April 15, 2023, 07:45 pm
Matt Schofield May 20, 2023, 07:45 pm
Eric Johnson September 21, 2023, 08:00 pm
The Kitchen Dwellers April 11, 2070, 03:30 am
David Archuleta April 28, 2070, 03:30 am
Lucy Kaplansky June 07, 2070, 03:30 am
Grand Rapids Symphony: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 Devos Hall
Tucson Symphony Orchestra: Drum and Brass Tucson Symphony Center
Oregon Symphony: David Danzmayr & Vadim Gluzman - Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra: Damon Gupton - Tchaikovsky Spectacular: 1812 Overture Cincinnati Music Hall
Los Angeles Philharmonic: John Adams' Girls Of The Golden West Walt Disney Concert Hall
Omaha Symphony: Ankush Kumar Bahl - Maestro and the Music of John Williams Kiewit Hall At Holland Performing Arts Center

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Feds press local election officials to accept cyber help, but decline to identify hackers
Jared Serbu@jserbuWFED
The Obama administration isn't ready to publicly attribute recent hacks against state election systems and the Democratic National Committee to Russia — nor to any particular group or country for that matter.
But its top homeland security adviser said Wednesday that an official U.S. response may still be coming, and in the meantime, federal officials are keen to bolster public confidence in the U.S. election system, including through new efforts to help state and local election officials...
But its top homeland security adviser said Wednesday that an official U.S. response may still be coming, and in the meantime, federal officials are keen to bolster public confidence in the U.S. election system, including through new efforts to help state and local election officials improve their cybersecurity posture.
Asked at a Center for Strategic and International Studies forum whether the government would respond to the election-related cyber incidents with some of the same prosecutorial and sanctioning tools it applied to North Korea's hacking of Sony Pictures and China's pervasive intrusions into U.S. industrial firms, Lisa Monaco, the assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, said, "Stay tuned."
She declined to specifically name Russia as the culprit in the election hacks, but said that nation had clearly shown itself to be a "bad actor" in cyberspace.
"And nobody should think there's a free pass when you're conducting malicious cyber activity, just like they shouldn't think there's a free pass on terrorist activity," she said. "Our reach is long. Sometimes it takes a long time to build a case, but it doesn't deter us from continuing to pursue it."
Meanwhile, Monaco said the administration, via the Homeland Security Department, has been reaching out to state election administrators, offering help to shore up the cybersecurity of their systems. DHS and the White House are also actively exploring the question of whether the government should designate election systems as U.S. critical infrastructure, as it's done with 16 other "sectors," including the power grid, health care and the banking system.
"Regardless of which way that goes, we're pushing out a whole set of tools that secretaries of state can avail themselves of from the experts at DHS," she said. "That includes the ability to scan their systems to determine whether they have vulnerabilities and quickly patch them, a set of best practices — encrypting their data, etc. — a whole set of things they can apply, but they've got to be willing to do it. This is all in state control."
That fact alone gives federal leaders some degree of confidence that altering the results of any nationwide election via hacking is almost impossible.
"The advantage I see from a defensive standpoint is that the structure is so disparate and so much of the system is still very manually focused," Adm. Michael Rogers, the commander of U.S. Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency said at a congressional hearing earlier in the week. "It's not just one, nationwide, single integrative structure, and that tends to help us defensively."
Monaco added that most of the systems that are involved in actually tabulating votes are physically disconnected from the internet and therefore inaccessible to hackers, even though cyber intruders have managed to make their way into a handful of state systems that handle functions such as online voter registration.
"What I do think we need to worry about is efforts to sow concern or confusion about the resilience of our system, which is why I will continue to be very clear that I think we have a resilient structure because it's in so many different hands," she said. "But the efforts of malicious actors to intrude on registration databases and other elements of our voting infrastructure is a concern."
Also on Wednesday, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), the ranking member on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, drafted a letter to the National Governors Association, urging NGA to help prod state officials to accept help from DHS.
Read more: Cybersecurity
"When I served as Governor from 1993 to 2001, my fellow governors and I did not have to worry about the many of the kinds of cybersecurity challenges faced by states today. While I remain confident in our election systems today and in the numerous security precautions already taken by states, I respectfully ask that you continue to encourage your fellow governors to review the cybersecurity of their election systems and to take advantage of the information and voluntary assistance provided by DHS and other federal agencies," he wrote. "While I fully appreciate a state's responsibility to administer its own election systems, I believe that we must continue to work together to protect the values and institutions that we cherish so much in our great country."
Jared Serbu
Jared Serbu is deputy editor of Federal News Network and reports on the Defense Department's contracting, legislative, workforce and IT issues.
Follow @jserbuWFED
DoJ: cyber indictments, sanctions tell other nations to 'get off our lawn'
Cybersecurity Read more
Michael Bonfigli/The Christian Science Monitor
DHS considers adding election system as critical cyber infrastructure
2016 election Critical infrastructure Cybersecurity Lisa Monaco Michael Rogers Russia White House


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Category Archives: Journeys by Land
Journeys by Land
You have to have a tent
4/12/2015 meps	1 Comment
I hit the road yesterday from Vero Beach, Florida in Bon-Bon, my Toyota Matrix. I packed everything I'd need for the drive to Seattle via Las Vegas, including a folding bicycle, an inflatable kayak, clothes, art supplies, and two boxes of Strangers Have the Best Candy. I also brought lots of pillows, three teddy bears, a brand-new Therm-a-Rest pad, a couple of blankets, and a sleeping bag. I can make a cushy blanket fort in the back of the car and sleep anywhere.
In the late afternoon, I saw a sign for Withlacoochee River Park. It seemed like a nice county park, about 5 miles off the highway. I circled the camping area, which was mostly empty, then followed the sign to the office.
A young park ranger was outside the building as I got out of my car. He greeted me with a smile and asked how he could help me. "Is this where I pay for a campsite?" I asked. "Yes, it is," he told me. "What kind of site do you need?"
I shrugged. "It doesn't particularly matter."
"Do you have a tent?" he asked me.
When I said no, his smile disappeared. "You have to have a tent."
I continued smiling. "I can just pay the RV rate," I said. He looked at my car and shook his head. I couldn't figure out how they could have a rule against sleeping in the car, but I was determined to figure out a way around it.
What if I put my sleeping bag on the ground next to the car? Nope. What if I rigged a tarp as a tent? Nope. What if we called it a Toyota Matrix RV? Nope. At that point, he suggested that I wait for his supervisor.
While I waited, I thought about telling them my tent was six feet tall, pink, and went by the name of Harvey. Unfortunately, the supervisor who appeared was much more humorless, so I stayed quiet about having an invisible tent.
Condescendingly, he showed me the written rules, which said that I had to have a "commercially-made, flame-retardant tent." When I told him my car was a very small RV, he rolled his eyes. "That? No way."
I just waited. Finally, he said, "If you insist, I will call my supervisor, even though it is after hours on a Saturday evening, and I will have to call him at home."
I nodded and said, "Would you, please?" He picked up the phone and called his supervisor. "I am so sorry to bother you at home, after hours, on a Saturday, but there's this lady here who wants to camp…" His tone spoke volumes. "And she doesn't have a tent, and she's just driving a car."
The man on the other end of the line said something. Then he said, "That's what I told her, but she insisted that I call my supervisor, after hours, on a Saturday, at home." He hung up with a smirk.
I put on my most gracious smile and said, "Thank you very much," then I turned and went out to my teeny-tiny RV and drove back out to the road.
I pulled out my phone and ran a search for nearby campgrounds, and a listing popped up just a few miles up the river. When I clicked on the Sawmill Resort and Campground, the first thing I saw was the photo on the homepage. It featured three hot guys, two of them shirtless. This was not your every day campground. The list of amenities included a pool and several nightclubs. I read further, and found the statement "…the premier gay and lesbian community in the Southeast."
I called to make sure they had a campsite for a person without a tent. No problem. I didn't tell the woman I was straight.
In the camp store, the young woman took my credit card and gave me a wristband. "You do know this place is, um, alternative, right?" I just nodded.
When I asked where to set up camp, she wasn't certain. "I've had this job for five days," she told me, "and I actually haven't been back there yet." She was referring to the 120-acre community on the other side of the fence.
When I drove through the gate, I was unnerved to find that there were no other women "back there." Just me and a few hundred guys of all ages, doing what everybody does on vacation: Relaxing. I stuck out like a sore thumb, but I felt completely safe.
More importantly, I felt completely welcome. As the FAQ said, in answer to the question, "Are Women allowed at Sawmill?" "YES! We are open to anyone who is open minded."
It's OK that I don't have a tent. It's OK that I'm not gay. Saturday's curious turn of events reminded me that being surrounded by open-minded people is more important to me than anything else.
campingSawmill Resort and CampgroundWithlacoochee River camping
Awfully Funny, Journeys by Land, Living in the South, Odds and Ends
Crossing the Do-Nut Belt
On January 27, I was driving from Dallas, Texas to St. Marys, Georgia on backroads. I collected all the funny bits for my sister, as a belated birthday present.
All hail the Krewe of Junk Food
The Gulf coast visitor's center had a display of sequined Mardi Gras finery. My favorite was the one featuring hot dogs, hamburgers, and popcorn containers.
In one small town: "Not Your Mother's Tavern"
In another: "Mom's Bar"
In a third: "Mother Clucker's."
Baton Rouge has a place called "Schlitz & Giggles: Silly Name. Serious Pizza."
I usually get a kick out of church signs. When I did a Google search, I realized many of them are not original. The fact that they come from sayingsforchurchsigns.com, rather than from God himself, takes the fun out of it.
Donuts. Did you know the US has a Do-Nut Belt? Shipley's Do-Nuts says it's Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Tennessee. As I drove, I noted dozens of hole-in-the-wall places with no pretentious hyphen in "donut": Dee Dee Donuts, the Donut Palace, Donut King, and my personal favorite, the Texas Donut Ranch.
I didn't succumb to either donuts or Do-Nuts.
But it was touch-and-go when I saw a roadside sign saying "Original Homemade Sausage Jalapeño Cheese Bread, one mile," with an arrow pointing left. I will always regret not stopping.
I will never regret stopping at Ozzy's. I got love in a takeout container.
Strangers Have the Best Candy at the Russell Stover factory
Dick took my picture at the Russell Stover Factory. I know you'll roll your eyes at this. That's why I didn't buy you any.
There was a big green interstate sign for Baptist Pumpkin Center. Without punctuation, I have no idea what that means. Where is the Methodist Pumpkin Center? And the Buddhist Pumpkin Center?
Next Left: Dead Man Road. Followed by a smaller sign saying "Cemetery." Dunno who else would want to live there.
On any given day, along Interstate 10, thousands of people see the memorials to Buddy, Amanda, Ben, Brian, Wesley, and the Dobbins family. Their descansoes, or roadside memorials, feature lettering large enough to read at 75 mph.
At a slightly slower speed, I drove for five minutes past acres and acres of stored FEMA trailers. In the past decade, they have been replaced by manufactured homes, and there are many businesses that thrive on such things: "House Moving, Lifting, and Leveling." Fueled by donuts, no doubt.
Speaking of housing, did you know you can buy a whole acre of residential beachfront property in Pascagoula for only $159,000?
Looking north, looking south
Just down the road is the most incredible view I've ever seen from a Wal-Mart.
Another pretentious sign: "Mississippi Gulf Coast: A Certified Retirement Community." Certified by whom? Evidently, I'm not the only one to ask that question. Even the Wall Street Journal has a sense of humor about such things as ticks, chiggers and snakes.
One last comment: Even if Cretin Homes is named after the company's owner, I'd change it.
Gulf of Mexicohumorroad travel
Journeys by Land, Living in the South, Odds and Ends
Thanks to North Carolina
11/30/2014 Barry	Leave a comment
Some people get excited about five star hotels or other fancy lodgings. I'm not usually one of them. I was about half-way between Columbus, Ohio and St. Marys, Georgia, on the last leg of a 2000 mile Thanksgiving road trip. I just needed a quick stop for the night.
I got the last room in a cheap motel, just into North Carolina, in Mt. Airy. They claimed it was clean. They said it wasn't fancy. Apologetically they mentioned that if I'd called earlier I wouldn't have got a room on the side for long-term rentals. They told me how to connect to the internet, with two networks, one that probably wouldn't reach, and the other which sometimes needs to be reset.
I read somewhere that more vacations are "ruined" by dirty motel rooms than anything else. Fortunately I'm tolerant. The lights were dim. A lamp shade didn't stay on. To my nose, there was only a hint of stale smoke. The space heater wasn't quite up to the job, with temperatures below freezing this night. The blanket was thin. I tried to connect to the internet. Half-way there, but no luck. The staff was about and tried to reboot it. It didn't help, and I didn't ask again. I even tried to break into their access point (EASY!) and see if I could somehow fix something. (NOPE!) While I worked on this, with a warm laptop in my lap, the room heated up a little bit. I then dressed in enough clothes to sleep peacefully in the cool room overnight.
In the morning, I took a shower. The hot water was fantastic. The shower…well…In boatyards and marinas, I normally shower in my crocs, just in case. They dry easily, and my shoes are clean when I'm done! This was my first motel shower this way. No problem, I'm used to it. A long hot shower on a cold day is one of my absolute favorite things in the world!
I hit the road looking for breakfast. The motel hadn't even had coffee I wanted to drink. My standards are higher for food than lodging. At least a little. I avoid fast food, especially for breakfast. I figured that a Denny's would do, if that was the best I could find at a freeway exit. An hour down the road, I saw a sign for Toast Cafe at the Davidson, North Carolina exit. The name was promising. I got a little lost, pulled over, and tried to find a decent breakfast diner with Yelp. I re-found Toast, a mile away, and drove there.
I walk in to see the Saturday morning brunch crowd filling all the tables. I was glad to be eating alone—I got a seat at the bar instead of waiting. I saw a sign for the 2013 "Best Breakfast in Charlotte" posted on a mirror.
I ordered an avocado bacon and tomato omelet, and ordered grits for my side dish, after a reassuring answer my vague question "Oh yeah, I'm in the South again. I bet you do grits right." When the waitress asked me later about the grits, I said that they were wonderful, and mentioned my unfounded fears of the grits put in little packets by Quaker. I think I saw her shudder as she said something sympathetic about instant grits. After two cups of coffee I was plenty caffeinated already, so the staff sent me on the road with a travel cup of decaf.
In honor of Thanksgiving, I'm going to express my gratitude: To North Carolina for a night's rest, a wonderful hot shower, and a fantastic breakfast. And to myself for low expectations!
A beautiful state of mind
6/30/2011 meps	Leave a comment
Michigan is a beautiful place to be today. "Oh boy!" I can hear you say, "Does that mean you're posting some photographs?" No, I'm afraid there are no photographs to illustrate this state's beauty today. It's more elusive than that.
It's the way the wind is moving the trees, the way the air smells, the way the fluffy white clouds form in the blue sky. It's the way the birds sang after the rain shower, the way the homemade cherry pie tasted in the cafe in Clare. It's the way the baby in that same cafe peered curiously from his Daddy's lap.
It's the bouncing, crazy exuberance of our nephews at 8 and 11-going-on-12. It's the precious hugs from Grandma at 97-going-on-98. It's the Happy Spot I made outside my in-laws' motel room.
I don't have photos of any of these beautiful moments. Just memories.
My mother-in-law grew up in Michigan, when the world was smaller. Michigan was her world, and though her father traveled for work and her parents moved a couple of times, it was always within Michigan.
This morning, she showed us some old family photos from the 1940's and 50's. Most include her parents, aunts, uncles, or cousins. They're always smiling and laughing, whether standing on the shores of a lake, sitting at a table, or posing with their arms around each other in front of some trees. The extended family vacationed together for decades, fishing, sharing meals, playing cards, drinking beer, and just enjoying each others' company.
Of course, all these vacation spots are in Michigan. From what I can tell, this state has always been beautiful, as long as the right people are here.
2008 The Other Half of a North American Circumnavigation, Awfully Funny, Living in Beaufort, NC, Rebuilding Boats
A little dinghy
2/21/2011 meps	6 Comments
What's that white thing on the dock? A shoebox, a bookshelf, or a boat?
On the big day, when we launched Flutterby, I didn't pour all the champagne over the bow. There was some left in the bottle, so a bunch of us went down the dock to where a little wooden shoebox, about six feet long, sat waiting. Kris and Barry picked it up and dangled it down to the water by its painter, letting it down with a splash. Way, way down there in the water below the high dock, it looked for all the world like an abandoned piece of furniture. Somebody tossed a couple of wooden oars into the shoebox-bookshelf, and then they all turned to me, expectantly.
Uh-oh.
There it floated, nine years in the making, waiting for the builder to test it. I felt like the ancient Roman bridge designer who had to stand under his bridge when the first load went across. What if I was too heavy? What if it flipped, or worse yet, slowly sank? I could hear the blub-blub-blub in my imagination. But it's amazing what adrenaline and an audience can do. White-knuckled, I climbed down the ladder into the tiny vessel that I had given birth to from a pile of plywood.
I was still hanging onto the ladder with a death grip when Barry handed me the bottle of champagne.
It felt like a toy boat, something that should be christened with Kool-Aid. But I wanted the gods of the sea to take this thing seriously, so I poured champagne over the "bow." (Since the boat doesn't have a pointy end, it's a little hard to tell which is the front and which is the back. It would probably row just fine sideways, if I mounted the oars that way.)
"I christen thee Flutterwent!" The name was Kris' idea. It rolls off the tongue better than Flagondry or Rockcoach, two bug-based Spoonerisms that sound a lot worse than Flutterby.
Before I knew it, Barry was climbing off the dock to join me in the boat, I think because I had the bottle of champagne. Or maybe because he wanted to swamp it and go swimming. Surely this thing was not rated for two adults, was it? Thank goodness the Coast Guard wasn't around to see the open container in an overloaded vessel with no lifejackets.
But she didn't ship any water when he climbed in. We sat there, facing each other, grinning, and passing the champagne bottle back and forth. Meanwhile, the current was carrying us away from the dock. Whoops! Time to do something about that!
Using ridiculous 7-foot oars as giant paddles, we paddled through the marina and over to the ways, where Flutterby awaited us. The scariest part was getting back out again! I didn't know how stable it was, but I knew how stable I was — not very. I guess the adrenaline got me out of the boat as well as into it, although by now most of our audience had lost interest and wandered off for happy hour. I was already plenty happy.
You might be wondering, why would anyone use such a strange-looking, tiny dinghy? Normal cruisers go back and forth from their boats in stock gray inflatables with stock outboard motors. Why not the Flutterbies?
For years, Barry wanted to build a 34-foot sailboat with me. This terrified me, because I was afraid of power tools. I'd had an accident in college with a bandsaw and nearly ended up eight-fingered Meps.
In 2001, our housemate, Sharonne, signed up for a beginning woodworking class. For the first four weeks, the students built toolboxes using a table saw, joiner, planer, biscuit-cutter, and sander. For the remainder of the class, they worked on their own projects. At the end of ten weeks, Sharonne proudly brought home the toolbox and a tall bookshelf that she had built with her own hands.
I signed up for the next session and built the same toolbox. Then the teacher sat down with the class and told us we were free to start on our own projects. He went around the room and asked each person to say what they wanted to build. "A CD rack," said one. "Toys for my grandchildren," said another.
I never checked to see if the toolbox would float. It would make a great dinghy for the dinghy.
When he reached me, I said, "A boat."
"A toy boat?" asked the teacher.
"No, a real one."
The rest of the class stared at me.
"This is Woodworking One. You can't build a boat on Woodworking One," said the teacher, with a smirk.
"Don't you remember Sharonne, from last term? She built a bookshelf. I promise my boat will be just like a bookshelf." He rolled his eyes and made me stay after class to convince me that I couldn't build a boat.
The following week, I showed him the plans. Phil Bolger's Tortoise dinghy looks a lot like a floating bookshelf, so he reluctantly permitted me to start. A couple of months later, Barry and I loaded my plywood dinghy on top of Peepcar and brought it home. I'd done the final assembly in Woodworking Two, with a more encouraging instructor.
The good news was, I still had all my fingers. (So did the instructor from Woodworking One, who'd nearly run his hand through the table saw helping me cut the framing.) The bad news was, it wasn't a boat yet.
It was a thing of beauty, constructed of luan plywood with pine framing and copper ring nails. For the first year, it sat on our back porch. For the next five, it hung in my in-laws' garage.
I was proud of my accomplishment, so I told people that I'd built a boat. But whenever Barry heard me say that, he'd correct me. "No, you didn't. It's not finished."
In 2008, I painted it with epoxy resin to protect the wood, and we tied it on top of the Squid Wagon. We drove from Seattle to Flutterby in Beaufort, North Carolina, via San Diego, with that tiny, funny-looking boat on top of the van.
The ant and the elephant along the California coast (April 2008)
It looked like an ant on top of an elephant. All the way across the USA, we got reactions like the guy with the toothpick in his mouth who sauntered over to Barry, not noticing me nearby. "What is that?" he asked. "Some kind of storage pod?" "No," said Barry, "It's a boat." The guy looked more closely and said, "Oh."
Then Barry added, "My wife built it." The guy cracked up laughing. He thought it was the punchline to a really funny joke.
The epoxy wasn't UV-resistant, and by the time we crossed the country, it already needed sanding and painting. We didn't have anywhere to store it out of the weather, so we rented a 5×7 storage unit and stuffed it inside, using it to store other items — just like a bookshelf!
For another two and a half years, when I said, "I built a boat," Barry said, "No, you haven't." I'd glare at him. Couldn't he just shut up?
That was getting really irritating, so last summer, I took the poor neglected dinghy out and put it under Flutterby. It was time to finish it, a job only I could do. If I let Barry help me, then, when I said "I built a boat," he'd still have an excuse to correct me. "No, you didn't. We built a boat."
My sawhorses sat on some turf with boatbuilding history. Between 1983 and 1995, Bock Marine built and launched over 30 boats in that spot, including the 122-foot White Dove Too. Like the WDT, my dinghy was brought from another location and completed on that hallowed ground. But there are some differences. Their ships were steel, launched using a dramatic side-launching technique (this is a hilarious photo of people running from the splash) instead of our painter-dangling end-launching technique. I calculated the ratio of length-to-time-under-construction: At 6.5 feet and 9 years, Flutterwent's ratio was 505. Knocking out a couple of 85-footers a year, Bock's was 2.1.
I finished the dinghy in the heat of the summer, using all the woodworking, epoxy, fiberglass, and painting skills I learned on Flutterby. While I was working, I wore headphones and hearing protection. Not because of the power tools, but because I was tired of all the men in the boatyard wandering over to stare. I was tired of explaining that I was not building a hard dodger to cover the companionway.
When I was done, I said to Barry, "I built a boat." Then he hugged me instead of correcting me.
It still wasn't completely done, having no means of propulsion. But it's past midnight, and I am done for tonight! Tiny boat, big story. I'll put the photo essay below and save the rest for another time.
Barry and Kris drop the dinghy into the water, stern-first. "Yikes! Who's got the painter?"
With nerves of steel, I step into the floating box. Ted, who has launched many dinghies, was there to help, and Barry had the painter and the champagne.
You can tell from my hand that I am afraid to move, for fear it will sink or tip over.
I haven't sunk yet. And I have the champagne. So I'm smiling.
Oh no! Here comes Barry to see if he can swamp my dinghy.
As the current carries us away from safety, I say, "You want some of this?"
Giggling, we pick up the oars and paddle into the sunset. She tracks like a shoebox instead of a soapdish.
Getting out is trickier than getting in. Barry made sure the champagne bottle was safe, but I think it was empty by now.
Whee! Barry has fun scooting under Flutterby's bow line. At 6-1/2 feet long, the Tortoise dinghy is just long enough for a nice nap.
2010 The Squid Wagon Returns to Pasture (NC to WA)
Getting into a jam – by choice
What has four letters, starts with a vowel, and has lots of corn and cows? Ohio. Iowa. Sometimes, it's hard to keep them straight, even when you've lived in one of them.
Not sure what we're stopping for, but it looks interesting!
About fifteen miles into Iowa, a gigantic sign caught my eye. "World's Largest Truck Stop." There was a traffic jam associated with the world's largest truck stop — the off-ramp was backed up with cars and semis. Traffic jams are unheard of in a place where cows outnumber people.
At 65 mph, I had only an instant to decide. I switched off the cruise control and joined the traffic jam.
The off-ramp was perched high above the truck stop, and we could see down into vast acres of trucks, cars, pedestrians, and — huh? Circus tents? What was going on at the world's largest truck stop?
It felt surreal to follow signs for overflow parking without knowing why. The Squid Wagon was directed to a field, about a half mile from the center of the activity. Just after we'd locked up and grabbed cameras and sun hats, an ancient yellow school bus came by and picked us up. Someone handed us a program, which said, "Welcome to the 31st Annual Walcott Truckers Jamboree." Bouncing the whole way, the school bus delivered us to the entrance of what the program said was "The Best Trucker Party in the Country! FUN! for all."
Now, Barry and I are always looking at big trucks and asking each other, "What do you suppose that thing is for?" "Why is he doing that?" "What do you think is in there?" Since neither of us has ever been inside a semi, we spend a lot of time arguing about the possible answers, without any real facts on which to base our positions. We call it "talking out of our butts."
Finally, we could get some answers. Just the previous day, we'd debated this one: Why pay to be weighed at a truck stop, when weigh stations do it for free? The first exhibitor at the show, a representative of CAT Scales, answered that one — truckers want to make sure the weight of their load is legal before they drive into a weigh station, where they will be fined if it's not. Also, some loads, such as household goods, are charged by weight.
Lots of beer bellies and baseball caps in evidence at the truck display
I love the feet sticking out of the doors as these fellows peer inside the truck
The lines of this truck's grille are beautifully art deco.
We wandered the big tent, where exhibitors were touting everything from dip mixes to air filters and 12-volt mattress warmers. One driver had self-published a novel, but without an audio version, he wasn't getting much interest from his fellow drivers. Trucking companies were handing out freebies to anyone with a CDL, hoping to recruit drivers. The American Lung Association and the Iowa Soybean Association, unrelated organizations with different interests, were both pushing biodiesel. I stopped to look at literature for Women in Trucking, and two women pounced on me as a potential member. Later, when I read their newsletter, I realized I should have asked about their Women in Trucking tattoos.
We left the exhibits and started strolling through the rows of trucks, taking pictures of shiny chrome and elaborate airbrushed graphics. What was the story on these trucks? Were they for sale, or just for show? Who had brought them?
The acres of blacktop gave off waves of heat, and the only shade came from the trucks themselves. We came upon a small group in folding chairs, chatting animatedly in the shade between two trucks.
A group of truckers hanging out in the shade of their trucks. The one on the left has a shower.
When questioned, they explained that they were owner-operators who came every year. I asked about their trucks, and one couple pointed to the one on the left, and other pointed to the one on the right. "Are you staying in your trucks?" I asked. "We're staying in the hotel," answered one of the women. "But they're staying here. She has a real bathroom in hers, with a shower," she said, enviously. The sleeper on the truck with the bathroom was about three times larger than other sleepers, and had larger windows. It looked like a very sturdy RV.
I was getting a glimpse of another world. Barry and I had learned a little bit about the RV crowd, mostly retired people who drive around the country and pay handsomely for the fuel to do so. Now we were meeting folks with smaller accommodations, but bigger rigs. They're proud of the fact that they get paid to do their traveling.
I began to understand the event — an excuse for truckers to relax and spend time with people who understand their way of life. What we had stumbled upon was something like the Seven Seas Cruising Association Gam for offshore sailors, or the Sturgis, South Dakota, motorcycle rally. I even felt elements of our favorite annual event, Burning Man.
Like Burning Man, there was art: One man's purple truck was airbrushed with shining white horses charging out of blue surf. The multi-talented owner-operator had painted it himself. Not only that, but he'd built the interior of the sleeper himself, the only one we saw that included a fireplace. We climbed up into the cab, with hundreds of shiny buttons and switches, to see the sculpture on the back wall of the sleeper, a continuation of the horses in surf theme.
The left side of the truck with the fireplace, original artwork by the owner/operator
The man who drives this truck is also the artist
This relief sculpture is not original, but was chosen to match the airbrushed artwork on the outside. Some of these sleepers are tres elegant on the inside!
This truck actually has a tiny fireplace in the sleeper
This is the cab of the truck with the fireplace and the horses and surf artwork. She's a beauty.
He just looks like an ordinary truck driver, but the man on the right is more than that -- he's the artist who created the truck shown above
The same man told us we absolutely had to stay for the nighttime party. He described the illuminated trucks in the Lights at Night Competition, and said people would be walking around and admiring each others' trucks all night. There would be a fireworks show and a concert by big-name country musician Tracy Lawrence. I had to take his word that Tracy Lawrence is famous, having never heard of him, myself.
I seriously considered his recommendation to stay. I felt very welcome, and we could easily have hung out all day and through the night, partying with the big truck people (while listening to music we don't like). But in the end, we decided to push on across Iowa and save our free time for places that were greener and cooler (and have better music).
We drove about 20 miles up the road and stopped at a rest area, where I struck up a conversation with the man who was cleaning the restrooms. He was a very overweight man, one of the largest I've ever seen, and admitted that he'd hardly been away from home. I sensed that working in a rest area made him restless, wishing to see more of the world. When I said that we'd just come from the big truck jamboree, his face lit up. "I'm going to that tomorrow," he told me.
Then I started telling him what I'd heard about the nighttime party, the fireworks and the music and the illuminated trucks, and he got more and more excited. "I get off at nine," he said, "so I'll just go over there tonight!" I was glad that I'd given him a little excitement to look forward to. I was also glad that there would be one more person at the Jamboree to appreciate all the work that went into the decorated trucks.
Barry and I continued west on I-80, passing a few trucks and being passed by others. Each time, I thought of the person driving it, rather than just the vehicle. Were they aware of the party they were missing? Maybe they don't like country music, either.
In the future, driving on the freeway, I'll look up — because no matter how high the Squid Wagon is, trucks are always many feet higher — and feel a connection to the driver. And if he looks my way, I'll give him a friendly wave. We might meet again someday, at the Walcott Truckers Jamboree. Next time, I'll stay for the concert.
Some folks display their shiny truck engines. You can see my reflection on the right.
Barry's face is reflected in this truck's engine.
Help is on this corner
8/5/2010 meps	3 Comments
The inscription reads, 'To the pioneers who bridged the streams, subdued the soil, and started a state.'
In the small town park, there was a band shell and a statue. The latter towered formidably over our heads. It was a bronze casting of a couple holding a child and staring off into the distance. The inscription read, "To the pioneers who bridged the streams, subdued the soil, and founded a state."
My eyes followed their gaze, and met terrible destruction.
On a whim, we'd hopped off Interstate 74, in Western Illinois, to follow a small brown highway sign that said, "Lorado Taft works of art." The 16-mile detour would take us through nothing but cornfields. I worried that we might not even like the art.
Barry pointed out that we had postcards and a parcel to mail. Even if we hated Taft's art, we could use Elmwood's post office.
We drove for about 15 minutes, and just as we reached the edge of Elmwood, we came to a sign in the middle of the road: "Road Closed." If we followed the detour, we'd miss the art altogether.
The road into Elmwood, Illinois
We sat at the crossroads, puzzled. "They can't close the whole town!" I said to Barry, indignantly. A car came along and swung around the sign, ignoring the roadblock. We followed. A block down, there was a sign on the right, pointing towards the Taft Memorial. "Let's find the post office first," said Barry, who was driving.
A few blocks later, it became apparent that Main Street, which intersected our road, was full of construction equipment and jersey barriers. Barry turned right and paralleled it, two blocks away, but every time we came to a cross-street, there was a jersey barrier. He was so busy trying to figure out how to make a left turn, he didn't see the clue on the other corner.
It was the remnants of a telephone pole, tilted at 45 degrees and splintered ten feet in the air. The pieces fell into place: Tornado.
And then Barry found a place to turn, and we crossed Main Street. The tornado had ripped and splintered its way precisely through the heart of the little town. For about four blocks, Main Street was rubble, construction equipment, yellow tape, and jersey barriers.
A block away from Main Street
Somewhat stunned, we got out of the van and walked over to the town park. I was incredibly curious, but embarrassed. I wanted to say, "I'm sorry. I didn't come here to gawk at your misfortune. It was a coincidence."
A cluster of older folks stood on the sidewalk, watching the demolition workers. I walked over to ask where the post office was, but just then, I saw it. It was in one of the damaged buildings, closed until further notice.
A woman pointed out the white and blue truck on the other side of the park. "That's our post office, for now." That's when I saw the pioneer statue by Lorado Taft, honoring the fact that those who settled Elmwood had endured difficult times. I shook my head at the irony.
With our camera, Barry and I walked around the perimeter of the destruction, capturing images of the sudden power of nature. Two teenagers trotted past, carrying large crowbars. In another situation, that would be alarming. Here, it was charming. A man watching from his bicycle was enveloped by dust as a second-story wall came down. He pedaled to another spot and continued watching.
Eventually, we joined the group in front of the bank that had grown to about 20 people. One man had a home video camera on a tripod, and just about everyone had a little digital camera. "When are the kids coming for a visit?" one silver-haired woman asked another. "Next month, to celebrate the birthdays," was the answer. "I can't wait to show them these pictures. How's your mother?"
We learned that the tornado had hit a month earlier, during the town's annual Strawberry Festival. There had been ample warning, so everyone went home and no people were hurt.
I'm sure the early aftermath was traumatic — live powerlines and broken water mains and precarious walls of brick teetering above Main Street. That's over now. The crews we watched were tearing down unstable structures and getting ready for rebuilding.
No one we talked to seemed sad or distressed; all the people chatting on the street corners were pretty cheerful. There was a buzz of excitement and lots of interaction. Hometown Hardware, located on the corner, had lost most of its second floor, but their signs were intact. There were several jokes about the large white one that said, proudly, "Help is on this corner."
In a few months' time, the Lorado Taft sculpture of the pioneers will look out over a new landscape. The buildings will be different, and the town will have new history. The stalwart descendants of these pioneers have figured out how to deal with the forces of nature and move on. Their ancestors, the pioneers, would be proud.
Watching Elmwood's demolition, cameras in hand
People watching the demolition of Elmwood, Illinois' main street
What everyone in Elmwood was watching
The sign reads 'City of Elmwood City Hall'
The vertical sign on Hometown Hardware reads 'Help is on the corner'
The long and corny road
We've tried longer visits, shorter visits, and more frequent visits, but we can't escape this fact: Columbus, Ohio is a midwestern black hole that sucks us in every time we cross the country.
It's not the city or the shopping (blech!) or the restaurants. For me and Barry, Columbus, Ohio, has more beloved people per capita than any other place on the planet. The magnetic pull starts with a special brother, a fantastic sister and brother-in-law, and two precious nephews.
Add a bunch of friends who are as dear as any blood relative. We haven't lived there since 1990 — yet we continue to meet amazing people, both in and out of Columbus, who call that place their home. We've known some Columbus friends for almost 30 years, and others for one year.
So each time we leave, there are a few hours or days of letdown.
This time, we headed west on US40, the National Road. There wasn't much to see. Corn. Corn. A sign for the Krazy Glue Factory. Corn. Corn.
I tried to remind myself that each corn plant is a new and different being that came from a seed and didn't exist the previous year. How would you like it if people said, "Human. I've seen those before. You're no different. I'm not interested."
Unfortunately, I can't discriminate between this corn and the corn I saw in 1981, or 1993, or any other year I drove or bicycled on US40.
The heat and humidity were oppressive, and our air conditioning was broken. The last time we had it recharged was because the lack of air-conditioning in Yuma, Arizona made us terminally irritable, and $400 was cheap compared to homicide. We're a lot more tolerant (and cheap) these days, so we decided to live without it.
In Springfield, Ohio, we discovered that MacDonald's was running a special on ice cream cones. This was too good to pass up — air-conditioning, people-watching, and two ice cream cones for only $1.
Barry came back from the restroom and found me playing with both his napkin and mine. "Sorry. I hope you don't need this," I said, handing back his very-crumpled napkin.
There was a game imprinted on the table, a circle divided into pie-shaped pieces with instructions on each one. You were supposed to spin a straw in the middle and do the activity it landed on. Since ice cream cones don't come with a straw, I just picked my favorite. "Make a hand puppet out of your napkin," it said.
After leaving MacDonald's, Barry took the wheel for a while. He decided to drive on the interstate instead of the two-lanes, and guided the Squid Wagon back onto I-70.
At first I regretted his decision. What would we see along the four-lane highways? Corn. MacDonald's. Corn. Corn. Corn. Boring.
If you've ever read anything I've written before, you're laughing at me. I am, too. You see, I spend a lot of time worrying and fretting and writing about my fear of being bored. Yet the truth is, it never happens. I am never, ever, ever bored!
Why? It's not just each corn plant that is different and unique: It's each moment.
Enjoy the next moment.
Let me know how that goes. Boring? I doubt it.
Holy elephant
At 8 am in Paxton, Nebraska, we stopped to mail some postcards and ask a couple of locals for directions. "Have you ever heard of a place around here with a bowling alley and a soda fountain? They're famous for their tin roof sundaes."
"Nope, nothing like that around here."
It was a little early to be eating decadent ice cream treats, anyway, so we weren't too disappointed. We later realized we were still 100 miles east of the place, which is in Potter, Nebraska.
But the two local fellows didn't want to disappoint us. "You ever been in there?" one asked, pointing to the bar on the corner. "That's a real tourist attraction — people come from all over the country to see it."
We said no, politely looking up at the sign. Ole's Big Game Bar and Grill had tinted windows, so there was no telling what was inside that he thought might be of interest to us "tourists."
"They're not open for business, but there's somebody in there," he said.
We walked over and tried one of the doors. It was locked. But there was another door, this one unlocked, and the fellows were watching to see us go inside. It was a normal-looking restaurant, and a woman was inside, vacuuming. "Some guys out there said we should come in and look…" I said, sheepishly.
She pointed to the next room. "Go ahead," she said, resuming her vacuuming.
In the next room, my jaw dropped. "Holy cow!" I exclaimed.
"That's the only thing you won't find here," said Barry.
The first thing that caught my eye was the elephant's head. It hung to my left, just over the piano. "How the heck do you hang up an elephant's head?" I asked.
To my right, in the corner, was a giraffe's head. It started near the floor and went all the way to the ceiling, with the tail, but no legs. It wasn't a huge place, but every square inch of the upper wall was covered in all manner of things with horns and fur — moose, deer, elk, and African critters I've never even heard of. A giant bison head, almost as big as the elephant, led the way to the bathrooms. Tusks taller than I stood on either side of the fireplace, and there was a stuffed cheetah and an iguana above them. Over the bar, an enormous snake coiled below a leopard's paw.
The most amazing thing in Ole's was the polar bear — not just his head, but the whole bear, in a glass display case almost as big as my boat. The seal captured under his paw seemed smaller than the giant paw itself.
I walked around the room, staring dazedly at all the stuffed animals overhead. Despite Barry's correction, I couldn't stop muttering, "Holy cow, holy cow."
The funny thing was, we were just going to mail a couple of postcards, so we didn't have the camera with us. You'll just have to believe me. Holy cow.
23 lost years
At the Flying J truck stop near Fancy Gap, we slept in the back of the van. In the morning, Barry tumbled out the back door (it's about 4-1/2 feet down to the ground from our bed) and headed to the bathroom.
A few minutes later, I clambered out that way, too. A white SUV with dark tinted windows and Georgia plates was parked next to us, and a slender black man got out of the driver's seat. He s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d, and a round woman came around the car to take the wheel. She had that characteristic I've-been-riding-too-long limp.
They met on the driver's side, and he surprised her with a big hug. She threw her head back and started laughing; she was still laughing merrily as she slid into the driver's seat and closed the door.
The man stayed beside the car and got out a cigarette. I smiled at him and asked, "What did you say to make her laugh like that?"
He broke into a broad smile himself.
"I haven't been able to drive for 23 years," he said, "you know, problems with my license… I got it all straightened out and got my license two months ago."
"Wow! Congratulations!"
"The last time we did this trip," he continued, "she had to do all the driving. Now, I think, since I'm the male, that I should be able to do more than I can… but I can't. There are children involved…" I realized that there were two child seats in the car, behind the tinted windows.
They were headed from Atlanta to Pittsburgh, and they'd driven all night. "I have to be responsible; I can't be driving when I'm sleepy," he said. I nodded, and we were silent for a moment, thinking about how dangerous driving can be. I wondered about his 23 lost years.
"I know what you mean about those long drives," I replied. "Last year, I drove across the country, from Seattle to Beaufort, by myself."
Now it was his turn to marvel. "You must have seen a lot," he said. "What did you do?"
"Mostly, I just looked for interesting people to talk to, like yourself!"
We chuckled, shook hands, and wished each other safe travels. His cigarette forgotten, he got into the passenger seat and headed for Pittsburgh.
This is great stuff!
Meps on KCBS for National Talk in an Elevator Day 7/30/2015
The Autographed E-Book 6/28/2015
You have to have a tent 4/12/2015
Candy. Crushes. Competition. 3/28/2015
Does the bear have a name? 3/24/2015
A good guy, always happy 3/22/2015
Oddest book title in the world? 3/2/2015
Crossing the Do-Nut Belt 1/31/2015
Brunswick MLK parade photos 1/22/2015
Why I Still March 1/22/2015
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More than a calendar: A tradition
Philip's Personal Photographer
10/24/2013 meps	6 Comments
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Afghanistan will be a Conservative government's top military priority
Dr Liam Fox is Shadow Defence Secretary.
Back in 2005 a British Army officer, Brigadier Nigel Aylwin-Foster, wrote a scathing critique of the U.S. Army and its performance in Iraq. In his article he accused the U.S. Army of cultural ignorance, moralistic self-righteousness, and unproductive micromanagement-among many other things. When asked why it was allowed it to be published in a U.S. Army magazine Military Review, the editor, Colonel William Darley, replied: "Because I want to win the war in Iraq".
Under the leadership of General Petraeus, who at the time was running much of the U.S. Army's educational and doctrine programme, Brigadier Aylwin-Foster's article helped to force the uncomfortable debate simmering inside the U.S. Army to the forefront. Four years later, not only has the U.S. Army overcome many of the institutional and doctrinal weaknesses from the early days of the Iraq war, they have also turned around a dire situation into one which is manageable and even winnable.
In the September issue of British Army Review we find an important and similar critique of the performance of the British Army in Basra. This is the in-house journal of the British Army, which up to now has avoided the kind of self-criticism and self-analysis which is so necessary for success in wars like Iraq and Afghanistan. I don't necessarily agree with every point made by Colonel Pete Mansoor, Dr Daniel Marston, or Professor Anthony King, but they are highly regarded and well respected in their field and it would be folly to simply ignore their views. All three convey the same message: if we fail to learn from our experiences in Iraq we are destined to fail in Afghanistan.
Continue reading "Afghanistan will be a Conservative government's top military priority" »
Posted by Conservative Home at 16:24 | Permalink | Comments (18)
Liam Fox MP: One year on from the Russian invasion, Conservatives must offer support to the people of Georgia
Liam Fox is Shadow Defence Secretary
It is now a year since the unforgettable scenes of Russian tanks rolling over the border into Georgia. After the invasion, Russia, virtually alone in the international community, recognised the independence of the occupied territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as sovereign nation-states. On 13 July, during a visit to South Ossetia, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told an audience without irony:
"I want to thank you for inviting me to this new country, the new state of South Ossetia, which came into being as a result of difficult, traumatic events – a country which the Russian people supported in its hour of need."
Even though the situation in Georgia has all but fallen off the radar in the UK, developments there should be of interest to all Conservative Party members and I would like to take this opportunity to highlight them today.
A year on, 10,000 Russian troops are still occupying the Georgian territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia — with illegitimate elections held earlier this year. Furthermore, there are plans to build permanent Russian bases in the two territories. Russia is currently looking at basing its Black Sea Fleet in Abkhazia when the Russian lease runs out in 2017 at the Ukrainian port city of Sevastopol.
Another area of concern is the reduction of civilian monitors in the region. On 30 June Russia forced the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to close its civilian observer mission in Georgia, which had for 17 years monitored the situation in and around South Ossetia, by vetoing the extension of its mandate in the OSCE's Permanent Council. On the same day the U.N. Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG), which had for 15 years monitored the situation in and around Abkhazia, began evacuating its personnel following Russia's veto against that Mission's mandate in the U.N. Security Council. Consequently, the only international observers currently operating in Georgia are those from the European Union. While the EU mission has been welcomed by both Russia and Georgia, Russia is still no closer to allowing EU observers in either occupied territory — where they are most needed.
Continue reading "Liam Fox MP: One year on from the Russian invasion, Conservatives must offer support to the people of Georgia" »
NATO needs an agenda — not a makeover
Overall, while the recent NATO Summit in Strasbourg wasn't as groundbreaking as many had hoped, there was a lot to be optimistic about.
I welcome NATO's two newest members—Croatia and Albania—into the alliance. Their membership shows what reform and hard work can achieve, but they must also realise that with membership comes responsibility. The membership of Croatia and Albania should send the message to the rest of the region that the natural home for the Balkans is inside the family of Europe and part of NATO.
There was a lot of talk at the Summit about further troop contributions for ISAF in Afghanistan—especially for the period leading up to and during the upcoming elections in August. Time will tell if these contributions, which read so well on paper, will ever become real capability on the ground. In addition, I hope our European allies will be able to contribute more combat troops to the dangerous south and east of the country—but recent history has thought us to be sceptical.
President Sarkozy's decision to rejoin NATO's Integrated Command Structure should be welcome on both sides of the Atlantic. France can bring real military capability to the alliance, but this decision should not be at the cost of deeper EU defence integration. It must be made clear that NATO has the right of first refusal and primacy for all matters pertaining to the security and defence of Europe. For the last 60 years NATO has been the cornerstone of our collective defense and it should stay this way.
Even after this summit I think many are still asking the question: "What is NATO for?"
Continue reading "NATO needs an agenda — not a makeover" »
Posted by Liam Fox at 11:32 | Permalink | Comments (4)
Thoughts on the Republican National Convention
It was the moment everyone had waited for. From the time she became John McCain's surprise running mate the Republican convention knew that the performance of Governor Sarah Palin would be pivotal. And she nailed it. She did not simply live up to expectations, she massively exceeded them. She was poised, elegant and eloquent. She set out her views clearly and unapologetically but with considerable warmth and charm. It was impossible to be present and not to feel that something significant was happening in the world of American politics. Whether it was discussing her family and background or the details of energy security policy she held the capacity crowd transfixed and above all, she seemed completely authentic. There was nothing in her content or style that seemed awkward or uncomfortable, written by professional speechwriters for a generic vice presidential candidate. She praised (indeed embodies) the values of smalltown America contrasting her position with what she characterised as Senator Obama's condescension for those " who cling to God and the gun". She said there were politicians who used to change to promote their own careers and those, like John McCain, who used their careers to promote change.
The convention had finally come to life, following the earlier changes imposed by hurricane Gustav, with speeches by Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani. Despite the economic difficulties and the success, at least with the media, of Senator Obama's convention speech, there has been an increasing air of optimism among Republican delegates here in Minnesota. And all this for a maverick Presidential candidate who had been almost entirely written off a year ago.
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Posted by Liam Fox at 16:57 | Permalink | Comments (16)
Concerns about free trade, Burma and US overstretch feature at Singapore strategy conference
This year's Shangri-La Dialogue, run by the International Institute for Strategic Studies took place in Singapore over the weekend. It is one of the largest and most prestigious security events of the calendar and was attended by Defence Ministers, Military Staff and Foreign Ministers from around the globe. The UK Government was represented by the Secretary of State for Defence. The meeting took place against the backdrop of rising energy costs and the natural disasters which have affected China and Burma and the International concern and tensions over North Korea, Burma and Taiwan.
The opening keynote speech was given by the Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong. He stated that Asia was now the strategic pivot of the world as well as its economic powerhouse. He criticised some developed countries for a growing "defensive posture" and made a robust defence of free trade. This reflected a widespread anxiety about some of the protectionist rhetoric coming from Europe and from US Democratic candidates. The speech was also notable for its strongly pro-China attitude and drew some gasps when it criticised "Tibetan activists who had set out to embarrass China" over the Olympics. It was clear that this speech reflected anxiety in the Asia Pacific about the outcome of the US Presidential election. The Prime Minister was accurately reflecting the views of many Governments present when he called on the next US Administration to reaffirm its commitment to free trade and globalisation, maintain constructive relations with China and continue the battle with transnational terrorism.
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Opium poppy production in the UK
Since the fall of the Taliban the United Kingdom has been responsible for creating and implementing a coherent and effective poppy eradication plan for Afghanistan. To date, this Government has failed.
Even though the amount of poppy eradicated in Afghanistan during 2007 increased by 24 per cent from 2006, net opium poppy production across Afghanistan increased to 193,000 ha in 2007 equating to a 17 per cent increase from 2006. In Helmand province alone, net opium poppy production in 2007 reached a record high of 102,770 ha. This was an increase of 48 per cent from 2006. Clearly we are not moving in the right direction.
However, figures recently released by the Government show that when the United Kingdom is compared with the 34 provinces in Afghanistan the UK ranks an astonishing 11th place in the amount of opium poppy production in 2007.
Figures released by the U.S. State Department show that in 2007 the UK grew more opium poppy than Pakistan.
Not only are we failing to eradicate it, we are growing it at home when we could be buying it from farmers in Afghanistan before it ends up on the black market. The Government tells us that they have to grow poppy in the UK as part of a strategic reserve. I find this ironic considering that the UK is supposed to have the strategic and tactical control of one of the biggest poppy producing places in the world: Helmand Province!
Gordon Brown misleads the House on EU foreign and defence powers
Today in the House of Commons the Prime Minister said that:
"The European Union does not have an official role in foreign and security policy; it is an intergovernmental organisation, in part for dealing with defence and security policy."
This statement is not only false but it contradicts the text of the treaty this Government is forcing onto the British people.
In the House of Commons we spent less than six hours debating the foreign, security, and defence policy aspects of the Lisbon Treaty. Not a lot of time to debate issues that will have an effect on the future of Britain's foreign policy and the transatlantic alliance. Although the Lisbon Treaty makes sweeping changes in the area of European Union defence integration Des Browne was nowhere to be seen throughout the debate.
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The Balkans, the Russians, and "Hope"
Today, in the House of Commons during oral defence questions, I raised the very important issue of Kosovo and the possible impact Russia's new president, Mr. Medvedev, could have in the current situation there.
Mr. Medvedev visited Belgrade twice during his campaign to show solidarity with the Serbs over Kosovo. Russia's newly appointed Ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, has warned that Russia could use military force if the Kosovo situation worsens.
I asked what assessment the Government has made of how the new Russian government might affect the security situation in Kosovo. The answer I received was a pre-rehearsed line mentioning "continuing assessments" by the Ministry of Defence and a "hope that everyone plays a constructive role" in the region.
When it comes to the Balkans, the Russians, and the future of European security I am looking for a little more than "continuing assessments" and "hope" from the Government.
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Reflections on the Munich Security Conference – Part 2
One of the most important sessions focused on how NATO is currently operating with a general agreement that there are serious issues to be addressed at the forthcoming Bucharest Summit.
The discussion was opened by the German Defence Minister, Franz Josef Jung, who made an impassioned defence of the role of NATO and its importance for European security in the future. He said "NATO is the stable anchor of our security but it has new challenges" and went on to raise questions about the command structure and strategic air transport capacity of NATO. He paid a warm tribute to the non-NATO members who were supporting NATO, especially the Australians in Afghanistan. It was necessary, he said, to show success in Afghanistan to domestic electorates as the coverage by the media in Europe was largely negative. 28 million people had been liberated from the Taliban and they now have an elected President and to their own Constitution. 38% of those in higher education were now women and 4.7 million refugees have returned to Afghanistan.
Like many others present Mr Yung feared that the three main elements of security, economy and good governance were not sufficiently being brought together. This was a theme that was echoed time and again throughout the conference. He also sounded a warning note that the security situation was becoming more risky in the North and that there was a need to speed up solutions to some of the basic structural problems.
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Reflections on the Munich Security Conference
This has become one of the most important events in the political security calendar. It was at this conference last year that president Putin chose to make his stinging attack on the United States' foreign policy. This year's conference was extremely well attended by senior representatives from NATO, Europe and Russia. There were three Presidents, four Prime Ministers and three Deputy Prime Ministers as well as a host of Foreign and Defence Ministers. Yet again that there were no representatives of the UK government present. Not only is this a huge embarrassment but it increasingly gives the signal that our ministers are either not interested or simply not up to the task. If the American Secretary of Defence and the Secretary General of NATO think the meeting is important enough to attend, it is a national disgrace that neither our part-time Defence Secretary nor any of his junior ministers are willing to give up three days to attend an important international gathering. Presumably Des Browne thinks fighting the Scottish Nationalists is more important than fighting the Taliban!
The guest speaker at the opening conference dinner was the newly re-elected President of Serbia, Mr Boris Tadic. As expected, he concentrated on the situation in Kosovo and the possibility of its unilateral declaration of independence. He warned that the International Community was cutting corners and that the only route to legitimacy was through the Security Council of the UN. In a speech whose tone and content was echoed by the Russians throughout the conference he said "we must avoid precedents that could strike at the heart of European security" and " if negotiations fail all three parties (Serbia and Kosovo and the EU) will pay a terrible price". While there is no doubt that a great deal of this was intended for his domestic audience we must not underestimate the potential for the situation in Kosovo to boil over. While the generally pro-West Mr Tadic is firmly in control it must not be forgotten that his ultra nationalist rival in the presidential election gained 47% of the vote. The lack of attention given to this issue in the British media is quite astonishing and reflects the awful possibility that we may be sleepwalking into yet another Balkan crisis.
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Turkey and the EU
Last week in Ankara I met with the Turkish Defence and Energy Ministers and members of the Defence Committee in the Turkish Parliament. During my meetings there was one main recurring theme: European Union members do not appreciate Turkey's contribution to European security enough, especially France and Austria.
Short-sighted capitals in Western Europe need to open their eyes and see Turkey for what it really is: A valued NATO partner, a secular state bridging Europe and the Islamic world, a developing economy and a major player in the energy market.
Turkey played a key role in NATO during the cold war by being one of two NATO members that bordered the Soviet Union. Following the Cold War their contribution to European security is just as valid. They have sent thousands of troops to Afghanistan and have commanded ISAF twice since 2002. They have also contributed to a number of NATO and EU military missions in the Balkans.
Turkey's geo-strategic location also makes it important to Europe's energy security. Turkey is the gateway to the resource-rich Caucasus and Caspian Basin and controls the Bosphorus, one of the most important and narrowest shipping straits in the world.
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Posted by Liam Fox at 18:11 | Permalink
Changing our Labour induced target culture
Today I spoke at the Conservative Party and the Centre for Policy Studies seminar on the role of the State in the post-bureaucratic age. The primary aim of this seminar was for the Conservative Party to set the foundation for bringing Britian into a post bureaucratic age; an age where people are empowered from a bottom-up approach. This is in contrast to the top-down approach relentlessly pursued by Labour.
One of the main obstacles is the target culture. Targets are one of the most pernicious manifestations of a system obsessed with process, not outcomes.
Targets, especially those tied to finance, end up measuring only the measurable rather than what really matters and attaining the easily attainable irrespective of whether or not it has really made a difference.
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A damning picture of MoD incompetence
The recent announcement that the Ministry of Defence lost a laptop containing sensitive information for more than 600,000 individuals adds up to a damning picture of MoD incompetence.
In many ways this is worse than the loss of the child benefits records because we know this information fell into criminal hands since it was stolen by a criminal. This could be used for identify theft or worse, for terrorist use.
Now we have learned that two more laptops containing similar information have been stolen but neither of these incidents were reported to Ministers.
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Just over 12 months to the day, Sagan was able to put the icing on the cake of that victory as he was invited to place his name plaque on the showers of the Roubaix velodrome. Still clad in his kit following his recon of the Roubaix course ahead of this year's race, Sagan pressed the plaque onto the concrete stall in the second, back room of the outdoor showers.
"It is a big pleasure. I am very happy for that. It is very nice this year that I can put my name here," Sagan said while the flashbulbs of cameras went off as media and fans tried to capture the moment.
"The recon was OK. It was good weather and I cannot complain," said Sagan. "If we are to train then it is better to do it here."
Sagan comes into this weekend without a win from the Classics so far. He started off well with fourth at Milan-San Remo, but seemed to be struggling in the later stages of the Tour of Flanders. He held onto the group of favourites but could only managed 11th place in the sprint. Paris-Roubaix is a different prospect and it is still all to play for.
Asked if he was ready for the weekend, Sagan gave his usual blunt response. "Well, yes, I should be ready."
Pushed again if he thought he might win at the weekend, "Better not to think," was the response.