Friday was the premier of Pinocchio on Disney Channel and we decided to watch it with the kids.  I didn’t realise it would mean so much to me a day later:

Firstly I made the mistake of choosing to go to the theatre instead of choosing to go to school myself, i.e.  I decided to ignore my conscience and act according to desires rather than rational logic and friends’ advise.

I realised that if I was made of wood and my nose could grow, I would have an extremely long nose.  This would mostly be on account of the lies I have been telling myself, the lies I have been believing. 

The silver lining of all this is that my Blue fairy won’t only give me one more chance, He has given me so many chances and He continues to do so every day.  He guides me, to be brave, truthful and unselfish, and I really need to learn to trust in Him.

P.S.  Just thought I would share Honest John’s full name with you, John Worthington Foulfellow.  Don’t you just love that?

Photo Credit

We here at Guttersnipe are proud to bring you our first actual “content” (not counting site founder Shawn Conner’s meanderings). Eugene Osudar is a Winnipegger through-and-through (the last time he paid more than 20 bux for a show ticket was 1979), one who saw Elvis Costello on his first North American tour and hasn’t stopped since, more or less. Eugene’s voice is thoroughly refreshing for those of us who have had enough of the usual rock journo cliches; also, he disdains capital letters, a la e. e. cummings. deal with it.

for the pyramid for another honest john reunion gig…

i talked to the hotties [Hot Live Guys] during the folk festival, gushing about their  heat and asking when the next gig was, they said not for a  while…well, that turned into november in wpg when it’s cooling  right down

they did a thursday night show at the albert, which regretfully i missed due to sask’s library voices at Lo [Pub]. a band with a song about milan kundera (on myspace) and another about kurt vonnegut and you  can dance to them! well, i can dance to pretty much anything with a decent drummer and bassist. and they have More Than decent rhythm section.

what’s with all these fine sask bands? sheep/dogs, ride til dawn, sylvie, carbon dating service and now these library voices, there  were about ten of them on stage and a packed Lo Pub on thursday night.

oh, wpg has a finer local scene. we’re blowing up. because john k  samson [The Weakerthans] and greg macpherson still live here, and the waking eyes and boats and novillero, just back from a crazy german tour with tomte, and the duhks and the windups and oh my darling, and the magnificent 7s, and nathan rogers (he sounds bigger than his dad, doesn’t have the songs, yet), and crosstown rivals, details, moses mayes and more and more…

so the Hot Live Guys hit the stage, with a new drummer and some new  moves, like the crazed guitarist didn’t go rampaging into the  audience hurting spectators, and he didn’t go leaping back/first onto  bar tables, he’s young his bones heal quick… no, instead of his usual antics which distract from great roaring songs and a lead singer who can belt with the best, he pulled pete townsendian leaps and writhed on the stage, and the lead singer began shaking and writhing and so did the bassist, the hot live guys are hotter (how un/original) than they ever were.

good thing, it’s getting cold outside. portage and main 15 below?

i had to dance. and the young coolsters inched closer to the stage, in case the raging fire torched their product/ed hair. care. flare. ups.

they’re a hot, fucking, band. it’s not a spectacle of the One guy anymore. they’re mayhem on stage, they are the spirited energy our ndp gov’t talks/up about in the hopes more someones move to this city, instead of away from it.

i still lament the most intense 25 minutes every Quiffs gig was…no  more, no more quiffs…

after kicking some serious arse(nic) and old lace

on cometh honest john

mitch funk, personality crisis, winnipeg’s punk/alt legend. and he showed at 50ish? an old punk rocker can stomp around and make muggy faces with the best. they have fun on stage, their fans love them. i loved them. we danced.

truth is, they’re nothing in comparison to the hotties. hot live guys are now and they’re more than that.

they can take on anyone, anytime, anyFuckinghow. pow/pow/pow.

i also caught a solo set of texas singer songwriter gurf morlix, in town to produce the new cd from romi mayes, at the times changed high and lonesome. his songs range from brilliant lunatic stylings of john prine to heart-acher/spine-tinglers. hitting home for me, 11 months out of my 12 year marriage.

let’s see friday…

for the sheer fun of it, my fave local irish punk band, the  braggarts, hammered through pogues covers and irish classics punked up and yeah, i danced two sets at the king’s head. and oh yeah, this was the weekend of Very beautiful women (with their boyfriends watching) dancing with me… like, that isn’t torture. how did she  irish dance with stiletto heels on? at one point we were the only two on the floor and did we gogogo/gogol bordello! so much so, the lead singer said after the song, “whoa, i don’t know what we just saw, but it was amazing!” (or something to that effect)(i could be making up the whole thing, but i’m not.)

after the set, i took off to catch the sweet nothings at hooligans.

hot carl’s wedding social, he’s a sweet nothing. instead, the angry dragons were on, the sound was horrendous. that place needs a sound tech, distorted and way too loud. so, naturally, i danced.

so, tuesday, mr something something, a hot world beat/african/funk band from TO touring their way west, play the Lo, a dance party. i’ve seen them 3 times and they haven’t failed to get me and the dancers moving. johan’s a great front man, he moves all angles and they have their own dancer! bonus, she’s blonde, and gorgeous and a better dancer, strictly african style. hot show, early, 2 sets, and 5$. 9PM.

big john bates is in town at the pyramid friday night.

friday and saturday, the times changed hosts the Undesirables from TO, i’ve seen corin raymond, at the now defun/ked candor books and music, and he’s good, they’re doing exile on main street, all 18 songs, stones. both nights.

one of my fave gritty local bands, the hazy pilgrims, play one of my least fave venues, shannons. i hate dancing there. the pilgrims have great originals, about wpg, with that dirty steve earle kinda thing happening.

enough…

Jag dristade mig till att skicka en fråga till Försvarsminister Sten Tolgfors för att att få upplysning om  vad han eller de i regeringskansliet menar med teknisk variabel i sin artikel.

Jag har fortfarande inte fått någon underättelse. Och lär inte få det heller eftersom spörsmålet säkerligen betraktas som dum och trivial. Men jag hoppas ni läsare ursäktar mig i fall det blir fel ibland då jag bara har tvåa i matte.

Ni kan se kopia e-brevet nedan. Lex Orwell i nuvarande skick ger inte möjlighet till accountability. Lagstiftningens syfte ska vara att hjälpa till att reda ut i fall det finns tveksamheter när det inte föreligger uppenbara hot mot den svenska staten. Som FRA lagen ser ut nu så är det mest trams oavsett vad FRA-kramarna på blaséholmen säger.

Värt att hålla i minnet är också att enligt den europeiska definitionen så är det inte alltid så att den organiserade brottsligheten hotar de demokratiska fundamenten i stabila demokratier. Det är mer klädsamt om våra politiker istället  talade om de länder som befinner sig i en övergång från andra statsskick till demokratier och inte drar in Sverige i det där lallandet.

Vi ska heller inte allt för tidigt binda samman terrorism och den organiserade brottsligheten, det är också grov förenkling. Men det är något som görs. Och allt för ofta i försvarstalen för FRA lagen.

Så här beskrivs det i en text som heter Making Intelligence Accountable: Legal Standards and Best Practice for Oversight of Intelligence Agencies den beskriver metodiken bakom lagstiftning för underrättelsetjänst och accoutnability

A key aspect of accountability for security and intelligence agencies is that their roleand sphere of operation should be clearly defined. This should be done in legislation

– emphasising that responsibility for delineating the tasks of a security or intelligence agency lies with Parliament and that this role should not be changed without reference to legislators.

In transitional states particularly this may help to provide protection from abuse of the agencies by the government. A legal basis is also necessary because of the exceptional powers with which these agencies are often entrusted.

It is also important that security and intelligence agencies are differentiated from other institutions, such as law enforcement bodies, and the legislative mandate can help to do so.

Failure to make these clear distinctions, however, will lead to blurred lines of accountability and to the risk that the special powers that security and intelligence agencies possess are used in routine situations where there is no pre-eminent threat to the state.

Lästips:Making Intelligence Accountable: Legal Standards and Best Practice

Frågan till Försvarsministern

Tindraannette@gmail.com
till registrator@defence.ministry.se
kopia Tindraannette@gmail.com
datum 2008-jul-29 11:44
ämne Fråga Ang tekniska variabler! (till Sten Tolgfors, svar går till Tindraannette@gmail.com)
skickad av regeringen.se

Från: Tindra-Annette Broström

E-postadress: Tindraannette@gmail.com

Meddelande: Jag har läst din artikel i SVD den som du döpt till FRA spanar inte på enskilda svenskar

I den använder du begreppet teknisk variabel.

Vill Försvarsministern eller någon annan inom regeringskansliet/försvarsdepartementet förklara vad som menas med en teknisk variabel?

The Honest John is a rocket dear to many a modelers heart. Perhaps it is the shape of the flared olgive nose cone or just the fact it was a solid fueled propelled rocket, the Honest John is one of the most reproduced rockets in the modern modelers arsenal. The rocket was first tested in 1951 and deployed in 1953. The rocket was the first nuclear capable surface to surface rocket but also could be used with standard high explosive warheads. The missile was unguided and launched from a truck mounted launcher. This gave the missile great maneaverability in the field.
There were 2 versions:

* MGR-1A(large fins) had a range of 48 kilometers, takeoff thrust of 400 kN, takeoff weight of 2720 kg, diameter of 580 mm and length of 8.32 m.
* MGR-1B(small fins) had a range of 37 kilometers, launch thrust of 382 kN, launch weight of 2040 kg, diameter of 760 mm and length of 7.56 m.

There is an interesting story told by an officer about the pin system on the Honest John.The rocket prior to ignition is held secure by three large pins on its raised launching rail or ramp. The pins are painted red so they can be readily seen, but apparently the one in the middle is obscured from casual observation by some of the mechanism and might be overlooked. A failure to notice and remove that middle pin would set events in motion.

One of the U.S. officers gave this account:

“I was sitting there waiting for the rocket to fire, and finally it did. I saw this big cloud of smoke and flames, but I noticed that I didn’t see any rocket coming out of it. I thought, ‘uh oh!’” When the smoke cleared up a little, I could see the rocket was still sitting there attached to the truck. Then, the truck started to shake and bounce around, and pretty soon the whole thing kind of rose up slowly into the air — truck, rocket, and all! It got up about 50, 60 feet and then nosed over, and slammed into the ground. The motor was still burning, so it started rolling and bouncing end-over-end down range, until it finally blew up.”

Here is a link to the history and a monograph on the Honest John.

If you would like to purchase a kit of the Honest John you can contact one of these companies:
38mm Public Enemy Rockets
29mm Mad Cow Rocketry
18mm Schoolyard rockets
Fliskits Micromax Kit

Scratch Building
Scratch builders also have resources for a BT50 version using one of these nose cones:
NCB-50HJ at Fliskits or the
Flared Oglive at Semroc

The plans for the Centuri model are here. The Estes model here.

Scale drawings are available from Peter Alway:
Large fin Version
Small Fin Version

Here is my HJ (and the story behind it) and here is
A 700 pound full scale model

Video:
How about some video on the HJ?
Here are two pieces of documentary footage

An HPR HJ flight

Uppdaterad 2008 04 12

Hej

Tänkte fortsätta att tala lite om omild behandling som i dagligt tal kallas tortyr.  Det eftersom jag har Carl Bildt uppe på dagordningen.  Vi måste nog börja tänka på hur man använder språket inom diplomatin. I begreppen jointness och partnership kan dölja sig de mest intressanta saker. Måhända vi måste se upp med våra Honest Johns och deras hökliknande beteende.

Jag hittade en artikel angående denna omilda behandling som några svenskar i tillfångatagna i ett annat land utsattes för. Och det som Uppdrag Granskning informerade oss om då det gällde den tillfångatagne kongolesen.

Jag hoppas att riksdagen är informerad om SERE och vad det går ut på egentligen. Det är en ganska omild intervjuteknik..

Läs hela artikeln The CIA’s Torture Teachers: Psychologists Helped the CIA Exploit a Secret Military Program to Brutal Interrogation Tactics här..

“jointness” is a term — if you talk to people in the military, it’s a term that refers to a high-level decision made by — for example, made at the White House — for the CIA and the military to work hand-in-hand on a high-level project. In this case, it would be interrogations. What happened in this particular case is we have jointness with respect to interrogations. Very early in the war on terror, the CIA and the Pentagon worked very closely together to develop these interrogation techniques based on this sort of brutal training of our own troops. Again, it’s referred to as “jointness.”

So what you’ll have — that will explain a lot of things. It would explain why in interrogation rooms you may have a bunch of CIA people and then you may have, you know, an elite Special Forces soldier or a Delta Force soldier participating in these interrogations.

 So what you’ve got is our most elite troops working very, very closely with the CIA on some very tough interrogations.

Tindra-Annette