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March 1st, 2005 Where Are The Bombers - Guam, again. The B-2s are back, doing the rotations. I wonder if Kim Jong Il is remembering that when he thinks of all the different ways he can be buried alive in his underground bunkers. Speaking of NK, isn't it standard practice to test a nuclear weapon design before you send it out for deployment? Why hasn't he done that, if he has them? Grosse Pointe Blank Moment - I did rifle drill yesterday morning. Hugh Hewitt played Bright Sunshiny Day yesterday for one of his bumper tracks. And the e-mail inbox got the dreaded message:
Not now, Marcella... Syrian, Iraqi, and Iranian Military Power - A caller to Hugh Hewitt's show yesterday claimed we shouldn't go into Syria because they are better equipped and more organized than Iraq was. Earlier in the day I had heard someone credit the Iraq invasion as good because it dealt with the most powerful military force in the region. When those two thoughts crossed they stuck in my mind, so I did some research:
Syria
Iraq Thanks to HH for the link after I sent him a copy of the above. Not only did Iraq have more men to draw from, they had more money to spend (thanks probably to the Oil-for-Food scam). I found some interesting facts on exactly how large the respective militaries are. From Global Security:
So Syria is very low in terms of effectiveness. Further, it has 18,000 soldiers "pacifying" Lebanon. If the Lebanese (perhaps the only tree-huggers I like) rose up and opposed the Syrian army, with an armored strike from Iraq by the US (with Iraqi permission, of course) Syria would be facing a war on two fronts against the only nation in history that has successfully won when fighting on two fronts. It would be Iraq all over again, but smaller in scale: the front-line forces melt away while the elite forces, guarding the government, are taken out on our terms. Unfortunately I can't find any links right now on Iraq's pre-war strength, so I'll come back to that after more research. Let's look at Iran:
Iran And from this PDF link (via Global Security, again) we find that Iran has approximately 870,000 men under arms. So not only is Iran a much larger problem militarily, it would take longer to subdue than Iraq did - it has 1.648 million square kilometers of land, versus Iraq's 437,072 square clicks. The Bush administration is pursuing the correct course - to make a near blasphemous analogy, strike the shepherd (in this case, Iraq), and watch the flock run - Syria, Iran, ... Dominoes - Ever wonder why leftists who disputed the Domino Theory of Communist Expansion because they didn't want Communism opposed now tremble in fear that it may just apply to Democratic Republicanism in the Middle East? Theories of government spread, much as the Monarchies did in the past (millennia BC and AD) and Islamic theocracy before the Crusades and in the absence of colonial rule in third world countries. Communism spread too, and just as those three types spread the Democratic Republic will spread too. Only the Democratic Republic will survive, because it perceives human nature correctly (or at least more correctly than the others) - man is inherently bad and can only govern for good when everyone involved is represented.
Casablanca is, believe it or not, a movie with a very strong Gospel storyline to it. I think that's what makes it the best movie ever. There are four basic types represented in the story. Victor Lazlo represents Jesus, Major Strasser represents the Devil, Captain Renault represents unredeemed man, and Rick represents man being redeemed. Lazlo is the character that can do no wrong. He lack character flaws of any sort whatsoever. Some might complain that this makes him a bit mundane as a character - I disagree. It makes him someone to be like, which makes me more inquisitive of the people he was modeled after. Major Strasser, of course, is the Devil. That role is reserved nowadays for Nazis and their ilk, and the shallowness of their ideas expresses the depth to which we should be like them - that is, not at all. Captain Renault is the unredeemed man - "I blow with the wind", just like the man in James who is unstable in all his ways. A friend of mine complained that they couldn't like the movie because Renault fit their stereotype of Frenchmen - he was a weasel. In one sense, he was blown about by the wind and weasely, but in another he was stable because he was true only to himself. Another example to avoid emulating. He even mocks Bogey for being "a rank sentimentalist", as if that's a problem. Rick, with the part that we all wish to aspire to, is the man who can do everything wrong unless he sets his own interests by the wayside. It's not that he's perfect - far from it - but that he becomes more perfect by the movie's end. The charge is often laid against Christians that they work in their own interests, that they seek after themselves, despite being told not to by the book they claim to love. We do love the Bible, but even it says we will screw up. That isn't an excuse, its just an ugly fact of life. But the Bible says we can get better as we go along - just as Rick did, when he put aside his own interests for the sake of something greater. Though we may find ourselves aspiring to be like Victor we find the role of Rick all too familiar. Of course, it hurts to sacrifice like he did, but in that sacrifice we find we can go on to do greater things. There's another interesting type in this movie - Rick as Jesus paired with Ilsa as the Church. He has to go do something she can't have any part of - she has to not rely on her own abilities but instead trust in his, leaning not on her own works and understanding but his. Note that her surrender to trust in him (in his room above the saloon the night before she leaves) happens before he goes off to fight in the resistance. This is like Christ's ascension in a way, and it contributes to the moving feelings of their goodbye. I may be reading into the movie more than is warranted, but I do find Casablanca a better story than, say, Citizen Kane, a story about a self-centered man on whom we are supposed to, I guess, shower pity because he lost his childhood. I feel sorry for Kane because his character didn't compare in the least to Bogey's Blaine. |
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This site is copyright 2001-2005 by Matthew Maynard. All rights reserved. All your trademarks, copyrights, insignia, and other distinguishing characteristics are belong to you. Sharks in suits make for good joke material. Don't leave a mess on your way out. Links to external websites are valid at the time of article authoring and may decay as time goes by. But we'll always have Paris. The opinions on this site are those of their author and do not represent anyone else's views. That is, unless and until you agree with them, at which point they become yours as well. Opinions expressed in the comments belong to the comment poster and may be edited for content. Play nice with others, since you want them to play nice with you. |
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Best.
Movie. Ever. - When I lived with my bachelor brothers we spent
many a night enjoying each others company with fine wine and fine
film. We consider Casablanca to be one of, if not the, best movie
ever. We often watched it, as it touched on many themes that we
enjoyed. It even had Nazis being killed.
