Had I provided estimates to my management erring on orders of magnitude (5 weeks, 5 months vs. 3+ years) and cascading budget overruns, I would certainly have been let go long ago. Mr. Rumsfeld seems to enjoy an immunity that those of us of whom results are expected do not.

Isn't this just about the point where Tolkien has the eagles show up to save the day?

All this eulogy needs is the near-atonal alto sax line in the background to be a perfect film noir-ish voice-over intro for the bio-pic. And trust me, there _will_ be a bio-pic. All the elements are there for a classic Greek tragedy. Flawed character, the rise, the seemingly inevitable fall, and the lesson for all of us about the danger of the pursuit of fame and wealth.

While I searched for and used recipes from the Internet, I still find cookbooks irreplaceable for providing more insights than just a collection of recipes. For example, Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking", which I received as a birthday gift, is a good read and deserves actual study, not just a search-and-a-browse, to fully appreciate its contents. Understanding its place in U.S. culinary history makes this book an even richer read.

I also tend to add notes to recipes to customize them for future use. Certainly the days are here or nearly upon us where I could add notes to a recipe blog, but referencing a recipe blog in the kitchen has not yet become a way of life.

Once again, I see behavior in our government for which people like myself would be fired, and for which I would likely have criminal charges brought against me. No one will be held accountable for the lost data, no one will admit responsibility for deleting it, until some poor scapegoat can be found and offered up at the Altar of Blame.

I find it interesting that those of us with insignificant (relatively) jobs are held to a higher level of accountability than the people who are deciding the Fate of the (supposedly) Free World.

This chain of events calls to mind a line from Ian Fleming's novel, "Goldfinger", spoken by the title character: "Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."

After this many incidences, it is hard to attribute more lost data to incompentant boobery; this many losses must be due to deliberate criminal action. Unfortunately, the responsible parties are more than likey hiding in the shadows of their soon-to-be scapegoats.

As an IT system designer, I know the great lengths that I must go through to ensure that data is not lost; backups, recoveries, redundancies, etc. are all built into systems. With those kind of procedures in place (and none of my clients would plunk down their cash without them), it actually becomes difficult to lose data without any way to recover it... unless you really try hard.

It chafes me to see high-profile people getting away with answers that my employers would not accept from me and still retain their jobs. It must be nice to have a big government salary, the lack of accountability, AND the kind of cronies who will help you avoid having even to worry about landing on your feet.

One can hear, in these words, the voice of Dana Carvey's "Church Lady". Where is she when we need her most?

This article calls to mind the old Thomas Nast cartoon of Boss Tweed's ring, standing in a circle, each pointing to the fellow to his right. In answer to the question, "Who stole the people's money? Do tell.", the caption reads, "Twas him."

To wit:

http://www.vlrc.org/images/quotes.jpg

Just think -- if McCain is elected, we can enjoy four more years of disconnected, dicatatorial leadership!

As we've seen, this administration prioritizes reasons for dismissal as follows:

1. Policy Differences, Questionable Judgment- Candidates must first and foremost be loyal.

2. Simply to Have Another Qualified Individual Serve - and "Qualified" is optional for replacement candidates who fit the crony mold.

3. Poor Management - When all else fails and the flames are too high, the Brownies and Rumsfelds have to be cut loose as a sacrificial gesture.

Have you ever run in a three-legged race? Adding another leg just makes it easier to stumble and fall down.

If this was his idea of how to address high school students (that is, as grade-schoolers), the whole student body should have felt insulted. Had anyone talked down to my high school that way, there might evan have been some heckles and boos, followed, of course, by the inevitable bouts of detentions, parent-teacher conferences, etc., and we would have been doing rug jokes and Dubya imitations for the next month to break each other up in class.

I don't know, maybe times have changes.

There was no need for the Leader to see the actual testimony; only to have it bitten off, chewed, and digested for him to swallow. It's sort of like the Queen bee being serviced by her drones in the hive. Like the Queen spews out eggs, the Leader, as Decider, spews out decisions. But as the Queen need not know what's going on outside the hive, the Leader need not know what is going on outside his protective bubble.

This is just further evidence that the Press is a bunch of White House lapdogs, feeling smug because they are "in on the joke". Only this joke has a serious body count for a punch line.

Since the coverage of the war on TV is favorably filtered, biased, and practically scripted, I should wonder why it would be hard for the Commander- and Spouse-in-Chief to swallow. Given the progress we've made, the many corners we've turned, and how imminent Victory must be, it must make for some "mighty proud viewing".