R&R: It Means Rest and Relaxation

Today we leave for our annual R&R back to the United States.

Uncle Sam, in his generosity, offers annual R&R to FSOs at posts that are, well, less than ideal. For example, if you're in Rwanda, you get R&R; if you're in London, forget about it. Although the R&R benefit covers only airfare, it is an enormous help. For the next two glorious weeks, we plan on getting re-acquainted with our country, our people, our cities and, most importantly, our hamburgers and burritos.

When we arrive in the airport from the Near Abroad, we're heading straight for real food and a real newspaper. And maybe a Hostess product of some kind.

We will be touring our respective home states, California and Oregon, visiting friends and family. Although we leave the trusty Falcon Northwest Mach V behind (hey, we are gamers....), as well as our precious, precious Internet connection, we will still be blogging occasionally thanks to the help of others.

We cannot express to you how much going home for a visit like this means to us. Our corner of the Near Abroad is a tense place, full of poverty, crime and political difficulties. To be able to walk to the corner store without undue worry will be marvelous. Hell, to be able to talk to everyone without effort will be damn marvelous.

We're coming home. Expect available stockpiles of USDA beef to drop a bit.

Leftist Hubris

In the realm of ideas and debate today, there are very few magazines that can touch the caliber of Commentary. One of the few magazines we bother to receive in physical form these days, we received the June 2005 issue yesterday. One of the things we always look forward to is the letters pages. Of all the magazines we read regularly, Commentary has by far and away the best exchanges; important people who know what they’re talking about write in and the author of the article, essay or review being discussed always has a chance to respond. Case in point: this month’s edition’s letters page discusses the CIA, First Amendment law, Israel’s Gaza settlers and, just to round things up, Shakespeare. That alone makes the price of admission worth it.

One of the current heroes of the American left these days is former CIA analyst and anti-terrorism expert Michael Scheuer, whose book Imperial Hubris is a must-read in liberal circles to confirm what they already know: that President Bush has badly bungled and needlessly inflamed the War on Terror. Among other things, Scheuer paints a picture of an American administration in thrall to Israeli and Jewish interests which was led to war by a clique that misread and wilfully distorted the available intelligence on Iraq prior to the war.

All of which makes the first letter so very interesting. Jointly written in response to a review in Commentary of Imperial Hubris, the letter is from former Washington Republican Senator Slade Gorton and long-time Democratic legal aide Jamie Gorelick. Both were members of the 9/11 Commission. Gorton is an excellent attorney with superb conservative Republican credentials; Gorelick is an excellent attorney with superb liberal Democratic credentials. They write:

The 9/11 Commission, on which the two of us served as commissioners, thoroughly and exhaustively interviewed Michael Scheuer, whose book Imperial Hubris is criticized at length by [Commentary book review author] Mr. Schoenfeld. On a number of factual issues, he was of real value. But much of what he had to say was not borne out by our investigation. (Emphasis added).

Interesting. Here you have a bi-partisan panel of experts stating flat out that “much” of what Scheuer had to say on the subject of the War on Terror just flat out isn’t true. In other words, one of the number one sources for the left’s constructed mythology of everything that has happened since 9/11 is simply unreliable beyond some factual assertions. Of course, when you get to Scheuer’s own letter in response to Schoenfeld’s review the reason why Scheuer is off base becomes obvious; the man is obsessed with “the Jews.” Scheuer writes:

As I recall, Mr Schoenfeld’s style is much the same style of research/spin engaged in by the Pentagon officials Douglas Feith and Paul Wolfowitz to prove the exitence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and the state/surrogate relationshp between Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda.

Leaving aside for the moment that at no time did the President argue that there was a state/surrogate relationship between Saddam Hussein and Al-Queda, note that no one had mentioned either named man to date in the debate, yet here they are, the two “Jews” responsible. Later on Scheuer goes on to chamingly write the officers of the CIA “always remember that their passports are issued in Washington and not Tel Aviv or Jerusalem.”

It’s a Jewish plot! Authorized by famous Jews like George W. Bush, Condoleeza Rice and Donald Rumsfeld!

Let’s add it up: two 9/11 Commissioners say his assertions are not borne out by the facts and that much of what he says is simply not true. He writes and speaks of behind-the-scenes Jewish conspiracies by men with names like Wolf-O-Vitz. He impugns the motives of the men who led us to war and presents his view as the only intelligent course of action.

No wonder he is the toast of the Left.

BBC Report: Dutch Have Decisively Rejected Proposed EU Constitution

The BBC has just reported the following:

Exit polls in the Netherlands suggest voters have firmly rejected the proposed European Union constitution in Wednesday's referendum.

The polls indicate that at least 62% of the electorate voted "No".

The BBC's William Horsley in Brussels says the ballot has probably delivered a death blow to the constitution, at least in its present form.

The treaty needs to be approved by all 25 EU member states. It was rejected by the French in a vote on Sunday.

After the French rejection, EU politicians and bureaucrats solemnly pronounced that the process continues. If by "process" they mean the wholesale rejection of their elitist and anti-democratic project, they are precisely correct.

The French Government Springs Into Action

Facing a popular revolt and backlash against the elitist project that is the European Union, staring at a 55% to 45% rejection of its proposed Constitution, the French government has sprung into action.

The action? More of the same, knee-jerk, small-minded thinking that brought the European project to the sorry state it is in today in the first place. The President's much-hyped shake-up of the French cabinet has brought his number one toady into the Prime Minister's office: De Villepin Appointed French PM. (No word yet if this makes the PM a seagull or a shark.) Expect more arrogance and an ever-more embittered French public as a result.

The BBC's Paris correspondent, Carolyn Wyatt, notes that as a career diplomat never elected to public office, De Villepin of all candidates most typifies the French elite so roundly rejected by the French people on Sunday. We couldn't have said it better ourselves.

But there is hope. The Daily Telegraph's Freddie Sayers reports that:

Two years ago it would have been unthinkable that more people in France aged under 26 would vote against a European constitution than for it. But it happened on Sunday, and it is likely to happen tomorrow in Holland.

As they say, read it all. You can find the opinion piece here.

NOTE: Many commentators below have pegged us as Francophiles. We are, we admit it, up to a point. If being a Francophile means that one believes that France is a significant, important nation in the West, one that has played, does play and will continue to play an enormous role in our collective civilization, then, yes, we suppose we are.

Loss is But One Side of the Coin

On this Memorial Day, we heard on Fox News that Doonesbury’s Gerry Trudeau is running in his strip this week lightly illustrated panels that include the names of the war dead to date in the Iraq War, thus reinforcing yet again the sad fact that to today’s American liberals every war is the Vietnam War, every Republican President is Richard Nixon.

No doubt Trudeau is presenting his strip as a tribute of some sort, yet the action reveals more about the status of modern liberalism than anything else. Apparently, we who were and continue to be pro-war (where have you gone, Andrew?) are supposed to reconsider our thoughts as the gravity of the war is brought home to us with the stark reality of the names of men and women confronting us from the comics page. Apparently, we’re supposed to reflect on the useless futility of war and its hideous cost. Apparently, we’re supposed to be abashed and ashamed. Apparently, Trudeau and his ilk think that the War’s supporters, from the President on down, are currently unaware of the price being paid by thousands of American families.

Nothing could be further from the truth. On this Memorial Day, as on all but no more so than now, we are extremely aware of the cost. It is a typically liberal conceit to find only themselves concerned, only themselves reflective, only themselves thoughtful.

Like the atrocious Vietnam War Memorial, Trudeau’s strip presents only one side of the war’s story: the loss. Because liberals are so obsessively focused on that loss—cynically so since they hope to use it for wider political purpose—they have lost sight of what has been gained at the cost of brave blood.

We suppose the new WWII Monument could have been designed the same way. What should we have highlighted? The slaughter of U.S. troops in the opening campaign in North Africa, as they arrived under-trained, under-prepared and ill-equipped? Or perhaps the hundreds that died during the D-Day landings trial run, a fact kept hidden by the USG for decades? Or how about the thousands that died fighting a fanatical enemy willing to commit suicide and take as many Americans as they could with them?

But, no, we did not choose to highlight the loss and only the loss. The loss is there—for it is an inseparable part of war—but it is not the focus. Instead, the focus is on the nobility of the struggle, on the sacrifices willingly made, on the everyday heroism that has been so amply documented.

Despite the narcissistic posing of the 68’ers and their sad younger followers, the Iraq War will not be remembered only for the loss either. Instead, future generations will remember how our guys fought tooth and nail against an implacable, fanatical enemy to see to it that girls could go to school, that newspapers could be printed, that a democratic government could take hold.

The President saw the enemy clearly after 9/11. It is not a nation, a government or even a particular terrorist group. It is an ideology—Salafist Islamism, Wahabbism, Islamic Fascism. And he has driven a stake into it right in the center of gravity in the world in which it lives. To the fury of the Islamists, ordinary Iraqis were found to be much more interested in liberty than in some mythical vision of “pure” Islam. Islamism knows that the main battle is in Iraq, which is why it is expending its energy, its attention there.

And, so, the battle rages. It will be a long one (decades, we imagine), but the entire sick pathology of the Middle East is in the beginnings of a process of burning change, change brought by American rifles.

More died today, more loss.

In 50 years, as the developing, democratic governments in Iraq and Iran denounce American foreign policy in the official state-owned newspapers while struggling to meet the education demands, health needs and development requirements of its growing and more-educated populations, much like modern-day Brazil, we will remember the loss that made it possible.

And the gain by that loss will be immeasurable; a Middle East free of fascism and the horrible temptation it poses to people without hope, without the opportunity to express themselves, without liberty.

France Prevails

The proposed Constitution of the European Union is dead, having been killed by the French. Dead along with it the European elites’ dream of a political entity, a United States of Europe. As of this writing, the BBC is reporting that with about 86% of the vote counted, the Constitution has been rejected by a margin of 57% to 43%. When one considers the millions of euros and the intense government and press pressure put on the French to ratify the proposed Constitution, the magnitude of the defeat becomes even starker.

It is said by the great and the good—those same who have proceeded building the EU for the last 20 plus years without so much as consulting their public beyond a level of jingoistic slogans and feel-good imagery that they would be shocked to find would not even fly in the most remote American district—that the French have rejected the Constitution for all the wrong reasons. The French, so the story goes, reject what they see as an Anglo-Saxon liberal power-grab in the guise of a greater Europe, while, ironically, the Dutch and the British see in it a rise of a socialist super-state with very little accountability.

Perhaps. There is no doubt that there is some truth to that line of analysis. It is beyond doubt that the true believers in the coming revolution, in the social republic, took to the streets to demand a “non” vote as a way of keeping their dreams alive. It appears that, in this instance, the right answer has been reached for many a wrong reason.

And, yet, at the same time we detect something deeper, something more fundamental. A great nation has been asked to vote itself out of existence, to subsume its identity in a larger mix.

We know not what the ultimate destiny of the French shall be, but it shall not be this, of that we are certain. France is eternal, great and glorious; it shall not whimper and walk off the world stage mixed with Belgians.

It is true that other peoples of Europe have already ratified the Constitution, but the Spanish are not a people in the way the French are. What does a Catalonian have to lose in moving his remote capital from a government he dislikes and distrusts from Madrid to Brussels? The Italians are similarly divided, as any member of the Northern League would explain to you. As for the Germans, their entire post-war ideology has been based on denying that they are a great people with a unified destiny; for them that reality will always bear the taint of evil.

In the next few days, the Dutch will also rally to their senses and—we feel confident in predicting this—will also soundly reject the proposed Constitution. Had they an opportunity to vote the British would similarly reject the proposal. (Is there no man more blessed with luck in the entire field of European politics than the Right Honorable Anthony Blair, MP?)

The elites and the bureaucrats will argue that none of this means the end of the European Union. That is undoubtedly correct. But what it does mean is an end of a certain idea to the European Union: a unified state with more power over the member nations than that the Federal Government of the United States holds over the several States of the Union.

In its place lies an opportunity. An opportunity for the liberal East, the United Kingdom, and if we can rouse ourselves out of complacency and inertia, the United States to construct an alternative vision of a future Europe that can offer its people opportunity and liberty.

A Gaming Sunday Special: Our All Time Top Ten Games

Last week, during one of our normal Sunday Gaming posts, our colleague Smiley asked us if we could post our top 10 games of all time. Glad you asked, Smiley! We’re always happy to try to get the word out on good games, especially these classics.

Technical note: many of these games are too old for a modern Windows XP-based system. Fortunately, the good people at DosBox and its best front end management program, D-Fend, have created a great Dos emulator for modern systems. Just search for and download those two shareware programs and it’ll be just like you had an old IBM machine in front of you. Highly recommended for old-time gaming.

Now, without further ado, we proudly present The Best 10 Games in the History of Computer Gaming:

1) Planescape: Torment (Black Isle Studios) – A CRPG that takes place in and around the extra-planar town of Sigil, a sort of neutral territory between the various planes of the DnD multiverse. Technically a DnD game, but not one that requires pre-knowledge of the game or its system. In fact, as the manual explains, since your character is supposed to be waking up on a slab in a mortuary without any idea where he is, who he is or how the world works, follow the author’s advice and just don’t read it. Instead, read the first two pages on how the interface works and go to town.

Featuring the best hero of all time, a story that is both incredibly imaginative and innovative and, best of all, Sheena Easton as a half-demon redhead thief, Torment is simply the best game ever made. Other sidekicks include a floating skull with a New York accent, clockwork mechanism, an ethereal fighter who has to maintain concentration in order to remain in existence and a fallen angel/courtesan. We’ve played it through five times and are still finding hidden quests and entire parts of the game we missed the first four times through. There have been rumors of a sequel floating around for years, but nothing solid yet. Here’s hoping…..

2) Dungeon Master (FTL) – This is the game that started it for us, sitting around a Commodore Amiga taking turns with our friends at the controls for 30 minutes each until the sun would rise. A spectacular game way ahead of its time, you control a party of four heroes resurrected to take on a mad wizard’s labyrinth. Real time before real time was cool, DM never lets the player rest, hitting you from all sides as you desperately try to map or find a secret door you must have missed. Examine those bricks, the molding around the arch…the button must be here somewhere…we’ve been exploring this level for 5 hours and we can’t find an exit….and here come the purple worms again!

3) Fallout (Black Isle Studios) – You are a young man raised in an underground vault, called Vault 13, a shelter from a world-ending nuclear exchange. You are called into the Overseers office. He has news. Bad news. The computer chip that manages the water collection and purification system for Vault 13 is failing. If a new one isn’t found soon, everyone will die. He has decided that someone must go outside, up to the surface world, out the airlock. Someone must contact a vault known to the Overseer to lie a good many miles to the east. He explains that he has no idea what exists on the surface world or what the conditions are like. Here is a gun, a knife, a few medkits. Here is the authorization to exit the airlock. You have been chosen. Good luck, Vault Dweller.

4) Arcanum (Troika) – Imagine a world where to Tolkien mythos live side-by-side with Victorian Era scientific advances. Where the hiwayman advancing towards you is just as likely to be carrying a six-gun as a magic dagger. Where the steam trains that link the major cities have specially shielded cars for mages so that their magic doesn’t jinx the steamworks.

Welcome to the world of Arcanum, where your character can specialize in science, magic or a devilish mix of both, all in search of a destiny and legend come to life. A notoriously buggy game when it was released, it has long since been patched to the point where it is smooth-sailing. We’ve always thought this setting would make a dynamite movie, but it appears that even the fantastic success of The Lord of the Rings hasn’t made Hollywood re-think it’s modern-day depressing clichés….

5) Pool of Radiance (SSI) – One of the first of SSI’s legendary Gold Box series, this game makes up in story what it lacks in graphics. Take control of a band of 6 novice adventurers and wrest control of the ruined city of Phlan from a demon lord and his secret magical pool. A tactician’s delight, the battle scenes allow each character to act out in turn, positioning, fighting, protecting the mage. A true classic.

6) Alpha Centauri (Firaxis) – A distant planet, called simply Planet, is to be colonized by the U.N. It’s ship, the Unity, takes off for a multi-generational trek loaded with humans from all corners of the globe. Unfortunately, during the voyage factions form, and by the time the Unity reaches its goal, each faction is fighting for dominance on a new world. If that wasn’t enough, the strange exo-biology of Planet, and its weird ever-present fungus and native life forms, seems to be able to attack humans through the mind. Play the U.N. bureaucracy, a religious sect, a survivalist militia, the still-Communist Chinese, a free-market libertarian or the Greens. The future of Planet is there to be taken for the smart, the strong and the shrewd.

7) Baldur’s Gate (Black Isle Studios) – The modern-era game that reinvigorated the CRPG industry and brought back into vogue sweeping tales of epic proportions, taking our hero from his refuge in Candlekeep to an intrigue of the Gods themselves. A mixture of real-time and turned-based fighting that has never really been beaten, Baldur’s Gate presents a truly awe-inspiring story in a scope that will keep even a dedicated gamer busy for months. It’s sequel, Baldur’s Gate II, is also not to be missed.

8) Tie Fighter (LucasArts) – This one beats all other comers when it comes to flight sims. While the flight controls obviously aren’t “realistic,” the Tie Fighter must be managed continually in order to beat the devilishly difficult scenarios. Put all power to shields when engaging, finish the Rebel scum off, then drop all shields for an engines boost to get you back to the transport you’re escorting. Anything less than perfect will result in a loss.

9) Everquest (Sony Online Entertainment) – The granddaddy of the massively-multiplayer genre and still the best. One of its strengths is ironically not one that would win over many publishers today: it’s not very user friendly. In fact, it’s downright difficult and the it-looks-like-a-Sun-Sparcstation-interface would only please the geekiest of tech geeks. And, yet, though it all is a game that has created a community that has existed and plays daily for years now.

10) Thief (Ion Storm) – You are Garrett, a young thief who roams The City, a strange place mixed with magic and electrical lamps. Your fate is somehow wrapped up in a larger tale, but for now there are jewels to heist. A fantastic FPS that doesn’t involve shooting, a typical passage in Thief requires soft footpadding, sticking to the shadows and watching for a pattern in the guard’s rotations. If you’ve ever had any cat-burglar fantasies, this game is for you. Thief II, The Metal Age, is just as good if not a bit better than the original. Thief III, however, was created in our cursed age of the Consoles, and suffered badly because of it.

As always, it’s difficult to make such an exclusive list. So, we’d like to apologize in advance to Daggerfall, Ultima Underworld, Civilization, Half-Life, Half-Life 2, Steel Panthers, Buck Rodgers, Wasteland, Fallout 2, Morrowind, The Bard’s Tale, Icewind Dale and System Shock.

Let us know what your favorites are and why. And, as always, tell us why we’re wrong.