probably a good idea to read this, particularly US readers

Breaking Ranks: Dissent and the Military Professional. The military is trying how to figure out how to deal with the abdication by Congress of its role over military policy. The linked article talks about Bush administration ineptitude in Iraq, the Bush administration's unconstitutional and treaty-violating torture and habeas corpus orders, and so on - the author of this article has no illusions about these acts - but also deals with that dereliction of Constitutional duty, noting:

In a February 2010 article, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Yingling, USA, accused Congress of "all but abdicating many of its war powers."13 He is correct. In recent years, Congress has proven less than vigorous in carrying out its constitutional duties pertaining to the military, creating what is essentially a constitutional void.

The military seems to be talking to itself about how to fill that void.

Show! Also, Trad O’ the Week(ish), and and and

Now that Halloween is over and the elections are mostly done and hopefully people have a little more brain time XD and also because I don’t have a new song this week (I’m working on it! But it won’t be done ’till Monday) I wanted to remind everybody about my gig coming up on November 20th at The Lyons’ Den in Bothell, Washington. It’s a no-cover show, starts 8pm, runs until 10; two sets with a break in between. I’d love to see some of you there!

Also, if you missed it: I’ve got a new toy for you! Trad o’ th’ Week, or maybe Month, or It’s Up To My Schedule. Once a week or two, I’ll do a single-day recording of a traditional song – usually Newfoundland folk – and members of the Crime and the Forces of Evil mailing list will be able to download it free. And none of this 96k preview bullshit, either; it’ll be a high-quality mp3. ^_^ Once I’ve got enough of them I’ll probably make a compilation and put it up on the Bandcamp site for sale, so these aren’t throwaways; fans just get ‘em free, and first. XD The first song – “Captain Kidd,” a song about the famous pirate – is already online, and you can get it by signing up to the CFoE mailing list at Fanbridge:

http://crimeandtheforcesofevil.fanbridge.com/

These are like live recordings, but without the audience – it’s me, a zouk or mandolin, and maybe a drum or flute if I have the time budget for it. This particular recording has the zouk, my vocals, and me on bodhran, which is genuinely as Old School Newfoundland Folky as I get. But it’s about criminals – pirates, in particular – so what’s not to love? Clickie and sign up!

And if you haven’t listened to any of the other recent uploads (and there’ve been a lot) and have been meaning to get around to that, you know where you can click. (IF you know what I mean… XD )

Mirrored from Crime and the Blog of Evil.