Open Thread - 3 December 2017

pl

Comments

[Fred]

It appears Apple has a few worms
https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/2/16727238/apple-macos-ios-software-problems-updates

[Tyler]

After taking a coues and an elk, I'm thinking of heading up to Washington to take a blacktail. Any advice from any natives up there?

[Serge]

Can anyone explain what is going on in Yemen over the past few days and expound on the relationship between saleh and the houthis? What is the balance of power,who controls what? I was under the impression that the saleh forces were the ones that controlled the ballistic missiles but today the houthis claimed to fire one at the UAE

[turcopolier]

Serge

My impression is that the media can't tell a Houthi tribesman from a Yemeni soldier loyal to Salih. Salih is a Zeidi from the minor Sanhan tribe of the Hashid confederation. They are located just south of Sanaa. The Houthis are Zeidi and have made common cause with Salih. I would expect that the missile battalion is made up of Zeidis as well. pl

[Degringolade]

Tyler:

Might want to read this. I would also recommend going to the east side of Washington and try for a whitetail. They are a lot thicker on the ground over there

http://missoulian.com/lifestyles/recreation/regional/washington-state-deer-study-reveals-most-blacktails-have-small-home/article_00f08a70-2f5b-11e2-bd1d-0019bb2963f4.html

[Ishmael Zechariah]

Re: Of Mice & Men
SST,
Might I strongly recommend the work of John B. Calhoun to those pilgrims who are not familiar with it? An excellent summary can be found in Calhoun's 1973 paper, "Death Squared: The Explosive Growth and Demise of a Mouse Population" (Proc. Roy. Soc. Med. 66 (1973); https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1644264/pdf/procrsmed00338-0007.pdf ). His research might indicate that unearned affluence, not adversity, could lead to societal demise. Here is a teaser:
“For an animal so simple as a mouse, the most complex
behaviours involve the interrelated set of courtship, maternal care, territorial defence and hierarchical intragroup and intergroup social organization. When behaviours related to these functions fail to mature, there is no development of social organization and no reproduction…
For an animal as complex as man, there is no logical reason why a comparable sequence of events should not also lead to species extinction.”
I wonder why these papers are not mandatory reading in high schools of the West, and why they are being ignored by the social engineering mandarins who try to control the discourse.
Pax
Ishmael Zechariah

[notlurking]

I have read other reports stating that Salih has turned on the Houthis....KSA fingerprints all over this...The Kingdom is saying they will help him come back...Houthies battling Yemeni army after they had worked together...situation quiet a bit messy for now.....

[turcopolier]

notlurking

I have not read that but it is quite possible. Salih is as treacherous as a snake. pl

[turcopolier]

All

I confess to having missed the split up between Salih and the Houthis but I am not surprised. The man is not in any way reliable. I was busy the last few days listening to the talking book edition of "Braddock's Defeat, the Battle of the Monongahela" by a history professor at The Citadel. I was instrumental in the award of the Guggenheim-Lehrer Prize in Military History to Preston for this book. He does a remarkably detailed job of recounting this disastrous British effort to remove the French from the headwaters of the Ohio River in western Pennsylvania. The French then possessed nearly all of what is now the US west of the Appalachian Mountains and east of the Mississippi River. The area west of the Mississippi was "up for grabs" at that point but the French had a lot of posts there. The "forks of the Ohio" at what is now Pittsburgh was important to French continued possession of all that territory. The British under Edward Braddock tried to remove the French from that place and failed miserably having been defeated by a much smaller force of French Marines, Quebec militia and Indians from 20 different ethnic groups whom the highly skilled French Marine officers had persuaded to come to western Pennsylvania to fight the British army and American colonial forces. These Indians came from as far away as Michigan, Illinois and the whole upper Mid-West of the present US. The lure for them was the need to prevent Anglo-American expansion west of the Appalachians. I recommend the book. pl

[outthere]

Question about the end of Diem.
I have been reading "In the Shadows" by McCoy.
He says that coup leaders asked USA what would USA do if they overthrew Diem, and Lucien Conein told them that USA would promptly recognize, but would not assist, which is all that coup leaders hoped for. The question then arose of what to do with Diem, and Conein says his request for aircraft for Diem exile was delayed, i.e. no USA plane was available. Conein says there were aircraft readily available that could take Diem to Philippines, but not to France. In any case his request to make possible Diem's escape was denied. And of course Diem was killed and did not escape.
McCoy's discussion is in Chapter 1, footnote 15 is to Conein interview (1981), which can be found here:
quote:
I received a telephone call from the Embassy and they said that they wanted me, this was on direct instructions from the highest authority, to locate Diem and Nhu, took a shower, went back out to the Joint General Staff and they were all in the officers’ club where they interrogating the uh ministers of the former government.
At this time I asked about Diem and Nhu. I talked to Big Minh personally and he told me that they were, they had committed suicide and that they were behind the Joint General Staff—did I want to see them? I said, No, I didn’t want to see them and felt very disappointed that they had gotten off on that type of start because original plan was that Diem would go out of the country.
Interviewer:
Did you believe this story that they committed suicide?
Conein:
Of course I—d....I never for a moment...
Interviewer:
Could you say, This...
Conein:
I never uh for a moment believed that they committed suicide because I asked where it happened and Big Minh saying well they committed suicide the Catholic Church of Cholon. Being a Catholic I knew that if anybody had committed suicide in a Catholic Church and a priest held services that night that that story wouldn't hold water and I so stated...And that’s it.
endquote
http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_17B091E22675449F9D3E61ABF070482F
So what I am wondering is how the request for exile aircraft was denied, yet at the same time the JFK administration spoke of how terrible Diem's death was, and that USA was not a party to his death. and not a party to the coup.

[turcopolier]

outthere

No idea. I suppose the dummies in the CIA hadn't figured out te likelihood that the plotters would kill him. that would be typical. pl

[Babak Makkinejad]

I read about that research decades ago very briefly; I well recall the degeneration of courtship rituals among the well-fed mice.
Do you recall Aziz Nasin's "Don't underestimate the animal"?

[Serge]

Colonel,
I will check it out, seems like it is right up my alley, I'm utterly fascinated by French-Anglo geopolitical interactions during 18th century

[Babak Makkinejad]

I read that his venture was defeated and he is in his compound surrounded by Houthis.

[Tyler]

Degringo,

Im looking to complete a NA deer slam (whitetail, coues whitetail, mule, blacktail, sitka blacktail), which is why I ask. Blacktail are only found along the coast of the Pacific, and as your article points out, they're a difficult hunt. That, however, is part of the attraction for me. I can get whitetail easier and cheaper back on the east coast, but thank you.

For reference, I damn near crested Government Peak in the Dos Cabezas mountains here in Arizona pulling my little coues out of there. Worth every step tho (all 5+ miles and 3000 feet of elevation gain/loss).

[Will.2718]

fascinating, Daniel Boone, according to the TV show "King of the Wild Frontier," & Henry Morgan, later commander of the Virginia Sharpshooters, hero of Saratoga and Battle of Cowpens were cousins.

"Daniel Boone, a famous American pioneer, explorer, woodsman, and frontiersman - and one of the first folk heroes of the United States - was among the soldiers involved in the battle. Boone served under Captain Hugh Waddell of North Carolina, whose militia unit was assigned in 1755 to serve in the command of General Edward Braddock. Boone acted as a wagoner, along with his cousin Daniel Morgan, who would later be a key general in the American Revolution.[17] In the Battle of the Monongahela, Boone narrowly escaped death when the baggage wagons were assaulted by Indian troops - Boone escaped, it is said, by cutting his wagons and fleeing. Boone remained critical of Braddock's blunders for the rest of his life.[18] While on the campaign, Boone met John Finley, a packer who worked for George Croghan in the trans-Appalachian fur trade. Finley first interested Boone in the abundance of game and other natural wonders of the Ohio Valley. Finley took Boone on his first hunting trip to Kentucky 12 years later.["
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Monongahela

[Bandolero]

Serge

Former president Ali Saleh and his sons decided that it's a good time to switch (again) sides from an alliance with the Houthis to an alliance with the Saudis. Saleh and his sons are therefore put down by the Yemeni armed forces and the paramilitary internal security forces, supported by some Houthis, as traitors.

My comment: it looks a bit theatralic, something like Ali Saleh really believed the western propaganda line that the Saudi enemy in Yemen are some "Houthi militants" supported by Iran and some military "forces loyal to former president Ali Saleh." The reality seems to be that the vast majority of the armed forces of the Republic of Yemen are fiercely loyal to the Yemeni government in Sanaa (Supreme Political Council), and so Saleh and his sons just make a last stand in Sanaa supported by no more than 1000 Yemeni soldiers and some Saudi air strikes. The Saudi air strikes to support Saleh and his guys will likely ruin Salehs reputation in Yemen completely and forever.

[Ed Jewett]

When the problems was first identified, it was published in the popular computer users' press (along with the fix, whixh was simple for the system's administrator to do). Apple had an automatically-installed patch the next time I signed on. I have never had a problem with any Apple product. I put my kids through high scholl and college on them (one of whim has two masters' degrees), and I own a 10.13.1 HighSierra desktop. In the 80's, when I worked for a high-end business association, my first task on my first day was to get oput the annual membership invoices for #135K worth of income. The refrigerator-sized unit that used 78-rpm-sized floppies from the outfit across the street, whose Int'l VP was our past president, would not merge mailing list with invoice despite technical heklp dispatched by him, The hastily-acquired $3,500 desk cube with $1,000 worth of association mgmt. software got the job done in two days.

[Ronald Thomas West]

Appreciate your work Pat. Per your open thread illustration:

https://ronaldthomaswest.com/2017/12/01/the-oath-and-the-trash-bin/

A constitutional essay for common people

Yep, I have a small qualification; was adjunct professor at Johannes Gutenberg University law school, taught USA constitutional law (for English credit) summer semester, 2008. Not bad for a layman (published in international law, as well.)

Beat the heck out of my 11F40 days...

[English Outsider]

Stray notes from the city of the living dead. The Westminster zombies are on the prowl. The BBC has announced it's on board with a project to protect us from fake news. They're worried that we might get hold of "fake news from a bedroom in Moldova" and they're going to put a stop to it.

The most cheerful item I've heard on the BBC for a long time. One small step for mankind but a giant step for the BBC. When they've got the hang of it in Moldova they can make a start on Broadcasting House.

And they are making a start. Turns out we're helping out with the Jihadis in Syria. Sorry, fake news. I've just done the fact checking and it turns out we're helping the Jihadis in Syria. Glad I got the difference right:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42217132

There's an MP called Owen Patterson talking about Brexit who is, as far as I can see, an absolute fraud. Principled, bright, bags of common sense. That's not a Westminster fit and somebody should tell him before he's found out. He's been looking into the fuss the Irish are making about the border. There's some background here. Seems that if we don't put in customs posts Auntie Angela and her pals get upset. If we do the IRA or their pals will shoot the border guards. Sounds like the Irish have got all angles covered so tough, no Brexit.

Patterson says the bulk of the trade doesn't go across that border anyway, and what does is easily checked without the need to turn customs officers into target practice. Sounds like a bit of common sense and horse trading would sort it out. Not much hope there then.

Lovely border, that used to be. Take the back road through Forkhill and the Irish could smuggle diesel, booze, fags, to their hearts content. Surprised they're not jumping at the chance to do it again. Not that surprised. They will, once we're out of Angie's Hotel California.

[georgeg]

CBS Early Morning News showing US jet fighters "rehearsing for WAR". This is journalism?.....

[Annem]

The irony here is that the ONLY force taking on AQAP and ISIS in Yemen is the Houthis. Not so, the forces backed by the Saudis. The UAE for a while had an Aden grouping centered around a local governor it preferred, but haven't heard much about that in a while. Currently, the only notable news about the UAE in Yemen is the torture and killing of prisoners by their foreign mercenaries.

I believe that the Houthis took Sanaa a while back for the nominal alliance with Saleh, but that patriot, seeing what has happened to his country through the fighting, is now trying to wrest the capital and other territory from the Houthis. Saleh may well have convinced the Saudis that he is the man of the hour to reunite the country. They may believe that he could rally that part of the army now serving the current government of "al Hadi" now in Saudi Arabia to rejoin their comrades who remained loyal to Saleh. This could be done with a change of address for the checks coming in from Saudi for payment of the military.

A new Saleh government would unlikely stop the unrest for very long. The Houthis will not go quietly and all the other Yemenis that participated in the 2011 uprising across the country will remain restive. Another thing to remember is that Saleh talked big about confronting terrorists, but it was the US and its drones that took on AQAP and ISIS. If nothing else, Saleh should be encouraged to get the Saudis and other Gulfies to halt their funding to these organizations. Good luck.

This might [temporarily, at least] allow MBS to turn this quagmire into a victory. I hope that Saleh would send him the bill for rebuilding the country they have leveled.

[Annem]

THIS JUST IN: REPORT CLAIMS THAT SALEH WAS KILLED IN SANAA FIGHTING

Reports: Former Yemeni President Killed Fighting Houthis
The country is being ravaged by war.

Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television on Monday quoted sources in former President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s party as confirming he had been killed.

The Dubai news channel said the sources said Saleh was killed in fighting against the Iran-aligned Houthi group in the capital Sanaa, but gave no further details.

[turcopolier]

will.2718
it is a truly fascinating book. French and Indian victory was complete at the Monongahela but the British thought it over and decided that they would not accept containment of their colonies on the eastern seaboard and renewed the attack on Ft. duquesne after a year or so. Avoiding Braddock's error in crossing the Alleghenies cross compartment they used a new road built by Pennsylvania that went west from Carlisle through better ground and the French were pushed out of the headwaters of the Ohio very quickly. pl

[Lord Curzon]

Colonel,

Further to your last, Saleh just bit the dust after turning on his erstwhile allies. I can't see Hadi holding it together. Back to the drawing board for Crown Prince et al...