Parade through the clouds.

Here is the video for „Na Na Na“, the latest single by the Swedish band The Knife.

5GW Tactics and Counter-Tactics in Hockey

This is one of the stranger things I’ve read lately.

Courtesy tdaxp:

It started out as a joke. Steve Schmid, a twenty-two year old hockey fan from New York, wanted a run of the mill hockey player to be in the All Star game. He chose the Vancouver Canucks’ Rory Fitzpatrick as his candidate. Schmid started his campaign on Something Awful’s forums and on a few other online message boards. The campaign was only semi-serious and the online voting by self-described “goons” was expected to go nowhere.

However, when the campaign moved past its organizer/leader and into leaderless aggression or fifth generation warfare (5GW) results began to materialize. A website for Fitzpatrick’s draft to the All Star game was constructed by a supporter. Political-style ads promoting Fitzpatrick, and even some jokingly negative, appeared on YouTube. Traditional media then began to pay notice. A cycle of news stories increased awareness and support for the draft movement culminating with Canucks’ players practicing with shirts supportive of Fitzpatrick.

When online votes for the All Star game were being tallied as the polls remained open it became apparent that Fitzpatrick had a shot of being elected into the game. Various sports journalists, NHL officials, and even Wayne Gretzky laminated this and begged for voiding Fitzpatrick’s votes.

The release of the “Rory Vote-O-Matic” by supporters practically guaranteed Fitzpatrick’s election. The script allowed browsers to continually submit votes, there are no limits on how many times one could vote, for Fitzpatrick. With this the NHL decided to act but only half-heartedly. Minor increases in ballot security were quickly countered by Vote-O-Matic makers.

Then something odd happened. The near-equilibrium between votes for Eastern and Western was disturbed by something and support for Fitzpatrick collapsed while votes for competition remained constant. Many on the internet believe the disruption was caused by the NHL covertly eliminating votes for and only for Fitzpatrick. In the end Fitzpatrick officially fell about 20,000 votes short of going to the All Star game.

This battle between a leaderless movement and the National Hockey League is a great example of 5GW. When the NHL instituted minor modifications into the environment the movement adapted in the style of a living organism. Only when the NHL abandoned the light-footprint model and instead changed the rules of engagement completely did they deny any possibility of victory to the Fitzpatrick draft movement. The only thing which stopped a complete NHL victory was their lack of subtlety.

The message is clear. To win 5GW the rules have to go out the window. A traditional attack will simply be adapted to at the cost of wasted resources by the attacker. Change the rules; however, to something where there can be no adaptation. Easier said than done but a game plan none the less.

The Lyre Of Orpheus

In Greek legend, Orpheus (Greek: Ὀρφεύς) was the chief representative of the arts of song and the lyre, and of great importance in the religious history of Greece. The mythical figure of Orpheus was borrowed by the Greeks from their Thracian neighbors; the Thracian „Orphic Mysteries“, rituals of unknown content, were named after him.

The ancients knew him as a Thracian of Pieria (the coastal region above Mount Olympus), a magical musician, and also as a priest of Dionysus. Some credit him as the founder of the Dionysiac rites.

Good french brandy.

Claret is the liquor for boys; port for men; but he who aspires to be a hero must drink brandy. – Samuel Johnson.

I received a bottle of brandy some time ago and it seemed like the right time to drink it. It had a brilliant golden amber color. Complex and smoky aromas of cola nut, toasted gingerbread, dark caramel, roasted nuts, and star anise. A super supple entry leads to a smooth rich and dry medium-to full-bodied palate with charred oak, dark caramel, anise, and pepper spice flavors. Finishes with an ashy mineral, firm white pepper, and raisin compote fade. A smoky rustic style with nice spiciness.

I can’t really taste that but it is an interesting Apéritif. I recommend.

The medicine man won’t come running.

It never ends.

This semester is going to be awful. I’m looking forward to the end of April.  The classes I have appear quite uninteresting, but with a significant workload and that is a bad combination. It all just sucks.

The last semester.

For some reason, the day that I go back to university after that Christmas holidays always feels like one of the most depressing days of the year.  The people at school are fine, the courses are fine, but the city is just so meloncholy. 3 and a half more months are left.

Enter this dragon, bitch!

Tarawa

Tarawa is located approximately 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii. It is a coral atoll similar to many other South Pacific islands. The military importance of Tarawa to the Americans lie in its position. It would enable the US Pacific Fleet to continue its island hopping campaign through the Pacific.

The largest of Tarawa’s islets is Betio measuring less than 3 miles in length and 1/2 mile in width. Here, the Japanese built an airstrip defended by 4,700 troops dug into a labyrinth of pillboxes and bunkers interconnected by tunnels and defended by wire and mines. The task of dislodging this force fell to the Marines of the 2nd Division. The resulting struggle produced one of the fiercest and bloodiest battles in Marine history

The landings began on November 20 and immediately ran into trouble. Coming in when he tide was low, the landing craft were forced to unload their men far from shore. Wading through waist-deep water over piercing, razor-sharp coral, many were cut down by Japanese machine guns before reaching the beach. Those who made it ashore, however, could not advance far, as they were hemmed in by Japanese fire and traps.

The next morning, reinforcements made the same difficult journey, assisted by artillery and tanks. By the end of the day the Marines were able to break out from the beach to the inland. The fierce combat continued for another two days.

The cost of victory was high for the Marines who suffered nearly 3,000 casualties. The toll was even higher for the Japanese. Of the 4,700 defenders, only 17 survived. Their willingness to fight to the last man foreshadowed the fierceness of the battles to come.

Republika Srpska.

After reading this article, it occurred to me, using conventional international law arguments, that Bosnian Serbs should have the same rights as Kosovar Albanians and should be able to secede from Bosnia-Herzegovina and join Serbia if they wish. The United States, UN and the EU cant have it both ways. That is, they can not reasonably discriminate between the independence movements that are valid and invalid based on the internal politics and orientation of the independence movements. Just because Bosnian Serbs adopted political positions that were more oriented toward towards Eastern Europe, does not reduce the validity of their independence claims.

Since the Serbs comprise a fairly defined region within Bosnia- Herzegovina (see map), it would be easy to reshape their borders. An internationally monitored referendum would be easy to conduct and political transition would be relatively easy to implement, given the level of autonomy already evident within the region.