This is an Oxford restaurant memory.  Mistilis had its last location out on College Hill Road (it’s first was next to the Eagle on Jackson Avenue as far as I know).  The main things there as far as I was concerned were the cheese steak, mentioned above, a chef’s salad with his [...]]]>

Who wants one of those?

This is an Oxford restaurant memory.  Mistilis had its last location out on College Hill Road (it’s first was next to the Eagle on Jackson Avenue as far as I know).  The main things there as far as I was concerned were the cheese steak, mentioned above, a chef’s salad with his feta cheese dressing (and a small one was one massive bowl of salad) and gumbo.  I had a client who could eat in one sitting a small chef salad, a cup of gumbo, and the cheese steak with fries, and he was relatively thin.

The picture is from the Ole Miss 1971 annual

h/t Paul White on Facebook.

This caused online speculation about what events would be most interesting to those focused on modern Chinese [...]]]>

There was a apparently recently a highest-possible level meeting of Chinese Communist Party officials, worrying about the security of the most sensitive of government documents– what happens if there’s a day of reckoning and these documents come out, wikileaks style?

This caused online speculation about what events would be most interesting to those focused on modern Chinese history.  What documents would be most interesting to see?  The NY Review of Books blog has a consensus list, along with some details about the meeting:

1. The famine during the Great Leap Forward 1959-62. Between 20 and 50 million people died from policy decisions.  What happened, and what policies caused the famine and suppressed information?  Was grain sold to buy nuclear weapons?
2. The death of General Lin Biao 1971. He supposedly plotted a coup, failed, and was shot down in his plane while trying to flee.  This story has never been accepted.  What really happened?
3. Mao’s will and personal lock box late 70s. During the Gang of Four trial, Mao’s wife said he’d left a written will.  He also had a lockbox of his most important secrets; his mistress had the key, which was taken after Mao’s death.  Was there a will? What’s in the box.
4. The Tiananmen Square Massacre 1989. The basic story is known, but records of key meetings are classified and “responsibility for the massacre remains an extremely sensitive question in Chinese politics.”
5. Suppression of the Falun Gon after 1999. Falun Gong claims there are concentration camps for members and worse.
6. The scope of the secret domestic spying/intimidation/detention program for dissent. There are reports this budget exceeds all parts of government spending except the military.
7. Bank accounts of Communist party officials. How much have they hidden away or sent abroad?

Gail Brown posted the above and following on Facebook and I was asked to relay it on my blog.

ATTN OXFORD, MS FRIENDS: I have found reason to believe our MISSING DOG is now in Oxford and been around the areas of North Lamar & around the downtown square. If you are around town and see a [...]]]>

Gail Brown posted the above and following on Facebook and I was asked to relay it on my blog.

ATTN OXFORD, MS FRIENDS: I have found reason to believe our MISSING DOG is now in Oxford and been around the areas of North Lamar & around the downtown square. If you are around town and see a black & white border collie mix, please call the Aninmal Control Officer at 832-7633. He is very scared and will run off if approached, so please just call with his location. I will be notified by ACO of where he is located. Thank you!

Colonel Lawrence Sellin, a reserve officer in Afghanistan, was fired for publicly editorializing about his hatred of PowerPoint and how it is used at the command level in the army.  Folks may remember my personal dislike of PowerPoint, and the slide above that was sent ’round the net as an example of the perniciousness of Army [...]]]>

Colonel Lawrence Sellin, a reserve officer in Afghanistan, was fired for publicly editorializing about his hatred of PowerPoint and how it is used at the command level in the army.  Folks may remember my personal dislike of PowerPoint, and the slide above that was sent ’round the net as an example of the perniciousness of Army PowerPoint presentations (I thought I’d blogged about that slide, but can’t find the post…)

As an aside, this sounds to my son-in-law, who was an enlisted man in both Afganistan and Iraq about what officers do…

In any event, Col. Sellin has written a series of editorials for UPI.  Here’s what Col. Sellin had to say about PowerPoint:

KABUL, Afghanistan, Aug. 24 (UPI) — Throughout my career I have been known to walk that fine line between good taste and unemployment. I see no reason to change that now.

Consider the following therapeutic.

I have been assigned as a staff officer to a headquarters in Afghanistan for about two months. During that time, I have not done anything productive. Fortunately little of substance is really done here, but that is a task we do well.

We are part of the operational arm of the International Security Assistance Force commanded by U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus. It is composed of military representatives from all the NATO countries, several of which I cannot pronounce.
Officially, IJC was founded in late 2009 to coordinate operations among all the regional commands inAfghanistan. More likely it was founded to provide some general a three-star command. Starting with a small group of dedicated and intelligent officers, IJC has successfully grown into a stove-piped and bloated organization, top-heavy in rank. Around here you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a colonel.

For headquarters staff, war consists largely of the endless tinkering with PowerPoint slides to conform with the idiosyncrasies of cognitively challenged generals in order to spoon-feed them information. Even one tiny flaw in a slide can halt a general’s thought processes as abruptly as a computer system’s blue screen of death.

The ability to brief well is, therefore, a critical skill. It is important to note that skill in briefing resides in how you say it. It doesn’t matter so much what you say or even if you are speaking Klingon.

Random motion, ad hoc processes and an in-depth knowledge of Army minutia and acronyms are also key characteristics of a successful staff officer. Harried movement together with furrowed brows and appropriate expressions of concern a la Clint Eastwood will please the generals. Progress in the war is optional.

Each day is guided by the “battle rhythm,” which is a series of PowerPoint briefings and meetings with PowerPoint presentations. It doesn’t matter how inane or useless the briefing or meeting might be. Once it is part of the battle rhythm, it has the persistence of carbon 14.

And you can’t skip these events because they take roll — just like gym class.

The start and culmination of each day is the commander’s update assessment. Please ignore the fact that “update assessment” is redundant. Simply saying commander’s update doesn’t provide the possibility of creating a three-letter acronym. It also doesn’t matter that the commander never attends the CUA.

The CUA consists of a series of PowerPoint slides describing the events of the previous 12 hours. Briefers explain each slide by reading from a written statement in a tone not unlike that of a congressman caught in a tryst with an escort. The CUA slides only change when a new commander arrives or the war ends.

The commander’s immediate subordinates, usually one- and two-star generals, listen to the CUA in a semi-comatose state. Each briefer has approximately 1 or 2 minutes to impart either information or misinformation. Usually they don’t do either. Fortunately, none of the information provided makes an indelible impact on any of the generals.

One important task of the IJC is to share information to the ISAF commander, his staff and to all the regional commands. This information is delivered as PowerPoint slides in e-mail at the flow rate of a fire hose. Standard operating procedure is to send everything that you have. Volume is considered the equivalent of quality.

Next month IJC will attempt a giant leap for mankind. In a first-of-its-kind effort, IJC will embed a new stovepipe into an already existing stovepipe. The rationale for this bold move resides in the fact that an officer, who is currently without one, needs a staff of 35 people to create a big splash before his promotion board.

Like most military organizations, structure always trumps function.

The ultimate consequences of this reorganization won’t be determined until after that officer rotates out of theater.

Nevertheless, the results will be presented by PowerPoint.
–
(Lawrence Sellin, Ph.D., is a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve and a veteran of the conflicts in Afghanistanand Iraq. He is currently serving his second deployment to Afghanistan. The views expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army or U.S. government.)

h/t Wired.

The New York Times has a really remarkable look at recovery in the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans since Katrina (above is a partial screen shot), based on research by Anthony Curtis, a professor at USC.  His research involves gathering video evidence of changes in the neighborhood; what the NY Times has up on its [...]]]>

The New York Times has a really remarkable look at recovery in the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans since Katrina (above is a partial screen shot), based on research by Anthony Curtis, a professor at USC.  His research involves gathering video evidence of changes in the neighborhood; what the NY Times has up on its site is video from 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2010 filmed down nine blocks of Flood Street and Forstall Street, two streets that run at a right angle to the river, Forstall about four blocks from where the levee break and Flood another five blocks farther out.  You see the streets go buy parallel– watching each spot in each year at the same time– along with quotes from people from the neighborhood.  There’s so much going on in the videos I could not take it in all at once.  Highly recommended.

“I made it clear when we were approached: I said, ‘If it’s political, I wouldn’t even approach Albert with it.’ I [...]]]>

The Saint Louis Post Dispatch is reporting that Cardinal’s slugger Albert Pujols is going to appear at Glen Beck’s rally in D.C. tomorrow, along with manager Tony LaRussa who… somehow… thinks its not a political event:

“I made it clear when we were approached: I said, ‘If it’s political, I wouldn’t even approach Albert with it.’ I don’t want to be there if it’s political,” La Russa said.

La Russa created a minor stir last month when he publicly supported an Arizona statute calling for heightened enforcement against illegal immigrants.

Along with a number of staff members, coaches and players, La Russa met two months ago in the Cardinals clubhouse with Beck and fellow Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly.

Pujols autographed a bat for Beck and the two struck a relationship that facilitated Saturday’s appearance.

“I made the point several times: What is this about?” La Russa said Thursday, noting an understanding that invitations were ‘sent out across party lines, different disciplines, all kinds of stuff.

“I don’t know who’s going to be there, who’s going to accept it. But the gist of the day is not political. I think it’s a really good concept, actually.”

Talking Points (where I saw this story and which had the headline idea first) asks the obvious question:

On what planet is a Glenn Beck rally in the National Mall on the 47th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech that features Sarah Palin not political? Beck claims that he didn’t plan for the event to be on the MLK speech anniversary, but it’s not a coincidence, according to Beck. It’s “divine providence.” It also happens to be the same weekend that FreedomWorks, one of the driving corporate/Republican Party forces behind the tea party movement, is holding its convention in DC.

The title of the event is “Restoring Honor.” According to Beck: “This is going to be an iconic event. This is a moment quite honestly, that I think we reclaim the civil rights movement.” Reclaim the civil rights movement? Beck also says, “If you come, I believe this may, maybe in 100 years from now or 200 years from now, I believe this will be remembered as the moment America turned the corner.”

Ok, guys:  Forget the rally and focus on beating the Nationals this weekend, all right?

One of Mississippi’s oldest and most unique musical traditions is the fife and drum picnic, which has traditionally had its strongest roots in Tate and Panola counties. On Friday and Saturday the tradition continues with the Otha Turner Family Goat Barbecue and Picnic in the Como area.

Musicians at the event, [...]]]>

Scott Barretta writes in the Clarion Ledger:

One of Mississippi’s oldest and most unique musical traditions is the fife and drum picnic, which has traditionally had its strongest roots in Tate and Panola counties. On Friday and Saturday the tradition continues with the Otha Turner Family Goat Barbecue and Picnic in the Como area.

Musicians at the event, which starts both days in the mid-to-late afternoon, include the late Turner’s granddaughter, 19-year-old Sharde Thomas, who now leads his Gravel Springs Fife and Drum Band. Other artists include Kenny Brown, Mark “Muleman” Massey, Blue Mother Tupelo, David Evans and members of the Burnside family.

The African-American fife and drum tradition appears to have developed shortly after the Civil War, though it’s likely its roots stretch back to African-American musicians in the Federal Army. The tradition pre-dates blues, though today the repertoire includes blues standards including Sittin’ On Top of the World and My Babe.

The legacy of Otha Turner, who died in 2003 at 94, is actively celebrated by many members of his family, including his eldest daughter, Betty Turner.

“I’ve been going to these picnics for 65 years,” says Turner. “They weren’t as big as they are now, and before they just had one fife and drum band and it was just locals. Now you’ve got people coming from all over the United States and outside of the country, too.

“I get the chance to see so many people and I love that goat. I don’t get to have goat but once a year.”

The picnic takes place at the former home of Otha Turner on O.B. McClinton Road, just east of Gravel Springs Road in Tate County. Bands play on a makeshift stage, but the highlights are the fife and drum band’s processions through the crowd.

Admission is $2.

If you’ve never been, you should go.  Here’s directions courtesy of Kenny Brown’s facebook feed. The Oxford directions will obviously work for anyone coming from the South on I-55 (in which case start the 2 miles on I-55 from the Batesville exit).

Oxford:
Rt 6 to I-55N,
Como exit E on Rt 310 2 miles,
L on Hunter’s Chapel Rd,
N on Hunter’s Chapel 4 miles (Hunter’s Chapel becomes Gravel Springs Rd),
R on O.B. McClinton Rd,
1-2 miles, Otha’s house is on R

Memphis:
I-55 to Sentabobia,
E on Rt 4 about 4 miles,
R on Gravel Springs Rd 3 miles,
L on O.B. McClinton Rd,
1-2 miles, Otha’s house is on the R