politburo diktat 2.0

I’ve been pre-occupied recently with my octogenarian parents’ health care issues.
My Dad has reached the point where he has to go into a nursing home or long-term care. In his more lucid moments, he agrees, but he’s pretty confused. A few years ago, he signed the documents empowering my sister to make such […]

To recap: Cyrus, who hired the 10,000 Greek mercenaries, to help him overthrow his brother, the King of Persia, was killed at the Battle of Cunaxa, not far from Babylon. Quite stranded, the Greeks want to get home, and worked out a shaky truce with the Persians. They trekked alongside the Tigris River, as far […]

Iowan arrested for attacking wife with onion.
A Des Moines man went to jail Wednesday afternoon for allegedly throwing an onion at his wife.
The police report begins: “(The victim) states her husband had been drinking and they got into an argument.”

[16] ἀλλ’ ἥδομαι μέν, ὦ Κλέαρχε, ἀκούων σου φρονίμους λόγους: ταῦτα γὰρ γιγνώσκων εἴ τι ἐμοὶ κακὸν βουλεύοις, ἅμα ἄν μοι δοκεῖς καὶ σαυτῷ κακόνους εἶναι. ὡς δ’ ἂν μάθῃς ὅτι οὐδ’ ἂν ὑμεῖς δικαίως οὔτε βασιλεῖ οὔτ’ ἐμοὶ ἀπιστοίητε, ἀντάκουσον. [17] εἰ γὰρ ὑμᾶς ἐβουλόμεθα ἀπολέσαι, πότερά σοι δοκοῦμεν ἱππέων πλήθους ἀπορεῖν ἢ […]

from Joe Klein - TIME
The nature of military leadership is congenital optimism; officers are trained to complete the mission, to refuse to countenance the possibility of failure. That focus is essential when you go to war, but it lacks perspective. That’s why civilian leaders—the Commander in Chief—are there to set the mission, to change or […]

V. μετὰ ταῦτα ἀφικνοῦνται ἐπὶ τὸν Ζαπάταν ποταμόν, τὸ εὖρος τεττάρων πλέθρων. καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἔμειναν ἡμέρας τρεῖς: ἐν δὲ ταύταις ὑποψίαι μὲν ἦσαν, φανερὰ δὲ οὐδεμία ἐφαίνετο ἐπιβουλή. [2] ἔδοξεν οὖν τῷ Κλεάρχῳ ξυγγενέσθαι τῷ Τισσαφέρνει καὶ εἴ πως δύναιτο παῦσαι τὰς ὑποψίας πρὶν ἐξ αὐτῶν πόλεμον γενέσθαι. καὶ ἔπεμψέν τινα ἐροῦντα ὅτι συγγενέσθαι αὐτῷ […]

[14] οἱ μὲν οὖν Ἕλληνες παρ’ αὐτὴν ἐσκήνησαν ἐγγὺς παραδείσου μεγάλου καὶ καλοῦ καὶ δασέος παντοίων δένδρων, οἱ δὲ βάρβαροι διαβεβηκότες τὸν Τίγρητα: οὐ μέντοι καταφανεῖς ἦσαν. [15] μετὰ δὲ τὸ δεῖπνον ἔτυχον ἐν περιπάτῳ ὄντες πρὸ τῶν ὅπλων Πρόξενος καὶ Ξενοφῶν: καὶ προσελθὼν ἄνθρωπός τις ἠρώτησε τοὺς προφύλακας ποῦ ἂν ἴδοι Πρόξενον ἢ Κλέαρχον: […]

IV. μετὰ ταῦτα περιέμενον Τισσαφέρνην οἵ τε Ἕλληνες καὶ ὁ Ἀριαῖος ἐγγὺς ἀλλήλων ἐστρατοπεδευμένοι ἡμέρας πλείους ἢ εἴκοσιν. ἐν δὲ ταύταις ἀφικνοῦνται πρὸς Ἀριαῖον καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι ἀναγκαῖοι καὶ πρὸς τοὺς σὺν ἐκείνῳ Περσῶν τινες, παρεθάρρυνόν τε καὶ δεξιὰς ἐνίοις παρὰ βασιλέως ἔφερον μὴ μνησικακήσειν βασιλέα αὐτοῖς τῆς σὺν Κύρῳ ἐπιστρατείας […]

eBay: (item 270161208439 end time Sep-15-07 19:00:00 PDT)
I mean who could resist Fergie’s “Custom, molded fiberglass subwoofer enclosure wrapped in” … umm … “green suede.”

[17] ἐνταῦθα ἔμειναν ἡμέρας τρεῖς: καὶ παρὰ μεγάλου βασιλέως ἧκε Τισσαφέρνης καὶ ὁ τῆς βασιλέως γυναικὸς ἀδελφὸς καὶ ἄλλοι Πέρσαι τρεῖς: δοῦλοι δὲ πολλοὶ εἵποντο. ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀπήντησαν αὐτοῖς οἱ τῶν Ἑλλήνων στρατηγοί, ἔλεγε πρῶτος Τισσαφέρνης δι’ ἑρμηνέως τοιάδε.

They remained there three days; and Tissaphernes, the King’s brother-in-law, and three other Persians came from the […]

A 70-meter-long segment of Jerusalem’s central drain dating from the Second Temple period was discovered Sunday by the Israel Antiquities Authority.

The segment is located between the Temple Mount and the Pool of Siloam. It apparently was part of a long drain that spanned from the Western Wall to the Kidron River, near the Dead Sea.
The […]

III. ὃ δὲ δὴ ἔγραψα
And just as I wrote (Xenophon infrequently uses the first person, and usually in a parenthetical fashion like this, rather than to describe his own actions.)
ὅτι βασιλεὺς ἐξεπλάγη τῇ ἐφόδῳ,
the King panicked at their approach,
τῷδε δῆλον ἦν.
as the following makes clear.
τῇ μὲν γὰρ πρόσθεν ἡμέρᾳ πέμπων τὰ ὅπλα παραδιδόναι ἐκέλευε, τότε […]

Steven Taylor - The Lack of an Operational Security Apparatus in Iraq and the Implications Thereof
[There is an] ongoing incorrect analysis of the Iraq situation as being two sides of a coin: security (linked primarily to the surge) and the political.
The  ability of the Iraqi state to field an operative police force and military is […]

This seems like a fairly nerve-wracking day, for both sides. Neither one really wants to fall into battle against the other; as both are undefeated, neither side really knows the other’s situation. The Greek plan (actually Ariaeus’ plan) to get as far away from the King’s army as quickly as possible is a good one. […]

Troop buildup fails to reconcile Iraq - Los Angeles Times
Iraq’s political stalemate and the continued violence have forced a major shift in the mind-set of U.S. officials, who had lofty visions of the plan creating conditions under which Prime Minister Nouri Maliki’s Shiite-led government would foster reconciliation among Shiites, Sunni Arabs and Kurds.Like the […]