This is a good article on how huge and varied Lockheed Martin has become in what Eisenhower coined 'the military-industrial complex'. The NYT article (free link on GlobalSecurity.org) "Lockheed and the Future of Warfare" shows that the corporation, formerly best-known for its sleek fighter aircraft such as the Joint Strike Fighter pictured on the left has expanded over the past two decades into becoming an technology turnkey solution for nearly all of the Pentagon (and other government) needs. From bullets to mainframes to satellites, Lockheed provides so many of the U.S. government's needs, it receives as much as one-third of the Pentagon's budget a year, making it the #1 contractor in the U.S. The article quotes an analyst: ''Now it's a warfare company. It's an integrated solution provider. It's a one-stop shop. Anything you need to kill the enemy, they will sell you.'' On the battlefield, Lockheed not only provides the hardware, it is in the lead in information warfare systems (the computers and networks that help commanders see, analyze intelligence and issue decisions). At a time when the U.S. military is increasingly turning to private contractors (Bechtel, Halliburton among them) and as the U.S. foreign policy continues to be bellicose, companies like Lockheed will continue to grow and influence the state. Read it here >>

Since Wednesday of last week I've been eating non-stop. I started off by attending a launch of an internet TV / video content company that had a good spread. This was followed by my own company's also well-stocked luncheon presentation. The next evening there was a birthday dinner for a friend. And finally Saturday evening another birthday dinner for a friend from which everyone took home doggie bags. And December hasn't even begun!

With no hockey, the CBC has turned to some diverse fill-ins including the national heritage gimmick "The Greatest Canadian" and even subscribing the British standard "Coronation Street" in prime time. So what the hell is going on with the CBC? The article touches on the influences from the successes from the other networks (CTV's "Corner Gas") and how this may mean the CBC will program more regionally. The bad news is that the acclaimed crime drama based in Vancouver, "Da Vinci's Inquest" is ending this year though there are rumours of a spinoff. Hey, bring back "The Beachcombers". As for my pick for greatest Canadian? How about William Shatner. Read more here >>

From the Chicago Sun Times, "That turkey you can't eat ends up as light oil " a story about Paul Baskis, an entrepeneur who has now turned a profit by converting turkey offal (the parts you cannot eat) that are a byproduct of turkey factories (er... farms) into biofuel. Here is a National Geographic article that also adds the political dimension behind these operations.. Read more here >>

Please, my American friends, as you are recovering from or sitting down with a turkey your Thanksgiving (we Canadians had ours in October), please CHILL out and don't criticize others for their table manners. They just might take out a carving fork and begin stabbing all the guests. Read more here >>

I've been picking away at the enjoyable but portentous Lutz Kleveman book on rise of importance of the Central Asian region. Why is Central Asia important again? Why is the U.S. in Afghanistan and threatening Iran? Why are the Russians embroiled in Chechnya and the Chinese clamping down on their Muslim Uighur people? According to Kleveman, it is all about oil, access to reserves and who controls the distribution.

The title refers to 'The Great Game', the name given by Kipling to the cold war fought between Russia, China, and Great Britain at the turn of the 20th century over the collection of countries straddling the mountainous junction that includes parts of the Silk Road, the Hindu Kush, the southern borders of the Russian empire, India and the homes of a dozen Turkish peoples. Back then it was a struggle over the security of British India but today, new players such as the United States, Iran, Pakistan and the fundamentalist Muslim movements struggle to control future resources.

In the book we follow the journalist Kleveman as he personally visits zones of conflict, degrading poverty and immense sudden wealth. Each chapter is like a travelogue of places that read like Marco Polo's itinerary but today are centers for capitalist greed, violent independence movements, corruption and unchecked development (when there isn't a destructive struggle). Kleveman's anecdotes vary from the amusing to the very serious as he examines the effect of the exploitation of new (or previously unprofitable) oil reserves in places where the politics are quite unstable.

Just as the U.S. is having troubles in the Middle East, the other major powers, China and Russia look to be struggling with power questions of their own in their oil fortunes. When reading this one can't but feel like they are previewing the Afghanistan and Iraqi-style wars of the near future only their names will be Xinjiang, Kazahkstan, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan.

The other element of Kleveman's book is that much of the actions taken in the name of the 'war on terror' by the U.S. conveniently coincide with moves to secure a larger American position astride oil resources and access. Likewise Russian moves versus Chechnya and Chinese rule in its western Muslim region. Read more here >>.

I was in an extremely tired state when I laid down on my couch and watched a dub of "Blueberry", a movie adaptation of the Moebius comic western about a U.S. Marshal who was rescued by indians and introduced to peyote. The comic series is well known though I've only seen the images (my French is not so good - that would be an understatement). Anyway, the movie adaptation was the perfect thing to watch on the verge of sickness. Although the film was made by a French studio, by Dutch director Jan Kounen, it was filmed in English with stars Vincent Cassell, Michael Madsen and Juliette Lewis but the dub was in Spanish. In short, I was forced to rely entirely on the images to get the story and after awhile I just gave up. Why did I continue? Well, the imagery was quite something. The plot remained a mystery (I would probably say it was poor but who knows) but the visuals were spectacular, strange and trippy. I suppose that's what you get when you make a film about a stoned cowboy. Between extended CG and inventive photographic effects there was what appeared to be a hum drum vengeance western dominated by sweeping MTV cinematography. In that present tired / sick state, I loved it. I don't want to ever see the English version as it might wreck my impression of it. Official site here >>

MSNBC reports that a group of swimmers off the coast of a New Zealand beach were protected by a pod of dolphins after a Great White appeared to be attacking them. Maybe this was thanks for the prosthetic fin? Read about it here >>.