Northman's Fury

when I first heard about it. I thought it was just some made-up story designed to make Romney look bad, but apparently it's actually legit.

The white Chevy station wagon with the wood paneling was overstuffed with suitcases, supplies, and sons when Mitt Romney climbed behind the wheel to begin the annual 12-hour family trek from Boston to Ontario.

As with most ventures in his life, he had left little to chance, mapping out the route and planning each stop. The destination for this journey in the summer of 1983 was his parents' cottage on the Canadian shores of Lake Huron. Romney would be returning to the place of his most cherished childhood memories.

. . .

Before beginning the drive, Mitt Romney put Seamus, the family's hulking Irish setter, in a dog carrier and attached it to the station wagon's roof rack. He'd built a windshield for the carrier, to make the ride more comfortable for the dog.

Then Romney put his boys on notice: He would be making predetermined stops for gas, and that was it.

The ride was largely what you'd expect with five brothers, ages 13 and under, packed into a wagon they called the ''white whale.''

As the oldest son, Tagg Romney commandeered the way-back of the wagon, keeping his eyes fixed out the rear window, where he glimpsed the first sign of trouble. ''Dad!'' he yelled. ''Gross!'' A brown liquid was dripping down the back window, payback from an Irish setter who'd been riding on the roof in the wind for hours.

As the rest of the boys joined in the howls of disgust, Romney coolly pulled off the highway and into a service station. There, he borrowed a hose, washed down Seamus and the car, then hopped back onto the highway. It was a tiny preview of a trait he would grow famous for in business: emotion-free crisis management.

I'm not sure what is more disturbing; that Romney strapped the family pet to the roof of his car for a twelve-hour highway road trip, or the fact that the reporter thought this story was an excellent way to introduce a profile of the guy.

Note to reporters: Cool-headed crisis management is more impressive when you're not responsible for creating the easily foreseeable crisis to manage.

Strapping the family pet to the car's roof was an amusing anecdote for National Lampoons, but is normally preceded by the warning for other people to not try it themselves. I mean, what kind of cruel bastard would treat their family pet that way?

Oh well. if his Presidential campaign doesn't work out, he can always apply for CEO of Air Canada.

Air Canada has declared its aircraft no-fly zones for pets.

As of next month, animals will no longer be allowed aboard any Air Canada flights.

While the airline barred pets from aircraft cabins last September, the restriction now applies to the baggage compartment as well.

One of the great joys of living on Baffin Island, where the only feasible travel option is by air, is watching the restrictions to air travel get greater and greater. I don't even want to think what will happen if the other airlines follow suit.

I don't travel with my dog all that often, it's been enough of a hassle as is, but it's nice to at least have the option.

Oh well, I'll keep this story flagged for the next time I hear someone bitching about how society is being overly generous to pet owners.

I had thought about posting something about this story myself, but when I find something as well written as this, I just step aside and point it out.

It's like Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman or Godzilla Vs. any of the other rubber monsters he was set up against in the movies; one ludicrous thing against another makes for bad movies. It makes the US into a bad movie too when we put our near-idolatrous worship of the "troops" against our hysterical phobia about Latin American illegals. One way or another, the winner will be a monster.

Yaderlin Hiraldo entered the US illegally from the Dominican Republic in 2001 and she married Army specialist Alex Jimenez in 2004. Her green card was in the works as they say. Jiminez is one of those missing troops who was taken prisoner and not heard from again until his ID card turned up in an Al Qaeda safe house and a video was found that claimed he had been killed. It's likely that he is dead, but nobody knows for sure whether Yaderlin is a widow. The country was saddened when these men went missing and all the usual rhetoric about supporting the troops was vented. Most of that rhetoric is meant to serve Bush's program of blaming America for his military losses, but all in all, it's a lot of hot air. They're certainly not going to support Mrs. Jiminez, they're going to deport her and if she wants her application to have a chance, she's going to have to leave the country and wait ten years.

So thanks Alex for your service. We're sorry you may have died under horrible circumstances and because of incompetent leaders, but we're not sorry enough that we'll treat your widow like a human being, even though we love to get all gooey about the sanctity of marriage - what with her Hispanic origin and all. We will be happy to support some nice blond white troops, but not your sort, so get the hell out of here, we've got to get ready for the 4th of July celebrations where we bow down to our own graven image and chastise Liberals for not supporting the troops.

His prior post on what's happening in Japan is also worth noting, Another addition to the blogroll of blogs better than mine.

The European Parliament has voted down a bid by MEPs from Poland, Finland, the Baltic states, Sweden and Denmark to tighten the legal definition of vodka.

The so-called "vodka belt" countries wanted to restrict the term to spirits made only from potatoes or grain.

But a majority of MEPs voted in favour of a looser definition.

Vodka made from anything other than potatoes or grain will have to say so on the label - but no minimum size for the declaration will be stipulated.

MEPs agreed on a looser definition taking in sugar beet, grapes and even citrus fruit,

Vodka made out of citrus fruit? What the hell is that?