http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/319/7225/1600

Bond had it right.

Greetings loyal minions. It seems as though your Maximum Leader is becoming nothing more than a relayer of news that one most probably has read elsewhere. He promises that he will write more of substance very soon.

Today he wants to pass along news of the death of Sam Phillips, the founder of Sun Records. It was at Sam Phillips’ Sun Studios in Memphis, TN that Elvis recorded his first record (one for his mother’s birthday). By a stroke of luck, Sam’s secretary remembered Elvis a few months later when Sam wanted to make a record that would be commercially successful. Sam worked with Elvis and they recorded “That’s all right Momma.” That record became an instant hit in Memphis and across the south, and launched Elvis’ career. In a way, Sam was the midwife to Rock and Roll. May he rest in peace.

Carry on.

More Salon Drivel

I guess Punk fans finally figured out that Led Zeppelin were actually good. Amazing. It only took them 30 years.

The Air Marshall owes thanks to “Beaker”, the one who introduced me to Zeppelin in High School.

This article is typical Salon Bush-bashing. Not worthy of too much comment. But has the ML posed this question earlier, I thought it worth mentioning. I don’t think this is the appropriate question. I think a better question would be to ask if our current situation will lead us to a safer world, when we have finished our task. If yes, then it’s worth it. If no, then it was a mistake.

As any homeowner will attest, if you want to get rid of a wasps nest, you run the risk of getting stung. However, disposing of a colony of wasps may well be worth risking getting stung. Unless you are alergic, then you are SOL I guess.

Greetings loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader disappoints himself. He has so many intelligent and topical things to say, but can’t find the time to type out his thoughts. Of course, he had a few hours last night when he could have blogged a little. But instead he sat in front of his new Sony TV and watched a movie with Mrs. Villain. After the movie he watched the Orlando Jones Show.

Allow your Maximum Leader to say that Orlando Jones’ eyes are quite disturbing to view for a prolonged period. They appear as though he has been in a depressurization chamber for too long. Regardless, your Maximum Leader (and Mrs. Villain) watched Orlando Jones because the guest was none other than Jennifer Love Hewitt. It seems that Ms. Hewitt has now dyed her hair blonde. Why? (Your Maximum Leader asks rhetorically.) She was perfectly attractive (very very attractive in fact) with her natural hair colour. Your Maximum Leader suspects that JLH has become jealous of all of the attention he has been giving to blonde conservative uberbabe, Ann Coulter. JLH is vying for your Maximum Leader’s attention by dying her hair blonde… Jennifer… Love… Don’t go changing to try to please me. Your Maximum Leader liked you just the way you were. You still have a special place in my heart. (After Mrs. Villain, and the Villainettes.)

Carry on my minions.

Greetings loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader is a little pressed for time today and not sure that he will have time to post anything of substance. But, he will commend this to you. In the days before Mrs. Villain, your Maximum Leader used to have two lists posted conspicously on his ‘fridge. The first was the “40 Signs of the Mike World Order” list. The second was “The Top 50 Most Desireable Women in the Universe EVER” list. Summer Saunders was Number 8 on that list. (For those of you interested, the Number 1 was Vivien Leigh. Remember, the list said “EVER.” As in all history. Helen of Troy was Number 5. She had to be! Your Maximum Leaders asks -rhetorically- How hot does a woman have to be to get two kingdoms to go to war with each other for over 10 years? Very is the answer.) But, I digress…

Your Maximum Leader thinks that you should go to ESPN’s Page 2, and read “10 Burning Questions for Summer Saunders.”

Carry on.

Greetings loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader was amused to read the following quotation from one Ala’a Makki (the former head of one of Uday Hussein’s TV stations). In his last meeting with Makki, Uday Hussein said: “‘This time I think the Americans are serious. Bush is not like Clinton. I think this is the end.” This quotation is courtesy of the Washington Times. Read the whole article here.

Without trying to gratuitously bash President Clinton, your Maximum Leader believes that at the end Uday put his (soon-to-be-dead-in-a-shootout-with-US-GI’s) finger on something very important. Your Maximum Leader has firmly believe that the inconstancy of US foreign policy under President Clinton was a contributing factor in the 9/11 attacks. Terrorists were emboldened by our lack of resolve in many things foreign and believed that we would not be able/willing to respond forcefully. It seems at the end Uday Hussein might have realized that when Americans set their minds to something, we can make the impossible real.

Carry on.

Greetings loyal minions. Sad news. Bob Hope has passed, aged 100. Your Maximum Leader is saddened at the passing of this great American who did so much for our fighting men. But, he is also glad that Hope rests now with his creator.

Greetings loyal minions! Your Maximum Leader is now declaring that, upon the commencement of the MWO, Samsung must be liquidated! Allow your Maximum Leader to bloviate for a moment. As regular readers may remember, your Maximum Leader’s compound suffered a lightning strike and loss of internet connection in a storm a few weeks ago. During that same storm, the 28 inch RCA Color TV that had well served the Maximum Leader, Mrs. Villain, and the Villainettes for many years was fryed. Your Maximum Leader witnessed the death of the RCA TV. There was a small arc of electricity from the cable jack in the wall down the length of the coax cable towards the TV. An instant later, the RCA TV was history.

So, your Maximum Leader started looking for new TVs. Now, allow your Maximum Leader to state for the record that when it comes to consumer electronics there are three brands that he regards highly. They are: RCA, Sony, and Kenwood. He regards these three for different reasons. For as long as your Maximum Leader can remember he has had an RCA TV. And since Elvis also had RCA TVs your Maximum Leader has always thought of his TV as a small way “The King” and “The Naked Villain” were connected across space and time. Your Maximum Leader has never purchased a Sony product with which he has not been completely satisfied. And your Maximum Leader’s Hi-Fi is a Kenwood system that is still plugging away very well after 15 years… But, I digress…

Your Maximum Leader decided to undertake the conversion of Mrs. Villain from being a regular TV view to a Widescreen HDTV viewer. After much wailing and gnashing of teeth, Mrs. Villain and the Villainettes were convinced that the new TV in the most Villainous Compound would be a Widescreen HDTV. So, your Maximum Leader did research and conferred with knowledgable men and decided that a Samsung 42 inch Widescreen HDTV would both satisfy his TV viewing needs and fit within the amount he had allocated to spend. So, your Maximum Leader went down to his perveyors of electronics and bought one.

Much to his dismay, upon getting the TV to the Villainous Compound and setting it up; there was a very noticeable green stripe on one side of the screen that would not go away. For those of you out there who might be thinking that your Maximum Leader didn’t try hard to get rid of the green stripe, allow him to disabuse you of that notion. Your Maximum Leader adjusted the convergence (both manually and automatically), adjusted the RGB levels, and did all of the standard sharpness, contrast, brightness stuff. Nothing would get rid of the green stripe. So, as you might think appropriate, your Maximum Leader went back to the electronics perveyor and requested a new TV.

Three days later, a new TV was brought to the Villainous Compound. It too was installed. It too was adjusted. AND IT TOO HAD A PERSISTENT STRIPE ON THE SCREEN THAT WOULD NOT DIE!!!!! For the sake of full disclosure, your Maximum Leader will admit that the stripe was not green, but yellowish/greenish; and it was considerably smaller than the previous TV’s green stripe.

So, your Maximum Leader returned to the electronics perveyor, had the General Manager dragged out and shot, and then discussed calmly (please remember your Maximum Leader is famously even-tempered) his situation with a young, attractive female manager in the customer service department. (Your Maximum Leader couldn’t help but let his mind wander and imagine her ina Naked Villainy Camisole or Naked Villainy Thong… But, I digress again.)

Your Maximum Leader was now convinced that ALL SAMSUNG PRODUCTS WERE NOT WORTHY OF BEING USED AS TOILETS!. I am well aware that Samsung is a very well known component maker for other marque’s TVs. But who cares! They might make great components, but they make a piece of worthless crap TV. Your Maximum Leader is so peeved at Samsung now that he will decree that when the MWO begins, Samsung will be dissolved and its assets sold off to the highest bidders. The, former, Samsung President (or Senior VP) of Consumer Electronics will be dragged out and shot. The electrical engineers who designed this faulty peice of crap will be drawn and quartered. And all of the assembly line workers who put the TV together will be given 10 lashes each and forced to beg forgivness of the Maximum Leader in front of the gates of the Villainous compound. But, once again, I digress…

So, at the urging of the comely customer service manager, your Maximum Leader was ushered quietly over to the widescreen TVs and encouraged to choose another model. As befits a man of his stature and regal bearing, the customer service manager and the TV Department manager attended to your Maximum Leader’s needs. (At least his TV needs.) When all was said and done, there was a new Sony 46 inch Widescreen HDTV on its way to the Villanous Compound.

Allow your Maximum Leader to say - this TV IS THE GREATEST! Your Maximum Leader, Mrs. Villain, and the Villainettes love it. There is no stripe. It was easy to set up. The universal remote that came with it is much easier to use. The picture is great. The sound is fantastic. And your Maximum Leader is wondering why he is blogging now instead of watching a movie. Regardless, your Maximum Leader is very happy. He is looking forward to watching The Simpsons tonight. And he is looking forward to many years of happy TV viewing in the future.

Your Maximum Leader thanks the Sony Corporation for making such great TVs.

Carry on.

Greetings Loyal Minions! Your Maximum Leader has decided to partner up with CafePress.com to open his all new Villainous Commerce shop. Go my Minions! Buy! Buy! Buy!

Show your support for the MWO with a T-Shirt or mug. For the ladiesout there, try our Maximum Leader’s special undergarment.

Carry on and stimulate the economy my minions!

Greetings loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has been toying with the HTML of his blog site. He is still looking for the right colour scheme….

Carry on.

Greetings loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader just finished reading his Poet Laureate’s account of boshin-t’ang. Good read. Except for the part about Ted Koppel’s anatomy, it is very interesting. Click through and read!

Carry on.

Greetings again loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader is both pleased and disappointed to report that the previously mentioned Hunting for Bambi site is a hoax. He is pleased in that the prospect of such a thing was vile. He is disappointed in so much as so many people were suckered into believing it. Sad really.

Carry on.

Would the world be a safer place had the 9/11 attacks not happened? Impossible to say. Would the world have been a better place had the Japanese not attacked Pearl Harbor? Maybe 9/11 opened our eyes to a reality thad we had been (deliberately?) unaware of. I put this question on the table… Have our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq made the world safer?

Perhaps 9/11 and our governments (IMHO appropriate) responses to it haven’t necessarily made the world safer, but have accelerated our reaction to issues that we should have been paying closer attention to in the pre 9/11 world. Maybe we have been put on a path that can lead us to a safer world.

The real questions are what should our goal be in foreign policiy, what should our time frame be, and by what metrics can we measure success.

Greetings one last time today loyal minins. Mrs. Maximum Leader and the Villainettes (your Maximum Leader’s progeny) went to see the Titan Arum bloom today. Indeed your Maximium Leader is somewhat jealous of Mrs. Maximum Leader and the Villainettes getting to see this rare exquisite flower. Not only is the bloom 5 feet high, but it smells like rotting flesh. Perhaps this should be the official flower of the MWO? Hummm…

Learn more about this flower here, here and here.

Carry on my minions.