General comments

Greetings loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has been busy preparing for Christmas, and hasn't had time to blog. And after a quick survey of the blogosphere, it seems most of the good topics have been covered at great length, and in many cases more eloquently put than your Maximum Leader can summon up the creativity to match... You see, your Maximum Leader has recently been charged by Mrs. Villain to write the Christmas letter for circulation amongst family and a few very loyal minions. Think of it as an annual circular of the goings on at the Villainschloss and innocuous update on the progress of the MWO. It is quite draining to write a letter that both satisfies the curiosity of the reader who wants to know what is going on, but also does so in a fashion that is unlikely to be duplicated by others. This year's letter will take the unconventional form of a dialogue transcribed for the readers pleasure....

Moving along...

Your Maximum Leader (a member of the NRA and proud gun-owner) does have to concur with the befuddled Minster of Agriculture on the whole shooting guns in the air bit. Eugene Volokh has some interesting posts on this matter here and here. (Okay, the first one is just a statement, but the second one is more interesting.)

Speaking of Eugene Volokh, he recently requested readers of his site to contribute ideas for him. He needs something that could have been invented by ancient Romans, but was not. Here is the link to his post, and here is a follow-up. Your Maximum Leader is still thinking about this. Everything I've come up with would require modern manufacturing techniques.... Humm...


In other news... Does human waste along the highway occur with such frequency in Washington state that legislation should be required to combat it? Makes one wonder about just how livable the Seattle area is.

Ack! First Gwyneth. Now Heidi too? And the father is Italian? Humm... German/Italian relationships haven't worked too well in the past. Not that your Maximum Leader wouldn't want them to be a happy couple.

Your Maximum Leader already tires of all of the whiners around the world (and at home) who want to see Saddam tried in an international court. It is right that the Iraqis should try him. If they want international involvement, I say Saddam can try and hire some of the lawyers who work in the Hague for his defence.

And to close this short post... Your Maximum Leader must state something for the record. The Minister of Agriculture's beef (that is to say the steer he recently slaughtered as his annual tribute to your Maximum Leader) is quite delicious. At the Villainschloss we dined on a fine roast of said beef. It was very tender, it marinaded well, and there is a noticable taste difference from store-bought beef. The flavour of the beef is more direct (for lack of a better description) than in store-bought beef. There is also a flavour that reminds me slightly of lamb in it. (Yes lamb, which I realize isn't cow. Allow me to continue...) Your Maximum Leader believes this is due to two factors, one the youth of the steer when harvested; and the fact that it was grass-fed - not grain-fed. Your Maximum Leader equates this flavour to being fresh and clean with lamb, and feels the same applies here. It was quite good and he looks forward to eating more and more.

Carry on.