Number 878: The Farthest Man From Home: The Hunt For Red October

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099810/taglines

IMDb

The Hunt for Red October (1990)

Taglines

Invisible. Silent. Stolen.

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http://www.chakoteya.net/movies/movie4.html

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

KIRK: You asked. Now, do tell me something? ...George and Gracie's transmitter. What's the radio frequency?

GILLIAN: Sorry, that's classified. Look, I don't really have a clue who you are. Really! You wouldn't want to show me around your space ship, would you?

KIRK: That wouldn't be my first choice, no.

GILLIAN: Well, there we are.

http://www.azlyrics.com/k/killers.html

AZ

THE KILLERS

album: "Day & Age" (2008)

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/killers/human.html

AZ

THE KILLERS

"Human"

I did my best to notice
When the call came down the line
Up to the platform of surrender
I was brought but I was kind

And sometimes I get nervous
When I see an open door
Close your eyes, clear your heart
Cut the cord

Are we human or are we dancer?
My sign is vital, my hands are cold
And I'm on my knees looking for the answer
Are we human or are we dancer?

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http://www.divxmoviesenglishsubtitles.com/C/Christmas_Carol_A.html

Christmas Carol A

Spirit, answer me one question.
Are these the shadows of things that will be...
...or the shadows of things that may be, only?
Men's actions determine certain ends if they persist in them.
But if their actions change, the ends change too.
Say it is so with what you show me.
Am I...
...the man that lay upon that bed?
Oh, no, Spirit! Spirit, no, no!
Spirit, hear me.
I'm not...
...the man I was.

http://www.e-reading.org.ua/bookreader.php/79701/Clancy_-_Red_Storm_Rising.txt

Tom Clancy

Red Storm Rising

6 – The Watchers

Toland blinked. There was a tendency in the U.S. Navy to assume that since they made their living by charging into machine-gun fire, Marines were dumb. "Most of the kokolzniki are relatively old folks. The median age is in the late forties, early fifties. So most of the private plots are managed by the older people, while the mechanized work, like driving the combines and trucks-"

"Which pays a hell of a lot better."

"-is done by the younger workers. You're telling me that this way they can increase some food production without the younger men...of military service age."

"One way to look at it," Lowe said. "Politically it's dynamite. You can't take away things people already have. Back in the early sixties, a rumor-wasn't even true-got started to the effect that Khrushchev was going to reduce or eliminate the private plots those poor bastards get. There was hell to pay! I was in the language school at Monterey then, and I remember the Russian papers that came through the language school. They spent weeks denying the story. Those private plots are the most productive sector of their agricultural system. Less than two percent of their arable land, it produces about half of their fruit and potatoes, more than a third of their eggs, vegetables, and meat. Hell, it's the only part of the damned agricultural system that works. The bigshots over there have known for years that by doing this they could solve their food shortage problems, and still they haven't done it for political reasons. They couldn't run the risk of State sponsorship for a whole new generation of kulaks. Until now. But it appears they've done it without making a formal announcement. And it just so happens that they're increasing their military readiness at the same time. I never believe in coincidences, even when I'm a dumb line officer running across a beach."

Lowe's uniform blouse hung in the comer. Toland sipped at his coffee and surveyed its four rows of decorations. There were three repeat pips on his Vietnam service ribbon. And a Navy Cross.

http://www.royal.gov.uk/ImagesandBroadcasts/TheQueensChristmasBroadcasts/ChristmasBroadcasts/ChristmasBroadcast2006.aspx

The official website of The British Monarchy

The Queen's Christmas Broadcasts

Christmas Broadcast 2006

I have lived long enough to know that things never remain quite the same for very long. One of the things that has not changed all that much for me is the celebration of Christmas. It remains a time when I try to put aside the anxieties of the moment and remember that Christ was born to bring peace and tolerance to a troubled world.

The birth of Jesus naturally turns our thoughts to all new-born children and what the future holds for them. The birth of a baby brings great happiness - but then the business of growing up begins. It is a process that starts within the protection and care of parents and other members of the family - including the older generation. As with any team, there is strength in combination: what grandparent has not wished for the best possible upbringing for their grandchildren or felt an enormous sense of pride at their achievements?

http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/09/20040925-2.html

THE WHITE HOUSE

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH

For Immediate Release

Office of the Vice President

September 25, 2004

Vice President's Remarks at a Dinner for Coburn

Doubletree Hotel Tulsa

Tulsa, Oklahoma

September 24, 2004

6:30 P.M. CDT

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you all very much. (Applause.) Well, thank you for the warm welcome. It's to be back in Tulsa and in Oklahoma.

At first Senator Kerry said he didn't really oppose the funding. He both supported and opposed it. Then he said, and I quote, "I actually voted for the $87 billion before I voted against it." That certainly clears things up. (Laughter.) Lately he's been saying he's proud that he and John Edwards voted no, and explains his decision was "complicated."

But funding American troops in combat should never be a complicated question. (Applause.) We need a President who will back our troops 100 percent, and that's exactly what we've got in George W. Bush. (Applause.)

These are not times for leaders who shift with the political winds, saying one thing one day and another the next.

From 5/27/1954 ( premiere US film "The High and the Mighty" ) To 10/25/2004 is 18414 days

18414 = 9207 + 9207

From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 1/17/1991 ( the date of record of my United States Navy Medal of Honor as Kerry Wayne Burgess chief warrant officer United States Marine Corps circa 1991 also known as Matthew Kline for official duty and also known as Wayne Newman for official duty ) is 9207 days

[ See also: http://hvom.blogspot.com/2014/08/davenport_31.html ]

http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/10/20041025-9.html

THE WHITE HOUSE

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH

For Immediate Release

Office of the Press Secretary

October 25, 2004

President's Remarks in Davenport, Iowa

The Rivercenter

Davenport, Iowa

5:30 P.M. CDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Thanks for coming. It is great to be back in the great city of Davenport, Iowa.

Before Senator Kerry got into political difficulty and revised his views

http://www.e-reading.co.uk/bookreader.php/1016709/Clancy_-_the_Hunt_for_Red_October.html

The Hunt For Red October

Tom Clancy

Chapter 2.

THE SECOND DAY

SATURDAY, 4 DECEMBER

Morrow, England

"Halsey's greatest popular success was his greatest error. In establishing himself as a popular hero with legendary aggressiveness, the admiral would blind later generations to his impressive intellectual abilities and a shrewd gambler's instinct to--" Jack Ryan frowned at his computer. It sounded too much like a doctoral dissertation, and he had already done one of those. He thought of dumping the whole passage from the memory disk but decided against it. He had to follow this line of reasoning for his introduction. Bad as it was, it did serve as a guide for what he wanted to say. Why was it that introductions always seemed to be the hardest part of a history book? For three years now he had been working on Fighting Sailor, an authorized biography of Fleet Admiral William Halsey. Nearly all of it was contained on a half-dozen floppy disks lying next to his Apple computer.

"Daddy?" Ryan's daughter was staring up at him.

"And how's my little Sally today?"

"Fine."

Ryan picked her up and set her on his lap, careful to slide his chair away from the keyboard. Sally was all checked out on games and educational programs, and occasionally thought that this meant she was able to handle Wordstar also. Once that had resulted in the loss of twenty thousand words of electronically recorded manuscript. And a spanking.

She leaned her head against her father's shoulder.

"You don't look fine. What's bothering my little girl?"

"Well, Daddy, y'see, it's almost Chris'mas, an...I'm not sure that Santa knows where we are. We're not where we were last year."

"Oh, I see. And you're afraid he doesn't come here?"

"Uh huh."

"Why didn't you ask me before? Of course he comes here. Promise."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Okay." She kissed her father and ran out of the room, back to watching cartoons on the telly, as they called it in England. Ryan was glad she had interrupted him. He didn't want to forget to pick up a few things when he flew over to Washington. Where was--oh, yeah. He pulled a disk from his desk drawer and inserted it in the spare disk drive. After clearing the screen, he scrolled up the Christmas list, things he still had to get. With a simple command a copy of the list was made on the adjacent printer. Ryan tore the page off and tucked it in his wallet. Work didn't appeal to him this Saturday morning. He decided to play with his kids. After all, he'd be stuck in Washington for much of the coming week.

http://www.e-reading.co.uk/bookreader.php/1016709/Clancy_-_the_Hunt_for_Red_October.html

The Hunt For Red October

Tom Clancy

Chapter 4.

THE FOURTH DAY

MONDAY, 6 DECEMBER

CIA Headquarters

Ryan walked down the corridor on the top floor of the Langley, Virginia, headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency. He had already passed through three separate security checks, none of which had required him to open his locked briefcase, now draped under the folds of his buff-colored toggle coat, a gift from an officer in the Royal Navy.

What he had on was mostly his wife's fault, an expensive suit bought on Savile Row. It was English cut, neither conservative nor on the leading edge of contemporary fashion. He had a number of suits like this arranged neatly in his closet by colors, which he wore with white shirts and striped ties. His only jewelry was a wedding band and a university ring, plus an expensive but accurate digital watch on a more expensive gold band. Ryan was not a man who placed a great deal of value in appearances. Indeed, his job was to see through these in the search for hard truth.

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http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0158520/quotes

IMDb

Quotes for

Frederick J. Frenger Jr. (Character)

from Miami Blues (1990)

[last lines]

Frederick J. Frenger Jr.: Susie's gonna get you, Sarge.

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From 11/21/1940 ( premiere US film "Give Us Wings" ) To 7/19/1989 ( Bill Gates-Microsoft-George Bush kills 111 passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 232 and destroys the United Airlines Flight 232 aircraft because I was a passenger of United Airlines Flight 232 as United States Navy Petty Officer Second Class Kerry Wayne Burgess and I was assigned to maintain custody of a non-violent offender military prisoner of the United States ) is 17772 days

17772 = 8886 + 8886

From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 3/2/1990 is 8886 days

From 4/20/1949 ( premiere US film "A Yank Comes Back" ) To 3/2/1990 is 14926 days

14926 = 7463 + 7463

From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 4/9/1986 ( --- ) is 7463 days

From 8/22/1939 ( premiere US film "Fugitive at Large" ) To 4/18/1988 ( the United States Navy Operation Praying Mantis - my biological brother US Navy Fleet Admiral Thomas Reagan and I US Navy FC2 Kerry Wayne Burgess are both at the same time onboard the United States Navy warship USS Wainwright CG 28 when it evaded a Harpoon anti-ship missile from hostile Iran-Bill Gates-Microsoft-George Bush-Axis of Evil-Soviet Union-Communist forces but 2 United States Marine Corps aviators launched from USS Wainwright CG 28 killed this day ) is 17772 days

17772 = 8886 + 8886

From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 3/2/1990 is 8886 days

From 4/18/1988 ( the United States Navy Operation Praying Mantis - my biological brother US Navy Fleet Admiral Thomas Reagan and I US Navy FC2 Kerry Wayne Burgess are both at the same time onboard the United States Navy warship USS Wainwright CG 28 when it evaded a Harpoon anti-ship missile from hostile Iran-Bill Gates-Microsoft-George Bush-Axis of Evil-Soviet Union-Communist forces but 2 United States Marine Corps aviators launched from USS Wainwright CG 28 killed this day ) To 3/2/1990 is 683 days

From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 9/16/1967 ( premiere US TV series "Mannix" ) is 683 days

From 9/26/1960 ( premiere US TV series "The Blue Angels" ) To 1/24/1985 ( the United States Navy submarine warship USS George Washington SSN 598 formerly SSBN 598 decommissioned from United States Navy active service - my biological brother United States Navy Fleet Admiral Thomas Reagan serving as General of the Armies of the United States is the final commanding officer of USS George Washington SSN 598 the active fleet platform ) is 8886 days

From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 3/2/1990 is 8886 days

From 4/19/1936 ( premiere US film "Sky Parade" ) To 8/17/1960 ( premiere US film "The Time Machine" ) is 8886 days

From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 3/2/1990 is 8886 days

From 4/19/1936 ( premiere US film "Sky Parade" ) To 8/17/1960 ( the Soviet Union trial of the United States Central Intelligence Agency pilot Gary Powers begins in Moscow Russia Soviet Union ) is 8886 days

From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 3/2/1990 is 8886 days

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099810/releaseinfo

IMDb

The Hunt for Red October (1990)

Release Info

USA 2 March 1990

http://www.stargate-sg1-solutions.com/wiki/Stargate:_The_Movie_Transcript

STARGATE WIKI

Stargate: The Movie (1994)

[Daniel moves to a blackboard, looking at where the hieroglyphs have already been partly translated into English.]

DANIEL
Well, the translation of the inner track is wrong. Must've used Budge. I don't know why they keep reprinting his books.

http://www.e-reading.co.uk/bookreader.php/1016709/Clancy_-_the_Hunt_for_Red_October.html

The Hunt For Red October

Tom Clancy

Chapter 7.

THE SEVENTH DAY

THURSDAY, 9 DECEMBER

"Cap'n?" He turned. It was Roger Thompson, his sonar officer.

"Yes, what is it?" Mancuso pulled himself away from the tactical display that had occupied his attention for several days. Thompson was standing at the rear of the compartment. Jones was standing beside him holding a clipboard and what looked like a tape machine.

"Sir, Jonesy has something I think you ought to look at."

Mancuso didn't want to be bothered--extended time on duty always taxed his patience. But Jones looked eager and excited. "Okay, come on over to the chart table."

http://www.e-reading.co.uk/bookreader.php/1016709/Clancy_-_the_Hunt_for_Red_October.html

The Hunt For Red October

Tom Clancy

Chapter 7.

THE SEVENTH DAY

THURSDAY, 9 DECEMBER

The North Atlantic

The British Sea Harrier FRS.4 appeared a minute early. It hovered briefly off the Kennedy's port beam as the pilot sized up his landing target, the wind, and sea conditions. Maintaining a steady thirty-knot forward speed to compensate for the carrier's forward speed, he side-slipped his fighter neatly to the right, then dropped it gently amidships, slightly forward of the Kennedy's island structure, exactly in the center of the flight deck. Instantly a gang of deck crewmen raced for the aircraft, three carrying heavy metal chocks, another a metal ladder which he set up by the cockpit, whose canopy was already coming open. A team of four snaked a fueling hose towards the aircraft, eager to demonstrate the speed with which the U.S. Navy services aircraft. The pilot was dressed in an orange coverall and yellow life jacket. He set his helmet on the back of the front seat and came down the ladder. He watched briefly to be sure his fighter was in capable hands before sprinting to the island. He met Ryan at the hatch.

"You Ryan? I'm Tony Parker. Where's the loo?" Jack gave him the proper directions and the pilot darted off, leaving Ryan standing there in a flight suit, holding his bag and feeling stupid. A white plastic flight helmet dangled from his other hand as he watched the crewmen fueling the Harrier. He wondered if they knew what they were doing.

Parker was back in three minutes. "Commander," he said, "there's one thing they've never put in a fighter, and that's a bloody toilet. They fill you up with coffee and tea and send you off, and you've no place to go."

"I know the feeling. Anything else you have to do?"

"No, sir. Your admiral chatted with me on the radio when I was flying in. Looks like your chaps have finished fueling my bird. Shall we be off?"

"What do I do with this?" Ryan held up his bag, expecting to have to hold it in his lap. His briefing papers were inside the flight suit, tucked against his chest.

"We put it in the boot, of course. Come along, sir."

Parker walked out to the fighter jauntily. The dawn was a feeble one. There was a solid overcast at one or two thousand feet. It wasn't raining, but looked as though it might. The sea, still rolling at about eight feet, was a gray, crinkled surface dotted with whitecaps. Ryan could feel the Kennedy moving, surprised that something so huge could be made to move at all. When they got to the Harrier, Parker took the duffle in one hand and reached for a recessed handle on the underside of the fighter. Twisting and pulling the lever, he revealed a cramped space about the size of a small refrigerator. Parker stuffed the bag into it, slamming the door shut behind it, making sure the locking lever was fully engaged. A deck crewman in a yellow shirt conferred with the pilot. Aft a helicopter was revving its engines, and a Tomcat fighter was taxiing towards a midships catapult. On top of this a thirty-knot wind was blowing. The carrier was a noisy place.

Parker waved Ryan up the ladder. Jack, who liked ladders about as much as he liked flying, nearly fell into his seat. He struggled to get situated properly, while a deck crewman strapped him into the four-point restraint system. The man put the helmet on Ryan's head and pointed to the jack for its intercom system. Maybe American crews really did know something about Harriers. Next to the plug was a switch. Ryan flipped it.

"Can you hear me, Parker?"

"Yes, Commander. All settled in?"

"I suppose."

"Right." Parker's head swiveled to check the engine intakes. "Starting the engine."

The canopies stayed up. Three crewmen stood close by with large carbon dioxide extinguishers, presumably in case the engine exploded. A dozen others were standing by the island, watching the strange aircraft as the Pegasus engine screamed to life. Then the canopy came down.

"Ready, Commander?"

"If you are."

The Harrier was not a large fighter, but it was certainly the loudest. Ryan could feel the engine noise ripple through his body as Parker adjusted his thrust-vector controls. The aircraft wobbled, dipped at the nose, then rose shakily into the air. Ryan saw a man by the island point and gesture to them. The Harrier slid to port, moving away from the island as it gained in height.

"That wasn't too bad," Parker said. He adjusted the thrust controls, and the Harrier began true forward flight. There was little feeling of acceleration, but Ryan saw that the Kennedy was rapidly falling behind. A few seconds later they were beyond the inner ring of escorts.

"Let's get on top of this muck," Parker said. He pulled back on the stick and headed for the clouds. In seconds they were in them, and Ryan's field of view was reduced from five miles to five feet in an instant.

Jack looked around his cockpit, which had flight controls and instruments. Their airspeed showed one hundred fifty knots and rising, altitude four hundred feet. This Harrier had evidently been a trainer, but the instrument panel had been altered to include the read-out instruments for a sensor pod that could be attached to the belly. A poor man's way of doing things, but from what Admiral Painter said it had evidently worked well enough. He figured the TV-type screen was the FLIR readout, which monitored a forward-looking infrared heat sensor. The airspeed gauge now said three hundred knots, and the climb indicator showed a twenty-degree angle of attack. It felt like more than that.

"Should be hitting the top of this soon," Parker said. "Now!"

The altimeter showed twenty-six thousand feet when Ryan was blasted by pure sunlight. One thing about flying that he never got used to was that no matter how awful the weather was on the ground, if you flew high enough you could always find the sun. The light was intense, but the sky's color was noticeably deeper than the soft blue seen from the ground. The ride became airliner smooth as they escaped the lower turbulence. Ryan fumbled with his visor to shield his eyes.

"That better, sir?"

"Fine, Lieutenant. It's better than I expected."

"What do you mean, sir?" Parker inquired.

"I guess it beats flying on a commercial bird. You can see more. That helps."

"Sorry we don't have any extra fuel, or I'd show you some aerobatics. The Harrier will do almost anything you ask of her."

"That's all right."

"And your admiral," Parker went on conversationally, "said that you don't fancy flying."

From 11/9/1978 ( the first flight McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II ) To 4/30/2004 is 9304 days

From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 4/24/1991 ( George Bush - Remarks at a Ceremony for the Posthumous Presentation of the Medal of Honor to Corporal Freddie Stowers ) is 9304 days

From 11/28/1956 ( the Ryan Aeronautical Company X-13 Vertijet makes its first transition from vertical to horizontal flight ) To 4/30/2004 is 17320 days

17320 = 8660 + 8660

From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 7/19/1989 ( the United Airlines Flight 232 crash ) is 8660 days

From 7/21/1952 ( premiere US TV series episode "The Lux Video Theatre"::"The Brigadier" ) To 1/17/1991 ( the date of record of my United States Navy Medal of Honor as Kerry Wayne Burgess chief warrant officer United States Marine Corps circa 1991 also known as Matthew Kline for official duty and also known as Wayne Newman for official duty ) is 14059 days

From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 4/30/2004 is 14059 days

From 7/21/1952 ( premiere US TV series episode "The Lux Video Theatre"::"The Brigadier" ) To 1/17/1991 ( the Persian Gulf War begins as scheduled severe criminal activity against the United States of America ) is 14059 days

From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 4/30/2004 is 14059 days

From 1/16/1992 ( George Bush - Statement on the Anniversary of Operation Desert Storm ) To 4/30/2004 is 4488 days

4488 = 2244 + 2244

From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 12/25/1971 ( George Walker Bush the purveyor of illegal drugs strictly for his personal profit including the trafficking of massive amounts of cocaine into the United States confined to federal prison in Mexico for illegally smuggling narcotics in Mexico ) is 2244 days

[ See also: http://hvom.blogspot.com/2015/02/fast-track-army-said-friday.html ]

http://articles.latimes.com/2004/may/01/world/fg-prison1

Los Angeles Times

THE WORLD

Bush Denounces Troops' Treatment of Prisoners

Images of Americans posing with detainees, first shown on CBS, outrage Arab viewers.

May 01, 2004 Esther Schrader and Patrick J. McDonnell Times Staff Writers

WASHINGTON — President Bush on Friday strongly condemned the alleged mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers even as graphic pictures of abuses aired around the world, angering Arabs and threatening to further undermine the occupation of Iraq.

The images, first broadcast Wednesday on the CBS program "60 Minutes II," show male and female American troops, smiling, posing, laughing or giving the thumbs-up sign in front of naked Iraqi men held at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison, the center for torture during the Saddam Hussein regime.

"Their treatment does not reflect the nature of the American people. That's not the way we do things in America. I didn't like it one bit," Bush said.

http://content.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1672552,00.html

TIME

Bush's New Shades of Gray

By Massimo Calabresi/Washington Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2007

President George W. Bush famously said he doesn't do nuance, but when you're a lame duck who is waging an unpopular war and besieged by criticism, subtlety can be a crucial ally. Bush showed he has embraced the expediency of obfuscation, needle-threading and veiled criticism at his press conference Wednesday as he nuanced his way through questions on the role of Blackwater in Iraq, America's troubled relations with Russia and condemnation by his former top Iraq commander.

Bush still breaks out the rhetorical ball peen hammer when he can, of course. He stubbornly dodged questions about the Sept. 6 attack by Israel on suspected nuclear weapons sites in Syria and, when pressed, shot back at persistent reporters, "This is not my first rodeo." Asked what his definition of torture is, he repeated the now near-meaningless assertion, "We don't torture.