March 8, 2008 archive

To some, the most disturbing part of this video is Bush killing time while waiting for John McCain by doing a stupid little dance. But we know Bush is a nincompoop. What I find most disturbing- what I’ve always found most disturbing about his press appearances- is the seeming giddy laughter whenever he makes an insipid little “joke.” These are supposed to be professional journalists. Do they really find him funny? Or are they so shallow and simple-minded that proximity to a “president” makes them fawn, babble, and drool? I guess we’ll find out, next year. And I’m not sure which is worse.

Do you feel all sophisticated from the early morning “art attack”, I know I do.

What can I say, my mother liked Carole King back in the day. I suspect the main reason I jumped so quickly onto the punk bandwagon when it first came out was that mu mother was a big folkie. I still like Gordon Lightfoot.

Please don’t rec pony party, hang out and chit chat and then go read the excellent offerings on our recent and rec’d list.

I can only smile while I’m watching you shout

there’s too many people moving in the

frame they don’t know about

Saturday’s Headlines: Sharp Drop in Jobs Adds to Grim Picture of U.S. Economy: Depopulation Boom: Chavez urges unity after summit: Wal-Mart plants seeds of alliance with Latin farmers :Spain cancels election rallies after murder:  Anxious moments as Europe’s freighter makes maiden flight to space station: Lawyer missing after criticising China’s human rights record: Malaysia voters vow to bring change despite fears of poll fraud: Tearful funeral for slain Israeli religious students in Jerusalem: Arab leaders threaten to boycott Damascus summit: ‘They made me chant Robert Mugabe is always right, while I was being beaten’

A Kurdish Society of Soldiers

In Rugged N. Iraq, Guerrillas Forge a Unity Based on Hardship and Defiance

ZAP VALLEY, Iraq — On the day the Turkish soldiers withdrew from Iraq, 40 Kurdish guerrillas convened to bury five of their dead

The corpses were wrapped in black plastic and camouflage tarp, lashed to stretchers fashioned from branches, and draped in the flag of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. In silence the guerrillas stacked large rocks into five piles, resting the stretchers end-to-end on the cairns. They stood in two rows with machine guns pointed above the mountains that surrounded them and waited for their leader to speak.

Last surviving U.S. World War I vet honored by president

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Frank Woodruff Buckles was just 15 years old when he joined the U.S. Army. Soon, he was deployed to war and headed overseas on the Carpathia — the same ship used in the rescue mission of the Titanic.

He drove ambulances in Britain and France for soldiers wounded during World War I.

A few decades later, Buckles was in the Philippines as a civilian, on December 7, 1941, the day Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. He was taken as a prisoner of war for 39 months in Manila, eating his meals out of a single tin cup.

More than 60 years later, he still clings to that cup, the one that sustained his life. Weathered with age, the cup has flecks of white paint chipped off. He keeps it as a reminder of his sacrifice for the country he so loves. He also still has his dog tags.

I’m finally getting ready to make good on my threat to start a website or three.  (You’ll like them.)  I’d like to know people’s feelings about GoDaddy and other domain name registrars.  Also, how much does DomainsByProxy cost and with whom do they work besides GoDaddy?  Finally, one thing I’m going to want to start is a wiki; does anyone have experience with WetPaint.com, or know of better Wiki-hosting alternatives?

Some of my considerations: I’d like to prepare for the site to grow over time, and to be able to up the bandwidth as it becomes necessary with minimal hassle.  I’d also like advice on how to acquire a template, etc.  These are vague questions, I realize, but that means I can benefit from almost any level of guidance.

Would you like some bug spray with them dumplins’?

A chemical analysis by police of pesticide-tainted gyoza dumplings sold in Chiba and Hyogo prefectures added weight to the speculation that the food was poisoned in China, where it came from, and not in Japan.

On the heels of the nasty gyoza scandal, a deputy commissioner general of the National Police Agency was to visit Chinese public security officials to discuss bilateral cooperation in criminal investigations.

A frozen-food company in Kagawa Prefecture said that pesticide was detected in frozen mackerel imported from China. The fish had been distributed to sushi restaurants throughout Japan.

Obama gets letter from Obama

The Yomiuri Shimbun

FUKUI–The Obama municipal government in Fukui Prefecture has received a letter from U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama, the municipal government announced Tuesday.

In the letter, Obama said he appreciated the support he received from the people of Obama and praised the city’s rich culture, deep tradition and natural beauty.

“I am touched by your friendly gesture,” he wrote.

“We share more than a common name; we share a common planet and common responsibilities,” he wrote.

According to the municipal government, the letter, which was typed and dated from Washington D.C., Feb. 21, was sent by airmail to Mayor Toshio Murakami on Monday.

“The letter will help citizens of Obama feel much closer to [Barack] Obama,” Murakami said.

{Donna Alert!!!}

btw I remember this show! Thus proving Robin Williams partly wrong, more from a great show below…

When you choose one way out of many, all the ways you don’t take are snuffed out like candles, as if they’d never existed.  At the moment all Will’s choices existed at once.  But to keep them in existence meant doing nothing.  He had to choose, after all.

~Phillip Pullman, The Amber Spyglass – His Dark Materials Book 3

Reading the His Dark Materials trilogy, the oddest thing about it to me is how as characters learn that Lord Asriel’s plan is to attempt to storm heaven and overthrow God, every character who learns about it finds it natural and is immediately willing to do what they can to help.   I find this shocking, as people in general are quite willing to find most governments to be evil, including their own, but instinctively recoil from any attempt to overthrown not only their own government, but nearly all governments.

This is today’s quote for discussion.