just trying to eat my waffles

June 06, 2006

Bush Offers Nucular Technology To Iranians.

VIENNA, Austria - A package of incentives presented Tuesday to Iran includes a provision for the United States to supply Tehran with some nuclear technology if it stops enriching uranium Â— a major concession by Washington, diplomats said.
The offer was part of a series of rewards offered to Tehran by European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, according to the diplomats, who were familiar with the proposals and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were disclosing confidential details of the offer.
The package was agreed on last week by the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia Â— the five veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council, plus Germany, in a bid to resolve the nuclear standoff with Iran.

So far, it appears AP is out there alone on this development. The New York Times reported earlier that the package contained a combination of carrots and sticks: the carrots including aircraft parts and the stick including travel restrictions.

Meanwhile, the Iranians are sending out positive signals.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana met Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani in Tehran to present the package, agreed by the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.
"The proposals had some positive steps in them and some ambiguities which should be removed," Larijani said after receiving the proposals. He did not elaborate on the "ambiguities".
"We hope, after we study the proposal in detail, we will have another round of talks and negotiations to achieve a balanced and logical conclusion," he said.

But are the Iranians merely stringing everybody along until they work out the bugs in their cascade process? Stay tuned.

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Ike's Message To Us

In this newsreel, General Eisenhower remembers D-Day with a message that applies equally well in 2006.

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June 05, 2006

All They Wanted Was Freedom

Seventeen years ago yesterday, the massacre happened.

More still photos here.

I'd say something about "lest we forget," but I know we already have forgotten. All they wanted was freedom.

h/t J.D.

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1 Annika, A very sad day indeed. Terrible to see the the workings of authoritarianism at it's worst. However, to one degree or another ALL societies will kill those that they feel are determined to overthrow the government or seriously destroy or intend to harm the "civil order" or ignore the rule of law. Most countries have in their histories many examples of horrors committed against civilians that were asking or demanding what you, I think, simplistically call "freedom". How different was the assination of Fred Hampton and other Black Panthers? Or the army shooting students at Kent state? Or the Nepalese King fighting the "maosists" who in fact were simply insisting on a return to a parlimentary democracy? Or the brutal strike breaking of the 20's and 30's? Or the black listing and harassment of Americans by the FBI in the early 50's? Or the Samoza death squads? And what would it have looked like had the voters of Alambama rioted, and been killed by the hundreds by the army in Montgomery? Could one have said all they wanted was the freedom to run their state the way they wanted? The victors write the history books. There are thousands of examples in the 20th century of government oppression and murder around the globe. Our President shakes hands with these people every day, pats them on the back and looks into their eyes and sees........ money and keeps his mouth shut. Nobody has done any differently in America that I can remember. We Like that slug Kaddafi now that he willing to talk about oil sales, before that he was a terrorist supporting "Saddam" and the bomber of flight 103. But I guess he went to sensitivity training and had an epiphany like our marines from Haditha will. How many Iraqi's are frighting for their freedom from our immoral occupation? Tiennamin was horrific and dramatic but not special or unique. Just well covered on television in a country that prides itself on protecting "freedom" while frequently doing the opposite. We feel better about our transgressions when viewing thoses of others. Especially when they are commies posing as capitalists buying the notes on our houses.

Posted by: strawman at June 06, 2006 10:16 AM (G2Zzw)

2 Strawman, What a bunch of sophmoric babble. You managed to mix moral relativism, partisan talking points, distorted history, and a strawman or two all at once. Talk about a toxic brew. I don't have enough time during a work day to respond to such nonsense. Where does one even begin? However, you were able to cram 3 or 4 posts worth of BS into just 1. So congrats on achieving excellent efficiency.

Posted by: Blu at June 06, 2006 01:56 PM (RZ8UN)

3 Blu, Thanks pal, coming from another purulent purveryer of bullshit I am pleased. But the images of Tinenemin un-contextualized are just propaganda. As I said before sympathy for the innocent lives lost is too simple; they cannot just be morned without some reflection on the notion of freedom in America as well as in China and how there is a straight line to Iraq and our "not like the Chinese" protection of freedom that becomes our rationale for nation destruction and world hegemony disguised as the answer to Annika's "all they wanted was freedom" Boo Fucking Hoo! Are you trying to tell me you don't owe the Chinese any money?

Posted by: strawman at June 06, 2006 04:21 PM (G2Zzw)

4 Straw, "There are thousands of examples in the 20th century of government oppression and murder around the globe." -And 40 million of those examples were killed by the Maoist in China, 40 million Ukrainian peasants, zeks, and other undesirible lives were extiguished by the C.C.C.P., 3 million by Pol Pot, a million or so in the Balkans shot through the neck by Tito. -Some can tolerate the wholesale, systematic, calculated, state sanctioned murder of tens of millions as long as there's a sociallist finger on the trigger, but cannot hide their indignation over 4 kids at Kent State or a few punks with concussions at the University of Wisconsin who were, ironically, protesting a war to contain the expansion of the murderous Marxists.

Posted by: Jasen at June 06, 2006 07:39 PM (NNc2j)

5 The two systems are vastly different and history shows that although ours isn't perfect, it is morally superior to theirs. Just in human toll even in our darkest days (Civil War) we can't hold a candle to Soviet casaulties under Stalin, just as one example. Innocents have lost thier lives on our soil but it's a rare occurence compared with our sikel & starred friends. We've had embarrassing moments but I'm all for killing to protect our form of government, if that's what it takes.

Posted by: Mike C. at June 06, 2006 07:43 PM (wZLWV)

6 "How different was the assination of Fred Hampton and other Black Panthers? Or the army shooting students at Kent state?" Well, let me see...hmmm.....??Oh, I know! You see, I can read about both of these from a number of sources, including sources available in public, government-sanctioned schools. (Hey, Straw, do you think the youth of China get to see that video or learn about the fateful day in government schools? What do you think would happen to the teacher who dared to show that video?) And you know what, Straw? If I do actually read about these events you used as such shining examples of moral equivalence, my government won't put a bullet in my brain and send my family the bill. "And what would it have looked like had the voters of Alambama rioted, and been killed by the hundreds by the army in Montgomery?" Nice Strawman, Strawman! "Or the black listing and harassment of Americans by the FBI in the early 50's?" Yeah, yeah, yeah, and the Rosenbergs were innocent, right Straw? Perhaps, you haven't kept up on the volumes of documentation that has come out the former USSR proving that Soviets were actively trying to integrate themselves into the American entertainment industry throughout the mid-20th century. "Our President shakes hands with these people every day, pats them on the back and looks into their eyes and sees........ money and keeps his mouth shut." Really? What world leader did he shake hands with today that then went home and ran over his people with tanks and shot them indiscriminately? Nice imagery, Straw, but your comment is devoid of specifics and any intellectual content. Just because youÂ’d like something to be true or it sounds really neat when you write it, doesnÂ’t make it true. "Tiennamin was horrific and dramatic but not special or unique." Maybe not in Cuba, China, the former USSR, or other communist countries, Straw. But certainly unique from the perspective of Western democracies. Â“But the images of Tinenemin un-contextualized are just propaganda.Â” Oh really? What context do you suppose that video requires, Straw? You want to make that asinine statement to one of the parents who lost a child? Perhaps if you put it in the right Â“context,Â” the parent will feel better. Maybe, you could explain that their child was an enemy of the State (and thus Â“the peopleÂ”) and, therefore, Comrade Mao dictates that the person must be killed. Heck, maybe you could provide them with a copy of your very own little Red Book. Hey Straw, when Rodney King got the shit beat of him by all those police and it was caught on video, were you in the middle of South Central demanding the folks keep the video in proper context? Yeah, I can just imagine you walking up to a large group of black men in South Central, looking them in the eye, and saying Â“Boo Fucking Hoo!Â” Yeah, that would be interesting.

Posted by: Blu at June 06, 2006 08:13 PM (RZ8UN)

7 This video's a good reminder to South Koreans about the country they want to cozy up to in their haste to divorce themselves from America. I've long said that China will be a much harsher mistress than the US ever was. Is Korea in such a hurry to return to being China's vassal state? As an American who lives in Asia and now has some understanding of the Asian viewpoint, I'll say this: things work more slowly in Asia. The seeds of democracy have been planted, and there are people of conscience quietly working toward a better day in China. Take heart: think in terms of centuries, not decades. Not an easy task for us Americans; we like instant solutions. But right now, in China, a quiet group of Michelangelos is chipping away at the monolith of communism. Trust that there's a Lady Liberty hidden inside, stronger than any stone. It may not be happening fast enough, but it's happening. People haven't forgotten. Kevin

Posted by: Kevin Kim at June 07, 2006 03:08 AM (TDwc6)

8 Blu, Time for just a few thoughts tonight. Why pick on Ethel and Julius when I said thousands? The beating of RK was in context. LA cops are a reliably racist enty and that incident was a perfect example and consistant with the data. And more importantly to you and all the others: My criticism of the democracy's of the planet, ours in particular DOES NOT MEAN I condone or don't abhor the atrocities of ALL GOVERNMENTS! Marxist, Leninist, Capitalist. ALL, I am not sympathic to the CHinese and felt they were BAD PEOPLE. Jeezz! Please read and do not infer what I have not implied. I just do not feel the atrocities, diminished as they may be,(although Iraq is pretty major as was Vietnam), of America get a pass because others do worse! Do you? America does way better than the Soviets did, the Chinese and most others, but sometimes she gets it real wrong and it must be acknowledged and if persitant it must be attacked no less vociferously than if it were the Chinese. Jasen, YOu are the punk ass as are all who stand on the sidlines and applaud as the democracy they cherish get trampled because the violence pleases their cowardly angry hearts. I was beaten and gassed in Madison in '67,( and dozens of time hence) and saw heads cracked open and the only punks there were guys like you who though they had lost a great opportunity to get interviewed by Dow Chem and whined that their rights were abridged. My answer then as it is now Boo fucking hoo! Dickweed. KevinKim- I certainly hope you are right. Generally I think of the adage about the wheat bending to the wind when I think of the long range outcome and unfortunately I don't envision the wind as democracy.

Posted by: strawman at June 07, 2006 05:37 PM (G2Zzw)

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Peter Pumpkin The Spectacular Pumpkin, Episode 40

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June 03, 2006

iPod Name That Tune

Okay here's a fun idea I just came up with. I was inspired by Sheila's old "Guess the First Lines of Novels" game, which is a lot of fun to look at, even though the game is long over.

Then I thought about my Friday iPod post. How boring is it to just post the songs, hoping you'll think I'm cool and all eclectic and shit. Why not give my readers a chance to show how cool you are.

So here's the opening four lines from ten random songs off my iPod. Some of them should be easy, and some will probably be impossible. You could google the lyrics, but I don't know how you'd sleep at night if you did so. Anyways, if you do google, don't post the answer because someone else might want to guess.

There are no prizes in this game, just good karma.

Can you guess the title and the artist? Green means somebody got it. Good luck!

We took a walk that night, but it wasn't the same
We had a fight on the promenade out in the rain
She said she loved me, but she had somewhere to go
She couldn't scream while I held her close

when a man is running from his boss
Who holds a gun that fires Â’costÂ’
And people die from being cold
Or left alone because theyÂ’re old

Well they're still racing out at the trestles
But that blood it never burned in her veins
Now I hear she's got a house up in Fairview
And a style she's trying to maintain

If I listened long enough to you
I'd find a way to believe that its all true
Knowing that you lied straight-faced while I cried
Still I look to find a reason to believe

There is freedom within, there is freedom without
Try to catch the deluge in a paper cup
ThereÂ’s a battle ahead, many battles are lost
But youÂ’ll never see the end of the road while youÂ’re travelling with me

Love, look at the two of us
Strangers in many ways
WeÂ’ve got a lifetime to share
So much to say and as we go on from day to day

Well, take me back down where cool water flows, yeah.
Let me remember things I love,
StoppinÂ’ at the log where catfish bite,
WalkinÂ’ along the river road at night,

on a cobweb afternoon
in a room full of emptiness
by a freeway i confess
i was lost in the pages

Oh I have been out searching with the black book in my hand
And I've looked between the lines that lie on the pages that I tread
I met the walking dude, religious, in his worn down cowboy boots
He walked liked no man on earth I swear he had no name

he bought a sterilized hypo
to shoot a sex machine drug
he got 24 hours
to shoot all paulenes between the legs

In other news, coming in July: the return of annika's journal Jeopardy. Bigger and badder than ever. Consider this a warm-up.

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Worthwhile Reading

Much as I hate to link to the New York Times, occasionally they print something that's worth a recommendation. Here's a background story on the internal White House discussions that preceded our latest overture to Iran. It's most notable for illustrating the incredible regard President Bush has for Condoleezza Rice's advice.

[T]he story of how a president who rarely changes his mind did so in this case Â— after refusing similar proposals on Iran four years ago Â— illustrates the changed dynamic between the State Department and the White House in Mr. Bush's second term. When Colin L. Powell was secretary of state, the two buildings often seemed at war. But 18 months after Ms. Rice took over, her relationship with Mr. Bush has led to policies that one former adviser to Ms. Rice and Mr. Bush said "he never would have allowed Colin to pursue."

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The Most Amazing Thing You've Ever Seen

On Yahoo! Answers, somebody asked the question: "What is the most amazing sight you have ever seen?" Lots of people mentioned either the birth of a child or some astronomical phenomenon. It's interesting that a fair number of answers involved marine mammals, including my own answer:

i went whale watching and saw a blue whale, that was amazing. but the most amazing thing happend later that day when our boat got caught in a gigantic school of dolphins. seriously there were like thousands of dolphins jumping for like miles around our boat. i'll never forget that.

I'm curious, what is the most amazing thing you ever saw?

Posted by: annika at 12:18 PM | Comments (33) | Add Comment
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1 My husband and I were on our honeymoon in Mexico and there was a large red star that we were commenting on night after night. Then as we were both watching it, it split in two and one half took off and we watched it move through space for several minutes. It was amazing.

Posted by: jane at June 03, 2006 12:43 PM (Ffvoi)

2 It is a close enough to a tie between the guy blocking the tanks at Tiananmen Square and the night people partied on the top of the Berlin Wall.

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at June 03, 2006 12:44 PM (DdRjH)

3 The stars at night - from upon a prairie, a desert, or an ocean.

Posted by: gcotharn at June 03, 2006 01:50 PM (Rhyyb)

4 Rocket launches from my front porch in Satllite Beach, Florida.

Posted by: Greta (Hooah Wife) at June 03, 2006 02:19 PM (Cbtbf)

5 Jane, are you sure you guys didn't take a wrong turn and end up in Area 51? ;-)

Posted by: annika at June 03, 2006 04:05 PM (fxTDF)

6 I think the most amazing thing I ever saw was watching tv in 1969 when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon. Everyone had their eyes on the television set. If you had to go to the store or out to dinner, everywhere had tv sets turned on so you could watch the moon walks, etc. It was wonderful.

Posted by: Beth Donovan at June 03, 2006 04:52 PM (9FPYz)

7 It was quite freaky even that we were both looking at it the same moment and it took a long time when it split apart.

Posted by: jane at June 03, 2006 05:23 PM (y6n8O)

8 Two or three years ago when all the lights went out on the East Coast, we laid on our backs on the roof of our NYC apartment, with a bunch of people who couldn't get home because they couldn't find Brooklyn in the dark, and we watched the stars. It was unbelievable. NYC is bright as day all night, and suddenly, there was no light, nothing, and you could see millions and millions and millions of stars. At that moment, I felt so small and insignificant.

Posted by: E.M. at June 03, 2006 06:07 PM (qx/RL)

9 I love reading all of these! Most amazing thing I ever saw was a herd of wild horses running across the plains in North Dakota, as a thunderstorm approached. They were bucking and whinnying, their manes wild - running and running and running - I've never seen anything like it. I felt like I was back in time or something.

Posted by: red at June 03, 2006 07:14 PM (Tx/iW)

10 Christian Bale driving the new and improved Batmobile. Holy monkeys. But in all seriousness....tough call. When my two good friends came back from their second and third tour in Iraq, it was quite an amazing sight. There are others, but that's at the forefront, for sure.

Posted by: Portia at June 03, 2006 07:25 PM (nb8rZ)

11 The Statue of Liberty. Okay, I didn't get so much of a good look at it, but it was amazing from what I could see. I was flying back from Europe, and it was a clear night. The statue was lit up, and the harbor right behind it. It's just like you'd imagine, just like a postcard. As we were getting closer, I was all set to take a picture of it when we made this neck-breaking turn to avoid being shot down by the air defense artillery. I can't even claim I got to see the most beautiful stars I've ever seen - instead of seeing the beacon of hope, welcoming me to the melting pot that is America, I saw water. So, somehow I've managed to stick water in here, but I didn't really see any fish or aquatic mammals. It was really that I was close to the Statue of Liberty, and all that stood for. That half-a-second glimpse was one of the best times of my life. I should point out that this was after I'd been in Iraq for a year, and I would soon see the green, green grass at Ft. Dix, real women in real clothes, and be back with my family in my home.

Posted by: John at June 03, 2006 08:16 PM (GLL2F)

12 Vince Young scampering for the winning touchdown in the Rose Bowl. That is a golden moment etched upon my mind.

Posted by: kyle8 at June 04, 2006 05:56 AM (UuhkQ)

13 Great stories everyone! I didn't think about stuff i'd seen on tv. But if i did, I would have to include seeing the spontaneous outpouring of people who lined the street when Ronald Reagan's body was driven from Pt. Mugu to the Reagan Library. That was totally unexpected and amazing. And I think tomorrow is the anniversary of his death.

Posted by: annika at June 04, 2006 08:46 AM (fxTDF)

14 Well just to stick to the nature genre: Most Powerful - The eyewitness destruction from the eruption of Mt Pinatubo. Three days of pitch black with the earth continually shaking, and then the jungle disappeared over night. It was like awakening from a weeklong blizzard at dawns first light, only the snow was grey. Most Wonderous - A mid-summer meteor shower in the Sierras in 1982. I thought that it was ALWAYS like that. Most Calming - The waterfalls of Yosemite Most Erotic - Debbie Miller's tits

Posted by: Casca at June 04, 2006 10:05 AM (2gORp)

15 When I was young and we still lived in Socal we would go out to the Colorado river for recreation. One day after seeing lightning in the distant mountains we heard a tremendous roar and down the street, a flash flood cut through the earth on it's way to the river. Boulders the size of cars and anything else in it's path ended up in the river. It was an awesome display of nature.

Posted by: Mike C. at June 04, 2006 03:14 PM (wZLWV)

16 At the time of my seeing this (age 11), I didn't quite understand the significance, but I do now. My father, a mechanical engineer at the time, knew one of the main project engineers involved with the workings of one of the world's largest telescopes. The telescope was near completion when my father's friend allowed us to see it. Words can't even express how small one feels before such a giant of man's creations. I felt even smaller when the rooftop opened up above us, giving us a huge, round view of the sky. Funny, isn't it? The heavens will always fascinate human minds.

Posted by: Lelia Katherine Thomas at June 04, 2006 05:28 PM (7UVnZ)

17 Depends on what you mean by amazing. I've had a porpoise come along side a kayak while in the Gulf of Mexico (the 40 pounds of shrimp we laid out on the table--fried, boiled, stewed--that night was pretty amazing). I've had a staring contest with a baracuda while snorkeling (he won... easily) on Hogsty Reef (which is amazing in its own rights because it has a WWII-era Liberty Ship run aground and still standing there, looking as if it's actually motoring along). In the stargazing category, being on a sail boat 20 miles out to sea... Wow. And the shooting stars. Or in Anza Barega (sp?) in southern California, where the silence is creepy. The blackout was something else (having made my way back to Brooklyn in the dark with that mass of humanity). But I'd have to say walking from Park Slope to Brooklyn Heights on 9/11, seeing the ash on cars in the Heights and pieces of paper that had blown across the river, all those people coming over the Brooklyn bridge, the massive cloud of smoke. And then yesterday, seeing how LITTLE fucking progress the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. has made. Grass growing in The Pit. Flooded in areas from all the rain collecting. But, hey, in five years they've managed to build an Info booth ... and had the multi-culti class to staff it with a Muslim woman wearing all black and a head covering (suprisingly, she wasn't wearing a full Burkha). Now that, my friends, is amazing.

Posted by: JD at June 05, 2006 04:40 AM (xD5ND)

18 Nikki Dial in Hard Bodies. Kidding... KIDDING!!! Well, there are several I can name (besides Ms. Dial): 1. Overflying South Pacific islands and seeing various rock formations jutting up out of the ocean from just a couple of thousand feet in the air. Gorgeous. 2. Sitting on a small beach in Surigao Del Sur in the Philippines, looking out northwest at the waves breaking on the reefs, realizing that, in looking in that direction, there was little between me and Hawaii but 5000 miles of ocean and maybe a stray tuna or two. Or three. Or four-thousand. 3a. Not a "most amazing sight", but a funny coda to the above: Sitting on that beach, literally a God-honest no joke 3 hours from anywhere, taking a peek at my cell phone, and seeing 5 bars of signal strength. Out in the middle of nowhere! Heaven forbid a Filipino be anywhere without texting coverage. 4. In a holding pattern above Chicago once, seeing an algae bloom on Lake Michigan from a mile or so up. It went on for miles. And you had to be up in the air to see it; I couldn't see any evidence of it once on the ground. 5. Passing in a ferry in New York through the shadow of the USS John. F. Kennedy aircraft carrier. Man, that thing is huge! 6. Standing on what was left of a huge tree (possibly redwood?) cut down long ago near San Francisco. I and three others could've made a bed out of that stump and had room to spare. Must've been 7 or 8 feet across, easily. 7. Including this just to show that it's not only superhuge things that amaze me: As a student, dissecting a tiny insect, much smaller than a period at the end of a sentence, to be shown that, in it's gut, were even tinier insectoids that aided it in digestion. I needed a microscope just to see the host, let alone see the things in it's gut. Wild.

Posted by: ElMondoHummus at June 05, 2006 05:47 AM (xHyDY)

19 Casca, You were in Luzon and saw Pinatubo blow? Really? That must've been wild. Relatives tell me it was rather impressive, and they were miles and miles away.

Posted by: ElMondoHummus at June 05, 2006 05:48 AM (xHyDY)

20 Not only was I there... I was standing on the road with a battalion of Marines with live ammo as it started to boil in earnest on Saturday morning. We were going to take Clark back from the RoP security forces who were looting the place (quel surprise). What's your PI connection?

Posted by: Casca at June 05, 2006 06:19 AM (rEC2k)

21 Standing on top of the Great Wall of China and seeing it go on forever and ever...

Posted by: Jen W. at June 05, 2006 07:27 AM (/cQjW)

22 aNNIKA, Nice idea for a thread. The wonders that people have seen are amazing. All I can think of at the moment is a sunset on a cool november evening with an early crescent moon rising to the south, as we drove around the San Carlos reservoir, out in the desert south of Tuson, arriving at the dam with not a sole in sight and suddenly hearing Percy Sledge singing "When a man loves a woman" blasting out of no where, echoing off the hills and mirror still water. The juxtaposition of the incredible stillnes and beauty with the great blues song was quite surreal. What we didin't see were 4 native american boys kicking back in the bed of their pickup with a six pac and a boom box behind some rocks. The experience I missed and think might have been the topper of my life so far, was the night launch of the saturn V in '72 Apollo 17 Dec, 6. My girl friend at the time worked for ABC news and was assistant producing for the launch and got to sit in the bleachers a mile or two away. She had no words to describe the chest pounding power of it. They all felt as if they were going to be crushed out of existence.

Posted by: Strawman at June 05, 2006 09:20 AM (G2Zzw)

23 Taking a train up the Corcovado in Rio and seeing the views from the huge forest on the way and then getting to the top and seeing the whole city of Rio laid out from that magnificent pek with the statue of Christo Redentor. Just a spectacular view. Reminded me of the view at the end of Black Orpheus, one of my favorite movies of all time. The whole city if gorgeous but that view from the trip up on a street car when the view is first on one side and then on the other with the huge old trees between is really magnificent. I sometimes think I would love to just move there.

Posted by: dick at June 05, 2006 11:29 AM (knU/M)

24 It's pretty tough to choose, but if I have to, it's the total solar eclipse I travelled to see up in Canada in 1979. A 360 degree twilight, along with other phenomena, is a thing to behold.

Posted by: Dave E. at June 05, 2006 02:52 PM (y6n8O)

25 The hands down most beautiful thing I've ever seen is the view from the Space Needle Observation deck in Seattle. We were up there (at 10pm!) and watching the sail boats in the bay and waiting for sunset... when a storm started rolling across the mountain range. You could literally see the clouds creeping down the sides of the mountain with lightening and everything, that was incredible. I wish I'd had a better camera then...I'd like to be able to remember it more clearly.

Posted by: alli at June 05, 2006 03:02 PM (9BW95)

26 Wow! I can post from my Blackberry! Which actually sucks in a way, cause I'd rather be using the currently dead cable connection (stupid maintenance mutter mutter...) Anyway Cas, I'm Filipino myself. Got relatives scattered around Cavite & Manila. I don't remember who exactly was telling me about it, but one of the blood relations on dad's side saw it when it was starting to blow. And, from what I understand, promptly got the hell outta there. Understandable. I thought much of the area was evacuated beforehand, but I'm obviously wrong. Either that, or he's pullin' our legs, can't tell which.

Posted by: elmondohummus at June 05, 2006 04:33 PM (BjOjj)

27 "or he's pullin' our legs, can't tell which." well, it's either the left one or the right one. ;-)

Posted by: annie at June 05, 2006 05:16 PM (fxTDF)

28 EMH: (Groans, shakes head in disbelief...)

Posted by: ElMondoHummus at June 06, 2006 05:38 AM (xHyDY)

29 Well, I'd make a joke about a 3rd leg, but I'd either get banned, shot, or struck by lightning. Nigel Powers: My lord! you're a tripod. What you been feedin' that thing, eh? It looks like a baby's arm holding an apple. Good thing is, if you ever get tired, you can use it as a kickstand! Mini-Me: [Mini-Me nods, smiling]

Posted by: ElMondoHummus at June 06, 2006 05:42 AM (xHyDY)

30 One of the most awesome sights in Japan is sunrise on Mt. Fuji, looking down at the five glittering lakes lit up by the orange glow of the sun. But the most spectacular view of Fuji I ever had was from the air. We were flying back from Taipei, so the plane passed over Fuji on its way to Haneda Airport. As usual, there were two layers of cloud cover Â– one at about 30,000 feet, one at about 5,000. It was about 8:00 PM as we approached Tokyo, when the jet popped below the layer at 30,000 feet, so the scenery changed from billowy white to clear visibility, but the two cloud layers were lit up a bloody crimson from a sun as red as the one on the national flag. The whole pocket was as red as glowing coal. That mountain juts up from the alluvial pain all on its own Â– it nearest neighbors are miles away. So there was lonely Mt. Fuji, all 13,900 feet of it, jutting out of that lower 5000 foot cloud layer like an island in a sea of fire. Black with a small cap of white snow still visible at the summit. A couple of open patches in the lower cloud layer showed the pinpoint, twinkling lights of the towns of Fuji Go Ko glittering off of the lakes that they nestle beside. Just ethereal and awesome.

Posted by: John at June 06, 2006 05:44 AM (YFWw+)

31 That's not only a cool sight John, but it's really well written! Now I totally want to go to Japan.

Posted by: annika at June 06, 2006 06:52 AM (fxTDF)

32 Standing on the edge of the Painted Desert and suddenly feeling like I was all alone, a million years ago, with nothing but the wind around me and the multitude of colors of the desert just going for miles. I really felt like I had been transported.

Posted by: Sharon Ferguson at June 06, 2006 01:41 PM (yOayX)

33 Flying from London to Boston, I got to enjoy a six hour sunset. The colors changes were awesome.

Posted by: PatrickW at June 07, 2006 09:31 AM (MGPLe)

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Terrorist Cell In Toronto

In case you've been in a cave, here's the latest news on a terrorist cell arrested by the anti-terrorism squad of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

A counterterrorism sweep Friday resulted in the largest arrest ever made by the nation's anti-terrorism forces and raised, for the first time, the spectre of homegrown terrorists striking Canadians from within our borders.
RCMP Assistant Commissioner Mike McDonell announced the arrest of 12 Ontario men who were to appear in court later Saturday in Brampton, west of Toronto. The men ranged in age from 19 to 43, and are residents of Toronto, Mississauga and Kingston.
. . .
Media reports Saturday alleged that the suspects engaged in terror training camps north of Toronto. It was further alleged that the group was plotting to attack targets in Toronto, including the headquarters of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
. . .
Police have recovered three tonnes of ammonium nitrate fertilizer in the raids. Commissioner McDonell noted that this amount was three times the amount used by Timothy McVeigh to destroy the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995.

[from Globe and Mail]

Certainly the most disturbing aspect of this story, and one that will probably be ignored by the evil right wing bloggers, is that the Canadian intelligence services were apparently snooping on these suspected terrorists' private websites!

The chain of events began two years ago, sparked by local teenagers roving through Internet sites, reading and espousing anti-Western sentiments and vowing to attack at home, in the name of oppressed Muslims here and abroad.
Their words were sometimes encrypted, the Internet sites where they communicated allegedly restricted by passwords, but Canadian spies back in 2004 were reading them. And as the youths' words turned into actions, they began watching them.

This is a clear violation of terrorist rights, and it certainly makes me glad to live in America where such domestic surveillance, while still possible, at least generates sufficient outrage among our enlightened class.

Who will step up in Canada to protect terrorist rights? Where is Canada's Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid? More proof, I guess, of how backward them Canadians are.

h/t Dr. Rusty.

More from Canadians Skippy Debbye and RightGirl.

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1 I live in Toronto, so this story has more than its share of interest for me. There's a great deal of difference between our respective constitutions. The Bill of Rights tends to be absolutist in its language (eg, "Congress shall make no law...") whereas the Charter of Rights and Freedoms - which can be found here if anyone is interested http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/charter/ - has a self-limiting clause right at the beginning. It reads as follows; "The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society." Of course, there is no definition as to what a "reasonable limit" is. This is how Canada can justify "hate speech" laws, which would be clearly unconstitutional in the United States, despite the fact that Canadians have "freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication." And even if there were no "reasonable limit", the federal or any of the ten provincial governments could invoke the notwithstanding clause (section 33.1) and override and judicial decision declaring an act unconstitutional. To explain that further, let's assume you had a notwitstanding clause when Brown v. Board of Education was ruled on in 1954. The governors of the segregationist states would have been able to legally ignore the ruling and nothing would change. That's hypertechnical and probably boring as hell to your readers, but as a law student, I thought you might be interested. My government can, and regularly does, things a whole lot more unpleasant than snoop on websites. Despite that, they are still almost genetically incapable of successfuly prosecuting a terrorst case. Oh, I also wrote a lot of nonsense about today's events at my place.

Posted by: skippystalin at June 03, 2006 05:23 PM (ohSFF)

2 Check out my blog for an article by Pejman Yusefzadeh and my reply on this development. It seems that trying to distance themselves from the USA will not protect Canada from terror. http://impudent.blognation.us/blog

Posted by: kyle8 at June 04, 2006 05:58 AM (UuhkQ)

3 I'm surprised you're creating a strawman and whumping it; laws concerning internet technology are much more loose than telephone wiretapping, and besides, the websites had addresses visible from anyone's computer. I'll be curious to see if there is any true outcry.

Posted by: will at June 04, 2006 06:19 AM (h7Ciu)

4 You can tell i'm being facetious, can't you? Still, these websites were private, and used passwords and encryption. Is it too far of a stretch to believe that if the NSA had been reading password protected websites, somone would have been "troubled" by it? Might someone have a "reasonable expectation of privacy" regarding private websites or encrypted information going over the net? Remember, simple e-mails are encrypted too, and some people get all crazy when they hear about the NSA and e-mails.

Posted by: annika at June 04, 2006 08:42 AM (fxTDF)

5 So you are facetious and serious at the same time? Ah, the things men cannot get away with, unless they are true comedians. Let's wait to see who comes out in opposition to the monitoring of password protected websites of those who present a threat, lest we speak for others unfairly.

Posted by: will at June 04, 2006 10:02 AM (h7Ciu)

6 actually i learned that trick from the master, Rush.

Posted by: annika at June 05, 2006 09:24 AM (zAOEU)

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Friday iPod List On Saturday

People have been doing the Friday iPod thing for a while, so I thought I'd give it a try. You know where you set the iPod at random and list the first ten songs that come up. I couldn't do it yesterday because of mu.nu's denial of service attack.

So here's my list.

Right Now, Van Halen

Geek USA, Smashing Pumpkins

Love Shack, The Knitters

Temple Of Love, Sisters Of Mercy

Monkey Man, The Rolling Stones

Move Your Feet, Junior Senior

California Dreamin, The Mamas & The Papas

Dirty Boots, Sonic Youth

Enola Gay, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark

A Real Fine Place To Start, Sara Evans

For what it's worth.

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June 02, 2006

Peter Pumpkin The Spectacular Pumpkin, Episode 39

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June 01, 2006

Happy Shavu'ot!

For my Jewish friends, a Shavu'ot poem:

Autumn Season
Truth
is the
Sword of Gevurah
that the Just Warrior wields with Mighty Power!
I say unto Thee:
Defend Thy Honor fiercely
with Noble Courage that Towers above the Tide.
I say unto Thee:
Feed the Hungry of Body and Spirit,
Give them Hope for Health and Livelihood.
I say unto Thee:
Protect the folk from those who would seek to steal away
their precious rights!
I say unto Thee:
Be Thou Swift to shine the Light of Truth upon
those who deceive, delude and dishonor,
hiding behind the dark veil of privilege.
Shine the Light now,
so that Ye may walk with Honor to Thy Destiny.
Rememberest Thou:
whatsoever is the will of man...
the Lord God demands Truth and Justice
from those who would seek to serve
Heaven...
Understand why it Rains, Know why the Wind Howls:
Be Wise when you are offered the Hand of Redemption!
Justice must prevail!
You are the Servant
that must Right the great Injustice that has been wrought.

(by Rabbi Alyjah Navy)

I'm not Jewish, but I will enjoy the traditional Chalav observance tonight by eating a bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream with my favorite chocolate syrup and a big glass of water. mmmmm. Not exactly kosher, but that's the advantage of being Catholic.

h/t Linda at Something and Half of Something.

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Ah Hah!

See, somebody agrees with me! I wrote yesterday that some media pundits completely misunderstood Condoleeza Rice's latest Iran statement. ThreatsWatch totally concurs, only in better prose.

Update: It's hard to imagine any editorial getting it more wrong than the Wall Street Journal's, surprisingly.

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Iraq Ain't The Only Dangerous Place For Reporters

A reporter for L.A. radio station KABC was the victim of an attempted murder today. Someone tried to run him over with a station wagon. What did the reporter do? It appears someone didn't like the questions he was asking about a certain all-latino public school. Story here.

More on the principal of the public school and his extremist agenda here. He sounds like a commie to me.

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The Klitschko Way

Mary Katharine Ham has a great background post about two of my favorite boxers, Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko. They're much more interesting than your average boxers.

Both brothers stand over 6'6", speak four languages, and have Ph.Ds. They served in the Ukrainian army, hold helicopter pilots' licenses, and excel at chess. They are described as intelligent, charming, and well-mannered in a sport that hasn't recently put a high premium on those qualities. They sometimes catch flak for it from opponents and critics who say they're too soft for boxing-- they lack the killer instinct.
Nonetheless, the two have both been heavyweight champions--Wladimir most recently beat Chris Byrd for the title in a bout that avenged his big brother's loss of the title to the southpaw American 6 months earlier. Inside the ring, the brothers combine for a record of 70-2 with 66 KOs. (Not positive that's a current stat, so don't quote me on it; I read several different stats on that, but that's the ballpark.)

Ph.D.'s? That's must be where the "science" part of "sweet science" comes in.

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Peter Pumpkin The Spectacular Pumpkin, Episode 38

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