...but it was damn impressive. Makes me wonder what life would be like today if Bush hadn't stolen the 2000 election.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/10/06/D8D2IU703.html
9.25.2005
Almost Before We Spoke, We Swore - New York Times
My fave line is: Every language, dialect or patois ever studied, living or dead, spoken by millions or by a small tribe, turns out to have its share of forbidden speech, some variant on comedian George Carlin's famous list of the seven dirty words that are not supposed to be uttered on radio or television.
You might have to check this out ASAP cuz I think that NYT archives articles for a fee pretty quickly: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/20/science/20curs.html
You might have to check this out ASAP cuz I think that NYT archives articles for a fee pretty quickly: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/20/science/20curs.html
9.23.2005
Montana faces eternal clean-up of toxic lake - Yahoo! News
It was the line: "and that's going to have to go on until the end of time," that got me - made laugh out loud actually. As a species I think perhaps we've beceom a little too complacent.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050923/sc_nm/environment_montana_dc
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050923/sc_nm/environment_montana_dc
9.18.2005
Paper airplane - The best paper airplane in the world!
I'm just stoned and don't want to forget this site: http://www.zurqui.co.cr/crinfocus/paper/airplane.html
9.10.2005
Go Fuck Yourself Mr. Cheney
The rest of the story:
http://opednews.com/articles/opedne_jackson__050909_physician_who_told_o.htm
http://opednews.com/articles/opedne_jackson__050909_physician_who_told_o.htm
9.07.2005
There and back again...
12 hours ago I was on the strip in Las Vegas. 24 hours ago I was in a Jacuzzi in Reno. For the week before that Ash and I camped at Burning Man. Previous to that we spent a few days in Miami while Katrina made it's initial hit there (only a fraction of the ferocity with which it hit New Orleans).
Been quite an August.
Been quite an August.
8.07.2005
Visited States
My lady turned me on to this (I didn't realize I've seen half the staes in the US):
Visited States: "
create your own visited states map"
This, however, is less impressive (and the truth is I was only in Germany for a couple of hours):
create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands
Visited States: "
create your own visited states map"
This, however, is less impressive (and the truth is I was only in Germany for a couple of hours):
create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands
8.05.2005
7.23.2005
Free Geography Web Games
This site is unexpectedly illuminating. I discovered I knew the geography of the Middle East better than Europe. But, now that I've taken both INtermediate tests for the Middle East and Africa, my knowledge of the layout of both of these areas of the world is greatly improved.
Free Geography Web Games
Free Geography Web Games
7.11.2005
6.28.2005
6.14.2005
5.26.2005
More than intersting... infuriating - gotta' love Palast
IMPEACHMENT TIME: "FACTS WERE FIXED." IMPEACHMENT TIME: "FACTS WERE FIXED."
Archaeologists Offer Taste of Pompeii - Yahoo! News
sigh. I want to be here. click on the photo in the upper left hand corner for even more archaeology pix from the last few weeks.
Archaeologists Offer Taste of Pompeii - Yahoo! News
Archaeologists Offer Taste of Pompeii - Yahoo! News
5.10.2005
5.06.2005
4.21.2005
Study puts priestly abuse at 4%
What I find bizarre about this is the fact that this statistic means that 1 of every 25 Catholic priests in the US has been accused of molestation. Most accusations have been found to be legit - this is very disturbing to me. 1 of 25. Wow. Study puts priestly abuse at 4%
4.10.2005
Count Chocula
And even more sites on Monster Cereals! And this site described Frankenberry as "an ambiguously gay robot" which, now that you mention it...Count Chocula
X-Entertainment's Halloween Season: 2004
But this one's even better!X-Entertainment's Halloween Season: 2004
The "Monster" cereals
I just love this site. I love Booberry. And for many years I thought I had hallucinated some "werewolf" monster cereal. It was good to find out that I had not created memories for myself.
The "Monster" cereals
The "Monster" cereals
4.05.2005
3.16.2005
3.11.2005
A good quote on a bad day...
I'll be moving back to my folks this weekend. I don't usually bring up persona matters on the blog but splitting up with Ashley is an event far more impacting on me than any of the socio-political/cultural shite that I babble about or point out here. Immersing myself in my classwork keeps the depression at bay, but truly, I'm sad. I came across a quote today in Edward M. Said's Culture & Imperialism (a prime example of the socio-political cultural shite I babble about here) that touched on an element of my core beliefs - spiritual beliefs actually. On the surface, he was speaking about conflicts over land and resources between cultures. But as with all of Said's writing, it is never surface level, always multi-layered and open to myriad interpretations. He said, "Everything about human history is rooted in the earth..."
Our earliest organized religions revolved around Male Rain/Sky/Storm Gods and Mother Earth Goddesses - the fertitlity parallel is, I think, completely obvious. Like rain from the sky brings the fruit of the earth, the rain from a man, brings forth the fruit of a woman. From the get go, the fertility of the earth and the fertility of humans have been at the center of our most basic ideologies. Fecundity (Saleos is, after all the demon of fecundity) has bee the simplest and most basic motivator of people ever since two of them got together and said, lets claim this garden and make some babies.
War & Love? The desire to claim the fecundity of the earth has, over years resulted in the most devastating conflicts to control it. Wars between nearly identical peoples who could share land easily, instead become the norm of our existence. And is this true too of love? The pain and sadness I feel, the quarrels Ash and I have had, the conflict that we feel - is love and pain simply the end result of our desire to honor, possess, and secure the fecundity of another person? Is love simply an emotional adaptation to deal with the innate desire to procreate? Or perhaps an innate desire to be coupled - as is naturally represented by those early symbiotic, dualistic, yin-yang gods? Is there a universal duality that we are programmed for, and as a result, we can not avoid desiring to secure both earth, and its personal embodiment in the form or a fertile (and I don't mean just reproductively, but one who is full of beautiful and powerful and necessary qualities) partner?
I thought I found my mother earth. But perhaps not. And it is the idea, fear, of being without earth that makes me so sad, and dictates my behavior so powerfully these days - controls my personal history as the quest for land has dictated political history. Indeed, my own peronsal history is deeply rooted in the earth, in my search for a complement, in my search for someone to drink my rain.
Our earliest organized religions revolved around Male Rain/Sky/Storm Gods and Mother Earth Goddesses - the fertitlity parallel is, I think, completely obvious. Like rain from the sky brings the fruit of the earth, the rain from a man, brings forth the fruit of a woman. From the get go, the fertility of the earth and the fertility of humans have been at the center of our most basic ideologies. Fecundity (Saleos is, after all the demon of fecundity) has bee the simplest and most basic motivator of people ever since two of them got together and said, lets claim this garden and make some babies.
War & Love? The desire to claim the fecundity of the earth has, over years resulted in the most devastating conflicts to control it. Wars between nearly identical peoples who could share land easily, instead become the norm of our existence. And is this true too of love? The pain and sadness I feel, the quarrels Ash and I have had, the conflict that we feel - is love and pain simply the end result of our desire to honor, possess, and secure the fecundity of another person? Is love simply an emotional adaptation to deal with the innate desire to procreate? Or perhaps an innate desire to be coupled - as is naturally represented by those early symbiotic, dualistic, yin-yang gods? Is there a universal duality that we are programmed for, and as a result, we can not avoid desiring to secure both earth, and its personal embodiment in the form or a fertile (and I don't mean just reproductively, but one who is full of beautiful and powerful and necessary qualities) partner?
I thought I found my mother earth. But perhaps not. And it is the idea, fear, of being without earth that makes me so sad, and dictates my behavior so powerfully these days - controls my personal history as the quest for land has dictated political history. Indeed, my own peronsal history is deeply rooted in the earth, in my search for a complement, in my search for someone to drink my rain.
2.25.2005
I'm a star!
Check this out (and take a peak at the trailer): http://www.judy.tv/JTVPages/JTVHomePage.html
2.17.2005
2.10.2005
Be careful defending the undefendable (and ya' better not speak ill of capitalism, either)...
I despise violence, but the lady has a point... New York City: Rights lawyer convicted of helping terrorists: "'To rid ourselves of the entrenched, voracious type of capitalism that is in this country that perpetuates sexism and racism, I don't think that can come nonviolently,' she said."
2.04.2005
1.31.2005
MSNBC - Elections Are Not Democracy
I found this to be a failry interesting take on the elections in Iraq and the problems of setting up a democracy there. It also speaks to a growing concern of mine, which is what happens when a country's natural reosurces are privatized:MSNBC - Elections Are Not Democracy
1.30.2005
Music comes alive as more performers than ever hit the road
OK, so this article, like the two below, come fomr Fark. They just have a great links over the last 24-48 hours, and there are several more links I would recommend (including: Heather Grahams' boobies; a 17th century coin with a picture of a UFO (Or Ezekiel's wheel from the bible, which, well, was also, a UFO); and a science study that showed that monkeys will pay (trade food I think) for the opportunity to see pictures of female monkey botoms - but not all female bottoms - only thos ebottoms belonging to the females in a group who are most desired)Yahoo! News - Music comes alive as more performers than ever hit the road
But, all those cool things aside, the reason I chose this link is because it talks about how, with the advent of digital music, and potentially lost record sales, live music is becoming a larger and larger business. A few years back, in the Weekly Dig office, we covered the demise of Napster, and the new Digital Copyright laws effect on Digital Radio and other digital music technologies, and I was often asked, as I researched these articles, what did I think about the advent of digital music. I consistently said that digital technology was making less important (and slowly obsolete) the necessity to purchase an actual product (piece of plastic) to enjoy music. Most consumers simply don’t need the disc (as sales of the I-pod can attest to), and the current distribution method of music (CDs) was a format, methodology and technology from an era gone by. I also made an argument for the fact that the distribution of hard-copies of music as a money-making opportunity for musicians was a fairly new thing in the history of music, becoming big business by the middle of the 1900s, but previous to that, musicians made their money playing live (concerts, tours) or occasionally seeing sheet music copies of their music so it could be performed live. In fact, most bands/artists don’t make much money off record sales. Most small bands hardly see a dime of record sales (it costs so much to produce and promote a record that unless sales are huge, small band are often in debt to labels after a first album). However, most bands keep all of their live performance revenues. So, for msot bands (excluding superstars and one-hit wonders), selling records has never been their bread and butter, touring has been. And for some bands, like the Grateful Dead (a band that encouraged taping and swapping of their music by fans), touring was the most important thing they did (and did well and made a bug chuck of change). My opinion a few years back was that only the Record Industry, not the artists, had anything to fear form digital music swapping. The distribution network that major labels are clinging to is simply not the preferred method of acquiring music for most people nowadays and is likely to erode further as a useful method of acquiring music.
This could lead to artists controlling more of their income. Of course, no one is going to come out to a live show unless they are familiar with the band, so there will still likely be necessary a promotion mechanism to work the radio-conglomerates, MTVs and other hit-making machines of the industry, but I can see labels slowly being relegated to a promotional arm for artists, not a distribution industry as they have been. However, from all my reading on the topic, the industry is loathe to see this happen because apparently there isn’t as much money to be paid promoting a musician as there is in exploiting their art. But, if indeed the distribution channel of selling hard discs at record stores does, over time, become a less profitable and necessary venture as I suspect it will, there will be amazing opportunities for small bands to promote themselves diligently (and inexpensively) on the web and in local and small publications and college radio, and be able to avoid the major label route entirely while still having listeners and fans wanting to come to their concerts, all over the country and perhaps even the world.
Change is good, and the music industry is in for a shift.
Wish I had more time to discuss this.
I will post some far-free links soon.
But, all those cool things aside, the reason I chose this link is because it talks about how, with the advent of digital music, and potentially lost record sales, live music is becoming a larger and larger business. A few years back, in the Weekly Dig office, we covered the demise of Napster, and the new Digital Copyright laws effect on Digital Radio and other digital music technologies, and I was often asked, as I researched these articles, what did I think about the advent of digital music. I consistently said that digital technology was making less important (and slowly obsolete) the necessity to purchase an actual product (piece of plastic) to enjoy music. Most consumers simply don’t need the disc (as sales of the I-pod can attest to), and the current distribution method of music (CDs) was a format, methodology and technology from an era gone by. I also made an argument for the fact that the distribution of hard-copies of music as a money-making opportunity for musicians was a fairly new thing in the history of music, becoming big business by the middle of the 1900s, but previous to that, musicians made their money playing live (concerts, tours) or occasionally seeing sheet music copies of their music so it could be performed live. In fact, most bands/artists don’t make much money off record sales. Most small bands hardly see a dime of record sales (it costs so much to produce and promote a record that unless sales are huge, small band are often in debt to labels after a first album). However, most bands keep all of their live performance revenues. So, for msot bands (excluding superstars and one-hit wonders), selling records has never been their bread and butter, touring has been. And for some bands, like the Grateful Dead (a band that encouraged taping and swapping of their music by fans), touring was the most important thing they did (and did well and made a bug chuck of change). My opinion a few years back was that only the Record Industry, not the artists, had anything to fear form digital music swapping. The distribution network that major labels are clinging to is simply not the preferred method of acquiring music for most people nowadays and is likely to erode further as a useful method of acquiring music.
This could lead to artists controlling more of their income. Of course, no one is going to come out to a live show unless they are familiar with the band, so there will still likely be necessary a promotion mechanism to work the radio-conglomerates, MTVs and other hit-making machines of the industry, but I can see labels slowly being relegated to a promotional arm for artists, not a distribution industry as they have been. However, from all my reading on the topic, the industry is loathe to see this happen because apparently there isn’t as much money to be paid promoting a musician as there is in exploiting their art. But, if indeed the distribution channel of selling hard discs at record stores does, over time, become a less profitable and necessary venture as I suspect it will, there will be amazing opportunities for small bands to promote themselves diligently (and inexpensively) on the web and in local and small publications and college radio, and be able to avoid the major label route entirely while still having listeners and fans wanting to come to their concerts, all over the country and perhaps even the world.
Change is good, and the music industry is in for a shift.
Wish I had more time to discuss this.
I will post some far-free links soon.
1.29.2005
Validation - The Power of weed...
Now we have hard data proving that decrim works. Kids don't start becomeing addicts, civilation doesn'yt collapse and the courts and cops, penal system can concentrate on crime that actually hurts people. BBC NEWS | Health | Cannabis arrests fall by a third
1.28.2005
Sex in High School Involves Long Chains of Relations
Fascinating - be sure to look at the chart that5's linked ot this article - haven't written in a while, snow, spider bites, school etc. More soon... Sex in High School Involves Long Chains of Relations
1.19.2005
Discovery of Atlantis Website
So, I just e-mailed these people: Discovery of Atlantis Website
...with a letter aksing how they put togehter their research teams:
I was just wondering how one goes about applying to your team. I am an archaeology/anthropology student in Boston MA, with, unfortunately, no underwater archaeology experience, but a burning fascination with flood and creation mythology, and in particular Atlantean mythology. Though I don't feel there's enough evidence to prove that the Meditteranean last flooded in the last 10-15,000 years. I do realize that volcanic and seismic activity in the area is heavy, and I am also intrigued by recent theory claiming that the Black Sea expanded in the last 10,000 years when the Med broke through natural dams there. In other words, though the specifics are, as you said, always being rewritten, there is a tremendous amount of data pointing to all sorts of chaos in the Meditteranean in the last 10-15,000 years, all preceding the explosion of city-states in Egypt and Mesopotamia. This combination of data leads me to believe that much of the "Golden Age" or "pre-history" of man, is lost. Whether Atlantis, Eden, or simply evidence of complex societies arising in a radically different "pre-historical" Mediterranean than we are use to envisioning, I am very interested in your work and would love to know more, and if possible, find out how you go about picking your teams.
Peace,
Joe Bonni
saleos23@hotmail.com
...with a letter aksing how they put togehter their research teams:
I was just wondering how one goes about applying to your team. I am an archaeology/anthropology student in Boston MA, with, unfortunately, no underwater archaeology experience, but a burning fascination with flood and creation mythology, and in particular Atlantean mythology. Though I don't feel there's enough evidence to prove that the Meditteranean last flooded in the last 10-15,000 years. I do realize that volcanic and seismic activity in the area is heavy, and I am also intrigued by recent theory claiming that the Black Sea expanded in the last 10,000 years when the Med broke through natural dams there. In other words, though the specifics are, as you said, always being rewritten, there is a tremendous amount of data pointing to all sorts of chaos in the Meditteranean in the last 10-15,000 years, all preceding the explosion of city-states in Egypt and Mesopotamia. This combination of data leads me to believe that much of the "Golden Age" or "pre-history" of man, is lost. Whether Atlantis, Eden, or simply evidence of complex societies arising in a radically different "pre-historical" Mediterranean than we are use to envisioning, I am very interested in your work and would love to know more, and if possible, find out how you go about picking your teams.
Peace,
Joe Bonni
saleos23@hotmail.com
Well who woulda thunk it - a conservative site removes my post...
So on a whim, I posted the last seven paragraphs (and alst line) of the previous post (below) on the very website where I read the lambastings of Boxer. Now I admit that the words are hardly what conservatives are expecting on their board, but nor are they all that inflammatory. Nevertheless, in less than 60 minutes, my post was removed (I didn't violate and of their stated protocol to the best of my understanding) and the only repsonse I have received so far is: "Your whiny, hand-wringing self is outta here.." and that was from the "Admin Moderator." It's good to know that political discourse is alive and well in America.
JibJab.com does it again!
Go here: JibJab.com
Then, go here: Lies
Then here and here to get a better idea of why I want to spend some time in Europe.
Also: Cat Fight on Capitol Hill - thank you Senator Boxer. I do believe that she may be the only Senator with any balls left on the hill.
Oh and keep in min that as Condi's hearings go on, and the war in Iraq goes on and the inauguration is tomorrow, the drudge report's top story (above the headline so to speak) was about FOX's sigh of relief that the new season of American Idol still had high ratings.
Why is that news? Yes, yes, I know that media is an economic engine, and that television ratings provide some data on understanding the concerns, interests and flavors of the week of the American public, but I'm looking for more "ultimate" answers. As in how the hell did the world today get to the point that then ratings of a singing contest are so important, as opposed to say, progress on environmental issues, disparity issues and other necessary social issues that really should have the kind of "ratings" and attention from America if indeed US citizens want to leave a better world for their grandchildren.
While following some links around I came across a Message Board of red state conservatives, who spent a lot of time ripping Boxer to shreds, but not with any strong arguments. In fact, the theme of the page seemed to be that:
"Why is it, that some of our elected officials, are so short sighted. Can none of these morons see the bigger picture for our future??
In simple terms: We were attacked- unprevoked (sic)--- we took the overdue fight to the place where the attackers gathered and planned for years. !!
The capture of OBL, and the weapons of mass destruction , which were there, as evidenced by the whole world, are a side note. These two issues WILL be resolved in time."
This is a quote form the site
What frightens me most is that we were not attacked by the people whom we "took the overdue fight to". We built up Hussein over years because he was an enemy of Iran and we held the erroneous opinion (not the first time) that the enemy of our enemy is our ally. We actually DID take the fight to Afghanistan briefly, because the Taliban was there. But as Gore Vidal put it so well (and others have agreed), taking the fight to Afghanistan the way we did to root out Al Queda would be like bombing Sicily for months on end to stop the Mafia. You'll catch a few, kill a few, ruin lives for hundreds of thousands not involved and mount tens of thousands of civilian casualties in the end. But you won't get the big leader in that war. Consider, that when the twin towers were bombed the first time in the 90s, we took a police action, caught those responsible and they are in jail today. Even after bombing Afghanistan and failing to stop al-Queda (perhaps some folks are distracted by the war in Iraq, but I am personally not and do expect further nastiness from militant extremist Islamic groups in my lifetime) we re-focused all of our troops and intelligence on Iraq - rather than continuing the pursuit of Bin Laden and Queda higher-ups. It's nice that we have a cute deck of cards with all of these Baath party officials on them - but none of these people planned the 9-11 attack against the US, and in fact, some of these people only came to power through US assistance a decade or two back.
I have met reporters who have been to Afghanistan. It's hell. Ugly, messy, terrifying. Not good. They never used positive terms to describe the infighting, destruction, poverty, hunger, drug trade etc. that defines the country today. Iraq is in a near state of civil war. Al Queda is not slowed down a bit and now operates in more countries than it did 5 years ago. Boxer asked intelligent questions of Condoleeza Rice - why did we go to Iraq when the real perpetrators of crimes against the US were not there? One of the guys on this site says "We needed to!".
Need? What was the need? I felt no threat from Iraq - their military was so weak that it fell in a matter of days. And as every national and international expert has been forced to admit in the last year and a half - Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction, our intelligence was simply bad. I’m not sure how anyone who has read the reports on WMDs over the last 18 months could make the statement: “the weapons of mass destruction , which were there, as evidenced by the whole world...” It’s simply not true. Hussein did gas Kurds, but we have probably killed even more civilians in the war on Iraq than Hussein did during his reign.
The arguments that Boxer brings up are not “liberal” arguments. They are questions about why we send our soldiers to die. What national security really means. They are questions about future polices and playing it straight with Americans. If “patriotic” types really do think there were weapons of mass destruction and that Hussein had anything to do with the twin towers, they are not getting accurate info form either their elected officials or the media – not a surprise on either account.
The folks at this site also go on to quote a lot of democrats and other liberal congress people who over the years have signed on to various plans to oust Hussein and/or stop his WMD programs. I have to admit, it's an impressive list that seemingly makes hypocrites out of any democrat who supported action then but now doubts the wisdom of the war. But the data has changed. When all of those congress people made those statements, our faulty intelligence painted a picture of impending doom from Iraq. The data now shows, nearly irrefutably, that Hussein was a pathetic leader with no real opportunity to anyone much harm outside his own borders. We got it wrong.
The war is a sham. And worst of all if the neocons were hoping that this would be a first step to democratizing the middle east - a long term plan that, I can understand might be considered by some as a genuinely benevolent foundation to one's actions, well, they have mis-planned again. I forget who said it, but Democracy requires an educated society. I do not mean to imply that the Middle East is uneducated, but most of the citizens are not versed in democracy as every 10 year old is here in the US. Democracy has to spread naturally. People have to read about and be convinced that it is their best option. Iraq needs Thomas Paines, and Jeffersons, Samuels Adams and Paul Reveres if it is to turn to democracy, not a US forced and led election.
I too want to live in a safe and prosperous free country. But the Stock Market is still below what it was when W. came into office. Gas prices are still high and likely to rise (heating fuel in New England ain’t cheap), the environment is only getting worse, overall worldwide terrorist attacks are likely and we live in a country where more and more areas are off limits/restricted to the public and mobile military missile sites roam the streets during our presidential election. The Patriot Acts limits rights rather than granting more freedoms, and our deficit is ballooning at a rate that no sane economist can look at and feel good about. The dollar is weaker against the Euro and Airbus just kicked our ass in the aerospace industry. This administration is not doing its people much good. It’s just that simple. My life is not better, it’s worse, as a result of the decisions of my elected officials. And I don’t see it getting any better any time soon.
I’m worried.
Then, go here: Lies
Then here and here to get a better idea of why I want to spend some time in Europe.
Also: Cat Fight on Capitol Hill - thank you Senator Boxer. I do believe that she may be the only Senator with any balls left on the hill.
Oh and keep in min that as Condi's hearings go on, and the war in Iraq goes on and the inauguration is tomorrow, the drudge report's top story (above the headline so to speak) was about FOX's sigh of relief that the new season of American Idol still had high ratings.
Why is that news? Yes, yes, I know that media is an economic engine, and that television ratings provide some data on understanding the concerns, interests and flavors of the week of the American public, but I'm looking for more "ultimate" answers. As in how the hell did the world today get to the point that then ratings of a singing contest are so important, as opposed to say, progress on environmental issues, disparity issues and other necessary social issues that really should have the kind of "ratings" and attention from America if indeed US citizens want to leave a better world for their grandchildren.
While following some links around I came across a Message Board of red state conservatives, who spent a lot of time ripping Boxer to shreds, but not with any strong arguments. In fact, the theme of the page seemed to be that:
"Why is it, that some of our elected officials, are so short sighted. Can none of these morons see the bigger picture for our future??
In simple terms: We were attacked- unprevoked (sic)--- we took the overdue fight to the place where the attackers gathered and planned for years. !!
The capture of OBL, and the weapons of mass destruction , which were there, as evidenced by the whole world, are a side note. These two issues WILL be resolved in time."
This is a quote form the site
What frightens me most is that we were not attacked by the people whom we "took the overdue fight to". We built up Hussein over years because he was an enemy of Iran and we held the erroneous opinion (not the first time) that the enemy of our enemy is our ally. We actually DID take the fight to Afghanistan briefly, because the Taliban was there. But as Gore Vidal put it so well (and others have agreed), taking the fight to Afghanistan the way we did to root out Al Queda would be like bombing Sicily for months on end to stop the Mafia. You'll catch a few, kill a few, ruin lives for hundreds of thousands not involved and mount tens of thousands of civilian casualties in the end. But you won't get the big leader in that war. Consider, that when the twin towers were bombed the first time in the 90s, we took a police action, caught those responsible and they are in jail today. Even after bombing Afghanistan and failing to stop al-Queda (perhaps some folks are distracted by the war in Iraq, but I am personally not and do expect further nastiness from militant extremist Islamic groups in my lifetime) we re-focused all of our troops and intelligence on Iraq - rather than continuing the pursuit of Bin Laden and Queda higher-ups. It's nice that we have a cute deck of cards with all of these Baath party officials on them - but none of these people planned the 9-11 attack against the US, and in fact, some of these people only came to power through US assistance a decade or two back.
I have met reporters who have been to Afghanistan. It's hell. Ugly, messy, terrifying. Not good. They never used positive terms to describe the infighting, destruction, poverty, hunger, drug trade etc. that defines the country today. Iraq is in a near state of civil war. Al Queda is not slowed down a bit and now operates in more countries than it did 5 years ago. Boxer asked intelligent questions of Condoleeza Rice - why did we go to Iraq when the real perpetrators of crimes against the US were not there? One of the guys on this site says "We needed to!".
Need? What was the need? I felt no threat from Iraq - their military was so weak that it fell in a matter of days. And as every national and international expert has been forced to admit in the last year and a half - Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction, our intelligence was simply bad. I’m not sure how anyone who has read the reports on WMDs over the last 18 months could make the statement: “the weapons of mass destruction , which were there, as evidenced by the whole world...” It’s simply not true. Hussein did gas Kurds, but we have probably killed even more civilians in the war on Iraq than Hussein did during his reign.
The arguments that Boxer brings up are not “liberal” arguments. They are questions about why we send our soldiers to die. What national security really means. They are questions about future polices and playing it straight with Americans. If “patriotic” types really do think there were weapons of mass destruction and that Hussein had anything to do with the twin towers, they are not getting accurate info form either their elected officials or the media – not a surprise on either account.
The folks at this site also go on to quote a lot of democrats and other liberal congress people who over the years have signed on to various plans to oust Hussein and/or stop his WMD programs. I have to admit, it's an impressive list that seemingly makes hypocrites out of any democrat who supported action then but now doubts the wisdom of the war. But the data has changed. When all of those congress people made those statements, our faulty intelligence painted a picture of impending doom from Iraq. The data now shows, nearly irrefutably, that Hussein was a pathetic leader with no real opportunity to anyone much harm outside his own borders. We got it wrong.
The war is a sham. And worst of all if the neocons were hoping that this would be a first step to democratizing the middle east - a long term plan that, I can understand might be considered by some as a genuinely benevolent foundation to one's actions, well, they have mis-planned again. I forget who said it, but Democracy requires an educated society. I do not mean to imply that the Middle East is uneducated, but most of the citizens are not versed in democracy as every 10 year old is here in the US. Democracy has to spread naturally. People have to read about and be convinced that it is their best option. Iraq needs Thomas Paines, and Jeffersons, Samuels Adams and Paul Reveres if it is to turn to democracy, not a US forced and led election.
I too want to live in a safe and prosperous free country. But the Stock Market is still below what it was when W. came into office. Gas prices are still high and likely to rise (heating fuel in New England ain’t cheap), the environment is only getting worse, overall worldwide terrorist attacks are likely and we live in a country where more and more areas are off limits/restricted to the public and mobile military missile sites roam the streets during our presidential election. The Patriot Acts limits rights rather than granting more freedoms, and our deficit is ballooning at a rate that no sane economist can look at and feel good about. The dollar is weaker against the Euro and Airbus just kicked our ass in the aerospace industry. This administration is not doing its people much good. It’s just that simple. My life is not better, it’s worse, as a result of the decisions of my elected officials. And I don’t see it getting any better any time soon.
I’m worried.
1.18.2005
I have an incredibly nasty spider bite...
This past summer I was the lucky recipient of what I think was a brown recluse spider bite. However, now I'm wondering if that's the case. This article suggests that most doctors don't know what a brown recluse bite actually looks like. And most data indicates that there are no brown recluse spiders in New England (though a close cousin, the Mediterranean recluse has been confirmed in Ohio). However, I have found several articles that claim Brown Recluse's have been found in New England, and definitely as far north as Ohio and Pennsylvania. But, if the article claiming Brown recluse presence in New England was relying on doctor's reports rather than confirmed captured specimens, than it may have been erroneously reporting their presence here in New England as suggested by the article I linked above. Regardless, last summer I had some sort of nasty infection on my wrist that both looked liked and behaved like a brown recluse bite: weeks of pain, including a small portion (about dime-sized) of my flesh rotting away, and a multi-colored (reds, purples, greens and yellows) "bulls-eye" like wound that was both fascinating and disturbing to watch evolve and finally heal (I still have a small scar where the skin is not only slightly discolored but also has a different, almost plastic, appearance). Here is a diary of a person who suffered a recluse bite - her bite was about 4 times as large as mine but my bite followed a very similar (though not quite as gory) process. The poor gal who posted this used a combination of painkillers, antibiotics, and alternative medicine.
Oh the irony - as I was writing this, I just bumped my knee (where my brand new spider bite has been festering for a week) and broke open the puss filled swollen bump on it - I've been waiting for this to happen for days - the pain is excruciating - as I'm typing I'm shaking and al sot dropped the glass of water I had in my hand when it happened. The endorphin rush is fantastic and I'm beginning to feel a lil dopey now. Like I said, fascinating these wounds.
So anyway, my whole point in talking about last summer's spider bite was to lead into this new bit I got a little over a week ago which is following a similar evolution as the last spider bite though there doesn't seem to be any rotting flesh yet and not nearly as many colors (just white red and purple). Despite the fact that it's not as colorful or putrefied, it hurts far more than the last bite (which I liked to describe as the feeling of someone putting a cigarette out on your wrist , 24/7). This bite has swollen my knee so badly that I cannot walk or stand for more than 10 or 15 minutes without severe pain (enough to make me have to pause and regain control of my breathing) developing.
What I have discovered in my second round of research is that a variety of spiders cause "necrotic" wounds - that is, wounds that result in flesh rot, infection, swelling etc. So, I am pretty confident that these are two different types of spider bites, the first being more severe than this one, but it seems likely that neither were brown recluses.
It is truly amazing to me how such a small creature injecting such small volumes of venom can cause as much pain and damage for weeks on end. When Ashley gets home tonite I plan on having her both film it and look up some potential healing slaves in her library.
OK, I go smoke now.
Oh the irony - as I was writing this, I just bumped my knee (where my brand new spider bite has been festering for a week) and broke open the puss filled swollen bump on it - I've been waiting for this to happen for days - the pain is excruciating - as I'm typing I'm shaking and al sot dropped the glass of water I had in my hand when it happened. The endorphin rush is fantastic and I'm beginning to feel a lil dopey now. Like I said, fascinating these wounds.
So anyway, my whole point in talking about last summer's spider bite was to lead into this new bit I got a little over a week ago which is following a similar evolution as the last spider bite though there doesn't seem to be any rotting flesh yet and not nearly as many colors (just white red and purple). Despite the fact that it's not as colorful or putrefied, it hurts far more than the last bite (which I liked to describe as the feeling of someone putting a cigarette out on your wrist , 24/7). This bite has swollen my knee so badly that I cannot walk or stand for more than 10 or 15 minutes without severe pain (enough to make me have to pause and regain control of my breathing) developing.
What I have discovered in my second round of research is that a variety of spiders cause "necrotic" wounds - that is, wounds that result in flesh rot, infection, swelling etc. So, I am pretty confident that these are two different types of spider bites, the first being more severe than this one, but it seems likely that neither were brown recluses.
It is truly amazing to me how such a small creature injecting such small volumes of venom can cause as much pain and damage for weeks on end. When Ashley gets home tonite I plan on having her both film it and look up some potential healing slaves in her library.
OK, I go smoke now.
1.09.2005
I haven't read all of this article yet...
But it seems to be an interesting analysis on how to fight fire with fire in regards to finding funding for progessive causes...The Nation | Article | Profits for Justice | Michael H. Shuman & Merrian Fuller
1.07.2005
I love them whores they never judge you...
I'm sure when Perry wrote those lyrics above, he wasn't thinking about child porn... Prostitute turns in customer after seeing child porn
1.06.2005
Boondocks & Adult Swim = Marriage Made In Heaven.
So the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim is saving another animated series from Fox's narrow-minded vision of what America find's entertaining - Fox of course is the network that cancelled Family Guy (But will now air new episodes later this year after CN, in the intervening 2 years since Fox cancelled Family Guy, got tremendous ratings with reruns and sold over 1 million DVDs of the series first 2 1/2 seasons) and nixed the Boondocks pilot but said "Yes" to "My Big Fat Obnoxious Box" and "Who's Your Daddy." Check out this article: Boondocks & Adult Swim = Marriage Made In Heaven.
I know Fox bashing is easy, but one can't underestimate their impact. As Outfoxed (and other sources) explained, the majority of Fox News viewers could not accurately answer basic questions regarding who was responsible for the 9/11 tragedy. This same network now also rejects cutting edge (and admittedly often leftist) entertainment, for "reality" shows that suggest that "success" is humiliating oneself to fit a specific standard of wealth and beauty (like "Boss" or "The Swan"). It's hard enough to be inundated daily with images of "success" that suggest that unless you're wealthy and Barbie-doll beautiful, you're a failure. It's another thing to reinforce these advertising images with programs that do the same, and then, to call them "reality" shows. This is Orwellian to the highest degree. There is seldom anything "real" about reality shows, and instead, these are "fantasies": people being placed in artificial environments, who have been chosen due to their personality types to result in specific types of conflict with one another that will, ideally, appeal to the most prurient interests of society. I believe, that, is similar to how the Supreme Court defines pornography, is it not?
It's also interesting to note that Ted Turner owns the Cartoon Network. The division between liberal/conservative, or Red state/Blue state, is now visible in the corporate world to some degree: Murdoch vs. Turner?
Oh, and Alternet (a very cool syndicate of articles for small left-leaning papers) is suing Fox over their less than accurate slogan, "Fair & Balanced, we report, you decide." Check out: http://www.alternet.org/fightfox/
I know Fox bashing is easy, but one can't underestimate their impact. As Outfoxed (and other sources) explained, the majority of Fox News viewers could not accurately answer basic questions regarding who was responsible for the 9/11 tragedy. This same network now also rejects cutting edge (and admittedly often leftist) entertainment, for "reality" shows that suggest that "success" is humiliating oneself to fit a specific standard of wealth and beauty (like "Boss" or "The Swan"). It's hard enough to be inundated daily with images of "success" that suggest that unless you're wealthy and Barbie-doll beautiful, you're a failure. It's another thing to reinforce these advertising images with programs that do the same, and then, to call them "reality" shows. This is Orwellian to the highest degree. There is seldom anything "real" about reality shows, and instead, these are "fantasies": people being placed in artificial environments, who have been chosen due to their personality types to result in specific types of conflict with one another that will, ideally, appeal to the most prurient interests of society. I believe, that, is similar to how the Supreme Court defines pornography, is it not?
It's also interesting to note that Ted Turner owns the Cartoon Network. The division between liberal/conservative, or Red state/Blue state, is now visible in the corporate world to some degree: Murdoch vs. Turner?
Oh, and Alternet (a very cool syndicate of articles for small left-leaning papers) is suing Fox over their less than accurate slogan, "Fair & Balanced, we report, you decide." Check out: http://www.alternet.org/fightfox/
1.05.2005
It is done - Black Rock City, here we come...
Just a few minutes ago I purchased tickets for this year's Burning Man (scroll down for my impressions of '03). No time to say any more, other than, my soul is lighter knowing that I will not miss the Burn this year.
http://www.burningman.com
http://www.burningman.com
Parker & Stone are more savvy than I thought...
So I haven't seen this episode of South Park just yet, but in it Cartman dresses up as a robot named "awesome-O": South Park Studios: The Show: Episode Guide This is no doubt a take off on Asimo, a robot built by Honda: http://world.honda.com/ASIMO/ Asimo can go up and down stairs, and the "next-gen" Asimo will be able to run. ofr those of you reading who aren't robot-geeks, running and stairs anre like holy grails of robot design in regards to monility. As the folks at FARK say, still no cure for cancer, but we have robots that can run up stairs!
1.04.2005
Some interesting anthro links...
geeky stuff no doubt - but interesting nonetheless...
I had a hunch this was a sham ... the lack of archaeologial evidence of Jesus goes on...
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/30/international/middleeast/30mideast.html
Gorillas are even more amazing than I thought ... go read Ishmael!
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/12/08/gorilla.wake.ap/index.html
I've often wondered how one can tell by the lenghth of say, a femur, and a piece of skull, that one is dealing with an entirely new species. Never seemed to be all that "scientific" to me. Guess I'm not alone...
http://www.tamu.edu/anthropology/news.html
This site also has articles discussing: Meditation's effects on the brain, evidence that the human brain evolved faster than should be expected, a number of articles discussing examples of catastrophic climatic changes in the last 15,000 years (with one article even suggesting that the witch hunts might have been in part motivated by the "little Ice Age" in Europe between 1500ish and 1800ish), evidence that complex Andean societies existed earlier than previously thought, how rituals and myths evolve with societies, and, my fave, proof of fermentation 9000 years ago in China.
We live in an amazing world, so rich, so full of amazing moments, adventures, lives, discoveries. And so often , we choose to watch TV intead of engaging directly in the world around us. I'm guilty of this too.
I know why my lady hates the damn box. And I'm glad she gives me shit when I stare at it for too long.
I had a hunch this was a sham ... the lack of archaeologial evidence of Jesus goes on...
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/30/international/middleeast/30mideast.html
Gorillas are even more amazing than I thought ... go read Ishmael!
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/12/08/gorilla.wake.ap/index.html
I've often wondered how one can tell by the lenghth of say, a femur, and a piece of skull, that one is dealing with an entirely new species. Never seemed to be all that "scientific" to me. Guess I'm not alone...
http://www.tamu.edu/anthropology/news.html
This site also has articles discussing: Meditation's effects on the brain, evidence that the human brain evolved faster than should be expected, a number of articles discussing examples of catastrophic climatic changes in the last 15,000 years (with one article even suggesting that the witch hunts might have been in part motivated by the "little Ice Age" in Europe between 1500ish and 1800ish), evidence that complex Andean societies existed earlier than previously thought, how rituals and myths evolve with societies, and, my fave, proof of fermentation 9000 years ago in China.
We live in an amazing world, so rich, so full of amazing moments, adventures, lives, discoveries. And so often , we choose to watch TV intead of engaging directly in the world around us. I'm guilty of this too.
I know why my lady hates the damn box. And I'm glad she gives me shit when I stare at it for too long.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)