Arlington National Cemetary

I finally visited Arlington Cemetery. I got to see Gen meig's grave, and that of his son. His son was ambushed by "bushwackers" and killed, left to lie in the road. His father had a bronze statue made showing how his son was found, and vowed to bury his son in Gen Lee's wife's rose garden. That is how Arlington Cemetery began.Also I saw Phil Kearney's grave, and his statue is him on his horse, without his left arm - awesome grave. John Kennedy's grave was beautiful - overlooking Washington DC, you can see the lincoln memorial, the washington memorial, and US Congress. A beautiful location to spend eternity: kennedy would have loved it. he was very fatalistic, did not think he would live long, had addison's disease and probably would not have lived out his second term. To die in an assassination, filmed for everyone to see, and to be buried a hero's burial overlooking Washington DC probably exceeded even his expectations. Bobby Kennedy's gave was also there, a simple grave, and his quote from April 4 1968 was there. Story is, he was flying to Indianapolis to give a campaign speech, heard about Kings death, was late, but insisted upon arriving to go to a campaign stop in the african american neighborhood: at this time, riots were breaking out, his advisors urged him not to go. He went anyway, it was raining, and he announced King's death to the small crowd (there were screams, "no no!") and then he gave his speech, off cuff, not spin doctors, no Karl Rove there to write it for him Bobby said what we needed was "love and wisdom." he said love...no politician I have heard has ever said we need to love one another. There has never been a man like bobby kennedy. I cried at his grave, couple people looked at me like there was something wrong...I still remember the morning I woke up and the news was reporting his death.

fortune teller in Georgetown

So I was walking in georgetown after eating at an Ethiopian restaurant (I ate with my fingers, pulling bread apart and dipping the bread in all sorts of meats and seafood) and i saw a sign for a fortune teller. So I walked up 3 flights of stairs, and it was a woman's apartment. She came to the door, her young son was practicing the piano, and she sat me down in her front room and asked if I wanted my palm read, or have a tarot reading. So I went with Tarot. I was going to tell her that TS Eliot often had his tarot read, even though he was a religious catholic, but I figured that might give her information that she could use. She read my cards, and I purposely did not react to anything she said to prevent her from playing off my gestures. Her description of me was surprisingly accurate, although she said I was romantically involved with two women, which isnt true. She asked if i was divorced and she said sometimes divorced men feel that their exwife is really two different people...she has an explanation for everything I guess. Most surprising is that the first thing she said was that I was going to live a long time, and have a natural death. That surprised me. Anyway, it was a good experience, she seemed really nice. it was worth $25 to hear about my long natural life.....

Model NATO competition in Washington DC

We are in washington dc for the annual Model NATO competition. We first drove through an ice storm, had to stop and fix wiper blades and buy wiper fluid. But we made it and took a cab to a Moroccan restaurant - it was great, Steve was invited to dance with a belly dancer (see the video in above post). The food was great. The next day we visited the Czech embassy (Embassy of the Czech) and met Ivona Hola, the Political Officer for Europe and Eurasia. The embassy is located next to Rock Creek Park, and she met with us for almost 2 hrs, and gave us each a bag of goodies. We then met with all participants at Howard University - I enjoyed being on a campus where most of the students were of color. The honor guard presented the flag before the meeting began, and I was really proud of these 4 young men and women - they were very solemn and the presentation was very impressive - lets not forget good old fashioned patriotism: we do live in a remarkable country, (despite Iraq and Dick Cheney, the US is still a great place to live). When we returned to the Washington Plaza hotel, i tried to park the van in the garage and got it stuck to the roof - i gave the parking attendant $20 and told him the van was stuck, maybe he'd have to let some air out of the tires, and he said dont worry about (must happen all the time). Today (friday) was competition all day, great interaction. Last night I had a drink at the Willard Hotel, a James bond martini, and tonight I dined in georgetown at an Ethiopian restaurant with some other faculty and the desk chief at State for Cyprus. Tomorrow is more competition - we wont get home until sunday. i love city - very intense. But I could do without the $50 dinners....

shooter at Northern Illinois Univ

The one thing no one has mentioned despite all the press is his eyebrows. I wont show a picture of him here...publicizing monsters like this only encourages others...but look at his eyebrows. His eyebrows are plucked - gender identity problems? So many who knew him said he was good student etc., they didnt notice his unusual appearance?

"Once" - great film! A must see!

this movie is about a singer-songwriter who repairs vacuums with his dad, and an immigrant from Czech republic who sells flowers. but they are both very musical. And they both have a past love they are mourning, and they fall in love with each other. As they fall in love, or should I say as they play music and fall in love with each other, they finish his songs, she with lyrics, that reveal their past loves, and their current growing love for each other. The music is amazing!!! The young woman in the film is Markéta Irglová who never acted before, was 18 (or 17) yrs old when movie was made. the singer is Glen Hansard who is incredible. I am ordering the cd for movie even though the movie isnt over yet - I heard this is a heart breaker - I will blog when the movie is over. You have got to see this! Absolutely beautiful, wonderful - I dont want it to stop! Update: ending is not that much of a tearjerker, but it is really beautiful. I must get the soundtrack....

Tattoos and college students

I was at the fitness center and looked at the young woman to my right while on the elliptical aerobic machine - she was wearing two tops, a short one, and a sleveless one on top and there was a part of her side exposed, and a tattoo that was vertical that looked like an electrical engineering circuit. I mean it really looked odd. then I thought, maybe a surgeon drew that on her and she was going to be operated on (my surgeons would draw on me before surgery too, kinda like an engineering plan) but then I thought why would that still be on her? Then I realized, it was a tattoo she must have wanted and it looks like an electrical circuit. Of course its creepy that I am starring at the side of a young woman's bare tummy....I listen to my ipod and read a novel at the fitness center to block out everything around me so this was unusual. Is a circuit board the strangest tattoo you have ever heard of?

Marlee Matlin

What a beautiful talented woman - I remember seeing Marlee in Children of a Lesser God -- what a film, absolutely beautiful, starring marlee and william Hurt (one of my favorite male actors). So i finally rented What the Bleep do we know? Fun movie I guess, not very accurate scientifically, but still good. I am still trying to figure out what that psychologist meant (Susan blakemore) about how she doesnt think she exists, but she cant prove it. So I rented what the bleep do we know? I didnt realize marlee matlin was in it: she is so beautiful, and talented. Anyway, I think what the bleep do we know did address the concept of "no self" and if I am correct i think the documentary support Susan's intuition that she doesnt exist, only she cant prove it. I am still working on the idea that mark daniels doesnt exist...ego cogito ergo sum? I act therefore I am? I watch movies therefore I am? Marlee Matlin gets me excited, therefore I am?

Update: film over. What bullsh#t. It focused alot on addition toward the end - poorly organized and edited - starts out with quantum physics and ends up with addiction. Somewhere along the way JZ Knight, the vessel of Ramthas, a 35000 year old soul, speaks about reality and appearance, and its time to buy the snake oil. Check out JZ Knight (she changed her name, middle name is now
Zebra). I am now mark cheetah Daniels, and I speak for the people from Tralfamadore about their ancient knowledge - send me 29.95 for my dvd and you too can learn the wisdom of the people from tralfamdore....

how to fold a shirt from Japan

Here's a traveling tip - fold your shirt in one move, perfectly.

Movie Wag the Dog: USA in 2002

Ted Turner is showing the classic Wag the Dog, a movie from 1998 that is about a president facing a sex scandal and decides to create a diversion until his reelection is over. Albania is thinking of attacking the US! Then, Albanian terrorists are threatening to enter US through Canada with a dirty bomb! And it works. They whip the country into a patriotic fervor, and they win re election. Many felt this mirrored the situation with Clinton, facing impeachment, bombing Iraq to divert attention from his sex-impeachment. But I think this movie is about 2002, Bush wanting to invade Iraq, and 911 was starring him in the face - get the PR machine working, weapons of mass destruction ( what are those? Who thought up that term? ) So now we invade Iraq, and its a disaster, so what does Bush do for 2004? Terrorists are in Iraq, different reason for being there, and those terrorists will bring the war home (just look at the TV stories - can you imagine Iraq violence in your hometown?) and if a weaker opponent gets elected, the terrorists will smell our weakness, and hit us harder next time (thank you dick cheney for saying that). Its wag the dog all over again - hollywood makes a movie about this, and we still swallow it - amazing! But this is a great movie - never grows old watching it.

citizen kane still the best

So I am eating dinner before class, and wouldnt you know, Citizen Kane comes on the turner channel. what a film! Dorothy Comingore is fantastic as Susan Alexander, the "singer." Heres trivia for you: Nat King Cole played the piano in one scene, and the reporter with the pipe at the end is Alan Ladd. But Dorothy is great - she was a professional singer who had to practice to sing off key for the movie. And I know Orsen Welles is a great director, but she was responsible for lots of scenes: they way she pronounces Charlie when she is mad - "Chaaa lie" to show off her working class roots. Or her rants at charlie, or her sarcasm. Or the restrained way she left him. A fantastic performance. I guess she was overlooked because of Welles performance, or because of the incredible film shots. She was blacklisted by the McCarthy fascists in 1951. Died in Stonington Ct, the seaside village where Nathan and I had a picnic on the pier, until the wasps starting flying around us - I still remember how mad Nat was at the wasps. But time for class - I will watch this again later. Tonight's film is walk on water - I will be receiving Etyan Fox's latest film, The Bubble, later this month - I cant wait!

life on Mars

Believe it or not, there is life on Mars - here is a young woman sunbathing on Mars - kind of an extraterrestrial girls gone wild....

Pres Bush interviewed by reporter from Ireland

Here is Bush's interview with reporter from Ireland - it is embarrassing- Pres Bush cannot explain why we are in Iraq, and he stumbles through all the phrases he has memorized to throw out at reporters. This is stunning.

Bush administration made 935 false statements about Iraq and need to invade

This would have been better information if the media uncovered it while it was happening - what ever happened to investigative journalism? As thought the major networks couldn't get to Iraq and investigate Bush's statements? Wasn't Dan Rather in Iraq interviewing Saddam just before the invasion?

A study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found that President Bush and top administration officials issued hundreds of false statements about the national security threat from Iraq in the two years following the 2001 terrorist attacks.

The study concluded that the statements "were part of an orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and, in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses."

The study was posted Tuesday on the Web site of the Center for Public Integrity, which worked with the Fund for Independence in Journalism.

White House spokesman Scott Stanzel did not comment on the merits of the study Tuesday night but reiterated the administration's position that the world community viewed Iraq's leader, Saddam Hussein, as a threat.

"The actions taken in 2003 were based on the collective judgment of intelligence agencies around the world," Stanzel said.

The study counted 935 false statements in the two-year period. It found that in speeches, briefings, interviews and other venues, Bush and administration officials stated unequivocally on at least 532 occasions that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction or was trying to produce or obtain them or had links to al-Qaida or both.

"It is now beyond dispute that Iraq did not possess any weapons of mass destruction or have meaningful ties to al-Qaida," according to Charles Lewis and Mark Reading-Smith of the Fund for Independence in Journalism staff members, writing an overview of the study. "In short, the Bush administration led the nation to war on the basis of erroneous information that it methodically propagated and that culminated in military action against Iraq on March 19, 2003."

Named in the study along with Bush were top officials of the administration during the period studied: Vice President Dick Cheney, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and White House press secretaries Ari Fleischer and Scott McClellan.

Bush led with 259 false statements, 231 about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and 28 about Iraq's links to al-Qaida, the study found. That was second only to Powell's 244 false statements about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and 10 about Iraq and al-Qaida.

New Japanese anime

Noah check out this new japanese anime - the new ren and stimpy from japan?

Susan Blackmore, psychologist, thinks she doesn't exist but can't prove it

The Edge Foundation poses one question to elite scientists from around the world - this year's questions was "what do you believe is true even though you cannot prove it?" The responses were amazing. Susan Blackmore, Psychologist, said it is possible to live happily and morally without believing in free will. She gives an example of buddhists who throw out the illusion of an inner self through meditation. When they throw out their "self" they act in ways that we think of as moral or good. She says she keeps trying to give up the sense of an inner conscious self altogether, but she just keeps on seeming to exist. Then she says, "but though I cannot prove it, I think it is true that I don't." Meaning, that she thinks she does not exist, she just can't prove it. This blows me away - she thinks she doesn't exist, but can't prove it. I keep thinking about this.......wow.......

Lucky passengers

This is amazing: this plane landed on the ground (earth) short of the main E-W runway at Heathrow, destroyed the landing gears (very very strong gears) and damaged the wings. It didn't catch fire, probably didnt have much fuel remaining anyway (flight from Bejing to London) but still this is amazing. Pilot declared an emergency and landed asap - dont know what the emergency was - but he landed short of the approach, short of an access road that ran along the approach end of the runway. This could have been really bad - only 3 passengers injured, while sliding down chutes.

More on political polling

Clinton, a former first lady who would be the first woman U.S. president, held a 21-point edge over Obama in October. He cut that to 8 points by last month, and the new survey gave her a 39 percent to 38 percent edge.

Her 1-point lead was well within the poll's margin of error of 4.7 percentage points.

The above demonstrates the blog entry below, about political polls. First the reporters tell us that Hillary has a 1 % point lead over Obama, but then they explain there is a error (interval) of 4.7%. So support for Hillary is somewhere between 34.3% to 43.7% - the midpoint is what the reporters reported, 39%. Clearly, Hillary and obama's intervals overlap, so the race is a dead heat. Hillary does not have an "edge" over Obama, the race is so close we don't know who has more support.

Saudis like Bin Laden more than Pres. Bush

A survey found Bush viewed positively by only 12 percent of Saudis. That was less than half the number with a good impression of Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. About 15 percent had a favorable opinion of bin Laden.

Public opinion polls are great - the often tell us what we don't want to hear.

War connected to domestic murder

Truly tragic for all involved, murders by veterans or active duty military personnel up by 89% since Iraq/Afghanistan wars.

News reporters already consider Edwards campaign dead

the news reports have already considered the Edwards campaign dead.Fact is, Edwards still has S Carolina, where he was born, ahead of him, and he very well may win that primary. The status of Clinton is still unclear, the vote in New Hampshire kept HER alive. Edwards was hoping that once Obama beat Clinton, that she would drop out and then it would be Edwards and Obama, a two way race. That could still happen. Too early to count Edwards out. Clinton still has her negatives: she comes up with proposals that just don't sound like "change," like the billion dollar plan she has to help the mortgage industry, or as she says, poor people who are losing their houses. those mortgage companies gave out loans to risky customers, charged them high interest rates, which is why the buyers opted for variable interest rate - any help to the homeowners will only benefit the closing companies that handled those loans. I predict Clinton will fizzle, something will happen, there will be a bimbo attack, or something shady about Hillary, some type of gaffe, and it will be Edwards and Obama.

Iran's attack upon the US

Here's the photo of one of the Iranian boats that attacked the US Navy. Its a small cigarette type boat, with two guys wearing hot orange life preservers. They don't look armed. The bow is up so it can't be loaded with heavy explosives. Reports are that they were dropping boxes in the water, possibly mines...aren't mines heavy? The whole thing is screwy: The more I read the less I know what happened and what to believe. Don't forget the Tonkin Gulf Resolution - the supposed attack upon two of our destroyers in 1964 - turns out the attack was a fabrication. Its obvious to me that Bush wants a military conflict of some kind with Iran. But this speed boat incident is pathetic...the boats are operated by the Revolutionary Guards, a radical political group, not the Iranian Navy. I am sure the Iranian gov could stop the Guards if they wanted, but the gov sees it as a way of harassing the US. Iran sees itself as a regional power, and resents the US patrolling in its region.

We Are Marshall! A Truly Great Movie!

Matthew McConaughey stars in this movie, about the rebuilding of the football program after the 1970 crash that killed over 50 players, plus coaches, and influential alumni and community supporters. Its hard to imagine something like that happening to a struggling college in a poor state. How a community recovers is what the movie is about. Ok, it does drag on, and the football games are not very exciting, but the movie was supposed to be about resilience, hope, the need to continue to live, to try, to make some sense out of a world that is sometimes hostile, sometimes random. I thought it was a great movie, not because of the football scenes, but because of the message of hope, having to keep going forward. I esp liked the ending credits of the movie, showing the actors who played real people, and the pictures of the real people they played, underlining that this was a real story, with real emotions. I thought it was a great film and Matthew Mc did a great job acting as the coach.

I checked the NTSB report of the crash (81pp)the weather for landing was just below minimums. There was some problem with the radio altimeter - it recorded a higher altitude than the barometric altimeter. The Co pilot was calling out altitude, but providing the pilot with erroneous information. A witness said the plane's engines increased, then the plane rolled right and crashed. I think the pilot had visual contact with ground and runway prior to crash, saw he was too low, tried to increase altitude with engines, pulled control stick back to avoid hitting terrain, stalled, rolled right and crashed. Plane was landing essentially into the wind (wind 340 deg active runway 110 degrees). Charter flight had two more stops that night, so it had its fuel tanks full. The reason there was no ILS was because the terrain was too hilly to allow for glidescope. Applications to extend runway and allow ILS were rejected three times due to lack of funding. The pilot probably landed at or below minimums before, he was experienced Southern pilot and there are lots of non precise strips that Southern serviced - and his malfunctioning altimeter told him the airport was above minimums (barely). One of the them was Athens GA - a Southern flight I once took landed in S. Carolina because the weather was below minimums, and we were vanned back to Athens. Weather wasn't going to get better that night, staying the night would have cost $$$, the pilot probably thought weather was a little better than reported (wishful thinking).

News analysis of wrong New Hampshire polls terribly flawed

The cartoon is a play on words: there is a Pew poll, just like the Gallup poll, Harris Poll, and so forth. All the major news networks are reporting that the pollsters were wrong about the New Hampshire primary. They are wrong. First of all, polls taken on the day of the election were accurate. Poll taken on day of the primary called it accurately. Here's another poll that was accurate.

Secondly, polls are based on a sample of individuals, choses randomly, and the intent is to estimate (not predict, but to estimate) the opinions of the entire polling population. We call this estimating the parameters of the population, that is, the average opinion based on all combinations of samples of the same number of people selected, in the case of the first poll above, 353 people. In other words, sampling randomly 353 people, in as many random combinations of 353 that can exist, what would the average support for Hillary be? The estimate is in the form of a range of support, based on the error involved in sampling only 353 people instead of interviewing every registered voter. In the first survey above, the range of support for Hillary was 32 - 38% of the voters interviewed. The mid point of that range (the middle number ) is 35%, which the press reported. There is also a probability of 5% that the entire poll is wrong. This is called the alpha or the probability estimate - this is how reliable the poll data are, or its significance level. A significance level of 95% (a 5% chance of being wrong). Another way of saying this is there is a 95% reliability of the poll, and only a 5% chance that one the results are a result of randomness, or just chance). One can calculate the interval, and the overall level of significance, by a mathematical formula (I can't type it here), but the formula involves the standard deviation of the sample data (which is an estimate of the population standard deviation), and the "n" or the number of people interviewed in the sample.

In close elections, the intervals for two candidate may actually overlap. in that case, the election is a statistical deadheat. In the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, the monday before the election, George Gallup Jr. said the race was too close to call - because the intervals of Kerry and Bush overlapped. Given the error within the sample, the interval of estimation, the race was too close to call.

So, based on election day poll of N=353 people, 35% (or more accurately, 32-38%) of the people will vote for Hillary. The actual vote for Hillary was 39%. Pretty darn close. Certainly no reason to say that the polling was "flawed."

Polls also depend upon time: if the public opinion's are changing, polls have to be timely. Even a poll taken the morning of the election is good only for that point in time: public opinion is a movie, a poll is a picture taken at one time period. Polls taken the friday before the tuesday election are accurate only on friday. they don't predict the future - polling is not a time machine, and a friday poll is not considered mathematically or statistically accurate for a future prediction.

The stories are about how the polls were wrong. One story is how Obama's candidacy may lead people to say "yes I am going to vote for him" because they don't want to admit to the pollster that they wouldn't vote for Obama because, perhaps, it may make them appear to be racist or prejudiced. Maybe, but there is no hard evidence of that. It would make an interesting research study - maybe a simulated poll and election in a controlled experiment.

the news reporters are looking for a story, and how Hillary showed the pollsters they were wrong is a good story, or how people who aren't going to vote for Obama say they are to avoid looking racist. None of that is apparent by the polls I have read.

In 2000, in the florida presidential race, many people said the exit polls were wrong. No, I think they were right: voters left the polls thinking they voted for Gore, only because of the butterfly ballot, they actually voted for the libertarian candidate: Gore was listed second on the ballot on the left hand side, but the voter had to pick the second hole to punch. Confusing - the demo's should have stopped that ballot before the election - they have that right, through the courts. That's why ballots are always published in advance of an election.

Polling can be very accurate, if done scientifically. the news reporters don't seem to understand polling principles or techniques.

Hillary Clinton and change

What annoys me about Hillary's campaign is her vote on the Iraq resolution. You remember, in 2002, just before the congressional mid term elections, Bush was pushing for his Iraq resolution that would allow him to use military force against Iraq to uphold UN sanctions. What a coincidence that the vote was right before congressional elections! Karl Rove planned it that way - fact. Because of the 1973 War Powers Act, supposedly the President needs congressional approval for military action more than 60 days in duration - supposedly, that is, since the Supreme Court has never heard a case challenging the legality of this congressional act. Anyway, Hillary voted FOR the resolution. Now anyone with a brain turned on knew what was happening: Bush (Karl Rove that is) wanted to beat the war drums before the election, and anyone not voting for it would be "weak" on the war against terror - dont forget, this was back when Bush would mention 911 everytime he would mention Saddam Hussein. Clinton should have said wait, Iraq did not attack us, Iraq is weak from 10 years of sanctions, Osama Bin Laden attacked us, because he had haven in the failed state of Afghanistan, which is a failed state because the US didnt care what happened to Afghanistan after the Soviet got kicked out. But instead she voted for it, because she was up for re election in 2006 - and she HAD to get reelected if she wanted to run for president in 2008 (yes, politicians think this ruthlessly ahead). So here she is, saying SHE is the candidate for change - she has not shown any tendency for change in the us Senate, if anything, she has tried to appear moderate to conservative to line up her Presidential run. Fact is, her involvement in the Pres race PREVENTS newer candidates among the Democrats to be heard: that is, her involvment in the Pres race PREVENTS candidates with the message of change to be heard. If anyone reading this has an opportunity to vote in a democratic primary soon, Please dont vote for Hillary - vote for some other democratic candidate that has a new message.

Barnes and Noble browsing

I received a $25 gift card for barnes and noble from Nathan for xmas and I browsed and browsed until I found a Larry McMurtry novel, Duane's Depressed, and a book of "best american reading" which has cartoons, journals, the iraqi constitution and all sorts of unusual but great reading "experiences." It is here: The Best American Nonrequired ReadingDuanes Depressed is about Duane, the guy from The Last Picture Show who joined the marines and then came back to the small puke town in west texas, the guy who was in love with the ball crusher Lacy. The second sequel to Last Picture Show was Texasville, where Duane was drilling for oil, was about bankrupt, his children were hellcats, and he meets Lacy one more time during a town anniversary fair. I have read the earlier McMurtry books, but haven't gotten into the latest ones. My favorite McMurty's books: Lonesome Dove (by far the best); Leaving Cheyenne; Cadillac Jack; All my Friends are going to be Strangers; The Evening star; Anything for Billy. I didn't the book Terms of Endearment (Aurora is really awful in the book, the movie makes her a little more likeable)
A, or Dead man's Walk.

Two great Robert Duvall movies

Two great made for tv movies featuring Robert Duvall in his cowboy role (he reproduces Capt. Augustus McCrae from Lonesome Dove) are Broken Trailand Open Range. The shoot out at the end of Open Range is a classic, not to be missed. Kevin Costner also stars and he is a gunslinger and former sniper in the Union army - you don't really get to know Costner's character until the end, when he walks up to another gunslinger and you see how truly ruthless and hard Costner's character can be. In broken trail Duvall says the litany over the many burials (these are violent movies) and he says something about "our life is a voyage between two eternities" which gives his hardened character a sense of profundity. The other character in broken trail is played by Thomas Haden Church, the guy who played the sexually immature man in Sideways. he played such a wus in Sideways, that I was surprised by his character in Broken Trail - hardened cowboy, capable of knocking a man down in one punch, a sure shot who can kill without feelings, but who can also fall in love. Great movies. Duvall in his Capt McCrae character is a real joy to watch. BTW, the book Lonesome Dove is one of the best novels I have read, esp the sign over the ranch that has a latin saying and also announces that they don't rent goats - rent goats? who would want to rent goats? funny.

life as a voyage between two eternities.

christmas eve in NYC

I spent christmas eve in NYC with Noah and Chika. We visited the natural history museum, the planetarium, Rockefeller Center and finally Times Square. What a trip! chika and noah know all the subways - we also ate at a Indian restaurant. Christmas day chika made dinner, and noah and I played microsoft flight simulator for several hours - what a great game! It is better than any simulator I have used for my own instruction. overall a great christmas.

Babies have good judgement

Six- and 10-month-old babies are much more capable judges of character than previously thought. Not only can infants pick out a good Samaritan, they tend to identify with them, according to a Yale University study published in the journal Nature.

The study released last month presented babies with a diorama-like display of an anthropomorphic circle struggling to make it up a hill. Just when it appeared that all hope was lost, a heroic triangle appeared, and pushed the circle to the top. The round climber bounces, clearly elated to have reached the summit. The same scenario is played out again, only this time a square appears at the top of the hill and pushes the circle to the bottom.

The babies were then asked to pick a toy – the helper or the hinderer, as scientists called them. One hundred percent of 6-month-olds and 87.5 percent of 10-month-olds chose the helper. The results were consistent even when the triangle and the square swapped places as good guy and bad guy. In several other iterations of the experiment, the helper, regardless of shape or color, won out.

"Babies are very competent socially," says Kiley Hamlin, lead author of the study. "They can figure this kind of stuff out without people explicitly teaching what's nice and not nice and who's nice and who's not nice."

Mall shooter a time bomb

Robert Hawkins killed 6 people in a mall in Omaha. Read the article below. He was in treatment centers for 4 years. It was not clear where he was living at the time of the shootings. He lost his job at McDonalds. He and his mother ate dinner at the house of her ex husband, Robert's stepfather, the night before the shootings. he took an assault rifle from his stepfathers house. His stepfather is not available for comment because he is in thailand - I feel sorry for the dead and injured, but this kid Robert had a hell of a life: first of all Omaha - an island in the middle of the plain states: there is nothing there except a big air force base. Second, his family: he spent 4 years away from his family in residential treatment centers: when he turned 18, he is an adult, and there is no state funds for treating adults for behavioral disorders in a residential setting. So he was kicked out of the system. Third, he worked at McDonalds, a minimum wage job, probably part time (so they didnt have to pay him benefits), probably because he lacks a high school diploma. Fourth, his stepdad has an assault rifle: why? who is he planning to assault? Home protection? Install a burgler alarm system. Fifth, his step father is in Thailand: why thailand? What is Thailand known for? underage sex? Robert sounds severely disturbed: the not uncommon cause of severe emotional disturbance in teens and pre teens is sexual abuse. I want to know more about Stepdad and his relationship with Robert. This was one angry boy: so angry he wanted to take it out on the world before killing himself. Who to blame? You need to take a test in order to get a drivers license, but anyone can have a child, regardless of how stupid, cruel, or f**ked up they are. Robert didn't seem to have a chance given where and how he grew up. I pray for him and his victims.


The mother of the teenage gunman who killed eight people at a busy shopping mall earlier this month apologized Thursday for her son's crime and said she did her best raising him.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Maribel Rodriguez told ABC's "Good Morning America" when asked what she would say to the victims' families. "I'm deeply devastated with you."

Her son, Robert Hawkins, 19, fired more than 30 rounds inside a mall department store Dec. 5, striking 11 people. Six died where they fell, one died on the way to a hospital and another died at a hospital. Three other people were wounded, two seriously.

Hawkins was a troubled teenager who spent four years in a series of treatment centers, group homes and foster care after threatening to kill his stepmother in 2002. He had recently broken up with a girlfriend and lost his job at a McDonald's.

She and Hawkins ate supper together at the house of her ex-husband — Hawkins' stepfather — the night before the shootings, Rodriguez said. The stepfather was vacationing in Thailand.

She and police have said Hawkins took the assault rifle he used in the shootings from his stepfather's closet.

Hawkins either was kicked out or left that home some time ago. At the time of the shootings, he was living with Debora Maruca-Kovac and her husband, whose sons were friends with Hawkins, Maruca-Kovac has said. He had lived there for a little more than a year.
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Stupid Warning Labels!

here is a site that awards stupid warning labels.the idea is that companies put warning labels on products to defend themselves from lawsuits - but the warning labels make you wonder just how stupid people can be. Probably really stupid.......

ISS and space shuttle pass in front of the sun

here is a link to the picture of space shuttle and ISS passing in front of the sun. make sure you click on image to get the full screen version. very cool......

ode to joy lyrics

ever wonder what the lyrics are in english to beethoven's Ode to Joy? (Actually written by Schiller but....) here they are. I heard this on car radio, starting with 2nd movement, so beautiful, I sat in parked car until the end.

Can you sense the Creator, world?
Seek him above the starry canopy.
Above the stars He must dwell.

Joy, daughter of Elysium
Thy magic reunites those
Whom stern custom has parted;
All men will become brothers
Under thy gentle wing.

Be embraced, Millions!
This kiss for all the world!
Brothers!, above the starry canopy
A loving father must dwell.

Joy, beautiful spark of Gods!,
Daughter of Elysium,
Joy, beatiful spark of Gods!.
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coast guard pic

I love this picture. These guys are taking a break, relaxing at the back of a lockheed C-130. They are clipped in with carabiners.

Tesla electric car

GM killed its electric car program, the EV1. Here is another electric car, a sports car, goes 130 mph. Price? $98,000.

Mike Huckabee - not nuts after all? A hero instead?

You must have heard about the woman who was gang raped in Saudi Arabia (isnt that inconsistent with Islam?) and in response was sentenced by a court to be lashed - that's right, it was her fault she was RAPED! has any politicians spoken about this? What about Hillary? Are we so afraid of offending the damn Saudis? Screw Saudi Arabia - their oil is not worth one American life as far as I am concerned. And yes one politician has spoken out: Mike Huckabee! Yeah, one of the republican candidates who doesnt accept evolution, the Babdist minister from Arkansas (that's how they pronounce Baptist in Arkansas) - here is his own words!

Consumers are financing both sides in the war on terror because of the actions of U.S. ally Saudi Arabia, Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee said Sunday.

The former Arkansas governor made the comments following what he suggested was a muted response by the Bush administration to a Saudi court's sentence of six months in jail and 200 lashes for a woman who was gang raped.

"The United States has been far too involved in sort of looking the other way, not only at the atrocities of human rights and violation of women," Huckabee said on CNN's "Late Edition."

"Every time we put our credit card in the gas pump, we're paying so that the Saudis get rich — filthy, obscenely rich, and that money then ends up going to funding madrassas," schools "that train the terrorists," said Huckabee. "America has allowed itself to become enslaved to Saudi oil. It's absurd. It's embarrassing."

Huckabee said "I would make the United States energy independent within 10 years and tell the Saudis they can keep their oil just like they can keep their sand, that we won't need either one of them."

New analysis: Abe Lincoln picture at Gettysburg

here is the link to the abe lincoln at gettysburg pictures.

best of christopher walken -

Here it is the very best of one of my favorite actors. The first is CW reading the 3 pigs - really funny (Nathan will like this!) the classic weapon of choice fat boy slim dancing video this one is good for halloween, CW reading Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven (that one's serious).

Here is CW singing about "Mango" on SNL (this one is funny)

And Colonel Engus, he likes going down South. This also includes more cow bell. And the first Mr. Continental.

crying while eating

I have posted this before but havent checked it out in a while. Really funny. pic shows christorpher, crying because of global warming, with his cat wrapped around his neck, while eating chicken tenders and spicy ranch dressing. browse through these - some are very clever.

Eraserhead coming to regent square theater

Everyone has been waiting for this: Eraserhead coming to Regent Square theater. What excitement! Seriously, this is a movie every movie freak has to see, at least once (well, maybe once at the most). Its a movie about a guy who gets his girlfriend pregnant, she moves in with him, gives birth to a mutant, leaves him, and he eventually kills the child. While this is happening, there a woman who lives in his radiator, and some burned guy is watching all this from his window. Who is the woman in the radiator? is the burned guy God? Is this post apocalyptic film about the end of the world, about nuclear war aftermath, that even God gets mutated? What IS this film about? And there is a constrant screeching noise in the background. This movie is hard to watch, annoying. So why watch it? My favorite scene is when the guy goes to his girlfriends house to meet the family, a typical scene. Only her mother is in a trance, and the cornish game hens they are about to eat become alive and start moving - its the meet the girlfriends parents scene from hell! Now THAT is funny. Perhaps this movie is about NOTHING - Lynch says its about experimentation, and never reveals if its supposed to mean anything.

You can eat squirrels in NJ

This story is a great relief to me! But you can eat no more than 2 squirrels a week...everything in moderation....

Squirrel eaters in the US state of New Jersey have been told that the bushy-tailed rodents are likely safe to eat, after earlier being advised the unlikely delicacies could contain toxic metals.

The Environmental Protection Agency said earlier this year it had discovered high levels of lead in a squirrel taken from near a waste dump in the Ringwood area and advised people to eat the rodents no more than twice a week.

Push Polls - we covered this in class!

John McCain was hurt by horrible push polls in 2000 in South Carolina primary. These are phoney polls that are designed to identify if a voter has positive feelings about a candidate, and then proceeds to provide negative information to the voter about the candidate. For example, in SC in 2000, these polls asked if respondent had a favorable rating of McCain, and if so, they were then asked additional questions. Would you still support him if you knew he had an illegimate black baby? Would you still support him if you knew his wife was a convicted drug addict? And so forth. It is true, McCain does have an illigimate black baby: he and his wife Cindy adopted an ophan child from southern India, who happens to be very dark. yes, his wife had an addiction problem with prescription drugs, tried to hide it by stealing drugs from her employer, got caught, went to rehab, did community service work. But the idea was to smear McCain. Well! Now its happening to Mitt romney, and the poll seems to be giving a favorable image of Mc Cain - and McCain is livid!!! He wants to know who is behind this, it is not him, not his style of campaigning and he has called on the atty gen of New Hampshire to investigate and prefer charges against whoever is behind this! Go John! Thats why I like McCain - he has principle, ethics, he believes in something other than winning at all costs - dignity. Here is the whole story.

surfer dude writes equation that proves everything

The universe has been captured finally, by a theoretical physicist who is unemployed and surfs for a "living." It has to do with a matrix shown above - that's what our universe "looks like." Ok. It is all clear to me now.......

Young doc has a great idea

read this story about a NY young doc, who does his house calls on the internet. For $500 you get two physicals, and the right to contact him (IM) with your health problems. He takes cash. His scripts he negotiates with providers, saving his patients alot of money. He only sees patients 18-40 yrs of age. He has a product and he markets it effectively - he has detractors, those that say, what about the elderly - well, this program ain't for them, its for younger, healthy people who sometimes need to see a doc, but don't want to deal with appts and waiting at the doc's 0ffice. Very interesting - wave of future?

Into the Wild

Just read this book about the death of Chris McCandless, a young man who hitch hiked to alaska to live "in the wild" and died of starvation. The book is sad - this guy touched so many strangers in his life. I mean I cried twice while reading the book. Talk about youthful enthusiasm, Chris had it. He was an adventurer, not reckless (well maybe) but intelligent - he knew what he was doing, unthreading the linen that holds our lives together, stripping his civilization off, seeing what he was like without the pretense of civilization. he almost made it, more than 100 days living off berries, wild potatoes and game (mostly rabbit and squirrel, one moose - which he regretted killing because he couldnt save the meat although he tried to smoke it). The author of the book explores Chris' travels before alaska, trying to find a clue about what makes this kid tick. The people Chris met along the way were amazing, and they really loved him even though they knew they knew little about him. The book is intoxicating - I almost understand what drove him. I thought about this last night...couldnt sleep....cash in my retirement, pay off bills, and hit the road...see where it goes...take odd jobs...change my name to Fearless Trampenhauer....strip myself of pretense, mendacity, and superficiality. Chris gives us quite a challenge - it just breaks my heart that he died, alone, weak, in the sleeping bag his mother made for him. A must read book. Movie is out, I havent seen it. Here are some YouTube videos of the actual spot where he tried to survive and died.

Chris' note left before he died: "SOS I need your help; I am injured, near death, and too weak to hike out of here. I am all alone. This is no joke In the name of god, please remain to save me. I am out collecting berries close by and shall return this evening. thank you, chris maccandless. August?"

His 90 yr old friend, Franz, upon hearing of Chris's death "I turned my van around, drove back to the store, and bought a bottle of whiskey. And then I went out into the desert and drank it. I wasn't used to drinking so it made me sick. Hoped it'd kill me, but it didn't. Just made me real, real sick." His 90 yr old friend had lost his wife and son when he was younger, drank for several years to kill the pain, sobered up, started adopting fatherless boys, then in his late 80's ran into Chris hitchhiking, befriended him, offered to adopt him and help him (Chris smiled and declined). Then Franz hears of his death and hits the bottle for the first time in about 50 yrs.......

Bilur Ha-Tizmoret

The Band's Visit - great movie, 3 rivers film fest. The Alexandria Police Orchestra Band arrives in Israel, only to get lost. They end up in at a jewish settlement somewhere in the Negev desert - they ask three people at a convenience store, "Where is the Islamic Cultural Center?" and the residents laugh -"Cuture? Here? There is no cultural anything here. Dead." The audience laughed - many jewish people in audience, and I think, probably spent time on a settlement in the desert in their youth, one of those summer kibbutz programs. Anyway, this Egyptian band members are stuck in this nowhere israeli settlement, and the townspeople take them in, with hilarious result;. So the film has the usual cultural conflicts and humor, but it becomes far more serious. These settlers have few new people to talk to, and the band members give them a chance to share their feelings with outsiders. We learn of the extreme loneliness that the settlement residents experience, and the loneliness of the band members. We observe the human condition, whether jew or arab, israeli or Eygptian: people are trapped in loneliness, they despair, and in that way we share a common humanity. An absolutely beautiful film. Was not considered for best foreign film by Academy Awards,because the film has too much English spoken!!! There are several languages spoken in the film, but the characters share only one, broken english, so its not considered a foreign language film. So no Acacdemy award consideration. Too bad!!!

Comet Holmes visible to naked eye

Look North turn 45 degrees right (NE) high in sky is the autumn constellation Cassiopeia in the shape of a W. looking at the W, hold up two fists and look down and to the right. You will see the star Mirfak, which is at the top of a triangle. Holmes is the left base of the triangle.

It is very bright, wobbling (dusk reflecting sunlight) - in a telescope its looks like a blob. Just look NE at the horizon, look up slowly until you see a wobbling bright star - that is the comet.

And yes people will think you're nuts peering into infinity. Holmes is close - just outside the orbit of Mars. (comparison - the closest star is 4 light years away).

Movie: Fast Food Nation

Agricultural giant Cargill Inc. said on Saturday it is recalling over 1 million pounds of ground beef distributed in the United States because of possible E. Coli contamination.

In the book Fast Food Nation, and the related film, it is common knowledge that ALL meat is contaminated with E. Coli. It is impossible to prevent feces from being mixed with meat. The movie Fast Food Nation shows the killing floor of a meat processsing plant. The movie is a good adaptation of the book - I have shown it in my freshman american government class.

Here is what the movie connects: illegal immigration supports the meat processing industry, manure from feed lots contributes to global warming (along with coal fire electrical generating plants and cars), hamburger meat is awful and needs to be cooked thoroughly to kill the shit that is in it, fast food workers are teenagers, fast food restaurants are easy targets for robbery since they only take cash (at least they used to only take cash), fast food workers are often single mothers who work there as part of TANF (temp assistance to needy families, welfare program that often involves a work provision with child care), illegal immigrants are subjected to unsafe work conditions and are often subjected to sexual exploitation (who will they go to - the police?), fast food nation involves 3 parking spaces for every car since we drive from strip mall to strip mall which in turn contributes to storm water problems and oil and gas in our ground water, and fast food is unhealthy (full of calories, salt, sugar and god knows what). Chicken nuggets are realy "chicken" in a vague sense: dead chicken parts are in it, but also other types of additives, gross chicken parts, highly processed food. Even french fries are not just potatoes, but all sorts of stuff. Fast food is colored, and is also artificially flavored - otherwise no one would eat it. Great movie. see the burning manure pile here.

Three Rivers Film Festival: Grace is Gone

John Cusack's new movie Grace is Gone previewed the 3 rivers film festival. What a movie! Independent, low budget, but the script and acting were outstanding. He plays a guy who manages a home depot store - a guy who goes through life with false enthusiasm. His dreams of an army career cut short because of his bad eyesight, his wife continues her career in the army, but is killed in Iraq. He can't tell his daughters - he doesnt know how - he doesn't think he knows how to be a single parent, how to communicate with his daughters. He decides, impulsively (which is not like him) to take his girls to an amusement part in florida (they live in minnesota). A road trip during which he struggles with how, and when, to break the news. His daughters (12 and 8) seem to know something is wrong.....they all grow in the process. Heartbreaking movie. At one point he stops by his parents house (they are dead but his brother lives there) and he collapses in his childhood room - he wants to be a boy again, and not deal with the pain of adult life. The ending is absolutely beautiful. I talked with the director of pittsburgh filmmakers after the movie - the film isnt released yet, turns out Cusack "donated" the film for the festival (they are only showing it twice and even with a full theater they couldnt pay for the rental). Andrew said this film will definitely be oscar material - I agree, Cusack deserves it, and the two actors playing his daughters deserve it too. Also, the soundtrack was written by ..... Clint Eastwood????

The Dodge Le Femme

Interesting site about the dodge le femme, a car from the 1950's purposely designed to appeal to "women." (that is, designed by men to appeal to what they thought women would want to buy). Let's put this in the "what were they thinking about" file cabinet (along with the US invasion of Iraq, the japanese invasion of china, I could go on and on.......)

10 yr old boy started california fires...yeah, sure

here is a lame story about a 10 yr old boy playing with matches, supposedly he started the california wild fires. There are so many ways that fire could have started. The problem is drought and global warming. The problem is that wildfires are natural phenomena. The real question is why people build houses in areas in which wildfires are natural, and why we try to fight fires that normally occur in nature? Its this obsession we have with controlling nature - we are part of nature, not in control of it. What really gets me is the shallow journalism evidenced in the article - the idea that some ONE person must be responsible. Of course, its a 10 yr old boy -"where are his parents?!" Yet another story of poor discipline. Its almost as though the story perpetuates a myth not only about wildfires (that they are not natural and have some sinister human cause) but also about poorly behaved children (children need more discipline....). Maybe the author of the story should do some research on wildfires - what a brainless story.