Ting Che (Parking) movie from Taiwan

great movie here is trailer.
On Mother's Day in Taipei, Chen Mo makes a date for dinner with his wife, hoping to bring their estranged relationship back together. While buying a cake on his way home, a car unexpectedly double parks next to his car, preventing his exit. For the entire night, Chen Mo searches the floors of a nearby apartment building for the owner of the illegally parked car, and encounters a succession of strange events and eccentric characters: an old couple living with their precocious granddaughter who have lost their only son, a one-armed barbershop owner cooking fish head soup, a mainland Chinese prostitute trying to escape her pimp's cruel clutches, and a Hong Kong tailor embroiled in debt and captured by underground loan sharks. After many hardships, Chen Mo finally gets his car out of the parking space, and, with new friends riding beside him, advances toward a new horizon in life.

What a great movie ! Flashbacks tell the story of many characters, and somehow they all intersect. I can't remember the quote at the end, but its something like "there are turning points in your life, then everything disappears." something like that. and the millipede, slowly making forward progress. What is great about the film is its ability to bring everything together at the end. the film broke about 15 min from end, and many people left ! WTF ?! You go to a film festival, $9 on the weeknight, great movie, and you leave because the film breaks almost at the end? The film brings it all together in last few minutes. Awesome soundtrack, the last song with the credits is amazing. Wow! great movie.

Providence RI mayor wants to tax students

The mayor of Providence wants to slap a $150-per-semester tax on the 25,000 full-time students at Brown University and three other private colleges in the city, saying they use resources and should help ease the burden on struggling taxpayers.

Mayor David Cicilline (sis-ah-LEEN-ee) said the fee would raise between $6 million and $8 million a year for the city, which is facing a $17 million deficit.

If enacted, it would apparently be the first time a U.S. city has directly taxed students just for being enrolled.

The proposal is still in its early stages. But it has riled some students, who say it would unfairly saddle them with the city's financial woes and overlook their volunteer work and other contributions, including money spent in restaurants, bars and stores.

"We want to support the city as best we can, but financially is not really what we can afford to give," said Heather Lee, president of the Brown Graduate Student Council. "We're more able to provide labor, we're more able to apply the things that we're learning in the classroom, than we are to write a $300 check."

Cities often look for revenue from universities to compensate for their tax-exempt status, and many schools already make voluntary payments to local governments. Providence's four private schools — Brown, Providence College, Johnson & Wales University and the Rhode Island School of Design — agreed in 2003 to pay the city nearly $50 million over 20 years.

This is so lame - students buy all sorts of stuff in providence, pay sales tax. The mayor is clueless.

Israel's strike on alleged Syrian Nuclear reactor

Here are some before and after pics. I just dont get it. It doesnt look like a nuclear reactor. where is the water supply? Supposedly there are water pipes shown, but any building needs a water supply, that doesnt make it a reactor. Also, the damage appears to be cleaned up quickly. If you blow up a fortified building, wouldnt there be a mess left behind? And why would Syria build it within striking distance of Israel? Wouldnt it have been located further away from border? Wouldnt Syria have radar to detect incoming planes? surface to air missles hidden underground? I mean, middle school students can see the holes in this story. So (1) what was Syria building (2) why did Israeli planes get in and out without losses and (3) why is the site cleaned up so neatly? Other pics I have seen dont even look like the same location - i mean check it yourself, google Sryian Nuclear Reactor and you can see lots of pics, and the after pics sometimes do not resemble the before pics at all, there are physical characteristics of the ground that dont line up.

BTW I am not a grassy knoll person who sees conspiracies in everything, but this story is so full of holes i wonder what is going on.

world's smallest car !

Noah sent me this clip of the world's smallest car. This is an amazing story. I thought my MR2 was the smallest car, but it looks like I'm wrong. Here is yet another small car. And here is the Nano, the Indian car.

Denmark Happiest Country

The list of happiest countries is out and the US doesnt even make the top ten. Here is the list: Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland, Norway, New Zealand, Canada, Switzerland, Belgian.

Some sample questions: Did you enjoy something you did yesterday? Were you proud of something you did yesterday? Did you learn something yesterday? Were you treated with respect yesterday? In each country, a representative sample of no more than 1,000 people, age 15 or older, were surveyed. The poll was scored numerically on a scale of 1-100. The average score was 62.4.

Economic indicators explain part of happiness. Those countries in the top ten have been least affected by the world wide recession. But wealthy US didnt come in the top ten, and New Zealand, poorer than the other top ten nations, came in 7th in happiness. so money doesnt explain happiness.

Balance between work and leisure is also important, with the scandinavian countries coming in top with balance: work week in Norway is only about 37 hrs. then again, the French work about 35 hrs a week, and they werent in top ten.

Low unemployment is also a factor: Norway's unemployment is about 2%, while the US is 9% and rising.

According to a 2005 editorial, published in the British Medical Journal and written by Dr. Tony Delamothe, research done in Mexico, Ghana, Sweden, the U.S. and the U.K. shows that individuals typically get richer during their lifetimes, but not happier. It is family, social and community networks that bring joy to one's life, according to Delamothe.

That happiness is not connected with wealth gives me some consolation: I have accepted that I will not be a wealthy person by Sen. John McCain's standard (he said you need to have at least $5 million to be considered wealthy) but I still have a shot at happiness.

Che Part 2

Che Part 2 was similar to Part 1. Part I showed the guerilla movement in Cuba, and Part 2 was about Bolivia. I am reading a book about Che so I know a bit more now than I did when I saw Part 2. In 1965 Che disguised himself and ended up in the Congo by way of Moscow. Part 2 starts with Che in disguise, only after the Congo misadventure, and at the beginning of his Bolivian adventure. Che wrote a diary of his Bolivia experience and Part 2 is very close to the diary itself.

Problems Che had in Bolivia: 1) the Bolivian Communist Party didnt support the guerilla movement, thinking that it would only end in bitter reprisals from the dictatorship 2) the Guerillas were not supported by the local peasants, the peasants were afraid of reprisals from the dictatorship 3) Bolivian army received training from US Army Rangers, and the CIA 4) unlike Cuba or even Congo, the CIA knew Che was behind the Bolivian guerilla movement, and were one step ahead of him in tactics.

The end of Part 2 was described as "depressing" from my colleague Dan, who met me at the theater. Dan is one of the few people who actually meets me to see movies in Pittsburgh - he is a true colleague. "Depressing?" I guess so. I think Che was right in his analysis of the exploitation of 3rd world countries. So much of the pain and suffering in Africa and latin america is still left over from colonial periods, and post colonial imperialist periods.

Che expected to be killed in action. He knew he was taking on dangerous enemies - not just opposing government armies, but international economic interests (mining and diamonds) and owners of these industries relied on dictatorships to keep the money rolling in. In Africa he knew he was up against racist South Africa and Rhodesia.

Today there are democratic mass movements of national socialism in Venezuela and Ecuador and I think Che would be pleased with this result. The elected socialist governments of Latin America have many enemies, with the US at the top of the list. I fail to see how a socialist Venezuela is a threat to US security. It is a threat to US capitalist interest I guess. Then again, I failed to see how Iraq was a threat to our national security.

The fear by the US government of Che and his movements was part of the Domino Theory of the 1960's, that one by one the spread of communism would occur and disrupt the peace of nuclear coexistence. Even Russia wanted Che to go slow - the Russian communists were afraid of provoking the west into global war. The Chinese seemed more supportive of Che's movements.

The movie didnt go into the trials and executions that took place after the cuban revolution, and over which Che presided. Most books i have browsed so far seem very critical of Che, criticizing what the authors perceive as bloodthirsty part of Che's personality, at odds with his profession of medicine, or the affection he showed to his wives and children. I want to find a book that isnt biased to begin with.

I really liked this movie, I think i liked Part 2 better than Part 1, because it showed Che for what he was: a global revolutionary, misunderstood by just about everyone except his close comrades from the cuban revolution.

Che Part 1

I just saw part 1 of Che, the two part film produced by Benicio del Toro and directed by Steven Soderbergh. Lots of hand held cameras. Almost documentary but really is a drama film. Skips back and forth from Cuban revolution to early 1960's and UN appearances. Che is part 1 is very Idealistic, honest, has incredible insight into popular revolutionary movements. We will see what happens in part 2, when he becomes Che the executioner. I havent read much about Che, and he is very controversial, either demonized (american writers) or idealized (latin writers). The IMDB.com site is full of messages about Che as Hitler and so forth. Part 2 is tomorrow.

Video of Air Force One flyover NYC

Here is Air Force one photo shoot over the Statue of Liberty, with a fighter jet chasing it. Listen to the panic. See the people running. WTF ? What were they thinking of to do this, and to do this without notifying the public? Didn't they ever here of Photoshop? You can put a picture of Air Force One anywhere, just cut and paste.

Rep. Joe Barton proves you don't have to have brains to be in Congress

Of course most of us already know you dont have to have brains to be in congress, but Joe Barton takes a special prize. he asked Nobel Prize winner and Sec of Energy, Steve Chu, where oil comes from that is above artic circle. Chu had to take some time to understand the question. He responded by explaining plates that move in the earth, how these plates moved and the oil/coal created by dead dinosaurs ended up north. Barton's reason for asking the question, is that Barton doesnt believe in global warming, and even if there is such a thing, Barton thinks its normal. In other words, the world was warmer once, so much so that dinosaurs lived in the north pole. Unspoken might have been his opinion that humans also lived near the north pole, when it was warm, along with the dinosaurs. He is on you tube here.
Not only that, but even when Chu explained the continental plates to him, he still didnt get it. On top of that (yes, there is more) in response to Pres Obama opinion that there should be a national playoff series for college DI football, Barton said the current system is "communism." he meant that you can't fix it so you need another model. He is pissed that his college, Texas A&M, doesnt have the vote power that the big seven conferences have (he is right). so, the current system benefits the big seven conferences, the elite teams that make alot of money out of the bowl system, and hurts the other teams. Most of these teams are subsidized with state and federal tax dollars, only the elite teams turn a profit at football. So Barton is right, the BCS system should be called the BS system (he said that) but his comment about communism is....WTF?

physical therapy

After suffering from a bad neck for 5 weeks, I finally did it: threw the neck and shoulders out completely. I have survived, mostly from physical therapy, chiropractor and drugs. I somehow got some work done today, mostly grading papers. I am home in a drug induced stupor and plan to take it easy.

Let the Big 3 automakers go bankrupt: then see what's left

Rumor has it that the United Auto Workers and the US gov will own GM. UAW gets 39% and USA 50%. If the thought of the Union and the US gov running GM isnt scarey enough for you consider the following. The UAW has bargained with the big 3 auto makers as a unit - basically, the UAW was a union monopoly. The big 3 had little choice but to "bargain" with them. then came the foreign car imports. GM and UAW knew they couldnt compete cost wise, so UAW and big 3 agreed to employee buyouts, some closures. UAW protected the most senior members. Foreign imports cost about $2000 less a car than GM, ford or Chrysler cars, so they couldnt make money on cars. but the gov has a 25% tariff on imported trucks, AND, the gov didnt count passenger trucks as cars that had to meet mpg fuel standards. So, the US gov made a deal with UAW, the Big 3 - make a profit from truck and SUV sales. Since the Big 3 knew they couldnt make money on cars, the quality of cars declined. Now we are part of the global economy - china plans to make suv's in Mexico and import them. And the price of gas went up, as a recession was building. the end product is that the Big 3 cars have a reputation that is bad, even though the cars are good - the new malibu is good, ford has some great cars too. Even their good cars wont sell now, give their past reputation, and the recession. (the big 3 once made great cars, like the Corvette split window coupe shown). The Silverado truck is still the best selling GM product. But what will happen when the UAW is both owner and union? with the US gov the majority owner?

My vote: let the Big 3 go bankrupt. At this point, the taxpayers will not get their bailout money back. Its gone. so just let them go broke without more bailout money. the more money the US gov gives them, the more money the taxpayer will lose.

The problem is that the Big 3 operated in a government regulated industry - between the UAW and the US gov, the Big 3 had little control over their destiny.

Arlen Spector becomes a Democrat - not really!

The Republican party quit Arlen Spector - Sen Trent Lott and Pres George W Bush did not treat arlen very well. Arlen thought the clinton impeachment was a waste of time, he voted not guilty, then after Trent Lott threatened him on TV (yes, it was televised without sound, Lott angry, sticking finger in Arlen's chest, obviously cursing him) Arlen voted "not proven" on the next article of impeachment. president bush treated Arlen like he had an infectious disease while battling cancer, there is a picture of bush standing away from Arlen, it was obvious he didnt want to be close to him. Then Pat Toomey is again running in primary against Arlen - Toomey just might win, many Republicans switched registration in 2008 (we are a closed primary state, you have to register with a party to vote in that party's primary)and Arlen thinks this time Toomey would win. Toomey however, is nuts, would never win a state wide race. so Pennsylvania will have another democratic senator, whether Arlen switches parties or not. Arlen will easily win re election. Toomey is destroying the republican party in Pennsylvania. The right wing conservatives, the evangelical southern baptists, have made Republican party the minority party. The republicans so called southern strategy has resulted in making the party more conservative, less inclusive. Republicans won over the southern states votes in national elections, but it has destroyed the Republican party in the process.

sleep deprivation

Last saturday I went to fitness center, ate lunch, and then laid down because I couldnt keep my eyes open. I slept for 3 hrs, had a hard time getting out of bed. I spent the weekend at home, housekeeping duties. Last night I fought with my book chapter and computer (electricity is out on campus, I had to bring printer home) finally got a draft version done 3 am. woke up at 7 am. I am stressed out over not hearing from the new york college i applied at - I thought it was a perfect match, and then I read that they have reopened the search. Bad sign. A reopened search will not find anyone out there that hasnt already expressed interest. I dont know whats going on but maybe this is a sign that I shouldnt have taken a job there. but another year in slippery rock? The electricity is still out on my end of campus, so I have to bring my CPU home with monitor, the finals exams are on that computer, and I have 150 students who need to find the new location for the final, but we cant contact them because there is no power, so we are relying on the old fashioned method of communication: hard copy. We have put signs up all over campus announcing the new location of my final. This should be another intense day. I need routine and normal sleep schedule.

Saddlebacking

Rick Warren prayed at Pres. Obama's inaugural. He thinks homosexuality is perverted, they aren't welcome at his church unless they go through some kinda homo-vaccine program. Anyway, I think it was Steven Colbert who said the name of Warren's church, Saddleback, is a perverted sex act. It is? Turns out, perverts around the world could not come up with an explanation of what sexual saddlebacking is. Sooooo, Dan
Savage, sex columnist exceptional, had a contest. The entries are here. Do not read the link if you are easily embarrassed. How did i find such a perverted contest? Dan Savage's column is in City Paper, the free paper in pittsburgh that gives movie and art and theater reviews, and also has some great local news coverage. the winner? Readers voted and the definition that won is below:

"'Saddlebacking' should be the term for the phenomenon of Christian teens engaging in unprotected anal sex in order to preserve their virginities. 'After attending the Purity Ball, Heather and Bill saddlebacked all night because she's saving herself for marriage.'

Schindler's List

I finally saw Schindler's List, it is a long movie, i think Steven Spielburg's masterpiece. My great grandfather, Isaac, was a jew, but I dont see myself as jewish, and would not be considered jewish by even the most liberal or reformed Rabbi. I see orthodox jews in squirrel hill, with their hats, their curls, and they look very medieval. A tribe unto themselves. I wonder how jews were seen in Poland, with their separate villages, their "Shtetls" - Nonetheless, i have a strange affinity for jewish people, for example, I feel very comfortable in squirrel hill, almost "at home," whenever I see a jewish temple, i smile inside, like there is some kind of familiarity. I have always wanted to go to Israel. so i guess there is some jewish DNA in me, and I get very reactionary whenever someone makes a jew joke, or whenever I hear someone blame something on jews, like 911. Anyway, I have never seen Schindler's list, because i thought "oh no, another movie about the holocaust." Actually this IS the movie about the holocaust. The transformation of Schindler was remarkable - its as though the movie presented the worst side of human beings, but then, Schindler makes this amazing transformation - no matter how horrible human beings can behave, there is always a sparkle of goodness - Schindler becomes a real "mensch" in the face of human cruelty. The end of the movie is amazing - the descendants and survivors all pay respects to Schindler's grave in Jerusalem. Beautiful. Shalom.

Igmar Bergman's Cries and Whispers

What a movie, I mean Bergman outdid himself on this one. Story is, he discussed with a colleague the "cries and whispers" we all have, about our lives, our phoniness, our fear, our existential angst. And he took it from there. Two sisters return home because the third sister is dying of cancer. She has a painful death. She leaves a diary, and in it she refers to a moment when she and her sisters were perfectly happy, when she was happy, when she had no fears about life. What was that moment? You have to watch the film. But lets say we all experience happiness when we are free from existential bad faith, when we are authentic individuals, capable of loving each other.
This film is most famous (i guess) for the eulogy the Lutheran minister says over Agnes, after her painful death. here it is, I typed it from the dvd:

The Lutheran minister’s prayer over Agnes, recently deceased from cancer, a painful death. From Igmar Bergman’s film Cries and whispers.
God in his infinite wisdom Has called you home to him
Still in the bloom of your youth.
In your life he found you worthy
Of bearing a long and torturous agony.
You submitted to it patiently and without complaint
In the certain knowledge that your sins would be forgiven
Through the death on the cross of your Lord, Jesus Christ.
May your father in heaven, When you stop into his presence
Have mercy on your soul.
May he let his angels remove from you the memory Of your earthly pain.
Should it be that you gathered up our suffering in agony Into your body.
Should it be you bore with you This hardship through death.
Should it be that you meet with God As you come to that other land.
Should it be that you find his countenance Turned toward you then.
Should it be that you know the language to speak So this god may hear and understand.
Should it be that you then talk with this god And he hear you out.
Should it be so.
Pray for us.
Agnes, dear child, please listen.
Listen to what I have to tell you now.
Pray for us who have been left in darkness, Left behind on this miserable Earth
With the sky above us, grim and empty.
Lay your burden at God’s feet, The whole of all your suffering
And plead with him to pardon us, plead with him that he may free us of our anxiety and of our
Wearniness, Of our misgivings and fears.
Plead with him that he may make Sense and meaning in our lives.
Agnes, you who have borne Your anguish and suffering so long
Are most surely worthy Of advocating our cause.
She was my confirmation child.
We often had talks together through the many years.
Her faith was stronger than mine.

When this came out in 1972 I went to see it twice with my girlfriend, just one more reason she dumped me I guess. The other infamous scene is when Agnes' sister inserts a broken glass into her Vjay (as Oprah says) as a symbol of the phoniness of her marriage and of her entire life. That MAY be why the film is so famous for some, but I think it is because of the Lutheran minister's eulogy. How Swedish ! I can't imagine the Lutheran minister who gave my father's eulogy giving a prayer to god like that - To better understand Bergman films I took a seminar on Christian existentialism my senior year in college, we read ALL of Kierkegaard. I mean every freakin book. From that course i concluded that having a crisis of faith is what faith is all about. The institutional faith, the cult like faith of some ministers (and not just Luderans, as they say in chicago) is not real faith. Kierkegaard would say that faith involves doubt, but to have faith even though you have doubt, even though you know faith is irrational, is a beautiful thing. That's what faith is: belief in the irrational, belief in something beautiful, something more beautiful than we ugly humans here on earth.

Spoiler: the happiest moment of Agnes' life? When she spent the afternoon with her sisters, playing in the yard, swinging each other on swings, an afternoon full of authentic love, absent of the pretense of everyday life. Thats it: her happiest moment, spending one afternoon playing with her sisters. maybe life comes down to that: a simple truthful moment.

Former colleagues "discover" my topic

so if I do a google on "collaborative public administration" my 2001 book "Creating Sustainable Community Programs: Examples of Collaborative Public Administration." published by Praeger, a good commercial publisher, comes right up, at the top of the search. A child could conduct a literature search on google and find it. It was a straight commission contract, I made a little over $3000 on royalities.

So my former colleagues are publishing "Real World Cases of Collaborative Public Administration" with a publisher that does only academic books. What a coincidence? My book comes up with any google search, or barnesandnoble or amazon search, it was reviewed in Public Administration Review (on which one of my former colleagues is board member), featured in PA Times, I had two panels from the book at the ASPA conference in Newark, it was on display for several years at ASPA conferences.

They are either (1) too lazy to come up with an idea for their own book or (2) clueless to what has been published on the topic of collaborative PA.

I hlope they at least give me a footnote or citation. Working with them for 4 years was the worst experience of my life, ranks up their with having a root canal at the dentist....

UPDATE: forthcoming ME Sharpe book, summer 09, "Sustainable Development for Public Administration," by two different authors, announced as "the first book to focus on application of sustainability and sustainable development theories to public administration." Again, no, mine was. Don't academicians do a simple Internet search before they announce the are the "first" to publish something? I wonder if they will give me a citation....

Vince and Shamwow in Spanish, and the Jesus Christ Shamwow

Here is the Jesus Christ Shamwow commercial, just in time for Easter. And here is Vince selling the Shamwow in Spanish.

Sen. Ted Stevens' conviction overturned

So Ted Stevens (known for his Bridge to Nowhere) has had his conviction reversed. Does that mean he is innocent? No. This guy is a crook, like so many of his congressional colleagues. He was known for earmarking and pork spending in Alaska, which is not necessarily bad for Alaskans, but is nonetheless wasteful. He proposed the Bridge to Nowhere, which was a bridge to unite an island with mainland, to promote development of the island, which is not a bad thing in itself, but the question is how much should gov spend to promote private sector development? We watched a video about the 2002 mayoral election in Newark NJ in class last night, the incumbent mayor drove a Rolls Royce, and serving in an elected office was the only source of income Mayor Sharp James ever had. So how did he get a Rolls Royce? "investments." I told the class never to vote for a politician who drives a Rolls Royce. Ted Stevens did a lot for Alaska, no doubt, but he prospered himself too, and I have a problem with politicians who see elected office as a way of enriching themselves.

Megamouth shark caught, eaten in Philippines

Just the 41st megamouth shark ever identified was caught and eaten by fishermen in the Philippines. The fish was caught at a depth of 660 feet, really deep for divers. So it must have been a bottom trawler net, a net that scrapes the bottom of the ocean. this type of fishing is terrible for the environment, because the net catches everything on the bottom, destroys eco system of ocean floor. It also catches fish and other critters that are not edible but usually die and are thrown back in ocean. then again, these fishermen eat mostly shark, so they were just trying to feed their villages. This is good example of the ethics of environmentalism - hungry villagers eat an endangered species of shark: what is more important, feeding hungry poor villagers of protecting a shark species? The shark was already dead when net was reeled in (most fish die in these bottom nets), so what should they have done with a dead shark other than eat it? Could the villagers be introduced to other fishing that is more sustainable? Do they have to use bottom nets, do they have to eat sharks? Is there no affordable and effective alternative for them?

Proof of scuba expedition in Key Largo, Florida

Here is pic of me and eldest son, nathaniel, on dive boat 6 miles off Key largo in the open ocean. I snorkeled and he scuba dived. there is a whole new world "under the sea" as Ariel the mermaid sings about. I loved it. Key Largo rocks, great place.

Movie "The Reader" - Spoilers so watch out

Absolutely incredible film, I read IMDB.com message boards and here is my reaction. First, yes she can't read or write, michael finally figures this out. She is rural, illiterate girl, quits jobs when she is put in position of having to admit her illiteracy. This is not unusual, a fellow at the senior center can't read, he flunked out of school grade 5, he has asked me to help him learn to read. (problem is he is kinda senile, or maybe simple minded, I can't figure if he wants attention or really wants to read, I am caring for a sick cat, I mean there are limits on my humanity ya know?). Anyway, the movie is about Justice, capital J. Not the law (michael is lawyer, his professor is stressing law, not morality or justice, his students dont get it, neither does michael. The reason Hannah doesnt say at her trial, I cant read or write, I am illiterate, I was in bad situation with the world collapsing around me and didnt know what to do, is NOT that she was embarrassed, but that SHE RECOGNIZED HER GUILT even though her comrades didnt, lied, covered for each other, and then blamed her and dumped on her. She paid for her guilt, and in a way the guilt of others denied by them (almost like christ like figure). She leaves what little money she has for the sole survivor of the church fire - its all she can do, in a meager way, her own imprisonment wasnt enough, she finally died for her sins. So who is really fucked here? the morally superior law students who dont understand the complexity of justice; the court that wanted to establish guilt under law, and fit square pegs in round holes to do so; Michael, the prick, he had great sex with this woman but abandons her once she is on trial, how shallow is he? (very). the lone survivor of the fire - does she get it? Well, from her perspective, can there ever be justice even if everyone involved gets life in prison? how can you make something like this "right?" Socrates played with us in the Republic about Justice - it is illusionary, hard to define. The film deals with a joseph Conrad "heart of Darknesss" dilemma, an illiterate rural girl joins the SS as a low ranking guard because she needed a job that would hide her illiteracy, and "Mr. Kurtz, he dead" there was no one to guide her or help her make decisions, esp the c**nts who were her guard comrades. She takes on the guilt, as best she can - how can she atone? Does anyone get this like me, or am I being the political philosopher here and looking back at the cave I just walked out of???? your comments are welcome (just be civil :)

I guess she didn't like his nuts.....Sham Wow guy beats up prostitute

Oh, the humanity. Sham Wow guy gets arrested for beating up a prostitute in South Beach. For the record, I was recently in south beach florida, and I did not get arrested for anything. "Are you following me undercover police guy...?" He said she bit his tongue and he had to punch her to get her off of him - a common problem most of us guys have, how to get a woman we have paid for sex to let go of our tongue. this is just so terribly wrong.....I hear marlon brando saying, "Oh, the humanity...." thanks for the link noah !

AlterNews gets it wrong

Here is AlterNews.com version of why this felon killed 4 police officers: he couldnt find a job. Left out of the story is that he was a suspect in two rapes, so in addition to parole violation, the police wanted to interview him regarding the two rapes. He didnt want to go back to jail: he was a recidivist, he has been in and out of jail his entire adult life. he couldnt get a job: yeah, employment is hard for life time criminals and rapists. This guy was a career criminal, there was no life for him outside of prison, other than more crime. Even among career criminals, few will kill police officers to avoid jail time for a parole violation. This guy knew the police were coming for him because of the rapes, he knew he would be getting life in prison for the rapes (this is california, 3 times a felon you get life without parole). Below is quote from Alternews.com:

The killing of four police officers in Oakland shows the desperation of an ex-felon. Lovelle Mixon was trying to avoid going back to jail and at the same time unable to find any employment that would give him a second chance. It’s a story repeated all over America, even if it does not always end in a killing spree as it did in Oakland.

A general consensus is that it was a deadly mix of panic, rage, and frustration that caused Lovelle Mixon to snap.

What bullshit. Alternews can be good sometimes, but obviously they had an axe to grind and spun this story out of control.

Man survived both Hiroshima and Nagasaki a bomb blasts

this man is certified as having survived BOTH the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki - either the luckiest man alive or the unluckiest, depending upon how you view it. BTW, this weekend is start of cherry blossom festival in DC, a gift from the Japanese people. Don't forget the beautiful vase that japan gave James Buchanan, on display at Buchanan's house in Lancaster.

HIllalry says Palestinian state inevitable !

My misgivings about Hillary were misplaced - I am all for a two state solution, and finally Obama-Hillary are willing to put their political careers on the line for peace between jews and the arabs. Nothing, and I mean nothing, was done the last 4 years. Think of where we would be if we had not invaded iraq, instead, helped the creation of a Palestinian state. The billions we spent on Iraq could have been spent on the new Palestinian state, compensating arabs for lost lands, ending the refugee camps where children for two generations now have been born in poverty and hopelessness. I pray that she can pull it off. She will have to deal with extremists on both sides, deal with militants who will want to derail the peace, she needs to be safe (I mean really safe) about her own security traveling there. But if she can make her way through the mine field of Israeli Palestinian politics, the peace will be amazing - think of the lives to be saved, the human potential that can be tapped. And people from all over the world will be able to vacation once again in the land of the bible, the dead sea, and this tourism will result in alot of revenue for both Israel and the new Palestinian state.

"Everything is amazing, and no one is happy.....!"

This guy on Conan was hysterical - laughed myself silly. He compares technology of today with his childhood, for example, dial phones, going to the bank meant going INSIDE the bank, using a credit card meant the cashier taking out a big metal slide instrument to get the imprint then telephoning "the President" to make sure you really had credit....funny

11 yr old boy kills father's live in girlfriend, gets charged as an adult

An eleven year old boy kills his father's girlfriend who is pregnant with the shotgun the father bought for his christmas present. Not only is he being held in a county jail, in isolation from adult inmates, but he is being prosecuted as an adult. the prosecutor says, he has no choice, there is no equivalent murder charge in juvenile court. Duh....he misses the point, there is not equivalent charge because juveniles are or were not judged to be responsible for a crime like criminal homicide.

The boy needs a psychological evaluation. Also, a complete history of his family. What was going on in the house that led up to this? jealousy? Jealousy is not uncommon in blended families, but an 11 yr old killing his live in step-girlfriend with a shot gun is very uncommon.

Supposedly, the boy went to school after the killing. What did he think would happen? Nothing? That is a good question, what was going on in his mind.

The prosecutor is dead wrong: an 11 yr old should not be tried as an adult. I think the prosecutor is playing to the voters. The boy will not be adjudicated as an adult, and even if he is, he will be sent to a juvenile detention center until he is 18, then transferred to an adult jail. he will probably be released when he is 21 yrs old.

Divorce: the adults all want to start a new life, only they have children left over from a prior marriage, children that may remind them of a spouse they now hate. When adults divorce, at least one of them should be responsible for keeping the children the center stone of their life. in this case, dad was about to remarry, his girlfriend had two children from a previous marriage living with them, with one on the way (she was pregnant, the baby also died, suffocated). the boy must have felt like an outsider, someone awkwardly left over from a prior family. The father must take some responsibility here.

Horrible academic writing - some professors live in their own delusional world

One of the worst examples of academic publishing. One of the authors writes in the field of comparative tourism policy in Asia. She teaches a class in public personnel admin, but her knowledge doesn't go beyond the textbook. Back to this article, the other author writes (or edits what others write) in the field of public admin ethics. I have read this paper 6 times, and still cant figure out the topic. the paper is cut and pasted from other stuff they have written (can you plagiarize your own writing?) They never define ethics, or how something can be legal but unethical. some of the stuff they refer to (prostitution) is illegal, so why bring in ethics? I know of no country that advertises itself because of its prostitution, despite their two examples (which are vague). Las Vegas advertises itself as "what happens here stays here" but that is left out of their article. There is simply a lack of references for much of what is discussed, and at no time do they reference literature on "tourism ethics" (google tourism ethics, you will see what they have left out, I guess they dont google). The concerns the authors discuss (for example, accessibility) is relevant for public management generally, so why tourism? What makes tourism so different from other types of policies? Why is this a "special" topic? Much of the paper is their opinion, and there is a general absence of any real research. There are no data. No theories, no hypotheses. the sentence structure is poor, awkward. Read the first sentence, and the first paragraph - its as though even the authors are having a hard time trying to explain to themselves what the paper is about. The real question is why someone at their home university doesnt put a stop to this: cut and pasting article after article about tourism in asia. This is awful research, almost unreadable, essentially crap.

Balkan Lynx near extinction

The Lynx is the only wild cat left in Europe. The population of Balkan Lynx's is anywhere from 40 and up, hopefully at least 100 which is minimum population to be sustainable. Why is the Lynx almost extinct? Humans of course. Lynx's are hunted for their fur, which is valuable. Also, humans are expanding development of woodlands, destroying their natural habitat.

Sometimes we forget that children have just arrived on the earth. They are a little like aliens, coming into beings as bundles of energy and pure potential, here on some exploratory mission and they are just trying to learn what it means to be human. For some reason Dennis and I reached out into the universe and found each other, Never really know how or why. And discovered that I can love an alien and he can love a creature. And thats weird enough for both of us.

great movie about john cusack adopting a foster child who thinks he is from Mars. Great movie, also stars Johnny's sister Joan. I like the above quote. If you embrace the above quote, then you will be a great parent.

Dennis, can I just say one last thing about Mars? - which may be strange coming from a Science-Fiction writer - But right now, you and me here, put together entirely of atoms, sitting on this round rock with a core of liquid iron, held down by this force that seems to trouble you, called gravity, all the while spinning around the sun at 67,000 miles an hour and whizzing through the milkyway at 600,000 miles an hour in a universe that very well may be chasing its own tail at the speed of light; And admist all this frantic activity, fully cognisant of our own eminent demise - which is our own pretty way of saying we all know we're gonna die - We reach out to one another. Sometimes for the sake of entity, sometimes for reasons you're not old enough to understand yet, but a lot of the time we just reach out and expect nothing in return. Isn't that strange? Isn't that weird? Isn't that weird enough? The heck do ya need to be from Mars for?

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

If you would like to read the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, you can fill out this form and the gov'ment will mail one to you. They think that copying hundreds of pages of the Act to millions of americans will create jobs, keep people working at Kinkos for minimum wage, assistant with paper recycling centers, keep people reading for hours past their bedtime resulting in more electricity purchased, and lugging the behemouth report around will burn off calories and reduce the problem of obesity in the US.

Who says Congress doesnt have great ideas?

McNugget Martini - try not to vomit but vodka makes everything taste better.....

these two young women invented the McNugget Martini, it involves filet of fish, milkshake, mcnuggets and a bottle of vanilla vodka. The picture is captioned "try not to vomit," but this only goes to show vanilla vodka goes good with anything.

Here is their blog with more pictures, very funny.

New York Post - Compares Pres. Obama to a mad chimp

Someone obviously had their brain turned off, comparing Pres Obama to a crazy chimp in a cartoon. The whole chimp story is nuts. we discussed media and public opinion in american government earlier this week, and how the media focuses on shallow stories and prevents the public from being informed about public policy, and makes public opinion polls on policy positions very un reliable. Then, the next day, the lead story is about a chimp who goes nuts, attacks someone, is stabbed by his owner, and then the owner wants police to shoot the chimp. The owner said the chimp was "like a son..." give me a break, you stab and shoot your son when he tears someone's face off? what was this nitwit doing with a pet 200 lb chimp? Anyway, comparing obama with a chimp is so stupid-racist, I can only conclude someone's brain was off.

George W. Bush IS NOT the worst President !

Historians have voted once again, for the best and worst Presidents. Its some kinda Spearman's Rho ranking statistic, but W. comes in SIXTH from last ! Yeah ! Way to pull it out W ! Who is the President ranked just above W? John Tyler, a one term President who became President after William Henry Harrison died. Tyler's (6o something yrs old) most notable accomplishment was marrying a 20 something year old woman who was daughter (grand daughter) of a friend of his (wealthy New Yorker) and fathering 6 children with her, on top of the 7 he had with wife number one. Tyler was the first Vice President to become President, and since Const doesn't really specify (at the time) what happens if the Prez dies, Congress at first called him the Acting President, thought about passing a law to hold an emergency election. But Tyler insisted that he was the real President, and thus the practice began of Vice Presidents becoming Prez if the original Prez dies. Who is ranked just below him? Millard Fillmore, who became Prez when Zachery Taylor died in office. Another one termer, Millard was known as the Prez who "brought the outhouse into the white house," running flush toilets in the WH. he later ran on the Know Nothing ticket in 1856, a "nativist" party who wanted to preserve America for Americans (white Europeans).

So who else is worse than W? After Fillmore is Warren Harding, the most corrupt President, selling land to speculators who gave him payoffs, hiring contractors (friends and former business partners) at inflated prices to mine US land. then William Henry Harrison, whose only accomplishment was the first President to die in office. Then Franklin Pierce, a manic depressive who spent 4 years locked in the WH. Andrew Johnson, his "accidency," who was one vote short of being convicted of impeachment. And finally, Pennsylvania's own, james Buchanan, who I often explain was a great Democrat and statesman, coming out of retirement to preside over the destruction of the union, and earning an unfair ranking as dead last.

So George W. Bush comes in ahead of: the guy who brought toilets into the WH; the most corrupt Prez ever; the fist guy to die in WH; a manic depressive; an impeached Prez; and poor james Buchanan, the Bill Clinton of his era, whose biggest mistake was agreeing to become President when he should have stayed retired.

Shown are Presidents Tyler and Millard Fillmore, official portraits. And Fillmore in 1856 when he ran on the Know Nothing Party ticket (he went bling).

Dolce the Wonder Cat amazes NASA

Here is a video that shows a top secret cat experiment conducted by NASA - Dolce the wonder cat- shows eye paw coordination in demonstration that will assist astronauts in space station.

Fisker: Danish Hybrid car

Here is a link to Fisker automotive, a Danish company that makes sports cars and sedans, including hybrids. I saw the hybrid models at the DC auto show, both the 2 door coupe and the 4 door sedan, beautiful styling, great performance. Its a big car, its mpg isnt as great as my Yaris, but again its a big car, and beautiful, and has better styling than the full size chevy hybrid (which is not yet available). Fisker's are available in the US, NOW, check the link above. BTW, they are really expensive, like $90K. The chevy hybrid costs alot less.

Buffalo plane crash - auto pilot engaged

the problem with landing with an auto pilot engaged in known icing conditions is that the autopilot doesn't know there is ice on the wings or horizontal stabilizer - pilots should have disengaged autopilot, increased air speed, and NOT deployed any flaps in preparation to land (wing surface is screwed up with ice, flaps only change the shape of an already distorted strange wing surface - adding flaps increases the mystery of how the plane will handle with ice on the wings). Did pilots look at wings? could they see the wings from cockpit? thing is, these pilots flew in these conditions often, so they should have known better. Or did they become complacent?

Something I stumbled on browsing Google earth

George Will doesn't accept global warming, but here is an example of charleston heston finally realizing that global warming is real....damn you! damn youuuuuu!!!!!

Amtrak? No way.

I am going to Miami in March, for a conference. I checked out Amtrak because commercial flying is like riding a bus. $1200 one way, with a small sleeper instead of just a seat from DC to Miami and back. It would take 2 days. Thats $2400 round trip, compared to about $400 to fly.

I also checked out driving: 23 hrs. It would take me two days.

So I am flying to Miami.

Hopefully I wont get the seat next to the toilet.

Iraqi government conficates shoe memorial

I just find this so amazing! Even after searching journalists before the press conference with pres Bush and the Iraqi President, a journalist finds a way to express the opinion of the Iraq people - - he throws his shoes at Pres Bush. How do you stop an insurgency? Ultimately, no amount of troops can do it, nor can payoffs to tribal chiefs, putting former Sunni insurgents on the payroll (bribing them to stop the attacks against our troops). We spend so much on military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, and just a fraction on rebuilding the countries. We have not addressed the refuge problem. To my knowledge we are not helping Syria with the millions of Iraqs who are now living in Syria, or the millions of Afghans living in Iran. Remember the big sendoff Sec. Rumsfeld received when he resigned? Pres. Bush should have thrown his shoe at Rumsfeld instead of giving him a state farewell. Of the books I have read on Bush #43, he admired Ronald Reagan, even tried the cowboy look that Reagan perfected, projecting an image of traditional values (the guy with the white hat cleaning out the lawless liberals from the town). Like Reagan, Bush delegated authority to his cabinet. The story about Bremer (the former General who was head of the Iraq authority during post invasion Iraq) coming back to US after he handed over authority (?) to the civilian Iraqi gov: he meets with Rumsfeld (his boss) and Rumsfeld is dismissive, doesn't talk about the obvious problems (banning Baath party members from gov, disbanding Iraqi army, the growing insurgency), and then they end up at white house for Bremer to have Pres. bush tell him what a great job he did. Bremer meets briefly with Bush, Bush seems oblivious to the situation in Iraq, tells Bremer what a great job he did (? !) and Bremer leaves, after about 7 min or so in oval office. The author of the book asked Bremer, since you had a chance to talk to the Pres, did you tell him what is going on in Iraq? The slow moving train wreck disaster? Bremer (a career officer) says, no - Its not his place, since Bremer reports to Rumsfeld, its Rumsfeld's job to inform the President. But the author asks, wasn't it clear Bush didnt know what was really going on in Iraq, because Rumsfeld was feeding him feel good reports and keeping Bush in Happy Land? Bremer says, it wasn't his job or place to contradict Rumsfeld. !!!!! Bush was detached, he delegated and his cabinet didnt give him the real story - Did Rumsfeld think Bush was too dense to understand the situation in Iraq? That it was Bush's job to look presidential and play the role of President, while his staff handled the important hard stuff? And Bush's last press conference was bizarre - he defended himself, became angry, and then said he was the "decider," and that history would remember him as the guy who made tough decisions....Its not the fact that a decision has been made, its the nature of the decision that is important. bush made decisions alright, based on what BS his cabinet told him, decisions that his cabinet wanted him to make given the data they gave him. he was manipulated by Cheney and Rumsfeld and only "thought" he was making decisions.

The entire Press corps should have thrown their shoes at Pres Bush at his last press conference. Or, is it true that before Bush's last press conference, that the secret service made everyone in the room take their shoes off and check them at the door?

Obama - real deal class act? maybe....

Obama has class. During demo candidate debates, he prompted Bill Richardson when Bill wasn't paying attention and missed a questions. Obama whispered, "Katrina," and Bill was able to give an answer, and thanked Obama afterward. Obama could have just stood there and watched bill drown, but he gave him a hand. then, at end of second Pres debate, McCain wanders in front of Brokaw's teleprompter. McCain looked lost, Brokaw didn't know what to do, so Obama ALSO stood in front of the prompter, and now both were in the way. At that point McCain knew what was happening and moved. Instead of just standing there and watching McCain look lost (like an old man) Obama also stood in front of the prompter, suggesting that standing there was ok, something both McCain and Obama did. he didnt have to do that. But he did, and I think it says something about his concept of fairness, grace,

SRU student Seth Sykora-Bodie reporter at Inaugural for Houston Chronicle!!!

Our student, Seth Sykora-Bodie, is reporting for the Houston Chronicle from the inaugural festivities. Here is his story. The picture was taken by him. He attended the Democratic National Convention as an intern with the Washington Center, it was there he met up with Houston Chronicle reporters, and he kept in touch and learned he had an opportunity to report for the Chronicle as a "student blogger" and have his stories published on the Chroncile web site.

Internships can provide fantastic opportunities.

Airbus landing in Hudson

here is video coverage of the airbus landing in the Hudson river. shows video of plane banking back to land. shows security video of actual landing. and rescue. Text book ditching, absolutely amazing.

new presidential limo - "Obamobile"

Pres. Obama gets a new limo, 4 wheel drive, can survive rocket, rpg, or road side bomb. No bullets can touch it. It looks like a Cadillac, has a hand sewn interior, has Cadillac sheet metal on outside. Underneath, it is a GMC 2500. Plus, it has multi steel and composite components. You can drive this from Bahgdad Airport to the Green Zone very safely (maybe they should give out troops some of these).

also shown is Pres. Bush's limo - notice the car like tires, it is a stretch limo with added protection, but very different underneath than Pres. Obama's limo.