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Archives
Ruins Friday I linked to Architectural anarchy. I'm also fascinated with architectural detritis—ruins. Structures that have outlived their usefulness.
 thanks to MetaFilter ---------- Another intersting site with more NY detritus. thanks to MetaFilter
Enron Shocked, Shocked! Enronian Myths Exposed In happier times the Enron corporation used to run a TV commercial in which a clever young executive punctured the pretensions of a panel of windbag politicians with a single sharp word: "Why?" It was supposed to be a thirty-second demonstration of the populist wisdom of electricity deregulation: Anyone could see that our legislators were arrogant fogies who kept us from having economic "choices" simply because they thought they knew better than the people.
These days, the clever young executives of Enron are taking the Fifth, not cracking wise at the Man. And the notion of Enron acting in the public interest--of Enron acting in anyone's interest other than that of those same clever young executives--can only register as a sort of sick joke. thanks to Blowback ----------
If left-labor-liberal progressives had the cohesion and muscle of their right-wing opposites, they would be articulating a simple-to- understand litmus test for the Democratic Party--no "Enron Democrats" on the presidential ticket in 2004. That precondition would eliminate a number of presidential wannabes now mentioned by the Washington media's Great Mentioner. Scratch Senator Joe Lieberman. Forget the happy talk about Senate majority leader Tom Daschle's running for the White House. And Senator Joe Biden can stop daydreaming. These men--and perhaps some other would-be candidates--do not pass the Enron smell test.
Israel/Palestine
Trying to build an international coalition in support of action against Iraq, the United States has found the Middle East preoccupied instead with the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Against its will, the American administration is being sucked into a mediating role ---------- You can't tell the players without a program. The Arab League summit in Beirut is coming up soon where Saudia Arabia is going to present their peace plan. Everyone is trying to solidify their position. -----------
Arab League summit likely to endorse Saudi peace plan Newspapers in Lebanon yesterday published a draft of a resolution that is likely to be adopted by leaders from Arab states at the end of the upcoming Arab summit. The summit is scheduled to open this Wednesday in Beirut, and end the following the day.
Three main topics are expected to be discussed at the Arab summit: the Saudi peace initiative, Iraq, and ways of assisting the Palestinian Authority. ---------- PM asks to go to Arab meet; Arafat wants guarantee he can return
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, speaking Friday in an interview to The Washington Post published Saturday, said he told the Americans that he is interested in attending the Arab League Summit in Beirut later this week and has asked the United States to intervene in his favor. ----------
Unforgettable, unforgivable Kazam Jadban, 56, is the proprietor of a small grocery store on a corner of Shweike Square in Tul Karm. He stood at the entrance to his shop and gazed in disbelief at the Israeli tanks crossing the square and moving slowly up the street until they disappeared from view. It was Thursday, March 7, the second day of the Israel Defense Forces incursion into Tul Karm. A group of children, 5 to 10 years old, was running through the streets, shaking hands with two journalists wearing helmets and flak vests, clustering around them, making the "V" for victory sign with their fingers and pushing themselves into the range of the camera lens shouting "Take my picture, take my picture." This is a scene that every news photographer in the territories knows well.
Mohammed Abu Ali Botter, 9, was among them. Five minutes earlier he had bought ice cream from Jadban and he was still licking it with enjoyment. Jadban saw him scampering up the street in the wake of the journalists, and then he heard a shot. One bullet. A while later - perhaps a few seconds, it seemed as though time had stood still - the boy was seen running shakily toward his home, but immediately he fell. "His ice cream was full of blood," said Jadban. ---------- There is now a Palsetinian Indy Media Center
 And the Israeli Indy Media Center
Bob Dylan thanks to MetaFilter
War Against Some Terrorists The Unbearable Lightness Of Being American Six months after September 11th, the Bush administration has a little problem. It wants to marshall public support to attack Iraq. But it also wants to control what Americans know about the war in Afghanistan. President Bush can't have things both ways -- especially amidst a growing number of signs that Americans are losing interest in events overseas.
Though it hasn't been very long since last September, Americans are already treating the terrorist attacks as events of the past, history to be recorded and re- viewed like a wedding video. thanks to SmirkingChimp.com ---------- Iraq asks UN about U.S. threats to Saddam
Seeking to broaden talks on weapons inspectors, Iraq has angered Washington by asking the United Nations to answer questions about U.S. threats to topple President Saddam Hussein. The questions ranged from whether U.S. threats against the Iraqi government were a breach of international law to whether what the Iraqis called U.S. "spies" would serve on inspection teams.
Iraq also asked how long inspectors would stay and whether Baghdad would be compensated for damage inflicted by U.S and British bombings to enforce a flight- exclusion zone. thanks to Liberal Arts Mafia ----------
Pull Up a Chair
Are you sitting down? O.K., I'm not going to beat around the bush. I'm just going to say it straight: There is no way that America will be able to sustain a successful Middle East policy, whether it wants to invade Iraq or do anything else in the region, unless the U.S. is prepared to station American troops on the ground, indefinitely, around both Afghanistan and Israel. thanks to Doc Searls ---------- An interesting comment, on the above piece, from one of Docs readers...
It Was A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood Zoe and I went up to Fort Casey for a walk. Fort Casey is one of the gun emplacements built to guard Puget Sound prior to World War I. These are ruins turned into a park which doesn't make them real ruins any more. Always a great place to bring kids.
 A great view over to Port Townsend and up the Straight of Juan de Fuca. It was snowing three days ago. Today was a spring day. Katie came up and we unloaded Gerry's (Zoe's mom) stuff into her new garage. They will have the carpet done Monday. Katie and I go over to Redmond tomorrow morning to pick up another load at Gerry's
tony pierce i made it through the wilderness thanks to Dumbmonkey
Environment
Navy report shows polar cap is shrinking fast The polar ice cap has been shrinking so fast that regular ships may be steaming through the Northwest Passage each summer by 2015, and along northern Russia even sooner, according to a new U.S. Navy report. Global warming will open the Arctic Ocean to unprecedented commercial activity. The seasonal expansion of open water may draw commercial fishing fleets into the Chukchi and Beaufort seas north of Alaska within a few decades. The summer ice cover could even disappear entirely by 2050 -- or be concentrated around northern Greenland and Ellesmere Island.
For the U.S. Navy, this presents an unprecedented challenge: a new ocean. thanks to follow me here...
Anarchy
I was once an Architecture student. Architecture with a capital A. The Kowloon Walled City was architecture with a lower case a. The Kowloon Walled City is what happens when a city is built with no rules. This is something that fascinates me. thanks to consumptive.org ----------
City of Darkness Hak Nam, City of Darkness, the old Walled City of Kowloon was an unmistakable presence in the midst of urban Hong Kong. It was also one of the city’s greatest anomalies. Built on a site measuring little more than 100 x 200 metres without recourse to legislation and with little regard for basic services, the City not only survived for close on 100 years, it established itself as a thriving and ever-growing community.
And yet, at its peak in the 1980s, the Walled City was home to some 35,000 people. Shops, factories, restaurants, dental clinics, apartments — all were accommodated with little apparent order to create a thriving and bustling community. How did the Walled City come about and why did it survive for so long? How was it possible for so many people to live and work in such difficult conditions, yet in apparent harmony? ---------- ----------
War Against Some Terrorists
Denis Halliday In the U.S., there are a number of issues not being discussed. One of those is international law. The U.S. somehow doesn't believe that international law applies to this great democracy, to this great empire. We've seen Mr. Bush reject various aspects of international law in the past year. That's a failure on the part of Washington to understand that the U.S. is in fact subordinate to the charter, to the declaration of human rights, to the Geneva Conventions and protocols -- all of which would protect Iraq, a sovereign state and member of the United Nations -- from further harassment, attacks and killings by the United States.
[What's missing is] respect for international law and an awareness that this is not an empire -- that "might" is no longer "right" in the year 2002, and that Mr. Bush does not have any God-given right to attack Iraq or its people without consultation with the Security Council. There is no legitimate way for the U.S. to wage war again on the people of Iraq. That's one huge issue that's missing, in my view. thanks to Lia Bulaong at American Samizdat
I finished Stupid White Men...and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation!. Read it and weep. Zoe's mom, Geri, is moving to the island. They finished all the trim in her new house today except on one window. The carpet goes down tomorrow. I've been driving Andrew's van around with Geri's stuff in it all week. I will be able to unload it tomorrow night in the garage which will finally be empty of construction stuff and carpet roll. The appliances arrive Monday which will also be the day of the walk-through inspection. She should be in by April 1st.
The Hanson Brothers Live!
They Lived 'Slap Shot'
 I don't know about the sequel but their performance in Slap Shot was incredible. One of my favorite movies.
This American Life Zoe, my LOML, just called. This American Life had done a show on Office Politics and she had sent the link to the archive of the show to my daughter Katie. (Katie is in her first office job and has been learning about office politics the hard way.) I didn't know that their shows were archived. Where have I been? This American Life is one of the best things I have *ever* heard on radio. Most of there shows are archived on their site, which means I have some catching up to do. I just listened to one of my favorites. Zoe turned me on to this one some time ago. It's from a show called Fiasco! (Unfortunately this is a frames site so the link goes to the page put breaks out of the frame.) Or you can go directly to the show: Fiasco! RealAudio link. The favorite part is the first part of the show about a production of Peter Pan gone wrong, way wrong. Fiasco! Jack Hitt's opening story -- about a school production of Peter Pan gone horribly awry -- is so funny that in the middle of the taping, host Ira Glass had to turn off his microphone because of all the embarassing snorting sounds he was making. We've gotten at least a dozen emails and letters from listeners who said they nearly wrecked their cars listening to this over the radio. So much to listen to, so little time!
Stupid White Men
From Michael's web site: "Stupid White Men" ratings:
#1 Amazon.com Best Seller List (All books combined; varies hourly)
Spring Spring starts in less than an hour and it's snowing! Woke up this morning to a white wonderland. Well, there were some tips of green showing through on the lawn. There are currently very fine snow flakes coming down. C'mon Spring! We're ready!
Astronomy Simulate a naked-eye view of the sky from any location on Earth, at any time of day or night, on any date from 1600 to 2400. Or print an all-sky map. Our interactive sky chart works in most Java-enabled Web browsers. It doesn't seem very accurate. I printed out a sky chart, went outside, and couldn't see a damn thing. Maybe that's why they call Puget Sound the Capital of Underwater Astronomy.
This will be really cool when the clouds go away.
Environment Antarctic ice shelf breaks apart
An Antarctic ice shelf that was 200 metres thick and had a surface area of 3,250 square kilometers has broken apart in less than two months.
"We knew what was left would collapse eventually, but the speed of it is staggering," said Dr David Vaughan, a glaciologist at the Bas in Cambridge. thanks to DANGEROUSMETA!
Home Sweet Home
Silohome
 thanks to consumptive.org
Freedom of non-religion
Don't get me wrong. It's perfectly fine for Bush, Ashcroft, and Cheney to declare their faith. It's even fine for them to speak about the good they believe religion does in the world. But Tony Blair has done that as well, and yet he's also said, "This atrocity is an attack on us all, on people of all faiths and on people of none." As far as I can tell (and the website beliefnet.com chronicles George W.'s statements on religion), President Bush has never uttered a similar thought. And when he and his top advisers, in hundreds and hundreds of statements, never miss an opportunity to exclude nonbelievers, it's hard to believe the exclusion is purely accidental. Consider, again, Ashcroft's speech last month: "Civilized individuals, Christians, Jews, and Muslims, all understand that the source of freedom and human dignity is the Creator.... All people are called to the defense of the Grantor of freedom...." Are individuals who don't see "the Creator" as "the source of freedom and human dignity" uncivilized? And how can "all people" be "called to the defense of the Grantor of freedom" if some people do not believe the Grantor exists? In lauding the attorney general's ecumenicism, conservatives ducked the real issue: that for this administration, celebrating the dignity of all believers has become a way to impugn the dignity of those who believe in no religion at all. thanks to Cursor
Photography A look at the world's 1st photograph
 One summer morning, Joseph Nicephore Niepce peered from an upstairs window in his home in the French countryside, framed the view of a pear tree, the sky and several farm buildings and did something remarkable: He took a picture.
Opening the lens of a rudimentary camera for eight hours that day in 1826, Niepce exposed a polished, thinly varnished pewter plate to produce an image that is acknowledged as the world's first photograph. In June, 176 years later, the faint image will arrive at The Getty Conservation Institute, where scientific experts will analyze it for the first time since it was rediscovered and authenticated in 1952. Before it turned up, the photo had been missing for decades, misplaced by its owner after it was last exhibited in 1898. thanks to consumptive.org
War Against The Poor Sunday's front-page story in The Times on doctors who shun patients with Medicare may have been alarming enough; it seems that recent cuts in Medicare payments are inducing many doctors to avoid treating Medicare recipients at all. But this is just the beginning of a struggle that will soon dominate American politics
Think of it as the collision between an irresistible force (the growing cost of health care) and an immovable object (the determination of America's conservative movement to downsize government). For the moment the Bush administration and its allies still won't admit that there is any conflict between their promises to retirees and their small-government ideology. But we're already past the stage where this conflict can be hidden with fudged numbers. The effort to live within unrealistically low targets for Medicare expenses has already translated into unrealistically low payments to health-care providers. And it gets worse from here. thanks to follow me here...
War Against Some Terrorists
Georgia: US opens new front in war on terror
Trouble at High Levels
thanks to Cursor
On Sunday night the United States prepared for fresh strikes against new pockets of al-Qaida and Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. At almost exactly the same time, American intelligence revealed that they had uncovered an increase in money being transferred between groups of al-Qaida fighters. According to my reckoning, this is the 14th handy thing that American intelligence has discovered since September 11. Think back over the past six months and it becomes ineluctable: never in the history of modern warfare has so much been found so opportunely.
thanks to SmirkingChimp.com
Neo-Fascist right leading America to abyss Rich Lowry is a good reason why the American right is, more and more, being viewed as a raving pack of psychotic loons. An editor with the far right National Review propaganda sheet, he came out with the proposal that we teach those Moslems a thing or two by dropping a bomb on Mecca. Granted, he had enough scraps of sanity left to mention that it would be in retaliation if someone nuked us first, and he even went so far as to say that the idea was "a bit extreme," but he was pretty sure that destroying Mecca and making it impossible to visit for years or decades would "send a signal."
If that’s his idea of a "signal" then I think his sex life must consist of jack hammers and cherry bombs. It takes an incredible emotional thickness to describe the destruction of Mecca as "a signal." Maybe Hitler’s actions were a hint that he wouldn’t be marrying a Jew. thanks to SmirkingChimp.com
More March Madness Comic Book Super Heroes/Stars of the Old Testament One-on-One Basketball Tournament The excitement built leading up to the seedings for the First Annual Comic Book Super Heroes/Stars of the Old Testament One-on-One Basketball Tournament. And the Selection Committee almost immediately had a controversy with its selection of Superman as the #1 seed in the Mid-West over Lucifer. Instead, Lucifer was given a #2 seeding in the Middle East Bracket, and is expected to face #1 seed Jehovah in the finals. A play in game will decide who gets the #16 seed in the Middle East, with the daunting task of taking on Jehovah in the first round game for either the Green Arrow or the Green Lantern, neither of whom are expected to give the old man much of a game.
Elsewhere, Wonder Woman at #7 and King Solomon at #10 could be one of the tournaments best first round match-ups, as is the long-awaited Adam (8) vs Silver Surfer (9) game. Captain America at #4 has to be prepared for an unpredictable Cain at #13, a guy who lacks a good outside game, but plays with a lot of emotion. thanks to MetaFilter
Lifestyles R Us People with similar lifestyles tend to live near one another. PRIZM describes every U.S. neighborhood in terms of 62 distinct lifestyle types, called clusters; while MicroVision defines 48 lifestyle types, called segments.
Enter your 5-digit ZIP Code to find your neighborhood's top five PRIZM or MicroVision lifestyle groups! thanks to MetaFilter
Photography
Biodic
 thanks to consumptive.org ----------
  thanks to consumptive.org ----------
 thanks to MetaFilter
Words
With few exceptions, the last words of history's great players have been about as interesting and uplifting as a phone book. We may expect pearls of profundity and motivational aphorism from our expiring artists, philosophers, and world leaders, but more often we are left with dry-as-dust clichés. But is it fair to expect deep insights into life's mysteries when the dying clearly have other things on their mind — hell, for instance, or unspeakable pain? thanks to DANGEROUSMETA!
Israel/Palestine One of the major stumbling blocks to peace are the settlements. This piece gives some basic facts about them. Israeli Settlements on Occupied Palestinian Territories Settlements are essentially large housing projects built illegally by Israel on land confiscated from Palestinians within the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza Strip. These settlements are joined to each other and to Israel through "by-pass" roads, which are for the exclusive use of Israelis and which are also built on privately owned Palestinian land confiscated by the Israeli government.
Israeli settlements affect Palestinian daily life and impact long-term Palestinian developmental needs. They ensure that Palestinians live in a continuous state of insecurity and fragmentation and therefore prevent economic, social and political development. thanks to Unknown News ---------- There's no park gear fitted to this crisis
Top level discussions in the Palestinian Authority before U.S. mediator Anthony Zinni and Vice President Richard Cheney flew in led to a clear cut approach - it would take more than Israeli agreement to enter political negotiations for the Palestinians to enter security negotiations. They want - in advance - a "road map" clearly showing where they are going. They want to know when the Israeli government will approve the Mitchell report, when it will freeze the settlements, and how much time will pass after security returns to the streets of Israel before Israel commits itself to ending the occupation.
War Against Some Terrorists I had some other war links but this sort of says all I can handle about this today. The War that Destroyed America
In the coming years, trillions of taxpayer dollars previously earmarked for non-military expenditures will be siphoned off to feed the voracious appetite of the Grendelesqe US military-industrial complex. And for what purpose? Billions more dollars for a grandiose national missile defense instead of billions for the tools the young Special Operations warfighters, who will inevitably fight and die in countries as far-a-field as Afghanistan, Iraq, Columbia and Georgia, need to do their jobs. Trillions more dollars will be directed to a military and intelligence establishment that failed to protect and defend American citizens and the U.S. Constitution on September 11, 2001. And as more billions and billions of dollars get poured into Homeland Defense, it's worth looking at The State of the Union, or should we say State of the Homeland, to see if the warfighters who return from their efforts in foreign lands will recognize the country they left. For while Americans fight on the frontiers of strange and distant lands, they do not understand that their country is disintegrating. And the numbers tell the story. thanks to also not found in nature
Fibromyalgia Zoe, my LOML, has Fibromyalgia. It's a disabling disease that I'm trying to understand better by researching it on the net. I have started a Fibromyalgia links page to gather the information I find. It helps me orgainize what I find and it becomes a place I can send family and friends for information about Fibro. The list is in it's infancy. Some of the links I have are old. I will be replacing the old and outdated with new links as I find them. If anyone has any good Fibro links, please let me know.
Pizza James Luckett, at consumptive.org, is living in Japan. He has a little cultural translation which I thought would be nice to think of as we start a new week... pizza in japan is notorious for its exotic combination of ingredients - potato, corn and mayonaise is a popular choice. we just received a flyer ad for a new pizza delivery - pizza dano (sorry no website) - and they've got what has to be the most bizarre combination i have yet to see. its called the "salsa dog." i really wish i could show you a picture of this. imagine a wheel of thin crust with radiating chorizo-esque hot dog spokes laying on a bed of salsa, mayonaise and shredded cabbage and sprinkled with a garnish of minced onions and dill pickle chips. i'm assured, in english, that '"it's good." the thing is, stuff like this, here in japan, somehow does taste good.
U.N. SETS "GLOBAL MARCH MADNESS" FIELD "March Madness," the sobriquet of America's NCAA college basketball tournament, has spilled over to the international arena, as the United Nations Selection Committee today named the top 63 countries who will quite literally battle it out in a single elimination, military competition that should answer once and for all who is No. 1. The tournament, which U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan promised would be "just like the NCAA's, except for the part where the losers die," has already sparked controversy among peace activists, who called the contests outrageous.
"I cannot believe they would do this," said WorldPeaceNow communications director Marvin Gundersohn. "I mean, come on, France is a 2-seed in the South? That's a laugh. And no way does Russia deserve a top seed in the Mideast. They're mired in a late 20th Century slump, have no momentum coming in, and have fought a weak schedule."
Every thang's gonna be all white The Fighting Whites, (previously noted) now have their own website. Buy a t-shirt.
Acoustic Music
This is also a release on David Grisman's Acoustic Disc label. After tracing the development of flat top steel string guitars, acoustic arch-top jazz guitars, and American style carved mandolins in Tone Poems I and II, Tone Poems III enters into the fascinating world of slide and "resophonic" instruments. This special project features the combined talents of dobro player extraordinaire Mike Auldridge, National guitar wizard Bob Brozman, and mandolin ace David Grisman. Together they delve into 21 tunes, playing over 50 instruments, detailing the development of these unusual hybrid instruments which formed the "missing link" between acoustic and electric. Where to begin? Well—you could start with the 48 page book. I didn't know there were so many slides and resophonics. There is a history of the instruments in this book starting from the hollow neck Hawaiian guitars through the National and Dobro guitars, mandolins, and tenors to some new new resophonics. Each instrument is a different visual and sonic treat. Each song is played on a different set of instruments by three masters. The songs are wonderful! Early Hawaiian, blues, country, and bluegrass. These three masters take us on a delightful musical journey across 20th century Americana demonstrating their virtuosity, love and respect for the music and instruments they play here. Three masters, indeed! The playing is superb. It's a very high-level string trio playing together and off of each other. Their love for the music and the instruments just pours out of the speakers.
Nothing like a family gathering to cheer one up. My nephew Adam turned 21 and my niece Megon (brother and sister) turned 18 so we had a combined birthday Saturday night. Cheese cake and ice cream—yum! Pictures up soon. I recently cut my hair so Katie challenged me to a hair-off to determine who had the longest hair. Those are my daughters Jenny and Katie. I'm on the right (the gray hair is a clue.) I'm afraid Katie is the new champ.
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William Gibson's anarchic community on the San Francisco Bay Bridge (Virtual Light and All Tomorrow's Parties) had a precedent in Kowloon's Walled City. 
Through a continual process of demolition and reconstruction — with never an architect in sight — individual buildings gradually homogenised. An intricate network of communal stairways linked one to the other, creating a warren of passages that made it possible to traverse the City without once coming down to ground. Only at street level did the old grid of public alleyways still exist, but hemmed in and built over, usually dark, damp and unappealing.(..)
