12.21.2001
In case you haven't seen this yet, this is what I call a worthwhile Year-in-Review: no ponderous punditry, just the stats made graphic. USA Today, eat your heart out.
-- Andrea
12.20.2001
Have you collected all 90 of the Enduring Freedom Trading Cards? Then how about the Psychedelic Republicans set, or some 50's Horror Cards, or original Artist Trading Cards, or the Postmodern Theory trading cards (complete with game instructions)?
This brings up a rather painful memory -- when I was 8 my mother made me give away my entire Star Wars card collection to a child who was "less fortunate" than me. An early lesson in the pains we must endure to bring about social justice. I think I'll get over it. Someday.
Speaking of Star Wars (which makes it twice this week), can you believe that this is a gargoyle at the National Cathedral? How cool is that?
Thanks to MeFi for the Darth Vader story.
Found on Boing Boing
12.19.2001
This article by Jason Vest in this week's Voice starts off with the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League condemning in strong terms the JDL's latest threats against Arab- and Muslim-Americans. Then the article takes a logic-defying turn:
Yet some observers of the current Middle East crisis see more than a bit of disingenuousness and historical irony here. While both the ADL and the AJC have condemned the JDL, they've unequivocally backed Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon's indiscriminate use of force against the Palestinians and the cutting of ties with Palestinian Authority president Yasir Arafat � neither of which is universally seen as a particularly constructive way to slow the cycles of violence across Israel and the Occupied Territories.
In Vest's view, unless they were to also condemn Israel, the AJC and the ADL don't have the bona fides to condemn the JDL -- or any other terrorists, it would seem. Note Vest's curious locution at the end there -- "neither of which is universally seen as a particularly constructive way to slow the cycles of violence." In other words, since some think that Israel's latest actions are not "particularly constructive," therefore all must condemn Israel. I won't get into whether breaking ties with Arafat was a good idea -- although it appears to be having some effect on Hamas. But I hardly see how the ADL and AJC's support of Israel makes their condemnation of the JDL "disingenuous." Did Vest actually read what the ADL has to say on the subject?
Vest then goes on:
But what's even more vexing to others is the apparent inability or unwillingness to discern similarities between the current Palestinian milieu and Israeli operations of 50-plus years ago, which secured statehood from colonialist occupiers.
He then provides a brief history of the Irgun and the Stern Gang and their violence against the British. It's clear that Vest is trying to draw the parallel between the Irgun and the Intifada; what's unclear is what he means by it. Of course Israel doesn't consider the Irgun to be terrorists; today's terrorist is history's revolutionary, but only if they win. By Vest's logic, the U.S. would be "disingenuous" to criticize Al Qaeda, when after all our founding fathers were revolutionaries who committed their own acts of violence. It would also mean that the ADL and the AJC would either have to condemn the Irgun, the JDL, and the Intifadah -- or embrace them all. I'm not sure which choice Vest would have them make.
12.18.2001
This, and many other great road signs, outsider art, and of course sock monkeys, at Interesting Ideas. Don't miss The Gyros Project.
Ever since Britney was signed on to her record company someone very powerful with a extreme lust for young girls and a extreme lust for money decided that he wanted to use and abuse Britney as well as her reputation to get what ever he wanted from her. When she didn't comply they put a fake to do whatever she refused to do and parts of the media purposely set her up to look bad so that she'd have no point in fighting it. Although she was much tougher and much more clever than they ever imagined. On the November 1999 BBC (radio 1) interview Britney said that some guy went to her house when Britney wasn't there and he asked for Britney and cut wires were found. I think that was just something that was done to get her to think back to then so that she'd get scared thinking about how long she may have been in danger. They tried scaring her by threatening to come and get her and force sex on her if she didn't comply. They made it very clear that no one could help her. I'm sure that she knows very well who they are. The fake was purposely put in to place too seem like Britney with breast implants. They messed with concert equipment to make her look bad and then they used the fact that people were thinking that she was using a fake voice against her and eventually they replaced her with someone that didn't sound exactly like her and people who knew her voice well enough thought things like "oh she's using her real voice now" or "oh that's another fake voice of her's". They messed with a over head camera so that it fell on her head while the filming the oops video and blood was pouring out and they made sure that in a video that followed the oops video she almost froze to death. Most if not all of 2001 and late 2000 the fake Britney took the real Britney's place. Christina is a victim of this too. They are trying to make Christina look like a heartless freak. They have her imitated too.
12.17.2001
So I'm buying presents online and I call the vendor to ask a question and they tell me they'll be right back and put me on hold.
The hold music: OMD's "If You Leave."
Best,
--andrea
A typical nuclear power plant contains within its core about 1,000 times the long-lived radioactivity released by the Hiroshima bomb. The spent fuel pools at nuclear power plants typically contain some multiple of that�several Chernobyls� worth. . . .
We reported in 1986�and it is still the case today�that NRC regulations require nuclear reactor operators to protect against no more than a single insider and/or three external attackers, acting as a single team, wielding no more than hand-held automatic weapons.
Security personnel at power reactors are not required to be prepared for:
� more than three intruders;
� more than one team of attackers using coordinated tactics;
� more than one insider;
� weapons greater than hand-held automatic weapons;
� attack by boat or plane; or
� any attack by �enemies of the United States,� whether governments or individuals.
Have a nice day.
How many people really believe that Osama bin Laden is hiding out on the West Coast, hanging out at rest stops or running liquor stores? Further proof that bigotry and intelligence are inversely correlated. Thanks to Naunihal for the article.
Oregon woman jailed for hate crime against Sikhs
BY BRUCE OLSON
EUGENE, Ore. (Reuters) - An Oregon woman who yelled racial slurs and harassed two Sikhs at a roadside rest stop five days after the Sept. 11 attacks has been sentenced to 30 days in jail.
Jagit Gill, 41, and his father-in-law, Santokh Sing, 60, both of Kent, Washington, had stopped for some tea on Sept. 16 when the woman, Shari Mitchell, 54, of Milwaukie, Oregon, approached them.
"I said hello to her and she started yelling at us, calling us terrorists. It was very scary,'' Gill told Reuters on Saturday.
Gill said the woman tried to pull the turban from Sing's head, knocked over their tea and pushed Gill. Other motorists at the Interstate-5 rest stop near Eugene, Oregon, confronted Mitchell and she drove away.
Gill, however, used his cell phone to contact police and the woman was arrested and charged with second-degree intimidation and harassment.
"I was very glad to hear she has been sentenced to jail. The way she was talking, it is better for her to stay away from the public,'' Gill said.
A jury convicted Mitchell on Dec. 7 of both counts.
Lane County Circuit Judge Ted Carp imposed the 30-day jail term on Friday and added five years probation. He also ordered the woman to undergo mental health evaluation and treatment, and to stay away from firearms.
Mitchell argued that she was mentally ill and that she thought she had found Saudi-born extremist Osama bin Laden, blamed by the United States in the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, at the rest stop. Her lawyer said she had been inflamed by media reports of the Sept. 11 attacks.
But prosecutor Paul Graebner said she was a bigot and called the defense a "con job.'' Carp said the sentence was intended to discourage Mitchell and others from acting on their bigotry.
Gill, who has been in the United States for 16 years, is originally from northern India and runs a convenience store in Kent, a town near Seattle.
"We have hundreds of customers a day and no one treats us like this woman did,'' he said.
Surfers have hit this site recently searching for: Italian male strippers, black twin sister porn, and, most disturbingly, the one from Germany searching for audio galaxy sex. I mean, who fantasizes about sex with a peer-to-peer MP3 distribution system? Certainly not me! (Or is that "not I"? I can never remember....)
Mike, This is from Saturday's New York Times.� It is from a front page story.� I highlighted the best part:
Although Afghan fighters tried to claim the near-victory for themselves, there were a number of battlefield details that indicated it was a small group of highly trained, professional Western special operations troops � and not the local Afghan fighters � who were actually doing the fighting.
First, there was no apparent physical contact between the rear position and the forward line, as would have been evident if the Afghan force were heavily involved in the fighting: no replacements were moving up, no ammunition bearers resupplying gunners, no wounded coming back. This suggested the forward fighting was being carried out by an unusually self-contained unit.
More tellingly, the sporadic small arms fire heard between the larger bursts of American bombs and Afghan tank fire was distinctive. Afghan fighters tend to be enthusiastic, holding their assault rifles up and firing off a full banana-shaped clip at a time in a high-pitched barrage.
The automatic weapons fire heard was clipped � short bursts, usually of three shots, fired with a quick squeeze of the trigger � often clearly coming from different locations, indicating a highly trained, disciplined and well-organized force.
The Afghan fighters around the command post, draped in rocket-propelled grenade launchers and AK-47 assault rifles, appeared to be mostly lounging about. They laughed hysterically as many of the journalists flinched at the unexpected explosions of outgoing tank fire, as if this were the funniest thing they had ever seen. But the Afghans also scattered when two bursts of sniper fire whizzed overhead.
While the Afghans have insistently denied the presence of American combat forces and the American troops have tried to hide from sight, their clandestine presence was betrayed by a tell-tail trail of piles of plastic Poland Spring mineral water bottles in the mountains.
[NB: Also, the blaster marks were too accurate for Sandpeople. Clearly, the work of Imperial forces. And the Sandpeople always ride single file, to hide their numbers.]
From the Washington Post:
Although many laboratories possess the Ames strain of anthrax involved in this fall's bioterrorist attacks, only five laboratories so far have been found to have spores with perfect genetic matches to those in the Senate letters, the scientists said. And all those labs can trace back their samples to a single U.S. military source: the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease (USAMRIID) at Fort Detrick, Md.
Thanks to Naunihal for the article.
Sorry it's taken me so long to respond to this item, but for those of you who looked at it . . .
Yet another reason to live Back East
. . . you'll notice that there are MAGNITUDE markers on the map showing that all of the earthquakes were magnitude 2 or below, which means that a bus going by on your street causes a great deal more shaking and rolling. I just don't want everyone thinking were are complete and utter idiots; idiots we may be, but we're not that far gone yet. To be honest, now that we are living three blocks from the ocean, I am much more concerned about tidal waves. If anyone is a tsunami expert, I'd appreciate a good website or two where I can learn more.
Feliz Navidad --
Matt
[Matt: for all your tsunami news, try the Geophysics Department at the University of Washington or the National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration. You'll be happy to know that DART (Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis) is on the lookout, 24/7. Actually, it looks like Paul and the rest of the greater Sea-Tac Area residents are more at risk than you. So rest easy. Until California falls into the ocean, at least.]
