Quotes, URL's, Links And References-by:older Femmes, Butches, Ftms, Mtfs, Queer, Etc. [Archive] - Page 19

sweetlady

05-25-2007, 12:06 PM

(f) (f) (f) (f) (f)

A group of bikers who are Vietnam veterans holding a ceremony en route to an annual rally in Washington.

Roland Jennings at a Carry the Flame ceremony in Cuba, N.M.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/05/25/travel/american-jacket-650.jpg

May 25, 2007

American Journeys

Mission for Memorial Day: Always Remember

By JENNIFER MILLER

IF you traveled on one of the nation’s Interstates in these last few days before Memorial Day, you might have encountered an unusual sight: bikers by the dozens stretched half a mile down the highway, their motorcycles flying military banners and spewing exhaust.

They are an intimidating bunch. Sheathed in leather from the neck down, they look like physical extensions of their bikes. But these riders are no motley crew. They are members of Rolling Thunder, a nationwide network of veterans and their supporters. Their destination: the Rolling Thunder Memorial Day rally on the National Mall in Washington.

“In D.C., people were mouthing ‘thank you’ and crying,” Deno Paolini, a Vietnam veteran from Reno, Nev., recalled of his first trip to the Mall. Mr. Paolini said that the Washington run is one of the few times he feels appreciated for his service. In Washington, he said, it “began to make sense.”

Rolling Thunder, which has thousands of members, was founded in 1987 when some Vietnam veterans and advocates for P.O.W.’s and M.I.A.’s befriended one another on the mall. They were looking for a special way to promote their cause. Ray Manzo of Hoboken, N.J., now a former marine, suggested motorcycles. The idea grabbed them. Masses of bikes descending on Washington would literally sound like Rolling Thunder, the code name for the bombing campaign over North Vietnam.

In its first year, the Memorial Day rally drew 2,500 bikers. Now, nearly two decades later, hundreds of thousands of bikers join in.

“When you put 200,000 bikes together,” said Michael DePaulo, a Vietnam veteran from Berkley, Mass., who helps organize and run the rally, “it sounds like a B-52 strike.”

One rider is Steve Britton, a former marine from Dillon, Colo. With his leather vest, cowboy boots and grizzled mutton chops, he resembles a sheriff in a western. And like many of his comrades, Mr. Britton is very much a modern cowboy. “I love the freedom and the air and the bugs in my teeth,” he said of his attraction to motorcycles.

Riding also renews Mr. Britton’s sense of self-worth, which he said he lost after he received hostile and indifferent receptions upon returning from Vietnam in the late 1960s. He said post-traumatic stress disorder and alcoholism prevented him from holding a steady job. “I was at the point where I was saying, ‘God, either kill me or cure me,’ and I really didn’t care which.”

But Mr. Britton turned to Christianity, joined the Christian Motorcyclists Association and found salvation on the open road. He carries a small Bible on his annual ride to Washington. The art on the cover depicts handlebars and shining headlights. The caption reads: “Hope for the Highway.”

He serves as a chaplain for Rolling Thunder bikers. “That’s why I go on the ride,” he said. “To be able to share with people, to pray with people.”

Mr. Britton pilots a bright purple Honda Gold Wing. His bike is equipped with plush purple seats and velour arm rests. He fills his five-CD changer with Randy Travis recordings and keeps a pouch of Twizzlers on the dash to tame his cigarette addiction. At gas stations, he drinks cups of black coffee; even at 65 miles an hour, the bike can lull a rider to sleep.

Mr. Britton is one of 50 or so Rolling Thunder bikers who meet in California and ride their motorcycles to Washington each spring. They call themselves Carry the Flame, and they take an Olympic-style “torch of remembrance” to soldiers’ families who are unable to visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The bikers stop at Harley-Davidson outfitters and V.F.W. posts to conduct flame-lighting ceremonies.

Most of the Carry the Flame riders are veterans who say they see the 10-day, eight-state, 3,000-mile journey as a powerful expression of identity and pride and a way to cope with the past.

“The ghosts get let out of the box,” said King Cavalier II, a founder of Carry the Flame. He said that during the ride from California to Washington “full-grown 250-pound men break down like babies” because the experience makes them confront memories and emotions that have “been repressed for 30 years.”

Mr. Cavalier grows somber and becomes teary-eyed when he stops in small towns to meet the parents and siblings of those who never returned from Vietnam.

He is not a veteran himself but rides in memory of his father, a career Air Force man who, he said, spent a lifetime fighting for complete military benefits (he received full disability status six months before he died, at age 90). “This is my service,” Mr. Cavalier said of his involvement in Carry the Flame. “To quit would be like going AWOL.”

Like many of the riders, Mr. Cavalier is also a member of Rolling Thunder National, an affiliated organization founded in 1995 that works year-round for veterans’ rights. Rolling Thunder National has 80 chapters in 28 states. While most of its members are veterans, mostly from the Vietnam era, Rolling Thunder National estimates that 40 to 45 percent are not.

Mr. Britton tries to help Iraq war veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. He calls the motorcycle his tool — his way of reaching out.

But riding also lets Mr. Britton experience the emotion of combat. “I’m an adrenaline junkie,” he said, “and having been in a war situation, you don’t get that buzz doing many other things.”

It takes 10 days for the Carry the Flame riders to get from California to Washington. The veterans on the trip say they are not accustomed to the camaraderie that develops on the road; even those veterans in the group who have families say they generally feel a sense of isolation.

“We’re all loners, and that’s what you see here. That’s the common thread,” said Mr. Paolini, a small, wiry Vietnam veteran who rides with a cigar in his mouth and an iPod in his pocket. “But I’m here with these people, these wonderful men,” he added, looking at the rows of bikes and the veterans milling around under the trees. “We’ve shared in this experience.”

Mr. Britton agreed. “You don’t get the same brotherhood in the civilian world that you get in combat,” he said. “And all of us have looked for that since we’ve come back.”

THE veterans may have felt disrespected and disenfranchised, but tearing down the road cross-country from Barstow in California to Tuba City in Arizona, from El Reno in Oklahoma to Washington with military flags ripping the air, is a kind of psychological remuneration.

For them, freedom is not an illusory ideal but a physical thing composed of leather, chrome and whatever element the sky might throw in their faces.

And they know that some experiences cannot be had in a car.

A couple of days into the 2005 trip, Mr. Cavalier remembered leading his riders through a mountain pass outside Angel Fire, N.M., with Mr. Britton and Mr. Paolini following single file as they wound their bikes into the chilly heights. As the men began their descent, an eagle and two ravens burst from a cluster of trees. The eagle fled its pursuers, shooting into the blue sky. Suddenly, it swooped toward the bikers, gliding beside them for a quarter mile or more — just another rider out on a beautiful day.

“The bike is a totally different world,” said Germán Fernandez of Corona, Calif., another Vietnam veteran who was riding with Mr. Cavalier. “It’s not for everybody, but the ones who like it get on, and they never get off.”

(f) (f) The Rolling Thunder Memorial Day rally on the National Mall in Washington, and the ride there, is a show of pride by thousands who often felt dispirited, disregarded and despised. (f) (f)

(f)

Amare et sapere vix deo conceditur.

(Even a god finds it hard to love and be wise at the same time.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-25-2007, 12:10 PM

<:o) <:o) <:o) <:o) <:o) <:o) <:o)

Part of the gay rights movement has been a proliferation of pride events, including commemorative marches, parades and festivals, across the country and around the world.

Marchers in last year’s Los Angeles Pride parade.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/05/25/travel/ahead-600.jpg

May 25, 2007

Ahead | Gay Pride Festivals

A Month of Coming-Out Parties

By BETH GREENFIELD

IT can be said that all of today’s gay rights — from those that allow marriage to those that protect from hate crimes — can be traced to a few tense days in June 1969. That’s when a group of patrons at the Stonewall Inn, an unlicensed gay bar in Greenwich Village, grew fed up with one too many raids on the club. They fought back against the police, setting off the Stonewall riots and spawning the modern gay rights movement.

Part of that movement has been a proliferation of pride events, including commemorative marches, parades and festivals, across the country and around the world.

“The original idea,” said Russell Murphy, co-president of InterPride, the International Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Coordinators, “was to commemorate the Stonewall riots — to remind people that this is a struggle for queer rights and that this is our day. But now, a lot of them have expanded to become tourist attractions.”

That’s because it’s both fun to experience an explosion of gay culture in various cities and, as Mr. Murphy explained, “some people cannot be out in their own community, so they will travel.”

According to InterPride’s Web site, there are 2007 pride events taking place in nearly 140 municipalities around the world, from Albuquerque to Zurich. (A complete list is posted at www.interpride.org.)

Gay Pride Week in Manhattan attracts hundreds of thousands of spectators to a Sunday march down Fifth Avenue on the last full weekend of every June. This year’s other events include dance parties on Pier 54, an AIDS candlelight vigil, a sailing regatta on the Hudson River and the 15th annual New York City Dyke March. Separate pride events will take to the streets and parks in the other boroughs on earlier weekends in June.

Chicago, one of several cities besides New York that established pride celebrations a year after Stonewall, has a march the same day as Manhattan’s. The Chicago grand marshal will be John Amaechi, the former National Basketball Association player with Cleveland, Orlando and Utah who announced in February that he is gay.

“We thought he was a great role model,” said Richard Pfeiffer, a PrideChicago coordinator. “It’s rare to have someone from the N.B.A. come out, and a great opportunity for us to have someone so well known.”

Because Chicago has such a big sports community, he added, its parade has been led by quite a few athletes over the years, including David Kopay, who was a National Football League running back; the former major league outfielder Billy Bean; and the Olympic diver Greg Louganis.

Chicago’s events also reflect the emphasis on sports: this year’s will include a beach volleyball match, a badminton game, a women’s golf outing, rowing lessons and a 5K run. Festivals and soirees at dance clubs, lakefront parks and the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art are also planned.

“We don’t always agree with each other politically,” Mr. Pfeiffer says about gay people, “but Pride is something that brings us together every year.”

Happenings in Atlanta will include a festival in Piedmont Park, a mass commitment ceremony, an AIDS Memorial Quilt display, a vintage car show and a youth prom. In Boston, festivities will include a bowling party, a “Pride Idol” competition, a City Hall Plaza festival and a fund-raising military ball Saturday night at the Avalon nightclub.

Events in Los Angeles, held in West Hollywood, will offer plenty of glitz and glamour. They will feature entertainers like Martha Wash and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, a three-day film festival, an erotic Carnal Carnival, a rollicking Dyke March and the main event, the parade, along Santa Monica Boulevard.

Cities with similar gatherings include Anchorage, Salt Lake City and Little Rock, Ark. In each case, the central event is a festive street procession.

“The parade is just so relevant to everyone, of all ages — people who are just coming out and people, like myself, who are in our 50s,” Mr. Pfeiffer said. “It gives us a sense of continuity, it energizes you, and it reminds you that what you’re doing is worth it.”

VISITOR INFORMATION

SALT LAKE CITY

What: Utah Pride 2007, www.utahpride.org.

When: June 1 to 3.

BOSTON

What: Boston Pride, www.bostonpride.org.

When: June 1 to 10. LITTLE ROCK, ARK.

What: Little Rock Capital Pride: United for Equality, www.littlerockcapitalpride.org

When: June 3

LOS ANGELES

What: L.A. Pride, www.lapride.org.

When: June 8 to 10.

ANCHORAGE

What: Anchorage PrideFest, www.anchoragepride.com.

When: June 16 to 24.

CHICAGO

What: PrideChicago Celebration 2007, www.chicagopridecalendar.org.

When: June 22 to 24.

ATLANTA

What: Atlanta Pride, www .atlantapride.org.

When: June 22 to 24.

NEW YORK

What: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride New York City, www.hopinc.org.

When: June 23 and 24

<:o) <:o)

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/25/travel/escapes/25Ahead.html?ref=escapes

<:o)

Si post fata venit gloria non propero. ;)

( If glory comes after death, I'm not in a hurry.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-25-2007, 12:23 PM

(f) (f) (f) (f) (f)

Summer of Love: Art of the Psychedelic Era opened Friday at the Whitney Museum of American Art. "Explosion (Jimi Hendrix), 1967.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/05/24/arts/25love190.1.jpg

With Flowers in Their Hair:

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2007/05/24/arts/20070525_LOVE_SLIDESHOW_1.html

May 25, 2007

Art Review | 'Summer of Love'

Through Rose-Colored Granny Glasses

By HOLLAND COTTER

Tear gas, pot and patchouli were the scents of the 1960s. You can almost detect the last two, spicy and pungent, wafting through “Summer of Love: Art of the Psychedelic Era” at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

But tear gas, with its weird-sweet burn, is missing in a show that remembers a lot, but forgets much more, about what was happening 40 years ago, when America was losing its mind to save, some would say, its soul.

The so-called Summer of Love was a local event with national repercussions. Word spread that a “Human Be-In” would convene at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco in January 1967. Young people from across the country poured into the city, and by the summer they had filled the hippie neighborhood of Haight-Ashbury and were crashing in parks and streets.

The party went off as planned, and you can revisit it at the Whitney in Jerry Abrams’s “Be-In, 1967,” a funny, hopped-up film with a jamming soundtrack by Blue Cheer. The news media were all over the photogenic counterculture, with its jangly music, exotic drugs and outlandish mores. This was the Flower Power instant, and it was over in a flash. But for many people it is what the ’60s were all about. The Whitney show, which is great fun and half-baked history, will not persuade them otherwise.

The decade was the furthest thing from laid back. It was wired, confused and confusing, with constant clashes around race, class, gender and politics, idealism and ideology. That’s why, for anyone who wasn’t around then, the period is all but impossible to know. And for anyone who was around, it’s hard to describe without sounding either nostalgic or bitter.

Music still gives the best sense of it all. Say you were a middle-class American white kid in 1964. What were you listening to? Jan and Dean, the Shangri-Las. Surfers and bikers. Then you and some friends see the Beatles on their first American tour. They’re so new: four skinny, pale, dandyish guys with femme haircuts singing “Love me do.” The girls in the audience scream. The boys cheer. Ringo shakes his mop and the boys scream too. Hysteria. It’s a high.

Four years later the Beatles are in India, and you’re in college, at a concert, smoking grass and this truly unusual woman named Janis is swinging her hair across the stage. She’s commanding you to take a little piece of her heart. She’s white but sounds black, and she’s reckless, eyes closed, right at the edge of the stage. She’ll fall! Does she care? Outside there’s a war, and the world feels weird, but not in here, tonight.

Then you’re tripping, and Jimi Hendrix is up there on some other stage with this tremendous light show cued to the pulse of the cosmos exploding behind him. No flowers now. No mellow. He strangles the national anthem, then ignites his guitar. Someone behind or beside you whispers: Detroit is on fire. A Buddhist monk torched himself in Saigon. People are making draft-card bonfires. Flames are spilling out of the music, spreading off the stage and into life. You don’t know where acid stops and reality starts.

The Whitney show has a fair amount of music, most of it emanating from recreated light shows. One flashes out at you when you step off the third-floor elevator, a projection of seething, bubbling color, like primordial ooze on the boil or a brain being fried. The original design was by the Joshua Light Show, one of many light teams hired by concert halls or clubs, even by individual bands; Jefferson Airplane had a team of its own.

Light shows were an intriguing medium, organic but programmed, like Abstract Expressionism done by machine. They had a passive-aggressive energy of so much 1960s art and music. Like the wrong drug at the wrong time, they could make you crazy. But basically they were for pleasure, for entertainment. Timothy Leary, among others, pontificated about how we should change the world by changing our heads. But as drugs became widely available, the activist dimension of getting high faded. Tripping was something you did on Saturday night.

Most of the art in the show — mass-produced posters, broadsides, book covers, magazine graphics, record album jackets — also comes under the entertainment category. It wasn’t made to be framed and revered. It was stuff people bought cheap, and lived with for a while, and that museums rarely show.

It makes sense that the predominating ’60s pop aesthetic was distilled from art and artists distained by High Modernism: decorative styles like Jugendstil and Art Nouveau; decadent artists like Aubrey Beardsley and Alphonse Mucha; riffs from Victorian fairy-tale illustration or Saturday morning TV. Kitsch, in other words, but hallucinated kitsch.

The result was a crisp but sensuous look, intricate and curvy, easy to see but hard to read and adaptable to any context or use, from the covers of potboiler novels (“Sin Street Hippie”) to architecture (the visionary drawings of the Archigram collective) to home design (Verner Panton’s rainbow-colored sit-in foam-rubber environment of undulating curves).

“Summer of Love” is stuck on the style, or rather stuck on the effort to make one style the whole ’60s story. It pushes hard, covering wall after Whitney wall with posters for concerts at rock emporiums like the Fillmore West and East, or British clubs like UFO and the Fifth Dimension. (The show has a substantial British section; it was organized by Christoph Grunenberg, director of the exhibition’s originating museum, the Tate Liverpool.)

But the net effect is less to reveal a depth and variety of creativity than to demonstrate that the main function of alternative art was advertising, that the counterculture started as a commercial venture, which soon became a new mainstream and ended up an Austin Powers joke.

Possibly this view represents the show’s critical edge, but if so, it is sharpened at the expense of accuracy. To many people who came of age between 1963 to 1972 political intensity was the defining feature of the period and its most interesting art. It never let up.

In 1965 antiwar protests started — 25,000 students marched on Washington that year — and they grew larger and more frequent. By 1967, more than 400,000 troops have been sent to Vietnam. Che Guevara was killed that year; the Black Panthers had formed the year before. In 1968 the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated. Racial uprisings spread across the country. The Democratic convention brought the war home to the Chicago streets. In 1969: university takeovers, Altamont. In 1970: Jimi dead. Janis dead. Cambodia. Kent State.

You will learn almost nothing about any of this from the show. Or about the gay liberation movement. Or about the gathering women’s movement, although militant feminism makes total sense given the relentless sexism of psychedelic art, in which all women are young, nude, available “chicks,” and very rarely artists.

Nor would you have any inkling that, for Americans at least, pop culture during these years meant black culture. Apart from Hendrix’s presence, the show is overwhelmingly white. Aretha Franklin’s first big hits — “Respect,” “Chain of Fools” and “Natural Woman” — were all 1967. You won’t find her here. Nor will you find Marvin, or Smokey, or Otis, or Fontella or Ray. Again, take one style for the whole picture, you leave most of the picture out.

Hints of what’s missing come through in a handful of works, most of them added by Henriette Huldisch, an assistant curator at the Whitney in charge of the New York installation. They include one of Robert Rauschenberg’s news-collages that compresses images of racism, war and the conquest of space into an everything-is-connected time capsule.

Ronald L. Haeberle’s much-reproduced print of the My Lai massacre is here, with its two-phrase overlay of text: “Q: And babies? A: And babies.” The outstanding addition, though, is from the Whitney’s permanent collection, a blistering 1967 painting by Peter Saul. Titled “Saigon,” it’s a flame-red, half-abstract, bad-trip vision of mass sexual violation.

So, we discover in 40-year retrospect, love was never all you needed; in the 1960s, in fact, it was barely there. “Summer of Love” doesn’t feel like a particularly loving show, and the ’60s, as seen through its lens, isn’t a loving time, unless by love you mean sex, which was plentiful, as it tends to be in youth movements.

But altruism, selflessness? Young people are by definition narcissistic, all clammy ego. They want what they want. There is no past that matters; the future isn’t yet real. Some might say — I would say — that American culture in general is like this, though not all of it. And if the kids in “Summer of Love” are stoned on self-adoration, there were also an extraordinary number of young people during the Vietnam era who engaged in sustained acts of social generosity. And they made art.

I mention this in light of the Flower Power revivalism of the past few years, in contemporary art and elsewhere. Psychedelia and collectivity are back (and already on their way out again). But the revival is highly edited; a surface scraping; artificial, like a bottled fragrance. No one these days is thinking, “Turn on, drop out.” Everyone is thinking, “How can I get into the game?”

The Whitney show, maybe without intending to, suggests that this was always true, and makes such an attitude seem inevitable and comprehensible. So, let’s have another ’60s show, an incomprehensible one, messier, stylistically hybrid, filled with different countercultures, and with many kinds of music and art, a show that makes the “Summer of Love” what it really was: a brief interlude in a decade-long winter of creative discontent.

“Summer of Love: Art of the Psychedelic Era” remains at the Whitney Museum of American Art, 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street, through Sept. 16.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/25/arts/design/25love.html

^o) This 40-year anniversary of the Summer of Love (that lasted from January until October) started when the “Human Be-In” would convene at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco in January 1967. I was only 12 at the time, but wanted to feel like I was a part of what was to me, a MONUMENTAL MOMENT (o) (o) .

(y) I agree with the author of this article that commercial posters, album covers, etc. displayed as artwork doesn't capture the turbulent times of 1967.

(n) (n) However - I completely disagree with his simplistic summation: "But the net effect is less to reveal a depth and variety of creativity than to demonstrate that the main function of alternative art was advertising, that the counterculture started as a commercial venture, which soon became a new mainstream and ended up an Austin Powers joke."

(k)

Caelitus mihi vires. (a)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-25-2007, 12:33 PM

(au) (ap) (au) (ap) (au) (ap) (au)

In the New York Metropolitan area, the choices for brief summer escapes are rich. Click on the map above to go the individual destinations.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/05/25/travel/escapes/20070525_ESCAPES_IMAGEMAP.jpg

May 25, 2007

Summer Weekends: Get Out and Go

By ROGER MUMMERT

MEMORIAL DAY triggers a series of inexorable actions. Beach romances fly off bookshelves. White pants and Hawaiian shirts tumble out of closets. Pools are opened, rooftop parties commence and patio umbrellas are unfurled in a backyard chorus of cranks and squeaks.

And, just as surely, directions from Mapquest shoot out of printers as we plan explorations under sunny, soon to be summery skies.

In the New York metropolitan area, the choices for brief summer escapes are rich indeed — from visiting a string of 11 old lighthouses on the New Jersey coast to churning butter in a 19th-century village on Long Island. And in this era of concern about being carbon neutral, there’s a lot to be said for not burning jet fuel on every family vacation. Some of the following destinations can easily be reached by public transit, as well.

So whether you’re exploring with family in tow, as a couple or even solo, here are some opportunities to time-travel back to life in a Pequot village or milk a cow on a Mennonite farm of today. And as the endless summer unfolds, nothing beats riding a bike through a fragrant meadow where steam locomotives once blackened the skies, or paddling down a lazy river just contemplating nature as cows eye you suspiciously from muddy banks.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/25/travel/escapes/25weekend.html?_r=1&ref=escapes&oref=slogin

New York State

Bicyclists of all skill levels can pedal through the cool forests and sweet-scented farmlands of the Taconic Hills.

The Harlem Valley Rail Trail

By ROGER MUMMERT

A century and a half ago, it was the northern route of the New York and Harlem Railroad. Today, it is the Harlem Valley Rail Trail, where bicyclists of all skill levels can pedal through the cool forests and sweet-scented farmlands of the Taconic Hills. There is bicycling now on 4- and 12-mile public stretches of paved rail bed, united by country roads where riding is fairly easy. When it is eventually completed, the trail will stretch 46 miles from Wassaic in Dutchess County to Chatham in Columbia County.

Before heading out, visit the Web site of the Harlem Valley Rail Trail Association (www.hvrt.org) for descriptions of trail conditions and rich details on the nature that surrounds the trail. The site also tells the history of the area, where train lines between Albany and New York City brought commerce and development. To give your bottom a break, lock up the bikes in Taconic State Park in Copake Falls, and hike up the ridge to the dramatic Bash Bish Falls, in Massachusetts.

The Harlem Valley Rail Trail meanders through interesting towns where you can stop for a bite to eat. Millerton, which holds a parade this Memorial Day, has two such spots on Main Street: Taro’s Pizzeria (518-789-6630) and Irving Farm Coffee House (518-789-2020) for a grilled chicken sandwich or vegetable panini. Millerton also will be the start/end point of the Harlem Valley Rail Ride on July 29, organized by Bike New York (www.bikenewyork.org).

Simmons’ Way Village Inn (www.simmonsway.com) at 53 Main Street in Millerton is a nine-bedroom Victorian mansion run as a country inn and restaurant. Sit and enjoy the breeze on the large porch of this 1854 home. The contemporary American cuisine restaurant, Martha’s, serves dinner Wednesday through Saturday and makes use of local farm products. A movie house is across the street, and the rail trail is two blocks away. Room rates begin at $189 and go to $225.

Pennsylvania

The placid waters of Brandywine Creek provide a welcome respite from life’s pressures.

Canoeing on the Brandywine Creek near West Chester, Pa.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/05/25/travel/kayaking-600.jpg

Down the Brandywine

By ROGER MUMMERT

The placid waters of Brandywine Creek provide a welcome respite from life's pressures. On a hot day, nothing beats floating downstream Huck Finn style and dangling your toes in the water as cows moo and blue skies peek through a canopy of oak and maple trees. The Northbrook Canoe Company (northbrookcanoe.com) near West Chester, Pa., rents canoes (beginning at $35), kayaks ($25) and inner tubes ($15). There are seven routes on the meandering west branch of the Brandywine. The shortest trip is an hour, and more ambitious paddlers can journey six and a half hours and end up in Delaware. Paddlers often spot trout and minnows, as well as birds, frogs, turtles and, on rare occasions, foxes. While toweling off back at headquarters, you can order cheeseburgers, hot dogs and chicken nuggets from the Food Shack. There's a picnic grove for those who prefer to pack a lunch.

The Brandywine River Hotel at 1609 Baltimore Pike at Routes 1 and 100 in Chadds Ford (800-274-9644; www.brandywineriverhotel.com), is a European-style hotel with 40 rooms and suites. (l) (l) Breakfast and afternoon tea are included, and the hotel, which is pet-friendly, is near the Brandywine River Museum and Longwood Gardens. Rates begin at $129 and suites at $159.

(l) (l) Can you canoe? I've done this here in Brandywine - more than once. Quiet canoeing in rural areas is in my top five things to do - in the off-season however. Crowds' chaotic energies get all up into my own personal energies' grill. Give me the off-season anytime!

(y) There are lakes upstate in PA where NO MOTORS or ENGINES are permitted. No crazed boaters or intense bass fisher-folks. (l) THAT's where I love to canoe and explore the smaller streams off a small lake. Talk about quieting the mind and come to think of it? The rest of me too!

(k)

Amor proximi.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-25-2007, 12:37 PM

(f) (f) (f) (f) (f)

May 24, 2007

Op-Ed Contributor

Prisoner of Her Desires

By REUEL MARC GERECHT NYTimes

Brussels

IN the United States and in Europe, there is a widespread belief that the Bush administration has failed to engage Iran diplomatically. Among the advisers to the Iraq Study Group, of which I was one, most believed that the Bush administration, not the mullahs’ regime, was the most culpable party in foreclosing dialogue between Washington and Tehran after 9/11.

Iran’s American-educated longtime ambassador to the United Nations, Javad Zarif, has tirelessly suggested that the administration missed opportunities for improving relations and is tone-deaf to his country’s peaceful intentions.

Yet it ought to be clear that just the opposite is the case. The clerical regime today is no more interested in reaching a peaceful modus vivendi with the United States than it was in the 1990s, when President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright all but begged President Mohammad Khatami of Iran to just talk to them.

Case in point: Haleh Esfandiari, an American citizen and the director of the Middle Eastern program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, has been jailed in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison since May 8. For years, she has been an articulate and determined advocate of better relations between her homeland, Iran, and her adopted country.

Just as the former Representative Lee Hamilton, the head of the Wilson Center and the co-chairman of the Iraq Study Group, has advocated a “diplomatic offensive” toward Tehran, Mrs. Esfandiari has assiduously practiced micro-diplomatic soft power, using the Wilson Center as a bully pulpit for reconciliation. Suspicious, cynical, hawkish and religiously oriented analyses of the Islamic Republic — my school of thought — have not been commonly heard at the Wilson Center under Mrs. Esfandiari and Mr. Hamilton.

In Iran, too, Mr. Hamilton and his Iraq Study Group co-chairman, James Baker, are seen as America’s über-engagement proponents. Mrs. Esfandiari had traveled to Iran frequently in recent years and was, on a smaller scale, viewed in a similar way. By arresting her during a visit to her 93-year-old mother, the clerical regime sent a blatant message to Mr. Hamilton about the effectiveness of engagement. He responded with a private letter to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, asking him to allow her to leave the country. Instead, she is behind bars, described by Tehran as an agent of regime change, an “American-Zionist” spy.

It is undoubtedly the Hamilton connection and her marriage with an Iranian-born Jew — a sin under Islamic law for a Muslim woman — that made Mrs. Esfandiari such an irresistible target for a regime fond of taking hostages to intimidate its enemies.

The clerical regime doesn’t play fair: A 67-year-old woman who has over the years shown Iran’s representatives in the United States and other visiting Iranians, including esteemed clerics, the utmost kindness and respect is a perfect target to show the regime’s distaste for Iranians who want to build bridges.

Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence, which has dueled with the Central Intelligence Agency for 20 years, knows the difference between real, on-the-payroll “traitors” and those the regime just dislikes and labels as spies. It undoubtedly knows Mrs. Esfandiari isn’t working on some regime-change plot masterminded by Langley or the Mossad.

Mrs. Esfandiari’s arrest is what you could call “clerical engagement”: Iranians and Americans are meant to (re)learn that the ruling clergy exclusively defines the terms of engagement. “Mutual interest,” something Mr. Hamilton repeatedly insists the United States and clerical Iran share, isn’t a phrase I’ve seen used by Ali Khamenei, Iran’s virulently anti-American and anti-Semitic ultimate leader. Messrs. Hamilton and Baker raised the fearful (to the clerical regime) specter of an America eager to embrace the Islamic Republic. The mullahs, in a very personal, Iranian way, have replied.

Since the Germans and the French first introduced the idea of “constructive engagement” with Tehran in the early 1990s, Iran has consistently checked any Western effort to have a meaningful “dialogue of civilizations.” Little harmless things are possible — Western scholars attending academic conferences; Western-Iranian sporting events that the mullahs care little about — but nothing that challenges the regime’s core beliefs and mission. The humbling of the United States remains the raison d’être of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s children, who still see themselves as the vanguard of a militant Islamic world.

Since the summer of 1999, when Iran’s reformist student movement was crushed by the security services, European investment in Iran has grown rapidly, by the tens of billions of dollars. As the money flows in, the clerical regime has harassed and murdered lay and clerical dissidents, exiling some of its most trenchant critics abroad or sending them to jail. Expanding commercial contacts, the Europeans had argued, was supposed to open up Iran and moderate its leadership. Messrs. Baker and Hamilton, and much of the “realist” camp in the Democratic and Republican Parties, have essentially made the same argument.

The clerical regime, however, knows what Italian city-states and the Ottoman Empire knew well: you can trade with and concurrently try to vanquish your enemy. Europeans and many Americans are enraptured by the idea that commerce and capitalism make friends out of enemies, a view that conveniently allows one to spend less on defense and practice a more friendly foreign policy.

Advocates of engagement don’t want to see that for Iran’s ruling clergy there is no fundamental contradiction between seeking trade deals with Boeing and Exxon and also bombing American troops in Saudi Arabia, abetting the movement of Al Qaeda’s holy warriors (see the 9/11 commission report) and exporting explosive devises to Iraq to kill American and British soldiers.

Many Iranians feel ashamed about the Islamic revolution’s violent excesses, which were particularly bad 25 years ago when I was a student of Mrs. Esfandiari and her husband, Shaul Bakhash. However, the two never failed to point out the basic decency and beauty of their homeland and of the men and women who made the Iranian revolution. Now the revolution’s ugliness has again pre-empted the country’s goodness by brutalizing a woman who has done as much as any Persian poet to show Islamic Iran’s complex, rich humanity.

It will be interesting to see whether Mrs. Esfandiari’s large network of moderate friends — Iranian scholars, ambassadors and clerics — can activate the traditional Persian way of posht-e pardeh, “politics behind the curtain,” to free her. Evin is a terrible place to wait long.

As for the Western powers, they should recall that Ronald Reagan’s finest moments came when he saw that the struggles of Soviet dissidents should be at the forefront of American-Soviet relations. The liberation of one individual should sometimes define a nation’s foreign policy.

If the Europeans are wise, they’d ensure that no discussion with the Iranians on any subject occurred without highlighting the plight of Mrs. Esfandiari. She indefatigably made European arguments about the need and effectiveness of soft power; they should just as indefatigably defend her.

Neither the Europeans nor the Americans will find any common ground with the clerical regime as long as Mrs. Esfandiari languishes in prison. Until she is freed, it will remain clear that the regime understands nothing other than brute force.

Reuel Marc Gerecht, a former Central Intelligence Agency officer, is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

(f)

(f) Fiat lux.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-25-2007, 12:48 PM

:| :| :|

Graveyard Travels:

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2007/05/22/us/20070524_CEMETERIES_slideshow_1.html

May 25, 2007

Cemeteries Seek Breathing Clientele

By PATRICIA LEIGH BROWN

PHILADELPHIA — The dinner was first-class, with butlers serving hors d’oeuvres and the strains of “Blue Danube” tastefully muffling the festive din. This nine-course re-creation of the last supper aboard an ill-fated ocean liner was the culmination of Titanic Day at Laurel Hill Cemetery, one of a growing number of historic cemeteries to rebrand themselves as destination necropolises for weekend tourists.

Historic cemeteries, desperate for money to pay for badly needed restorations, are reaching out to the public in ever more unusual ways, with dog parades, bird-watching lectures, Sunday jazz concerts, brunches with star chefs, Halloween parties in the crematory and even a nudie calendar.

Laurel Hill, the resting place of six Titanic victims, promotes itself as an “underground museum.” The sold-out Titanic dinner, including a tour of mausoleums, joined the “Dead White Republicans” tour (“the city’s power brokers, in all their glory and in all their shame”), the “Birding Among the Buried” tour, and “Sinners, Scandals and Suicides,” including a visit to the grave of “a South Philly gangster who got whacked when he tried to infiltrate the Schuylkill County numbers racket.”

As Americans choose cremation in record numbers, Victorian cemeteries like Laurel Hill and Green-Wood in Brooklyn are repositioning themselves for the afterlife: their own. Repositories of architectural and sculptural treasures, like Tiffany windows and weeping marble maidens atop tombs, the cemeteries face dwindling endowments, years of vandalism and neglect, shrinking space for new arrivals and a society that, until recently, collectively distanced itself from their meandering byways.

Although their individual circumstances vary — Green-Wood in Brooklyn, a newly crowned National Historic Landmark, has space for two more years of in-ground burial, while Laurel Hill is virtually full — what they share is a daunting number of tombs in need of repair. Woodlawn, in the Bronx, the final home of Whitneys, a Woolworth, Jay Gould and jazz greats like Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton, has 95,000 grave sites.

Only 9,000 have endowments, said Susan Olsen, the executive director of the Friends of Woodlawn. “You’re a conservator,” Ms. Olsen said. “You can’t have someone up there with a bottle of Windex cleaning a Tiffany window.”

The new cemetery tourism — a subterranean version of the History Channel — is also a means of developing brand loyalty in the wake of what Joseph Dispenza, president of the historic Forest Lawn in Buffalo, calls a “diminishing customer base.”

Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland, Calif., a columbarium designed by Julia Morgan, architect of San Simeon, recently started “Jazz at the Chimes” concerts to reach culture enthusiasts who might be potential customers.

Some cemeteries are betting on infotainment. At Heritage Day last weekend at the 200-year-old Congressional Cemetery in Washington, a 70-piece marching band serenaded the grave of John Philip Sousa, and dog owners held a parade for dogs dressed as historical cemetery personages, including a Union soldier.

A decade ago, prostitutes and packs of wild dogs populated the city’s oldest burial ground, which has monuments designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, designer of the Capitol. Then the preservation association began courting dog owners. Today, the 33-acre cemetery serves as a historical dog park where dogs run in Elysian fields, free to commune with the headstones. Owners pay $125 a year for the privilege, plus $40 a dog — bringing in $80,000 so far. In many ways, it is a throwback to the days of old, when then-rural cemeteries like Green-Wood and Mount Auburn in Cambridge, Mass. (1831), rivaled Niagara Falls as romantic tourist destinations. These “gardens of graves” were settings for Sunday picnics and a precursor to Central Park and other great public spaces.

Like many vintage cemeteries, Laurel Hill languished for years in a struggling urban neighborhood, as potential customers drifted to the suburbs. Though the cemetery has a $17 million endowment, most of that is earmarked for specific family tombs and falls woefully short of what is needed for maintenance. “After 170 years, people lose track” of their loved ones, said Ross L. Mitchell, the executive director.

And with only 1 percent of its 78 acres available for new burial, cemetery officials are trying to think of creative ways to mine its distinctive personality. The Titanic tour was the brainchild of J. Joseph Edgette, a professor at nearby Widener University who is tracking the graves of Titanic victims and plans to document all 2,200. “We’re rebranding ourselves as a heritage tourism destination,” Mr. Mitchell said.

For Jason Crabtree, a 33-year-old software writer, and his wife, Melissa, 29, this storied rural resting place, established in 1836, offered “a cross-section of humanity you don’t usually see,” said Mr. Crabtree, explaining the couple’s predilection for weekend cemetery visits.

At a daffodil brunch in April at the Oakwood Cemetery in Troy, N.Y., omelet chefs whisked eggs amid Siena marble walls and soaring Tiffany windows, in the Gardner Earl Memorial Chapel and Crematorium. The 1848 cemetery has burial space for the next 200 years and an annual operating deficit of more than $100,000, according to Theresa Page, president of the board of trustees.

Its preservation issues are dire: volunteers have been clearing brush that made about 10,000 graves invisible. The grave site of Samuel Wilson, the man behind “Uncle Sam,” America’s national symbol, has been inaccessible for years, since 125-year-old water pipes burst beneath the roads. The cemetery has asked Congress for $1.7 million for reconstruction.

To raise its profile and money, Oakwood will stage a Renaissance fair this summer, with jousting matches among knights in shining armor. It was inspired by a medieval-style wedding there, for which the groom made his own armor.

“We want them to think, ‘Wow, I think I’d like to spend my eternity here,’ ” Ms. Page said of efforts to lure visitors. “It’s a way of saying, ‘We would love you to stay with us permanently.’ ”

Certain cemeteries, like Père-Lachaise in Paris, Arlington National Cemetery in Washington and St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 in New Orleans, have always had celebrity cachet. But the past decade has seen a deliberate marketing of cultural status. At the 175-year-old Mount Auburn, it has meant lectures on the warbler migration by the Massachusetts Audubon Society; at Spring Grove in Cincinnati, tourists in electric trams ride past the grave of Salmon P. Chase, the founder of the Internal Revenue Service (they usually boo).

Forest Lawn in Buffalo spent $1.2 million to erect the Blue Sky mausoleum, a spare design by Frank Lloyd Wright, with 24 crypts from $125,000 to $300,000. Each crypt-owner will receive a Steuben glass sculpture of their eternal home-in-waiting. “It’s about exclusivity,” Mr. Dispenza of Forest Lawn said. “It’s about being one of the 24.”

Gary Laderman, a professor of religion at Emory University and the author of “Rest in Peace: A Cultural History of Death and the Funeral Home in the 20th Century” (Oxford University Press, 2003), says there is “a sense in which, like sex, death sells.” But he also sees cemetery tourism as a chance for civic engagement. The mobility of society and the growth of the death care industry have served to isolate these historically significant places from the mainstream, Mr. Laderman said.

That attitude may be shifting. Laurel Hill, for example, was awarded a $97,000 grant to provide grief counseling for inner-city children grappling with the effects of gun violence.

Of course, some think that cemeteries are sacred spaces, and that Halloween flashlight tours and historical re-enactors jumping out from behind tombs crosses the line in taste.

A 2005 fund-raising calendar for Oakwood Cemetery in Troy — inspired by the movie “Calendar Girls” and featuring socialites who appeared to be naked — was a tad too risqué to repeat, some thought. After objections, Green-Wood scuttled plans to show horror films.

“The cemetery doesn’t have an obligation to entertain,” said Thomas Lynch, a funeral director and writer in Michigan.

Preservationists say desperate times require desperate measures. And “Birding Among the Buried” brings people in, if only for a look.

“The people who built Laurel Hill wanted these monuments to be seen,” said Mr. Mitchell of Laurel Hill. “If we do nothing, isn’t that the ultimate disrespect?”

(y) Here's to cremation! (d) (b) I'm a big fan and proponent of it myself. And for having one's ashes scattered in a remote, spiritual place. With a loved one or ones - of course, who have passed away and been cremated first. ;)

(f) I'm going with all of my boxers (l) (&) (l) over Monument Valley. Please don't tell the Dine'. Or perhaps from a Boeing Stearman open-cockpit bi-plane over the Grand Canyon. (Like THAT would ever happen!) ;)

(au) (ap) Safe Memorial Day Weekend Holiday Travels!

Parva leves capiunt animas. ;)

(Small things occupy light minds.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-25-2007, 12:51 PM

:)

Bottoms up: Ayala should appeal to any bon viveur anxious to avoid a 'champagne tummy', and rosé is now cool enough even for the image-conscious Patsy and Eddy, below.

http://images.scotsman.com/2007/05/20/20champb.jpg

Bollinger uncorks sugar-free champagne

JEREMY WATSON

CORKING! A leading French champagne house has cast aside centuries of tradition by producing a sugar-free version of bubbly, aimed at figure-conscious women.

Ayala, owned by Bollinger, the brand favoured by James Bond as well as Patsy and Eddy of TV's Ab Fab fame, will this week launch its Cuvée Rosé Nature, a pink champagne with no added sugar.

Drinkers will normally consume around 89 calories - the equivalent of eating a third of a Mars bar - in a flute of champagne. By contrast, the new rosé will drop the calorie count to around 65. Per bottle the difference is 534 to 390 calories.

Your wallet will also end up slimmer, however, with bottles going for about £45 each.

Around three level teaspoons of liquefied sugar - called the dosage - is normally added to most champagnes at the last moment before bottling to balance the flavour and make it more palatable.

But Ayala is now attempting to grab a bigger share of the highly competitive champagne market by offering its new sparkling rosé without the usual sugar dose. Even better, the new method does not lower the drink's alcoholic potency.

The Ayala Cuvée Rosé Nature will be exhibited to global wine buyers at the London Wine Show this week and Edinburgh's Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh will be the first to sell it next month.

Elizabeth Ferguson, a spokeswoman for Ayala, said: "This is basically a testament to the quality of the perfectly ripe fruit. The dosage is put in to cover up any faults with a champagne but we are using the best possible fruit which is why we are not having to do it.

"This is the first zero dosage rosé and it is aimed at the female market. As it is low in calories, that will be an attraction to certain people."

The global champagne market is worth about £3bn per year with more than 300 million bottles sold annually.

But the real success story within the upmarket trade in the UK in the last six years has been the 20% rise in sales of rosé champagne.

Alex Caujolle, the food and beverages manager at the Balmoral Hotel, said the emergence of sugar-free versions would give a boost to the market.

"Everyone, particularly ladies, likes low-calorie products so if this becomes known as a low-sugar product then I am sure there will be a market for it," said Caujolle, who last week visited the Ayala vineyard near Epernay, in France's Champagne region, to check on the wine's progress.

"The taste when compared with a normal bottle is very, very similar. It is very difficult to tell them apart."

Diane Lester, the Scottish radio presenter who also runs internet wine-importing company Bottleblondes.co.uk, said: "I think this will go down very well. Men get beer bellies and girls get champagne tummies, so anything that will allow people to drink as much champagne but with fewer calories is likely to be a big hit. Us girls are always looking for ways to reduce our calorie intake without losing out on fun."

Lester said rosé wines and pink champagnes were a booming market. "In the 1990s rosé was seen as a bit naff, but that is no longer the case. Pink champagne is something you can drink all year round as part of a celebration."

One of the handful of independent stockists about to sell the champagne is Edinburgh-based Wine Importers. Marketing manager Ailsa Cowe said: "We think it is absolutely fantastic and will do brilliantly in the female market. Everything is going health-conscious these days and I think that anyone with the choice of a full sugar product or a healthier option will go for the latter."

Cowe insisted that there was very little taste difference between the new rosé and similar full sugar wines. "A champagne expert might be able to tell the difference, but the vast majority of drinkers would not."

Almost all champagnes have declined in sugar content over the past century, but even now, the brut, or dry, category, which accounts for nearly 95% of champagne sales worldwide, can contain the equivalent of three teaspoons of sugar.

Demi-sec champagne can have up to three times more sugar, about as much as in the average glass of lemonade.

The small Ayala vineyard was once one of the great champagne houses before hitting hard financial times in the 1990s and going into bankruptcy. It was rescued by the nearby Bollinger company three years ago.

Bollinger put top executive Herve Augustin in charge. He told wine writers: "When we tasted all the wines in Ayala's vast cellars, we realised that they were of such outstanding quality that they could stand a lower [sugar] dosage."

Augustin first cut the sugar content of his white champagnes and then decided to try a zero dosage rosé. Cherries and strawberries with a long finish.

William Lyons, Wine Correspondent

Champagne can deceive. Often the acidity is so high that drinkers don't realise that what they are drinking is actually very sweet and contains an enormous amount of sugar. Veuve Clicquot's 1999 Rich Reserve is a case in point, coming across as a rather full, honeyed champagne. Closer inspection of the label shows it contains a calorie-packed 25g of residual sugar per litre.

Ayala's Cuvee Rosé likewise deceives. Unlike most champagnes it is predominantly made up of chardonnay as opposed to pinot noir and a little pinot meunier.

The chardonnay, primarily made up of the 2002 vintage, gives it an appealing roundness and waxy quality, disguising its eventual dryness.

In the glass it has an attractive pinkish hue with a hint of copper and a delicate mousse that quickly disappears. The nose is lively with heavy yeasty notes and hints of morello cherries and wild strawberries. Again, no clue as to its dryness. But once it is in the mouth there is a real sense of just how dry this champagne is. It has an exceptionally long finish which is both searing and muscular.

There is, though, an underlying flaw in the wine's premise. The dryness excites the palate and I suspect anyone drinking this will only be able to manage two glasses without experiencing hunger pangs. It should definitely be served with some sort of food, whether it is warm canapés or smoked fish. So sadly, any calories saved may be gained in those moreish nibbles.

Related topic

Wine: http://living.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=1237

This article: http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=782252007

(y) (y) (y)

Omnia mutantur nos et mutamur in illis.

(All things change, and we change with them.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-25-2007, 02:30 PM

(i)(i)(i)(i)

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable

by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Review:

Chris Anderson is editor-in-chief of Wired magazine and the author of The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More.

Four hundred years ago, Francis Bacon warned that our minds are wired to deceive us. "Beware the fallacies into which undisciplined thinkers most easily fall--they are the real distorting prisms of human nature." Chief among them: "Assuming more order than exists in chaotic nature." Now consider the typical stock market report: "Today investors bid shares down out of concern over Iranian oil production." Sigh. We're still doing it.

Our brains are wired for narrative, not statistical uncertainty. And so we tell ourselves simple stories to explain complex thing we don't--and, most importantly, can't--know. The truth is that we have no idea why stock markets go up or down on any given day, and whatever reason we give is sure to be grossly simplified, if not flat out wrong.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb first made this argument in Fooled by Randomness, an engaging look at the history and reasons for our predilection for self-deception when it comes to statistics. Now, in The Black Swan: the Impact of the Highly Improbable, he focuses on that most dismal of sciences, predicting the future. Forecasting is not just at the heart of Wall Street, but it’s something each of us does every time we make an insurance payment or strap on a seat belt.

The problem, Nassim explains, is that we place too much weight on the odds that past events will repeat (diligently trying to follow the path of the "millionaire next door," when unrepeatable chance is a better explanation). Instead, the really important events are rare and unpredictable. He calls them Black Swans, which is a reference to a 17th century philosophical thought experiment. In Europe all anyone had ever seen were white swans; indeed, "all swans are white" had long been used as the standard example of a scientific truth. So what was the chance of seeing a black one? Impossible to calculate, or at least they were until 1697, when explorers found Cygnus atratus in Australia.

Nassim argues that most of the really big events in our world are rare and unpredictable, and thus trying to extract generalizable stories to explain them may be emotionally satisfying, but it's practically useless. September 11th is one such example, and stock market crashes are another. Or, as he puts it, "History does not crawl, it jumps." Our assumptions grow out of the bell-curve predictability of what he calls "Mediocristan," while our world is really shaped by the wild powerlaw swings of "Extremistan."

In full disclosure, I'm a long admirer of Taleb's work and a few of my comments on drafts found their way into the book. I, too, look at the world through the powerlaw lens, and I too find that it reveals how many of our assumptions are wrong. But Taleb takes this to a new level with a delightful romp through history, economics, and the frailties of human nature.

From Booklist:

In business and government, major money is spent on prediction. Uselessly, according to Taleb, who administers a severe thrashing to MBA- and Nobel Prize-credentialed experts who make their living from economic forecasting. A financial trader and current rebel with a cause, Taleb is mathematically oriented and alludes to statistical concepts that underlie models of prediction, while his expressive energy is expended on roller-coaster passages, bordering on gleeful diatribes, on why experts are wrong. They neglect Taleb's metaphor of "the black swan," whose discovery invalidated the theory that all swans are white. Taleb rides this manifestation of the unpredicted event into a range of phenomena, such as why a book becomes a best-seller or how an entrepreneur becomes a billionaire, taking pit stops with philosophers who have addressed the meaning of the unexpected and confounding. Taleb projects a strong presence here that will tempt outside-the-box thinkers into giving him a look. Gilbert Taylor

(y) (y) Review:

Lost in Extremistan with nothing but a Bell Curve

If, as Socrates would have it, the only true knowledge is knowledge of one's own ignorance, then Nassim Nicholas Taleb is the world's greatest living teacher. In The Black Swan, Taleb's second book for laypeople, he gives a full treatment to concepts briefly explored in his first book "Fooled by Randomness." The Black Swan is basically a sequel to that book, but much more focused, detailed and scholarly. This is a book of serious philosophy that reads like a stand-up comedy routine. (Think Larry David...)

The Black Swan is probably the strongest statement of enlightened empiricism since Ernst Mach refused to acknowledge the existence of the atom. Of course, in theory, everyone today is supposed to be an empiricist - all right-thinking intellectuals claim to base their views solely on positive scientific observation. But very few sincerely confront the implications of rigorous empiricism. Specifically, few confront "the problem of induction," illustrated here by the story of the black swan.

Briefly: observing an event once does not predict it will occur again in the future. This remains true regardless of the number of observations one adds to the pile. Or, as Taleb, recapitulating David Hume, has it: the observation of even a million white swans does not justify the statement "all swans are white." There is no way to know that somewhere out there a black swan is not hiding, disproving the rule and nullifying our "knowledge" of swans. The problem of induction tells us that we cannot really learn from our experiences. It makes knowledge very problematic, if not impossible. And yet, humans do behave -almost without exception- as though they believe that experience teaches us lessons. This is forgivable; there is no better path to knowledge. But before proceeding, one must account for the limits that the problem of induction places on our claims to knowledge. And humans seem, at every turn, to lack this critical self-awareness.

In one of the many humorous anecdotes that seem to comprise this entire book, Taleb recounts how he learned his extreme skepticism from his first boss, a French gentleman trader who insisted that he should not worry about the fluctuating values of economic indicators. (Indeed, Taleb proudly declares that, to this day, he remains blissfully ignorant of supposedly crucial "indicators" like housing starts and consumer spending. This is a shocking statement from a guy whose day job is managing a hedge fund.) Even if these "common knowledge" indicators are predictive of anything (dubious - see above), they are useless to you because everyone else is already accounting for them. They are "white swans," or common sense. Regardless of their magnitude, white swans are basically irrelevant to the trader - they have already been impounded into the market. In this environment, one can only profitably concern oneself with those bets which others are systematically ignoring - bets on those highly unlikely, but highly consequential events that utterly defy the conventional wisdom. What Taleb ought to worry about, the Frenchman warned, was not the prospect of a quarter-percent rise in interest rates, but a plane hitting the World Trade Center!

Yep, the precise facts of 9-11 were actually presaged by this French gentlemen, as a rogue wave that just might be lurking over the horizon. And, to the contemporary American mind, this is THE quintessential Black Swan. Of course, the Frenchman's insight was just a coincidence - the thing with Black Swans is that they cannot be foreseen.

Taleb explains that conventional social scientists use induction to collect data, which is then plotted on the good old Gaussian bellcurve. With characteristic silliness, Taleb dubs the land of the bellcurve "Mediocristan" - and informs us that it is the natural habitat of the white swan. He contrasts Mediocristan with "Extremistan" - where chaos reigns, the wholly unexpected happens, power laws and fractal geometry apply and the bellcurve does not. Taleb's fictional/metaphorical 'stans' share something with the 'stans' of the real world: very ill-defined borders. Indeed, one can never tell whether one is in the relatively safe territory of Mediocristan or if one has wandered into the lawless tribal regions of Extremistan. The bellcurve can only help you in Mediocristan, but you have no way of knowing whether you have strayed into Extremistan - beyond the bellcurve's jurisdiction. This means that bellcurves are of no reliable use, anywhere. The full implications of this take a while to sink in, and are sure to cause huge controversy. In July, Taleb will debate Charles Murray (author of -what else?- the Bell Curve). I'll let you know who wins.

Taleb frames his whole argument much more entertainingly than I could here, and he bolsters it with an astonishing command of both cutting-edge social science and the entire history of philosophy. This is an astonishing work of serious philosophy, and it reads like pulp fiction. Readers who enjoyed FBR will find here the same dry wit, the same literary erudition, and deep sense of the absurd that made that book so much fun. But this is better, by an order of magnitude - easily the best book I have read in 5 years. I smell a timely pop-science bestseller here to rival Gladwell or Surowiecki, but this is also a classic that will be read for decades to come.

8-| 8-|

Aut disce aut discede. (I LOVE, LOVE this one!!)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-26-2007, 10:41 AM

:s

Training Iraq's Death Squads

by SPENCER ACKERMAN

[from the June 4, 2007 issue] The NATION

Baghdad

Tucked into the corner of Major Ali's mirror is a postcard displaying the handsome, airbrushed visage of Imam Hussein, the venerated Shiite martyr. Ali probably needs no reminder of sacrifice when he sees his tired reflection. His office on the second floor of the Khadimiya Police Station has become his second home. Yellowing papers erupt from their folders, which in turn burst out onto every available inch of space, from the overstuffed filing cabinets to the small cot nearby. Ali handles logistics, finance and personnel for this police station in a famous Shiite neighborhood just west of the Tigris River, centered around one of Iraq's most important Shiite shrines. But despite his own Shiite faith, it's often not safe for him to return home.

One of the reminders of Ali's sacrifice is a framed photograph on his cluttered desk. In it, his young son wears the oversized camouflage helmet of Lieut. Jonathan Sherrill, a 24-year-old from Charlotte, North Carolina, who leads a platoon of the 57th Military Police Company, which oversees fifteen police stations like Khadimiya here in western Baghdad. Sherrill doesn't smile much out on patrol, but in the photograph the diminutive lieutenant wears a grin almost as large as the one plastered on Ali's overjoyed son. When Sherrill walks into Ali's office on a March afternoon, the besieged major's chubby, mustachioed face lights up. An aide rushes to bring sodas for Ali's friend.

"He's one of the hardest-working IPs I've ever met," Sherrill tells me, using the ubiquitous military acronym for Iraqi Police. "He's doing good, and making sure the station gets what it needs." But what the station--and Iraq--needs is not solely measured in items on an acquisition order. Roving the hallways are men only nominally controlled by the police chain of command. "I'm happy with the loyalty of many of the men," Ali tells me after he finishes briefing Sherrill on the day's progress. "But we're suffering with the newer IPs, because I don't know exactly if they come from a militia or some political party." It's a fear echoed by practically every IP commander the 57th becomes partners with. Several told me that many of their police are little more than militiamen in uniform.

"If they belong to the religious guys, it poisons their mind," Ali continues. "Now, in the station, the guys who join can collect information on the other sects. When they get into civilian clothes, they go out and kill the other sect." Ali shrugs. "I have no control over that." The bed in his office underscores both his hard work and the fact that many of his own officers, like the insurgents they are supposed to fight, have placed Ali under siege. Some are suspicious of his closeness with the US military. Some will kill him as part of inter-Shiite factional strife. Others will simply target him for money.

Out of this material comes the long-term US strategy in Iraq. This year's troop surge--an infusion of five combat brigades to Baghdad, along with an additional 2,200 military police and thousands more support forces--brought a return to greater American combat operations, but commanders emphasize that the ultimate goal remains preparing Iraqis to secure their country. Since June 2006, this task has fallen, in part, to the 57th. The company doesn't provide direct training to the IPs; but it advises them on a relentless routine of manning checkpoints, neighborhood patrols, logistics maintenance, payroll and strengthening the chain of command.

"We make them operate their system for when we're not here anymore," explains Capt. Rob McNellis, the 57th's 30-year-old company commander. "If we can help, then absolutely, we'll give them everything we've got, but the focus has shifted." That focus has, by all accounts, yielded improvements in Iraqi police competence. The days when policemen ran from the insurgency are mostly over.

These days the danger is the opposite: that militia-loyal policemen, mostly Shiite here in Baghdad, will use their increased US-gained skills to scourge their Sunni enemies. McNellis and his superiors contend that while they cannot end infiltration, they can curb militia abuses. They hope that the mentorship they provide will force the police to rise above its maculate origins. "There is militia infiltration to varying degrees at the stations," says McNellis, "but nothing succeeds like success."

The militias hardly command the loyalty of every policeman. But police commanders warn that sectarianism has seeped thoroughly into the security apparatus, and it threatens to undermine everything McNellis and his colleagues have accomplished. The professional police they desire may instead become a sharper instrument of sectarian fury.

McNellis is a tall, good-humored officer whose ears jut out slightly from his high-and-tight blond haircut. He is responsible for Khadimiya and Saliyah Police Districts, a sixty-square-mile section of western Baghdad home to nearly 2 million people and policed by approximately 3,000 Iraqis. This early March day has been a good one for the Iraqi police, as officers at Saliyah headquarters are happy to report to McNellis when he comes in on an inspection. Off of Haifa Street, a thoroughfare once so dangerous it earned the nickname Purple Heart Boulevard, the police received a tip about a possible car bomb. At IP request, a platoon from the 57th went to investigate along with a team of Iraqi explosive specialists. "It took a little while, but they cleared up the area and then blew up the [car bomb] in place," McNellis says, with evident pride. A good day for the IPs is a good day for him.

However tense, the company has seen many good days since the surge began. In February Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki began his contribution to the surge, known as Fardh al-Qanoon, or "Enforcing the Law." It has made Baghdad a city of endless checkpoints and roadblocks manned by Iraqi police and army units. To reduce the danger from car bombs, the security forces have made driving through the city as difficult as possible. In Khadimiya, there are more checkpoints than there are heavy concrete barriers, leading Iraqi police to limit mobility on the streets with air conditioners and engine blocks.

Baghdadis are so desperate for security that many seem willing to endure higher US visibility as its price--within limits. Around ten of Baghdad's more violent neighborhoods, US troops are constructing massive concrete walls along sectarian fault lines, suggesting to many Iraqis that the United States and its proxies are seeking to redraw the city's map for their own benefit. After I left, Adhimiya, the last Sunni bastion east of the Tigris, was home to a massive protest that, ironically, united Sunnis and Shiites against America's so-called "gated communities."

Khadimiya is not as restive, something difficult to believe from its outward appearance. Throughout the neighborhood hang full-color posters of Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical cleric whose Mahdi Army militia is held responsible for innumerable sectarian murders. But when the 57th travels through the neighborhood, it meets little resistance. In fact, the beginning of the surge brought a "significant and obvious reduction" in attacks on the company, McNellis says--a prospect that both reassures and unsettles him. "What I fear is, this is just the calm before the storm," he says. "To go down a road where there was a constant [roadside bomb] presence to now being nothing--if I was an insurgent commander, I'd be taking the time to lay low and adjust."

The surge bolsters the 57th's slow successes. It took months of relentless work to get the IPs to stick to procedure: showing up in uniform, for instance, or obtaining warrants before a raid. "The IPs have come a long way, in terms of training, proficiency, the maintenance of their vehicles and command and control of their people in both districts." McNellis's efforts, in other words, are bearing fruit. "The momentum is now on our side," he says. "We really can finish what we've begun."

But the initial promise of Fardh al-Qanoon has begun to unravel. Sectarian murders in Baghdad are down to a third of what they were before the surge, according to US officials. A United Nations report on human rights, however, blasted the Iraqi government for refusing to release statistics on civilian casualties--and nevertheless found that by the end of March, violent deaths had begun to tick back up, with "large numbers" of Iraqis "experienc[ing] intimidation and killings." A US official conceded to the Washington Post in May that, overall, attacks have "stayed relatively constant" since the troop buildup began. On April 12 insurgents destroyed the Sarafiya Bridge, a crucial artery across the Tigris, while also brazenly killing eight in the cafeteria of the Iraqi Parliament, deep within the US-secured Green Zone. Insurgents have increased mortar attacks on the Green Zone to the point where the US Embassy has ordered its personnel to wear body armor while walking around an area that used to be an oasis of calm. Despite the high-profile violence, McNellis tells me in May that the 57th hasn't come under increased attack.

The broader problem is that sectarianism remains deeply entrenched. Gen. David Petraeus, the highly regarded commanding general in Iraq, has stated that success can only come through a political settlement. Yet practically every significant reconciliation effort pushed by the United States--a relaxation of the de-Baathification law, a more equitable distribution of the nation's oil wealth, a new round of provincial elections--has bogged down in Parliament. Popular sentiment is no less divided. According to a March poll by ABC News, more than 95 percent of Sunnis believe Baathists should be allowed back into government positions, while two-thirds of Shiites and Kurds reject the idea. Only 4 percent of Sunnis believe their lives will improve over the next year, though 51 percent of Shiites remain optimistic.

Iraq's tattered social fabric creates an acute problem for the 57th. The security apparatus is the most important instrument for sectarian domination, insuring that militia infiltration continues within the IPs. It's not a dynamic any military unit has the power to reverse. But by pushing the police to follow procedure--processing warrants, keeping track of detainees, constant patrolling--McNellis seeks to overwhelm sectarianism through the introduction of a professional esprit de corps. "In terms of the IPs, when the community truly believes in the IPs, that will spread, and the second- and third-order effects will come out, and people will say, 'Hey, the IPs are legit,'" he explains. "The insurgency can't be effective if a majority of the community buys into what we're trying to do here."

The company sees such a buy-in emerging as "the IPs' response time has improved and they're around a whole lot more," says Lieut. Jonathan Wellman. When the 57th canvasses the local population, "lots of them have great things to say." Sectarianism likely influences the response. The ABC poll found 87 percent confidence in the police among Shiites nationwide, but only 24 percent among Sunnis. In the context of Iraq's sectarian war, increased police proficiency might actually yield a reduction in legitimacy among the faction that feels victimized.

Ali's cousin is Colonel Haider, the commander of Khadimiya Police Station. Like Ali, Haider is a thick man with a black mustache and well-pomaded hair. When he sees Sherrill he gives the lieutenant a thorough update on where he's ordered stepped-up patrols in advance of a diplomatic conference. He gives high marks to his men's raiding skills and his ability to obtain search warrants. But Haider returns to the persistent problem. "Fifty percent of the recruits belong to the militias," he says. "They come here to collect information on the other sects." He goes further. "The MOI knows everything about who they are."

The MOI is the Ministry of Interior, arguably the most powerful department in the Iraqi bureaucracy. It has control of the police, and since 2005 it has been an instrument of Shiite political power. Under the previous minister, Bayan Jabr, thousands of Sunni officials were purged from the ministry, and in November 2005 US forces discovered torture chambers filled with Sunni victims and Shiite militiamen working for the MOI. Jabr's replacement, Jawad Bolani, is considered less radical, but according to Haider and other police commanders, militia infiltration of the IPs still occurs with official backing. In April the Post reported that the MOI, with Maliki's blessing, issues arrest warrants for commanders deemed too aggressive against Shiite militias. "Corruption is everywhere in the police. They don't have much experience to do their jobs. We don't know where they come from, but they're assigned here," Haider says. "We go station to station searching for officers, but most of [the men] we get don't know the area. Most just belong to the militias."

Opinions differ as to whether IP complaints about the MOI represent buck-passing. According to Capt. David Martin of the 92nd Military Police Battalion, most IPs end up assigned to the stations that recruited them. Once a prospective officer is vetted, he goes through academy training on the MOI grounds in eastern Baghdad. However, the MOI has the power to re-assign any officer to any station, raising the prospect among police commanders that the MOI orders militiamen into select stations. Haider gets nervous when I press him about MOI complicity with the militias. He picks up a can of Pepsi from his desk. "I can't say anything about the MOI, but here's an example. This is a soda. You know what it is, and what it consists of."

The problem runs deeper than the Interior Ministry. Every significant political organization in Iraq fields its own militia as an insurance policy against losing power. For the United States to insist on total militia demobilization would require a massive expansion of the war and cost it whatever Iraqi allies it still has--with no certainty of success. "My own personal view is that it's not realistic to expect in this country for militia groups to be eliminated altogether," says Col. Mike Galloucis, commander of the 89th Military Police Brigade, the parent unit of the 57th. "Militia groups are interwoven throughout the fabric of the country, including the government. But you can always go after bad behavior. You can establish the basic principle of what's acceptable and unacceptable: the notion that everyone accepts the law, no one is above the law, and if you violate it--and I don't care what your sect or your name is--you will be punished." Galloucis's approach led to the firing of several top police generals last fall after the colonel presented Bolani with "a thick packet" of information detailing their corruption.

The result is a trade-off. Police stations do not face US-pushed mass purges of corrupt officers, which would risk further destabilizing a maturing force. But as long as militiamen remain in the police, official cover will exist for kidnappings, murders and other human rights abuses, undermining the rule of law that Galloucis seeks to promote. Proof of specific police complicity in sectarian attacks can be hard to acquire, limiting US ability to get Iraqi commanders to take action. "You can buy a police uniform downtown," McNellis points out.

Some cases demand direct US action. West of Khadimiya is the Shula police station. Last year the 57th came under frequent attack when convoying to the heavily Shiite Shula neighborhood, which McNellis describes as "death squad territory." Company intelligence found the Shula police to be complicit, so in October, the 57th relinquished support for the station. "If they're involved in attacks, why should we train them?" The problems in Shula continue. In March McNellis learned that the station was holding a man captive without documenting his arrest--a prime indicator that the police or an affiliated death squad would execute him. The second battalion of the 12th Cavalry Regiment marched into Shula and took direct custody of the prisoner, most likely saving his life.

In terms of abuse, "a close second," McNellis says, was the Hurriyeh IP station, a dismal outpost responsible for about 500,000 residents in a mostly Shiite area. "The IPs were either involved in extrajudicial killings or IED/EFP [improvised explosive device/explosively formed penetrator] attacks or they let it happen," McNellis remembers. "Hurriyeh was so close to being cut off." A new commander, Colonel Majid, arrived in November and expressed his desire to turn the station around. McNellis continues to support Hurriyeh; his confidence was bolstered when soldiers from the first battalion of the 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment moved into the station as part of the surge.

One way Majid approached the problem was to come to a modus vivendi with the militia elements. He freely explains that he can live with a certain amount of infiltration. "More and more IPs and Iraqi Army join with a militia while they work at their jobs, at the same time. Some guys sympathize with the militias, but I can still work with them," Majid, who is bald with a thick mustache, says through translation. "I can't deny that they're here, but just because they sympathize with a militia doesn't mean they can't do their job." His calculation is the same as the Americans'. "When the government becomes better, the militias will collapse," he says, "and when the IPs do their job in a good way, locals will trust the IPs and give them support, so there won't be a rationale for the militias to exist."

Soldiers stress that they still need to focus on strengthening the IPs' chain of command and encouraging them to pay closer attention to detail on logistics and equipment. Overall, however, the 57th gives high marks to its Iraqi police counterparts. On patrols, unarmored IP flatbed trucks carrying officers with thin blue bulletproof vests weave through the streets in formation with US Humvees. But no one believes the IPs in Khadimiya and Saliyah are ready to operate independently. "We wouldn't want to see stations turned over," says Wellman. "The worst thing would be to turn them over too early." There's no consensus on when their fifteen stations will no longer require US mentoring--perhaps next year, perhaps later--but all agree that when the 57th leaves in June another unit must replace it.

That's what the military plans. In April the Pentagon reluctantly announced months-long extensions of all active-duty Army units in the Middle East in order to sustain the surge through the next year; and in May, it announced the summer deployment of 35,000 soldiers as replacements. But time is a rapidly diminishing commodity for the Iraq War. GOP Congressmen warn Bush that the party will be decimated if the war continues through the 2008 elections. No one may be able to agree on a timetable to end the war, but vast majorities in the United States, Iraq and the region desire the departure of US forces. In May, for the first time, a bill demanding that the United States schedule a withdrawal gained majority support in the Iraqi Parliament.

More than four years into the war, the discrepancy between the scope of Iraq's challenges and the ability of the United States to alleviate them is greater than ever. The commander of Iraqi police in western Baghdad, Gen. Saleh Alany, insists that the United States can't leave--"the terrorists would win"--but says the real problem in Iraq is the entire "generation that was born in the 1980s, during the war with Iran," whose minds have been corrupted by violence. He includes his own men in his assessment: "Loyalty is the biggest problem. The security forces don't have loyalty to the country. They're loyal to the different parties, or other forces." Alany's dim view of the new Iraq is surely colored by his status as a veteran of Saddam's Republican Guard. But if he's right, then to improve the quality of the police force entails increasing the lethality of the militias.

Major Ali in Khadimiya needs no reminder. He picks his security detail personally--he must be wary of those assigned to guard him because of whom they might actually work for. He fears being transferred to the MOI, and vows to take his men to the ministry with him if he is. "I need to know who they are," he says. "Otherwise, they'd kill me." Sherrill sees help on the way. "It's all about weeding out the bad apples," he says, "and for the most part, we've been doing that." After Sherrill leaves, there will be another lieutenant to lend his helmet to Ali's son, and more US troops to mentor Ali's progress. But even with them there, Ali must still fear the uncertain loyalties of his own men, and what they will do with their newfound skills.

:o With every group, sect, sub-sect, mullah, etc. EACH having their own militia? Of course there is no peaceful end or graceful exit for our troops. We need to get out of there NOW. This article really floored me as well as widened my perspective on why it's been so excruciatingly difficult to "train the Iraqi Police". And the American soldier in charge of training one of the precincts? Only 30 years old? This story was definitely an eye-opener.....:| :| :|

I'm grateful The NATION magazine and web site has such great writers, providing truth which the American media does not tell us.

(f)

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi.

A precipice in front, wolves behind (between a rock and a hard place).

Sweetlady & a napping Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-26-2007, 10:51 AM

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The Last 'Competitive Advantage': Letter From China

by JEHANGIR S. POCHA

[from the June 4, 2007 issue] The Nation

Pang Qing Xiang climbs furtively up the narrow staircase leading to the private dining rooms of a noodle shop in Liaoyang, a city in northeastern China. He speaks quietly as he takes a seat, and flinches whenever there is a sound or when someone enters the room. That's the price Pang, 60, is still paying for having tried to organize unpaid employees at the ferro-alloy factory where he worked three years ago. Independent trade unions are banned in China, and Pang's incipient unionism got him nine months in prison, where he was often beaten and abused. "To them we were nothing," says Pang, who is still tailed by plainclothes police officers. "Certainly not people who had a right to demand anything, not even pay. When I told them work without pay is slavery, they just laughed."

Global consumers buying $25 Chinese-made DVD players usually assume Chinese labor is cheap because the country has a limitless supply of poor workers. But the morally cumbersome truth is that the Chinese government systematically prevents workers from being paid the full value of their labor. Chinese workers can join several state-controlled unions, but since the state and politically connected clans, or families, own most of the Chinese economy, official union representatives who work too zealously first get a warning smack on the wrist--then worse. Ask Kong Youping. After Kong, a trade union official in Liaoyang, raised the ire of local officials by fighting doggedly for the rights of recently laid-off workers, he was sentenced to fifteen years in prison.

This power imbalance between owners and workers in China means that almost 200 million Chinese workers go to bed every night in overcrowded dormitory rooms after having worked eighteen-hour days in Dickensian factories where some employees are literally worked to death. The phenomenon has even added a new word to the Mandarin vocabulary: guolaosi, or overwork death, where fatigued workers fall off their stools bleeding from the ears, nose and anus.

Pang says conditions for Chinese workers could get worse before they get better. China's economic "miracle" has long hinged on five elements: cheap labor, market reforms, disregard for intellectual property rights, loose environmental standards and cheap capital from state-controlled banks. Together, they've offered global investors a unique combination of nineteenth-century business practices and twenty-first-century infrastructure that have allowed China to attract almost $900 billion in direct foreign investment since 1979, mostly in the labor-intensive manufacturing sector.

But China's economic ground realities are changing. Ecological devastation is forcing better environmental standards. Beijing is under pressure from the West to enforce intellectual property rights. And the public listing of major state-owned banks is reducing the banks' ability to make political loans to China's gargantuan state-owned companies. That's left China's cheap and disempowered labor force as the country's only unchanged manufacturing "competitive advantage." The government recognizes it cannot constrain workers and wages forever and is trying to move the Chinese economy up the value chain. But that could take decades. In the meantime, "the exploitation here is getting harsher," according to Han Dongfang, a unionist with the China Labor Bulletin, a journal in Hong Kong, who was expelled from China for trying to organize workers in 1993. "On the one hand, we have better laws than ever. But in reality there is no enforcement, and actions always tell you better than words what people really want."

Sun Yi Lin, 38, a construction worker in Beijing who has been living in makeshift housing on work sites for the past twenty years, says conditions for workers and peasants have improved since Chinese President Hu Jintao came to power in 2003. New agriculture policies have helped farmers, reducing the incentive for them to migrate to cities and work as laborers. This, coupled with rising economic standards, raised wages in boom towns like Shanghai by about 15 percent last year. Yet the government is dragging its feet on the creation of a national minimum wage, and the average monthly income for workers remains about $50-$100, depending on location and industry. Also, international organizations trying to address labor rights are being intimidated by authorities, and at least twenty-four labor activists are languishing in Chinese prisons, says the Dui Hua Foundation in San Francisco, which tracks political prisoners in China.

Part of the Communist Party's aversion to independent unions can be explained by an old Chinese proverb: "There cannot be two suns in the sky"--i.e., there can be only one source of power in the land. "No one knows where a union ends and a political party begins," says Zhang Bijian, head of the Beijing-based think tank China Reform Forum and a close associate of President Hu. "A gradual approach is always more successful, and it's good for everyone. All the other ways will be not good to our people in the end."

Zhang's words betray a common fear here that a Solidarity-type movement led by a charismatic leader like Lech Walesa could sink China into the same turmoil that engulfed the Eastern bloc in 1989. But Han says the argument that independent trade unions will automatically drive China toward democracy is a red herring. He says the specter of chaos and political instability is fearmongering put out by powerful people with a vested interest in denying Chinese workers their rights. "In the US in the 1920s, it was argued that trade unions would turn the country into a Communist state, but it didn't happen," says Han. "Now ironically in China they are saying trade unions will turn the country into a democracy. Isn't that strange?"

Significantly, China's labor policies elicit little criticism from Western governments, even though they fly in the face of international law, including the charter of the International Labor Organization, of which China is a member. When US Labor Secretary Elaine Chao was in Beijing in December, she never raised the subject of independent trade unions in public. Perhaps she was loath to rock a system that's allowing Western corporations and governments to reap huge profits. Low labor costs in China mean big profits for Western companies with factories here. A recent survey of 1,800 US businesses in China by the American Chamber of Commerce in Beijing found that profit margins for 42 percent of them were higher than their average worldwide margins. The export of low-cost goods made in China is also helping to keep global inflation at about 2.5 percent despite recent spurts in oil prices, real estate and stocks, the World Bank says. More significantly, China has invested most of the $1 trillion it has made from its labor-driven exports in US debt, including Treasury bills. This helps the United States fund its deficit and keep its interest rates low, thereby allowing US consumers the cheap credit they need to buy loads of Chinese goods--which begins this cash cycle anew.

Even some US officials and politicians who stir voters by bashing China for taking American jobs usually neglect to mention the country's lack of independent trade unions, despite the fact that this is one of the key reasons Beijing has been able to take away 1.5 million American jobs between 1989 and 2003, according to a report by the Economic Policy Institute. Instead, Treasury Department officials prefer to dwell on Beijing's undervalued currency and its poor enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR). But the bulk of China's exports to the United States are toys, textiles and cheap electronics, which contain little or no intellectual property. Further, China's local value-added to exports--the portion of a product actually built in China--has been calculated by the World Bank to be between 10 and 30 percent of the total product. So even a 20 percent increase in the Chinese currency, the renminbi (RMB), would only raise prices of many Chinese exports by 2 to 6 percent, too small to reduce job losses or the trade deficit significantly. What the emphasis on currency rates and IPR reflects are the interests driving global trade policy. Stronger labor rights might help American and Chinese workers, but they would undercut the competitiveness of foreign corporations with factories in China. A stronger RMB and IPR protections would benefit US corporations that own patents and could sell more of their high-value goods in China.

"Everybody benefits from cheap labor--except the workers themselves, of course," says Han. "Foreign companies have created a race to the bottom, and chase countries for the cheapest labor. In March [2006], when the National People's Congress [China's rubber-stamp parliament] tabled a new labor contract law, the US and European chambers of commerce were the first to come out publicly against it."

The Chinese government recently made good PR use of the fact that it had forced Wal-Mart, a company notorious for preventing its employees from unionizing, to allow a state-run union in its doors. Yet most foreign companies, and particularly local factories manufacturing for foreign companies, still push their employees to work extended shifts without overtime pay, says Han. Last July thousands of workers at the Merton Company in Guangdong, which makes plastic toys for US companies like Disney, Mattel and McDonald's, rioted because they were forced to work eleven hours a day without overtime compensation, according to China Labor Watch, a New York-based NGO.

Still, Han sees hope in China's fledgling legal system. On paper, China's labor laws read like those from any moderately liberal country; it's just that they have never really been enforced. With the legal system expanding, Han and other activists are using the courts to breathe new life into China's laws by filing thousands of labor rights cases. Some activists, such as Gao Zhisheng, a dissident lawyer currently under detention by the government, say they've had little luck in the courts, as the government has short-circuited their cases with a mixture of heavy-handed and velvet-gloved tactics. But Han says he and other supporters have brought thirty labor rights cases to Chinese courts, and somewhat astonishingly, they have won most of them. One case, in which they were representing jewelry workers who'd been fired after developing silicosis, a lung disease contracted by breathing mineral dust, set a record for worker compensation: RMB 500,000 ($62,500) per worker.

While the cases activists are pursuing in the courts are still a drop in the ocean, Han says the important thing is that they are slowly setting precedents. "Through these legal battles we also provide the idea that workers should get together," he says. That's made Han and other labor activists folk heroes with many in China's underclass. The tales of their exploits are creating a discernible change in workers' mindset. "The period of relying on leaders is already gone," says Han. "Today, slowly, people are understanding that they have to fight for their own future." That's potentially seditious talk in China, and like many Chinese who realize they've gone too far, Han relies on an old trick for backup: He quotes Mao. "As Mao used to say, the evolution of history does not follow the will of individuals," he says. "Historical developments happen either way. Today, China is living in a time of darkness, but that does not mean there is no hope. Respect for people's basic rights, limited work hours, decent compensation, better working conditions, laws that are enforced--all these things will happen because it is natural that they do. That's just the process of civilization."

^o) ^o) Let's see. I boycott Wal-Mart and other big box stores (except Costco - based in Seattle - and which treats their employees pretty well).

:o I've even stopped ordering from online retailers wherever I see that the item is made in China.

(i) I may need to re-learn to sew my own clothing again! (Which would not be a bad thing, actually.)

;)

Facta non verba. (Deeds, not words...... Actions speak louder than words.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-26-2007, 10:57 AM

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The Secret's Success

by MICKI MCGEE

[from the June 4, 2007 issue] The NATION

If you've been reading the papers, watching television or surfing the Internet over the past four months, you'll know The Secret: Rhonda Byrne's bestselling New Age DVD and book promoting "The Law of Attraction"--that as a man (or woman) thinketh, so shall he or she be. Nothing much is new in that idea, which has a several-thousand-year history running from Hinduism right into Christian parables featuring lilies.

What's new is the magnitude and velocity of The Secret's success. With 3.8 million copies of the $23.95 hardcover in print in the United States alone, and an estimated 1.5 million copies of the $34.95 DVD sold, Byrne's rate of sales is nearly unrivaled in the annals of self-help snake oil. And these figures don't include the $4.95 digital downloads of the film from the Secret website. Even among self-help classics such as M. Scott Peck's The Road Less Traveled (10 million copies sold over three decades) and Rick Warren's The Purpose-Driven Life (22 million sold over five years), Byrne's enterprise promises to break records for sales rates if not totals. The book is on bestseller lists in the United States, Australia (Byrne's home), England and Ireland, and some thirty translations are slated.

There's no problem, large or small, for which this bestseller doesn't claim to have an answer. Mired in debt? No problem, just start visualizing checks and paste a phony $1 million bill on the ceiling above your bed (so you'll see it first thing in the morning). Suffering from cancer? Skip the chemo and focus on healing thoughts. Need a parking place? Picture yourself pulling into that perfect unmetered spot. And while you're at it, get yourself a late-model car. The universe, The Secret asserts, is akin to a mail-order business and "your job is to declare what you would like to have from the catalog."

Many commentators have attributed Byrne's success to viral marketing savvy: She took the novel approach of launching her message as a film that went direct to DVD and online download before going into print. Clever art direction added to the film's appeal: Parchment backdrops and a red wax seal evoke The Da Vinci Code's secrecy. Certainly Byrne's know-how as a former television producer has served her well. With video clips at the ready and a cast of more than a dozen self-help gurus available for interview, The Secret has been a talk show producer's dream. Television coverage, from The Oprah Winfrey Show to Larry King Live to Nightline and 20/20, continues apace.

Winfrey in particular has championed The Secret, claiming that her own success is living proof of the Law of Attraction (with an uncharacteristic obliviousness to the trailblazers of the feminist and civil rights movements who preceded her). In the wake of Oprah's endorsement, sales skyrocketed. According to the Washington Post, Nielsen Book Scan reported that weekly sales of The Secret jumped from 18,000 to 101,000 copies in the week after the first Oprah show endorsing the book and to a staggering 190,000 copies the week after the second program aired.

Much of The Secret's success can be chalked up to the mass media's infatuation with Byrne & Co.'s self-congratulatory message: that those who are well-off deserve their success--after all, they attracted it. But what about the unfortunate corollary that would necessarily apply to those who are ill, impoverished, dispossessed or worse? What about The Secret's more egregious claims--that diseased thinking causes one to attract cancer and that positive thinking can cure it; that the children of Darfur attracted the starvation their families are facing with their wrong thinking (yes, you heard that correctly from Secret contributor Bob Proctor on Nightline); and that Jessica Lunsford, the 9-year-old Florida girl who was buried alive by sexual predator John Couey, brought her gruesome fate on herself (according to compassionate Secret "metaphysician" Joe Vitale on Larry King Live). The Secret's contributors even claim that the antiwar movement causes war and, my personal favorite, that looking at fat people will make you fat.

To her credit, Winfrey has stepped back from her wholehearted endorsement, posting a notice on her website recommending that people with cancer not forgo treatment. The Law of Attraction is only one law, notes the revision. But with all the obvious nonsense in The Secret's message, why are people buying it? Are Americans (and the people of several dozen other countries) living testimony to that P.T. Barnum adage about the birthrate for suckers? Probably not. Simple desperation renders people susceptible to all manner of false promises.

For clues about the source of Secret aficionados' despair one need look no further than the film, where within minutes of the hocus-pocus opening sequence, Proctor asks, "Why is it that 1 percent of the people earn 96 percent of the world's money? The answer is simple--they know the secret." Vignette after vignette features a mailbox filling and refilling with bills and late-payment notices. Viewers are advised to imagine checks arriving instead!

The real secret is that Americans earn less per week (in dollars adjusted for inflation) than they did in 1972, when real wages peaked for the average worker. The pain of lost earning power, a shredded social safety net and ever-expanding wealth inequality has been eased somewhat by easy credit, as has been masterfully demonstrated in two recent releases--James D. Scurlock's Maxed Out and Danny Schechter's In Debt We Trust. But Americans are feeling the pinch, and the magical thinking that one can simply "ask-believe-receive" has a powerful appeal. While subscribing to The Secret's fantasy of effortless wealth and omnipotence requires that one buy into its darker victim-blaming corollaries, that seems to be a price millions are willing to pay rather than concede that their lives are subject to forces beyond their control. Dire circumstances call for magical solutions.

During the last Gilded Age, another bestseller seized the national imagination. Ralph Waldo Trine's 1897 In Tune With the Infinite promised that as long as one was in the cosmic flow, one could expect wealth and well-being. Henry Ford was a Trine fan, and credited the inspirational writer with sustaining him during his arduous efforts to extract more labor power from his workforce. New Age thinking, like the New Thought that preceded it, provides a ready justification for the vast inequalities in the distribution of resources. But more than that, it offers the hope that you, too, may be provided for--just as long as you stay positive and hold on to your dreams.

That's where progressives can take a tip from the success of self-help fads and focus on offering Americans some measure of hope, as Stephen Duncombe argues so eloquently in his recent book Dream: Re-Imagining Progressive Politics in an Age of Fantasy. Instead of "ask-believe-receive," Duncombe's message can be summed up as "dream-connect-mobilize." Duncombe reminds us that we have to win hearts, not just minds, and that the secret to the success of a newly revived progressive movement will be tapping into people's aspirations and imaginations. There's a secret worth uncovering.

(y) (y) The Secret is such a con job on sheep-minded folks. Oh well.

Non teneas aurum totum quod splendet ut aurum.

(Do not take as gold everything that shines like gold.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-26-2007, 11:04 AM

:| :| :| :|

An impending rate hike could silence small independent magazines of all political stripes that make a key contribution to the conversation of democracy.

Small Magazines, Big Ideas

by BILL MOYERS

[posted online on May 22, 2007] The NATION

It's time to send an SOS for the least among us--I mean small independent magazines. They are always struggling to survive while making a unique contribution to the conversation of democracy. Magazines like National Review, The American Prospect, Sojourners, The American Conservative, The Nation, Washington Monthly, Mother Jones, In These Times, World Magazine, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, Columbia Journalism Review, Reason and many others.

The Internet may be the way of the future, but for today much of what you read on the Web is generated by newspapers and small magazines. They may be devoted to a cause, a party, a worldview, an issue, an idea, or to one eccentric person's vision of what could be, but they nourish the public debate. America wouldn't be the same without them.

Our founding fathers knew this; knew that a low-cost postal incentive was crucial to giving voice to ideas from outside the main tent. So they made sure such publications would get a break in the cost of reaching their readers. That's now in jeopardy.

An impending rate hike, worked out by postal regulators, with almost no public input but plenty of corporate lobbying, would reward big publishers like Time Warner, while forcing these smaller periodicals into higher subscription fees, big cutbacks and even bankruptcy.

It's not too late. The Postal Service is a monopoly, but if its governors, and especially members of Congress, hear from enough citizens, they could have a change of heart. So, liberal or conservative, left or right, libertarian, vegetarian, communitarian or Unitarian, or simply good Samaritan, let's make ourselves heard.

8o| As a subscriber to a few progressive, liberal and other small publisher magazines, I am really p*ssed about this issue. I can't wait until the USPS is finally gone - privatized, out-sourced to several competitive corporations.

I also hope that these small journals and magazines can survive by offering web version subscriptions and bypass snail mail for good.

The only time I use the mail service is when I hand-write a thank you note, which always surprizes the recipient - especially in business. And I would gladly pay a few sheckles more to use FedEx to send it.

<stepping off the soap box.....)

(f)

Mutantur omnia nos et mutamur in illis.

(All things change, and we change with them.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (S) (l) (&) (l) (S)

sweetlady

05-26-2007, 11:07 AM

(y) (y) (y)

Want Out of Iraq? Call Your Senator

by MEDEA BENJAMIN

[posted online on May 22, 2007] The NATION

Some people get up early to have a leisurely breakfast and read the newspaper before going off to work, while others fly out the door with their coffee cup in hand. Whatever your morning routine, let me suggest a thirty-second addition that could help stop the war in Iraq: Call your two senators and tell them to bring the troops home in 2007.

Earlier this year, I virtually moved from my home in San Francisco to Washington, DC, to pressure Congress to end the war. I've learned a few things in these last few months:

• Both branches of Congress are conservative, but the Senate is downright Jurassic. While the House of Representatives is sprinkled with women and blacks and Latinos, the Senate is stocked with one dark-gray suit after another. Rich white men still compose about 80 percent of the Senate, their average age is 60 and even those who call themselves Democrats often think and act like Republicans.

• Active constituents around the country tend to know their House Rep but have little contact with their senators. House members are up for election every two years and feel obliged to mix with the masses from time to time (town hall meetings, community events). Senators are much more isolated and elitist.

• While neither branch of Congress has fulfilled the will of the American people to stop the war in Iraq, senators have been the worst. In the House, there is the Out of Iraq Caucus, the Progressive Caucus, a plethora of bills to stop the war; in the Senate, it has fallen virtually to Russ Feingold to lead the charge to get out of Iraq.

• When House and Senate bills go to joint conference to hash out the final bills, the House bills get watered down by the more conservative Senate. With the first version of the 2007 supplemental war spending bill, the House had a fixed timetable for withdrawal, the Senate version sent to Bush dropped the fixed timetable. The same will be true of the second supplemental bill that will be presented to Bush: The Senate version will take out any remaining House restrictions and allow this war to drag on and on.

• The series of call-ins, sit-ins and other pressure campaigns aimed at Congressional Reps have had an impact in the House: 171 Representatives (169 Democrats, 2 Republicans) voted for Congressman Jim McGovern's bill for withdrawal to begin within ninety days of enactment and be completed in 180 days. It didn't pass, but the vote represented a significant 73 percent of Democrats. By contrast, a similar bill introduced by Senator Feingold to bring the troops home by April 1, 2008, got only twenty-nine votes in the Senate, representing merely 57 percent of Democrats and no Republicans.

• Several Republican senators have expressed misgivings about the war and even protested the surge--Chuck Hagel, John Warner, Susan Collins, Norm Coleman--but they all voted for continued war. Twenty-one Republican senators are up for re-election in 2008 and many of their seats-- such as Gordon Smith of Oregon and Susan Collins of Maine and the retiring Wayne Allard of Colorado, are extremely vulnerable. The time is right to go after Republican senators up for re-election.

While most of the Senate is deaf to the cries of the majority of Americans to bring our troops home quickly, some senators are listening--those running for President. All the Democratic senators running for President supported Feingold's bill to bring the troops home by April 1, 2008: Christopher Dodd (a co-sponsor), Joe Biden, Barak Obama and even onetime hawk Hillary Clinton. Their votes don't represent their great antiwar convictions but rather the tremendous pressure they are getting on the campaign trail.

In fact, whether in the Senate or not, all the Democratic presidential candidates are falling over themselves to be more antiwar than the next. John Edwards has apologized for his 2002 vote authorizing Bush to invade Iraq and has been taking out full-page ads in major newspapers saying "Support the Troops, End the War." He supported the Feingold bill but said it should go further by beginning withdrawal immediately and pulling all troops out in a year. Bill Richardson calls for troops out in 2007. Congressman Dennis Kucinich, the only one who doesn't have to beef up his antiwar credentials, has now one-upped the others by adding the impeachment of Dick Cheney to his platform.

It's obvious that these Democratic candidates, who are out among the public day after day, feel the pulse of the nation and are taking antiwar positions to win votes. Unfortunately, other senators aren't feeling that same kind of pressure.

If we want to end the war, this must change. Our senators--especially the seventy-one who failed to support Feingold's bill--need to hear from us on a regular basis. So why not add to your morning routine a call to your senator with a simple reminder to bring our troops home in 2007? If enough of us make those calls, perhaps the senators will actually wake up and smell the coffee.

(c) (c) (y) (y) (y) (c) (c)

Animadvertistine, ubicumque stes, fumum recta in faciem ferri?

(Ever noticed how wherever you stand, the smoke goes right into your face?) ;)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-26-2007, 11:10 AM

:'(

In a gruesome marriage of technology and medieval barbarity, an Internet video records the stoning death of a 17-year-old Kurdish girl.

Welcome to the new Iraq.

subject to debate by Katha Pollitt

'Democracy' Is Hell

[from the May 28, 2007 issue] The NATION

The video, originally posted on jebar.info, a Kurdish website, is now plastered all over the Internet: a young girl in a red track-suit jacket and black underpants, beaten, kicked and stoned to death by a mob of excited, shouting men. It's a gruesome marriage of twenty-first-century technology and medieval barbarity. At one point, bloody and dazed, the girl tries to protect herself, whereupon a man drops a big rock or lump of concrete on her face, killing her. Her crime? As an Agence France-Presse story explains, Doaa Khalil Aswad, a 17-year-old member of the Kurdish Yazidi religious minority, a non-Muslim sect, had fallen in love with a Sunni boy and possibly converted to Islam. For this "crime" against family and community, Doaa was murdered in the small village of Beshika, near Mosul, in a collective act of woman hatred, led by her brothers and uncles. In the video you can see local policemen watching and one man recording the killing on his cellphone.

This is the new Iraq, where women were going to be free and equal--no more "rape rooms," no more psychopathic Uday Hussein summoning young virgins to the palace for his pleasure. In the early days of the occupation, we heard a lot about building schools, starting women's health programs, funding women's microenterprises. At the 2005 State of the Union address, Laura Bush sat with proudly purple-fingered Safia Taleb al-Suhail telegraphing the message that women's rights and democracy went together and that both were part of the big plan for Iraq. Well, scratch that.

Women's status was never as high under Saddam as opponents of the war sometimes asserted, and it was already declining throughout the 1990s, as Saddam embraced Islam to distract the populace from the effects of the Gulf War, UN sanctions and his own depredations. But Iraq today is even worse for women: more repressive, more violent, more lawless. As if car bombs and suicide bombers weren't horrific enough, criminal gangs, religious militias and death squads kidnap, rape and kill with impunity, with special attention to women professionals, students and rights activists. According to the United Nations' most recent quarterly report on human rights in Iraq, domestic violence and "honor" killings are on the rise--Kurdistan, often described as comparatively peaceful and orderly, saw more than forty such killings between January and March of this year; in the province of Erbil, rapes quadrupled between 2003 and 2006. Women who'd worn Western clothes and moved about freely all their lives have been terrorized into wearing the abaya and staying inside unless accompanied by male relatives. In Sadr City and elsewhere, Shariah courts mete out misogynist "justice."

"The political climate in Iraq is such that anyone can carry out crimes against women," Kurdish feminist and labor activist Houzan Mahmoud told me when I reached her by phone in London, where she serves as the UK representative of the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq (OWFI). "You can come upon women's bodies anywhere." Far from promoting women's rights and security, "the occupation has strengthened the tribes, political Islam and reactionary bourgeois parties--all of which are anti-woman." The true extent of the violence may never be known. According to Yifat Susskind, author of Madre's 2007 report Promising Democracy, Imposing Theocracy: Gender-Based Violence and the US War on Iraq, comprehensive statistics don't exist: The Iraqi institutions responsible for collecting human rights data are complicit in human rights abuses, and besides, the United States has told the Ministry of Health not to publish figures on civilian fatalities.

"I haven't seen the United States offering any protection for women," Mahmoud told me. Indeed, the United States is part of the problem. Think of Abeer Qassim al-Janabi, the 14-year-old girl raped and then murdered with her family by US soldiers in Mahmoudiya in March of last year. Think of the women imprisoned at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere, sometimes only for being the wife or sister of a man US forces were looking for. Think of women terrorized by soldiers who break into their homes and hold them at gunpoint. Given the punishments meted out to "unchaste" women, victims are unlikely to report rapes committed by US or allied soldiers or Iraqi military or police forces--but if the case of Abeer was unique, this would be the first military occupation in the history of the world in which the invaders and their local sidekicks didn't help themselves to girls and women.

Four years after the fall of Saddam, the country is a political and economic basket case. The US-engineered Constitution undermines secularism in favor of religious authority, while billions in US aid disappear into the pockets of contractors and bribe takers. One third of the population is poor; last year there were 300,000 widows in Baghdad alone; according to a new report from Save the Children, Iraq now boasts the world's biggest fifteen-year increase in infant and child mortality. In 2005, 122,000 children under 5 died--that's one in eight.

I asked Mahmoud if the American presence had achieved anything at all for women. "No," she said. "I can't honestly say it has." Like other women's groups there, OWFI now carries out its work in secret.

* * *

The Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq runs shelters for battered women in four Iraqi cities and an "underground railroad" to conduct women at risk of murder to safe havens. In response to the murder of Doaa it is mounting an international campaign to ban honor killings and force Kurdish and Iraqi legal authorities to investigate and prosecute them. There have been demonstrations in London and Erbil; you can sign OWFI's petition at www.equalityiniraq.com. You can also show your support for a democratic, secular Iraq in which women's rights and lives are respected by clicking on "make a donation" or by wiring money to: Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq, HSBC Bank, sort code 40-06-03, account number 91429574 (London).

(u) (u) (u) (u) (u)

Fac ut gaudeam.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-26-2007, 11:15 AM

(y) (y)

Beat the devil by Alexander Cockburn

Who Are the Merchants of Fear?

[from the May 28, 2007 issue] The NATION

No response is more predictable than the reflexive squawk of the greenhouse fearmongers that anyone questioning their claims is in the pay of the energy companies. A second, equally predictable retort contrasts the ever-diminishing number of agnostics with the growing legions of scientists now born again to the "truth" that anthropogenic CO2 is responsible for the earth's warming trend.

Actually, the energy companies have long since adapted to prevailing fantasies, dutifully reciting the whole catechism about carbon neutrality, repositioning themselves as eager pioneers in the search for alternative fuels, settling comfortably into new homes, such as British Petroleum's Energy Biosciences Institute at UC, Berkeley.

In fact, when it comes to corporate sponsorship of crackpot theories about why the world is getting warmer, the best documented conspiracy of interest is between the fearmongers and the nuclear industry, now largely owned by oil companies, whose prospects twenty years ago looked dark. The apex fearmongers are well aware that the only exit from the imaginary crisis they have been sponsoring is through a big door marked "nuclear power," with a servants' side door labeled "clean coal."

The world's best-known hysteric and self-promoter on the topic of man's physical and moral responsibility for global warming is Al Gore, a shill for the nuclear and coal barons from the first day he stepped into Congress entrusted with the sacred duty to protect the budgetary and regulatory interests of the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Oak Ridge National Lab. White House advisory bodies on climate change in the Clinton/Gore years were well freighted with nukers like Larry Papay of Bechtel.

As a denizen of Washington since his diaper years, Gore has always understood that threat inflation is the surest tool to plump budgets and rouse voters. By the mid-'90s he'd positioned himself at the head of a strategic alliance formed around "the challenge of climate change," which stepped forward to take Communism's place in the threatosphere essential to political life.

The foot soldiers in this alliance have been the grant-guzzling climate modelers and their Internationale, the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, whose collective scientific expertise is reverently invoked by devotees of the fearmongers' catechism. The IPCC has the usual army of functionaries and grant farmers and the merest sprinkling of actual scientists with the prime qualification of being climatologists or atmospheric physicists.

To identify either government-funded climate modelers or their political shock troops at the IPCC with scientific objectivity is as unrealistic as detecting the same in a craniologist financed by Lombroso studying a murderer's head in a nineteenth-century prison. The craniologist's calipers were adjusted by the usual incentives of stipends and professional ego to find in the skull of that murderer ridges, bumps and depressions, each meticulously equated with an ungovernable passion or a mental derangement.

At least Lombroso and his retinue measured heads. All Al Gore has ever needed is a hot day or some heavy rain as opportunity to promote the unassailable theory of man-made global warming. Come a rainy summer (1995) or a routine El Niño (1997) and Gore is there for the photo op, his uplifted finger warning of worse to come.

Man-made-global-warming theory is fed by pseudo-quantitative predictions from climate careerists working primarily off the megacomputer General Circulation Models, whose home ports include the National Center for Atmospheric Research, NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies and the Department of Commerce's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Lab.

These are multibillion-dollar computer modeling bureaucracies as intent on self-preservation and budgetary enhancement as cognate nuclear bureaucracies at Oak Ridge and Los Alamos. They are as unlikely to develop models refuting the hypothesis of human-induced global warming as is the IPCC to say the weather is getting a little bit warmer but there's no great cause for alarm. Threat inflation is their business. Think of the culture that engendered the nonexistent missile gap of the late 1950s and you'll get some sense of the political, economic and bureaucratic forces at work today stoking panic at the specter of man-made global warming and the nuclear plants needed to fight it.

By the late 1980s the UN high brass clearly perceived the "challenge" of climate change to be the horse to ride to build up the organization's increasingly threadbare moral authority and to claim a role beyond that of being an obvious American errand boy. In 1988 it gave us the IPCC.

The cycle of alarmist predictions is now well established. Not long before some new UN moot, a prominent fearmonger like James Hansen or Michael Mann will make a tremulous statement about the accelerating tempo of the warming crisis. The cry is taken up by the IPCC and headlined by the New York Times, with exactly the same lack of critical evaluation as that newspaper's recycling of the government's lies about Saddam's WMDs.

When measured reality doesn't cooperate with the lurid model predictions, new compensating factors are "discovered," such as the sulfate aerosols popular in the 1990s, recruited to cool off the obviously excessive heat predicted by the models. Or inconvenient data are waterboarded into submission, as happened with ice-core samples that failed to confirm the modelers' need for record temperatures today. As Richard Kerr, Science's man on global warming, remarked, "Climate modelers have been 'cheating' for so long it's almost become respectable."

The consequence? As with the arms-spending spiral powered by the cold war fearmongers, vast sums of money will be uselessly spent on programs that won't work against an enemy that doesn't exist. Meanwhile, real and curbable environmental perils are scanted. Hysteria rules the day, drowning useful initiatives such as environmental cleanup, while smoothing the way for the nuclear industry to reap its global rewards.

(y) (y)

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-26-2007, 11:21 AM

(h)(h)(h)(h)(h)(h)(h)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUDIoN-_Hxs

(f) (f) (f) One of the BEST morphing and breathtakingly beautiful image montage I have ever seen!!!! P.S.? You'll love the ladies!

Ut sementem feceris ita metes.

SWeetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-26-2007, 11:26 AM

:o

http://209.232.239.37/gtd2/Default.aspx

8-| (h) 8-| (h)

Aut disce aut discede.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-26-2007, 11:30 AM

:o

http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars/4217016.html

By Matt Sullivan

Published in the June 2007 issue.

India’s largest automaker is set to start producing the world’s first commercial air-powered vehicle. The Air Car, developed by ex-Formula One engineer Guy Nègre for Luxembourg-based MDI, uses compressed air, as opposed to the gas-and-oxygen explosions of internal-combustion models, to push its engine’s pistons. Some 6000 zero-emissions Air Cars are scheduled to hit Indian streets in August of 2008.

Barring any last-minute design changes on the way to production, the Air Car should be surprisingly practical. The $12,700 CityCAT, one of a handful of planned Air Car models, can hit 68 mph and has a range of 125 miles. It will take only a few minutes for the CityCAT to refuel at gas stations equipped with custom air compressor units; MDI says it should cost around $2 to fill the car’s carbon-fiber tanks with 340 liters of air at 4350 psi. Drivers also will be able to plug into the electrical grid and use the car’s built-in compressor to refill the tanks in about 4 hours.

Of course, the Air Car will likely never hit American shores, especially considering its all-glue construction. But that doesn’t mean the major automakers can write it off as a bizarre Indian experiment — MDI has signed deals to bring its design to 12 more countries, including Germany, Israel and South Africa.

(y) (y) My first thought was "hmmm, of all the folks full of hot air that I know? This would be IT for them."

;)

Caelitus mihi vires.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-26-2007, 11:32 AM

:D :D

http://www.shagrat.net/Portfolio/cows.swf

:D :D :D

Carpe Diem,

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-26-2007, 11:38 AM

;)

http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2007/05/015973.htm

;)

Asinus asinum fricat.

(The ass rubs the ass.....two people flattering each other.) ;)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-26-2007, 11:44 AM

:o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WazA77xcf0A&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eengadget%2Ecom%2F2007%2F05 %2F09%2Fmicrosoft%2Dpranks%2Dwith%2Dofone%2Dapple% 2Drolls%2Deyes%2F

:D :D

Amor proximi.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-26-2007, 11:47 AM

;)

Is the world still too much with you? Do the mundane responsibilities of Real Life continue to intrude on your efforts to achieve complete isolation in an electronic cocoon? Maybe you just need to do more outsourcing. Take that to-do list and post it up for bids at DoMyStuff. Farm out your relationship maintenance to SaveMyAss. Then retreat to the solitude of your Oculas, a gull-winged pod fitted out for wired nirvana with flat-panel screen, surround sound, climate control, customizable lighting, PC, gaming console and cup holder. Add some plumbing and an IV drip and you won't need to enter meat space again until someone discovers your pale, atrophied body after you fail to respond to an instant message.

http://www.domystuff.com/

http://www.savemyass.com/home

http://www.theoculas.com/home.html

:)

Carpe Diem,

SL & WTB (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-26-2007, 11:50 AM

:)

http://www.fakeisthenewreal.org/subway/

(y) (y) Very cool.

Parva leves capiunt animas.

(Small things occupy light minds.) ;)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-26-2007, 11:54 AM

(h) (h)

EAST EUROPE TAKES ON CLASSIC FILMS ARE MINDBLOWING

While most movie posters in the United States pretty much showcase the standard corporate style imagery to hawk the film, the fine folks in Poland have a brilliant dramatic license when marketing Hollywood's finest in their country, resulting in some of the most brilliantly surreal and amazing pieces of movie artwork ever created. Some of them are obvious, some seem to be crazy nonsequiters that have nothing to do with the original picture, while others seem to change the focus of the movie altogether. Weekend At Bernies now looks more like a horror film, and Polish poster for The Terror of Mechagodzilla looks as if it was animated by the folks that made Yellow Submarine. Enjoy this sampling of their wares, and then visit POLISHPOSTER.com to see more, and maybe even buy one. They are all originals with no reproductions, so be prepared to empty out your polish piggybank.

http://www.retrocrush.com/archive2006/polishposters/

(y) VERY cool!!!!

ANCORA IMPARO,

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-26-2007, 11:06 PM

(l) (l)

Rynek Glowny, the main square, remains much as it did in the Middle Ages.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/05/27/travel/27next600.1.jpg

May 27, 2007

Next Stop | Krakow

Poland’s Second City Is First Choice for the Young

By DENNY LEE

TO find Pauza, an artsy pub in the medieval heart of Krakow, slip past the rowdy British lads at the greasy kebab stands, step over the inebriated young woman splayed on the shiny cobblestones, and wait. A clique of trendy young Poles will clear a path to a soot-stained building on Ulica Florianska; follow them up a dark stairwell and open the unmarked wooden door.

The thumping electronic music may sound vaguely familiar, and the swirling psychedelic lights and photographic art are not exactly avant-garde. But if you came to Krakow — a compact city of 760,000 in southern Poland — expecting to run into boozy stag parties or old Polish men swigging rubbing-grade vodka in dank bars, you’ll be pleasantly disappointed.

On a cool night this past fall, the crowd was sexy and self-possessed, with enough bell-bottom jeans, clunky belts and gorgeous blondes to populate a runway. The men were stylishly disheveled, with hip-hop hoodies and chiseled good looks. The women were chic and funky, with impossibly high cheekbones and long legs.

“There’s a lot of creative energy here,” said Garrett Van Reed, 25, a writer from Pennsylvania, who is part of a growing expatriate community that is turning Krakow into Eastern Europe’s newest bohemian capital. “There’s tons of artists and street performers. And there’s always something going on in Rynek Glowny,” he said, referring to the picturesque main square. “You’re constantly stumbling upon something new.”

That’s easy to do when there are some 300 watering holes in Krakow’s Old Town, many of them former World War II hideouts that only the local intelligentsia seem to know about. But word is getting out. The airline service into Krakow has increased dramatically in recent years, especially among low-cost carriers like easyJet, which recently added more than a dozen weekly flights to Krakow from cities like London, Belfast and Newcastle.

And with the euro climbing against not only the dollar but other foreign currencies, too, younger travelers have another reason to flock to Poland’s second city. At about 2.9 Polish zloty to the dollar, Zywiec beers are still under $2, dinners rarely exceed $10 a person and a hostel bed goes for $15 a night.

“Krakow has exploded,” said Thymn Chase, 26, a musician and writer who moved to Krakow shortly after graduating from Skidmore College in 2003, and started Lost in Krakow, an English-language zine, which he first published in September to give voice to the growing expat community. A brooding man with a goatee and long hair, Mr. Chase embodies the backpacker-philosopher type who might have chain-smoked in Prague during the early 1990s. “Within a half-hour of arriving in Krakow, I knew this is where I wanted to be,” he said over a beer at Lokator, a new lounge on Ulica Krakowska. “Krakow has an incredible artistic atmosphere.”

In October, a dozen expats and Poles gathered at Mr. Chase’s grungy apartment in Old Town. Sprawled on beat-up couches and flea-market chairs, they were a motley crew — unemployed artists, Web designers, writers and musicians — eager to make their mark as cultural pioneers, colonizing a new frontier in Eastern Europe. “I’m in several bands here,” said Anna Spysz, 24, a pixieish guitarist from Austin, who wore a low-cut T-shirt, hip-hugging jeans and fake pearls. “It’s very easy to book a gig here. You don’t have the pressures of London, New York or Austin. And you don’t need two jobs to survive.”

The group chatted about their creative endeavors as they polished off six-packs of Tatra Pilsener, smoked hand-rolled cigarettes and, at one point, began scrawling existential messages on the walls. Then, at about midnight, they headed off to Kitsch, a multilevel pansexual club on Ulica Wielopole, where they danced until the wee hours.

Krakow’s pleasures, however, are not confined to after nightfall. Unlike in Warsaw, which was largely destroyed during World War II, Krakow’s stone churches and castles — some dating back to the 10th century — remain gorgeously intact. Older Poles still talk about how the occupying Nazis had apparently rigged the entire city with dynamite, but fled before detonating a single charge.

As a result, Rynek Glowny, which ranks among the largest medieval squares in Europe, looks pretty much the way it did in the Middle Ages. Dominated by the twin-towered St. Mary’s Basilica and the behemoth Cloth Hall, the market square is also surprisingly un-touristy, even when the stone-paved expanse is thronged with tourists. There are no Starbucks, no American Apparels.

On a Sunday afternoon, there were sharply dressed mothers sipping tea, elderly couples looking at an outdoor photography exhibit, and clusters of students — the nation’s top colleges, including Jagiellonian University, are in Krakow — pecking on their laptops under the 230-foot-tall and Wi-Fi-equipped Town Hall Tower.

“The city center is for real people,” said Mark Bradshaw, 38, an expatriate from Zimbabwe who runs Cracow-Life.com, a popular online city guide. “If you were in Venice, every place is taken over by some big business. Here, you find student spaces that haven’t been driven out by corporations.”

The same ethos holds true for Kazimierz, an old Jewish district southeast of Old Town. A tightly packed warren of crooked cobblestones and peeling facades, its hauntingly preserved streets came to attention in 1993 as the setting for Steven Spielberg’s film “Schindler’s List.”

While Kazimierz still evokes its Jewish past, it is estimated that fewer than 200 Jews are living in the whole of Krakow today. The Nazis had corralled some 17,000 of its residents into a nearby ghetto before shipping most of them off to Auschwitz and Birkenau, about 40 miles west of the city. About seven synagogues remain, but they serve more as cultural attractions than houses of worship.

As with other former Jewish districts throughout Europe, Kazimierz has emerged in recent years as the city’s alternative artistic center. After languishing for decades, its dingy tenements and wooden doors have been pried open and are slowly being converted into gritty pubs and sleek restaurants, with names like Le Scandale and Propaganda.

The coolest joint may be Alchemia, a dark and smoky bar with wobbly furniture, wood plank floors and faded photographs. Like other nearby lounges, its fin de siècle décor was meticulously stage-crafted to evoke a lost bohemia. Lurking in its shadows on a Saturday night were students studying by candlelight and moody artists nursing pilseners.

But then, around midnight, a gang of British louts stumbled in and ordered shots of krupnik, a honey-flavored vodka. Yes, the stag party has discovered Krakow, many of the revelers drawn by tour companies like Crazy Stag, run by Mike Ostrowski, a 29 -year-old Pole. Offerings include “Communism tours” of Nowa Huta, a bizarre socialist-realist suburb 20-minutes outside Krakow, and gatherings in Soviet-era apartments where the entertainment might be a stripper in a hot pink bikini and where guests may end the night by shedding their clothes and tossing their underwear out the window.

WHILE such spectacles no longer raise an eyebrow in Prague and Budapest, they feel somehow out of place in Krakow, a proud and overwhelmingly Roman Catholic city, where the local airport is named after Pope John Paul II, who served as the city’s archbishop before becoming pope. Indeed, scandalized by their growing presence, city tourism officials recently announced a campaign to discourage stag parties with advertisements spotlighting the city’s rich heritage. (Whether church morality wins over the virtues of cheap booze remains to be seen.)

As evening fell on Rynek Glowny, the square was awash in a luminous golden glow, pigeons were replaced by swarms of young revelers, and the thumping of Polish electronic music echoed off the medieval stone walls.

VISITOR INFORMATION

HOW TO GET THERE

LOT Polish Airlines flies from Kennedy Airport in New York, with a connection in Warsaw, starting at about $950. Czech Airlines flies from Kennedy, with a plane change in Prague, starting at about $850.

WHERE TO STAY

Wielopole Guest Rooms (Ulica Wielopole 3, 48-12-4221475; www.wielopole.pl), just outside Old Town, was recently renovated and has clean, modern rooms. Doubles start at 320 zlotys, about $110 at 8.9 zlotys to the dollar.

For million-dollar views at backpacker rates, try the Rynek7 Hostel (Rynek Glowny 7/6; 48-12-431-16-98; www.hostelrynek7.com). In a 15th-century building overlooking the main square, it has bunks starting at 55 zlotys, and doubles with shared baths for 150 zlotys.

WHERE TO DRINK

Alchemia (Ulica Estery 5; 48-12-421-2200; www.alchemia.com.pl). A dark and folkloric hangout in Kazimierz with live music and art shows.

Kitsch (Ulica Wielopole 15; 48-12-4225299; www.kitsch.pl). A mixed, gay-friendly club that parties all night.

Pauza (Ulica Florianska 18/5; 48-602-637-833; www.pauza.pl). A hard-to-find bar in Old Town that draws musicians and art-school students.

Piekny Pies, an eclectic pub popular with expatriates, students and a few local drunks, has closed, but will reopen at Slawskowska 3A next month.

(l) (l)

Fabas indulcet fames.

(Hunger sweetens the beans.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-26-2007, 11:09 PM

:D :D :D

http://www.happynews.com/

;)

Mon est vivere sed valere vita est.

(Life is not being alive but being well...life is more than just being alive.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-26-2007, 11:12 PM

(8) (y) (8) (y) (8)

http://www.sr.se/p1/src/sing/index.htm#

:)

Omnia causa fiunt.

(Everything happens for a reason.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-26-2007, 11:21 PM

(f) (l)

www.hallmark.com

(l)

Eheu fugaces . labuntur anni.

(Alas, the fleeting years slip away..)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-26-2007, 11:26 PM

(l) (l) (l)

http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/wislawa_szymborska

http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/wislawa_szymborska/biography

Some Like Poetry by Wislawa Szymborska

Write it. Write. In ordinary ink
on ordinary paper: they were given no food,
they all died of hunger. "All. How many?
It's a big meadow. How much grass
for each one?" Write: I don't know.
History counts its skeletons in round numbers.
A thousand and one remains a thousand,
as though the one had never existed:
an imaginary embryo, an empty cradle,
an ABC never read,
air that laughs, cries, grows,
emptiness running down steps toward the garden,
nobody's place in the line.

We stand in the meadow where it became flesh,
and the meadow is silent as a false witness.
Sunny. Green. Nearby, a forest
with wood for chewing and water under the bark-
every day a full ration of the view
until you go blind. Overhead, a bird-
the shadow of its life-giving wings
brushed their lips. Their jaws opened.
Teeth clacked against teeth.
At night, the sickle moon shone in the sky
and reaped wheat for their bread.
Hands came floating from blackened icons,
empty cups in their fingers.
On a spit of barbed wire,
a man was turning.
They sang with their mouths full of earth.
"A lovely song of how war strikes straight
at the heart." Write: how silent.
"Yes."

(f)

Peace,

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-26-2007, 11:31 PM

(f) (f) (f) (f) (f)

"After every war someone has to tidy up."

"All imperfection is easier to tolerate if served up in small doses."

"All is mine but nothing owned, nothing owned for memory, and mine only while I look."

"All the best have something in common, a regard for reality, an agreement to its primacy over the imagination."

"Any knowledge that doesn't lead to new questions quickly dies out: it fails to maintain the temperature required for sustaining life."

"Carry on, then, if only for the moment that it takes a tiny galaxy to blink!"

"Even a graphomaniac is an extremely complicated person."

"Even the worst book can give us something to think about."

"Every beginning is only a sequel, after all, and the book of events is always open halfway through."

"Existentialists are monumentally and monotonously serious; they don't like to joke."

"Get to know other worlds, if only for comparison. I am near, too near for him to dream of me."

"I cannot speak for more than an hour exclusively about poetry. At that point, life itself takes over again."

"I don't know the role I'm playing. I only know it's mine, non-convertible."

"I have sympathy for young people, for their growing pains, but I balk when these growing pains are pushed into the foreground, when you make these young people the only vehicles of life's wisdom."

"I like being near the top of a mountain. One can't get lost here."

"I slide my arm from under the sleeper's head and it is numb, full of swarming pins, on the tip of each, waiting to be counted, the fallen angels sit."

"I started earning a living as a poet rather early on."

"I'm drowning in papers."

"In every tragedy, an element of comedy is preserved. Comedy is just tragedy reversed."

"Is a decision made in advance really any kind of choice."

"It's just not easy to explain to someone else what you don't understand yourself."

"Keep up the good work, if only for a while, if only for the twinkling of a tiny galaxy."

"Let the people who never find true love keep saying that there's no such thing. Their faith will make it easier for them to live and die."

"Life lasts but a few scratches of the claw in the sand."

"No one in my family has ever died of love. What happened, happened, but nothing myth-inspiring."

"Nothing can ever happen twice. In consequence, the sorry fact is that we arrive here improvised and leave without the chance to practice."

"Nothing's a gift, it's all on loan. Out of every hundred people, those who always know better: fifty-two."

"Poetic talent doesn't operate in a vacuum. There is a spirit of Polish poetry."

"Poets yearn, of course, to be published, read, and understood, but they do little, if anything, to set themselves above the common herd and the daily grind."

"Poorly prepared for the dignity of life, I barely keep up with the pace of the action imposed. Reality demands."

"Somewhere out there the world must have an end."

"Take it not amiss, O speech, that I borrow weighty words, and later try hard to make them seem light."

"This terrifying world is not devoid of charms, of the mornings that make waking up worthwhile."

"Though I may deny poets their monopoly on inspiration, I still place them in a select group of Fortune's darlings."

"You can find the entire cosmos lurking in its least remarkable objects."

(l) (l) (l)

Fac ut vivas.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-26-2007, 11:58 PM

(l) (l) (l)

http://www.gcollier.com/Monument-Valley-Mittens.html

http://www.vegas-dreaming.com/images/monument_valley01.jpg

(l) http://www.its.caltech.edu/~wzhong/pictures/monument-valley.jpg

(l) (l) http://www.astronomynotes.com/nature/shoffner/MonumentValley3.jpg

http://parkerlab.bio.uci.edu/pictures/photography%20pictures/Moonrise%20and%20sunset_Monument%20Valley.jpg

http://www.destination360.com/north-america/us/utah/images/s/utah-monument-valley.jpg

(l)
http://www.bugbog.com/images/galleries/usa_pictures/monument_valley/monument_valley_2.jpg

http://erik.tjernlund.net/slask/monument-valley.png

Wow:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/archive/6/6b/20070113131614!Monument_valley_panoramic.jpg

http://www.thefurtrapper.com/images/Monument%20Valley%20Sunset.jpg

http://www.gowesttours.com/MonumentValley.bmp

http://www.thebarrens.com/b5/monument-valley-display.jpg

(l) http://www.wildnatureimages.com/images%202/Monument-Valley-pano..jpg

Heaven! http://www.photoseek.com/99AZ-18-15-Monument-Valley.jpg

http://www.clas.wayne.edu/multimedia/usercontent/Image/Philosophy/040%20July%2097%20-%20Monument%20Valley.jpg

Awesome:

http://www.danheller.com/images/UnitedStates/Arizona/MonumentValley/monument-valley-12-big.jpg

http://www.nativeamericanjourneys.com/images/monument_valley.jpg

(p) (p)'s:

http://www.stormchaser.ca/Desert_Southwest/Monument_Valley/Monument_Valley.html

(l) Sunrise at the Two Mittens.

http://www.stormchaser.ca/Desert_Southwest/Monument_Valley/TN_Monument_Valley_03.jpg

The perfect rainbow.

http://www.stormchaser.ca/Desert_Southwest/Monument_Valley/TN_Monument_Valley_01.jpg

http://www.wbcci12.org/steve/southwest/053MonumentValley.JPG

http://www.adambutler.com/panoramas/images/Monument%20Valley%20view.jpg

http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=3073&rendTypeId=4

http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jmn3/var07/images/monument.valley.big.jpeg

(l) http://www.headlesshollow.com/photos/images/2005/monument.jpg

(f)

(S) I am off to bed soon with these images in my head and memories of several trips that I have made to Monument Valley. The Navajo Tacos that I ate at the world-famous little hut at the park's entrance - run by a Dine' family - just thinking about it is making my mouth water! They give out their recipe and then ask folks to send in photos after they made them when they get back home and are eating! There must be thousands of photos of people from all over the world pasted up on every flat surface in the place.

I need a vacation - albeit virtual tonight.

Carpe Diem,

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-27-2007, 11:19 AM

(l) (f) (l) (f) (l)

LOTS of gorgeous (p) (p) 's:

http://www.instyle.com/instyle/poll/0,25360,1624965,00.html

(f)

Amor proximi.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-27-2007, 11:20 AM

(f)

MISS Universe 2007 contestants appear in zebra-print bikinis before donning gorgeous evening gowns before judges in Mexico City.

Slide Show of 14 Photos (!) Starts:

http://www.news.com.au/gallery/0,23607,5023206-5007150,00.html#

Nice Dress: http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,5496895,00.jpg

(f)

Parva leves capiunt animas.

(Small things occupy light minds.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-27-2007, 11:23 AM

(f)

http://www.news.com.au/gallery/0,23607,5023147-5007150,00.html#

:o Geez - All but a few look like Las Vegas show girls........:o

Don't think those costumes are truly their country's national costume......;)

(k)

Non teneas aurum totum quod splendet ut aurum.

(Do not take as gold everything that shines like gold.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-27-2007, 11:27 AM

(l) (l)

Seagulls that follow you down an alpine glacier as you savour ocean views; a live volcano that might one day do rather more than mess up your ski tracks; the prospect of having your packed lunch, windscreen wipers or even your car seat badly gored by the lunging beaks of a flock of keas (alpine parrots) /no spamming of other sites/ these are a few of my favourite things. And they send me to the other side of the world whenever I can, to the ski slopes of New Zealand.

Feed your skiing addiction with a summer trip to New Zealand's Southern Alps

By Arnie Wilson

The Independent (London)

Published: 26 May 2007

Seagulls that follow you down an alpine glacier as you savour ocean views; a live volcano that might one day do rather more than mess up your ski tracks; the prospect of having your packed lunch, windscreen wipers or even your car seat badly gored by the lunging beaks of a flock of keas (alpine parrots) /no spamming of other sites/ these are a few of my favourite things. And they send me to the other side of the world whenever I can, to the ski slopes of New Zealand.

Am I mad? Possibly. But I love quirky skiing, and you just don't get this calibre of "Lewis Carroll moment" in Val d'Isère or Verbier. At the start of last winter, in some parts of Europe you would barely have got any snow either. However, if your last ski season proved disappointing, it's not too late to put things right in the coming months. But you'll have to earn your turns with a long flight. There is only one place in the world where you can ski in dozens of English-speaking resorts during the British summer: New Zealand's Ka Tiritiri o te Moana (the Southern Alps).

It is, unfortunately, an awful long way to travel for a skiing holiday in resorts that are typically much smaller than Europe's big guns. So to sugar the seriously long-haul pill, those prepared to give New Zealand a go can easily build in an exotic stopover en route to ensure that it's not just New Zealand's skiing they are pinning their hopes on (and burning fossil fuels for).

How best to sum up the skiing in New Zealand? Not exactly epic, but great fun. Both the main islands offer skiing, with some exciting terrain at Whakapapa and Turoa on Mount Ruapehu /no spamming of other sites/ a volcano on North Island, with the biggest vertical drop in Australasia. But most of the country's skiing is on South Island, where it is claimed there are more mountains than in the European Alps /no spamming of other sites/ an assertion that's difficult to prove, but impressive nonetheless.

There are three main skiing gateways: the busy lakeside resort of Queenstown is close to two of New Zealand's most popular resorts: the Remarkables and Coronet Peak. The more tranquil backwater of Wanaka, a 120km journey from Queenstown, is possibly a better base: it provides access to Treble Cone, which by general consensus has South Island's most challenging terrain; and to Cardrona, with easier skiing but not without some extreme slopes. Christchurch, for all the world like some old English market town on the Canterbury Plains, is the gateway to Methven, a charming little place which provides the base for skiing at Mount Hutt. Here, the unpredictable weather has helped to give one of the country's best known resorts its rather unfair sobriquet of "Mount Shut".

New Zealand's highest and most spectacular peak is Mount Cook (3,744m), which these days rejoices in the more politically correct name of Aoraki (Maori for "Cloud Piercer"). Although there are no lifts, you can heliski there /no spamming of other sites/ and skiers with a guide can instead choose to be dropped off by light aircraft, with skids enabling them to land on a flat stretch of glacier.

New Zealand probably has more expert helicopter pilots than anywhere else, and heliskiing is available in a wide range of locations. The main centres are in the Harris Mountains and the Arrowsmith range near Methven, with a few more in the Thomson, Hector and Richardson ranges in the Southern Lakes region. You can also heliski at Mount Hutt and on the Fox Glacier.

At its best, the heliskiing in South Island comes close to the kind you can experience in British Columbia. However, unlike the Canadian operation /no spamming of other sites/ which typically involves spending a week in a remote lodge /no spamming of other sites/ the heliskiing in New Zealand is a daily event in winter. The vertical drops skied can easily reach 1,200m, but at the end of each day you escape from the snowline and return to the relative warmth and greenery of your Queenstown or Wanaka base.

At the other end of the scale are New Zealand's celebrated "club fields" , individual ski areas run by not-for-profit ski clubs; a concept that has pretty much vanished from the rest of the planet. These small ski fields are huge fun, and very cheap. With the exception of Central Canterbury's Craigieburn Valley, which has some of the best skiing in the country, the names of these little areas are scarcely known in New Zealand, let alone in the UK. There are a dozen or so of them, and they resemble living museums of New Zealand's skiing history.

Anyone who took the unusual step of travelling all the way to New Zealand from Europe in order to ski a club field is likely to feel disappointed. But as an add-on to a wide-ranging trip, they provide an affordable yet rewarding experience. What club fields do have is something virtually unknown in the country's "fully fledged" commercial ski fields but essential in Europe's Alps: on-mountain accommodation (albeit more youth hostel than hotel).

By contrast, to get to the country's commercial fields, you simply drive to the slopes. It's important to remember, though, that the roads to reach some of the country's leading commercial ski areas are often basic. Indeed, the second half of the bleak 25km journey from Methven to Mount Hutt, has steep, exposed sections and unnerving drops.

Often the skiing in club fields is excellent, but typically there is little or no grooming and primitive lifts /no spamming of other sites/ usually powered by car or tractor engines. The lifts are hard to master, involving a metal device or " nutcracker" that is supposed to transfer the strain of pulling you up the mountain from the desperate grip of your hands to a belt round your waist. The uninitiated are liable to burn a hole in at least one ski glove.

Because club fields are run so basically, members pay low rates to ski there. They also keep the clubs' costs down by sharing daily duties such as cooking and cleaning. While club fields cannot on their own justify a journey to the opposite end of the world, skiing in general may just. Especially if you've had a miserable time in Europe's Alps.

GETTING THERE

The writer flew with Air New Zealand (0800 028 4149; www.airnewzealand.co.uk), which offers daily services from Heathrow to Auckland. Other airlines serving Auckland include Emirates (0870 243 2222; www.emirates.com), Cathay Pacific (020-8834 8888; www.cathaypacific.com), Japan Airlines (08457 747700; www.jal.com) and Korean Air (0800 413000; www.koreanair.com). To reduce the impact on the environment, you can buy an "offset" from Equiclimate (0845 456 0170; www.ebico.co.uk) or Pure (020-7382 7815; www.puretrust.org.uk).

SKIING THERE

Skiwi (00 64 3 358 4159; www.skiwi.co.nz ) can put together ski packages in 10 of New Zealand's resorts, including vehicle hire, lift passes and accommodation (but not travel to New Zealand). Ski passes for 11 of New Zealand's club fields can be obtained through Chill Out (00 64 3 318 4830; www.chillout.co.nz ), and start at NZ$160 (£60) for three days.

MORE INFORMATION

Ski Club of Great Britain (020-8410 2000; www.skiclub.co.uk); Tourism New Zealand (09069 101010, calls £1/minute; www.newzealand.com)

(y) (y) Almost forgot on a 90+ day like today - "hey, I can always get on a plane and head way, way south!!" (ap) (ap)

(h) (h)

Aut disce aut discede.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-27-2007, 11:28 AM

:| :|

Saudi Arabia

Begging as a savvy career choice

P.K. Abdul Ghafour Arab News

Beggars in Saudi Arabia are a diverse lot, said P.K. Abdul Ghafour in Riyadh’s Arab News. We all know about the legions of maimed children, often Africans or other foreigners, whom gang leaders deploy outside mosques to beg alms. But according to a survey by the Department for Combating Beggary, those beggars are just the most visible. Up to one/no spamming of other sites/third of the country’s beggars aren’t poor at all; they are simply scam artists. These people—again, mostly foreigners—use “modern methods for extracting money from the public.” They dress in decent clothes and accost the unwary with tragic tales. Men will sometimes ask for gas money, saying they’re stranded on a highway. Women will ask for taxi fare, giving some sob story about losing a brother or uncle in the crowd. Some of them take in vast sums. One man was caught with more than $10,000 on him. The passport of another listed his occupation as “businessman.” Islam tells believers to be charitable to the truly needy—but not to fakers. “The easiest way to end beggary is to stop paying beggars any money.”

http://www.theweekmagazine.com/news/bestview.aspx#5273

:o

Facta non verba. (Deeds, not words...... Actions speak louder than words.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-27-2007, 11:29 AM

(f)

A Ranger's Return

In August 1976, a president used the grand stage of Yellowstone to pledge his commitment to the national parks. Three decades later, his words remain as meaningful as ever.

By Gerald R. Ford

As every American certainly knows by now, our nation's 38th President, Gerald Ford, passed away in the waning days of 2006. Although Ford is remembered for his endeavors as a collegiate athlete and his role in helping the nation recover from Watergate and Vietnam, few people realize his connection to the National Park Service. Ford was the only President to serve as a park ranger, working as a seasonal employee at Yellowstone in the summer of 1936. And during his brief time in office, he oversaw the creation of 18 national parks, including Big Cypress National Preserve, Big Thicket National Preserve, and Valley Forge National Historical Park.

On August 29th, 1976, Ford returned to Yellowstone and used the nation's bicentennial as an opportunity to pledge his support for one of its greatest assets--the National Park System. As you'll read, Ford hoped to double the size of the nation's parks and recreation areas with an investment of $1.5 billion over ten years. It was a promise he was unable to keep, as he lost the presidential election to Jimmy Carter several months later. But as the nation prepares for the centennial of the Park Service in 2016, the words Ford spoke 30 years ago serve to remind us of the value of investing in “America's greatest idea.”

Labor Day, next weekend, marks the end of a glorious summer. It means one more carefree holiday before we all go back to school, back to work, back to the duties we must do to build better lives for ourselves, our children, and our country.

For many families it means one last chance to get out of town, out into the sun, under the stars, close to nature's beauties and nature's creatures. For me this is a moment that I have been looking forward to for a long, long time--to return to Yellowstone where I spent one of the greatest summers of my life.

I have been telling my family about that summer ever since... And this time, I brought some of the family along. [My son,] Jack, as you know, is no stranger to Yellowstone. Two years ago this month he was working as a ranger at a tower station--actually, he was out fishing--when he got a sudden summons to come to Washington to see his old man get a new job.

So, today, it is a sentimental return to the scene of wonderful memories for two of the Fords and a new experience for [my daughter] Susan, who hopes to get some good Yellowstone photographs like she did last summer at Yosemite.

Family vacations--especially among the majestic mountains of the West--are a tradition of our family. My parents always took my brothers and myself to lakes and woods in my state of Michigan before I was big enough to go myself as a Boy Scout. There is something wonderful about the wide open spaces that is almost a necessity for Americans. Being alone with nature strengthens our love for one another and for our country.

For those who live close to the land, this is nothing new. But as more and more Americans live in cities, the lure of the mountains, the beaches, the lakes, the rivers becomes more and more compelling. So, I have a serious as well as a sentimental reason for this visit today.

Our Bicentennial Fourth of July turned out to be a very profound experience for millions and millions of Americans.

Somehow, despite our difficulties and our differences--perhaps because of them--Americans recaptured the essential spirit and greatness that makes us a very special kind of people. We realized again what a wonderful thing it is just to be an American.

As I thought about the changes that have taken place in this great country--not only in the last two years but during the last two centuries--I also thought about those things that must never change. Those unchanging things really make us Americans. They are the things we must pass on to future generations. Some are intangible, invisible--our deep religious and moral convictions, our bonds of family and community, our political values embodied in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. But we have other common treasures that are material and visible, that can be damaged and destroyed by man. We must be equally committed to conserve and to cherish our incomparable natural heritage--our wildlife, our air, our waters, and our land, itself.

More than a century ago we began to save our natural heritage for the enjoyment of future Americans with the National Park System, of which Yellowstone is the oldest and the largest. This year alone we expect 260 million Americans to visit and enjoy our 287 national parks that spread from the Virgin Islands to Maine to Alaska and to Hawaii. And I am sure there are times when some of you thought that all 260 million people were camping on your camp site. [Laughter]

We have had a wonderful Bicentennial. We celebrated what our patriotic founders and our immigrant ancestors handed down to us. We renewed our vows to their vision of freedom and equality. But I found myself saying we ought to do more. Can't we do something special, as our Bicentennial birthday present to future generations, a gift that will be gratefully remembered 100 years from now? We can.

I, therefore, decided upon a 10-year national commitment to double [the expanse of] America's national parks, recreation areas, wildlife sanctuaries, urban parks, and historic sites.

I will send to the Congress, Tuesday, a Bicentennial Land Heritage Act, which calls for a pledge of $1500 million during the next 10 years. It will more than double our present acreage of land for national parks, recreation areas, and wildlife sanctuaries; beginning development of these new lands to make them accessible and enjoyable; improving facilities and increasing dedicated personnel at existing national parks; making available $200 million for urban parks; bringing the benefits of nature to those who live in our cities; and accelerating the development of parklands and sanctuaries now delayed for lack of manpower and of money.

This national commitment means we may have to tighten our belts elsewhere a bit, but it is the soundest investment in the future of America that I can envision. We must act now to prevent the loss of treasures that can never be replaced for ourselves, our children, and for future generations of Americans.

I call upon all Americans--our Bicentennial generation which has enjoyed the blessings of liberty and the pursuit of happiness, ours for 200 years--to join in a great new undertaking to improve the quality of our lives and of our land... I remember as a ranger the first time I stood alone on Inspiration Point over at Canyon Station looking out over this beautiful land. I thought to myself how lucky I was that my parents' and grandparents' generation had the vision and the determination to save it for us. Now it is our turn to make our own gift outright to those who will come after us, 15 years, 40 years, 100 years from now. I want to be as faithful to my grandchildren's generation as Old Faithful has been to ours. What better way can we add a new dimension to our third century of freedom?

Courtesy of John Woolley and Gerhard Peters, The American Presidency Project, www.presidency.ucsb.edu.

http://www.npca.org/magazine/2007/spring/a-rangers-return.html

(f) (f) (f) (f)

Mutantur omnia nos et mutamur in illis.

(All things change, and we change with them.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-27-2007, 11:31 AM

:) :)

INDEED. (y) (y)

May 27, 2007

Under New Management

Out of Retirement and Into Uncertainty

By KELLEY HOLLAND

NYTimes

THINK of retirement and a picture emerges of a grand send-off at the office, followed by travel, hobbies, grandchildren, and a pension and a Social Security check to pay for it all. But after awhile, the retirement fund may start to feel a little skimpy, or the golf course a little dull — or both — and the concept of returning to work becomes, well, more than a concept.

But there’s a catch. When older workers look for jobs, they may get as much respect as Rodney Dangerfield.

It often takes many weeks, or even months, for older workers to find jobs, distinctly longer than their younger counterparts. In 2006, for instance, workers age 55 or older spent an average of 22 weeks looking for work. That was down from 24 in 2005, but still far longer than the 16-week job hunts of workers under 55, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In the same vein, a study by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, sampling employers in Massachusetts and Florida, found that younger workers were about 40 percent more likely to be called in for job interviews than were candidates 50 or older.

Difficulties persist for older job seekers, even as a growing number of companies encourage their employees to stay on by offering phased-in retirement and part-time work. The tightening labor market has not helped. Nor have warnings by some experts of a potential shortage of new workers. And the problem is likely to become more apparent as more baby boomers reach retirement age.

“If you want to work in retirement, don’t retire,” said Sara Rix, a strategic policy adviser at AARP who has analyzed the labor market. In other words, it may be a good time to be an older worker, but it is still hard to become one.

Gary Phelan, a partner at Outten & Golden, a firm specializing in employment law, says he hears periodically from older job seekers who believe they have lost out on jobs because of their age. Discrimination in hiring is hard to prove, he said, because the hiring process itself inevitably involves some discretion. But he says that he sees claims of age discrimination increasing in the workplace, and that he believes older workers’ job-hunting difficulties are not abating. “Every day I hear when I represent someone in an age case, ‘Well, I’m 58 and I have 30 years of experience and no one’s going to want to hire me,’ ” he said. “And I have to acknowledge that yes, it’s going to be harder.”

Even when older workers are hired, he said, they sometimes wind up in jobs that pay less than their old ones or that require less expertise. “When most employers talk about diversity, they are rarely talking about age,” he said.

It’s unfortunate that many employers cannot see the advantage of more openness toward hiring older workers. There will be plenty of them in coming years: the number of workers 55 or older is expected to increase by 11 million from 2004 to 2014, accounting for most of the 17 million increase in overall employment, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And most workers say they plan to work in their retirement years, according to surveys by AARP and others.

Certainly, older workers may not be as physically nimble, and they may need some tutorials on technology. It is also true that older workers may want salaries that reflect their years of experience and that they are more likely to make use of health care coverage and, eventually, retirement benefits. But these workers also offer experience and perspective. They tend to be committed to their jobs, and are often willing to share their knowledge, perhaps by mentoring.

A study by Towers Perrin, and sponsored by AARP, on the business case for older workers analyzed a situation in which a hypothetical company actively recruited older workers so that the group represented 40 percent of new hires, compared with a more typical 20 percent. The average compensation costs for the new employees were no more than 1 percent higher than they would have been with a more typical mix of older and younger hires, the study found.

In the study, the high salaries that older workers sometimes command were related to experience, so younger workers with equally relevant and deep experience would have been paid the same. As for health care, the older job seekers tended to be relatively healthy and to have fewer dependents in need of insurance than the young workers did.

Some managers are becoming more open to older job seekers. They may offer incentives for their own retirees to return, like the chance to pick up their benefits where they left off. Or they may work with a community group that gives older workers training in order to groom potential new hires.

Perhaps the most organized outreach to older job seekers is in the health care industry, where labor shortages are significant. Yale-New Haven Hospital, for example, is “definitely, absolutely” facing a labor shortage, according to Nancy Collins, the director of human resources. So it has stepped up its presence at job fairs, increased online advertising and recruited more aggressively at nursing schools.

To reach older job seekers, the hospital runs a refresher program for nurses who have not worked in years, but who have kept up their licenses, and then gives them incentives to work at Yale-New Haven.

“What we gain from employing an older worker is, first of all, maturity,” Ms. Collins said. “Also judgment from having been workplace-hardened, and the body of knowledge they have. When we take a new graduate out of school, our rule of thumb is it will be two years until we call them an experienced nurse. When we get an older worker, they bring all that value to us, and sometimes the work ethic is better.

“Are older workers more likely to fall victim to diseases and so on? I’m sure that’s true. But there are certain other risks associated with the younger generation. I see a level playing field.”

(y) (y) (y) (y)

Facta non verba. (Deeds, not words...... Actions speak louder than words.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-27-2007, 11:32 AM

(y) (y) (y)

May 27, 2007

Our Towns

Remembering Soldiers, by Forgetting About Britney and Paris

By PETER APPLEBOME

LONG BEACH, N.Y.

IT must have been the only city manager’s memorandum in history to address the war in Iraq, the American flag, Paris Hilton, Anna Nicole Smith and Britney Spears in three very short paragraphs.

But for a few days, at least, it made Edwin L. Eaton a minor folk hero — one small voice trying to remind the nation what matters and what doesn’t in the million-channel blabfest that is American life.

Mr. Eaton’s May 16 memo took notice of the attention given those three pillars of pop culture, cited a need to “in some small way place things in perspective,” and then went on: “While our society and media outlets appear to be consumed by the activities of the ‘glitterati,’ we tend to forget that each day Americans are anonymously dying in Iraq. I think it only fair that they be remembered and honored. To achieve that end, we hereby direct that American flags throughout the city be flown at half-mast.”

The six flags at city buildings in this Long Island community were then lowered, and will remain that way indefinitely.

Mr. Eaton’s little protest began in the same way as much of American life does: He was watching television. He and his wife were watching a program — he’s not sure which one — when finally he went over the edge. “It was a half-hour of talking about the pretty people, I think it was something about Anna Nicole Smith’s baby teething, and then Britney Spears with her shaved head and wig and then, oh, by the way, five men got killed in Iraq and three are missing and then back to Paris Hilton’s personal trainer,” he said.

The next day he told council members of his idea, and the day after that he sent out his memo. Reported by Newsday, picked up by the wires, Mr. Eaton’s small protest brought him calls, letters and e-mail messages of support from around the country. “What has happened to us?” read one. “I salute you sir and keep up the good work. Maybe with people like you we can regain some sense of what is important in this life.”

Most people who wrote him applauded his support for the military. Some saw an antiwar message. But Mr. Eaton said he didn’t feel it was the role of Long Beach to cast judgment on the war, and he wasn’t doing that. It was more a show of respect, he said, a request that attention be paid.

“It’s not supposed to set off a grass-roots movement,” he said. “It’s not an antiwar statement. It was just one small government’s collective irritation. It was more making the statement: ‘Someone’s thinking of you guys.’ ”

Monday, of course, is the day we collectively honor the dead, not just from this war but from the others as well. The man most involved with that in Long Beach is John R. Radin Sr., 71, an American Legion stalwart who’s in charge of this year’s parade here. His home two blocks from the beach was full of ribbons and flags and pins. In a cabinet he keeps a stack of blue star banners, which symbolize service in the military.

During World War I and World War II, he said, residents could walk through neighborhoods and see the blue star banners in the front windows of house after house. The American Legion, he said, is trying to revive that tradition. But if it does catch on, it might send a somewhat unsettling message — many banners in modest neighborhoods, next to none in those where the financial inducements for military service don’t outweigh the physical risks.

“That’s why I’m for a draft,” Mr. Radin said. “When I served, I had doctors, lawyers, Indian chiefs, guys who wanted to be priests, guys who wanted to be rabbis, college graduates, guys who quit high school. I think we’d have less problems if everyone served.”

But none of his seven children served in the military. And as for Mr. Eaton’s message, Mr. Radin appreciates the sentiment but has his qualms. One issue is with the parade.

The Memorial Day observance usually ends with the flag being raised from half-staff after the playing of taps. That won’t happen this time.

Instead it will remain lowered, raising a new question. There’s not likely to be a joyful Armistice Day ending this war. So having lowered the flag, when is it raised again?

Still, on a gorgeous day at the beach, with its Maginot line of volleyball nets, its signs promising new million-dollar condominiums in what has been a largely middle-class town, it’s a question that seems far, far away.

That seems especially true for the young who generally said they respected those who served but had no desire to join them. “I wouldn’t want to bring my mom the pain of being one of those bodies found floating in the river,” said Marciano Etienne, a senior at Valley Stream Central High School.

Even without Misses Hilton and Spears, we don’t lack for diversions, the war is distant and depressing, and even Mr. Eaton says his memo can only go so far. “It’s symptomatic of our species,” he said. “We don’t want to dwell on unpleasantness, you don’t want to talk about gore and the mayhem of war every day. You need to keep your sanity. We’re just saying let’s give a little more thought in the other direction.”

(f) (f) (f) (f) (f)

Si post fata venit gloria non propero.

( If glory comes after death, I'm not in a hurry.) ;)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-27-2007, 11:33 AM

(l) (l) (l) (l) (l)

Saddle up and take a ride with park rangers and pack animals hard at work in North Cascades National Park.

http://www.npca.org/magazine/graphics/pack_animals_thumb_200.jpg

Living History: Working Pack Animals Still Grace the Trails of North Cascades National Park

By David Snyder

In the pristine mountains of the North Cascades National Park Complex of northwestern Washington, an ancient tradition still thrives. Here, national park staff member Heather Swanson and other animal caretakers lead strings of pack animals deep into the backcountry, supplying trail crews and firefighting teams with the equipment they need to maintain the 680,000 acres of land that encompass a national park and two national recreation areas. Although American Indians discovered the region long ago, modern exploration of this area was initiated by miners and trappers seeking their fortunes in the American West. Wilderness like that of the North Cascades provides a spectacular backdrop to the living history of the so-called "pack strings," which serve not only to maintain 394 miles of existing trails for park visitors, but also to provide those visitors with the unique experience of touching a piece of history that had faded with the turn of the 19th century. Through the work of Heather Swanson and others, it is history that lives on in America's national park system.

Flash Slide Show: http://www.npca.org/magazine/2007/winter/pack_animal/index.html

(f)

Carpe Diem,

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-27-2007, 11:35 AM

(f)

Several national park units along the northwestern coast of Alaska preserve a hunting and fishing culture that connects the people to the land.

http://www.npca.org/magazine/2007/spring/graphics/frozen_in_time_400.jpg

Frozen in Time

When Cape Krusenstern, Kobuk Valley, and Bering Land Bridge were established as national park units in 1980, the legislation preserved a cultural history of hunting and fishing that continues today.

By Dan O'Neill

It's one of those photographs that reveals more with every glance. An old Eskimo woman on a bright sunny day outside the senior center in Kotzebue, Alaska, her bronze face burnished by the wind, her cheeks nipped to a ruddy glow. Aging eyelids slump down and fold back upon themselves as do the corners of her mouth. It is a face you might have encountered on the Bering Land Bridge at the end of the Pleistocene Era.

But then your eyes pop at the old woman's fancy parka. It's sewn in the traditional way but made from rich blue corduroy sprinkled with multicolored hearts--bouncy little hearts, yellow and purple and red, tumbling this way and that, all lit up in the sunlight. This cloth didn't cross any land bridge. It crossed the continent on a UPS jet. And it doesn't humor some nostalgic notion of Arctic indigenes squinting into an icy horizon. It springs full force from American popular culture--this material might cover the legs of a teenager at the Mall of America.

But again you are jogged backward--a century, or a hundred centuries--when you notice that sewn on the edge of this playful fabric, fringing the hood, is the skin of a wolverine. White claws poke from big, brown forepaws nearly meeting beneath the elder's chin. The limbs seem to grip her from behind, as if the animal were riding her back as a child might.

So you go, back and forth, layers of incongruity stacking themselves upon the picture. And finally you realize there is no incongruity here at all--not when you consider what it might mean to be an Inupiat Eskimo in 21st-century America. Sometimes, in this far-flung corner of the North American continent, old and new worlds don't so much collide as they do accommodate one another. And nothing illustrates that rarity better than the possibility that this wolverine may well have been killed in a national park.

At first glance, it must seem more than a little strange that people may set steel traps for wolverines (and marten and mink and foxes and wolves) in the Kobuk Valley National Park, east of Kotzebue; or that they might run seine nets out into the Kobuk River, corralling 500 to 1,000 whitefish in a day; or that they are allowed to shoot up to five caribou per day. At Cape Krusenstern National Monument, just across Kotzebue Sound from the town, Native people set up spring camps to kill not only seals but also the eerily beautiful white whales called beluga.

These revelations may leave many people somewhere between uneasy and outraged, but to Jim Magdanz, who tracks subsistence activities for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, it's entirely logical. "These areas are 90 percent indigenous people," he says. "They have hunted and fished on this land for millennia--before there were parks. They are isolated, remote, and heavily dependent on fish and game in their diet." A 2004 study in the Norton Bay area, says Magdanz, showed that local people obtained 75 percent of their dietary protein through hunting and fishing. But beyond nutrition, these activities provide social sustenance, "Fishing for whitefish and salmon tends to be a family affair, with children, aunts, and uncles sharing the work," says Magdanz. "The fish camp might be a couple of white canvas wall tents or a small plywood cabin. Several families will work together to process the fish, washing, cutting, and hanging the fish to dry."

Still, why does the Park Service allow hunting and fishing within Alaska parklands when it has eliminated hunting elsewhere? The answer may be found in an enlightened piece of legislation enacted by Congress 27 years ago. In a stroke, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 (ANILCA) more than doubled the acreage of the country's national park units, doubled the national wildlife refuge lands, tripled its wilderness preserve acreage, and added 26 new wild and scenic rivers. With ANILCA, much of the Kotzebue basin, the traditional homeland of the Inupiat Eskimos of Northwest Alaska, instantly became national parks, preserves, monuments, and wildlife refuges. But Congress wisely recognized that there were thousands of people-- both Native and white--whose economic and cultural well-being depended to some degree on their freedom to hunt, fish, gather berries, cut trees, and so on. And this way of life in rural Alaska, Congress noted, "may be the last major remnant of the subsistence culture alive today in North America." Accordingly, the subsistence lifestyle was declared a cultural value and its practice was to be allowed in the newly established parks.

If we tour these hunting-grounds-cum-parklands around Kotzebue, the local people's connection to the land becomes powerfully revealed. Just across Kotzebue Sound, a few miles to the southwest, lies the north shore of the Seward Peninsula. Since the passage of ANILCA, most of this area is now Bering Land Bridge National Preserve. "Land bridge" is a misnomer, unless you can imagine a bridge 1,000 miles wide. An intercontinental thoroughfare did span the Bering Sea, but as a broad plain conjunct north to south with the entire Alaskan and Siberian landmasses.

At the height of the Ice Age glaciations, massive ice sheets up to two miles thick covered northern lands, causing sea level to drop about 400 feet below its present level. Because the Bering and Chukchi seas are shallow, a land connection emerged as the sea receded. And this terrestrial link permitted animals like the woolly mammoth and even plants to cross in both directions between Asia and North America. Eventually, Asian hunters, equipped with skin-sewing technology and expertly fashioned stone-tipped weapons, pursued the drifting aggregations of herbivores north and east across the land bridge and into the New World. It was one of the great accomplishments in human history: the discovery and colonization of an entire hemisphere of the planet.

The preserve protects the archaeological remains of these people, as well as features that illuminate geologic processes. Projectile points first reported by geologist David Hopkins at Trail Creek Caves in 1948 may be 10,000 years old. Near Devil Mountain Lakes (which are really a pair of volcano craters called "maars"), Hopkins found a buried portion of the land bridge still intact. With trowel and brush, he excavated this singular find, collecting leaves, stems, seeds, insects, rodent nests, and animal dung--all frozen and preserved beneath a layer of volcanic ash for 18,000 years.

John Reynolds was part of the Park Service team that selected this area as a national preserve. It isn't physical grandeur that stands out here, he says, but woven layers of meaning: "the interrelationships of time and sea level… volcanism and biology and paleobotany and the succession of different tundra types, and intertwining all of that with the movement of people into North America." By the time he retired as director of the Park Service's Pacific West Region, Reynolds had seen many magnificent landscapes. But Bering Land Bridge, he says, is his "favorite national park in the whole world… because it taught me about those layers."

At Cape Krusenstern, an unprepossessing grassy lowland belies an extraordinary archaeological treasure. The beach here is advancing as sand and gravel drifts to it from eroding beaches elsewhere. Periodically, a big storm will drive this material to shore, heaping it into a ridge that emerges when the storm tide recedes. In this way, 114 beach ridges have been added to the Cape Krusenstern shores over the course of thousands of years. In 1958 an Alaskan archaeologist named Louis Giddings found ancient house pits on every ridge. Normally, archaeologists dig downward knowing they'll encounter older strata as they descend. But at Krusenstern, Giddings saw the possibility of a "horizontal stratigraphy." He theorized that people who hunted sea mammals would want to live on the outermost beach ridge, near their boats, just as they do today. If so, the 114 beach ridges extending inland for three miles represented a chronologically arrayed sequence of human habitation, with the oldest cultures situated farthest inland. The record Giddings unearthed at Cape Krusenstern included every known cultural stage of prehistoric Eskimos in northern Alaska.

But above the beach ridges, on top of a bluff, he found two more cultures that were unknown and, he thought, very old. These two sites, which he called Palisades I and II, contained projectile points that were notched at their base so they could be attached to spears with lashings, something rarely found in the Arctic. When colleagues doubted his dating, Giddings searched his memory for a site where notched points might be found--but in a vertical stratigraphy and below the more familiar points, proving his theory. Finally, he remembered a site on the Kobuk River, just inside Kobuk Valley National Park, that he had visited decades earlier. What Giddings found at a place called Onion Portage could scarcely be imagined.

Where the Kobuk River makes a big bend below the village of Ambler, a number of geographic and biotic features converge to make a perennially attractive campsite. Women and children could take a shortcut, cutting off the bend in the river, and pick wild onions along the way. A nearby creek flows down from Jade Mountain, and jade could be gathered there. But most significantly, caribou tended to flow through here in the fall on their migration south. For thousands of years, Inupiaq people sat in this camp working jade into tools, waiting for the caribou to appear, and then spearing them in the river from kayaks.

The cultures Giddings had found at Krusenstern he also found at Onion Portage, but now the evidence was stacked vertically. The Palisades-type side-notched points were there, but five feet deeper in the ground than the other flints, making the Palisades cultures incontrovertibly older. Layer after layer of dark strata containing hearths and artifacts descended an incredible 18 feet. The Smithsonian Institution's Henry Collins called Onion Portage "undoubtedly the most important archaeological site ever found in the Arctic." It contained more than 30 cultural layers extending back 8,500 years.

"It would have been pretty ironic," Jim Magdanz points out, "if the national park had protected Onion Portage for its archaeological value and at the same time disconnected the people from the traditional activity of hunting there." For local people, Onion Portage remains the most reliable place to find migrating caribou.

These archaeological sites obviously hold a valuable record of human activity--the people's range, food sources, hunting techniques. But they also present a justification for the continuance of subsistence hunting, fishing, and trapping in Alaska parklands. They document, with every harpoon head and flint projectile point, a cultural tradition that holds 10,000 years of precedence over American governmental institutions. Subsistence gathering of animals and plants--not to mention the intrinsically related practices of collaboration, sharing, sewing, dance, and song--is cultural glue. It binds together generations of people, Inupiat and white, who are not merely using this land, but who are, in a way, created by it.

Dan O'Neill is the author of three books of Alaska history and natural history: The Firecracker Boys, The Last Giant of Beringia, and A Land Gone Lonesome.

http://www.npca.org/magazine/2007/spring/frozen-in-time.html

(f)

Amor proximi.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-27-2007, 11:36 AM

(l) (f) (l)

Think volunteering in a park is limited to picking up trash and pulling a few weeds? Think again.

Keepers of the Light

From staffing a remote Island lighthouse to forging trails and even tracking moose, volunteer opportunities in the national parks are as varied as the parks themselves.

By Jeff Rennicke

It did not look good.

A stiff westerly wind was raking the blue-black waters of Lake Superior into a frenzy. Skyrockets of spray careened off the bow of the National Park Service boat Plover. Landing at the Michigan Island Lighthouse would be dicey, but Karen Halbersleban is not one to back down from a challenge. President of Northland College, she had chosen a sabbatical in favor of a raise during her last contract negotiations, precisely so that she could make this dream come true. A few waves were not going to stop her now. "The captain looked at me and could see the fierce light in my eye," she says. He knew they had to try.

Following a skillful dance of boatmanship in the wind and waves, the vessel nosed up to the dock long enough for one passenger to disembark. Those who remained onboard tossed the gear onto the dock, shouted quick goodbyes, and pushed away in a matter of moments. Just that quickly Karen Halbersleban was alone on an island, about to fulfill a dream that began three years earlier when she first learned of the unique volunteer program at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in Wisconsin. For the next month, she would no longer be known as "President Halbersleban" but as "keeper of the light."

As Halbersleban climbed the steps up the tower of the Michigan Island Light that day, she joined not only a long line of keepers at the 150-year-old lighthouse but an even longer line of volunteers who give freely of their time and talents each year in our national parks. The VIP (Volunteers-In-Parks) program is one of the largest and most successful volunteer programs in the nation. Begun in 1970, it has become a juggernaut of goodwill and helping hands. Last year alone, the VIP program coordinated the efforts of 137,000 volunteers who logged 5.2 million hours of service in 365 areas managed by the National Park Service.

Those hours are spent in tasks as varied as the parks themselves. Volunteers run the annual butterfly count in Congaree National Park in South Carolina and inventory Kemp's Ridley sea turtle hatchlings at Padre Island National Seashore in Texas. Last year volunteers helped Alaska’s Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve enter its first-ever float in the local Fourth of July Parade. And they lit more than 8,000 luminaries at what is now Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Site, one for each Mexican and American soldier who fought in a string of 1864 battles along the Rio Grande. In some national parks, you see the work of volunteers by looking up: Volunteers helped release 13 California condors to the skies over Pinnacles National Monument this year, and every year they turn more than 27,000 pairs of eyes to the heavens above Utah’s Bryce Canyon during stargazing programs. In other parks, their efforts are most evident by looking down: Volunteers at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky helped facilitate the largest "mock cave rescue" in park history last year, and volunteers in Nevada aided in the reintroduction of the Bonneville cutthroat trout to its native streams in Great Basin National Park.

In a time when the Park Service is operating with an $800 million annual budget shortfall, VIPs in their green uniforms and "Volunteer" patches have become nearly as visible as the rangers themselves. Last year, volunteers in Badlands National Park in South Dakota led 40 percent of the interpretive programs and made 60 percent of the visitor contacts.

"Volunteers have become absolutely vital to our park," says Babette Collavo, who oversees the Great Smoky Mountains' volunteer program, the third largest in the nation. "Last year alone, our program provided services equivalent to the hiring of 56 permanent staff. They are filling gaps that otherwise simply wouldn’t get filled."

They are retirees and ranchers, scientists and schoolteachers. They are college presidents and college students. Each summer, the Student Conservation Association, now in its 50th year, deploys nearly 3,000 volunteers to parks, forests, and refuges all over the country. These crews of six to eight high school and college students cut trails, build bridges, and participate in interpretive programs, donating 1.6 million hours--much of them in national parks.

Many VIPs, like Karen Halbersleban, are area residents who volunteer to become more familiar with nearby parks. For others, the journey is considerably longer. Last year the International VIP program placed 117 volunteers from 34 countries in 43 U.S. national parks--people like Patricio Bustos, a veterinary science student from Chile who spent five months in Rocky Mountain National Park tracking mountain lions and helping with bear monitoring projects.

Bob Krumenaker, the superintendent of Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, who himself began his career as a park volunteer, understands the motivation many volunteers feel. "Parks represent motherhood and apple pie for many people," he says, "the 'best idea America ever had,' as Wallace Stegner said. And, as corny as this may sound, public service still resonates with people in this country. Volunteering in a beautiful, historic place gives them a chance to give something back and add depth to their relationship with the parks."

For a growing number of volunteers, adding that depth has meant combining volunteering and vacation. "Stomping through the thick woods with a backpack full of 40 pounds of moose bones may seem like a strange vacation to some," says Dr. Rolf Peterson, "but there are people who come back every single year." Over the past 19 years, nearly 500 Earthwatch volunteers have participated in Peterson's classic wolf-moose study on Isle Royale National Park, ponying up $950 and paying their own travel expenses for the privilege of scouring the island and collecting moose bones for analysis. 'It is the hardest work many of them have ever done," Peterson says, but there are paybacks. "This spring we hiked 42 miles and never set foot on a trail. These volunteers get a view of Isle Royale that most hikers could only dream of." And sometimes they are rewarded with close-up views of wolves, too. "Two years ago, an Earthwatch volunteer got a full-frame photograph of a wolf peeking into the flap of his tent," says Peterson.

The latest VIP annual report lists the value of services rendered by national park volunteers in the most recent fiscal year at $91,260,000. But for the volunteers themselves, it goes far beyond monetary value. Dick Marin volunteers with the Elk Bugle Corps in Rocky Mountain National Park during the September rutting season, when huge bull elk arrive en masse, followed by countless tourists; volunteers educate the public, keep them at a safe distance, and enjoy the elk themselves. "To be alone in a remote part of the park, surrounded by elk and see the moon rise over the Rocky Mountains on a warm fall night--I wish everyone, once in their lifetime, could be where I was that night." How do you put a decimal point on a face-to-face encounter with a wolf or tally up the value of a moonrise? How do you put dollar signs on the view from the top of the 112-foot tower at the Michigan Island Light?

"That became my favorite spot," says Halbersleban, the college president-turned-keeper. "It was the place I felt the most connection with the keepers of the past." Today in Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, the lights are all automated. The Michigan Island light snaps on at dusk and off at dawn with the aid of solar-powered timing devices. There is no coal to haul for the steam-powered foghorns that once bellowed from some of the Apostle’s seven lights, no wicks to trim (a task that earned keepers the nickname "wickies"). Still, the days of a volunteer keeper fall into a natural rhythm like the keepers of the past, a cadence set by chores and visitors, the needs of the light, and the realities of the living conditions.

"As my life slowed into nature's rhythm," Halberslaban says, "I rediscovered the joys of being unplugged. With no electric lights, I found myself going to bed when it got dark and getting up with the sun." There was, however, grass to mow, trails to keep clear, and an inquisitive black bear to shoo away from interpretive signs. But the real work began when the tour boats approached.

"Lighthouses are the symbols of these islands for most visitors," says Superintendent Krumenaker. "Without access to a lighthouse, their experience here would be much different, and, frankly, without the help of volunteers who now occupy all but one of the lighthouses where we have staffing, it would simply not be possible to provide the opportunities that we do."

For a teacher with a Ph.D. in history, weaving the stories of the lighthouses and their keepers came easily. Halberslaben gave 99 tours to a total of 495 visitors during her stint. One, in particular, she remembers quite vividly.

"There was a very elderly woman on the tour boat one day who was determined to get up the tower," she recalls. "It must have taken her 20 minutes just to climb the 139 steps to the lighthouse station. Then she was faced with another 110 steps to the top of the tower. I remember asking her, 'Are you sure you’re up to this?' But she wouldn’t stop." Despite having to literally crawl on her hands and knees at times, the woman made it to the top, with the keeper’s help. "When I asked her why she wanted to do this so badly, she told me that she had planned to do it with her husband before his recent death, and that she was doing it for both of them," Halbersleban says. "That was a moment I really felt like [my presence] made a difference."

When the tour boats left at the end of each day, Halbersleban took a water bottle, her radio, and a canvas chair to her favorite spot atop the tower. All alone, living out a dream on an island, she watched the sun set over Lake Superior until it was dark enough to see the lighthouse beam. "That beam became a kind of symbol for me," she says, "a light shining out into the darkness. It's what I think education is all about." And it's not a bad symbol for her work and the work of thousands of others like her in our national parks, a light shining bright and gleaming out into the world.

Jeff Rennicke is the author of Jewels On the Water: Lake Superior’s Apostle Islands and a former volunteer keeper himself.

http://www.npca.org/magazine/2007/spring/volunteers.html

(f)

Facta non verba. (Deeds, not words...... Actions speak louder than words.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-27-2007, 11:38 AM

:)

The Beatles: A Lasting Influence

5/18/2007 The WEEK

When a member of my generation gets all warm and gooey about the ’60s, people in their 20s and 30s inevitably adopt The Look. You’ve seen it, or worn it—lips pursed in resignation, eyes averted as if to conceal thoughts better not spoken: Oh, sweet God. Here they go again. I can’t blame generations Y and X for their resentment. It must be awfully tiresome to keep reliving someone else’s recycled youth. My fellow boomers often drone on as if we invented sex, political activism, and popular music, and that the world began in 1950 and will end the day the last of us rasps out, “Give peace a chance,” and shuts up for good. And yet. Some of what happened in that era of supreme self/no spamming of other sites/indulgence really is worthy of moist nostalgia, particularly the phenomenon called the Beatles.

They were just a few working/no spamming of other sites/class English lads who taught themselves to noodle around on the guitar. Yet for seven years, they dominated popular culture, influencing how tens of millions of people looked, what they wore, what they thought, and what religions they dabbled in. It’s fair to say that there really is no modern/no spamming of other sites/day band or social movement of equivalent resonance, which may explain why the Beatles are still selling albums to kids born long after John Lennon’s and George Harrison’s deaths. The smug implication of this observation is, of course, that the popular music of the past 30 years was largely ephemeral garbage, with no staying power. Give me The Look if you will, but the point is inarguable. What popular album of the last two decades, may I ask, will millions of 14/no spamming of other sites/year/no spamming of other sites/olds be purchasing in 2047?

William Falk
Editor/no spamming of other sites/in/no spamming of other sites/chief

(f)

Mutantur omnia nos et mutamur in illis.

(All things change, and we change with them.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-27-2007, 11:39 AM

:| :|

Outsourcing Hits Journalism

6/1/2007 The WEEK

This gives a whole new meaning to the term “foreign correspondent.” A Pasadena, Calif., online magazine last week hired two reporters to cover the local government who have never set foot in Pasadena, and may never. In fact, they are half a world away, in Mumbai and Bangalore, India. That’s right: “Community” journalism has been outsourced to the global marketplace. PasadenaNow.com publisher James Macpherson notes that Pasadena City Council meetings are webcast, so his far/no spamming of other sites/flung reporters can observe the proceedings over the Internet, access official documents online, and file stories electronically. “I understand how many talented people there are abroad,” Macpherson explains. “I also understand how efficient it is.” By “efficient,” he means he can pay his new hires about $10,000 a year to generate 15 “local” news stories a week.

Even if this latest outsourcing innovation reduces journalism to a form of stenography, no one should be shocked. Outsourcing claims hundreds of thousands of American jobs a year, and while the trend once primarily affected manufacturing, it’s been increasingly hitting the service and professional sectors as well, from tech support and engineering to tax preparation and legal research. I have followed the issue, if from a safe distance. But as a magazine editor whose job doesn’t absolutely need to be in New York—or in the Western hemisphere, for that matter—I found the Pasadena story a little too close for comfort. If, in our wired world, “local” reporters can be anywhere, then editors are even more fungible. Think your job is safe? If so, ask yourself if somebody in India or Pakistan or Indonesia could do it for less. They might not do it as well, but let’s face it, that’s no longer the point.

Eric Effron
Managing Editor

http://www.theweekmagazine.com/editor/letter.aspx?ArticleID=2095

^o) ^o) What next?

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi.

A precipice in front, wolves behind (between a rock and a hard place).

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-27-2007, 11:42 AM

(l) (f) (l)

Children playing in the melting snow in Newtok, Alaska.

http://img.iht.com/images/2007/05/27/27alaska550.jpg

Alaskan town seeks lifeline amid climate change

By William Yardley

International Herald Tribune

Sunday, May 27, 2007

NEWTOK, Alaska: The sturdy little Cessnas land whenever the fog lifts, delivering children's bicycles, boxes of bullets, outboard motors and cans of dried oats. And then, with a rumble down a gravel strip, the planes are gone, the outside world recedes and this subarctic outpost steels itself once again to face the frontier of climate change.

"I don't want to live in permafrost no more," said Frank Tommy, 47, standing beside gutted geese and seal meat drying on a wooden rack outside his mother's house. "It's too muddy. Everything is crooked around here."

The earth beneath much of Alaska is not what it used to be. The permanently frozen subsoil, known as permafrost, upon which Newtok and so many other Native Alaskan villages rest, is melting, yielding to warming air temperatures and a warming ocean. Sea ice that would normally protect coastal villages is forming later in the year, allowing fall storms to pound away at the shoreline.

Erosion has made Newtok an island, caught between the ever widening Ninglick River and a slough to the north. The village is below sea level, and sinking. Boardwalks squish into the spring muck. Human waste, collected in "honey buckets" that many residents use for toilets, is often dumped within eyeshot in a village where no point is more than a five-minute walk from any other. The ragged wooden houses have to be adjusted regularly to level them on the shifting soil.

Studies say Newtok could be washed away within a decade. Along with the villages of Shishmaref and Kivalina farther to the north, it has been the hardest hit of about 180 Alaska villages that suffer some degree of erosion.

Some villages plan to hunker down behind sea walls built or planned by the Army Corps of Engineers, at least for now. Others, like Newtok, have no choice but to abandon their patch of tundra. The corps has estimated that to move Newtok could cost $130 million because of its remoteness, climate and topography. That comes to almost $413,000 for each of the 315 residents.

Not that anyone is offering to pay.

After all, climate change is raising questions about how to deal with drought, wildfires, hurricanes and other threats that affect so many more people and involve large sums of money.

"We haven't sat down as a society and said, 'How are we going to adapt to this?' " said Michael Oppenheimer, a climate scientist at Princeton University and a lead author of a recent report by a United Nations panel on the impacts and vulnerability presented by climate change. "Just like we haven't sat down and said, 'How are we going to reduce emissions?' And both have to be done."

Amid the uncertainty, the residents of Newtok hear the skeptics, who question the price tag for moving such a small, seemingly inconsequential place. But residents here emphasize that they are a federally recognized American Indian tribe, and they shudder when asked why they cannot just move to an existing village or a city like Fairbanks.

They say their identity is rooted in their isolation, however qualified it has become over the last century by outside influences. It was the government, they say, that insisted decades ago that they and so many other villages abandon their nomadic ways and pick a place to call home. The current village site was once only a winter camp, and the people of Newtok say they are not to blame just because they are now among the first climate refugees in the United States.

"The federal government, they're the ones who came into our lives and took away some of our values," said Nick Tom Jr., 49, the former Newtok tribal administrator. "They came in and said, 'You aren't civilized. We're going to educate you.' That was hard for our grandparents."

Newtok's leaders say the corps' relocation estimates are inflated, that they intend to move piecemeal rather than in one collective migration, which they say will save money. But they say government should pay, no matter the cost — if only there were a government agency charged with doing so. There is not a formal process by which a village can apply to the government to relocate.

"They grossly overestimate it, and that's why federal and state agencies are afraid to step in," said Stanley Tom, the current tribal administrator and the brother of Nick Tom Jr. "They don't want to spend that much money."

Still, Newtok has made far more progress toward moving than other villages, piecing together its move grant by grant.

Through a land swap with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, it has secured a new site, on Nelson Island, nine miles south. It is safe from the waves on a windy rise above the Ninglick River. They call it Mertarvik, which means "getting water from the spring." They tell their children they will grow up in a place where E. coli does not thrive in every puddle, the way it does here.

With the help of state agencies, it won a grant of about $1 million to build a barge landing at the new site. Bids go out this summer, and construction could be complete next year, providing a platform to unload equipment for building roads, water and sewer systems, houses and a new landing strip.

Village Safe Water, part of the State Department of Environmental Conservation, plans to use money budgeted for repairs at the existing village to drill for water this summer at the new site. The corps is drafting a plan to build initial roads and an emergency center that would serve as a base of operations during construction. But the plan, for which the corps has not yet released a budget, needs financing from Congress.

There is no plan yet for how the village would move entire buildings, such as the Newtok School, which is relatively new and serves the village's 125 children, preschool through high school.

So far, said Sally Russell Cox, a planner with the state division of community advocacy, "This is all on sticky notes."

Senator Ted Stevens, the lion of Alaska politics, is now the ranking minority member on the Senate's new Disaster Recovery subcommittee.

His aides say that, while he has yet to push for money to move specific villages, he was instrumental in passing legislation in 2005 that gave the corps broader authority to help. Despite the state's past success at winning federal money, they say Alaska lawmakers are hemmed in by new scrutiny of so-called earmarks for special projects, Mr. Stevens's status in the minority of the new Congress, public detachment from issues facing rural Alaska and needs in other places, like New Orleans.

And village relocation in Alaska is not a priority at the White House. The president's proposed budget includes $1 million that could go to that purpose, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Saturday.

Bruce Sexauer, a senior planner with the corps in Alaska who wrote a report assessing the needs of various villages, said the residents of Newtok are descendants of the people who came across the land bridge from Asia. "They are the very first of the people that were inhabiting North America thousands of years ago. Talk about a rich and unique American culture. Is it worth it? There's more to it than just economics."

The administrative leaders of Newtok are mostly men in their 40s, nearly all of them related. They are widely praised by outsiders for their initiative and determination to relocate.

Yet nearly any place would seem an improvement over Newtok as it exists today, and not all of its problems are rooted in climate change. Some are almost universal to Alaskan villages, which have struggled for decades to reconcile their culture of subsistence hunting and fishing with the expectations and temptations of the world outside.

Excrement dumped from honey buckets is piled on the banks of the slow-flowing Newtok River, not far from wooden shacks where residents take nightly steam baths. An elderly man drains kerosene into a puddle of snowmelt. Children pedal past a walrus skull left to rot, tusks intact, in the mud beside a boardwalk that serves as a main thoroughfare. There are no cars here, just snow machines, boats and all-terrain vehicles that tear up the tundra.

Village elders speak their native Yupik more often than they speak English. They remember when the village was a collection of families who moved with the seasons, making houses from sod, fishing from Nelson Island in the summer, hunting caribou far away in the winter.

But, said Agnes Tommy, "It's getting hard to remember."

On a recent afternoon, Ms. Tommy, 84, watched a DVD of "The Day After" while her 17-year-old granddaughter, Nicole, a high school dropout, sat across the room with Eminem's "Encore" thumping in her headphones. Nicole mused about moving to Anchorage, although she has never been there.

Many men still travel with the seasons to hunt and fish. Some will take boats into Bristol Bay this summer to catch salmon alongside commercial fishermen from out of state. But the waterproof jacket sewn from seal gut that Stanley Tom once wore is now stuffed inside a display case at Newtok School next to other relics.

Now Mr. Tom puts on a puffy parka to walk the few hundred feet he travels to work. He checks his e-mail messages to see if there is news from the corps or from Senator Stevens while his brother, Nick, sketches out a budget proposal for a nonprofit corporation to help manage the relocation, presuming the money arrives.

Nick Tom said the move could bring jobs for young people who may otherwise be tempted to leave. Other young people talk only of leaving for the new village.

"They're going to move us to a mountain," said Annie Kassaiuli, 11, eating a burrito in the school cafeteria. "We can pick berries."

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/27/america/27alaska.php

(l) (l) (l) (l)

Amor proximi.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-27-2007, 11:44 AM

(f) (f) (f)

Bored of the rat race? Yearning to shed the shackles of conformity? Break out the tie-dye and head for one of our alternative hotspots.

Drum deal ... Revellers on Ibiza's Benirras beach.

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Travel/Pix/pictures/2007/05/26/ibiz460x276Alamy.jpg

Where the spirit of '67 lives on

Sarah Turner and Alison Tyler

The Observer

Sunday May 27 2007

Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, Canada

Dubbed the 'coolest island in Canada' by the Washington Post, Salt Spring is home to 10,000 free spirits, artists, writers, alternative therapists and a sizable Buddhist community. It is awash with rocky inlets, kayak-friendly rivers, evergreen forests and a tradition of tolerance. Also, thanks to liberal Canadian laws, a faint whiff of marijuana still tends to waft on the breeze. Salt Spring's lifestyle fest reaches its zenith at the market in the main town of Ganges, which sells crafts and organic food. There are many B&Bs on the island, including Cloud 9 Oceanview (001 250 537 2776; www.cloud9oceanview.com), where doubles start at £75 a night, including breakfast. The easiest way to reach Salt Spring is to fly to Vancouver, from where you can get a seaplane. Companies include Sea Air Seaplanes (001 604 273 8900; www.seairseaplanes.com), Kenmore Air (001 866 435 9524; www.kenmoreair.com) and Harbour Air (001 604 274 1277; www.harbour-air.com).

Bodmin, Cornwall

Hippies don't need hotels, just peace, love, a lot of fabric and a nearby toilet block. Get closer to nature sleeping in a yurt at Yurtworks in the north Cornish countryside, filled with fabulously eccentric furniture from as far afield as Morocco and Rajasthan. There's firewood for campfires, a compost toilet, and recycling is almost compulsory. You can even breakfast on eggs produced by the resident hens. Short stays (three nights) from £150 for two people (01208 850670; www.yurtworks.co.uk).

Across the channel, Mille Etoiles offers a similar experience, with a campsite of 12 yurts perched above the magnificent Ardeche river gorge. The yurts are dotted through the forest and each rather chic tent houses a proper double bed and two camp beds for children. Four communal cooking tents encourage guests to meet and mingle. Breakfast is served in the cafe, while a small table d'hote restaurant serves evening meals (€30 per head). Three-night stays from £300 B&B (www.canvaschic.com).

Luang Prabang, Laos

As gap-year students trample a path through bohemian Cambodia, hippies in search of unspoilt treasures are hopping across the Mekong into Laos.

Fifteen years ago, this former French colony was barely known to tourists, especially its old capital, Luang Prabang - 11 hours from Vientiane by road. But in 1995 it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site and with that a gentle trickle of adventurous travellers has arrived - lured by the Theravada Buddhist temples, out-of-this-world scenery and royal heritage.

In the past five years this magical landscape has been transformed and the French-Indochinese architecture now houses smart yet sensitively converted guesthouses, such as Satri House (www.satrihouse.com), where old Indochine meets modern French chic. Amid the regeneration you can still buy nourishing noodles for 20p.

Jerome, Arizona

Once a boom mining town, Jerome saw its mines close in the 1950s and its population crash from 15,000 to 200. Hippies began to colonise the ramshackle wooden houses which cling to the mountainside, turning the ghost town into a thriving artists' colony. Many of the houses remain empty, so rents are cheap: the jewellery designers who moved here in the 1980s can still afford to be creative, and art galleries haven't become branches of Gap. Happily, the food options have moved beyond tofu burgers: the Asylum restaurant serves char-broiled bluenose sea bass, while the Grapes showcases the work of nearby microbreweries and wineries while serving exemplary pizzas. Nearby diversions include tree-hugging, dowsing and aura-photography, but part of Jerome's appeal is that it does counterculture in a quieter way than nearby Sedona. Stay at the Connor Hotel (001 928 634 5006; www.connorhotel.com), where rooms start at £70, and don't miss a drink in the adjoining Spirit Room Bar.

Daylesford, Australia

Sydney has long had Byron Bay as its weekend hippy break destination; Melbourne's equivalent is Daylesford. A 90-minute journey from the city, Daylesford is, like Jerome, a hippy hangout that isn't centred on a beach. A former goldrush town in the middle of bushland, it's a melange of bookstores and markets, attractively feral children, art galleries, deeply organic farms and vineyards, which add up to a blisteringly high quality of life.Every two years, the town hosts ChillOut, the state's largest lesbian and gay festival. Above all, the town's proximity to mineral springs allows it to be a centre of alternative healing. The Lake House Hotel (00 61 35 348 3329; www.lakehouse.com.au) has its own source of mineral water and a spa; doubles start at £101.

Andalucia, Spain

There's very little that's countercultural about the bars of Puerto Banus or the beaches of Torremolinos, but Andalucia hides many a thriving alternative hotspot. On Thursday mornings in Orgiva, a scruffy town at the foot of the Alpujarras mountains, the large new-age population emerge from their tents, tipis and campervans to sell crystals, herbs and tambourines in the weekly market, alongside the local farmers' food stalls. A few miles up the mountain, with views over the famous white villages of Bubion, Capileira and Pampaneira, is the O Sel Ling (www.oseling.com) Buddhist centre, which has a stupa and temple, and was opened by the Dalai Lama in 1982. The name means 'place of clear light'; visitors are welcome daily, check for times.

Across Andalucia, on the Costa de la Luz, there's a more low-key alternative vibe. The town of Vejer de la Frontera, sitting on a hillock a few miles inland, is in many ways a traditional spot - the children learn flamenco while the older women dress all in black and keep their heads covered. But at night a young, easy-going crowd fills the cobbled backstreets outside the couple of small bars, listens to music, smokes, drinks and snogs. Down on the coast, the beaches of Los Canos de Meca have attracted hippies since the 1960s, but as yet it hasn't turned into a tie-dyed theme park, even in high summer when the campsites take on the feel of a Thailand beach party. Stay in the straw cottages of Casas Karen (00 34 956 437 067; www.casaskaren.com) from £67 a night in high season.

Trancoso, Brazil

Florianopolis gets the supermodel set and Boipeba offers more in the way of exquisite isolation, but Hip Hotels creator Herbert Ypma describes Trancoso as the Bali of Brazil - organic rather than managed, friendly and hassle-free. For a village founded by Jesuits in the 16th century, the beach parties are big and the beach bars are excellent, especially the Bahia Bonita Beach Inn. Dominated by the Quadrado, a grassy square, the village combines a laid-back feel with bars, restaurants and boutiques, plus regular sessions of football and capoeira. The beach itself is one of Brazil's best and includes a clothing-free area. Hotels are mostly boutique establishments that don't offend the environment or the locals. Wealthier types will prefer the Villas de Trancoso, just outside the town, but most will opt for the Etnia Pousada (owned by an Italian interior designer), which costs about £90 a night. Both can be booked through Journey Latin America (020 8622 8491; www.journeylatinamerica.co.uk).

Mozambique

After 17 years of civil war, Mozambique is rebuilding at an incredible pace, and its allure is starting to gain international attention. You won't see dreads and flares, but eco-tourism and fantastic natural wonders are the main draw for a more modern breed of hippy kids. See Maputo for its architecture and carnival vibe, then make for the Quirimbas Archipelago, with 32 coral islands offering excellent diving, superb beaches and a national park.

The islands of the Bazaruto Archipelago are among the most beautiful in the Indian Ocean. On Bazaruto, Sailfish Bay is spectacular and further south, at Whale Rock Reef, you can see turtles nesting (stay at Bazaruto Lodge: www.pestana.com; bungalows from £117 a night). On Benguerra Island, Benguerra Lodge (www.benguerra.co.za) has shabby chic beach bungalows, with great food and good swimming and deep sea diving, from £199 a night.

Ibiza

OK, it's a cliche, and yes, there is nothing remotely hippyish about San Antonio on a Saturday night. But the combination of beautiful beaches and easy-going inhabitants that attracted Joni Mitchell et al remains largely intact. Some argue that with dance music and the superclubs on the wane, the island is actually becoming more hippyish than ever. On one hand, there's the full-on, way-out antics at Las Dalias (www.lasdalias.es), a roadside bar that opened in 1954 in the village of San Carlos. Here, young and old gather for hippy markets and nights like Namaste and Tribe of Frog. The gardens are filled with pillows and fairy lights, children run about while their parents lie back and eat Indian food, and inside DJs play trance music. Other hotspots include the nightly tribal drumming and dancing sessions watching the spectacular sunset at Benirras beach on the north coast.

Then there's the new breed of upmarket yoga and alternative therapy retreats. The 14-room Hotel La Ventana (Sa Carrosa 13, Ibiza Town; 00 34 97 1390 857; www.laventanaibiza.com) is one of the most stylish places to stay and offers yoga breaks and seven-day detox programmes.

Ubud, Bali

Since the 1920s, when Ubud's royal family invited guests such as the German artist Walter Spies and the Dutch painter Rudolf Bonnet to visit, Ubud has developed into an international arts centre. The result is a resort filled with art galleries, craft shops and bohemian cafes. No one rushes in Bali: watch traditional legong dances at the old palace, browse the art at the Puri Lukisan and Neka Art Museum, or explore the ornate Hindu temples by mountain bike, or from a boat along the Ayung River.

A stone's throw from the Neka lies Uma Ubud (00 62 361 972 448; www.uma.como.bz), an affordable luxury resort with 25 secluded rooms scattered around an infinity pool and bar area. Yoga classes take place on the bar roof and in a hillside yoga-and-meditation pavilion (B&B from £110 a night).

Rishikesh, India

Rishikesh, in the foothills of the Himalayas, is widely regarded as the birthplace of yoga, Ayurveda and meditation. It found global fame in the mid-Sixties, attracting the Beatles, Mike Love and the Beach Boys. This tranquil town on the banks of the Ganges still lures travellers with the promise of spiritual enlightenment, stunning landscapes, vegetarian food, not to mention excellent whitewater rafting.

For the ultimate yoga retreat, visit the serene and luxurious Ananda spa (www.anandaspa.com). Indus Tours offers a one-week package in Rishikesh from £950 per person, including flights (020 8901 7320; www.industours.co.uk).

Summer festivals

If you need to cram your summer of love into a weekend, head to one of the smaller, more way-out festivals which have sprung up in the past few years.

Try the Glade (20-22 July; www.gladefestival.com), held in a secret countryside location in the south east. Expect a Goa trance flavour and a gregarious atmosphere. Alternatively, head to the Wickerman (20-21 July; www.thewickermanfestival.co.uk), pictured left, in East Kirkcarswell, Scotland, or the Green Man (17-19 August; www.thegreenmanfestival.co.uk) in the Brecon Beacons.

So over, man

They were once far-out. Now they're just out ...

Goa

Its beaches used to be paradise for hippies, but the local population, the vast majority of which are Catholic, were never impressed by the parties, casual sex and drugs. Several years ago they started to crack down, insisting the once all-night raves were wound up at midnight. Some beach parties can still be found, but you'll have to seek them out - Goa is now far more popular with the package-holiday crowd.

Christiana, Copenhagen

A self-proclaimed 'freetown', Christiana has existed since a group of squatters moved into a barracks in the centre of the city in 1971. Since then, tourists seeking alternative attractions have made pilgrimages there, and in particular to 'Pusher's Street', where hash was openly sold from stalls. Now, though, the government has banned the sale of drugs and wants to build new apartments there. Today the pushers only sell falafel.

Glastonbury

Michael Eavis started the festival in 1970, and for years it was undisputedly the most authentically 'alternative' of the festivals. Today, though, some say it's a victim of its own success - how many real hippies will pre-register online, then spend hours with their finger on the redial button of their phone, just for the privilege of paying £150 for a ticket? And while the hippies' tipis remain, today they are rented out for £1,620 each.

Tunisia

Yes, the deserts looked good in the Star Wars movies, but today the beaches of Tunisia are to the French what Malaga is to us Brits. Vast resort complexes line the shore, while local restaurants are as likely to serve steak frites as tagine and couscous.

Panajachel, Guatemala

With views of volcanoes across the waters of Lake Atitlan, Panajachel was once central America's key hippy hang-out. Alas, it has become a parody of itself - Bob Marley is played endlessly in the market, and the stalls sell rasta hats with built-in dreadlocks.

Marrakesh

Stallholders in the souk shout 'cheaper than Asda price' as you walk by while the local Aman resort charges $1,000 a night and Michelin-starred chef Richard Neat runs a restaurant here. The arrival of the Easyjet-set is sure to further dilute Marrakesh's once-exotic charms.

Mykonos

Far more aspiring hippies made it to Greece than ever got to Asia, and Mykonos was a magnet for those wanting to spend the summer sleeping on roofs and playing the guitar on the beach. Today, though, the island is far more chic. Can anywhere with a branch of Nobu really be a hippy destination?

Kathmandu

Back in the day, hippies with the munchies knew where to go: the Snowman cake shop in Freak Street (so called because of the far-out characters who stayed in guest houses there). Now you are far more likely to meet gap year students from the Home Counties. Freaks are thin on the ground.

http://travel.guardian.co.uk/article/2007/may/27/escape2

<:o) <:o) <:o) <:o) <:o) <:o) <:o)

Aut disce aut discede.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-27-2007, 11:46 AM

;)

Twenty-five years after an unfortunate episode with an illegal substance, Geoff Dyer returns to Morocco to exorcise a few ghosts and to discover whether the spirit of Ginsberg and Kerouac survives.

The Observer

Sunday May 27 2007

I cannot claim to have gone to Morocco on the hippy trail but when I did go, in 1983 - with my then girlfriend, without a guidebook - I had a major drug freak-out. That must count for something. We had a youthful hankering for opium. Since we didn't know what form this came in or how it was imbibed (the guide book, surely, would have helped), we were surprised but not unduly alarmed when we took delivery of what looked like nothing so much as a jar of pickled onions which, as counselled by our 'friend' Mustapha, we proceeded to eat. Nothing happened. Or not to me, anyway. My girlfriend got a buzz in the sense that she spent the whole afternoon throwing up. Feeling that I was missing out I ate some hashish, to which I also seemed to have developed an uncharacteristic immunity. As a last resort I smoked a little kif, whereupon I went instantly and completely to pieces. A classic of its kind: the infinite feedback loop, the screaming heebie-jeebies. It was not just that if I shut my eyes I knew I would die; if I shut my eyes the world would come to an end.

And that was the fun part of our trip. That aside, it was essentially a series of inconveniences and errors. For reasons no longer quite clear we spent four nights in Goulmime, a dreary desert town with so little to recommend it that, in the words of the current Lonely Planet guide, even 'day-trippers leave sorely disappointed'. The whole ill-advised expedition ended with me being reprimanded by my girlfriend when, after getting consistently fleeced by the astonishingly persistent Mustapha, I felt I had to let him go. I dealt with the problem in a forceful and fair way but my girlfriend thought otherwise. 'I saw that look in your eyes,' she said. 'It was racism.'

So I had many ghosts to exorcise on returning to Morocco almost a quarter of a century later. In the style of a TV documentary-maker I thought it would be good to go to the place in Marrakesh where I'd flipped out and, well, I dunno, confront the past and achieve redemption (or at least try for a refund on the opiated pickled onions).

As a diligent reporter I was also on the look-out for signs of residual hippiness. There were none. Or at least only mediated ones like the backpacker at the Cafe des Epices on Place Rahba Qedima, reading a film-tie-in edition of Hideous Kinky. There were also bits and bobs that have become part of everyday life everywhere: candles, incense, jewellery, beads. This, however, did not constitute hard evidence. In India, particularly in Goa, one often encounters guys in their fifties or sixties who came out in the 1970s and stayed, practising yoga, meditation and other matters vaguely eastern. (Their long service to the cause of charis-smoking was duly recognised in the 1990s when they became honorary godfathers, tie-dye pandits, of the psy-trance scene.) In Marrakesh these distinguished, if somewhat addled, figures were conspicuous by their absence.

To understand what had become of hippiness in Morocco one had to go back further, to the godfathers of the hippy scene, to Ginsberg, Burroughs and Kerouac, the Beats, who came here in the late 1950s. Kerouac pointed out that 'Beat' was 'the root and soul of beatific'. In a version of this etymological reasoning I had an inkling about the root and soul of hippiness: hip. As in Hip Hotels! Could the lack of grizzled groovers be explained by the fact that they were toking on gravity bongs behind the embossed doors of spectacular riads? Had they reinvented themselves as owners of boutique hotels?

Have you heard about the riads of Marrakesh? Only joking. Of course you have. Heard about them? You've almost certainly stayed in several. You probably own one. I wish I did. Because they're so nice. Beats staying in a flophouse where the sheets feel like they haven't been washed since Paul Bowles took a sweat-bath in them, circa 1963. Yeah, I'm all fired up on the riad vibe. I'm going to decorate my flat as a riad, starting with the pointy yellow slippers. And the carpets of course.

If you've heard of riads, you will certainly have heard of the war on drugs. Altogether less well publicised is the war of rugs that has been waged, with varying intensity, for the full seven years of my marriage. My wife and I could not agree on a rug. We had terrible fights, often in public, often in shops. The world over we exhausted the patience of that most patient of traders, the carpet-seller. Our floors remained hard and bare. Neither of us would yield an inch to the other's preference. But on arrival in Morocco we both sensed that the decisive battle would be fought either in Marrakesh or in Essaouira.

We had been in Essaouira just a few hours when we saw one we liked. Then, at another emporium, we saw one we liked even more. Then we saw two we loved. We had hoped to find a mutually acceptable carpet and now, after struggling to find one we both liked, we were going to buy one each. We went through the motions of haggling but the wily seller could see the covetous gleam in our eyes and brought the price down only fractionally. We cared not a jot. All that mattered was that we had our rugs. The fact that we had nowhere to put the second one, would be using it as underlay for the first, was irrelevant.

We left the carpet shop arm in arm. Two things were possible after our moment of joyful acquisition. One was that we went back to our hotel and had sex on our carpet. The other - always more likely - was that we started looking at riads in estate agents' windows. Hmm. Tempting. Not just tempting, positively arousing in fact.

The problem with buying a place in Essaouira was that I didn't like it. This is apostasy, I know. Everyone loves Essaouira. After my idiotic trip to Goulmime, people kept saying we should have gone to Essaouira instead. That's what Essaouira came to mean to me: a place one should have gone to. And then, when I did go, I took against it rather. There were two reasons for this.

The first is that I kept thinking I was in Greece. The basic colour scheme of Essaouira is blue on white: blue shutters, window frames and doors against white walls. It makes sense in a seasidey way but it didn't look like Morocco, which I think of as sort of reddish. Everywhere you go in Essaouira there are carpets hanging - lovely orangey, reddy, autumnal carpets. And these look really odd against the white and blue. It just doesn't work. So Essaouira went from meaning 'place I should have gone' to 'place that has problems with its colour scheme'.

The other problem with Essaouira is that, like Chicago, it's known as the windy city. A freezing wind blew in from the freezing Atlantic. At certain times of the year, when it's infernally hot, this cold wind might be a good thing but in May, when the temperature inland was in the 80s, this wind was vile. It was the old freezing-boiling syndrome: boiling in the sun, freezing as soon as you stepped out of it. Actually, it was worse than that: often you were freezing and boiling simultaneously.

These reactions were not shared by the many visitors who have come to Essaouira and taken it to their hearts. One was Jimi Hendrix, whose song 'Castles Made of Sand' it is claimed was the result of time spent here in 1967. We stayed in the very same hotel as Jimi: the Riad Al Madina. Not the same room, though (he was in 13; we were in 57). In Hendrix's day the hotel was simple, basic. It reopened in its current, grander incarnation in 1996. Already, just over a decade down the line, it's a bid faded and frayed at the edges.

In the spirit of pilgrimage I took a taxi to the village of Diabat, seven kilometres away, where Jimi apparently spent much of his time. Getting out of the car was like stepping into The Passenger, into the scenes where Jack Nicholson wonders what the hell he's doing in wherever the hell he is. It was windswept, desolate and very sandy. At the Hendrix cafe, there were no customers, a single member of staff (sleeping) and, as far as I could tell, an almost complete absence of refreshments. Outside were a couple of moody camels and little else. Which, precisely, is the appeal. With so many visitors wanting to come to Essaouira, this whole area is waiting to be developed into a huge resort. That's why there was so much dust: the sand of the beach and the sand of a construction site in limbo. A sign suggested this was a place 'Où rêver ou investir', to dream or to invest. Maybe so but, in the dusty interim, it seemed a place to leave.

It was a two-and-a-half hour drive from Essaouira back to Marrakesh. The land was fertile at first, Cotswoldy in places (dry-stone walling), becoming Sicilian (parchedness, olive trees). Green became browny green, then greeny brown, then not even brown. Everything was stripped down to almost nothing without quite being desert in the aesthetically alluring sense.

In Marrakesh we did the things one does. Strolled through the main square, Djemaa el-Fna, so huge it's sort of not a square at all, more like a sunken extent of sky. Pounded the souks and revived ourselves with mint tea - revived in the sense that, after drinking a couple of glasses, we felt 10 degrees hotter (a symptom, apparently, of cooling down). Scalded our tongues on tajine. Drank Casablanca beer in so many exquisitely designed places I felt like a new breed of superhero called Wallpaper*man. Sat on our riad terrace, taking in the view of the snow-clad mountains, looking as if they were trying to camouflage themselves as sculpted cloud.

But mainly what I did was marvel at the lack of hassle. When I was last here the hassle was just unbelievable. You couldn't take a piss without half a dozen people clamouring to hold your dick for you. Now all the touts and hustlers have been asbo'd. In terms of cleaning up its act, Marrakesh rivals Manhattan. Maybe something's been lost along the way but, frankly, I liked this new, unthreatening, easily accessible version of orient in which there was just a very slight surplus of people offering goods, services and guidance.

As for the site of my 1983 freak-out, I never found it. I assumed this was because Marrakesh had changed beyond all recognition: presumably, the pit where we'd stayed was now a barbarically luxurious riad. Then, back home, I checked through an old diary and found I'd got it all wrong. It had happened in Agadir (back then, that's where all the flights arrived), before we even got to Marrakesh. The past is not another country but it is, I realise now, another town.

· Geoff Dyer's 'Yoga for People Who can't be Bothered to Do It' (Abacus) won the WH Smith Prize for best travel book.

Essentials

Geoff Dyer travelled with CV Travel (0870 062 3415, www.cvtravel.co.uk). In Marrakesh he stayed at Riad Djemanna, which has lovely views from its roof terrace, and Riad Kaiss, owned by a retired French architect. In Essaouira, he stayed at Riad Al Madina, and Dar Liouba. A three- night stay at Riad Kaiss or Djemanna, followed by two nights at Dar Liouba or Riad Al Madina, costs from £546 including return scheduled BA flights from Gatwick, breakfasts and transfers

http://travel.guardian.co.uk/article/2007/may/27/escape.morocco

(f)

Fac ut gaudeam.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-27-2007, 11:47 AM

(l) (l) (l) (l)

Britain's woodlands: Cabin fever in the forest

A private-public project is preserving Britain's woodlands while giving families a novel holiday experience. Jason Burt reports

Published: 27 May 2007

This is the story of steam. And not the variety usually coming out of parental ears when trying to deal with the kids during the holidays. It's a tricky time - especially if you don't want to travel abroad ... and especially if you decide it would be a good idea to go north and find yourself in relentless traffic, in lashing rain, on the A1. Foolhardy or, maybe, just plain foolish?

A case of steamy windows then on the motorway but, with serendipity the rain eases as we near our destination. We - myself, my wife Laura and our three children, Ella, seven, Olivia, three, and 20-month-old Liam - are spending three nights in Keldy, a collection of impressive ski chalet-style cabins in Forestry Commission land on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors. It sounds idyllic. It looks idyllic. It is, to be honest, idyllic. The blurb claims it's an area of outstanding beauty. It's no exaggeration.

We also have the luxury of being housed in one of the VIP cabins which, obviously, intrigues the children who, when they have VIP explained to them, shrug as if such treatment is only natural for persons of their calibre. But the extra outlay appears to be worth it.

All the cabins on the site are spacious and open-plan with impressive balconies, well-equipped kitchens and huge floor-to-ceiling double-glazed windows, although some may still be described as fairly utilitarian.

The VIP variety has plusher furnishings, a flat-screen TV and a DVD player - not exactly Grizzly Adams but a Godsend in an unremitting downpour of a day. The superior cabins, one up from the standard, also have these gadgets, but there are add-ons for the VIP - namely a wood burner... and an outdoor hot tub. Now obviously we're here to explore the forest walks - some led by rangers - rivers, streams, breathtaking hillsides, glades, the fishpond and badger hides and breathe in that wonderful, wonderful fresh air. But an outdoor hot tub! On a chill spring afternoon!

So while my wife unpacks the wellies, waterproofs and whatever, a military-style logistics operation in itself, it's only natural, and purely for the purposes of this article, that I jump in the tub. It's glorious and very VIP-ish, especially with the drizzle wafting gently over the balcony and the wonderful view across the forest-clad moor-side through the rising steam of the water. And then, of course, the kids decide to get in too. I protest about laws banning minors but I am drowned out. Almost literally.

They love it. Indeed, they love it more than I do. And that means that for the next couple of days, it almost becomes a family obsession, with Ella in particular calculating just how feasible it would be to lobby for one to be installed at home.

We push on and plan our weekend. Keldy is not only magnificent - and extremely child-friendly - it's also magnificently located. The site is seven miles from Pickering and the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. And that brings another steamy story.

The next day, the railway was first on the agenda. From its lovingly restored stations and tearooms, not to mention the engines, it was a fantastic experience. This was a real railway. For our son, Liam, it was almost hypnotic and he still wanders around the house saying "choo-choo" and pulling an imaginary lever.

Beyond that, there is a great mix of other places: from the magnificent Rievaulx Abbey, Helmsley Castle and Castle Howard to a blend of museums, folk attractions and the coastal towns of Scarborough, Whitby - Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley and all - to the hamlet of Robin Hood's Bay. The next day we settled on the fascinating Ryedale Folk Museum, in the chocolate-box village of Hutton-le-Hole, where Olivia tries her hand at rag-rugging and becomes memorably absorbed in the ancient craft. Not bad for a three-year-old. But the real attraction of the weekend was simply the natural environment.

For Forest Holidays, the private-public partnership that runs Keldy, the penny has dropped. They have spruced up the site, along with Strathyre Forest in Perthshire and Deerpark in Cornwall (near the Eden Centre) at a total cost of £40m for all three, and deserve to reap the benefit.

There is also another dividend. The sites are genuinely environmentally friendly, living up to the claim of being oases of bio-diversity, using timber from the forests while the design of the chalets mean they leave most of the ground untouched. Recycling is encouraged; sampling local products a must.

But, as part of that, there is one minor irritation. The electricity is metered which, given the price paid and the ungenerous ration granted, appears unnecessarily mean. But that was only a very small irritation. And certainly not one to make the steam rise.

THE COMPACT GUIDE

FURTHER INFORMATION

Forest Holidays (0845 130 8224; forest-holidays.com) offers three nights in a chalet sleeping four to six from £137 per chalet.

http://travel.independent.co.uk/uk/article2586952.ece

(f)

Facta non verba. (Deeds, not words...... Actions speak louder than words.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-27-2007, 11:51 AM

:)

Travel active: A long-running Scottish tradition

The 95-mile West Highland Way can be a daunting walk, so racing round it non-stop is strictly for the brave-hearted. Andrew Spooner traces the route and talks to competitors in this annual slogathon.

Published: 27 May 2007

How fast can you travel 95 miles? If you're in a car on a motorway it could take just over an hour. A Boeing 737 can cover it in about 10 minutes, while the UK's fastest train, the Virgin Pendolino, hurtles that distance in just short of three-quarters of an hour.

Now imagine running the same distance. Don't forget to factor in the likelihood of howling winds, freezing rain and the small matter of scaling 14,000ft of mountain on the way - that's the equivalent of climbing Snowdon four times. Then you'll need to think about the muddy, rocky, slippery surface. And, of course, the exhaustion-induced hallucinations.

So, how long do you think it would take you to run the 95-mile West Highland Way from just outside Glasgow to Fort William? If you were very fit, and possibly a bit insane, you could run almost a mara-thon a day for four days. That would do it. But what if you had to race?

"If you don't finish in 35 hours you get disqualified," says Dario Melaragni, the organiser of the UK's toughest ultra-running competition, the West Highland Way Race. "The race record was set last year and it stands at 15hr 45min for the entire length. Incredible, huh?"

How many years has this lunacy been happening? "The race began in 1985 as a personal challenge between two of Scotland's best long-distance fell runners, Duncan Watson and Bobby Shields. We are now completely oversubscribed and this year have 116 entrants. It's become quite a big event."

I have met Dario in the Bridge of Orchy Hotel, deep in the Scottish Highlands. The hotel is set on the edge of the bleak, mountainous expanse of Rannoch Moor and, more importantly, at the two-thirds point of the West Highland Way. My plan, in an attempt to get some idea of what the runners experience, is to cover the last 36 miles into Fort William.

I am not going to attempt to run the distance in some ridiculous time, though; I will be walking the final 36miles of the Way over a much more sensible three days.

For walkers, the West Highland Way, established in 1980, is the most popular long-distance path in the UK. Up to 50,000 people of all stripes and backgrounds take to the Way every year, passing through some of the most spectacular scenery in the country.

The majority finish the route, which takes in the entire length of Loch Lomond before winding its way to Fort William, in seven days, overnighting in a variety of B&Bs, hotels and bunk-houses. Companies such as Wilderness Scotland, with whom I am travelling, set the whole thing up for their clients, booking accommodation and delivering luggage to each stopover point - all you need to carry is a small daypack. So, compared to the race participants, I've got it pretty easy.

"This will be the seventh year I've entered the race," says Ian Beatty, 41, a finance director from Perthshire. "My record time is 21hr 39min. Sometimes, towards the end, when the pain and exhaustion gets too much, I start to have some pretty vivid hallucinations. One year I even had a conversation with a friend who wasn't there."

What on earth convinced him that taking part in this race is a good idea? "At first it was the challenge. To complete something that on paper sounded impossible, but which you knew people actually do."

And why does he keep coming back for more? "Over the past couple of years it's been the camaraderie of what Dario calls the 'West Highland Way Race Family' - they are all such an amazing bunch of people. I feel privileged to be a part of that."

The first part of the Way I am attempting is the 13miles across Rannoch Moor from Bridge of Orchy to Kingshouse - a hotel set just below the drama of Glen Coe. I've come suitably equipped; North Face Gore-Tex coat and trousers and the best pair of boots, made by Raichle, I could find. My bag is filled with sandwiches, nuts, raisins, water and a copy of Aitken and Smith's official guide to the West Highland Way, published by Mercat Press. It explains that I will be crossing "the western edge of Rannoch Moor, rising to 1,100ft and very exposed in bad weather, with no shelter of any kind... Magnificent scenery but in poor conditions a tough stage."

With clouds gathering and storms forecast I begin my walk with a flutter of nerves but a sense of resolve. Thirty minutes in, I'm soaked and freezing. A quick stop at the last outpost of civilisation, the Inveroran Hotel, brings little succour - "No, we can't put the heating on," explained the sourpuss owner - and I venture on to the moor galvanised by a sense of righteous annoyance.

Apart from aching feet caused by the rocky track and the odd splash of rain, traversing the moor is not that bad. Most of this section of the Way is a wide, flat track that was originally built as a drovers' route in the 18th century, and I cover the ground at a fair clip. What is unforgettable are the wild vistas furnished by the moor: runs of jagged peaks pierce the moody sky. Clouds, rain and sunshine sweep overhead in a constantly evolving play of light and shade. I arrive in Kingshouse tired but bewitched.

The next morning brings both a hefty fry-up and a downpour. I wonder if I should wait for the worst of the weather to pass, but decide that it's not going to get any better and head out into a gale. Up ahead lies the highest point of the Way; the 1,600ft of the Devils Staircase. I arrive at the summit into the full snarling teeth of a passing squall. I don't have time for the stunning views; I just want to complete my day's walking as quickly as possible.

But the descent into Kinlochleven, my next stop, seems endless. And as any climber, walker or runner will tell you, going downhill can be painful.

"This is often the worst part of the route for me," says Ian. "There are other bits that are difficult, such as the north end of Loch Lomond, where the terrain causes a lot of runners to slip and fall, but coming into Kinlochleven is agony. I'll have just run 78 miles and then comes this long, grinding, steep drop over very sharp rocks. It can really hurt."

Three hours into the second day of my walk and I can understand what Ian means. My feet, while not blistered, are aching, and the precipitous path into Kinlochleven is wreaking havoc with my knees. I'm also very wet. To say I'm happy to complete this section and get dry would be an understatement. Thankfully, I make it in time for the FA Cup final, and Chelsea help to induce a well-deserved nap.

The final day involves the longest walk - 15miles - and the best weather. Rain gives way to bright sunshine, storm-force winds to fresh breezes, and I take the opportunity presented by the clement circumstances to have a picnic.

"Runners will consume somewhere between 10,000 to 14,000 calories during the course of the race," Dario had told me back at Bridge of Orchy. "We've even had back-up teams making a full cooked breakfast by the side of the path."

I only have room in my bag for corned beef sandwiches and crisps, which I eagerly consume beside a gurgling mountain stream. Fed and watered for the last stretch into Fort William, I saunter down to Glen Nevis and some incredible views of Britain's mightiest mountain: Ben Nevis. With the top of the ben clear of cloud I am afforded a rare glimpse of the entire mountain - a fantastic reward after all the long miles. It also keeps my mind off the pain in my feet and knees.

"I have to admit that by the time I get to Glen Nevis and there's only a couple more miles to go I am weeping," says Ian. "It's not the pain but the emotion of what I've just achieved that never fails to overwhelm me."

I don't end my time on the Way in tears, but as I sit down on the bench by the sign that marks the finishing point I do let out a shout of joy. Would I consider running it? Maybe.

THE COMPACT GUIDE

FURTHER INFORMATION

Entry for this year's West Highland Way Race on 23 June is closed. For details of the race and 2008 entries: westhighlandwayrace.org

To read Ian Beatty's blog: whwrunner.blogspot.com

Wilderness Scotland (0131 625 6635; wilderness- scotland.com) offer seven nights' B&B on the West Highland Way from £469 per person including luggage transfer, route notes and map.

Andrew Spooner wore £150 Raichle MT Trail XT Gore-Tex-lined boots. For stockists: raichle.ch, or contact Ellis Brigham (0870 444 5555, ellis-brigham.com)

http://travel.independent.co.uk/uk/article2586953.ece

:) I'll watch. 95 miles in "howling winds, freezing rain and the small matter of scaling 14,000ft of mountain on the way"? Right. ;)

(f) Have a lovely rest of your Sunday.

Animadvertistine, ubicumque stes, fumum recta in faciem ferri?

(Ever noticed how wherever you stand, the smoke goes right into your face?)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-27-2007, 11:54 AM

;)

Nostalgia in adult sweet shops

By Sophie Hardach

IT'S every child's dream: you find yourself in an abandoned sweet shop and can finally wolf down as many lollipops and marshmallows as you please.

Tokyo's all-you-can-eat "dagashi" or "cheap candy" bars make that childhood fantasy come true, giving stressed-out Japanese a chance to relive the good old days when their biggest problem was deciding between fizzy sticks and sour plums.

The dagashi bar in Tokyo's trendy Ebisu neighborhood is styled like an old corner shop with dark wooden walls lined with glass jars full of Japanese childhood favorites like chewy soybean candy and pickled squid on a stick.

Faded posters, a black-and-white TV and a menu that also offers pasta with ketchup evoke that special 1960s "natsukashii" or nostalgic feeling.

"This is good old Japan, something I haven't even seen myself because we've passed that era," said 24-year-old Natsuko Kohashi, a consultant, as she sat with a glass of beer and a basket of sugary goodies.

"People dream about this peaceful time, 20 years after the war, when things were kind of slow but people had hope," she said. "The economy started to recover and everyone got richer, but it wasn't as aggressive as the bubble economy."

Tokyo is dotted with places catering to downtrodden office workers who yearn for the years before the financial bubble of the 1980s, when stock markets and property prices soared and then collapsed, leaving Japan in a slump for most of the next decade.

There are cafes where waitresses dressed as maids play childish games with customers, and theme parks that recreate school cafeterias and 1960s living rooms.

At another table at Ebisu's dagashi bar, a lively group of men and women in their 20s, some wearing suits, picked at a selection of sweets.

"I used to eat this as a child," one of the men said. "Now there's all this stress. When we were children, there was no stress, so we're comforting each other."

http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/0,23483,21792393-27978,00.html

(y) (y)

Omnia causa fiunt.

(Everything happens for a reason.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-27-2007, 11:55 AM

:s :s :s

A MELBOURNE pub catering exclusively for gay men has won the right to refuse entry to any heterosexual patrons in a landmark state planning tribunal ruling.

* Ban was to 'prevent insults at gays'

* Pub exempt from Equal Opportunity Act

* Gays treated like 'zoo animals'

Gay pub can ban heterosexuals

By Matt Doran

May 28, 2007 02:00am

A MELBOURNE pub catering for gay men has won the right to refuse entry to heterosexuals in a landmark ruling at the state planning tribunal.

The owners of Collingwood's Peel Hotel applied to ban straight men and women to try to prevent "sexually based insults and violence" towards its gay patrons.

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal last week granted the pub an exemption to the Equal Opportunity Act, effectively prohibiting entry to non-homosexuals.

VCAT deputy president Cate McKenzie said if heterosexual men and women came into the venue in large groups, their number might be enough to swamp the gay male patrons.

"This would undermine or destroy the atmosphere which the company wishes to create," Ms McKenzie said in her findings.

"Sometimes heterosexual groups and lesbian groups insult and deride and are even physically violent towards the gay male patrons."

Some women even booked hens' nights at the venue using the gay patrons as entertainment, Ms McKenzie said.

"To regard the gay male patrons of the venue as providing an entertainment or spectacle to be stared at, as one would at an animal at a zoo, devalues and dehumanises them," she said.

"(This exemption) seeks to give gay men a space in which they may, without inhibition, meet, socialise and express physical attraction to each other in a non-threatening atmosphere."

The Peel manager Tom McFeely told the tribunal the plan to refuse entry had been advertised at the hotel, with no objections received.

Mr McFeely said most of the regulars at the hotel had responded positively.

A spokeswoman for the Victorian Gay and Lesbian Lobby Group said she believed the ruling made the Peel one of only two men-only venues in Melbourne.

"This exemption was not sought to exclude members of the community but to try to maintain a safe space for men to meet," the spokeswoman said.

She said gay men at the Peel had recently been ostracised and made to feel like "zoo animals".

"It's sad that members of our community would have to go to the VCAT to preserve their rights," the spokeswoman said.

"This is one of the only free venues with live music in the area, so certainly some people may feel a bit unhappy about the decision."

The Peel attracted criticism in April over an ad for a gay Anzac Day party that showed a near-naked man in a slouch hat.

The hotel used a Shrine of Remembrance guard as the unwitting star of an ad for an Anzac Day eve bash. The ad was published in gay magazines and on the venue's website.

It was withdrawn after intense criticism from the Victorian RSL, which called it a "desecration of the Anzac spirit".

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21804872-2,00.html

:| :|

Facta non verba. (Deeds, not words...... Actions speak louder than words.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-27-2007, 11:57 AM

:)

Remembering ... over 100 light beams illuminate the boundaries of Rotterdam destroyed by German bombing during World War II:

http://www.news.com.au/gallery/0,23607,5023051-5007150-16,00.html

(f) LOTS more photos in this slide show.......FYI.

Mon est vivere sed valere vita est.

(Life is not being alive but being well...life is more than just being alive.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-27-2007, 12:11 PM

(f)

Rebecca Romijn doesn’t want to be a spokeswoman for LGBT people. But with her transgender role on ABC’s hit series Ugly Betty, that’s what she’s become. It couldn’t happen to a nicer girl.

Rebecca Romijn has quickly established herself in Hollywood with roles in a number of prominent films.

http://www.advocate.com/toc_w_ektid985.asp

She most recently co-starred in the hyped action sequel X2 which opened in 93 territories and has grossed over $400,000,000 to date. Variety said of her performance, "She's not really fair to the other actors, in that she effortlessly steals every scene she's in just by standing around in her blue-hued altogether. When her aptly named character Mystique takes control of the action, actress really turns it on, morphing from one identity to the next more frequently, and much more quickly, than Cher changes costumes during a concert."

It was her role in Femme Fatale, opposite Antonio Banderas, that won her critical acclaim. In this film noir thriller, Rebecca plays a woman attempting to go straight, while being haunted by her shady con-woman past. The Los Angeles Times said of her performance, "Not since Sissy Spacek burned up the screen in Carrie has a De Palma woman held the screen as forcefully as Rebecca Romijn."

These films come on the heels of her starring role in Rollerball, opposite Chris Klein and LL Cool J, a role opposite Al Pacino in Simone, and the hugely successful X-Men.

Rebecca began crossing over from the fashion world with memorable appearances on the hit television shows "Friends" and "Just Shoot Me," as well as hosting MTV's "House of Style," and cameos in such films as Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.

http://www.rebecca-fanpage.com/

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005381/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_Romijn

http://www.multiwire.net/pri/laspaoal/rebecca/framereb.htm

Rebecca Romijn loves X-rated sex: http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/celebrity/99352004.htm

:|

http://www.nndb.com/people/758/000025683/

http://www.glaad.org/eye/ontv/06-07/supporting.php

(f) I am not a fan but think that it's great that she is open to playing roles other actresses would not even consider. (y) (y)

Parva leves capiunt animas.

(Small things occupy light minds.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-27-2007, 12:14 PM

(f)

http://www.advocate.com/currentstory1_w.asp?id=44698

(y)

Mon est vivere sed valere vita est.

(Life is not being alive but being well...life is more than just being alive.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-27-2007, 12:17 PM

(y) (y) (y) (y)

Yearly Kos Convention for DailyKos.com website progressive bloggers

http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/113401/

(y) (y) (y) (y) (y)

Facta non verba. (Deeds, not words...... Actions speak louder than words.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-27-2007, 12:20 PM

:)

http://www.colonialairstream.com/

http://www.colonialairstream.com/main.html

http://www.colonialairstream.com/2003models.html

http://www.colonialairstream.com/2003models/traveltrailers.html

(f)

Carpe Diem,

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-27-2007, 12:23 PM

;)

http://www.mmrogers.com/

(l) What a great middle finger and/or thumb ring!

ANCORA IMPARO,

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-27-2007, 12:28 PM

:)

http://www.sanantoniovisit.com/

(y) What a link-laden web site! This city seems to offer lots to see and do. Again for me? Definitely off-season when the crowds are gone - as well as the oppressive Texas humidity..... ;) It's like breathing liquid Jell-O!!

(f)

Amor proximi.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-27-2007, 12:35 PM

(l) (f) (l)

http://www.argra.org/

Friday June 29, 2007

The cowboys and cowgirls will saddle up, gear up, and stock up for the 14th annual Canadian Rockies International Rodeo coming to Symon's Valley Ranch!

http://www.argra.org/images/2007poster-web.jpg

http://www.argra.org/header_pic.php?headerid=11

2006 BUD LIGHT RIDE 'EM IN THE ROCKIES RODEO SLIDE SHOW/GALLERY:

http://www.argra.org/culture_photos_list.php?catid=7

http://www.argra.org/culture_friends.php

(f)

Fabas indulcet fames.

(Hunger sweetens the beans.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-28-2007, 10:28 AM

:o

For women in Hollywood, few accessories are as essential as a killer pair of heels. With Yves Saint Laurent's 6-inch stilettos now on the market, the bar has been raised for just how high those heels can go. Pamela Anderson showed off her gams in a pair of black patent leather stilettos at the Las Vegas Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino.

http://a.abcnews.com/images/Entertainment/nm_ysl_anderson_070525_ssh.jpg

MORE: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/popup?id=3214075

(f)

Fac ut vivas.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-28-2007, 10:29 AM

:)

Brad and Angelina: Glamour on the Red Carpet

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/popup?id=3212329

;) Some great photos of Angelina.........

Parva leves capiunt animas.

(Small things occupy light minds.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-28-2007, 10:30 AM

:)

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/popup?id=3181178

(f)

Parva leves capiunt animas.

(Small things occupy light minds.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-28-2007, 10:33 AM

:| :| :|

Activists Dispute Web Site Linking Their Groups to Terrorism

Alabama Dept. of Homeland Security Plans to Replace Web Page Without Identifying Groups

MONTGOMERY, Ala., May 27, 2007 —

A Web site operated by the Alabama Department of Homeland Security identified gay rights organizations and anti-abortion groups among those that could include terrorists.

That Web site has been removed from the Internet after the agency received complaints about the site.

It had listed different types of terrorists, including "single issue terrorists," which it said can come from groups that rally behind specific causes.

Those listed as possibly spawning terrorists:

Environmentalists.

Anti-genetic activists.

Animal rights advocates.

Opponents of abortion.

Anti-war activists.

Gay rights supporters.

The department's director, Jim Walker, says his agency received a number of calls and e-mails from people who said they felt the Web site unfairly targeted certain people just because of their beliefs.

Walker says he plans to put the Web site back on the Internet, but will no longer identify specific types of groups.

Howard Bayliss, board chair for the gay and lesbian advocacy group Equality Alabama, says he doesn't understand why advocates of gay rights would be included on the list.

He says Equality Alabama has only had peaceful demonstrations. He says he's "deeply concerned we've been profiled in this discriminatory matter."

Allison Neal, attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama, says she has looked at parts of the Web site and is concerned about anything that pinpoints people "exercising their constitutional right to protest" as potential terrorists.

Walker says the Web site, which could be reached by links from the department's main Web page, had been up since spring 2004 and was inspired by a similar Web site in Pennsylvania where, he says, "citizens could go and learn about terrorists."

The department's main Web page is still active.

Walker says over three years the single-issue Web site got a relatively small number of hits and stirred little interest, until recently when it apparently became the subject of Internet blogs.

He says the site got 20,000 hits in one day and the department started getting calls from people who were offended by it.

Walker says he does not have a problem with the site.

"Just because people are listed," he says, "that doesn't make them extremists."

He continues: "But sometimes people will go to extremes." He cited examples of people who have bombed abortion clinics.

But Walker says because the Web site did not list every possible example of single-issue terrorism, he has decided to eliminate the examples.

The Web site describes single-issue extremists as people who feel they are trying to create a better world.

"Single issue extremists are not trying to fight a cheap war or overthrow our government," the Web site says.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3217501&page=1

^o) ^o) ^o)

Facta non verba. (Deeds, not words...... Actions speak louder than words.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-28-2007, 10:34 AM

:| :|

Fired up: pagans used to celebrating Beltane on Edinburgh's Calton Hill are bringing a variety of events to the university.

http://images.scotsman.com/2007/05/27/27beltb.jpg

Scotland on Sunday Sun 27 May 2007

All hell breaks out as pagans given go-ahead for university gathering

MARC HORNE

SOME would call it the Devil's work. Two ancient religions have locked horns in a bizarre "freedom of speech" row that is echoing around the corridors of one of Scotland's oldest academic institutions.

The University of Edinburgh has granted permission to the Pagan Society to hold its annual conference - involving talks on witchcraft, pagan weddings and tribal dancing - on campus next month. Druids, heathens, shamans and witches are expected to attend what is a major event in the pagan calendar.

But the move has enraged the Christian Union, which accuses the university of double standards after banning one of its events on the "dangers" of homosexuality.

Matthew Tindale, an Edinburgh-based Christian Union staff worker, claimed some faiths and beliefs appeared to be more equal than others on campus.

"This seems to be a clear case of discrimination," he said. "It's okay for other religions, such as the pagans, to have their say at the university, but there appears to be a reluctance to allow Christians to do the same. All we are asking for is the tolerance that is afforded to other faiths and organisations."

The Union has won strong backing from the Catholic Church in Scotland, whose spokesman, Simon Dames, felt that allowing the pagan festival to go ahead while barring the Union meeting was an example of "Christianphobia".

"This appears to be a clear case of double standards," he said. "The principles of a pluralistic democracy revolve around an acceptance of competing ideas and universities should be enshrining this principle. Anti-racism groups would never be asked to put up posters saying there are alternative views."

The row has its roots in last year's decision by university officials to ban the Christian Union from using campus premises to run a course which claimed that gay sex was morally wrong.

The course was deemed to be in breach of university anti-discrimination guidelines although a compromise measure was later offered to allow the course to take place if posters offering differing views were prominently displayed. Much to the displeasure of some campus Christians and the Catholic Church, no such conditions will be attached to the pagan gathering.

But the pagans point out that, unlike the Christian Union, their followers fully support the university's equality policies and condemn homophobic attitudes as "deplorable".

John Macintyre, presiding officer of the Pagan Federation Scotland, stressed that his faith was based on tolerance and backed the university for opposing "hurtful" discriminatory behaviour. "Pagans, as a rule, don't believe that sexist or homophobic views are acceptable and discrimination on that basis is deplorable," he said.

The conference will feature a range of talks, including Magic and Witchcraft in the 21st Century, Pagan Parenting, Pagan Marriage and Pagan Symbolism and Practice. Taking place at the Edinburgh University Students' Association premises, it will also feature a talk on Ancient Greek magic, a tribal dance workshop and a performance by the Glasgow Labyrinth Theatre Company as well as poetry from "Notorious Mad Mick" and rituals by the Akasha Group.

Macintyre said: "It will be an opportunity for people to listen to talks on various aspects of modern paganism and socialise with like-minded people in a relaxed, tolerant atmosphere.

"Most people now recognise that the old stereotypes about witches and witchcraft are way off the mark and there is nothing remotely sinister about it."

The pagans are not the only organisation to take issue with the Union over its course, which deals with the Bible's attitude to sex and relationships. It has also been condemned by the Edinburgh University Student Association and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Scotland.

Tim Goodwin, EUSA president and himself a Christian, said: "We are strictly opposed to the course. It is essentially homophobic and we have a policy that condemns the course itself."

A University of Edinburgh spokesman said: "The University's offer of accommodation - with certain conditions - stands.

"We strongly defend the right to free speech and freedom of conscience."

http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=823222007

:|

Mon est vivere sed valere vita est.

(Life is not being alive but being well...life is more than just being alive.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-28-2007, 10:37 AM

:)

Visual Blogging

One shot, two shot...

Two photographers separated by 3,191 miles post a daily image, forming a kind of online postcard for each other and the world. Add your own comments to this study of a cool aesthetic and minimalist beauty.

Shutterbugs with style:

http://3191.visualblogging.com/index.html

(h)(h)(h)

Facta non verba. (Deeds, not words...... Actions speak louder than words.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-28-2007, 10:40 AM

:D

Lonely Planet TV

Travel via video

Check out someone's video travel diary from their safari in Kenya. Or, see the view of Paris from the ascent of the Eiffel Tower. Wherever folks like to travel and bring along their video cameras, chances are you can find it here!

Battery charged for the Sahara:

http://www.lonelyplanet.tv/

(y) (y)

Parva leves capiunt animas.

(Small things occupy light minds.) ;)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-28-2007, 10:42 AM

:o

My Medical Control

Healthy savings

It's a fact for us all: medical costs are out of control. Now you can fill up on tips and helpful (as well as healthful) information on how to cut those costs without sacrificing on good healthcare.

Open up and say...ahh:

http://www.mymedicalcontrol.com/

(f)

Omnia causa fiunt.

(Everything happens for a reason.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-28-2007, 10:43 AM

:)

Modern Mechanix

Nuts & bolts of yesteryear

This blog celebrates ingenious contraptions and once-popular science of the past century. Learn about prismatic spectacles for reading in bed, propeller-driven monorail cars, giant wind turbines, and more.

Better-built mousetraps:

http://blog.modernmechanix.com/

(k) 's

Carpe Diem,

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-28-2007, 10:45 AM

:)

Game: Cradle of Rome — Windows

Be an ancient architect

Now you really can build Rome in a day! With this cool puzzle game, you can go through more than 100 levels to build and design Great Caesar's ancient city. As a builder, you'll earn money and supplies to construct larger and larger buildings, and you'll see this magnificent city of antiquity grow and grow. Lots of bonuses and surprises along the way!

http://www.alivegames.com/cradle_of_rome/

(f)

Amor proximi.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-28-2007, 10:46 AM

(l) (l) (l)

TubeTV — Mac

TV on the go

TubeTV enables you to search for and save Google Video and YouTube videos in a format suitable for playback on your Apple TV or Video iPod. Once converted just double-click the files to open them in iTunes, allowing you to sync to your device. Or, just drag and drop to open with QuickTime Player.

http://mac.softpedia.com/get/Internet-Utilities/TubeTV.shtml

(f) (f)

Mutantur omnia nos et mutamur in illis.

(All things change, and we change with them.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-28-2007, 10:48 AM

:s :s

;)

Missing Fingers

Celebrating celebrities devoid of digits

So what do Daryl Hannah, Kojak, and Chandler Bing from "Friends" all have in common? Well, if you read the title of this section, you'll know good and well it's what they don't have that matters to us. Check out this list of famous folk who still managed to make their mark with missing or damaged digits.

Witness the fingerless:

http://www.who2.com/missingdigits.html

;)

Si post fata venit gloria non propero.

( If glory comes after death, I'm not in a hurry.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-28-2007, 10:51 AM

:)

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/wozmodo/woz-explains-his-sporting-of-two-of-the-geekiest-watches-ever-created-260237.php

(f)

Carpe Diem,

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-28-2007, 10:54 AM

:)

Supercharge a Paper Airplane

How to send a folded flyer screaming 100 feet or more: Just add a motor—and a lot of juice:

http://www.popsci.com/popsci/how20/f8c0dd5fc7c72110vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html

8-|8-|

Animadvertistine, ubicumque stes, fumum recta in faciem ferri?

Ever noticed how wherever you stand, the smoke goes right into your face? ;)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-28-2007, 10:56 AM

:|

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/too-loud/kharmas-1+million-speakers-blow-a-hole-in-everything-259600.php

:o

Non calor sed umor est qui nobis incommodat.

It's not the heat, it's the humidity.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-28-2007, 10:59 AM

:D

http://www.mrpicassohead.com/create.html

(h)(h)(h)

Facta non verba. (Deeds, not words...... Actions speak louder than words.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-28-2007, 11:02 AM

:)

http://4h.missouri.edu/go/projects/computer/sbp/design.htm

(f)

Facta non verba.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-28-2007, 11:03 AM

:o :o

http://drawapig.desktopcreatures.com/

;)

Mutantur omnia nos et mutamur in illis.

(All things change, and we change with them.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-28-2007, 11:08 AM

:)

http://www.glassgiant.com/glitter_draw/

(f)

Fac ut vivas.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-28-2007, 11:09 AM

:)

http://www.magixl.com/heads/poir.html

:)

Animadvertistine, ubicumque stes, fumum recta in faciem ferri?

(Ever noticed how wherever you stand, the smoke goes right into your face?)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-28-2007, 11:11 AM

:)

http://www.drawahouse.com/TakeTheTest/

(f)

Amor proximi.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-28-2007, 11:12 AM

(l) (l)

http://members.aol.com/RSRICHMOND/kokopelli.html

(l) (l)

Aut disce aut discede.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-30-2007, 05:38 PM

;)

p://tinyurl.com/26ba5w

(ap) (ap) (ap) (ap) (ap)

Amor proximi.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-30-2007, 05:40 PM

:)

http://www.says-it.com/seal/circle.php

(f)

Facta non verba.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-30-2007, 05:42 PM

(h)(h)

http://adsoftheworld.com/

(f)

Aut disce aut discede.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-31-2007, 03:26 PM

;)

Arnold Schwarzenegger has a big one.

Michael J. Fox has a small one.

Madonna doesn't have one.

The Pope has one but doesn't use it.

Clinton uses his all the time.

Bush is one.

Mickey Mouse has an unusual one.

Liberace never used his on women.

Jerry Seinfeld is very, very proud of his.

Cher claims that she took on 3.

We never saw Lucy use Desi's.

What is it?

(Answer below!)

The answer is: "A Last Name."

;) ;)

Amor proximi.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-31-2007, 03:29 PM

:) :) :)

May 30, 2007

Editorial Observer

Pondering Some Old, Familiar Questions on the Road Across Country

By VERLYN KLINKENBORG

The tires whine, and sometimes they moan. Sometimes they send up a whistle I don’t even hear until it stops. Now and then the asphalt runs smooth and true. But mostly the interstate is a series of discontinuities — a sharp thump as we hit a shallow overpass, a few miles partly paved with recycled rubber, a long sequence in western Nebraska where the tires make the sound of the special effects in Walter Mitty’s mind. And then there is Omaha, where the freeway looks smooth but is really a dozen heavily corrugated miles that must drive the truckers insane.

In imagination, Interstate 80 is a single line, the shortest practical distance between San Francisco and New York. To be at any one point on that line is to feel the length of the whole, as if the only here that matters is the here you come upon when you’re finally there. I get so used to watching the landscape zoom past us that I lose track of the fact that we’re the ones zooming along while the landscape stays perfectly still.

I think of that when we come to the Nebraska grasslands. A windmill is pumping water into a stock tank surrounded by cattle. The grass is bent low. These are reminders that the wind is more than just the breeze of our passing, the bucking windstorm that follows a semi. This is a native wind, quartering down stiffly out of the northwest. This is the wind that everyone who lives here learns to live with.

Whenever I drive across country, I carry a single question with me, and I ask it over and over again. Could I live here? It’s natural enough, I suppose — a central question for a species whose habitat is defined as much by imagination and emotion as it is by strict biological constraints. It’s a question that raises the matter of time as much as place.

Cutting across central Wyoming, I look up a draw and see a sheltered spot under the hills where the sagebrush breaks into grass, and I think, “I could live there.” And I could, now, because living anywhere has been made so easy in our time. It’s no longer really a problem of physical limits — how far you have to haul water and salt and flour, how long you can go without company. But what I’m really asking when I wonder “Could I live here?” is “Who would I be if I did live here?” To that question I never know the answer.

Some places seem obviously unlivable to me, like Jeffrey City, a nearly abandoned town in the middle of Wyoming that sprang up during a uranium boom and died a couple of decades later. The answer is equally no along the southern fringe of Cheyenne, where a new Jeffrey City is being built thanks to the petroleum boom that has turned the state upside down.

But when I find myself asking “Could I live here?,” I usually get a more equivocal answer, and it is the uncertainty that sets me thinking. I see an abandoned farmhouse on the high plains, a broken down corral, the ruins of a few old cottonwoods, and I can imagine hearing the notes of a meadowlark being carried away on the wind as I go to work on the place. I have to remind myself that in this simple experiment in relativity — I am the observer traveling at 75 m.p.h. — I cannot allow myself to imagine living anywhere I can see from my current position. But what if it were a place just like this and over the horizon, out of the sight of so much movement?

Perhaps this is a mental game that everyone plays — a way to test the life you are actually living. You drive through a small town at night and wonder what it would be like to feel at home in one of those houses where only the bedroom lamp is still shining. You wonder what your own life would look like if you could somehow stand outside it as a stranger.

But what this question always confirms in me is something I must have understood when my wife and I decided to settle on a small farm in the country. Driving across America, I see place after place I can happily imagine living. And what I notice is that they are mostly uninhabited places.

So Nebraska comes to an end, and the next day we drive into Iowa, where I have already lived a good part of my life. It has been raining since dawn, and now the wind is pounding down from the north. There is water standing in every row on the hillside fields, and it has begun to cut across and run down to the creeks and rivers, carrying Iowa away to the Gulf of Mexico. Two more days on the road and we will be back in the place where I no longer wonder if I could live there because this is the place it turns out I live.

:) Everytime I ask myself that question, the area is compleetely deserted! I love it! Far, far away from the madding crowd......(y)

Mon est vivere sed valere vita est.

(Life is not being alive but being well...life is more than just being alive.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-31-2007, 03:33 PM

:o

(y) (y)

http://www.behospitable.com/

(f)

Carpe Diem,

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-31-2007, 03:41 PM

.......okay, virtually, anyway! :)

http://www.motodiscovery.com/images/nysma1.jpg

http://www.visitmexico.com/wb2/Visitmexico/Visi_Home

(l) (l) Why Come To San Miguel de Allende?

http://www.internetsanmiguel.com/

http://www.portalsanmiguel.com/

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/sanmigueldeallende/0140010001.html

:o http://www.motodiscovery.com/tours/mexico/newyears.html

http://www.current.tv/studio/media/13515237?cpg=vmmA&video=San+Miguel+De+Allende%2C+Mexico%3A+Independe nce!

http://www.portalsanmiguel.com/tourist/listing.php?id=1153

:) Off-topic a little but nice photo: http://www.renellis.com/Images/model2.jpg

http://www.renellis.com/links.htm

http://www.zihuatanejo-rentals.com/sanmiguelpar.jpg

http://aztectravel.net/destination_pics_2/San_Miguel_de_Allende2.jpg

(y) http://www.aztectravel.net/destination_map.html

(f)

Aut disce aut discede.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-31-2007, 03:51 PM

:)

Kartchner Caverns State Park, located in southeastern Arizona, encompasses 550 acres at the base of the Whetstone Mountains. The seven acres of pristine caverns that have become the focus for this new State Park are hidden beneath one of the small hills which dots the majestic Chihuahuan Desert.

http://www.azpbs.org/wildaz/caverns/cavern.html

http://www.pr.state.az.us/Parks/parkhtml/kartchner.html

http://www.pr.state.az.us/Images/kcspshield.jpeg

http://www.explorethecaverns.com/

(l) http://www.explorethecaverns.com/graphx/main_image.jpg

Lots of (p) 's: http://www.explorethecaverns.com/cave.html

Kartchner Caverns primer:

The Kartchner Caverns, rated one of the world's 10 most beautiful caves, is an eerie wonderland of stalactites and stalagmites still growing beneath the Whetstone Mountains 40 miles southeast of Tucson.

http://www.azcentral.com/travel/parks/articles/aboutkc-CR.html

Kartchner Caverns: Virtual tour:

Kartchner Caverns is a wet living cave into which water still percolates from the surface above and calcium carbonate features are still growing. It has an unusually wide variety of brilliantly colored cave formations, including the longest known Soda Straw stalactite formation in the world.

http://www.explorethecaverns.com/

(l) (l) (l) Spelunking and Caves:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caving

http://www.geocities.com/outdoorsman16.geo/cavepage.html

:) Definitely not for the claustrophobic - but cave exploring is right at the top of things to do on a hot, muggy day. I've done it a few times and and was puzzled AND glad that I brought a jacket - as advised by the park rangers. It can get pretty chilly down there and I LOVED it! The colder the better, IMHO. Actually, web lurkers ought to love it as well - hanging out in dark corners........;)

(f)

Facta non verba. (Deeds, not words...... Actions speak louder than words.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-31-2007, 04:00 PM

:)

http://www.galveston.com/poopdeck/

http://www.galveston.com/poopdeck/image/IMAGE.jpg

;) According to The Austin Chronicle:

Who wouldn't love a bar with a vague reference to excrement in its title?

This is one of those places where you expect to run into Jimmy Buffett ... or more likely, a toothless, leather-skinned ex-leatherneck who claims to have written all of Jimmy Buffett's songs and all he has to show for it is this parrot. The deck has a life-sized Statue of Liberty and actual boat seats to swivel around on while facing a stiff Gulf gale, bellowing, "I'm king of the world!!!" and then puking all over your date.

The Poop Deck. Great views. Great people. Great fun. It's where "the elite meet in their bare feet!"

:) :)

The best (and only) perch in Galveston to watch the Seawall traffic pass by is the Poop Deck (2928-1/2 Seawall (409) 763-9151) The theme is nautical bikeresque, though in recent years, most of the biker trade seems to have moved on- or bought pick-ups. Entry is through a stairway which used to have a sign up top forbidding biker attire. The door at the top of the stairs, now always open during business hours, hints at a rowdier past. It sports a glossy almost life-size painting of a bare-midriff, flared hiphugger wearing sailor girl with a doorbell for a belly button. Her cut-out eyes slide up from the other side.

The folks you’ll find hanging out here are mostly blue to no-collar types, though there once was a rich doctor from Houston who used to come and hide out here. There’s one bartender working the whole place, so get don’t expect a cocktail waitress to come around offering to bring you something. Go to the bar and get it yourself. If you spill a drink and break a glass, the bartender’ll tell you it’s ok and hand you a mop.

There’s a pool table and a jukebox, and it’s over by the pool table that the decor (if it hasn’t already) wins its prize. There’s a pirate treasure diorama! The pirates digging the hole are just a painting, but the sand and treasure chest are for real. If you’re really enjoying the theme, or just want conversation, go ask the bartender about the Poop-Deck t-shirt hanging up behind the bar. There’s a story that goes with it. Maybe you have to buy one first. I’m not sure. If you don’t want to spend the money on the shirt, the match books make a good souvenir. The sailor-woman in the picture was the bartender there till just a few years ago.

The reason you’re here, though, was supposed to be the deck. Go on out and enjoy your drink on a swivelling boat-chair overlooking all those people on the Seawall. Out past that, the Gulf. Sharing the deck with you is a person-sized Statue of Liberty (that’s a good landmark when you’re looking for the place). There’s something about being up on that deck with your drink and Lady Liberty, watching it all go by , that makes it easy to sit there for a while. Hopefully you ordered a double.

http://www.underbelly.com/category/cities/galveston/

(f) (f)

Gulf Coast Galveston honors Texas' turbulent history

Pirates, hurricanes, booms and busts: Nothing keeps this Gulf Coast city down for long.

Explore its rich history, characters and seafood.

By Shermakaye Bass, Special to The Times

January 28, 2007

Galveston, Texas — GALVESTON is a survivor's town, sort of the unsinkable Molly Brown of the Texas Gulf Coast.

It has weathered catastrophic hurricanes (especially in 1900), pirate colonies and financial booms and busts.

Right now, Galveston is sailing high economic seas, largely because of its cruise business, which was launched with a single ship in 2000 (Carnival's Celebration) and has since lured Royal Caribbean, Princess and Celebrity.

Which is fitting. The island city's soul has always been sea commerce of some sort.

Jean Lafitte, the renowned buccaneer, started the first permanent settlement on Galveston Island (then called Campeche) in 1817. His followers numbered about 1,000, and when they weren't pillaging, they were playing in the settlement's pool halls and gambling houses.

Lafitte and his ragtag band decamped in 1821. Fewer than 20 years later, Galveston was incorporated and its thriving port earned it the nickname "Ellis Island of the West."

Galveston is still full of cultural non sequiturs and surprises. To wit: Within a dozen or so blocks of the city's lavish historic residential districts is one of the granddaddies of Texas dive bars, the Poop Deck.

Like any American port city, Galveston has areas you probably shouldn't explore on foot (primarily along western Seawall Boulevard and up the numbered streets from Seawall to Broadway), but in tourist areas such as the Strand, the East End Historical District and the port, walking is best. A trolley takes visitors from the Seawall to downtown.

There's no shortage of diversions, as I've learned on numerous trips here from my home in Austin. This time, my friend Caroline Duncan Tinkle and I returned to check out what a cruise passenger might be able to see in a short time. Most of the attractions revolve around historic architecture and preservation; port industry, culture and history; beaches and parks; birding and marine life; a clutch of arts centers, regional museums and, of course, the city's storied history.

If you arrive by early afternoon the day before your cruise leaves, you'll have time to take a self-guided tour of the "Broadway Beauties," three of the city's most illustrious and opulent homes: the 1886 Bishop's Palace, the 1859 Ashton Villa (it also houses the Heritage Visitors Center) and the extravagant 1895 Moody Mansion.

The 15-block stroll from one to the other will lead you past scores of stunners from the mid-19th to early-20th centuries. And if you have the legs for a longer excursion, take a self-guided walking tour of the East End district, where many homes predate the 1900 hurricane, which leveled much of the city. (Go to http://www.galveston.com/selfguidedtours/ or get a brochure at the Galveston Island Convention & Visitors Bureau office (23rd and Strand streets, [409] 797-5144, main office at 2027 61st St.). Although not concentrated in one area, other jewels include the Michel B. Menard Home, the 1830s Samuel May Williams Home and the 1847 Powhatan House.

Later, you may want to pop into the Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe (413 20th St.; [409] 762-9199; cover charge varies), where the specialty is obviously acoustic, with a tendency toward folk. We peeked in, but the evening's entertainment hadn't started yet; instead, we had an after-dinner drink at the Poop Deck (30th Street and Seawall; [409] 763-9151).

Some revere the Poop and some fear it because of its hole-in-the-wall atmosphere. But on my many trips here, I've found nothing scary about this grungy bar on stilts, with its wide deck overlooking the gulf. Drinks (cash only) are cheap. If you stay awhile, as we did, you'll get into the spirit of things, and before long, you may find yourself singing sea chanteys with the locals.

Next day, we headed to the Strand, where most visitors hang out if they have only an afternoon. Clustered around Market and Post Office streets between 22nd and 26th streets are several antiques stores. They aren't the cheapest, but most boast high-quality items. Check out the Antique Warehouse (423 25th St., at Post Office Street; [409] 762-8620), which has two floors of architectural salvage, antique housewares and nice collectibles; also Vic's Estate & Fine Jewelry (2413 Market St.; [409] 762-5792) for interesting wearables; Andrea's Antiques & Collectibles (2215 Post Office St.; [409] 763-6295), a tight space but chock-full of days-past desirables; and La Maison Rouge (418 22nd St.; [409] 763-0717).

From here, you can head to the city's port and tour the tall ship Elissa at Pier 21, part of the Texas Seaport Museum complex. This 1877 beauty, built in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a classic sailing ship stretching 205 feet, with three masts, the main soaring 99 feet. Admission is $8 and includes a self-guided tour. (See http://www.tsm-elissa.org .) This complex also houses fascinating Galveston nautical history and gives a great view of the harbor. In fact, from one of the piers, you'll probably spot your cruise ship waiting in the harbor. We saw at least two during our port tour.

If you want to stick with land sites, spend the afternoon at Moody Gardens. Getting to the 242-acre complex (not the same as the Moody Mansion) requires a taxi or bus ride to the city's outskirts.

The gardens feature three glass pyramids: The Rainforest Pyramid has a 10-story tropical environment with more than 1,700 plant and animal species; the Aquarium Pyramid contains a lovely 1.5-million-gallon water "museum"; and the Discovery Pyramid, which began with NASA-inspired displays and now hosts various traveling exhibits.

The Moody setup also includes an Imax 3-D theater, as well as the Imax Ridefilm, an 18-passenger joy ride courtesy of a 180-degree spherically curved screen.

Birders also come to Moody (birding is big in this part of Texas) to enjoy an hourlong narrative cruise on a 19th century paddle wheeler as well as a man-made white-sand beach and a huge hotel complex.

A day or two here will give you a view into the Texas Gulf Coast's rough and ready past, its wealth and culture and, more than anything, its ability to soldier on — in grand style.

Getting there

From Los Angeles, fly into one of Houston's airports — William P. (about 40 minutes north of the island) or George Bush Intercontinental, about 70 miles away. Restricted round-trip fares begin at $198. The cruise lines offer transportation for guests on the day of embarkation, but you also can arrange a shuttle through Galveston Limousine Services, (800) 640-4826, http://www.galvestonlimousineservice.com . Fares begin at $35 one way or $60 round trip.

Where to stay: the details

If you're going on a cruise, your ideal base will be in the Strand. The gracious Tremont House (2300 Ships Mechanic Row; [409] 763-0300, http://www.wyndham.com ) is decorated with antiques and is a restful way to spend an evening. Doubles begin at $139; suites are available.

We stayed at the historic Hotel Galvez (2024 Seawall Blvd., [409] 765-7721). The Spanish villa-style Galvez is off the Seawall facing the Gulf, about 10 blocks from the city's historic districts. Doubles begin at $119. (Just outside it is one of the Island Transit trolley stops, free for Galvez guests.)

Where to eat: the details

For a sumptuous feast in an elegant environment, one of the city's new leading lights is Palm's M&M (2401 Church St.; [409] 766-7170, http://www.palmsmm.com ; closed Mondays and Tuesdays). The handsome wood-paneled bar is a good place to savor a cocktail while awaiting a table (reservations suggested). Caroline and I shared the Colossal Crab Parfait ($18), an explosion of flavor, followed by an order of gulf oysters on the half shell ($14), incredibly fat and fresh. For entrees, we chose Lobster Thermidor ($65), with garlic cream, smoked bacon and butter, and the Steak Oscar ($50) — an 8-ounce filet mignon with Dungeness lump crab and homemade béarnaise sauce with asparagus.

Gaido's of Galveston (3828 Seawall Blvd., [409] 762-9625) is a culinary staple. My faves are any of the fresh-fish or snapper entrees (about $18 to $45), which come cooked and dressed in at least eight ways. The big dining room is kitschy but strangely elegant, the service quite down-home.

To learn more:

Galveston Island Convention & Visitors Bureau; (409) 797-5144 or (888) 425-4753, http://www.galveston.com

http://travel.latimes.com/articles/la-tr-galveston28jan28

(y) (y)

Mon est vivere sed valere vita est.

(Life is not being alive but being well...life is more than just being alive.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-31-2007, 04:08 PM

:o

:)

http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,king_ranch_casserole,FF.html

http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/cat/468/0.shtml

http://southernfood.about.com/od/chickencasseroles/r/bl50615f.htm

(y) (y) Definitely learned a great deal here in terms of background and context:

http://www.texasmonthly.com/ranch/readme/kingranch.php

http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/king_ranch_casserole/

http://www.ichef.com/recipe.cfm/recipe/King%20Ranch%20Casserole/task/display/itemid/87379/recipeid/87032

http://www.recipesource.com/main-dishes/casseroles/07/rec0735.html

8-) 8-) Sounds pretty easy to make. Not for this time of year. Okay, at least right now during a heat wave....;) Fresh salsa (both types: red and green) and chips sound about right though. My California friends used to ask me to make huge amounts and even bought me a HUGE glass jar and had it personalized for me as my "famous salsa". And those were back in the days when I chopped everything by hand rather than using an electric one.

Hmmm.......maybe it's time to start thinking about a party. My guacamole dip, cheese and chicken quesadillas are pretty good as well. So I am told.

Animadvertistine, ubicumque stes, fumum recta in faciem ferri?

Ever noticed how wherever you stand, the smoke goes right into your face?

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-31-2007, 04:20 PM

:)

http://www.coolbusinessideas.com/calgary%20sun.jpg

http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/2814944/2/istockphoto_2814944_summertime_cocktails.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/55/138509973_ae287b4d3c_m.jpg

:| Maybe Angelina can get away with wearing a do-rag:

http://static.flickr.com/75/156183715_dcccee76d1.jpg

;)

http://photos27.flickr.com/38985611_633865b592_m.jpg

(f)

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:4Ti1YuXEtsMEXM:http://www.gkfa.com/health/beauty/skin_care/images/sunscreen-beach-buddy-1.jpg

http://momfinds.com/blog/images/uploads/hat_thumb.jpg

More like "been out in the sun too long":

http://www.retrovintagecollectibles.com/beth2.jpg

Cool (p) : http://www.sarahhatter.com/photos/uncategorized/hats.jpg

(f) http://sa.dontstayin.com/ab/32/ab32c357-ff98-4d3f-b6c9-df9516461b6d.jpg

LOVE this!! http://lulusvintage.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/bobbydenes2.jpg

(f) (f)

Parva leves capiunt animas.

(Small things occupy light minds.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-31-2007, 11:47 PM

:)

The Scotsman Fri 1 Jun 2007

Though Edinburgh diners don't tip as much as the national average, the capital delights in its well-designed restaurants such as Forth Floor at Harvey Nichols:

http://images.scotsman.com/2007/06/01/har.jpg

Edinburgh on a plate

EMMA COWING

CYRIL Connolly called it "a vice", while Oscar Wilde said he would forgive anybody anything after a good one. But however you want to describe it, the chances are if you live in Edinburgh you'll do it at least once a week.

Yes, dining out is definitely back in. A whopping 81 per cent of those living in the Scottish capital eat out once a week, according to a survey conducted by Channel 4 ahead of the Taste of Edinburgh festival, which starts next Thursday in the Meadows.

This will be the first time the Taste food festival has come to Scotland, and a range of events constituting a veritable foodies' delight are due to hit town next week. From demonstrations by top chefs Jean-Christophe Novelli, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Tom Kitchin to whisky and wine tastings; from a range of masterclasses to a champagne and oyster bar. And there's an opportunity to sample the wares of top Edinburgh restaurants including VinCaffè, Martin Wishart, Forth Floor, Vermillion and The Tower, as well as some 60 food and drink suppliers, so there is plenty on offer to tempt the 15,000 or so food lovers expected to descend upon the capital. The event is the first of five similar city festivals being held around the UK and Ireland this summer.

Given all this activity, it is perhaps appropriate that the report about our capital's eating habits puts quality food and a good chef at the top of the list of requirements when dining out. A massive 91 per cent of Edinburgh residents say the quality of the food is their main reason for choosing a restaurant, followed by the range of the menu and the service. Interestingly, price is less important here than the national average, with only 38 per cent of those in Edinburgh highlighting as a concern, compared with 47 per cent overall.

"People know much more about food these days," says Nick Henderson, the owner of Edinburgh restaurant and wine bar Whighams. "They're far more adventurous with their food, both when they go out to eat and when they cook at home. That means their tastebuds have become more adventurous too.

"They know the difference between good and bad quality food - and now they've enjoyed good food, be it a well-cooked steak or a nice piece of sea bream, they don't want to go backwards. It's like discovering good wine. Once you've done it, you don't want to go back to drinking cheap plonk."

Michaela Kitchin, who along with her husband, the chef Tom Kitchin, runs the Michelin-starred Kitchin restaurant in Leith, agrees.

"People care a lot more about good food now then they did in the past," she says. "There's a real awareness now about produce; where food comes from, whether it's organic or not. Customers are increasingly quality conscious."

Interestingly, we most like to go out for dinner on a Saturday, with 53 per cent of us stating that was our favourite day for a meal out, followed by 21 per cent who'll head to a restaurant on Fridays. Just 17 per cent of diners in Edinburgh prefer to eat out during the week, compared with 29 per cent on average.

But why go out for a meal so often, particularly if discerning eaters are taking more chances in the kitchen at home? "A lot of people don't want to cook at home all the time," points out Michaela Kitchin. "Going out to a restaurant is a chance to meet friends and enjoy yourself. You can relax in a way you can't when you're at home."

And, Henderson adds: "Going out for a meal isn't the big treat that it used to be. People have a disposable income, particularly in a city in Edinburgh, and they can't be bothered cooking, they're tired, they might not have the time, so they'll pop out for dinner. You might find a lot of people doing that several times a week. It's not a big occasion any more, it's just normal."

Indeed, Kitchin confirms that The Kitchin has some diners who will come in several times a week, as they have become so fond of the food there.

But it wasn't always like this. Two decades ago, finding somewhere that sold something more imaginative than a greasy fry-up in Edinburgh was a challenge - as indeed it was in most towns and cities in Scotland - and much of the country was derided as being a culinary wasteland, despite the huge abundance of fresh produce (fish, meat, game, dairy) readily available.

"There was a stage not so long ago when there just weren't many good restaurants in Scotland," says Henderson. "Even in places that were seen as 'posh', the food wasn't particularly good."

Henderson feels there has been a significant change in the nation's eating and dining-out habits. "When we first opened up, 25 years ago, we were a wine bar that did a bit of food on the side. But we found more and more customers demanding food, and now, come lunchtime, the tables are full." And it's a phenomenon that's not just limited to Edinburgh, either, as Henderson adds.

"The good thing is there are great pubs and restaurants dotted all around Scotland now that serve great food. Look at the Three Chimneys. It's in a remote part of Skye, and serving some fantastic meals that people come from all over to experience. You don't have to stay in the city, or take yourself off to some big hotel like Gleneagles, in order to eat well any more."

When it comes to celebrity chefs, Edinburgh residents also have some strong opinions. Gordon Ramsay is the city's favourite chef, followed by Jamie Oliver and fish expert Rick Stein. And yet, in that typical Morningside fashion, they say that celebrity haunts are of absolutely no interest to them whatsoever.

But that won't stop them choosing a restaurant because they've heard of the person running the kitchen, with 43 per cent saying they'd opt for somewhere associated with a particular renowned chef. "A lot of people come to The Kitchin because they've heard of Tom and his cooking, and they maybe haven't tried anything like what he's cooking in Scotland before," says Michaela Kitchin.

"We have a wide variety of people coming in to the restaurant, but certainly, because of our media exposure and our Michelin star [the restaurant was awarded a Michelin star in January after trading for less than a year], we do have a certain number of diners coming in to experience that."

The survey also suggests that - against the Scottish stereotype - we have a slightly less sweet tooth than our English neighbours, with 74 per cent saying they would choose a starter over a pudding. Kitchin, however, thinks there may be another reason for that.

"You can see that after two courses people sometimes struggle with a third. We do find that the majority of our diners will go for all three courses, but sometimes people are trying to be good! They want a pudding, but they stop themselves."

There are other quirks in the survey to which restaurateurs would be wise to pay attention. A massive 83 per cent of diners are bothered if the tables are too close together, and 92 per cent want subtle music, rather than headbanging rock tunes, while they tuck into their tuna tartare.

And then, of course, there is tipping which Edinburgh does not come out of particularly well. Diners in Edinburgh are the least likely in Britain to tip if there is already a service charge on the bill, with only 28 per cent here saying they would do so, compared with 34 per cent on average. Kitchin says discreetly that her customers are "very generous". "It's not something we've ever had a problem with," she says. "But then, we don't have a service charge, we leave it up to our guests."

And we are thrifty, too, in other ways. The vast majority of restaurant-goers spend between £15 and £30 per head on a meal: 66 per cent, versus 51 per cent on national average, and 4 per cent here will spend between £40 and £50 per head.

"People don't mind paying if they know they'll get value for money," says Kitchin - and even Oscar Wilde would surely have agreed with that.

THE WAY WE WERE...

THESE restaurant recommendations from the New Saltire magazine ("The insider's guide to Edinburgh") of summer 1963 show how the dining scene has - or hasn't - changed over four decades. Some of these establishments are still in business today, but do they bear any resemblance to their earlier descriptions?

PUB LUNCH

THE ABBOTSFORD, ROSE STREET, BEHIND JENNERS

BEST pub lunch in Scotland (if not Britain) on value-for-money basis. Atmosphere Victorian, proprietor has sworn never to change it. Very, very crowded, except after 2pm. Pre-lunch drink needs patience: holler "Maisie", "Alice" or "Help!". Lunch service much faster - the two Jeans and Isa bring the food in a brisk, if brusque, Edinburgh manner. Fish always good. Lunch needn't cost more than 3s 6d; ten bob limit, but a really first-class meal for 7s 6d.

RESTAURANT LUNCH

THE DORIC, MARKET STREET, BEHIND WAVERLEY STATION

SMALL, genial, brisk, and good. Should be legendary for the saying "Le propriétaire mange ici"; Jimmy McGuffie supplies just about the best table d'hôte lunch or dinner in town at the price (7s 6d to 10s 6d). Despite its name, menu is rather Gallic than Doric; but special Scottish meals can be laid on at request. Recommended: steak poivrade (with pepper and wine sauce).

HIGH TEA

THREE TUNS, HANOVER STREET

IF your wife wants high tea and you want a drink, this is your answer. Go straight through the pub to the back, where no-one will raise an eyebrow if you'd rather have beer than tea. Bacon and eggs or fish (nearly always good in Edinburgh).

DINNER

L'APERITIF, FREDERICK STREET

ONE of the most fashionable restaurants in town; much frequented by large cars, smart women and sportif gentlemen. Decor by Basil Spence. First-class menu and service, specially good for shellfish. Tiny discreet alcove tables for two.

CAFE ROYAL, WEST REGISTER STREET, BEHIND WOOLWORTH'S AT EAST END OF PRINCES STREET

OYSTER Bar is glorified pub lunch, service ideal for the English masochist - by three governessy waitresses. Specialises in seafood, excellent cold table, very good soup. Upstairs rather more plush (so are the prices).

LATE NIGHT

GEORGES, BROUGHAM PLACE, TOLLCROSS

THE spaghetti Greek is superb, with difficult-to-place undertones that Georges, with Polish caution, refuses to divulge. Portions large, prices small. Open until midnight.

BUNGY'S, DOWN THE CLOSE NEXT TO THE POLICE STATION IN THE HIGH STREET

Open till 2am. Good soup, coffee, omelettes, etc. No licence. Youthful company.

http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=853822007

:) I just love how other people describe things - interesting cultural differences here.

(l) (l) High tea is such a wonderful experience as is the European "dining" concept rather than the American "dine and dash" mentality. :|

(S) Off to bed soon......hearing very distant thunder.....bad storms a couple of hours north of here. "Goopy-weather", that is what I call breathing liquid Jell-O. Ugh.

(S) (S) I am SO grateful not only for central air but for being able to set it at 67 or 68 without anyone complaining! ;) Wyatt has a light fleece blanket that he likes to be covered up with - while his mama already feels warm without any quilt or fleece blanket......

:o

(f)

Aut disce aut discede.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-31-2007, 11:49 PM

(l) (f) (l) (f) (l) (f)

Thu 31 May 2007

Parrots, war vets team up in L.A. healing program

By Jill Serjeant

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A dog may be a man's best friend. But for some traumatized war veterans, parrots are proving even more of a help.

Rescued and abused parrots are helping the veterans turn their lives around in a unique program launched officially on Thursday at a Los Angeles Veterans Affairs facility.

The parrots -- which sometimes pluck their own feathers when stressed out after years in cramped cages or abandoned by owners -- are thriving too in what organizers say is an exercise in mutual healing.

"Both the veterans and the parrots have suffered some kind of traumatic stress. Both are learning to build compassion and empathy together," said Lorin Lindner, the psychologist behind the Serenity Park Sanctuary at the V.A.'s headquarters in the Westwood section of Los Angeles.

After years working with homeless, drug and alcohol addicted ex-servicemen and women, Lindner took some of them on a trip to a parrot sanctuary in Southern California and noticed how well the former Vietnam and Gulf War veterans were responding to the wild birds.

The idea for the Los Angeles sanctuary was born, and 14 parrots now live there, fed and cared for every day by a small group of war veterans.

"I am one of those guys who could be on the streets or in prison if it wasn't for this," said Matthew Simmons, 33, who served in the 1991 Desert Storm offensive in Iraq.

Simmons entered a downward spiral of nightmares, alcohol and prescription drug addiction that ended in a two-year prison term for assault before he was released and started work on the parrot program a few months ago.

Hanging upside down and squawking angrily at the strangers gathered outside her enclosure, a white cockatoo called Sammy fell silent after being coaxed down by Simmons.

"I was isolated and angry. Now everything has changed. The parrots were the catalyst. You have to be open and honest with them. Now I deal with people too in a much more open way," Simmons said.

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=856252007

(f) (f)

Amor proximi.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-31-2007, 11:52 PM

:)

MEN really do get better deals when buying cars, because showroom staff give a bigger discount when confronted by a haggling male customer than a pushy female one, undercover research has discovered.

The Scotsman Fri 1 Jun 2007

Deal or no deal? Women pay the price on car forecourts

RHIANNON EDWARD

MEN really do get better deals when buying cars, because showroom staff give a bigger discount when confronted by a haggling male customer than a pushy female one, undercover research has discovered.

A male driver will save over £500 more than a woman in the same dealership trying to buy the same car, according to the study.

Both male and female "secret shoppers" were sent out to get the best possible prices on a selection of five popular new cars, including Fords and Vauxhalls.

Men and women were given the same "script", so they could use similar details about what they were looking for and how much they wanted to pay.

Dealers in various parts of the UK were visited to build up an average discount per model, in the study conducted jointly by the magazine What Car? and the website evecars.com

On average, men managed to get the better discount 55 per cent of the time, while women got a better deal 20 per cent of the time.

But overall, men got an extra £544 off per deal compared with women, said the study.

Steve Fowler, the group editor of What Car?, said: "We're shocked that gender appears to have a bearing on the discount offered in car dealerships. It seems car dealers see women as an easy touch. Discounts can be relatively easy to come by. You can save an average of £1,454 on a new car - often much more."

The editor of Evecars.com, Alex Jenner-Fust, advised: "Be brave about pushing salespeople for a better price. And if you really hate haggling, using an online broker is another way of getting a deal."

MEN ARE JUST AS CLUELESS IN HUNT FOR BARGAINS

KIRSTY MCLUCKIE

STANDING in a car showroom looking at the nearly new Peugeot on the forecourt, I meticulously went through the checklist of essentials before committing to buy - it was an estate car, it was silver and it wasn't dented; the sun visor had a mirror for applying lipstick at traffic lights, like Penelope Pitstop.

In a fit of consumer awareness, I asked the salesman if we could get an AA check on the car before signing on the dotted line, but he said that wouldn't be possible, because it would take too long. "Good point," I commented.

Before agreeing to pay the asking price, I tried weedily to suggest a discount, but my negotiating stance was undermined by the knowledge that the car I was trading in had a boot full of rainwater.

You might think that, had I been a man, I'd have got a better deal without all the effort. In fact, my husband was with me throughout the proceedings. The sales staff talked to him rather than me, throughout, despite being greeted with a particularly glaikit expression when discussing the more technical points - my husband's knowledge of cars is pathetically scant, more so even than mine.

And this is the point. Car salesmen are right in assuming that most women know little about cars and are therefore easy to rip off. Where they are wrong is in thinking male customers always have the knowledge to drive a hard bargain. Maybe a generation ago all chaps would be able to spot a bald tyre or a leaking gasket.

My generation of men knows nothing and what's more, most would pale at the thought of bargaining hard to get the killer purchase.

By their sexist attitudes, car salesman are missing out on deals to be proud of.

This article: http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=855662007

(S) (S) Have a lovely rest of your evening and/or Friday morning, depending on global time zone.

(f)

Mon est vivere sed valere vita est.

(Life is not being alive but being well...life is more than just being alive.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

05-31-2007, 11:57 PM

:o

http://blog.wired.com/tableofmalcontents/2007/05/modest_mouse_vi.html

:)

Aut disce aut discede.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (S) (l) (&) (l) (S)

sweetlady

06-03-2007, 10:51 PM

:| :| :|

Smile, you're on Google Earth!

By Tim Hall

Last Updated: 12:39am BST 03/06/2007

Google on collision course with Microsoft

A new internet map service that allows users to "travel" through city streets via real images has raised privacy concerns after it captured people in a variety of compromising situations.

In San Francisco alone, they include a man leaving a strip club, another going into an adult bookshop and a third being questioned by police.

Google said it planned to extend the service to other urban areas around the world, including in Britain, but was not able to say when this will happen.

Kevin Bankston, a lawyer at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties group, said Google was "irresponsible" to launch such a product without also providing technology to allow people who had been photographed to hide their identity.

"If the Google van happened by your house at the right moment it could even capture you in an embarrassing state of undress as you close your blinds, for instance," he told CNET News.

Apart from personal indiscretions, there were wider concerns about people entering or leaving domestic violence shelters, Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, fertility clinics and controversial political meetings, he said.

Greg Sterling, an internet maps expert, said it was getting harder for individuals to remain invisible as technology becomes more advanced.

He said: "Relatively speaking, privacy has been eroded by all this readily discoverable information."

Google has described Street Level as a "rich, immersive browsing experience".

The US internet giant stressed that it only featured images taken on public property, adding in a statement: "This imagery is no different from what any person can readily capture or see walking down the street."

The company said it would routinely review requests to remove "objectionable imagery".

However, Mr Bankston - who was once himself exposed as a secret smoker on a similar but short-lived web service - said that offering to remove a photo was of little use if the subject didn’t know of its existence.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/01/ngoogle201.xml

:) It's odd, isn' it. I never expected that Big Brother would turn out to be Larry Page and Sergey Brin!

Yet another reason to wear a different color/sytle wig and dark sunglasses.

;)

Parva leves capiunt animas.

(Small things occupy light minds.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

06-03-2007, 10:53 PM

:o

The newest trend in alternative hotel accommodation is a combination of luxury tents and designer pods - a compact, minimally decorated space set in the great outdoors.

June 3, 2007

In Transit

Need a Room? Why Not Try the Drain Pipe?

By JENNIFER CONLIN

Forget luxury tents and designer pods. The newest trend in alternative hotel accommodation is a combination of the two — a compact, minimally decorated space set in the great outdoors.

Take the “sleep pipe,” at far right. In a park next to the Danube River in Ottensheim, Austria, an art school graduate named Andreas Strauss has created a cozy accommodation just large enough for a double bed, a storage shelf and a lamp. Open from May through October, each of the three existing sleep pipes has a window, electricity and is near public toilets, showers and a cafe. Visitors book online at www.dasparkhotel.net and are given a code that opens the door. Guests are asked to pay what they can.

Already there are plans to create more sleep pipes elsewhere in Austria.

On Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Tom Chudleigh has built two wooden spheres, above, that allow visitors to literally hang out for the night in a forest at Qualicum Bay. Each insulated sphere has electricity and dangles by three ropes tethered to three separate trees. The more minimalist “Eve” (yes, they are named), which rents for $100 a night, or two nights for $175, has a double bed and storage, as well as a settee and a table, while the more deluxe “Eryn” has a double bed, a loft bed, a cupboard, a sink, a microwave and a refrigerator. Eryn is $150 a night or $275 for two nights ($35 extra for a third person). More information is as www.freespiritspheres.com.

Bothy Lodge is making 25- and 50-square meter (270 and 538 square feet) wooden cottages equipped with televisions, power showers and audio systems to be placed on the grounds of British country hotels (www.bothylodge.com). At least 50 hotels in Britain plan to install them in the next year. One at the Enterkine Country House in Ayrshire is available for £195 a night, about $390 at $2.01 to the pound.

:o :o

Carpe Diem,

SL & WTB (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

06-03-2007, 10:54 PM

:)

A weekend in a city whose original name was Florentia, meaning "may she flourish."

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2007/05/30/travel/20070603_HOURS_SLIDESHOW_1.html

(f)

Fabas indulcet fames.

(Hunger sweetens the beans.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

06-03-2007, 10:55 PM

;)

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2007/05/30/travel/20070603_CHOICE_SLIDESHOW_1.html

(f)

Amor proximi.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

06-03-2007, 10:56 PM

:)

Like its big sister Stockholm, Goteborg, Sweden’s second city, is as much about boats and water as it is about bricks and mortar.

Haga, the oldest suburb of Goteborg, is filled with 17th-century homes, cozy cafes and antiques shops.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/06/03/travel/03next600.1.jpg

June 3, 2007

Next Stop | Goteborg

Where the World Meets Sweden, and Vice Versa

By ANDREW FERREN

LIKE its big sister Stockholm, Goteborg, Sweden's second city, is as much about boats and water as it is about bricks and mortar. Built on the broad estuary of the Gota River, greater Goteborg stretches for miles before fanning out into the North Sea across an archipelago of some 1,000 islands.

While most of them are no more than bare rocks that turn into popular perches for sunbathing Swedes in the heat of summer, others have small villages and are served by ferries. In a city that has more tour boats than buses, getting out on the water is a must.

Another must is tasting the city's modern Swedish gastronomy (four restaurants rate stars in the Michelin Guide). The city has been home to seven of the last 12 national Chef of the Year titles as decided in a national competition. Stockholm's chefs, as anyone in Goteborg can — and will — tell you, have won just two.

But any competitiveness ends there; within the city's foodie community there is a relaxed sense of pride and camaraderie. When asked to recommend another restaurant, Linda Rasberg, the headwaiter at the Michelin-starred Fond, quickly drafted an annotated list of eight suggestions.

The same Scandinavian plain dealing occurs in the performing arts, with equal prominence given the city's dance troupes or philharmonic as to the popular heavy metal festivals like Pier Pressure on July 1.

Founded by King Gustaf II Adolf in 1621, Goteborg has a considerable history in international relations, starting with the city's raison d'être, which was to get the Danes off Sweden's west coast. The king invited Dutch engineers to build a fortified city on the marshy banks of the river, and gave them incentives to remain when the work was completed.

In the 18th century, German traders received a similarly warm reception, as did the East India Company, which was established there in 1731, bringing huge revenues and exotic Asian wares into the country. A century later, the influx was British — Scots mostly — with expertise in shipbuilding and brewing, and new fortunes quite literally washed ashore.

But immigration flowed both ways. If you're Swedish-American, there is a good chance your ancestors spent their last European night in Goteborg, which was the principal massing and departure point for the half-million Swedes who headed to America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

A young city by European standards, Goteborg still retains a trace of the frontier town, a little like a Swedish San Francisco that promises vast riches for those bold enough to give the city a try. It has a similar boom-bust résumé and, not surprisingly, there is a slightly aspirational aspect to the city's architecture, from the studied formality of the compact and orderly Baroque city carved out of a swamp by the Dutch, to the more audaciously grandiose new city that spread out to the south when the walls came down in the 19th century.

For a glimpse of the latter, look no farther than the broodingly massive Goteborg Museum of Art, crowning a hill above the old city. Built in 1923 in belated celebration of the city's tricentennial, it has the kind of taut rationalist classicism that Albert Speer stayed up nights striving for in Berlin a generation later. Its grand plaza has theaters for concerts and the ballet on either side, and a colossal, yet somehow spritely, bronze Poseidon gazes down to the harbor from the city's cultural acropolis.

Hugging the foundations of the museum walls and enclosed in a sheer glass and steel arc is Fond, the luxuriously minimalist canteen run by Stefan Karlsson (the 1995 Chef of the Year). A recent meal there began with a selection of crusty, seed-flecked dark breads that arrived with a decadent butter sampler — butter with flakes of sea salt, butter whipped with yogurt and olive oil, and cream cheese topped with toasted olive oil.

The struggle to save room for dinner was rewarded by panko-crusted langoustines served with an orange-perfumed cream sauce and diced roasted turnips. Then came tiny tender pink lamb filets with more root vegetables and a compote that involved roasted garlic and milk and was exponentially more delicious than it sounded.

My dinner, with two glasses of cabernet franc, came to 660 kronor (about $95, at 7 kronor to the dollar) — expensive, yes, but it was a truly memorable meal of pure, clean flavors that were yet satisfyingly homey.

To offset that expenditure, I joined the locals for lunch the next day at the central city market, the Stora Saluhallen, bellying up to the bar at Kagelbaren for baseball-size Swedish meatballs in a rich brown gravy served with the standard boiled potatoes, lingonberry preserves, green salad and a glass of water for a mere 45 kronor (a light beer will set you back a further 29 kronor).

The market sits just inside the old city, which is now bordered by the verdant Kungsparken that replaced the old city walls along the Dutch-built moat. The main boulevard crossing this park is the grand Kungsportsavenyn, better known as the Avenyn, which is the axis on which most of Goteborg's prominent shops and restaurants, not to mention theaters and nightclubs, can be found.

LONG winters seem to have made the Swedes excellent nest featherers, and the city has a number of noteworthy housewares emporiums.

Josephssons sells everything from Orrefors (its colorful and lower-priced Home line fills many a shop window) to charming brikka mugg sets (small plates with indentations for a mug that are perfect for transporting soup and a sandwich to a favorite armchair on a cold winter day). NK, the gold standard of Swedish department stores, is similarly stocked with clever kitchen gadgets, as well as stylish Swedish designers, with folks like Filippa K, J. Lindeberg or the stationers Ordning & Reda having swank in-store boutiques.

Luxury retail is nothing new here: for 80 years until 1810, the East India Company had 36 clipper ships making the trip to East Asia and returning with porcelains, silks and spices. The company's former headquarters on the central canal is now the City Museum, displaying local history from the Vikings to a provocative look at Sweden's neutrality during World War II.

The influence of Asia is surprisingly prominent at the Rohsska Museum of Decorative Arts, where an exceptional display of Chinese and Japanese furniture, textiles and ceramics underscore the aesthetic links between these cultures and Scandinavian design. At lunchtime, the museum's bright, sunny cafe serves a popular vegetarian buffet (79 kronor) as well as the biggest, greenest pear macaroons imaginable.

Those looking for the vintage version of Swedish design should head to Haga, the city's oldest suburb, where the rows of beautifully restored 17th-century wooden houses now shelter cozy cafes and antiques stores. These include Sma Kara Ting, whose shelves heave under stacks of colorful and graphic 1950s and '60s Swedish ceramics — tea pots, chafing dishes, casseroles — which are hugely popular among Japanese collectors.

Even Liseberg, a picturesque pink and green 1923 amusement park (not to worry, the rides have been updated) just a five-minute walk from the art museum, has an impressive shopping component — everything from specimen rose bushes to clever rakes that pick up leaves up all by themselves. The annual Christmas fair brings in some 500,000 visitors, a number that exceeds the population of the metropolitan area. Yet more evidence that Goteborg is once again the place where Sweden meets the world.

VISITOR INFORMATION

SAS (www.flysas.com) has service from Newark with a stopover in either Stockholm or Copenhagen. Recently, fares for travel in late June started at $683.

Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) has discount fares from many European cities to Goteborg City airport with round-trip fares from London Stansted as low as at £35.45 ($70 at $2.01 to the pound) in late June.

A Goteborg Pass (www.goteborg.com) offers free use of city trams, buses and archipelago boats, and free entry to virtually all museums and attractions. Best of all is avoiding the long lines to enter Liseberg amusement park. The passes come in 24- and 48-hour versions for 225 and 310 kronor, about $32 and $44 at 7 kronor to the dollar.

WHERE TO STAY

Elite Park Avenue Hotel (Kungsportsavenyn 36-38; 46-31-727-1000; www.elite.se) is situated handily for museums and night life. The 291 rooms have a slick urbane touch. Doubles from 1,300 kronor.

Hotel Flora (Gronsakstorget 2; 46-31-138-616; www.hotelflora.se) has 68 rooms near the heart of the old city with a casual décor and free wireless Internet. Doubles are 1,195 kronor but drop to 850 on the weekends.

WHERE TO EAT

At Fond (Gotaplatsen; 46-31-812-580; www.fondrestaurang.com), the elegantly minimalist décor lets bold flavors stand out. Dinner for two with wine, 1,500 kronor.

Basement (Gotabergsgatan 28; 46-31-282-729; www.restbasement.com) is the second restaurant of Ulf Wagner to receive a Michelin star. It offers tasting menus of four to eight small courses with wine starting at 1,135 kronor a person.

Kagelbaren (Stora Saluhallen; 46-31-130-700) is a fast-paced lunch counter serving authentic home-style Swedish fare augmented by a few exotic plates like the very popular chili con carne salad. Lunch for two with beer, 150 kronor.

Locatelli (Kungsportsavenyn 36-38; 46-31-727-1089) is a chic, lively Italian restaurant in the Elite Park Avenue Hotel with a lounge where stylish Swedes meet over vodka drinks made with homemade juices. Cocktails from 82 kronor.

(f) (f)

Omnia causa fiunt.

(Everything happens for a reason.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

06-03-2007, 10:57 PM

(l) (f) (l) (f)

On the 20-mile trek to the ancient Incan city of Choquequirao, hikers and mules rest at a lookout called Huancacalle.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/06/03/travel/03inca600.1.jpg

Lost City of the Incas Slide Show:

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2007/05/30/travel/20070603_INCA_SLIDESHOW_1.html

June 3, 2007

The Other Machu Picchu

By ETHAN TODRAS-WHITEHILL

DAWN had just broken, and the lost city of the Incas lay empty — not a tourist in sight. From the priests’ district, the high point of the ruins, the bright green central plaza stretched along the narrow summit of a high ridge and dropped precipitously on both sides to a turquoise river thousands of feet below.

In a small chamber two feet from where I stood, the high priest had once meditated daily to seek guidance from his god. In the two-story peaked-roof structures downhill and to the left, workers had dropped off their tools at night — weary men stumbling in after a Sisyphean day of cutting and lugging stones. Beyond lay a panorama of jungle and 17,000-foot peaks. Around me was silence — and isolation.

This was Peru, but not the famous Machu Picchu. I was at Choquequirao, a sister city of similar significance built along similar lines, but harder to reach and, for the time being, still sufficiently free of tourists for a visitor to imagine, without much effort, the priests and builders, the supplicants and courtiers roaming its paths and plaza. Twenty-five years ago, Machu Picchu must have looked much like this.

Choquequirao’s builder, Topa Inca, chose his city’s site and design precisely because of the similarities to Machu Picchu, the city of his predecessor, Pachachuti, according to Gary Ziegler, an independent American archaeologist who worked on the first Choquequirao excavation. The two cities were about the same size and served the same religious, political and agricultural functions. But because archaeologists long underestimated the importance of Choquequirao, the city’s existence was known for almost 300 years before the first restoration was begun in 1993. It is still only 30 percent uncovered. The Peruvian government is just beginning to plan for large-scale tourism there.

In 2006 Choquequirao drew 6,800 visitors, according to Peru’s National Cultural Institute, more than double the total in 2003 but a little more than 1 percent of the number who went to Machu Picchu. For now, Choquequirao remains “an Inca site you can visit without a 60-person Japanese tour group and two tour guides with umbrellas and megaphones,” Mr. Ziegler had told me — a “journey for the savvy traveler.”

I was traveling with five companions: my girlfriend, an Israeli couple who were both Army veterans, a Dutch student and an Arizona bookkeeper turned vagabond. We had coalesced into a group while studying Spanish at a language school in Cuzco.

The first part of our journey to Choquequirao took us to Cachora, the nearest town. It has no direct bus service, so we went from Cuzco by cab — a beat-up station wagon that bumped and twisted over 100 miles of poorly paved road. When we arrived, well after sunset, the indigo sky was dotted with the last twinkles of alpenglow on the snow-covered Salkantay ridge, so impossibly high above us that it was easier to believe they were stars.

We dined at the Terrace of Choquequirao, a menuless two-table restaurant owned by Gilberto Medina, a thin, deferential man who talked to us over coca leaf tea. In the previous year, he told us, the town’s main road had been paved and two new restaurants had joined his. Hotels were under construction, and the first Internet cafe had opened.

In Cuzco before the trip, Pedro Tacca, the director of patrimony for the National Cultural Institute, had spoken to me about the importance of preserving communities like Cachora and the other towns near Choquequirao as tourism to the site grows. He said Peru is trying to control growth and access to Cachora to keep it from becoming another Aguas Calientes, the town closest to Machu Picchu, which is made up entirely of tourist shops, restaurants and hostels, with a railroad track — where the tourists arrive — instead of a main street. “It’s a community without personality,” he said, “horrible in contrast to majestic and beautiful Machu Picchu.”

For now, Cachora still belongs to its residents, farmers whose way of life has changed little in centuries. Invited by Mr. Medina, we went to the elementary school to see a celebration of the Festival of the Virgin Carmen. Children in flannel shirts, wide dresses and colorful mantas (blankets) performed traditional dances, sashaying, spinning and mugging for their doting parents. In the finale, a 25-foot bamboo tower of flammable pinwheels, linked by fuses made with newspaper, set off a shower of colorful sparks. The children tucked their shirts over their heads and ran back and forth under the fiery spray as if it were a playground sprinkler, shrieking with delight.

From Cachora, the trek to Choquequirao is 20 difficult miles in the mountains. Most visitors rent horses, but all of us were in our 20s, and we decided to hike, walking out of town the next morning with mules carrying our packs. The dusty road took us down a quilt of fields and mudstone houses stitched together by lines of outsize aloe plants and shimmery blue eucalyptus trees. Our legs followed the road along the winding cliffs over the Apurímac River, but our eyes stayed fixed on the Salkantay ridge to the north, now appearing in daylight like the snow-capped, protective plates of a massive stegosaurus.

After a knee-crushing 4,000-vertical-foot descent, we spent the second night at a campsite full of pleasant surprises like flush toilets, a shower and cold bottles of Coca-Cola from a woman whose family had trekked them in to sell to tourists. The next morning we embarked on the last and hardest part of the trail: eight miles and 5,000 vertical feet up.

Glad to rest, we stopped after two hours at a three-hut village called Santa Rosa, where in a thatch-roofed store Julian Covarrubias, a baby-faced 25-year-old with a faded Adidas hoodie and a neat goatee, told us he was seeing 15 to 20 tourists a day, and that was plenty for him. Five years ago only one or two a month came through. Sure, he said, he was selling more Cokes now, but his family had been on this land for over 100 years, growing sugar cane, avocados and papayas, had made it through occupation by Shining Path guerrillas in the ’80s, and didn’t want to leave to make way for government tourism projects.

We returned to the arduous trek (which government officials hope eventually to eliminate by building a funicular up the mountain) and at nightfall were setting up camp in the government campground just below the main plaza of Choquequirao. A man approached — 40 or so, with a thin brown ponytail and a button-down shirt left open above a black Tasmanian Devil T-shirt — and directed us to a different spot, saying with calm authority, “I decide who camps where.” He was Enrique Yábar, park chief of Choquequirao.

Mr. Yábar told me that if it were up to him and most of his 24 workers, Choquequirao would remain unknown until more work had been done to limit the effects of tourism. “All of us as inhabitants of the Andes,” he told me, “are directed by our gods, the mountains, and we have the mission to protect them.”

I couldn’t wait until morning to see the ruins, and neither could Avishai, the Israeli man. We hiked up and emerged out onto the open ridge top, a cold wind cutting through our fleece jackets. A wide-winged condor swung on a thermal a few hundred feet away and stopped dead, as if hanging from a mobile. We began climbing stone steps and ducking through ancient doorways like two toddlers on a jungle gym. For a precious few minutes, that ridge top, those 15,000-foot violet hills, those buildings so revered by an extinct civilization, were ours, and our sovereign desire was horseplay.

The next day, after my quiet moment at dawn, we all explored the ruins. Our mule driver knew a little about the site, but for the most part we guided ourselves. I had Spanish-language photocopies of government materials; the one book I had found in English was filled with beautiful photographs and too heavy to tote up the mountain. We saw only six other tourists.

Choquequirao, like all important Incan cities, is laid out in alignment with the movements of the sun and the stars. One building on the central plaza has nooks in which the mummies of important citizens were placed, and it is onto these nooks that the first rays of dawn fall each day.

The city’s central temple is a small rectangle on the other side of the plaza with evenly spaced depressions for altars and stone hooks where the priests hung their raiment. The most striking feature about the temple is how tiny it is; like those at Machu Picchu, it could fit perhaps 20 worshipers and had very little of the architectural grandeur of a mosque, a church or a synagogue. But then, an attempt at human grandeur here, in the shadow of the jagged jungle peak Corihuayrachina and facing arid, domelike mountains so gargantuan they make clouds look small, would seem redundant at best.

Although Choquequirao is more spread out than Machu Picchu, and therefore less photogenic, the promontory on which it lies reaches its zenith with a ceremonial hill behind the plaza, a smaller version of the rugged mountain seen in every photograph of Machu Picchu. The hike up takes just a few minutes but affords a 360-degree view of the ruins and the surrounding landscape. The curious feature of the hill is that it was scalped, flattened and denuded of vegetation by the Incas so their priests could perform rituals there.

On the other side of the plaza, the city climbs steadily uphill following a carved stone aqueduct where water will again flow in a few years as restoration progresses. It soon reaches a zigzag set of terraces resembling a giant’s staircase. Obsessed as they were with building cities on top of mountains, the Incas developed terraces like these to grow crops. Choquequirao has quite a few scattered about, long rice-paddy-like structures imposing angular order on the wild cliffs, but these narrower terraces were special. The priests probably used them to grew the special coca that figured heavily in their rituals. (Modern Andean peoples still use the coca leaf, not to make cocaine but for the mildly euphoric coca tea that appears to occupy the same space in their culture as our coffee, alcohol and aspirin wrapped into one.)

A path from the central plaza leads to the residential district, a complex of newly exposed simple four-walled houses that the jungle is already doing its best to reclaim. The place had a creepy “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” vibe, heightened by the rustling of unknown animals in the brush. That glancing-over-your-shoulder fear, the sort of adrenaline rush you hope for at ancient ruins, is still attainable at Choquequirao.

My favorite structures were the peaked-roof houses between the central plaza and the priest’s section above. Missing only the straw thatch above to be livable (and perhaps a couch or two), they were the largest buildings in the site. Inside one, I lay on my back on the neatly trimmed grass floor and reveled in the interlocking Incan stonework — and the silence. All that day, my group saw only six other visitors at Choquequirao. I could have lain smack in the center of the central plaza, which at Machu Picchu is strictly off limits, and no one would have bothered me.

Choquequirao truly is the lost city of the Incas. In the days of the Spanish conquest, Choquequirao became the principal religious center for the last-gasp Inca state, but its name does not appear in any of the chronicles of the age. Mr. Ziegler theorizes that the Incas did not want the Spanish to know it existed; in fact, they never did find the city. When it was abandoned in the late 16th century, it just shut down, tools left in place for archaeologists like Mr. Ziegler to find hundreds of years later, “like someone just turned out the light and walked away overnight,” he said. The first Westerner to visit was Juan Arias Díaz, a Spanish explorer who arrived in 1710.

Later in the day, I saw a man in a denim shirt and a broad-brimmed hat studying some papers against the low stone wall. I asked him if he was an archaeologist. He shook his head and said something in Spanish that I didn’t catch, and then tried again, saying in heavily accented English, “You know: ladies and gentleman!”

His name was John Chavez, and he was an entertainer hired by the Peruvian government to greet tourists and show them the central plaza. But he was still learning the ropes. Every time I asked a question, he looked down at his notes, which were highlighted and annotated like a high school history textbook, and then gave me an answer that was muddled, incomplete or occasionally wrong.

I found his incompetence oddly thrilling. For all the stories I’ve heard from older travelers about how the great sites of the world felt before they became household names — Angkor Wat, Prague, Machu Picchu — I finally had one of my own: “I was at Choquequirao when even the tour guides didn’t know what they were doing.”

VISITOR INFORMATION

Flights to Cuzco generally involve a change in Lima. Early July flights on LAN Peru from Kennedy Airport in New York were recently available at about $1,110.

Several travel agencies in Cuzco organize tours to Choquequirao with pre-arranged accommodation, transportation, guides and mules or horses, typically for about $300 to $400. SAS Travel on the Plaza de Armas has a good reputation (51-84-255-205; www.sastravelperu.com).

To tour on your own, hire a taxi to Cachora from Cuzco ($40 to $50 one way), leaving early in the day (or the driver won’t want to take you). You can pre-arrange a return with your driver, but it’s not necessary.

In Cachora, stay at the Casa de Salcantay, a small new hostel in a Dutch climber’s highly aesthetic home, complete with tulips ($22 a person per night, including breakfast. www.salcantay.com). Jan Willem van Delft, the proprietor, speaks perfect English and will help you arrange mules and horses ($7 to $10 a day each) and a mule-driver.

Along the trail there are campsites every few hours, some government-run, others belonging to villagers, with very small or no fees. If you don’t like one site, you have to hike a few hours to the next. If you arrange your trip in Cachora, your mule driver will be an adequate guide.

ETHAN TODRAS-WHITEHILL’S last story for Travel was about New Age spirituality tours in Egypt.

(l) (l)

Facta non verba. (Deeds, not words...... Actions speak louder than words.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

06-03-2007, 11:03 PM

(l) (f) (l) (f) (l) (f) (l)

Benazir Bhutto is raising her profile again and positioning herself as savior of Pakistan.

Benazir Bhutto, the former Pakistani prime minister, has been in self-imposed exile for the last eight years.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/06/04/world/04bhutto-600.jpg

June 4, 2007

Former Leader Talks of Return to Pakistan, and Maybe Power

By CARLOTTA GALL

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, June 3 — Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is stirring up Pakistani politics by quietly talking through intermediaries about a power-sharing deal with the president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, and suggesting in an interview that she could return to Pakistan before the end of the year.

Threatened with arrest and dogged by corruption charges, Ms. Bhutto has sat out the last eight years in self-imposed exile in London and Dubai, while still leading what is arguably the country’s largest opposition party. In that time, she has seen General Musharraf, her former chief of military operations, seize power in a coup. She has watched the political turmoil build as Pakistanis grow restless under military rule, galvanized most recently by General Musharraf’s ouster of the chief Supreme Court justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

Her party, the Pakistan People’s Party, was heavily represented in a peaceful rally for Mr. Chaudhry in Abbottabad on Saturday, just weeks after more than 40 people died in Karachi in clashes related to his ouster.

As Pakistan veers toward elections this year, General Musharraf has run into mounting opposition over his plans to seek a second term. Ms. Bhutto, 53, is raising her profile once again and positioning herself as savior of the nation, someone who can lead Pakistan back to democracy and provide a more reliable ally than General Musharraf, whose performance she criticized in fighting terrorism and extremism.

Under General Musharraf, she noted, Al Qaeda and the Taliban have used lawless areas of northern Pakistan to regroup and cause havoc in neighboring Afghanistan and within Pakistan itself. Yet Washington continues to support General Musharraf, she said, giving him billions of dollars in assistance since 2001.

Despite his repeated insistence that Ms. Bhutto will not be allowed to participate in the elections, General Musharraf, according to aides and diplomats, has been conducting discreet negotiations for some kind of deal that would allow her to return and him to stay on as president. The corruption charges, which Ms. Bhutto says are politically motivated, might then be dropped. “General Musharraf says that he wouldn’t allow me back and I interpret that to mean that he would then arrest me and prevent me from having freedom of movement and freedom of speech and freedom of association,” Ms. Bhutto said in the interview, which took place recently at one of her homes outside Pakistan. “In any event I’d like to go back, and I’m looking at the window between September and December to do that.”

To some, the prospect of Ms. Bhutto’s return confronts Pakistan with an unsavory choice, one it has faced before. Since its independence in 1947, this nation of 149 million that now has nuclear weapons has alternated between rule by generals who have fronted for a domineering military and civilian politicians who have won an enduring reputation for corruption. They have by turns worn out their welcomes. The country has had no fewer than four Constitutions, four military takeovers of government, and never experienced a constitutional transfer of power.

General Musharraf seized power in a coup in October 1999, overthrowing Ms. Bhutto’s successor, Nawaz Sharif, who also lives abroad to avoid prosecution on corruption charges. General Musharraf was at that time embraced by much of the population, wearied by turbulent years of short-lived, self-serving civilian governments. Yet today, Ms. Bhutto, part of a storied family dynasty, is probably the most popular politician with national appeal. If allowed to return, she may well be in a position to form the next government and serve again as prime minister, even if General Musharraf remains as president, if both agreed.

The daughter of a politician executed by the military, educated at Harvard and Oxford and the first woman to serve as prime minister in the Islamic world, at age 35, Ms. Bhutto captivated supporters in the West as well as many Pakistanis in her early days. She was twice prime minister, from 1988 to 1990 and then from 1993 to 1996, when her personal and political fortunes unraveled.

She left Pakistan eight years ago under a cloud. She was embroiled in a family feud when her brother, Murtaza, tried to claim leadership of the party their father founded, the Pakistan’s People’s Party.

Her brother was shot dead in 1996. Ms. Bhutto’s husband, Asif Ali Zardari, was jailed on suspicion of the murder, though the case was never proved. Ms. Bhutto says the killing was a plot by Pakistani intelligence to divide and weaken her family.

That same year, Ms. Bhutto’s three-year-old government was dismissed amid accusations of mismanagement and corruption. Three months later she suffered a resounding defeat in elections. While she says the balloting was rigged, the polls also reflected the disillusion and anger of Pakistanis over a deteriorating economy, rising violence and a leadership that many here felt was concerned only with itself.

Though she has lived in self-imposed exile since 1999 to avoid prosecution for corruption, she denies wrongdoing. Her party fared badly in the previous two elections, after she and her husband left the country, but it remains politically strong.

No date has been set for the next elections, but the voting must take place by the end of the year. “Ultimately, for the elections to be credible, it is important that the participation should not be denied to a leader of a party, and a party which is the most popular party in the country,” Ms. Bhutto said.

For the general’s part, after a series of political missteps in recent months, including the suspension of the justice, he finds himself in ever greater need of allies if he is to win re-election by Parliament. Some of his supporters see Ms. Bhutto as the preferred moderate partner.

The violence in Karachi that left more than 40 people dead on May 12 occurred after parties backing General Musharraf clashed with members of the Pakistan People’s Party and other opponents as the justice flew in to make a speech. After that, Ms. Bhutto declared that all negotiations with General Musharraf were off. But in the interview she made clear that she still wanted to find a smooth transition to democracy.

“The fact that he was ready to engage with the P.P.P. was positive,” Ms. Bhutto said. “I think he toyed with the idea of moderate forces getting together.” Ms. Bhutto presents herself now as a leader who not only can help Pakistan thread a potentially treacherous course back to civilian rule, but also as someone who can stem a tide of extremism, a claim that opponents say she is exaggerating to gain favor in the West.

Two battle lines are being drawn in Pakistan, she said, military dictatorship versus democracy, and moderate Islam versus extremism. While General Musharraf is her most obvious foe, she says the elections may also be Pakistan’s last chance to choose a moderate path. “My fear is if we don’t act in these elections, by the next elections it might be too late,” Ms. Bhutto said.

“Anyone who has lived in Pakistan knows very well that there is a group of people who believe in a war against the West,” she added, referring to religious extremists both in the government’s intelligence agencies and in jihadi groups. “And it is not just that, it is the hatred that they preach.”

A negotiated transition to democracy remains her preferred option, she said, because violent confrontation could quickly be usurped by extremists. “If the streets hold sway, then it is anyone’s guess who actually captures the movement,” she said. “After all, when there was a revolution in Iran, nobody expected the religious parties to triumph.”

But Ms. Bhutto warned that while General Musharraf may speak in favor of moderate Islam, the advisers and the military and intelligence extremists around him, who hold the strings of power, were working against it. “The country is actually run by military hard-liners,” she said. “It remains my concern that these hard-liners want to destabilize democracy in Pakistan because their agenda is to bring about a soft Islamic revolution,” she added. “They are building secretly on their militant cells across the country.”

She pointed out that despite the general’s declared policy of leading Pakistan toward “enlightened moderation,” Al Qaeda and the Taliban had used northern Pakistan to regroup, and the Taliban influence was seeping into other parts of the country. She said she was appalled that the government had made deals that allow foreign militants sway in parts of the country. She pointed out that the building of madrasas, religious schools that have been used to recruit militants, had increased.

Critics have long charged that the situation was not wholly different even under her government, when Pakistan backed the Taliban and used Islamic extremist groups as levers against its neighbor, India, in their dispute over the border territory of Kashmir. But Ms. Bhutto defended her government’s performance in fighting terrorism, saying that even though she supported the Taliban in their early days, during her time in office there were no Qaeda terrorist training camps in Pakistan, and no terrorist acts anywhere in the world connected to Pakistan.

She said she had collaborated with the F.B.I. in the arrest of Ramzi Yousef, the man behind the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, and had cracked down on extremist groups. At least six terrorist plots, including the London transit bombings, have been traced to Pakistan since General Musharraf took power.

“Look at what there was in 2002, and see how much worse the situation has got by 2007,” she said. Despite her alarm, Ms. Bhutto said she believed that the religious extremists in both the intelligence circle and jihadi groups were running out of options. And open and fair elections would show just how little support the religious parties and extremists actually had in the country, she said. “Elections are important because at the end of the day when we empower the people, the minority extremists will get totally marginalized and sidelined; their strength is being disproportionately blown up,” she said.

“It is a battle for the heart and soul of Pakistan,” she said. “It is also a battle for the rest of the Muslim world and the world at large. It is not just Pakistan. What we are doing in Pakistan has much larger implications not only on Afghanistan and India, but in my view for the larger world.”

(y) (y) (y) (y)

(f) (f) May this lady be protected at all times in her return to power. Things could change really quickly if she took over as leader Pakistan. (f)

Carpe Diem,

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

06-03-2007, 11:11 PM

;)

Haiku

A mourning dove feeds
In a marijuana bush
And sings a high coo.

http://www.funnypoets.com/poems/haiku.htm

http://www.factmonster.com/spot/haikuharry.html

:)

Carpe Diem,

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

06-03-2007, 11:15 PM

:o

Q U O T E D

"Chinese Web sites tend to be loaded with graphics that blink, spin and scream at us in bright colors. To Western eyes, a native Chinese Web page is often an abomination in design, completely amateurish and awkward. Our assumption is that the design is this way because of the lack of maturity in the Chinese market and the fact that they haven't progressed enough to adopt Western design standards. ...

"But the fact is, the Chinese prefer a presentation is loaded with visual stimuli. They even have a word for it. Renao. Loosely translated it means 'hot and noisy.' If you visit China, this manifests itself around every corner. In the cities, commercial ads scream for attention. A walk down the street is a sensual assault, a tsunami of stimuli that hits you on multiple levels. It's not necessarily that the Chinese market is less mature than the West; it's that what the Chinese user wants is not always the same as what the Western user wants.

-- Gord Hotchkiss, CEO of search marketing firm Enquiro, says eye-tracking studies may explain why Google is struggling in China

http://searchengineland.com/070601-065245.php

^o)^o)

Fac ut vivas.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

06-06-2007, 03:35 AM

:s (ap) :s (ap)

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/05/29/travel/03prac600.1.jpg

June 3, 2007

Practical Traveler | Transporting Pets

Travel Tips From a Dog’s Best Friend

By MICHELLE HIGGINS

TRAVELING with pets is an increasingly common affair, as many pet owners have decided that Fido deserves a summer vacation as much as they do, and shouldn’t be left behind in a kennel while they are off lounging on a beach or taking in the mountain air.

The travel industry has been quick to cash in on this trend: many hotels now offer packages with pet beds and special room-service menus for four-legged companions.

But many pet owners still have concerns about hitting the road — or, to be more specific, the sky. More than two million pets and other live animals are transported by air every year in the United States, according to the Department of Transportation. Though rare, incidents involving the loss, injury or death of animals do happen. During June, July and August of last year, 12 animals, mostly dogs, died, 3 were injured and 4 were lost during air travel.

For tips on traveling with your dog or leaving one behind when taking a vacation, I talked with Cesar Millan, a dog behaviorist and best-selling author, better known as National Geographic Channel’s Dog Whisperer. Mr. Millan, a native of Mexico, also owns the Dog Psychology Center in Los Angeles, which specializes in rehabilitating dogs with extreme behavior problems. When we spoke by phone, he was in Miami with two dogs — Daddy and Coco — who were going to travel to Minneapolis to film an episode of the show.

Q. How do you travel with your dogs?

A. Right now, I’m fortunate to travel with two of them — a pitbull and a Chihuahua. They’re not flying with me, but we have an R.V., which is much easer for them because they’re able to meet the land. I ask the driver: every four hours, make sure they experience where they are.

Q. Do you have any advice for people who can’t take their pets cross-country by car?

A. My large personal dogs have never traveled on a plane. My small dogs have, and it’s easier because, you know, they’re next to us, right there under the seat, as they request on the airline. So it feels like they’re just doing a different activity. Of course, they’re going to feel the altitude, and so I’m going to be right there to calm them down, just to make them feel relaxed. But until I get my own private plane, my large dogs will not fly.

Q. So you always have them take the R.V. and not a plane?

A. Yes, because it’s not very controlled in the areas where they put the large dogs. I hope the airlines will get smart about it and learn that it’s business, because we do want to bring our dogs with us. But they have to be able to make sure the temperature is ideal, and ideally a human can be there just to provide some kind of comfort to dogs. I think it can be done — it’s just a matter of whether the airlines are willing to do it.

Q. More hotels are trying to appeal to pet owners with special doggy beds and room service. Does it matter what kind of hotel you stay at?

A. They don’t understand if it costs $1 or $300. They can’t make the difference between Bloomingdale’s and Kmart. What they’re going to know is what state of mind they were in when you offered that.

Q. Any tips for traveling by car?

A. Dogs are daytime animals, and my pack is so accustomed to do activities in the daytime that at least every four hours the driver stops and walks them, which is good for the driver and is good for my dogs. It’s important for a dog to know the land because in a way they’re migrating to another place. It’s important for them to see and to smell the environment. Wherever they are, it’s going to be a different temperature, a different scent and a different feeling. You want to be sure they know how to associate themselves with it in a more natural way.

Q. Is sedation an option?

A. Yeah, but again you have to condition the mind to see what the side effects are and what doses work and what medication works. It shouldn’t make them lethargic. It’s just for them to feel thoroughly relaxed. It’s like a glass of wine. It doesn’t have to make you feel angry or frustrated. It’s just to relax you.

Q. How should you choose a kennel?

A. You want to find a place where they immediately know how to adopt a dog and to make a dog really not focused on the fact that you left but really focused on what is there for him. It’s very important that professionals learn it’s a big deal for a dog to detach himself from his pack, and so the new pack has to be just as good or better than the pack he just left.

Q. What about dogs that get nervous when traveling? Is there anything you can do to keep them calm?

A. If a dog is nervous at home, it’s more likely for him to get worse in different environments. You definitely have to work, before you go on the vacation, to start learning about how you can make your dog not nervous at home. Everything starts from home. A lot of people also get frustrated when they’re traveling, and the dog is trembling or whining or drooling. But that’s not going to help the dog either. Your energy influences a lot, and once you recognize and become aware of the energy you share when your dog is under stress, then you realize, oh, O.K., I have to work on myself.

Q. Are some dogs more suited to travel than others?

A. Balanced dogs. It’s not the breed or the size. You can’t generalize that the size or the breed will make it a better travel dog. A balanced dog is always going to be a perfect dog to be around; an unstable dog, regardless of the size, is not going to be comfortable to travel with. So it’s a state of mind, not a breed or a size.

Q. Is there anything else travelers should keep in mind?

A. Once you arrive at your destination, make sure you go for a long walk before you go inside the hotel or the condominium or wherever you’re going because that will give a dog a better understanding of where they are and what the surroundings are, and that the same rules and boundaries or limitations that you might have had in L.A. exist in Florida. That will make him feel so comfortable, so at home, and enjoy his new adventure.

(ap) (ap) Of course, there is always private jet service so Wyatt can actually be with me in the cabin. ;)

(y) (y)

Carpe Diem,

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

06-06-2007, 03:36 AM

:o :o

The Wudi region of China is known for producing fake pet food. From left: Bags of fake fish feed at a factory in Tian village on the outskirts of Wudi, a locked storage room at the factory and spilled feed.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/06/05/business/05fakes-600.jpg

June 5, 2007

When Fakery Turns Fatal

By DAVID BARBOZA

WUDI, China — They might be called China’s renegade businessmen, small entrepreneurs who are experts at counterfeiting and willing to go to extraordinary lengths to make a profit. But just how far out of the Chinese mainstream are they?

Here in Wudi in eastern China, a few companies tried to save money by slipping the industrial chemical melamine into pet food ingredients as a cheap protein enhancer, helping incite one of the largest pet food recalls ever.

In Taixing, a city far to the south, a small business cheated the system by substituting a cheap toxic chemical for pharmaceutical-grade syrup, leading to a mass poisoning in Panama. And in the eastern province of Anhui, a group of entrepreneurs concocted a fake baby-milk formula that eventually killed dozens of rural children.

The incidents are the latest indications that cutting corners or producing fake goods is not just a legacy of China’s initial rush toward the free market three decades ago but still woven into the fabric of the nation’s thriving industrial economy. It is driven by entrepreneurs who are taking advantage of a weak legal system, lax regulations and a business culture where bribery and corruption are rampant.

“This is cut-throat market capitalism,” said Wenran Jiang, a specialist in China who teaches at the University of Alberta. “But the question has to be asked: is this uniquely Chinese or is there simply a lack of regulation in the market?”

Counterfeiting, of course, is not new to China. Since this country’s economic reforms began to take root in the 1980s, businesses have engineered countless ways to produce everything from fake car parts, cosmetics and brand name bags to counterfeit electrical cables and phony Viagra. Counterfeiting rings are broken nearly every week; nonetheless, the government seems to be waging a losing battle against the operations.

Dozens of Chinese cities have risen to prominence over the last two decades by first specializing in fake goods, like Wenzhou, which was once known for selling counterfeit Procter & Gamble products, and Kaihua in Zhejiang province, which specialized in fake Philips light bulbs.

For a time, people even derided the entire province of Henan as the capital of substandard or fake goods, like medicines that could make you miraculously grow taller.

But the discovery of dangerous ingredients in foods and drugs has raised more serious questions.

One such operation is centered here in Wudi, about five hours southeast of Beijing. This is where the trail of the American pet food recall leads.

Regulators came to Wudi in early May and shut down one of the region’s biggest feed exporters, the Binzhou Futian Biology Technology Company. They also detained its manager, Tian Feng, after American officials identified Binzhou Futian as one of two Chinese companies responsible for shipping contaminated pet food ingredients to the United States.

Chinese authorities said that Binzhou Futian and a company in bordering Jiangsu province had intentionally doctored feed ingredients to generate bigger profits. Regulators in China called it an isolated incident.

But agricultural workers and experts in this region tell a different story. They say the practice of doctoring animal and fish feed with melamine and other ingredients is widespread in China. And Wudi, they say, has long been known as a center for such activity.

“Wudi became famous for fake fish powder almost 10 years ago,” said Chen Baojiang, a professor of animal nutrition at the Agricultural University of Hebei. (Fish powder is used as a protein additive to animal feed, including fish feed.)

“All kinds of fillers have been used. At the beginning it was vegetable protein, then urea. Now it’s feather powder.”

In small village workshops on the outskirts of Wudi, residents say hundreds of workers make animal feed doctored with fish scraps and cheap ingredients that are then packaged for sale to unsuspecting farmers and fish farms.

Much of the fish scrap comes from the nearby Bohai Bay area or imported from Peru and then blended with cheap fillers to bolster profits.

“About 90 percent of the fish powder on the market is fake,” said Xue Min, who works at the Feed Research Institute, a division of the China Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing. “When it reaches the customer, he doesn’t know how many kinds of filler have been added.”

But recently, residents say more buyers have turned skeptical of Wudi’s fish powder. And that has forced some local manufacturers to switch to vegetable protein and search for new buyers.

“Customers are now suspicious about fish powder,” says Sun Hong Qiang, who operates a fish scrap supplier in Wudi. “Everyone knows there’s some fake fish powder out there.”

To reach bigger customers, feed producers from Wudi recently began calling themselves “technology” companies that sell protein powder. And they are using online trading Web sites like Alibaba.com to sell their goods.

But few companies here were as successful as Binzhou Futian, which in 2006 won contracts to ship pet food ingredients to major suppliers in the United States and South Africa.

The American and South African middlemen say that they found Binzhou Futian through online advertisements and commodity-trading Web sites. The companies did not bother to visit Binzhou’s factories or to investigate its background or its export record.

“I’m not sure of the introduction, but I think it was through Google search,” said Leon Ekermans, a marketing director at Bester Feed and Grain, a South African grain trader. “We were told by an intermediary that they were once a government company and made good feed.”

Asked whether Bester had researched the supplier’s record or visited China, Mr. Ekermans acknowledged that the answer was no. “We tested samples,” he said, “but it was very difficult to test for melamine.”

When investigators from the United States Food and Drug Administration visited China in early May, hoping to determine why melamine ended up in pet food ingredients, they saw little more than a shuttered Binzhou Futian factory.

“They’ve all been closed down, machinery dismantled, nothing to get access to,” said Walter Batts, an F.D.A. official.

Binzhou Futian was run by Tian Feng, a small-town entrepreneur who started out producing fish powder but later moved into vegetable protein, according to local residents.

Mr. Tian’s company shared a building with the county government’s cereal and grains bureau, an indication of its close ties to the government.

“Futian didn’t have any actual factory here,” said a guard who works at the Binzhou headquarters. “They hung a banner here because they wanted to look good in front of visitors. They had countless suppliers from the countryside.”

A spokesman for the county cereal bureau, however, denied having any relationship with Binzhou Futian and Mr. Tian, who has been detained by the authorities. Mr. Tian has denied knowing anything about melamine or how it got into the feed he exported.

And while the government said that it had not found any other companies exporting melamine-tainted goods overseas, regulators shut dozens of fish feed producers near Wudi.

Investigators say Mr. Tian’s company engaged in fraud: it mislabeled its feed exports as nonfeed goods, possibly to avoid food inspection; it also exported tons of pet food ingredients labeled as corn gluten and rice protein concentrate. Actually, they say, it was low-protein wheat powder. Analysts say Binzhou’s case is not unusual. This is how the counterfeiting system often evolves, they say.

For decades, small entrepreneurs have started out counterfeiting in emerging industries in China, seeking an early advantage and their first pot of gold.

Often, they try to get around regulations, or simply believe small-time cheating that involves adding cheap substitutes or low-grade ingredients will not cause much harm.

“Basically, for entrepreneurs, if something is not explicitly banned — it’s not banned,” said Dali Yang, who teaches at the University of Chicago and has studied China’s food safety regulations. “As long as people are not sick or dying, it’s O.K.”

Experts say counterfeiters are now moving to outlying areas of the country, where it is easier to evade regulation. The counterfeiters are also moving into food and agriculture, which are difficult to monitor because they involve small farmers and entrepreneurs.

Small-time entrepreneurs have played the same game over and over with other products, experts say, adding cheap substitute chemicals to toothpaste; using lower-grade materials to produce car parts, batteries and cellphones; and creating factories that specialize in counterfeit goods.

Last year, for instance, pirates were caught faking an entire company, setting up a “branch” of the NEC Corporation of Japan, including 18 factories and warehouses in China and Taiwan.

“We have to bear in mind they probably don’t think about the consequences at all,” said Steve Tsang, a China specialist who teaches at Oxford University. “They’re probably only thinking of making a fast buck.”

:| :|

Facta non verba. (Deeds, not words...... Actions speak louder than words.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

06-06-2007, 03:38 AM

(y) (y)

A GEM photo!! http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/06/02/business/600-pre.jpg

Plugged In at Home, but Somehow Left Out

June 3, 2007

Preoccupations

Plugged In at Home, but Somehow Left Out

By ABBY ELLIN

I KNEW that there was a problem when I found myself waiting for my telephone to ring. Not, mind you, to talk to the person on the other end, but to listen to my answering machine.

My Caller ID, you see, speaks to me. She doesn’t have an especially mellifluous voice — it’s kind of robotic, and her pronunciation is way off — but she’s reliable and efficient. I think of her as an electronic personal assistant whose job is to keep me company.

Yes, keep me company, because I work at home. Usually, I’m on the phone interviewing sources, but there are times when, if I’m on an especially pressing deadline, I can’t be on the phone at all. Sometimes I won’t even leave my house for a few days.

That’s when I welcome the ringing phone, just so I can hear the warm tones of my digital amanuensis. It sounds crazy, I know — the 21st-century version of an old lady and her cats — but I feel inexplicably less isolated just because she’s around.

“That’s really pathetic,” a friend of mine said when I told him about my invisible playmate. He’s right. But we do what we have to, those of us who work alone.

O.K., I know I have been the envy of my office-worker friends, who complain about the lack of privacy, the politics, the gossip at their workplaces. And those are certainly things that I’ve wanted to avoid over the years. But now, frankly, I’d like to poke fun at the boss with my colleagues, or to know whether Sheila in accounting is dating the messenger guy.

We home-office loners compensate for our lack of community in myriad, pathetic ways. I try to get out at night, I see friends and hit the gym and check out hip city happenings, but none of that really takes the place of being around a group of people who are working toward a similar goal.

Telecommuting from Starbucks doesn’t do the trick, either. Sipping your latte while your fingers tap away productively can be satisfying, but sustained human interaction is elusive there. Most Starbucks dwellers are bopping away in their own universes, iPods firmly in ears, BlackBerrys at the ready. They seem to be perfectly nice people, but you are never going to bond with them over a shared challenge.

The funny thing is that I never wanted to go to an office. In 17 years of writing, I’ve had only one full year of office work. I never wanted to be a mere cog in the corporate wheel. I didn’t want anyone telling me when I could take my vacations, or how many sick days I was allowed. I’ve always had a rebellious streak. (You’re not the boss of me!)

Existing paycheck to paycheck can be rough, but I always thought that the benefits outweighed the cons: I could work when I wanted and play when I wanted, and, above all else, I had no scary authority figure breathing down my neck.

I’m no longer so sure — something that struck me when I discovered just how dependent I was on my answering machine.

It also occurred to me that I used travel as a panacea for the isolation, and that it wasn’t always effective. For example, I often file articles from places like Panama, India and Brazil. My friends envy my freedom, but think about it: if the entire world is your office, when are you ever off duty? And, ultimately, what’s the difference between an Internet cafe in New Delhi and one in New York?

The final straw came a few weeks ago, when the battery in my answering machine died and I didn’t have time to replace it. For two long days, unable to screen my calls, I was forced to answer the phone myself — always a risky proposition. I was also forced to acknowledge just how much I missed that disembodied voice cutting through the silence.

THAT’S when I knew I was craving a full-time job in a real office. It wasn’t about money or health insurance or paid vacations, though those are certainly nice perks; it was about sanity and recognizing that it’s O.K. to be just like everyone else. That sometimes it’s all right to be another brick in the wall. That conformity exists for a reason.

No, I don’t especially love the idea of being told what do to. And the idea of an authority figure still haunts me. But I’m thinking that it would be nice for someone to await my arrival. Not a voice on the other end of a wire. Not an e-mail or instant message. A real person!

Maybe I won’t see it as a noose around my neck, but rather as something liberating, the way I imagine that people must feel when they marry: Finally, I won’t have to be so focused on one thing (whether it’s finding new work or finding a mate), and I can think about everything else I want to do.

Of course, there are no guarantees — in work or in love — and maybe my feelings will change. Maybe I’ll take a job and promptly yearn to high-tail it out of town. But for now, I’m looking forward to sharpening my No. 2 pencils and shining my shoes and bidding “good day” to my doorman as I waltz to an office full of chattering people. I just hope my answering machine doesn’t miss me too much.

:)

Non calor sed umor est qui nobis incommodat.

It's not the heat, it's the humidity.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

06-06-2007, 04:45 PM

8o|

Moscow

Mass gay bashing

A mob of Russian ultranationalists attacked Moscow’s second ever Gay Pride march this week, kicking and punching marchers and throwing eggs. Nikolai Alexeyev, leader of Russia’s gay community, was arrested, along with several gay European politicians who attended out of solidarity. The marchers were heading for the office of Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, who has described homosexuality as “the work of Satan.” Volker Beck, a member of the German parliament, and Richard Fairbrass of the pop group Right Said Fred were among those beaten. Witnesses said police watched the beatings and did not intervene. They did, however, later arrest a few of the perpetrators.

http://www.theweekmagazine.com/news/worldataglance.aspx#5294

(n) (n)

Fac ut vivas.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

06-06-2007, 04:48 PM

:o

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

The new black

Saudi women have begun decorating their full/no spamming of other sites/body coverings, or abayas, with colorful patterns. Abayas are traditionally black, which means that in the oppressive Saudi heat they are stifling. “Nothing in Islam imposes black on us,” said Manal al/no spamming of other sites/Sharif, an editor at al/no spamming of other sites/Madina newspaper. “I decided to make a brown abaya for myself.” Other women are even more daring. In cosmopolitan cities such as Jeddah, colorful abayas are being decorated with crystal beads and jewelry. Even those women who wear black head coverings that show only their eyes are dressing up: They have taken to wearing colored contact lenses and heavy mascara.

http://www.theweekmagazine.com/news/worldataglance.aspx#5296

^o) ^o) A head-to-toe burka or abeya is still demeaning. I don't care how they try to brighten things up. AND ladies cannot DRIVE themselves as well as be anyplace in public without a relative male or husband as escort.

:| It's strange since Dubai in the U.A.E was like Las Vegas!

(f)

Carp Diem,

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

06-06-2007, 04:49 PM

:)

Eden’s Edge: 15 L.A. Artists

The Hammer showcases vibrant new L.A. artists.

(The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles)

Through: 9/2/2007

The museum founded by Armand Hammer in 1990 has betrayed the mission of its founder, said David Littlejohn in The Wall Street Journal. Thank goodness. By breaking ties with the past, “the Hammer has re/no spamming of other sites/created itself as one of the most interesting and active havens for cutting/no spamming of other sites/edge contemporary art” in the country. Hammer’s original collection of impressionist and old master paintings was conventional and mediocre, and rarely as interesting as the small contemporary exhibits the museum mounted off to the side. This year, however, the Hammer broke most of its ties with the family foundation, freeing itself to concentrate on acquiring and displaying the works of young and lesser/no spamming of other sites/known artists. This “must/no spamming of other sites/see exhibition” of artists from Los Angeles confirms Hammer’s importance within the city’s cultural scene.

It also confirms the city’s importance in the broader contemporary art scene, said Christopher Knight in the Los Angeles Times. New York still dominates the art market, but L.A. has a more active and vibrant community of working artists. The Hammer’s new chief curator, Gary Garrels, has culled the work of 15 local artists to create not a traditional survey but “a series of miniature one/no spamming of other sites/person shows.” Ken Price creates ceramics that ooze and billow gorgeously. They’re almost as sexual as the explicit works here by Monica Majoli and Jason Rhoades. Lari Pittman’s “lush images of figures in elegant free/no spamming of other sites/fall and bodily distress are lavishly adorned and chromatically pungent.” Like the intricate collages of Ginny Bishton, they have none of the coldness that turns many people off to contemporary art. “These are artists who make things,” often quite beautiful things.

Most museums wouldn’t take a chance with a show featuring so many unknown artists, said Doug Harvey in the LA Weekly. That’s why Eden’s Edge is such “a great and unexpected pleasure.” The artists turn out to have more in common than just geography. Very few create entirely abstract works; most include either recognizable human figures or landscapes. They jumble up high and low culture with evident enjoyment, and “many seem to capture and freeze moments of seething fragmentary flux.” Other themes are easily identifiable, but thankfully the curators don’t strike you over the head with them. Instead, the exhibition’s laid/no spamming of other sites/back layout allows you to wander from room to room discovering the “distinctly Angeleno strain of contemporary visual language” for yourself.

http://www.theweekmagazine.com/reviews/articles/info.aspx?EntID=1444

http://www.hammer.ucla.edu/

(y) (y)

Aut disce aut discede.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

06-06-2007, 04:50 PM

;)

http://media.philly.com/images/20070603_inq_ewgliz03z-dd.jpg

SLIDE SHOW:

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/gallery/20070603_Mirror__Mirror___Essential_summer_item__c risp__classy_white_pants.html?popup=y&c=y

Posted on Sun, Jun. 03, 2007

Mirror, Mirror | Essential summer item: crisp, classy white pants

By Elizabeth Wellington

Inquirer Fashion Writer

No item is as quintessentially "summer" as white pants.

Of course, we also like to wear straw, seersucker, and sherbet shades in the hot months, but nothing makes these looks pop like a pair of cuffed, creased white trousers.

This summer, the clean yet notoriously hard-to-wear bottoms are even more important as key trends - nautical navy blue and banana yellow, red and white polka dots, and bold Kelly green and black prints - need to be matched with a smooth-fitting blank canvas.

The Ann Taylor chain has featured at least a half-dozen styles of white pants, ranging from slim-fitting to a tailored, wide-legged version.

"The white pant is so versatile this season," explained Michael Smaldone, senior vice president of design for Ann Taylor.

"You can pair them with a white jacket and have an entire suit thing happening. They are so much more of a staple than they used to be."

Ann Taylor isn't the only outlet lauding the pants' versatility.

Spiegel Brands is urging women to create their own signature style, showing women in white linen drawstring pants with matching button-down top accented with - my favorite - silver belts and shoes.

Banana Republic went super-trendy with their white, pairing stovepipes with snug jackets (like an updated version of the white suit that Angelina Jolie wore to the 2001 Academy Awards.)

J.Jill, Elie Tahari, Michael Kors, plus-size retailer The Avenue, and (naturally) White House Black Market promote the pants as a wardrobe addition for women of all ages and sizes.

And then there are those who are a little more experimental, keeping white pants edgy with zippers, tassels and cargo pockets.

Indeed, white is all the rage within the limited edition designer collections selling at trendy discount stores. H&M's Madonna collection has patent leather hot pants reminiscent of John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, while Target has white shorts from L.A.-based designer Patrick Robinson.

And Gap kicks off its own design series this month with designs from runway designers Doo.Ri, Rodarte and Thakoon. The key to the collection is mod style: architecturally structured white shirts, skinny black pants, and white Bermuda shorts.

Nothing, it seems, can be too crisp this summer.

By now you may be wondering how those of us with hips can pull off the look, now that we're post-Memorial Day. After all, after skinny jeans and candy-apple-red dresses, white pants are among the hardest ensembles to wear.

My number-one tip is to avoid white pants with elastic tops. Actually, elastic waistbands should be forbidden for all pants, but on white pants, they conjure up visions of schoolmarms and nurses - NOT fashionable.

And while a variety of pant lengths are in, I suggest that you stay away from the white cropped pants (unless they have a knicker bottom). That look screams old-fogey, too.

Going up one size is another way to avoid the pitfalls of white pants, as I discovered last summer while buying a pair of tailored white pants at New York & Co. Clingy black pants are sexy, but cellulite isn't - be careful yours can't be seen through ill-fitting white pants.

Remember to wear nude underwear with white bottoms. White - or worse, flowered prints - is a no-no.

Smaldone, of Ann Taylor, suggests that women nix the side pockets, as they make one look wide, a hazard that already exists with white pants.

"Other than a flowered pair of panties showing through, a side pocket is one of the most unsightly fashion things," he said.

Smaldrone does allow pockets as decoration, as long as they are low on the back or on the side. I'm partial to the sailor buttons that form a square along the tummy, but if your stomach bulges, you might want to rethink that option.

Ultimately, fabric is the most important factor in a white-pants purchase. Heavier cottons with 3 or 4 percent lycra are most friendly to curves.

And remember, white always looks better with a tan. But we suggest you spray it on, rather than bake it in.

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/image/20070603_Mirror__Mirror___Essential_summer_item__c risp__classy_white_pants.html

(f) (f)

Amor proximi.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

06-06-2007, 04:52 PM

:)

Submit a photo of yourself in your sartorial best and you could be featured in our Style section.

http://yourviews.mercurynews.com/mycapture/photos/Album.aspx?EventID=276147&CategoryID=29324

:o :o

(f)

Mon est vivere sed valere vita est.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

06-06-2007, 04:53 PM

:| :| :|

;)

1.57m saltwater crocodile gives golfers a scare and snaps at dog.

http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,5513771,00.jpg

By Nick Calacouras

June 06, 2007 07:35am

IT would have to be the world's most unusual golf trap.

This 1.57m saltwater crocodile was cruising around in the water hazard at Darwin's Gardens Golf Course near the fourth hole yesterday.

The saltie was spotted by children retrieving golf balls from the lake. And it tried to take a bite out of one of the course's resident dogs, Roxy, yesterday afternoon.

Functions manager Lars Holm said the dog went for a swim in the lake when the croc tried to nip the dog.

"It nipped her in the a**e," he said. "I wasn't there, but I heard that she came shooting out of the lake yelping. Of all the places, the croc goes for the butt."

Greenkeeper Damon Wilson said the croc could have been living in the lake for more than a month.

"It could easily just sit in the swampy area for ages," he said.

"There are plenty of fish and mud crabs down there for it to live on."

But Parks and Wildlife senior wildlife officer Tom Nichols said that was unlikely.

"I doubt it has been there that long, because we only started getting phone calls about it today," he said.

Mr Nichols said the croc could have found its own way to the golf course along a tidal drainage channel.

Water for the lake comes from Mindil Beach, which would allow a crocodile to cruise into the golf course.

Golfer Jack Howe retrieved his own ball from the lake's bank yesterday without knowing that there was a croc lurking nearby.

I'm not really fussed, though. He's not going to get much meat off me," he said.

Mr Nichols said golf players were in no real danger.

"If you corner it or step on it, it will certainly bite you, but it wouldn't kill you," he said. "But we can't have it out there for public safety reasons."

Parks and Wildlife rangers last night went to work hunting the croc at the golf-course.

Mr Nichols said Parks and Wildlife officers said it was easier to capture crocs at night.

And he was right. The rangers successfully caught the saltie and will now relocate him.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21858260-17001,00.html

:)

Facta non verba. (Deeds, not words...... Actions speak louder than words.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

06-06-2007, 04:55 PM

:s

Ho-hum..........;)

Jnnifer Aniston and hew new love interest Paul Sculfor

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/06_01/jenniferaREX_468x696.jpg

Revealed: Jennifer Aniston's new boyfriend is an Essex brickie

Last updated at 15:42pm on 6th June 2007

Actress Jennifer Aniston's latest love interest has been revealed as former Essex brickie turned model Paul Sculfor. And he bears a striking resemblance to former husband Brad Pitt.

The pair recently shared a romantic dinner at ritzy Santa Monica restaurant One Pico, where he was seen rubbing her back affectionately, according to US magazine People.

Sculfor, who earned £150 as a brick layer before getting his break as a model, is no stranger to dating high profile women - he counts TV presenter Lisa Snowdon and Lady Victoria Hervey as former flames.

Lady Victoria told the magazine: "He's a lovely guy. A gentleman. Simple things, like opening doors, he does all that. He'll think of the woman before himself."

The 36-year-old, who has the same chiselled features as Pitt, whom Aniston divorced in 2005, has posed for high profile brands including Christian Dior, Jean Paul Gaultier and most recently, Levi.

Until now, Aniston has been single since her split with actor Vince Vaughn in October.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=460301&in_page_id=1773&ico=Homepage&icl=TabModule&icc=picbox&ct=5

:o Inquiring minds simply don't care......;)

(f)

Animadvertistine, ubicumque stes, fumum recta in faciem ferri?

(Ever noticed how wherever you stand, the smoke goes right into your face?)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

06-06-2007, 04:56 PM

:o

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandhealth/gallery/2007/jun/06/fashion?picture=329983582

(f) (f) (f)

Carpe Diem,

SL & WTB (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

06-06-2007, 04:57 PM

:)

Santa Clara County raises rainbow flag to celebrate gay pride month

Article Launched:06/06/2007 01:29:40 AM PDT

Santa Clara County made history Tuesday afternoon when officials celebrated Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Month by raising, for the first time, the movement's rainbow-colored flag at the county government center. For people who feel "like they're not equal members of the community," said Joe Colligan, vice president of San Jose Pride, "for them, the symbolism is great."

Supervisor Ken Yeager, the first openly gay supervisor in the county, was the key supporter behind the flag-raising event, as he was when he was a San Jose city councilman and led the country's 10th-largest city to fly the six-colored flag in front of City Hall in 2001.

Also on Tuesday, the state Assembly passed a bill that would legalize same-sex marriages.

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_6071987

(y) (f) (y) (f) (y)

Aut disce aut discede.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

06-06-2007, 05:00 PM

:| (y) :| (y) :| (y)

Beijing

Food official sentenced to death

China has sentenced the former head of its food and drug agency to death for crimes related to the scandal over tainted pet food. Zheng Xiaoyu, 62, headed the agency from 1998 to 2005. He was convicted of taking bribes worth $850,000 from eight companies in exchange for certifying their faulty products as safe. During his tenure, dozens of people in China died of food/no spamming of other sites/related causes, including at least 13 babies who were fed fake powdered milk. Overseas, American cats and dogs began dropping dead this year from contaminated wheat gluten and rice protein China exported for use in many brands of pet food. The harsh sentence is seen as China’s way of reassuring trade partners that it takes food safety seriously.

http://www.theweekmagazine.com/news/worldataglance.aspx

(y) (y) Pretty severe punishment - but then if it happened HERE in the U.S.?? We could rest assured that our food supply is safe. :|

:@ The punishment should have been to make him eat the pet food......IMHO.

Fac ut vivas.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

06-06-2007, 05:01 PM

:|

On the eve of his last G8 meeting, Tony Blair has made a last-ditch appeal to President Bush to repay Britain's loyalty over Iraq

6 June 2007 11:39

Blair and Bush: the final reckoning

On the eve of his last G8 meeting, Tony Blair has made a last-ditch appeal to President Bush to repay Britain's loyalty over Iraq

By Andrew Grice, Political Editor

Published: 06 June 2007 The London Independent

Tony Blair will make a final appeal to George Bush to repay his loyal support over Iraq by signing up to a firm global target to cut carbon emissions at the G8 summit in Germany starting today.

Three weeks before he stands down as Prime Minister, Mr Blair will join forces with the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, in an attempt to secure a breakthrough in the battle against climate change. They will press a reluctant US president to agree that the world should cut carbon emissions by 50 per cent from 1990 levels by 2050.

Such an outcome from the last international gathering that Mr Blair will attend with President Bush would at last allow him to answer critics who claim he has got little in return for his "shoulder to shoulder" support for the US President, notably on Iraq and other issues related to the "war on terror".

At the summit in Heiligendamm, the Prime Minister will also try to cement another element of his much-vaunted "legacy" - the G8's commitment at the Gleneagles summit two years ago to boost aid to the developing world by $50bn (£26bn) a year by 2010, with half going to Africa. But there are growing fears that countries such as Italy and Canada are backsliding on their commitments. Frantic last-minute talks involving officials from the G8 leading industrial nations took place in Berlin yesterday but the final shape of the crucial decisions will probably go "up to the wire" at the leaders' meeting, which ends on Friday. UK officials said tough negotations lay ahead on global warming and Africa.

As ministers stepped up the pressure on the US to move further on climate change, Downing Street officials admitted there were three sticking points with the US and conceded that Mr Blair may not secure victory on all of them. They insisted that he and Chancellor Merkel were right to "set the bar high" in advance of the meeting even if that led to them being "cruficied" for not achieving all their goals.

Mr Blair believes that Mr Bush made a landmark policy change last week when he committed himself to a long-term worldwide framework to tackle global warming for the first time. But he will press his closest international ally to go further.

The Prime Minister wants the US to endorse a global target for cutting emissions now, rather than leaving a figure to be settled later; to drop the Bush plan for a parallel series of talks involving 15 major polluting countries and instead join the stalled UN-led process involving more than 180 nations for a "son of Kyoto" treaty, and to back a global "cap and trade" emissions scheme that puts a price on carbon.

A No 10 official said Mr Bush's move last week was "a turning point" that would eventually be regarded as a "pivotal moment". But he conceded it was only a first step and further movement was necessary.

Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, admitted yesterday that the climate- change negotiations would be "difficult, fraught and protracted". In a speech to businessmen, she criticised American sceptics who opposed a binding worldwide agreement. "If you believe that climate change will be tackled by anything less than global agreements then you are kidding yourself," she said. "This is a global problem for a globalised economic and political system and it needs a global solution."

David Miliband, the Environment Secretary, speaking in Washington, said the US had much to gain economically and politically from putting itself at the forefront of the battle against climate change. "The big challenges that the world faces cannot be solved by any one country alone but equally none of them will be solved without the United States," he said.

British ministers believe Mr Bush's change of tack could draw India and China into the global talks because it will make it harder for them to "hide behind" America's refusal to act. At the summit, the G8 nations - the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Japan and Russia - will be joined by India, China, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico. Between them, the 13 countries account for 70 per cent of the world's carbon emissions.

Amid fears of a new Cold War, the summit could be overshadowed by growing tensions between the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and both America and Europe.

Mr Blair intends to have a one-to-one meeting with Mr Putin, and his spokesman said: "It is for Russia to decide what sort of relationship it wants. We want a constructive relationship. Politically and economically, Russia has to decide if it shares the values of diplomacy, politics and economics that allow a relationship to develop."

Peter Hain, the Northern Ireland Secretary, said last night: "This is a very dangerous time for the world. President Putin says he is being provoked by the National Missile Defence issue and is threatening a new aggressive stance. Presidents Bush and Putin must not allow a new Cold War to be ignited into a 'hot war'."

The G8 leaders will discuss the stalled talks on a global trade deal, which are vital for the developing world and reach their crunch point in the next few weeks. Peter Mandelson, the EU trade commissioner, urged the leaders to throw their weight behind an agreement. "If we cannot reach a deal on trade today, what chance will we have of reaching collective agreement on the even more difficult issue of climate change tomorrow?" he said.

Pressure groups warned last night that the summit must put an end to backsliding over aid to Africa since Gleneagles. Collins Magalasi, ActionAid spokesman in Heiligendamm, said: "We should be looking at implementation of pledges. Instead we're confronted by reports of scaling back on promises made in Gleneagles. The world's poorest people need immediate action not half measures."

What Blair has done for Bush...

Iraq

Blair gave Bush unquestioning loyalty from first moment Iraq invasion was raised. Stood by him throughout the aftermath of the 2003 invasion despite no WMD being found, and the deaths of 149 British soldiers in the war

Guantanamo Bay

Betrayed the British nationals held without trial at Camp Delta by remaining silent for the first two years. The Prime Minister only called for the camp to be closed in March 2006, after it had been open for four years

Rendition

Blair allowed secret flights from American "black site" prisons to refuel at British airports in the knowledge that prisoners would be tortured, but concealed the information from European investigators

Middle East

PM's support for US policy undermined his position with Palestinians and his desire to be an honest broker. Backed Bush in refusing to demand an immediate ceasefire during the Israeli onslaught in Lebanon last year

Public Opinion

Sacrificed his popularity in the country and provoked hostility within the Labour Party and around the world, to preserve what is seen as a one-sided relationship - summed up in the phrase 'Yo, Blair!'

What Bush has done for Blair...

A Medal

In recognition of Blair's unstinting support for America since 11 September 2001, the PM has been awarded the singular honour of a US Congressional Medal. He has yet to collect it

THE KEY ISSUES

CLIMATE CHANGE

What Blair wants

Tony Blair hopes his final G8 meeting will give a major push forward to efforts to secure a global agreement to tackle climate change. If that happens, he would deserve the credit for putting the issue at the top of the international agenda. But he will need to squeeze firm commitments rather than warm words out of President Bush.

What Bush wants

President Bush has moved to answer his critics by accepting the need for a long-term global framework. But he has not yet committed the US to joining the "son of Kyoto" process led by the United Nations, to a specific worldwide target for cutting emissions or to a global emissions trading scheme.

What Merkel wants

Angela Merkel has put climate change at the top of Germany's agenda during its spell chairing the G8. She has formed a common front with Mr Blair in an attempt to push the US and other reluctant nations towards a new post-2012 global agreement.

Likely outcome

Too close to call. The summit is expected to call for a long-term global framework now that President Bush has gone that far. But the key question is whether it goes further.

AFRICA

What Blair wants

* A reaffirmation of the Gleneagles pledge to double aid to Africa, and new commitments on health and education.

* More African peacekeepers to add to the 15,000 trained after Gleneagles.

* Progress on fairer trade, with greater African access to Western markets, plus a $4bn "aid for trade" package.

What Bush wants

* Technical assistance to strengthen Africa's financial markets.

* Funds to support rural projects, women in business and micro-finance for the poor.

* A $600m increase in spending on education.

What Merkel wants

* More aid from the G8 to improve African infrastructure but more anti-corruption and good governance action from Africa.

* More funds to encourage private investors into Africa.

* A breakthrough in the world trade talks this month.

Likely outcome

UK and US will deliver onaid promises. Rise from Germany, France and Japannot enough to meet commitments.

AIDS

What Blair wants

Tony Blair has said he will press fellow G8 leaders not to backtrack on the commitment they made at their Gleneagles summit two years ago, during which they pledged to ensure universal access to treatment by 2010. He hopes to persuade the summit to approve a series of specific pro

What Bush wants

Bush said he would ask Congress to approve a plan to double US spending on Aids relief to $30bn over the next five years. Campaigners say the commitment falls slightly short of its "fair share" of the Gleneagles goal.

What Merkel wants

Until recently, Germany has adopted a cautious approach based on replenishing the Global Fund. But under pressure from Tony Blair, Chancellor Angela Merkel appears to be moving to a more ambitious position, possibly one that involves a path towards the "universal access" goal.

Likely outcome

A draft communiqué says five million Aids sufferers will receive antiretroviral drugs - half what is needed. But this is expected to be beefed up by G8 leaders.

GLOBAL DIPLOMACY

What Blair wants

* Kosovo: pushing for agreement with Russia on Kosovo independence.

* Darfur: threatening to table UN resolution providing for further sanctions in next few days.

* Zimbabwe: Blair hopes Robert Mugabe's rule will be on G8 agenda.

* Iran: hopes to persuade Russia to toughen UN sanctions.

What Bush wants

* Darfur: has given up on UN and has already ordered more US economic sanctions against Sudan.

* Kosovo: will try to overcome Russian resistance to independence.

* Iran: will allow UN to take the lead while keepingoptions open.

* Missile shield in Europe: will hope to ease Russian concerns.

What Merkel wants

* Darfur: pushing for further UN sanctions against Sudan government.

* Kosovo: wants UN resolution on independence voted on soon.

* Iran: will back tough line on compliance with demand for an end to uranium enrichment before negotiations.

Likely outcome

There will be statements on Darfur, Iran and Kosovo but the final word lies with the UN Security Council.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/article2617436.ece

|-) |-) |-) |-) |-) |-) |-) |-)

Facta non verba. (Deeds, not words...... Actions speak louder than words.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

06-06-2007, 05:02 PM

:)

http://irishtimes.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

(f)

Animadvertistine, ubicumque stes, fumum recta in faciem ferri?

Ever noticed how wherever you stand, the smoke goes right into your face?

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

06-06-2007, 05:03 PM

(l) (f) (l)

The day's best pictures chosen by The Irish Times picture editor.

http://www.ireland.com/focus/images/

(f)

Omnia causa fiunt.

(Everything happens for a reason.)

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)

sweetlady

06-06-2007, 05:07 PM

:s

As mobile use of the Internet takes off, AT&T and other wireless carriers are poised to exert tight control over the mobile Web, putting search giants like Yahoo in an uncharacteristically weak negotiating position.

Search firms fear mobile Web lockout

By Elise Ackerman

San Jose Mercury News

Article Launched: 06/06/2007 01:36:06 AM PDT

It was 2001 and the nation's No. 2 phone company badly needed to boost its Internet cachet. So SBC Communications made a sweetheart deal with Yahoo. In exchange for a co-branded portal featuring Yahoo e-mail and other services, SBC agreed to pay Yahoo a monthly fee "in perpetuity" for each customer who signed up for online access.

Six years later, SBC is no longer desperate. Now called AT&T, it is the biggest phone company in the United States as well as the biggest wireless carrier.

And as mobile use of the Internet takes off, AT&T and other wireless carriers are poised to exert tight control over the mobile Web, putting search giants like Yahoo in an uncharacteristically weak negotiating position.

That's because unlike the regular phone network, the wireless networks are closed. Software that runs on an AT&T phone won't necessarily run on a Verizon phone.

Indeed, neither Google's nor Yahoo's showcase applications for mobile phones are available to Verizon subscribers, the second-biggest wireless company in the United States.

According to the Gartner research group, about five mobile devices will be sold for every PC shipped this year, and the gap is growing. In order for the big Internet companies - Google, Yahoo and Microsoft - to succeed in the mobile future, it's crucial that services such as e-mail, maps and video be available on any device, any network.

But the big three wireless carriers - AT&T, Sprint Nextel and Verizon -

who spend billions of dollars each year on their wireless networks, have no desire to subsidize the success of the big Internet players. They feel they did that with the traditional Web and have no desire to repeat the mistake.

"They don't have any fiber out there. They don't have any wires. They don't have anything," AT&T Chief Executive Ed Whitacre told Business Week in an interview in 2005. "They use my lines for free - and that's bull."

The carriers are saying, "How do we make sure we don't get turned into a dumb pipe," said Sam Jadallah, a venture capitalist with Mohr Davidow Ventures, which has invested in several mobile start-ups that are working with the carriers.

So big that they make even Microsoft look like a mid-size company, the three largest carriers are wielding their considerable clout to make sure top Internet brands don't come between them and their customers.

Among other things, they are protecting the start page on wireless devices so that Internet brands don't end up as a default, in the way they often are on a PC. While AT&T's broadband customers get a portal created by Yahoo as their first choice, wireless customers get MEdia Net, a customizable platform built for AT&T by InfoSpace that includes search.

Carriers in control

Applications from Google, Yahoo and Microsoft can be added, but it can take users a couple of clicks to find them, and they aren't compatible with every phone.

The carriers are also trying to control how ads are displayed on phones. Verizon and T-Mobile, the fourth-largest carrier, have turned to Medio Systems, a Seattle based start-up for search technology. In March, Medio launched a mobile advertising network that matches ads to search queries typed into mobile phones.

The success of Medio, and of a competitor called JumpTap, in doing deals with carriers puts more pressure on the Internet giants, who make most of their money from handling ads on the Internet.

At an investor conference in March, Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt criticized the carriers for "violating the rules of the Internet" by creating "walled gardens," instead of one interoperable network. A day later, Jerry Yang, Yahoo's co-founder, told investors that carriers were "trying to protect and obviously guard their turf."

In an e-mail to the Mercury News, AT&T spokesman Gordon Diamond said there remains a big question of "who will pay to ensure the Internet remains healthy," echoing Whitacre's complaints about how the search firms have prospered at the expense of the carriers, who have to build and maintain huge networks for phone and Internet traffic.

Internet companies have had an easier time striking deals with handset manufacturers, who have agreed to preload applications from the Internet giants on mobile devices, increasing the chance that people will use them when the phones and PDAs hit the U.S. market later this year.

Preloaded apps are "very important," said Phil Holden, director of mobile Web services for Microsoft. "Most normal people are going to get a phone and use what services come with it."

What customers want

Steve Boom, Yahoo's senior vice president of broadband and mobile partnerships, said Yahoo has done more than 80 deals with carriers and devices makers. He predicted the quality of Yahoo's software and the scope of its advertising network will eventually win over the gatekeepers in the United States.

A survey by M:Metrics, a market research firm based in Seattle, indicates that the top Internet brands have a chance to extend their reach to mobile networks. According to M:Metrics, Yahoo is the top mobile Web destination with almost 15 million users in March. AOL and Google had around 8 million users, while MSN had about 7 million.

"We found the largest brands online are the largest brands on mobile," said Jen Wu, an analyst with M:Metrics.

Charles Golvin, an analyst with Forrester Research, said the early days of the mobile Web remind him of the early days of the Internet. "If you think about AOL in 1995, they were in a similar position of power," he said. Like the carriers, AOL controlled its subscribers' experience.

"That broke down because consumers wanted access to the open Internet," Golvin said. "I would argue that the same will happen in mobile."

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_6072098?nclick_check=1

:| Yahoo vetter get on the stick in terms of making some powerful strategic alliances or get bested by the best, AKA google and other even more powerful search engines.

:o One more question to ask a mobile phone service provider - "Which Internet search engines come embedded with my cell telephone?"

:)

Fac ut vivas.

Sweetlady & Wyatt the Boxer (l) (&) (l)