Quotes, URL's, Links And References-by:older Femmes, Butches, Ftms, Mtfs, Queer, Etc. [Archive] - Page 5

sweetlady

03-29-2005, 01:23 PM

In Italy even a congested motorway is fun when you're driving a Ferarri. John Simister takes a spin Published : 29 March 2005

We should be on the autostrada that spears up through Emiglia Romana, near Modena and Ferrari's Maranello home, but we're not. We're on the downward-spearing side, heading in the wrong direction and likely to incur the wrath of those behind the carefully-planned magical mystery tour.

But first drives of Ferraris are always like this. There are route instructions, yes, but they are cryptic to all except those who have planned the route (and know where they are going), and worryingly short on distance information. Is that left turn in one kilometre or 20? And the map is no help; there are more villages in Italy that don't merit a place on a map than almost anywhere else.

We don't care that much, though. We are in a Ferrari F430 Spider, the new, £127,050, open-top version of the F430 Berlinetta that has itself only just arrived in the right-hand drive UK, and our navigational volte-face merely means we'll be in it for longer. Naturally, the roof is stowed, something that takes 20 seconds of finger pressure on a button, and such is the roof's intricate folding regime that the engine, under a transparent cover immediately behind the occupants, remains visible. We have the sight of the engine (what other car in the regular price lists displays its sculpted engine castings so brazenly?) and, with roof down, we can hear the sound by which innocent bystanders are always engulfed.

Who says driving can't be fun any more? Even a congested motorway is fun when you're in Italy and in a Ferrari. These cars aren't seen by sneeringly envious, lip-curling have-nots as playthings of the idle rich, as they too often are in Britain, because where cars are concerned Italy is refreshingly free of such sad souls. Italians celebrate the car, not judge its occupants, and a Ferrari is practically a national treasure.

Let me digress a moment. Several years ago I was in Italy driving the new, previous-generation Maserati Quattroporte for Car magazine. We needed photographs of the Maserati taking a hairpin bend quite quickly, and there was a house on the chosen bend. After I had passed a couple of times, someone came out of the house. This means trouble, I thought. In the UK, this tends to be the prelude to some form of complaint. Next pass, no one was in view. On the way back up again, the Maserati's engine howling encouragingly, the whole family was standing in the garden, cheering. In Italy, people don't feel guilty about enjoying cars.

Back on our autostrada, it helps that our Ferrari is on Prova number plates, the paper plates that say this is a factory test car. Time was when these virtually exempted you from speed limits, and even now they act a bit like a force field. This is just as well, because everyone wants to race our Ferrari. It's as if they want to get so close that they can hear the crackles and screams of the V8 engine as I pull away from another Golf GTI glued to the back bumper only seconds ago.

Like the Berlinetta, this F430 is searingly fast. Its creators say it will pass 193mph, and reach 62mph (the standard benchmark, equating to 100km/h) in 4.1 seconds. But there's more to the pace than these facts. The 4,308cc engine creates up to 490bhp, making it the most efficient naturally-aspirated (neither turbocharged nor supercharged) engine in production in terms of power per litre. It also produces meaningful thrust across its considerable rev range: that max power arrives at a giddy 8,500rpm, but the Ferrari forcefully forges ahead from 3,000rpm and is as well-mannered as you could wish even at 2,000.

Huge power at high revs no longer means an engine dyspeptically burping fuel and flames at low revs, an engine in which you would feed the accelerator in gently otherwise the fire would go out. Thank today's engine management systems for that. The trouble is, such systems work so well that an engine can become characterless, and carmakers then have to identify what gave character to an older engine and add some artificial imperfections.

Before, the way an engine felt and sounded happened through tradition and serendipity but now, like brand values, there's microfine analysis and no scope for risks. It's not "Let's try a straight-through silencer, there's one on the shelf over here", more "We need to tune the Helmholtz resonator in the intake tract and add a fuelling pulse to get that third disharmonic."

Ferrari is a master at this. Like most others, Ferrari uses electronic drive-by-wire throttles which, in theory, open no more than necessary to deliver, within the engine's capability, the acceleration requested by the driver's right foot. But art rules over science in the F430 Spider. Push the pedal a little way at, say, 2,500rpm, and it gathers pace with a deepening burble. Push it hard from the same engine speed, and there's a deep, rattly, cackly throb like that of an old Ford Escort rally car on twin sidedraught Weber carburettors. The throttles have opened wide not for extra acceleration but because it sounds racy. It's a kind of aural vanity.

We're not doing 2,500rpm on the autostrada, though. Rather I'm changing up and down through the gearbox to nudge, frequently, three or more times that engine speed because it sounds so good. The process of gearshifting is a delight, too: this F430, like most, has the optional F1-shift transmission (£6,250) with an upshift paddle, a downshift paddle and no clutch pedal. I have often bemoaned the jerks, pauses and lack of finesse of earlier such systems, but Ferrari has now got it near-perfect, almost as good as VW-Audi's DSG system and probably rather stronger.

The sun is beating down, and the steering wheel tugs gently over changing surfaces and cambers as the aerodynamic downforce builds up, and the road parts like the Red Sea as we howl towards another knot of traffic. My head is starting to hurt. It's that sound. It's fabulous, but there's rather a lot of it. I can't believe I'm saying this, as one who in the distant past put loud exhausts on his old heaps and, before then, cardboard flappers in the spokes of his bicycle wheels, but even though the F430 conforms to EC drive-by noise regulations, those regulations clearly don't cover the way I'm driving. Nor should they, but the Ferrari has actually made the Spider louder than the Berlinetta.

In the car with a solid aluminium roof (the F430 is an all-aluminium structure, by the way), a by-pass valve opens at 4,500rpm, when under load, to cut out part of the silencing system. The V8 can then howl to its heart's content and a CD player is redundant. In the Spider, though, the valve opens at just 3,000rpm and the merest whiff of accelerator movement, so even when you're trying to be discreet you can't help but be the centre of attention.

The solution is to become a drip, and turn the manettino knob on the steering wheel to "wet". This not only makes the traction and stability systems keener to intervene and calms the gearchange speed, it also puts the by-pass valve operation back to how it is in the Berlinetta. I think it would be better to have a separate sound-effects switch, to allow a shrinking-violet mode while still having a good time.

Violets are on our agenda, actually, because it's lunchtime and we're in Parma. This is the fourth, olfactory, "sensory experience" of our tour, with perfume to be sniffed. The first was "sight", which was, yes, seeing the Ferrari at the freezing Palazzo Ducale in Sassuolo where our drive began. The second involved visiting Verdi's house, seeing his pianos and hearing Verdi music; the third was the tasting of culatello, the best Parma ham from perfect pig loins. The fifth, quaintly, is called "tact"; it awaits us at the Galleria Ferrari in Maranello, and involves being blindfolded and guessing the identity of three past open Ferraris by touch. I will get only one of them right (a Dino 246 GTS), to my shame. If you read my report on the original F430, you will know that as well as being ludicrously rapid, it is the most fantastic fun on a sinuous road. Here is where the real sense of touch comes in, as you feel the Ferrari latch into a bend with the massless eagerness that is a mid-engined car's speciality. Then you feel the forces shifting, and then, just as you might expect the combination of power and tail-heaviness to make the force irresistible, you feel the Ferrari's secret weapon come into play - the electronic differential, or E-diff.

It apportions power to whichever rear wheel needs it to maintain the intended course, judged by sensors watching over steering angle, acceleration, lateral G-force and anything else useful. And the great thing about the E-diff is that, unlike a conventional ESP system, which brakes individual wheels to keep you on course, it diverts power to where it is needed instead of inhibiting it, so you don't feel yourself being slowed down. The E-diff works even when all other electronic systems are switched out, although "sport" is the usual setting on the manettino.

Here is a convertible so fast, so hard-edged if you want it to be, and so capable that it transcends normal notions of sybaritism over purity. A true Porsche 911 lover, for example, would never have the convertible, but here it's OK to do so and more than half of F430 buyers probably will. And if you press that button again, the roof emerges from beneath its composite cover, bends and twists and whirrs, and 20 seconds later you have a snug coupé. It works both ways. Some words of aesthetic advice, though. Avoid the carbonfibre garnishment in the cabin; it's too boy-racer and the aluminium alternative is better. Same goes for the optional contrasting stitching on the leather, which just looks cluttered. No gilding is required of this lily.

Any faults' The steering feels a little viscous at low speeds, before freeing up at high speeds. There might be an issue with a rubber grommet through which the steering column passes, and the engineers are looking at it. And there's a loud, insistent, electronic and needless beep whenever you turn the engine off. They're looking at that, too. But neither snag, nor even the rock-concert aural bombardment, stops this being the best convertible in the world.

http://motoring.independent.co.uk/features/story.jsp?story=624373

(*) (*) Zoom, zoom......<grinning> ;) I had a 1981 black T-top corvette back in the 1980's and seemed like everyone wanted to take a drive in it on the backroads around San Francisco, especially routes 92 over to Half Moon Bay and over route 84 from Palo Alto towards La Honda. (h) (h) (h) Aahh! Memories light the corners of my mind.....at a fast speed at that :| :| :|
<silk scarf flowing behind me, and thank goodness for sunglasses> ;)

(f) (f) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-01-2005, 11:04 PM

I Spy a Screw-Up By MAUREEN DOWD

Published: March 31, 2005

WASHINGTON
Like the new Woody Allen movie, "Melinda and Melinda," it is possible to view today's big story on the tremendous intelligence failures before the Iraq war as either comedy or tragedy, depending on how you look at it.

For instance, on the comic side, The Times reported yesterday that administration officials were relieved that the new report by a presidential commission had "found no evidence that political pressure from the White House or Pentagon contributed to the mistaken intelligence."

That's hilarious.

As necessity is the mother of invention, political pressure was the father of conveniently botched intelligence.

Dick Cheney and the neocons at the Pentagon started with the conclusion they wanted, then massaged and manipulated the intelligence to back up their wishful thinking.

As The New Republic reported, Mr. Cheney lurked at the C.I.A. in the summer of 2002, an intimidating presence for young analysts. And Douglas Feith set up the Office of Special Plans at the Pentagon as a shadow intelligence agency to manufacture propaganda bolstering the administration's case.

The Office of Special Plans turned to the con man Ahmad Chalabi to come up with the evidence they needed. The Iraqi National Congress obliged with information that has now been debunked as exaggerated or fabricated. One gem was the hard-drinking relative of a Chalabi aide, a secret source code-named Curveball, who claimed to verify the mobile weapons labs.

Mr. Cheney and his "Gestapo office," as Colin Powell called it, then shoehorned all their meshugas about Saddam's aluminum tubes, weapons labs, drones and Al Qaeda links into Mr. Powell's U.N. speech.

The former secretary of state spent four days and three nights at the C.I.A. before making the presentation, trying to vet the material, because he knew that Mr. Cheney, who had an idée fixe about Saddam, was trying to tap into his credibility and use him as a battering ram.

He told Germany's Stern magazine that he was "furious and angry" that he had been given bum information about Iraq's arsenal: "Some of the information was wrong. I did not know this at the time."

The vice president and the neocons were in a fever to bypass the C.I.A. and conjure up a case to attack Saddam, even though George Tenet was panting to be of service. When Mr. Tenet put out the new National Intelligence Estimate on Oct. 2, 2002, nine days before the Senate vote on the war resolution and after our troops and aircraft carriers were getting into position for battle, there was one key change: suddenly the agency agreed with Mr. Cheney that Iraq was pursuing the atomic bomb.

Charles Robb, the former senator and governor of Virginia, and Laurence Silberman, a hard-core conservative appeals court judge, headed the commission. Unlike Tom Kean, Judge Silberman held secret meetings; he made sure the unpleasantness wouldn't come up until Mr. Bush had won re-election.

It is laughable that the report offers its most scorching criticism of the C.I.A. when the C.I.A. was simply doing what the White House and Pentagon wanted. Isn't that why Mr. Tenet was given the Medal of Freedom? (Freedom from facts.)

The hawks don't want to learn any lessons here. If they had to do it again, they'd do it the same way. The imaginary weapons and Osama link were just a marketing tool and shiny distraction, something to keep the public from crying while they went to war for reasons unrelated to any nuclear threat.

The 9/11 attacks gave the neocons an opening for their dreams of remaking the Middle East, and they drove the Third Infantry Division through it.

The president planned to announce today that he would put into place many of the commission's recommendations, including an interagency center on proliferation designed to play down turf battles among intelligence agencies.
As Michael Isikoff and Dan Klaidman reported in Newsweek, in the three and a half years since 9/11, the intelligence agencies still haven't learned how to share what they know. At the Terrorist Threat Integration Center, the Homeland Security guy complained he was frozen out by the F.B.I. and C.I.A.

Like "Melinda and Melinda," the other side of this wacky saga is deadly serious. There are, after all, more than 1,500 dead American soldiers, Al Qaeda terrorists on the loose and real nuclear-bomb programs in Iran and North Korea that we know nothing about. No laughs there.

(*) (*) good ole Maureen! (*) (*)

(S) (S) (k) (k) Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-01-2005, 11:08 PM

When Google first launched Gmail, the company said it hoped to someday remove entirely the 1 gigabyte ceiling from the service's storage capability. Well, it hasn't done that yet, but it has taken a step in that direction. This morning it doubled Gmail's free storage from 1GB to 2GB. "One gigabyte did seem like a lot, but it turns out there are a lot of heavy users of mail," Georges Harik, Gmail product management director told News.com. "They send attachments, share photos. It all adds up. We wanted to make sure we have a plan in place for when people reach their storage limit. We don't want people to worry that they might run out." And they never will, if Google has its way. With disk capacity fairly inexpensive these days, Google plans to expand Gmail's storage allotment continuously in the coming months. Gmail's move comes just a week after Yahoo quadrupled the size of its free e-mail service to a gigabyte (see "Yahoo raises Me-too-mail storage limit to 1GB") -- one of those "coincidences" that put a certain edge on the Yahoo yodel. "At a certain point beyond 1 gigabyte, it's just a number and becomes irrelevant to most free e-mail users,'' said Karen Mahon, Yahoo spokeswoman. "As an offline analogy: Going beyond a gigabyte for free is like adding a bucket of water into an ocean.'' Well said, Karen. Now how long before Yahoo adds another bucket to its own ocean?

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/11286374.htm

https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin?service=mail&passive=true&continue=http%3A%2F%2Fgmail.google.com%2Fgmail%3Fu i%3Dhtml%26zy%3Dl&ltmpl=wyze&hl=en

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/business/columnists/gmsv/11211227.htm

(*) (*) I have a Gmail account and LOVE it!! A Beta test user recommended me and that's how I got an account. Nice. Talk about HUGE STORAGE CAPACITY.... :| (h) (h)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the very, very handsome Boxer

sweetlady

04-01-2005, 11:09 PM

Q U O T E D

1. When will you take Google Gulp out of beta?
Man, if you pressure us, you just drive us away. We'll commit when we're ready, okay? Besides, what's so great about taking things out of beta? It ruins all the romance, the challenge, the possibilities, the right to explore. Carpe diem, ya know? Maybe we're jaded, but we've seen all these other companies leap headlong into 1.0, thinking their product is exactly what they've been dreaming of all their lives, that everything is perfect and hunky-dory - and the next thing you know some vanilla copycat release from Redmond is kicking their butt, the Board is holding emergency meetings and the CEO is on CNBC blathering sweatily about 'a new direction' and 'getting back to basics.' No thanks, man. We like our freedom.

-- An excerpt from the Google Gulp FAQ

(*) (*) ;) ;)

({) (}) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-01-2005, 11:14 PM

Yahoo the new Google? Surely you can't be serious! I am serious ... and stop calling me Shirley. I think it's a bit premature to hand the search site crown to Yahoo, but Ben Hammersly isn't reluctant. Writing in The Guardian, Hammersly says Yahoo, no longer a dot.has.been, is well on its way to becoming the latest market darling. "This spring has been very strange,'' he wrote. "Google, it seems, has jumped the shark. It has been overtaken, left standing, and not by some new startup of ultra smart MIT alumni or by the gazillions in the Microsoft development budget, but by the deeply unhip and previously discounted Yahoo." Now it's true that Google seems to be suffering a bit of a public opinion backlash, but has it jumped the shark? I don't think so. Not with powerful applications like Google Desktop Search, Google Maps and Google Print coming online. I mean it was only a few days ago that the company rolled out Google Ride Finder, a service that uses realtime GPS information to locate taxis, limousines and shuttles in particular areas (think package tracking for cabs and airport shuttles). These are not the inventions of a company past its prime. And I imagine that will be proven in short order when Yahoo, which has been relentlessly cribbing from the Google play book for years, launches its next "innovation." (To recap, first Yahoo rolled out a Gmail-esque upgrade to its e-mail service, then it launched its version of the Google blog, now it's working on its answer toGoogle's desktop search technology.)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,1448381,00.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jump_the_shark

http://desktop.google.com/

http://maps.google.com/

http://print.google.com/

http://labs.google.com/ridefinder

Very poor wannabe: http://www.ysearchblog.com/

http://www.google.com/googleblog/

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=6681520

http://desktop.google.com/

(*) (*) (l) (l) (l) (l) Hats off to google.com!! (h) (h)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady, the grrl-propeller-head and her handsome Boxer

sweetlady

04-01-2005, 11:15 PM

The Bono, the Torquemada and the 'Fukka'; I'll take one of each The folks over at the Register have managed to come up with one of the best April Fools pieces I've seen in years. Heavens, I wish I'd written this: Apple founder Jobs joins IKEA

http://www.theregister.com/2005/04/01/steve_jobs_joins_ikea/

(*) (*) :o :o :o LMAO........ ;)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-01-2005, 11:18 PM

I just love the way my Cytoskeleton feels when you touch me like that ... About 75 years ago, James Thurber and E.B. White wrote a delightful book that posed the question "Is Sex Necessary?" But for years before that, scientists asked a similar question: Why is sex necessary? Evolutionarily speaking, that is. The process is messy and consumes time and energy, so what's the payoff in the grand scheme of things? For an answer, a research team in New Zealand turned to yeast, which normally reproduces asexually but under certain conditions (candlelight, soft music) can be persuaded to have a yeasty version of sexual congress. Under normal conditions, the scientists found, the sexy and unsexy yeast strains perked along, reproducing at about the same rate. But under the pressure of a harsher, more stressful environment, the sexually reproducing yeast had a substantially better growth rate. So sex is good. But why? "We are still far from a definitive answer to the question of why sexual reproduction is so common," wrote Rolf Hoekstra, a professor of genetics in the Netherlands, in commentary accompanying the research. Despite the new findings, readers are advised not to try the line "It's for the good of the species" when making a booty call.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0892440562/102-7874027-8304128

http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=338792005

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/03/0330_050330_sexevolution.html

(*) (*) Huh? (w) (f) (w) (f) (w) (f) (a) (a)

Peace,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-01-2005, 11:19 PM

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/227808

(*) (*) :| :| :|

(b) (b) , (d) (d) or where's the huge coffee or tea mug? ;)

(k) (k) ,Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-01-2005, 11:22 PM

http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/icopulate.shtml

(*) (*) iCopulate as a product name AND it's been TRADEMARKED????? Somebody has WAY, WAY too much time on their hands or whatever elses they're thinking with. :| :| ;) ;) ;) Even so, it's still geek to me. (l) (l) (l) ;)

(S) (S) Sweet dreams and a delightful night's rest.

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-01-2005, 11:33 PM

and even though I have not been a practicing Catholic since high school in the early 1970's, but a "recovering one" at that. The news about the Pope's grave illness made me feel sad for some odd reason today.

I started thinking about those holy cards that I collected while going to parochial grade school in the 1960's and searched for some vintage ones. It made me feel better to slowly search and find some favorite saints and order s few cards encased in plastic to use as bookmarks for all of those books that I read.

http://www.archangelbooks.com/holy_cards_index.htm

(*) (*) (*) Some REALLY old holy cards:

http://www.comeandseeicons.com/index.html

(*) (*) (*) I thought this one of Mary Magdelene was just beautiful:

http://www.comeandseeicons.com/cw50.htm

(*) (*) okay, I don't want to wear out a welcome here..... ;) Have a wonderful weekend.......we're getting rain right now and through all weekend with flooding.......thank goodness I drove out and did so many errands today including getting Doc's special food at the oncologist's. Long ride on back roads and we both really enjoyed it as a relaxing afternoon with no deadlines at all in sight. What a lovely change that was! (f) (f) (f) (f) (f) (f) (f)

Peace, love and God/dess bless
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-01-2005, 11:42 PM

Cheney's Daughter Says She'll Write a Memoir

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and EDWARD WYATT
[]
Published: March 30, 2005

Mary Cheney, the daughter and campaign manager of Vice President Dick Cheney whose identity as a lesbian became an issue in the presidential campaign, has sold the rights to a memoir to Simon & Schuster for an advance of about $1 million, according to two people involved in the negotiations.

Ms. Cheney declined to speak about her personal life or opinions before the election, but many others brought up the issue.

Gay men and lesbians organized "Dear Mary" letter-writing campaigns imploring her to denounce President Bush's call for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. During the Republican convention, Alan Keyes, the conservative commentator and candidate, called her a "selfish hedonist." And the Democratic presidential candidate, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, brought up her sexual identity in a presidential debate, drawing fierce criticism from her mother, Lynne Cheney, and the family's political allies.
In a statement on Tuesday, Ms. Cheney said she looked forward to writing about her experience.

"The first time I campaigned with my father I was 8 years old," she said. "I've been involved with campaigns as a family member, a staffer, and though I certainly never intended it, as a political target for the other side. It's been an amazing experience - uplifting, frustrating, educational and always entertaining."

Simon & Schuster said Ms. Cheney's memoir was the first book planned in a new line of titles about conservative politics and current events, overseen by Mary Matalin, a political consultant and close adviser to the Cheney family. Ms. Matalin was not involved in making the book deal, she and others said.

Robert Barnett, a Washington lawyer with a sideline making book deals for political figures like former President Bill Clinton and Karen P. Hughes, a Bush adviser, circulated to several publishers a proposal Ms. Cheney had written.

"We had several attractive offers," said Mr. Barnett, who had also negotiated Ms. Matalin's arrangement with Simon & Schuster. "In the end, Mary Cheney found great advantage to working with her old friend Mary Matalin."

People familiar with the proposal said Ms. Cheney promised fly-on-the-wall accounts of her father's campaigns and a portrait of the vice president different from his public persona.

Carolyn Reidy, president of adult books at Simon & Schuster, said Ms. Cheney's book would be not only an account of the campaigns by a singularly highly placed insider but also "about her own role, about being thrust into the spotlight unwanted and her opinions about that."
Simon & Schuster said it expects to publish the memoir in May 2006, two years before Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney leave office.
Ms. Matalin said Ms. Cheney felt she could speak out now.

"She had to remain reticent and her parents had to remain very reticent until the 2004 campaign was over because she had a job to do. We all had jobs to do," Ms. Matalin said. "But she is highly articulate and opinionated and interesting, and she thinks for herself and wants to say it in her own words."

Although Ms. Cheney has never spoken publicly about her views of the Bush administration's embrace of a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, her parents have said they disagree with the proposal.

A spokeswoman for the vice president declined to comment on the book deal on Tuesday. Ms. Matalin said Ms. Cheney had spoken to her parents in detail about her plans for the book before selling the rights. "They were very supportive," Ms. Matalin said.

Ms. Matalin herself has been associated with the Republican Unity Coalition, a group of gay and straight Republicans who hoped to make the party more welcoming to gay men and lesbians. Her friends said she privately opposed a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, although Ms. Matalin has also never commented publicly on that.

On Tuesday Ms. Matalin said she hoped Ms. Cheney's memoir would further her efforts to make her new imprint, Threshold, reflect what she sees as the changing nature of the conservative movement.

"I am doing a handful of books that reflect the breadth of conservatism today," Ms. Matalin said, "and I think she represents that, and she represents it beyond the narrow casting of 'she is a gay Republican.' "

(*) (*) If she had announced THIS BEFORE the 2004 election - we might have (probably not since she's only one person), but who knows? we might have had a different outcome. I don't plan on buying or reading it. Maybe I'll take the time to read a review by a credible book reviewer. :( :( Or not. ;) ;)

(S) (S) Truly, madly, deeply.....off to bed. (not off the edge.....<grinning> I'm really tired.....I guess that chamomile tea worked its magic.

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-02-2005, 09:58 AM

http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/documentazione/documents/santopadre_biografie/giovanni_paolo_ii_biografia_breve_en.html

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

(f) (f) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-02-2005, 09:59 AM

MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER
JOHN PAUL II

FOR THE 39th WORLD COMMUNICATIONS DAY

"The Communications Media: At the Service of Understanding Among Peoples"

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

1. We read in the Letter of Saint James, "From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so" (Jas 3:10). The Sacred Scriptures remind us that words have an extraordinary power to bring people together or to divide them, to forge bonds of friendship or to provoke hostility.

Not only is this true of words spoken by one person to another: it applies equally to communication taking place at any level. Modern technology places at our disposal unprecedented possibilities for good, for spreading the truth of our salvation in Jesus Christ and for fostering harmony and reconciliation. Yet its misuse can do untold harm, giving rise to misunderstanding, prejudice and even conflict. The theme chosen for the 2005 World Communications Day - "The Communications Media: At the Service of Understanding Among Peoples" - addresses an urgent need: to promote the unity of the human family through the use made of these great resources.

2. One important way of achieving this end is through education. The media can teach billions of people about other parts of the world and other cultures. With good reason they have been called "the first Areopagus of the modern age . . . for many the chief means of information and education, of guidance and inspiration in their behaviour as individuals, families, and within society at large" (Redemptoris Missio, 37). Accurate knowledge promotes understanding, dispels prejudice, and awakens the desire to learn more. Images especially have the power to convey lasting impressions and to shape attitudes. They teach people how to regard members of other groups and nations, subtly influencing whether they are considered as friends or enemies, allies or potential adversaries.

When others are portrayed in hostile terms, seeds of conflict are sown which can all too easily escalate into violence, war, or even genocide. Instead of building unity and understanding, the media can be used to demonize other social, ethnic and religious groups, fomenting fear and hatred. Those responsible for the style and content of what is communicated have a grave duty to ensure that this does not happen. Indeed, the media have enormous potential for promoting peace and building bridges between peoples, breaking the fatal cycle of violence, reprisal, and fresh violence that is so widespread today. In the words of Saint Paul, which formed the basis of this year’s Message for the World Day of Peace: "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Rom 12:21).

3. If such a contribution to peace-making is one of the significant ways the media can bring people together, its influence in favour of the swift mobilization of aid in response to natural disasters is another. It was heartening to see how quickly the international community responded to the recent tsunami that claimed countless victims. The speed with which news travels today naturally increases the possibility for timely practical measures designed to offer maximum assistance. In this way the media can achieve an immense amount of good.

4. The Second Vatican Council reminded us: "If the media are to be correctly employed, it is essential that all who use them know the principles of the moral order and apply them faithfully" (Inter Mirifica, 4).

The fundamental ethical principle is this: "The human person and the human community are the end and measure of the use of the media of social communication; communication should be by persons to persons for the integral development of persons" (Ethics in Communications, 21). In the first place, then, the communicators themselves need to put into practice in their own lives the values and attitudes they are called to instil in others. Above all, this must include a genuine commitment to the common good - a good that is not confined by the narrow interests of a particular group or nation but embraces the needs and interests of all, the good of the entire human family (cf. Pacem in Terris, 132). Communicators have the opportunity to promote a true culture of life by distancing themselves from today’s conspiracy against life (cf. Evangelium Vitae, 17) and conveying the truth about the value and dignity of every human person.

5. The model and pattern of all communication is found in the Word of God himself. "In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son" (Heb 1:1). The Incarnate Word has established a new covenant between God and his people - a covenant which also joins us in community with one another. "For he is our peace, who has made us both one, and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility" (Eph 2:14).

My prayer on this year’s World Communications Day is that the men and women of the media will play their part in breaking down the dividing walls of hostility in our world, walls that separate peoples and nations from one another, feeding misunderstanding and mistrust. May they use the resources at their disposal to strengthen the bonds of friendship and love that clearly signal the onset of the Kingdom of God here on earth.

From the Vatican, 24 January 2005, the Feast of Saint Francis de Sales

JOHN PAUL II

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/messages/communications/documents/hf_jp-ii_mes_20050124_world-communications-day_en.html

(f) (f) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

04-02-2005, 04:19 PM

Subject: Cost of Gas

Thought all of you would enjoy this as much as I did! Gives you
something to think about!!! Just a little humor to help ease the pain of
your next trip to the pump...

Compared with Gasoline

Think a gallon of gas is expensive?

This makes one think, and also puts things in perspective.

Diet Snapple 16 oz $1.29 ....... $10.32 per gallon

Lipton Ice Tea 16 oz $1.19 ...........$9.52 per gallon

Gatorade 20 oz $1.59 ...... $10.17 per gallon

Ocean Spray 16 oz $1.25 . $10.00 per gallon

Brake Fluid 12 oz $3.15 . $33.60 per gallon

Vick's Nyquil 6 oz $8.35 .... $178.13 per gallon

Pepto Bismol 4 oz $3.85 ..... $123.20 per gallon

Whiteout 7 oz $1.39 ......... . $25.42 per gallon

Scope 1.5 oz $0.99 ......$84.48 per gallon

And this is the REAL KICKER...

Evian water 9 oz $1.49..........$21.19 per gallon?! $21.19 for WATER -
and the buyers don't even know the source. (Evian spelled backwards is
Naive.)

So, the next time you're at the pump, be glad your car doesn't run on
water, Scope, or Whiteout, o r God forbid Pepto Bismal or Nyquil.

Just a little humor to help ease the pain of your next trip to the
pump...

(*) (*) :o :o ;) ;)

(l) (l) (l) (l) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-05-2005, 02:42 PM

Inkjet printer ink! It works out to about $400 a gallon. No joke. and
you will not hear this from H-P or Epson, but you can work it out.

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

04-05-2005, 02:44 PM

http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/documents/index_photo-travels_en.html#top

(l) (l) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-05-2005, 02:45 PM

You are about to visit the "Redemptoris Mater" Chapel of our Holy Father John Paul II.

The chapel is precious to the Holy Father as it is used during his annual spiritual retreats as well as for the homilies given during Advent and Lent. The chapel was completely redone with over 600 square meters of mosaics on the walls and ceilings as a gift to the Holy Father for his 50th anniversary of ordination to priesthood. It was designed to incorporate the theological essence of both the west and east, the "two lungs" of the Church.

The visit will take you into the chapel to see the mosaics and to understand the meaning of different events of Christ's life represented in them.

This project will be presented in two phases: the first phase coincides with the Holy Father's 25th Anniversary of His Pontificate, October 2003, and the second phase will begin in December 2003. .

First, choose the version best for your computer and connection based on the technical indications below. Click on the chapel after the introduction finishes.

LEGEND icon Once inside the site, click the "Legend" icon to see the different modes of exploring the site. .

http://www.vatican.va/redemptoris_mater/index_en.htm

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

Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-05-2005, 02:47 PM

www.cnn.com

then click on Interactive: The pope in life

Wonderful presentation. I'd love to figure out how to save it. I'll keep working on that. ;)

Respectfully,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-05-2005, 02:48 PM

Subject: Tell your friends: $82 billion more for Iraq

Dear friend,

Congress has barely debated the war in Iraq or its aftermath since it voted to authorize the use of force in October 2002. Now, the Bush administration is skipping the normal budget process to ask for an additional $82 billion to fund the American presence in Iraq. Among the big-ticket items, a $600 million embassy and some 14 "enduring" bases. Those bases, and the absence of an exit strategy, will worsen, not improve the situation in Iraq.

And, remember the last $87 billion Congress authorized for the war: a whopping $9 billion of it is missing because of corrupt contracting. We must root out the corporate corruption that has undercut the rebuilding efforts and lost billions of taxpayers' money.

Join me in signing this petition to insist that America has an exit strategy from Iraq with a timeline, that we do not construct permanent bases in Iraq and that we end war profiteering by corporations.

http://www.moveonpac.org/iraq/

Thanks!

******************

(k) (k) .
SL

sweetlady

04-05-2005, 02:49 PM

Cannibal Flesh Donor Program:

http://www.fleshdonor.org/

****************************************

Don't be wearin' no BSD shirts in Texas, if'n you know what's good for ya:

http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/jokes/new89/satan.773.html

*******************************************

Drumhead:

http://www.muratnkonar.com/id/drumhead/index.shtml

*****************************************

Liquid Optical USB "Ducky" Mouse

http://www.controlled-insanity.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=84

************************

;) ;) (h) (h)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-05-2005, 02:51 PM

Monday, April 4, 2005 Posted: 8:31 PM EDT (0031 GMT)

Your e-mails: North America

(CNN) -- CNN.com asked its readers to share their views on the death of Pope John Paul II, who died Saturday. Here is a sampling from thousands of responses, some of which have been edited:

I think he was a saint in the making. Twenty-three years ago my daughter was in her second bout with cancer. We were granted an audience with the pope and he blessed her. Her cancer is gone and she has been in remission for 20 years. He truly was/is a saint.
Paul Dombrosky; Honolulu, Hawaii

I think it is a great loss for the world. He was a person that cared very much for everybody. Seeing him was the most wonderful experience I had in my life. Rest in peace.
Ada Chang; El Salvador

Pope John Paul II was one of the most influential people in the church and the world that I have ever known. It is amazing to see such a great person loved by all, even those who are not of this faith. He has been an inspiration to us all and has affected us in more than one way. His constant push for peace in the world has touched me, especially being in the Air Force.
Kevin Hooper; Elkridge, Maryland

In 1989, the pope came to Iceland, while I was stationed there with my family. While he was visiting, my wife gave birth to our fifth child, and we named him John-Paul. At the same time, my oldest son, who was 9, got the privileged opportunity to receive his first holy communion from the pope. I will always hold a special place in my heart for him.
Bruce Nance; Mansfield, Pennsylvania

When many people looked to the power of arms and the overtaking of other countries or people, the pope showed a world a peace that could not be duplicated. He showed a strength that few have by simply following his faith. As a man of God, he led others by example, even forgiving a man who tried to take his life. He ruled no country, but had the world follow him. He will be missed by more people than just one particular faith.
Wayne Peterson; Gray, Tennessee

Pope John Paul II [was] the only pope I remember. I was 12 when he became pope, and he is part of the reason I came back into the Catholic Church about five years ago. His death affected me more than I ever thought it would. In many ways, I felt I had lost a close family member. My thoughts and prayers are with him, and I know that he has been received into the loving arms of God. What a truly holy man he was.
Donna; Henderson, Kentucky

As a non-Catholic, I have deep admiration for Pope John Paul II. He was a "humble giant" who reached out to all people of all faiths. He was a champion of peace, a symbolic gesture of good will, and his legacy will redefine the Catholic Church for years to come. His death has brought a level of sadness unknown to me before. I only hope and pray that his successor continues to make efforts to reach out to all of humanity.
Phil Harris; Fort Washington, Maryland

John Paul II was the embodiment of the Vicar of Christ. He answered only to Jesus. He was not swayed by public opinion or the opinion of world leaders. He stood for truth at all times. His consistent stand for life included the unborn, starving children, workers, families, students, the elderly, the infirm and even condemned prisoners. Truth does not vary over time, neither did John Paul's moral teaching. He was an inspiration to all. As a Polish-American I lost not only my Holy Father but a fellow Pole as well. John Paul II acted with the Lord to free Europe from Soviet enslavement, yet that is not his greatest achievement. His example of what one man can do with faith in Jesus is his lasting gift to humanity.
Mark Stepien; Dearborn Heights, Michigan

Although I am not a Catholic, I was deeply moved by the tributes and remembrances that were given for the pope. Rarely do you find religious leaders who are truly of their faith and not their finances. The pope was a great leader and man. All religious leaders should pattern themselves behind him.
Rose; Asbury Park, New Jersey

It is with a heavy heart that I bid farewell to the leader of my faith, and the most inspirational man of my time. Pope John Paul II was a man of peace and love. Let his message and teachings not be in vain, let us continue to work on his mission of acquiring world peace. God bless, may you rest in eternal peace.
Tammy Dixon; Scarborough, Canada

I am not Catholic, but I am truly saddened by the passing of Pope John Paul II. He was a beautiful, caring and loving man. The fact that so many millions around the world are mourning him, that alone tells of the impact that he had on so many lives. It will be hard to fill his shoes. Goodnight, Sir.
Sonya Kidd; Niagara Falls, Canada

I had the opportunity to see Pope John Paul II in his visit to El Salvador. I was about 12 years old at that time and I will never forget what I felt when I saw him. I could feel an enormous peace in my heart, a notable and uncontrollable happiness lay between the hearts that saw him. A man that has changed my way of seeing things. Because people like him make better persons. He has now left us, but his legacy will always be carried and practiced. We will always remember Pope John Paul II and how he has reunited with God, I'm sure he is so happy right now. Rest in peace holy man. El Salvador, Central America, will carry you in our hearts forever.
Alejandra; San Salvador, El Salvador

Pope John Paul II was the constant force of good in my adult life. He helped me to grow closer to my adopted church and learn more about what it means to be a servant of God. He showed that it is possible to stand for what is right, even when it's not popular, and even dangerous. He was beyond anything I could have imagined a pope would be when he took office. He not only had the charisma that everyone is talking about now, but also he had immense courage and vision. There may be other good, even great popes, but there will never be another like him.
Peggy Wickham; Raleigh, North Carolina

John Paul II the great! The pope that is king of hearts. A man that walked the steps of a saint, that rode to countries to unite people. ... We weep though he does not want it, for his godly aura and loving heart were always at hand. My beloved pope who loved my country Mexico. [It] is the greatest loss on Earth since Jesus himself died.
Mina Diaz de Rivera; Dana Point, California

I am Catholic. I have drifted away from the church because of profound disagreements with some of the its positions, but today I grieve. I grieve deeply for a brother of the human family. The world has lost a champion against injustice, who preached about the power of love and compassion and brought us hope.
Kees van Beelen; Pembroke, Bermuda

It's hard not to have great respect for anyone who stays with their beliefs for more than 80 years of life. The world needs more charismatic people who stand up for morality. With that kind of marketing there is a little less suffering in the world. Hopefully the next pope will be just as outgoing to fight against hunger, poverty, war and overall human suffering.
Christine Dumouchelle; Atlanta, Georgia

I was not even 2 years old when I met Pope John Paul II. I am from Newfoundland, and the pope had a Mass in a large field in St. John's. People had to be invited to receive Eucharist from the pope, and my parents were invited because of their work with our church. As my father walked up to receive the Eucharist, I was in his arms and as the pope gave my father Eucharist, he saw me and touched my face. Although I do not remember this, to know I was touched by this great man makes me feel special. He was an incredible man and our faith, and the world, has lost a great leader.
Daniel Furey; St. John's, Canada

I'm not a Catholic. To be candid, I'm not a religious person even remotely. And yet when I see this person, the Pope John Paul II, I've but an abiding respect and admiration for what he did for all of us and what he stood for. His parting gift to the world now, it seems, is a legacy the Catholic governance at the Vatican would find difficult to ignore now that the world has tasted the finest that a pope can deliver and stand for.
Saumen Sengupta; Utica, New York

A saint has passed among us. Yet I will echo a California man's regret that this great but conservative pope missed the opportunity to modernize the Catholic religion. J.P. II had the unique charisma and respected authority to accede women to priesthood and administrative command positions. May his successor pick up that task.
Fred J. Gauthier; Miami, Florida

His face in death did show the pain he went through, sacrificing and suffering in full acceptance, in total obedience to God's will. He might have, in his wisdom and in his beautiful heart wanted to show us that we too mortals can also choose to nobly embrace death, in humble reflection of our Christ's chalice of agony. Farewell and Godspeed our most beloved holy father Pope John Paul II. We know in our hearts that we have one more saint in heaven who will pray and intercede for us.
Celia Rivera; Dallas, Texas

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/04/03/feedback.north.america/index.html

(*) (*) HIs Holiness certainly is the leader of the whole pack in my view and with all respect. (f) (f) (f) (f)

({) (}) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-05-2005, 02:53 PM

Touched my heart........

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/interactive/world/0504/gallery.pope.travels/01.new.york.ap.jpg

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/interactive/world/0504/gallery.pope.travels/02.india.ap.jpg

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/interactive/world/0504/gallery.pope.travels/03.san.francisco.ap.jpg

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/interactive/world/0504/gallery.pope.travels/04.poland.ap.jpg

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/interactive/world/0504/gallery.pope.travels/05.south.africa.ap.jpg

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/interactive/world/0504/gallery.pope.travels/06.kenya.ap.jpg

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/interactive/world/0504/gallery.pope.travels/07.brazil.ap.jpg

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/interactive/world/0504/gallery.pope.travels/09.jordan.ap.jpg

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/interactive/world/0504/gallery.pope.travels/10.jerusalem.ap.jpg

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/interactive/world/0504/gallery.pope.travels/11.portugal.ap.jpg

(*) (*) (f) (f) (f) (f) (f) (f)

God/dess Bless,
Sweetlady and Dco the Boxer

sweetlady

04-05-2005, 02:57 PM

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Thursday, February 10, 2005

Victim Soul: What Pope John Paul II Is Teaching Us Through His Suffering.

PEGGY NOONAN

I have been thinking about John Paul II. Everyone has, I suppose.
The pope yesterday missed Ash Wednesday services at the Vatican.
This after a recent hospitalization.

Ash Wednesday reminds Catholics that we will leave this world some
day, that from dust we came and to dust we will return. We are
asked to renew our spiritual lives, to give up some small pleasure
and give that sacrifice to God, at least until the spring, and
Easter.

The pope's long physical decline is part of a long goodbye that
carries within it meaning. I want to talk at some length about how
some see that meaning, and about how I saw John Paul 18 months ago.

After seeing him I thought: I saw a saint at sunset. It was
actually early morning, 7:30 a.m. according to my notes, on July 2,
2003. A brilliant morning in the middle of the worst Roman heat
wave in a century. The city was quiet, the streets soft with the
heat. Hundreds of us had gathered in the Piazza Del Suffizo, in the
shadow of Bernini's colonnad, the marble columns that curve
outward around St. Peter's Square. The breeze was warm, the
pounding heat gathering, and we fanned ourselves with thin green
Papal Audience tickets. The crowd was happy--chirping nuns,
clicking tourists.

We were about to see the pope at his weekly audience. Among us: A
group of deaf Italian adults in white baseball caps, with silk
Vatican flags--green, gold and white--tied around their necks.
Members of a choir from the Archdiocese of St Louis. A group of
nuns from the Little Mission for the Deaf in Bologna, Italy. There
was a man from Monterrey, Mexico, with his wife and two children.
As the crowd grew we were pressed close, and began talking as if we
knew each other.

"Why are you here?" I asked.

"To see the pope," said the man from Monterrey. "He is the most
important Christian in the world. He is the follower of Christ."
When minutes later I read the quote back to him from my notebook he
edited it. "He is the most important person in the whole world."

I talked to a woman with a hat made of hay. Spiky yellow straw
actually, the brim down to shade her face. She was wearing a big
white clamshell suspended from a necklace. She was 45 or 50 and
looked like pictures of the older, weathered Greta Garbo. She told
me she was on a pilgrimage. She had walked hundreds of miles in a
tour of Marian sites. She and her husband--bearish, gray-bearded--
had departed upper Austria in May, and had arrived the preceding
day, July 1. They had walked on highways and small roads. She
showed me her diary of the pilgrimage; in neat, clear script she
had documented every church they had seen along the way. Her
husband had drawn pictures of cathedrals in blue ballpoint ink. He
had taken snapshots of little chapels and pasted them in the diary.
"Here," she said to me. She pointed to a page on which she had
drawn her feet after six weeks of walking. They are comic line
drawings of angular feet bruised by exaggerated calluses. Next to
them she drew the lotions and bandages she had put upon the wounds.
They had gone to mass every day of their journey, she said. And why
had they come here?

"Why? To see il Papa!" She gestured as if to say: This is the
culmination.

We filed through metal detectors that did not seem to work--no
beeping or bopping, no one watching things closely--and were
directed through a paved area just off St Peter's square. (Later,
when I would return to it, a young priest would tell me, "We think
he may have been crucified just under here." I shook my head. "St.
Peter. It may have been just about here, down there." And he
pointed at the pavement.) We entered the Paul VI Audience Hall, an
enormous concrete structure, cavernous and modern, like a big
suburban evangelical church. Rows of fixed seats were pointed
toward the stage. People were filing in single file and in groups,
hundreds of them, then thousands. I walked among them and heard the
language of France, England, Mexico, Austria, the Czech Republic.
There were groups from West Africa, Germany, Poland, Scotland,
Portugal and Brazil. A Romanian chorus of middle-aged women began
to sing softly in their seats. When they finished, a choir from
Bialystok, Poland, 30 young women and men, began to sing lustily.

Suddenly there was a rustling up front. Dozens of African women
danced in, laughing and clapping in floor-length white cotton
dresses. On the hems were sewn the words "Archdiocese of Freetown,"
Sierra Leone. They sat next to Catholic school children from
Rwanda, who were clapping and shaking tambourines.

I thought: The whole church is here.

The room rocked. Cheering here, drums there, an American spiritual
crooned somewhere in the back. The choruses would pick up each
other's sound, so that a group from Santo Domingo would sing, and
as they finished a young male choir from Poland, in white tie and
tails, would take up the song, and then as they finished a group of
American Indians--in native dress and full headdresses they looked
like beautiful peacocks--would break into native drums. I thought
the disparate but unified members of the audience, as they echoed
and supported each other, were like a living symbol of the church
every day in the world.

Something came alive on the stage. Two Swiss guards in their
purple-and-orange uniforms, big red plumes on their black helmets,
entered the stage and stood erect in the middle, with metal staffs.
The audience began to applaud.

Then a flurry of cardinals and bishops in black, with red and
purple sashes. Then two papal chamberlains in white tie and tails.

We looked to the left of the stage. There was movement. It was him,
the pope--20 minutes early. The woman next to me, a regular
audience-goer, laughed. "When he's ready, he's ready these days,"
she yelled to me over the noise.

The pope was rolled onto the stage. He was seated in a brown wooden
chair that rested within some kind of wooden rig on little wheels.
They pushed him forward slowly. It was like a wheel-throne; it was
like the kind of big wooden roller they use to get something off
the top shelf at Home Depot. It looked both practical and absurd.

He was dressed all in white, bent forward in his chair. White
surplice, white beanie, white gold-fringed sash. As the wheel-
throne reached the center of the stage a scrum of aides and
cardinals surrounded his chair. They helped him to his feet, helped
him gain balance, helped transfer him to a white upholstered high-
backed chair. Then they turned it toward the audience.

He looked out at us. We looked back at him. His face was--oh, his
face!

I thought of the little girl on John Paul's last trip to Canada,
two years before. She was a child, 6 or so, and she had it in her
head that the pope was the best person in the world. So her parents
brought her to a big outdoor mass, and she was chosen to give him
flowers. She walked up to him with her little bouquet and held it
toward him. He leaned his upper body toward her in his chair. Then
she turned and ran sobbing from the stage with what seemed like
panic. Because he was old and his head was big and his neck and
back were curled and the effort to lift his head so you can see his
face draws his features down, and the Parkinsonian mask that
freezes his face makes him look angry, or ill-meaning, or sad. So
the poor girl ran.

Now the crowd took to its feet and the applause was continuous. But
it was muted somehow, not full of joy as the crowd had been before
the audience had begun. His cassock was too short--six inches off
the floor. We could see his white cotton sport socks. We could see
his worn brown shoes. This is a pontiff who wears old loafers, like
a working man, like a regular man, and not the traditional silk
slippers of a pope.

"We love you, Papa!" someone called out. "We love you, Holy
Father."

He lifted his head with effort. We took our seats. Suddenly I
realized the purpose of a Vatican announcement that had been issued
the week before, when I had just arrived in Rome. The Holy Father,
the press office said, would not go hiking in the hills this summer
as he had in the past, but instead would work through his vacation
writing a memoir of his early years. Rome buzzed; how amazing that
the old man would produce a book on his time off. What they didn't
notice, what had been cleverly obscured by the announcement, is
that the pope's legs don't work anymore. Of course he isn't hiking.

When I mentioned this later to a priest in Rome, he laughed. He
told me John Paul has grown sensitive about speculation regarding
his illnesses, and had recently groused, half comically, to an
American cardinal, "Tell those American journalists the pope
doesn't run the church with his feet."

The pope read to us from remarks typed on white letter-size paper.
His voice was blurry and thick. The papers trembled in his hand. He
spoke in Italian. The thin-necked microphone was sensitive; we
could hear him breathe between the sentences. People in the
audience became distracted. Then the pope spoke in Polish and his
voice became stronger, and even though most of the people in the
audience didn't understand what he was saying they quieted, and
leaned forward.

He had a bad tremor in his left arm. During the translation he
leaned his head and rested his chin on his left hand, in an attempt
to control the tremor.

Then the pope cleared his throat and spoke in English. But the only
words I could make out were, "the spirit of the Beatitudes." Later
I read the Associated Press report of the pope's message. He had
spoken of Psalm 145, which he called "a song of praise for the
morning." It ends, he said, "in a proclamation of the sovereignty
of God over human history." It reminds us, he said, that "the Lord
shall reign forever."

Schoolchildren from Santo Domingo cheered the old chant: Juan
Pablo, Segundo, el padre de el mundo.

He raised his right hand to acknowledge the chants. The playfulness
of the past--the way he used to wave with both hands, up and down,
and say "Woo woo!" to the children who cheered him in New York and
Chicago so long ago--is not possible to him any more.

And yet as I watched him I realized I did not see him as ill and
frail. I saw him as encased--trapped in there, in an outer
immobility. And yet inside he is still John Paul.

I thought: he is a victim soul. His suffering has meaning.

He is teaching us something through his pain.

He sang to us a little at the end, like an old man sitting in the
sun. Most of us couldn't tell the words or the tune but he was
doing it for us, and there was something so beautiful and moving in
it. I turned to a friend. "We are hearing a saint singing," I said.
I breathed it in, let the sound enter my ears. I wanted to put my
hands over them and hold the sound in my head. Then John Paul made
the sign of the cross. The cardinals came and knelt before him and
kissed his hand. A group of American Indians mounted the stage to
kneel before him. Dozens of newly-wed couples in gowns and tuxedoes
mounted the stage two by two to receive his blessing. Then the sick
--children rolled out onto the stage in hospital beds, people in
wheelchairs.

I always get the feeling with John Paul that if he could narrow
down who he meets and blesses to those he likes best it would not
be cardinals, princes or congressmen but nuns from obscure convents
and Down syndrome children. Especially the latter. Because they
have suffered, and because in some serious and amazing way they
understand more than most people. Everyone else gets tied up in
ambition and ideas and bustle, but the modest and limited are able
to receive this message more deeply and openly: God loves us, his
love is all around us, he made us to love him and play with him and
serve him and be happy.

I know a woman who once worked with the retarded. The Down syndrome
children would ask her to comb her long blond hair, and then they'd
get lost in it, lost in the beauty of it. They touched it and
patted it and walked through it like curtains. It takes a kind of
spiritual genius to know a hunk of long blond hair is heaven. They
knew. The pope knows they know.

And then the audience was over. The scrum of handlers and Cardinals
descended again and surrounded the pope. They hauled him up, helped
him transfer from the white chair back to the wheel throne. And
then they began to push him off the stage. He turned to us, raised
his right hand and made a halting sign of the cross. And then the
Poles in the audience broke into the song that went back to the
beginning, the authentic sound of 25 years ago, when John Paul
first walked onto the Vatican balcony and looked out at the world.
They had sung it for him at every stop along the way of his long
papacy, through good times and bad. "Stolat! Stolat! May you live
a hundred years."

I stayed until the very end, two hours. Then I turned to see all
the people standing behind me, to see their faces so I could
describe them someday. And I was taken aback.

Because they were gone. Most of them, two-thirds, had already left.
They were gone before the pope had even left the stage. As if
they'd had their ticket punched--I saw the old guy--and were on
their way next to see the cats in the Coliseum.

His whole life is a goodbye tour now. He knows they come to see him
in part because they want to be able to say, "I saw John Paul the
Great." And so there is around him a sense of inescapable twilight.

An explosion of joy and sadness will mark his passing. Joy because
it is time now for a younger man to put his stamp upon the age.
Sadness because he isa giant, the last pope of the old age. And
something else. After him the real modern world begins, the new
one, the post-9/11 one, and all will be in play. He was the last
fruit of the old world. His presence was definite and dense as the
Vatican itself.

His suffering is his witness. It has a purpose. It is telling us
something. Yesterday, in thinking about this and remembering that
audience, I called the great writer and thinker Michael Novak. He
thought aloud for me. St. Therese of Lisieux, he reminded me,
believed her suffering could help others. She would take her
moments of pain or annoyance or sadness and offer them to God,
believing that they became united with God's love, united that is
with something infinitely powerful which works always for the
betterment of man. She would ask God to take her suffering and use
it to help the missionaries of the world. She knew, Mr. Novak said,
what Dostoevsky knew: there's a kind of web around the world, an
electric web in which we're all united in suffering and in love.
When you give to it what you have, you add to the communion of love
all around the world. Therese was a Carmelite. Mr. Novak spoke of
George Weigel's observation that the pope has a Carmelite soul, a
soul at home with the Carmelite tradition of everyday mysticism.

What should the pope's suffering tell us? Several things, said Mr.
Novak. He is telling us it is important in an age like ours to
honor the suffering of the old and the infirm. He wants us to know
they have a place in life and a purpose. He not only says this; he
lives it. He was an actor as a youth; he teaches by doing and
showing, by being. His suffering is a drama he is living out quite
deliberately. John Paul stands for life, for all of life. He wants
to honor what the world does not honor.

But why, I said, does God allow this man he must so love to be
dragged through the world in pain? He could have taken him years
ago. Maybe, said Mr. Novak, God wants to show us how much he loves
us, and he is doing it right now by letting the pope show us how
much he loves us. Christ couldn't take it anymore during his
passion, and yet he kept going.

Which reminded me of something the pope said to a friend when the
subject of retirement came up a few years ago: "Christ didn't come
down from the cross." Christ left when his work was done.

Mr. Novak noted that John Paul II has often spoken of the need to
heal the thousand-year breach in the church between East and West.
The pope believes his work did not end with the fall of the Berlin
Wall, that it includes attempting to repair the great split between
Rome and Constantinople and Moscow. Mr. Novak said he may well be
using his suffering, giving it to God to heal it. "He will be a
very unhappy man if he doesn't get to Moscow before he dies," said
Mr. Novak. "St. Peter may have a lot to answer for."

Ms. Noonan is a contributing editor of The Wall Street Journal and
author of "A Heart, a Cross, and a Flag" (Wall Street Journal
Books/Simon & Schuster), a collection of post-Sept. 11 columns,
which you can buy from the OpinionJournal bookstore. Her column
appears Thursdays.

(*) (*) (*) I saved this and cried when I read it back in Feb. I thought some people might have an interest in what Noonan wrote - especially since she is the "Maureen Dowd" of the Wall Street Journal and much-appreciated columnist by me. (f) (f) (f) (f) (l) (l)

Peace,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-05-2005, 02:58 PM

Papal travels

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2005/pope/stories/papal.travels/index.html

Pope John Paul II was by far the most well-traveled pontiff. Since becoming pope in 1978, he flew more than 700,000 miles, equivalent to more than 28 times round the world. His trips to more than 120 countries and territories took him away from the Vatican for more than a year-and-a-half. Click on the letters below to see the places he visited.

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
A
Albania (April 1993)
Angola (June 1992)
Argentina (June 1982, March 1987)
Armenia (2001)
Australia (November 1986, January 1995)
Austria (September 1983, June 1988, June 1998)
Azerbaijan (May 2002)
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B
Bahamas (January 1979)
Bangladesh (November 1986)
Belgium (May 1985, June 1995)
Belize (March 1983)
Benin (February 1982, February 1993)
Bolivia (May 1988)
Bosnia and Herzegovina (April 1997, June 2003)
Botswana (September 1988)
Brazil (June 1980, June 1982, October 1991, October 1997)
Bulgaria (May 2002)
Burkina Faso (May 1980, January 1990)
Burundi (September 1990)
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C
Cameroon (August 1985, September 1995)
Canada (September 1984, September 1987, July 2002)
Cape Verde (January 1990)
Central African Republic (August 1985)
Chad (January 1990)
Chile (March 1987)
Colombia (July 1986)
Congo (May 1980)
Costa Rica (March 1983)
Croatia (September 1994, October 1998, June 2003)
Cuba (January 1998)
Curacao (May 1990)
Czech Republic (April 1990, May 1995, April 1997)
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D
Denmark (June 1989)
Dominican Republic (January 1979, October 1984, October 1992)
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E
East Timor (1989)
Ecuador (January 1985)
Egypt (February 2000)
El Salvador (March 1983, February 1996)
Equatorial Guinea (February 1982)
Estonia (September 1993)
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F
Fiji (November 1986)
Finland (June 1989)
France (May 1980, August 1983, October 1986, October 1988, September 1996, September 1997, August 2004)
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G
Gabon (February 1982)
Gambia (February 1992)
Georgia (November 1999)
Germany (West Germany in November 1980 and April 1987, June 1996)
Ghana (May 1980)
Greece (2001)
Great Britain (May 1982)
Guam (February 1981)
Guatemala (March 1983, February 1996, July 2002)
Guinea (February 1992)
Guinea-Bissau (January 1990)
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H
Haiti (March 1983)
Honduras (March 1983)
Hungary (August 1991, September 1996)
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I
Iceland (June 1989)
India (January 1986, November 1999)
Indonesia (October 1989)
Ireland (September 1979)
Israel (March 2000)
Ivory Coast (May 1980, August 1985, September 1990)
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J
Jamaica (August 1993)
Japan (February 1981)
Jordan (March 2000)
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K
Kazakhstan (2001)
Kenya (May 1980, August 1985, September 1995)
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L
Lativa (September 1993)
Lebanon (May 1997)
Lesotho (September 1988)
Liechtenstein (September 1985)
Lithuania (September 1993)
Luxembourg (May 1985)
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M
Madagascar (April 1989)
Malawi (April 1989)
Mali (January 1990)
Malta (May 1990, 2001)
Mauritius (October 1989)
Mexico (January 1979, May 1990, August 1993, January 1999, July 2002)
Morocco (August 1985)
Mozambique (September 1988)
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N
Netherlands (May 1985)
New Zealand (November 1986)
Nicaragua (March 1983, February 1996)
Nigeria (February 1982, March 1998)
Norway (June 1989)
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P
Pakistan (February 1981)
Palestinian Territories (2000)
Panama (March 1983)
Papua New Guinea (May 1984, January 1995)
Paraguay (May 1988)
Peru (January 1985, May 1988)
Philippines (February 1981, January 1995)
Poland (June 1979, June 1983, June 1987, June 1991, August 1991, May 1995, May 1997, June 1999, August 2002)
Portugal (May 1982, March 1983, May 1991, May 2000)
Puerto Rico (October 1984)
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R
Reunion Island (1989)
Romania (May 1999)
Rwanda (September 1990)
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S
Saint Lucia (July 1986)
San Marino (August 1982)
Sao Tome and Principe (June 1992)
Senegal (February 1992)
Seychelles (November 1986)
Singapore (November 1986)
Slovakia (June 1995, September 2003)
Slovenia (May 1996, September 1999)
Solomon Islands (May 1984)
South Africa (September 1995)
South Korea (May 1984, October 1989)
Spain (October 1982, October 1984, August 1989, June 1993, May 2003)
Sri Lanka (January 1995)
Sudan (February 1993)
Swaziland (September 1988)
Sweden (June 1989)
Switzerland (June 1982, June 1984, September 1985, June 2004)
Syria (2001)
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T
Tanzania (September 1990)
Thailand (May 1984)
Togo (August 1985)
Trinidad and Tobago (January 1985)
Tunisia (April 1996)
Turkey (November 1979)
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U
Uganda (February 1993)
Ukraine (2001)
United States (September 1979, February 1981, May 1984, September 1987, August 1993, October 1995, January 1999)
Uruguay (March 1987, May 1988)
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V
Venezuela (January 1985, February 1996)
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Z
Zaire (May 1980, August 1985)
Zambia (April 1989)
Zimbabwe (September 1988)

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

Sweetlady

sweetlady

04-05-2005, 03:00 PM

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2005/pope/stories/bio3/index.html

(CNN) -- Less than eight months after his inauguration, Wojtyla returned to Poland as Pope John Paul II for nine cathartic days.

Huge, adoring crowds met him wherever he went and were an acute source of embarrassment to the communist government. Officially, the country was atheistic; it was also suffering from food shortages. The pope added to the authorities' discomfort by reminding his fellow Poles of their human rights.

"That was the beginning of the end of what we call the Soviet Empire," Robert Moynihan, editor and publisher of the magazine "Inside the Vatican," told CNN in a 2003 interview. "I think he brought that empire down, but not with missiles and not even with economic sanctions, but just by being a man, by being a man of faith."

In the fall of 1979, the pope flew to Ireland and celebrated a Mass in Dublin's Phoenix Park for 1.2 million people -- more than a quarter of Ireland's population at the time.

He continued on to the United States where his visits to Boston, Massachusetts; New York; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Des Moines, Iowa; Chicago, Illinois; and Washington took on the trappings of major holidays.

The cities threw open their arms in a welcome that Current Biography said was of "staggering, unprecedented magnitude."

"Private citizens, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, flocked by the millions to glimpse the pope," it reported. "It was only a few short years ago that such mass forgetfulness of sectarian difference would have been unthinkable (and, politically, suicidal) in the United States."
Vibrations in the air

There was more to it than forgetfulness, for John Paul displayed that charisma during more than 200 visits to more than 125 countries over the past 26 years. And as TIME noted in naming him Man of the Year in 1994, he generated an electricity "unmatched by anyone else on earth."

In his book "The Making of Popes 1978," Andrew M. Greeley offered a close-up of the pope working a crowd: "His moves, his presence, his smile, his friendliness, his gestures ... have pleased everyone. ... He is great with crowds -- shaking hands, smiling, talking, kissing babies."

The Los Angeles Times reported that Poles waited for hours to see the pope when he returned in 1997. At his appearance, the crowds grew silent, "some falling to their knees and weeping as John Paul (parted) the crowd on a path to the altar."

"Such an incredible moment," Krzysztof Gonet, mayor of Nowej Soli, told the Times. "You can feel the vibrations in the air."

Not only was he the most traveled pope in history -- he spoke eight languages, learning Spanish after he became pope -- he also was quick to use the media and technology to his advantage.

In the early years of his papacy, he steered the Vatican into satellite transmissions and videocassettes. While other popes stayed close to Rome, remote and seemingly unapproachable, John Paul's wide-ranging appearances -- enhanced by an actor's sense of theater -- became worldwide news events.

When the pope visited Cuba in January 1998, hard-line Cuban leader Fidel Castro set aside his drab olive fatigues and put on a business suit to welcome him. Castro also attended a number of functions for the pope and escorted the frail Holy Father with almost touching deference.

The world is his business

Not content with tending merely to church affairs, John Paul made the world's business his business -- especially in regard to human rights.

"His engagement as pontiff was not only to spread out the gospel, to spread out the faith, but also to transform the Roman papacy into the spokesman of human rights," Marco Politi, author of "His Holiness," told CNN in 2003.

His criticism of such dictators as Alfred Stroessner in Paraguay, Augusto Pinochet in Chile and Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines encouraged opposition movements that eventually brought down those governments.

His support for the Solidarity movement in Poland -- priests concealed messages from John Paul to imprisoned union leaders in their robes -- was a key to the downfall of communism in Poland.

When a Turk named Mehmet Ali Agca shot the pope twice in an assassination attempt in 1981, Agca first told the authorities that he was acting for the Bulgarian intelligence service. The Bulgarians were known to do the bidding of the KGB, but Agca later recanted that part of his confession.

It didn't matter to the pope who was responsible, and later he visited Agca in his cell and forgave him. The astonished Agca said, "How is it that I could not kill you?"

But the pope didn't play favorites, and the West received its share of criticism. During that first triumphal visit to the United States, he warned his hosts about the dangers of materialism, selfishness and secularism and suggested lowering the standard of living and sharing the wealth with the Third World.

The message didn't play well. But that didn't stop the pope from insisting that materialism -- he regards capitalism and communism as flip sides of the same coin -- was not the answer.

"This world," he said, "is not capable of making man happy."

However, he believed the pursuit of a right relationship with God was life's paramount pursuit. To that end, he led by example -- through faith and prayer. Indeed, he was so often in prayer that he was said to make his decisions "on his knees."

At times, he was found kneeling on the ground in the middle of winter before a statue, and deep in prayer with his head resting on an altar. Even when not interacting with others, he was seen moving his lips, apparently in prayer.

'A culture of death'

The Catholic Church John Paul II inherited in 1978 was in shambles. Reforms begun by the Vatican Council II shook the church to its foundation, and the tumult within the church could be compared to the turmoil in the outer world during the 1960s era of peace, love and protests over the war in Vietnam.

"The church went through a tremendous crisis," says Moynihan. "It knocked the church to its knees. It lost one-third of its priests and a tremendous number of nuns."

John Paul II embarked on nothing less than a restoration of the church, one grounded in its conservative tradition. His rejection of contraception and abortion was absolute and unbending, and his almost dictatorial manner did not always play well.

"When he came to power and he was elected, he realized that one thing he had to do was to restore clarity to Catholic teaching. And he says, 'OK, maybe they won't obey, maybe they don't accept, but at least they'll know what the church stands for,'" said Wilton Wynn, author of "Keeper Of The Keys," in a 2003 CNN interview.

"It's a mistake to apply American democratic procedures to the faith and truth," the pope said. "You cannot take a vote on the truth."

Hans Kung, a liberal Catholic theologian who crossed swords with the pope, told TIME, "This pope is a disaster for our church. There's charm there, but he's closed-minded."

In his opposition to contraception, abortion and euthanasia, for example, he accused the industrialized world of fostering "a culture of death."

The pope also confounded critics with his insistence that church doctrine prohibits the ordination of women. In affirming his position in a letter to bishops in 1994, he wrote in uncompromising fashion that "this judgment is to be definitively held by all the church's faithful."

"The pope's conservatism on issues such as contraception or abortion comes, I think, from his view of women and what he thinks their role and their status in society should be," said Mary Segers, a political science professor at Rutgers University, in a CNN interview from 2003. "I think the pope grew up with that. It's reinforced in Poland by a fierce devotion to the Virgin Mary as the patroness of Poland."

However, his opposition to the ordination of women priests had its supporters as well.

"Catholics believe what the priest is doing is, in a sense, representing the sacrifice of Christ," said Helen Hull Hitchcock of the Catholic group Women For Faith And Family. "He's standing in the person of Christ. He represents Christ in a way. And it makes sense then, that someone who is representing Christ would be male, as Christ was."
'A man of integrity and prayer'

The pope often explained himself with dense, closely reasoned and deeply philosophical encyclicals. His encyclicals, letters and other writings fill more than 150 volumes.

In 1994, the pope wrote answers to written questions posed to him by Italian journalist Vittorio Messori. Messori then edited them into "Crossing the Threshold of Hope," a book that became a best-seller in many countries.

Many observers have said John Paul's record is mixed. Although the church has expanded in Africa and Latin America -- the latter accounts for about half of the estimated 1 billion Catholics -- it has lost followers in the industrialized world, including Poland.

His inflexibility on issues with international ramifications -- birth control in Africa, for example -- drew strong criticism.

"The church's refusal of condoms even for saving lives is absolutely incomprehensible," French journalist Henri Tincq told TIME. "It disqualifies the church from having any role in the whole debate over AIDS."

But many are certain the pope's papacy will be remembered not for its shortfalls but its achievements.

"You'd be hard pressed to name any global figure who has achieved 100 percent of the things they set out to achieve," said John Allen, a Vatican analyst for CNN and Rome correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter. "I think the measure of success really has to be sort of fidelity to one's own vision and the capacity to make that vision real."

It is doubtful there has ever been a pope who so successfully translated his strength, determination and faith into such widespread respect and goodwill. In a world of shifting trends and leaders of questionable virtue, John Paul II was a towering figure at the moral center of modern life.

"This is not a pope who looks at the public opinion polls," said Father Thomas Reese, editor in chief of the Catholic weekly magazine "America" and author of "Inside the Vatican." "He says what he thinks is right and wrong from conviction. And that's why people admire him. He's a man of integrity and prayer, even if they don't agree with him."
*************************************

John Paul II: A strong moral vision

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2005/pope/stories/legacy/index.html

(CNN) -- On the last day of a week-long celebration in October 1998 marking his 20 years as pope, John Paul II celebrated an open-air mass for 75,000 people in St. Peter's Square and wondered aloud whether he'd done a good job.

"Have you been a diligent and vigilant master of the church?" he asked himself. "Have you tried to satisfy the expectations of the faithful of the church and also the hunger for truth that we feel in the world outside the church?"

The pope offered no answers to the questions, but he did ask for prayers to help him carry on "right to the end."

In the papal tradition, "right to the end" meant the pope planned to die not as an ailing pensioner in the Apennines, but as the pope. Of the 263 men who preceded John Paul II as pope, only one -- Celestine V in 1294 -- left the papacy before his death.

Regardless of how he rated his performance, there is little doubt that John Paul II was regarded as one of the most significant figures of the last 100 years.

Indeed, there are those who believe he was nothing less than "the man of the century."

One of them is Jonathan Kwitney, whose "Man of the Century: The Life and Times of Pope John Paul II" was published in 1997. Another is George Weigel, a senior fellow at the conservative Ethics and Public Policy Center and author of "Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II."

"This has been the most intellectually serious pontificate in several hundred years and it is not going to be easy to find a pope who brings to this office the degree of engagement with ongoing intellectual life and cultural life around the world," Weigel told CNN in an interview before the pontiff's death.
The omnipresent papacy

Until John Paul II, most popes confined themselves to Rome and its environs. They were distant, seemingly unapproachable and, if doctrine held, infallible. But John Paul revolutionized the papacy that oversees the spiritual lives of 1 billion Catholics. A conservative and champion of long-standing church traditions, he was also the most-traveled pope in history and very much a man of the world.

In his book, "Papal Power," Australian priest Paul Collins wrote that by being so widely traveled -- he visited more than 120 countries -- and in his use of television, the pope created "an entirely new situation in church history: the seemingly omnipresent papacy."

He was also a key figure at a pivotal juncture in world history. As a cardinal in Poland, he was a shrewd and unflinching opponent of communism, advancing the church's agenda without allowing outright hostility -- and repression -- to develop.

As pope, his clandestine support of the Solidarity movement was instrumental and ultimately led to the downfall of the government.

"I think he played an extraordinary role in bringing about the end of communism, the end of the cold war, by his support of Solidarity and in encouraging the Polish people to stand up for their rights," Father Thomas Reese, editor of America magazine and author of "Inside the Vatican," told CNN in 2003.

The pope brought a strong focus on human rights to his preaching and his travels gave his teachings a global political impact unknown to previous popes. In Poland and Eastern Europe, Africa, the Philippines, Haiti and dozens of other places, the pope's preaching on human rights and individual liberty helped inspire those who fought for political change.

"His engagement as pontiff was not only to spread out the gospel, but also to transform the Roman papacy into the spokesman of human rights," said Marco Politi, author of "His Holiness," in a CNN profile of the pontiff broadcast in 2003.

John Paul II addressed the value of human rights in his 1987 encyclical, "Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (On Social Concerns)."

"When individuals and communities do not see a rigorous respect for the moral, cultural and spiritual requirements, based on the dignity of the person and on the proper identity of each community, beginning with the family and religious societies, then all the rest -- availability of goods, abundance of technical resources applied to daily life, a certain level of material well-being -- will prove unsatisfying and in the end contemptible," he wrote.

In a 1998 letter issued to mark the World Day of Peace, he wrote about issues involved in the global economy: "The challenge, in short, is to ensure a globalization in solidarity, a globalization without marginalization. This is a clear duty in justice, with serious moral implications in the organization of the economic, social, cultural and political life of nations."

He also addressed the church's role in past human rights issues. In 1998, the Vatican apologized for Catholics who had failed to help save Jews from Nazi persecution and acknowledged centuries of preaching contempt for Jews.

The pope expanded upon that in a March 2000 speech in which he asked forgiveness for many of his church's past sins, including its treatment of Jews, heretics, women and native peoples.

It was believed to be the first time in the Catholic Church's history that one of its leaders sought such a sweeping pardon.

"He also is going to go down in history as the pope who improved relations with Jews," Reese said. "This is extremely important. Now Jews and Catholics are beginning to treat one another as brothers and sisters again. This is just extraordinarily important."

He also opposed both the 1991 Persian Gulf War and the 2003 invasion of Iraq by a U.S.-led coalition.
A critic of the West

In 1998, he visited Cuba and in a dramatic speech in front of Cuban President Fidel Castro, the pope criticized Cuba's lack of religious freedom.

But the pope also criticized the U.S. sanctions against Cuba. Indeed, the pope criticized the West with just as much vigor as he once spent on godless communism.

The pope was especially harsh with the West because he believed that in its preoccupation with materialism, it was frittering away the chance to know the truth. The cost, he believed, was a slackening in society's moral fiber.

For its acquiescence to contraception, abortion and even euthanasia, John Paul accused the West of fostering "a culture of death." In 1994, he used his influence to defeat a U.S.-backed initiative on population control at the U.N.'s International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo.

The pope explained himself in his best-selling 1994 book, "Crossing the Threshold of Hope." "We cannot afford forms of permissiveness that would lead directly to the trampling of human rights, and also to the complete destruction of values which are fundamental not only for the lives of individuals and families, but for society itself," he wrote.

He also opposed cloning, raising the specter of test-tube babies being used for body parts.

In his final book, "Memory and Identity," the pope criticized homosexual marriages as part of "a new ideology of evil" that is insidiously threatening society, and called abortion a "legal extermination."

The pontiff referred to "pressures" on the European Parliament to allow gays to marry.

"It is legitimate and necessary to ask oneself if this is not perhaps part of a new ideology of evil, perhaps more insidious and hidden, which attempts to pit human rights against the family and against man," he writes.
Finding fault

Not everyone agreed with the pope, of course, and at times the "omnipresent papacy" had its downside. John Paul said things he later regretted, but too late to keep them from getting halfway around the world.

Buddhist priests in Sri Lanka boycotted his visit there after he was quoted as saying Buddhism was "an atheistic system." He also was criticized for questioning the legitimacy of the Episcopalian priesthood, for appointing "yes men" to the College of Cardinals and for giving a papal knighthood to Kurt Waldheim, the former Austrian president who once worked for German intelligence during World War II.

He also was criticized in the sexual abuse scandal in which a number of priests in the United States were accused of -- and some convicted of -- molesting children. In some instances, the church was accused of knowing about problem priests but not informing parishioners.

Critics cited the Vatican's slow response to accusations of sexual misconduct, and its tendency to regard such reports as attempts to discredit the church.

In March 2002, the pope briefly alluded to the scandal in an annual letter to priests. At the end of the letter, he wrote: "At this time we are personally and profoundly afflicted of the sins of some of our brothers who have betrayed the grace of ordination in succumbing even to the most grievous forms of the mysterium inequitatis (the mystery of evil) at work in the world."

A month later, the pope summoned U.S. cardinals to discuss the sex abuse scandal and told them there is no place in priesthood for clerics who abuse children. He also acknowledged mistakes in how the church handled the issue.

His support for conservative lay Catholic movements such as Opus Dei and the Legionaries of Christ were distressing to some, who saw them as the Catholic counterpart to the Protestant fundamentalist right.

And many questioned his opposition to the ordination of women, which the pope maintained was inconsistent with church doctrine.
Strict discipline for clergy

The pope also had major influence on the Vatican's leadership of the church. He imposed strict discipline on his clergy after the more collegial leadership of his predecessors. In his papacy, John Paul II showed little tolerance for those who failed to carry out his orders.

"In terms of church, theology, religion, he's very, very conservative, and in fact, more and more so as time goes by," said Tad Szulc, author of the biography, "Pope John Paul II," in a 2003 CNN interview. "He does not brook dissent. He is impatient with those who do not follow his line of theological reasoning, who do not obey the church. He's a very severe judge."

His uncompromising views forced many Catholics, including priests and bishops, into open disagreement with the pope, especially on issues such as sexuality, celibacy and the role of women in the church.

Much to the dismay of some senior clergymen, John Paul consistently refused to accept their arguments for modernizing church teachings.

"Even as they praise this man as a great pope, they will be secretly relieved and they will want to elect a man who will be a little less heavy-handed in his exercise of authority and more respectful of their own authority," said Father Richard McBrie, author of "Lives of the Popes," in an interview with CNN before the pontiff's death.

The sheer length of John Paul II's papacy also had a major impact on the church. During his long tenure he appointed many of the bishops and most all of the cardinals, a hierarchy picked to reflect his conservative views and one that will choose the next pope.

"That is an extremely clear way in which he will impact the future of the church by having an impact on who his successor will be," Reese said in an interview before the pontiff's death.

Whether he was the man of the century or the prophet of a spiritual renaissance may be a judgment call. But clearly John Paul II was unafraid to articulate his vision of a better world and had the passion and integrity to hold himself to that vision.

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

Peace,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-05-2005, 03:01 PM

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2005/pope/

An influential pontiff

John Paul II transformed the papacy but conservative views alienated some

(CNN) -- Voicing a strong moral vision, Pope John Paul II forged a legacy as one of the Catholic Church's most influential and controversial leaders. The 264th pontiff traveled more and beatified more people than any pope in history.

Supporters and critics alike agree on the immense significance of his 26-year papacy.

During that period he played a key role in the fall of communism, brought the Catholic message to an unprecedented number of people around the world, and endeared himself to billions with his warmth, charisma, courage and integrity.

As TIME magazine noted when naming him Man of the Year in 1994, he generated an electricity "unmatched by anyone else on earth."

At the same time, however, he was a profoundly conservative leader whose moral opinions alienated many, and whose centralizing instincts stifled the move toward a more open, democratic church.
A surprise choice as pope

John Paul II was born Karol Jozef Wojtyla on May 18, 1920, at Wadowice, Poland, the third child of a devoutly Catholic retired army officer-turned-tailor.

A brilliant student and athlete -- he excelled at skiing, swimming, kayaking and soccer -- his earliest passions were religion, poetry and the theater.

Following the German invasion of Poland in 1939 he worked first as a stonecutter, then in a chemical plant, while at the same time studying at an underground seminary in Krakow.

In 1941, Wojtyla and some friends started an underground theater, called the Rhapsodic Theater, to present works in Polish in defiance of the Nazis.

He was eventually ordained in 1946, assuming priestly duties in 1949 as chaplain to university students at Krakow's St. Florian's Church.

For the next 30 years he rose steadily through the church hierarchy. He became the auxiliary bishop of Krakow in 1958 and was appointed archbishop of Krakow in January 1964. He was officially installed as archbishop in March 1964.

During this time he made a name for himself both as a formidable theologian -- he taught at the Krakow Seminary and the Catholic University of Lublin -- and as a staunch defender of Catholic interests.

"I am not afraid of them," he once commented when asked if he feared Poland's communist authorities. "They are afraid of me."

He was elevated to cardinal in a secret consistory on June 26, 1967, and was formally installed in a Vatican ceremony two days later.

Despite his prominence and the respect in which he was held by his fellow Catholics, his election as Pope John Paul II on October 16, 1978 -- the first-ever Slavic pope, and the first non-Italian to occupy the post for 455 years -- came as a surprise.

"I was afraid to receive this nomination," he told the crowd that had gathered in St. Peter's Square in Rome to acclaim his elevation. "But I did it in the spirit of obedience to our Lord and in the total confidence in his mother, the most holy Madonna."
A hard act to follow

John Paul II proved one of the most energetic and hard-working men ever to occupy the papal see, visiting more than 120 countries, delivering more than 2,000 public addresses and issuing a plethora of encyclicals and apostolic letters.

His papacy divides into two distinct halves.

"In the first 10 years his great concern was with communism," explains Catholic commentator Jonathon Luxmore, who has been based in Warsaw, Poland, since 1988.

"Since then his focus has been more on the ills of Western society and on spreading the message that the collapse of communism shouldn't necessarily mean the triumph of liberal capitalism."

John Paul's role in the fall of communism was a subtle but crucial one. His visit to Poland in 1979, eight months after his elevation to the papal throne, saw the first mass gatherings ever witnessed in the communist state, sparking a chain of events that led to the eventual crumbling of Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski's regime 10 years later.

His stand against what he saw as the moral failure of Western capitalism, on the other hand, was notably less successful.

While his outspoken views on human rights gained him many admirers, his preaching in such areas as sexual mores, science and the role of women in the church alienated many young, female and liberal Catholics.

Giovanni Ferro agrees: "He was what you might call a revolutionary conservative. In some areas, such as the preparedness to enter into dialogue with other religions, he was very forward-minded.

"In other areas, however, he was an extremely reactionary, traditionalist pope. He maintained all sorts of opposing currents in the church, with the result that his successor will probably be faced with a great crisis of direction."

In the end it is perhaps too early to provide any definitive judgment on one of the longest and most widely discussed reigns in papal history. Pope John Paul II was the third longest serving pontiff in history, behind St. Peter's 32 years and Pope Pius IX's 31 years, seven months.

His humanity, love of children and ceaseless efforts to bring the Catholic message to as wide an audience as possible marked him as one of the dominant and most respected figures of the 20th century and early 21st century.

At the same time, he has left a legacy of division and uncertainty within the church that could take his successor many years to resolve.

"One thing is for certain," says Luxmore. "He is going to be a terrifically hard act to follow."

************************************
The priesthood years: Rebel with a cause

(CNN) -- In the early years of his priesthood, Karol Wojtyla served as a chaplain to university students at St. Florian's Church in Krakow. The church was conveniently located next to Jagiellonian University, where he was working on his second doctorate degree in theology, having already earned a doctorate in philosophy.

When the university's theology department was abolished in 1954, presumably under pressure from the communist government, the entire faculty reconstituted itself at the Seminary of Krakow, and Wojtyla continued his studies there.

He was also hired that same year by the Catholic University of Lublin -- the only Catholic university in the communist world -- as a non-tenured professor. The arrangement turned Wojtyla into a commuter, shuttling between Lublin and Krakow on the overnight train to teach and counsel in one city and study in the other.

He also founded and ran a service that dealt with marital problems, from family planning and illegitimacy to alcoholism and physical abuse. TIME magazine called it "perhaps the most successful marriage institute in Christianity."

In 1956, Wojtyla was appointed to the chair of ethics at Catholic University, and his ascent through the church hierarchy got a boost in 1958 when he was named the auxiliary bishop of Krakow.

When the Vatican Council II began the deliberations in 1962 that would revolutionize the church, Wojtyla was one of its intellectual leaders and took special interest in religious freedom. The same year, he was named the acting archbishop of Krakow when the incumbent died.
A genial and charming companion

Wojtyla has been described, by all accounts, as a genial and charming companion, a good listener and not above what TIME calls "good-natured kidding."

Margaret Steinfels, the former editor of Commonweal magazine in New York, described him as "a very brilliant man, very intelligent and very holy... extremely amiable and affable, and wonderful to talk and dine with."

He also was shrewd enough not to let his distaste for communism show. His appointment as cardinal in 1967 by Pope Paul VI was welcomed by the government. Wojtyla was considered "tough but flexible" and a moderate reformer, but an improvement on old-school hard-liners who were unalterably opposed to communism and communists.

Wojtyla bided his time, engaging in a strategy that honored Catholic beliefs and traditions while accommodating the communist government.

The Catholic Church in Poland served as an important outlet for the expression of national feeling. In his book "John Paul II," George Blazynski wrote that Wojtyla encouraged this expression in a form that did not "provoke a brutal reaction by forces within and perhaps without the country."

But he also proved to be what Current Biography called "a resilient enemy of communism and champion of human rights, a powerful preacher and sophisticated intellectual able to defeat Marxists in their own line of dialogue."

According to George Weigel, who has written extensively about the pope, Wojtyla demanded permits to build churches, defended youth groups and ordained priests to work underground in Czechoslovakia.

Wojtyla was once asked if he feared retribution from government officials.

"I'm not afraid of them," he replied. "They are afraid of me."

Learned and scholarly

In spite of all his activities, Wojtyla didn't slight his scholarly duties.

He wrote a treatise in 1960 called "Love and Responsibility" that laid out the foundation for what Weigel calls "a modern Catholic sexual ethic."

His second doctoral thesis -- "Evaluation of the Possibility of Constructing a Christian Ethic based on the System of Max Scheler" -- was published that same year.

In 1969, the Polish Theological Society published Wojtyla's "The Acting Person," a dense philosophical tract on phenomenology that Wojtyla discussed during a U.S. visit in 1978.

"All sorts of people turned up," recalls Jude Dougherty, chairman of the philosophy department at Catholic University in Washington, where the talk was held. "It was extremely well-received by people who were familiar with the subject. And those who weren't were awed to hear a cardinal who was very learned and very scholarly."

Weigel wrote that in 1976, when Wojtyla was invited to lead spiritual exercises before Pope Paul VI at a Lenten retreat, his first three references were to the Bible, St. Augustine and German philosopher Martin Heidegger.

In 1977, Wojtyla gave a talk at a university in Milan called "The Problem of Creating Culture through Human Praxis."
An emotional man

Although he had established himself as a formidable intellectual presence -- as well as an able administrator and fund-raiser -- few suspected that the Sacred College of Cardinals would choose Wojtyla as the next pope after the death of John Paul I in September 1978.

But when the cardinals were unable to agree on a candidate after seven rounds of balloting, Wojtyla was chosen on the eighth round late in the afternoon of October 16.

He reportedly formally accepted his election before the cardinals with tears in his eyes. (Associates say the pope was an emotional man, and was often moved to tears by children.)

Wojtyla chose the same name as his predecessor -- whose reign lasted just 34 days before he died of a heart attack -- and added another Roman numeral in becoming the first Slavic pope. He was also the first non-Italian pope in 455 years (the last was Adrian VI in 1523) and, at 58, the youngest pope in 132 years.

"I was afraid to receive this nomination," he told the crowd from a balcony overlooking St. Peter's Square, "but I did it in the spirit of obedience to Our Lord and in the total confidence in His mother, the most holy Madonna."

Weigel said that when Wojtyla's election was announced, Yuri Andropov, leader of the Soviet Union's KGB intelligence agency, warned the Politburo that there could be trouble ahead. He was right.

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2005/pope/stories/bio2/index.html

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

({) (}) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-05-2005, 03:03 PM

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/interactive/world/0504/gallery.vatican.events/01.pope.st.peters.jpg

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/interactive/world/0504/gallery.vatican.events/02.procession.ap.jpg

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/interactive/world/0504/gallery.vatican.events/04.women.crying.ap.jpg

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/interactive/world/0504/gallery.vatican.events/07.flags.ap.jpg

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/interactive/world/0504/gallery.pope.mourning/01.ap.jpg

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/interactive/world/0504/gallery.pope.mourning/01.02.philippines.ap.jpg

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/interactive/world/0504/gallery.pope.mourning/01.08.malaysia.jpg

************************

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2005/WORLD/europe/04/02/ritual.pope.death/vert.pope.dove.ap.jpg

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/SPECIALS/2005/pope/stories/bio2/pope.cardinal.jpg

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/SPECIALS/2005/pope/stories/bio2/pope.children.jpg

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/SPECIALS/2005/pope/stories/bio3/story.john.paulus.jpg

(*) (*) (l) (l) Truly inspirational and healing, at least for me.

Peace,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-05-2005, 03:04 PM

World mourns Pope John Paul II

Sunday, April 3, 2005 Posted: 3:15 PM EDT (1915 GMT)

LONDON, England (CNN) -- World leaders have been paying tribute to Pope John Paul II, who died Saturday.

President Bush said: "Americans had special reasons to love the man from Krakow." He described the pope as a source of inspiration for "millions of Americans." Bush called him "one of history's great leaders."

French President Jacques Chirac praised Pope John Paul II's "unshakable faith, exemplary authority and admirable ardor" and said he "touched spirits and hearts" with his courage and determination.

"An enlightened and inspired priest, he devoted himself to responding to the search for sense and the thirst for justice that is expressed today on all continents," Chirac said in a statement.

History "will retain the imprint and the memory of this exceptional sovereign pontiff, whose charisma, conviction and compassion carried the evangelical message with unprecedented resonance on the international stage," Chirac added.

Former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev said Pope John Paul II's "devotion to his followers is a remarkable example to all of us."

Gorbachev, who once said the collapse of the Iron Curtain would have been impossible without the pope, said the pontiff condemned communism during the two's first meeting in 1989, shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall. "We had a really interesting, albeit perhaps too emotional conversation," Gorbachev said. "He told me he ... was very, very critical of communism."

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said: "The reason why there's been such an outpouring of feeling over the past few days is because of the nature of the man himself, and even if you're not a Catholic or you're not a Christian -- in fact even if you have no religious faith at all -- what people could see in Pope John Paul was a man of true and profound spiritual faith, a shining example of what that faith should mean. And for anyone who ever met him -- as I was fortunate enough to -- you could see that very clearly. But actually even people who never met him, never came near him, could see that from afar."

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said: "Pope John Paul II wrote history. Through his work, and through his impressive personality, he changed our world." He praised the pope's work for "peace, human rights, solidarity and social justice."

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said: "We are all grateful for the tireless work and suffering that he bore incessantly against every form of totalitarianism, violence, oppression and moral degradation in the name of the values of the Catholic Church that are also the supreme values of human dignity and solidarity."

Italian President Carlo Ciampi said: "Italians, I cry with you for the Holy Father, the pope who was for us such a close neighbor. We have loved him, we have admired him for the strength of his ideas, for his courage, the passion, the capacity to express values, hope to all of us, especially our youth, youth from all over the world. We have admired his extraordinary openness to the inter-religious dialogue. Italy is in mourning."

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the pope was a man of peace and had been a great supporter of the United Nations. "He ... [was] extremely concerned about the world we lived in, and like me, he also felt that in war, all are losers."

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said: "As the largest Catholic country in the world, where people of several different beliefs live in harmony, Brazil feels sorrowful for the loss of one of the men who positively marked the course of contemporary history."

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo led the nation in expressing a "deep sense of grief" over the death of the pope. "Our people receive the news of his death with a deep sense of grief and loss. He was a holy champion of the Filipino family and of profound Christian values that make everyone of us contemplate every day what is just, moral and sacred in life," Arroyo said. (More Asian reaction)

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said: "It's a great loss for the whole world. We will always remember him as a great man, an advocate of justice and man of peace. The government and people of Pakistan are deeply saddened after hearing the news of his death."

Lech Walesa, leader of Poland's Solidarity movement that won power after a decade of struggle and hastened the collapse of the Soviet bloc, said Polish-born John Paul II inspired the drive to end communism in Eastern Europe. "[Without him] there would be no end of communism, or at least much later and the end would have been bloody," Walesa said.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said: "On behalf of the government and the state of Israel, I would like to express condolences on the passing of Pope John Paul II, and to share in the mourning of millions of Christians and believers in both the state of Israel and around the Christian world. Pope John Paul II was a man of peace and a friend of the Jewish people, who was familiar with the uniqueness of the Jewish people and who worked for an historic reconciliation between the peoples and for the establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and the Vatican in late 1993. ...Yesterday, the world lost one of the most important leaders of our generation, whose great contribution to rapprochement and unity between peoples, understanding and tolerance will be with us for many years."

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said: "We will miss him as a distinguished religious figure, who devoted his life to defending the values of peace, freedom and equality. He defended the rights of Palestinians, their freedom and independence."

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II spoke of her deep sorrow. "The queen also remembers well the work of Pope John Paul II for Christian unity, including closer ties between the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches," said a statement from Buckingham Palace.

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher praised the pontiff's role in toppling communism. "Millions owe him their freedom and self-respect. The whole world is inspired by his example," Thatcher said. "His life was a long struggle against the lies employed to excuse evil. By combating the falsehoods of communism and proclaiming the true dignity of the individual, his was the moral force behind victory in the Cold War."

Former Czech President Vaclav Havel said: "I still very well remember the moment in 1978 when me and my friends learned that Karol Wojtyla was elected the pope. It was a moment of an immense joy for us. I even think that we were so delighted that we danced for joy."

Irish President Mary McAleese said John Paul II had been a pillar of the modern world, serving the Catholic Church and the cause of all humanity.

Cuban President Fidel Castro expressed condolences and declared three days of official mourning beginning Sunday, The Associated Press reported.

In a letter to the Vatican published Sunday on the front page of Juventud Rebelde newspaper, Castro called the pope's passing "sad news" and expressed "the most heartfelt condolences of the Cuban people and government."

"Humanity will preserve an emotional memory of the tireless work of His Holiness John Paul II in favor of peace, justice and solidarity among all people," Castro wrote.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard said Pope John Paul II had been "a pillar of strength as well as a provider of great compassion and in every proper sense of the term an apostle of peace." Howard lauded the pope as a friend to all Christian denominations. "He advanced the ecumenical movement -- he reached out to Jewish people, to those of the Islamic faith, and was also an inspiration to people of no faith at all," he said.

The Dalai Lama said: "Pope John Paul II was a man I held in high regard. His experience in Poland, then a communist country, and my own difficulties with communists gave us a common ground."

Russian President Vladimir Putin said: "I have very warm recollections of meetings with the pope. He was wise, responsive and open for dialogue."

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/04/02/world.reax/index.html

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

Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-05-2005, 03:06 PM

.........the oncologist gave Doc his 4th in his second series of chemo I.V.'s yesterday and then told me that Doc's treatment was "complete" and that I had to bring him in for CBC bloodtests - the next one is in two weeks. Apparently he has gone into remission which is tremendously good news! (I just wish that one of the three oncologists might have shared that with me earlier - but then maybe they don't so as to not give false hopes......

For the first time since last Friday........<EEEEEHAAAAA!.

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

Sweetlady and Doc (the now napping) Boxer

sweetlady

04-05-2005, 03:07 PM

> To All Staff,
>
> RE: SWEARING AT WORK
>
> It has been brought to management's attention that some individuals throughout the company have been using foul language during the course of normal conversation with their coworkers.

Due to complaints received from some employees who may be easily offended, this type of language will no longer be tolerated.
>
We do however, realize the critical importance of being able to accurately express your feelings when communicating with coworkers.

Therefore, a list of 18 New and Innovative phrases have been provided so that proper exchange of ideas and information can continue
in an effective manner.

1) TRY SAYING:

I think you could use more training. INSTEAD OF: You don't know what the f___ you're doing.

2) TRY SAYING: She's an aggressive go-getter. INSTEAD OF: She's a ball-busting b__ch.

3) TRY SAYING: Perhaps I can work late. INSTEAD OF: And when the f___ do you expect me to do this?

4) TRY SAYING: I'm certain that isn't feasible. INSTEAD OF: No f___ing way.

5) TRY SAYING: Really? INSTEAD OF: You've got to be sh__ing me!

6) TRY SAYING: Perhaps you should check with... INSTEAD OF: Tell someone who gives a sh__.

7) TRY SAYING: I wasn't involved in the project. INSTEAD OF: It's not my f____ing problem.

8) TRY SAYING: That's interesting. INSTEAD OF: What the f___?

9) TRY SAYING: I'm not sure this can be implemented. INSTEAD OF: This sh__ won't work.

10) TRY SAYING: I'll try to schedule that. INSTEAD OF: Why the f___ing h _ll didn't you tell me sooner?

11) TRY SAYING: He's not familiar with the issues. INSTEAD OF: He's got his head up his a__.

12) TRY SAYING: Excuse me, sir? INSEAD OF: Eat sh__ and die.

13) TRY SAYING: o you weren't happy with it? INSTEAD OF: Kiss my a__.

14) TRY SAYING:
I'm a bit overloaded at the moment. INSTEAD OF: F___ it, I'm on salary.

15) TRY SAYING: I don't think you understand. INSTEAD OF: Shove it up your a__.

16) TRY SAYING: I love a challenge. INSTEAD OF: This job sucks.

17) TRY SAYING: You want me to take care of that? INSTEAD OF: Who the h___ died and made you boss?

18 ) TRY SAYING: He's somewhat insensitive. INSTEAD OF: He's a pr_ck.

Thank You,

Human Resources

(*) (*) (*) (*) (*) ;) ;) ;) (h) (h)

({) (}) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-05-2005, 03:09 PM

Here's a truly heartwarming story about the bond formed between a little
5 year old girl and some construction workers that makes you believe that
we CAN make a difference when we give a child the gift of our time... A
young family moved into a house, next door to a vacant lot. One day a
construction crew turned up to start building a house on the empty lot.

The young family's 5-year-old daughter naturally took an interest in
all the activity going on next door and spent much of each day observing
the workers.

Eventually the construction crew, all of them gems-in-the-rough, more
or less adopted her as a kind of project mascot. They chatted with her,
let her sit with them while they had coffee and lunch breaks, and gave her
little jobs to do here and there to make her feel important.

At the end of the first week they even presented her with a pay
envelope containing a couple of dollars. The little girl took this home to
her mother who said all the appropriate words of admiration and suggested
that they take the two dollar "pay" she had received to the bank the next
day to start a savings account.

When they got to the bank, the teller was equally impressed and asked the
little girl how she had come by her very own pay check at such a young
age.

The little girl proudly replied, "I worked last week with the crew
building the house next door to us."

My goodness gracious," said the teller, "and will you be working on the
house again this week, too?"

The little girl replied, "I will if those assholes at Home Depot ever
deliver the fucking sheet rock..."

Kind of brings a tear to the eye.

(*) (*) ;) ;) ;) ;)

(k) (k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-05-2005, 03:10 PM

John Paul II's early poems

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/pope/poems/

Some are amazing! Enjoy!

(l) (l) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-05-2005, 03:12 PM

Words that sound gross but aren't:

http://home.earthlink.net/~ortyortwein/id18.html

**********************************
YaGoohoo!gle:

http://yagoohoogle.com/

*************************************

For all you Starbucks' haters:

http://www.delocator.net/

**************************************

Scrolling incredible LED Digital Name Belt Buckle:

http://egobelts.com/product_info.php?cPath=109&products_id=78

(*) (*) Have a lovely rest of your Tuesday and week.

Peace,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-07-2005, 12:15 AM

By LORNE MANLY

Published: April 5, 2005 NYTimes

Just a blink after the newly emergent titans of radio - Clear Channel Communications, Infinity Broadcasting and the like - were being accused of scrubbing diversity from radio and drowning listeners in wall-to-wall commercials, the new medium of satellite radio is fast emerging as an alternative. And broadcasters are fighting back.

The announcement on Friday by XM Satellite Radio - the bigger of the two satellite radio companies - that it added more than 540,000 subscribers from January through March pushed the industry's customer total past five million after fewer than three and a half years of operation. Analysts call that remarkable growth for companies charging more than $100 annually for a product that has been free for 80 years.

Total subscribers at XM and its competitor, Sirius Satellite Radio, will probably surpass eight million by the end of year, making satellite radio one of the fastest-growing technologies ever - faster, for example, than cellphones.

To keep that growth soaring, XM and Sirius are furiously signing up carmakers to offer satellite radio as a factory-installed option and are paying tens of millions of dollars for exclusive programming. On Sunday, XM began offering every locally broadcast regular-season and playoff Major League Baseball game to a national audience, having acquired the rights in a deal that could be worth up to $650 million over 11 years. And Howard Stern is getting $500 million over five years to leave Infinity and join Sirius next January. Each company offers 120 or more channels of music, news, sports and talk.

Though satellite radio is still an unprofitable blip in the radio universe, it is pushing commercial radio to change its sound. Broadcasters are cutting commercials, adding hundreds of songs to once-rigid playlists, introducing new formats and beefing up their Internet offerings. A long-awaited move to digital radio could give existing stations as many as five signals each, with which they could introduce their own subscription services - but with a local flavor that satellite is hard pressed to match.

"At the end of the day, people want to hear what's going on in their local market," said Joel Hollander, chairman and chief executive of Infinity Broadcasting, owned by Viacom and the country's second-largest broadcaster behind Clear Channel. "People are emotionally involved with local radio."

That emotional connection - to music, personalities, information - has always translated into strong feelings about radio. Twenty-seven years ago, in "Radio, Radio," the singer Elvis Costello ranted about the medium's programming choices, singing that "the radio is in the hands of such a lot of fools, tryin' to anesthetize the way that you feel."

But such criticism pales beside the complaining unleashed by Washington's deregulation of radio, beginning in 1996. The loosening of ownership restrictions set off a frenzy of acquisitions, transforming what was essentially a mom-and-pop business into an industry dominated by a handful of giant broadcasters.

To satisfy Wall Street, station owners cut costs by combining station operations in a given market and pumping up the number of advertisements per hour; meanwhile, programming formats became narrower and more uniform. All these moves nearly doubled the industry's revenue in five years, but they also gave satellite radio its opening.

"In many cases, radio almost killed the golden goose by getting it to lay too many eggs," said Sean Butson, an analyst with Legg Mason. "If you're going to have a third of an hour of commercials, you're going to turn a lot of people off, and they're going to look for an alternative." (Legg Mason owns stock in XM.)

Founded in the early 1990's, XM and Sirius endured tough financial times while waiting for the Federal Communications Commission to divide up the satellite bandwidth and while preparing to launch their satellites. XM finally began offering its subscription service in late 2001, Sirius in mid-2002.

Car owners - the companies' prime targets - have clamored for the service once they have been introduced to it.

Joseph O'Neal of Royal Palm Beach, Fla., is a self-proclaimed Elvishead who laments that his local stations do not play enough of the King. So Mr. O'Neal, a 44-year-old drywall contractor, is a zealous convert to Sirius, the home of Elvis Radio.

Mr. O'Neal installed the service in his truck in January. Between Elvis, blues and Sirius's six country music channels, he said, "I haven't listened to regular radio since - not once."

That kind of devotion was eye-opening for Mel Karmazin, a longtime radio executive hired last year as chief executive of Sirius after he stepped down as president and chief operating officer of Viacom. "The thing that surprised me the most was the passion the subscribers had for the product," Mr. Karmazin said.

Both companies offer stations devoted to the most popular songs, but it is their national reach and dual revenue streams - subscriptions and advertising sales on nonmusic channels - that allow them to offer niche programming. Genres that receive little exposure on commercial radio, like bluegrass, reggae or talk devoted to African-American affairs, get their own channels on satellite services. Individual ratings matter little; listener satisfaction counts for much more, because it determines how long subscribers will keep paying $12.95 a month.

Indeed, formats ignored by commercial radio or relegated to its wee hours have emerged as some of the most popular.

For instance, XM Comedy, a channel that features the often raunchy stylings of Chris Rock and others, is among the company's 10 most-listened-to.

"Comedy - who knew?" said Hugh Panero, XM's chief executive.

A glimpse of how these channels are programmed highlights the differences between satellite and commercial radio. Even satellite radio executives say that tales of corporate automatons determining every record played on local radio are overblown, but a level of autonomy exists at XM and Sirius that would rarely be tolerated by broadcasters.

Michael Marrone, who programs the Loft, XM's channel focusing on singer-songwriters, finds it difficult to define precisely why Elton John's "Your Song" makes the cut while Jimmy Buffett's "Margaritaville" does not. "I'd rather lose an arm than play it again," he said of "Margaritaville," chatting in a control room in the company's Washington headquarters. (He quickly added that he likes and plays many other tracks by Mr. Buffett.)

Ultimately, Mr. Marrone's tastes determine his selections. He also enjoys inserting connective tissue between songs. Don Henley's "Boys of Summer" segues into a Grateful Dead song because Mr. Henley sings about "a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac."

"Ninety-five percent of the audience won't get it," Mr. Marrone said. "The other 5 percent will never change the channel."

Steven Van Zandt, who plays in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and is in the cast of "The Sopranos," programs two music channels for Sirius. He supplies a slightly more detailed explanation of his programming philosophy. On "Underground Garage," which borrows the name and concept of Mr. Van Zandt's syndicated show on commercial radio, the idea is to juxtapose tracks and styles from 50 years of guitar-driven rock 'n' roll, never playing two songs of the same genre (like punk) in a row. A recent morning, Iggy Pop coexisted nicely with the Monkees, the Mooney Suzuki and the Byrds.

"In the end, I don't pretend," Mr. Van Zandt said. "It's my opinion. And it's good to be the king."

Satellite radio has ridden that unconventional thinking to its current size, and both XM and Sirius expect to begin making money in the next two years. How big the market can become remains debatable. By 2010, analysts estimate, subscriber levels will hover anywhere from 30 million to 45 million. Some think the totals could eventually rival or surpass the 90 million people who pay for cable and satellite television.

Still, satellite radio is also unlikely to inflict fatal damage on commercial radio, which has about 230 million listeners, according to Arbitron, the radio ratings provider. Profit margins for stations in big markets can surpass 50 percent.

But commercial radio has begun to change. Radio stations in the Top 10 markets played, on average, 11 minutes of commercials an hour during daytime broadcasts in February, down from 11.7 in October, when Leland Westerfield, a media analyst at Harris Nesbitt, began tracking spots.

Strict formats have also loosened a bit. Infinity, like a number of radio chains, has changed some of its stations to the "Jack" format, a Canadian import that broadens the play list across rock genres. Instead of 300 or so songs, these stations' program directors are allowed more leeway in choosing from more than 1,200 songs.

Commercial radio, which also is combating the growth of digital music players like iPods, is making investments in technologies like Internet and digital radio as well as podcasts, audio programs that can be downloaded to computers or portable devices.

But satellite radio is rushing to innovate, too. It is planning, for example, video services that would beam cartoons and music videos to children and teenagers watching television in the back seats of cars.

All this technological and corporate ferment promises that the battle between commercial and satellite radio will only intensify.

"This book won't be written for another 10 years," Mr. Hollander of Infinity said.

(*) (*) (*) VVC (very, very cool! (h) )

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-07-2005, 11:48 PM

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

Published: April 3, 2005

In 1492 Christopher Columbus set sail for India, going west. He had the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. He never did find India, but he called the people he met ''Indians'' and came home and reported to his king and queen: ''The world is round.'' I set off for India 512 years later. I knew just which direction I was going. I went east. I had Lufthansa business class, and I came home and reported only to my wife and only in a whisper: ''The world is flat.''

And therein lies a tale of technology and geoeconomics that is fundamentally reshaping our lives -- much, much more quickly than many people realize. It all happened while we were sleeping, or rather while we were focused on 9/11, the dot-com bust and Enron -- which even prompted some to wonder whether globalization was over. Actually, just the opposite was true, which is why it's time to wake up and prepare ourselves for this flat world, because others already are, and there is no time to waste.

I wish I could say I saw it all coming. Alas, I encountered the flattening of the world quite by accident. It was in late February of last year, and I was visiting the Indian high-tech capital, Bangalore,

working on a documentary for the Discovery Times channel about outsourcing. In short order, I interviewed Indian entrepreneurs who wanted to prepare my taxes from Bangalore, read my X-rays from Bangalore, trace my lost luggage from Bangalore and write my new software from Bangalore. The longer I was there, the more upset I became -- upset at the realization that while I had been off covering the 9/11 wars, globalization had entered a whole new phase, and I had missed it. I guess the eureka moment came on a visit to the campus of Infosys Technologies, one of the crown jewels of the Indian outsourcing and software industry. Nandan Nilekani, the Infosys C.E.O., was showing me his global video-conference room, pointing with pride to a wall-size flat-screen TV, which he said was the biggest in Asia. Infosys, he explained, could hold a virtual meeting of the key players from its entire global supply chain for any project at any time on that supersize screen. So its American designers could be on the screen speaking with their Indian software writers and their Asian manufacturers all at once. That's what globalization is all about today, Nilekani said. Above the screen there were eight clocks that pretty well summed up the Infosys workday: 24/7/365. The clocks were labeled U.S. West, U.S. East, G.M.T., India, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia.

''Outsourcing is just one dimension of a much more fundamental thing happening today in the world,'' Nilekani explained. ''What happened over the last years is that there was a massive investment in technology, especially in the bubble era, when hundreds of millions of dollars were invested in putting broadband connectivity around the world, undersea cables, all those things.'' At the same time, he added, computers became cheaper and dispersed all over the world, and there was an explosion of e-mail software, search engines like Google and proprietary software that can chop up any piece of work and send one part to Boston, one part to Bangalore and one part to Beijing, making it easy for anyone to do remote development. When all of these things suddenly came together around 2000, Nilekani said, they ''created a platform where intellectual work, intellectual capital, could be delivered from anywhere. It could be disaggregated, delivered, distributed, produced and put back together again -- and this gave a whole new degree of freedom to the way we do work, especially work of an intellectual nature. And what you are seeing in Bangalore today is really the culmination of all these things coming together.''

At one point, summing up the implications of all this, Nilekani uttered a phrase that rang in my ear. He said to me, ''Tom, the playing field is being leveled.'' He meant that countries like India were now able to compete equally for global knowledge work as never before -- and that America had better get ready for this. As I left the Infosys campus that evening and bounced along the potholed road back to Bangalore, I kept chewing on that phrase: ''The playing field is being leveled.''

''What Nandan is saying,'' I thought, ''is that the playing field is being flattened. Flattened? Flattened? My God, he's telling me the world is flat!''

Here I was in Bangalore -- more than 500 years after Columbus sailed over the horizon, looking for a shorter route to India using the rudimentary navigational technologies of his day, and returned safely to prove definitively that the world was round -- and one of India's smartest engineers, trained at his country's top technical institute and backed by the most modern technologies of his day, was telling me that the world was flat, as flat as that screen on which he can host a meeting of his whole global supply chain. Even more interesting, he was citing this development as a new milestone in human progress and a great opportunity for India and the world -- the fact that we had made our world flat!

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This has been building for a long time. Globalization 1.0 (1492 to 1800) shrank the world from a size large to a size medium, and the dynamic force in that era was countries globalizing for resources and imperial conquest. Globalization 2.0 (1800 to 2000) shrank the world from a size medium to a size small, and it was spearheaded by companies globalizing for markets and labor. Globalization 3.0 (which started around 2000) is shrinking the world from a size small to a size tiny and flattening the playing field at the same time. And while the dynamic force in Globalization 1.0 was countries globalizing and the dynamic force in Globalization 2.0 was companies globalizing, the dynamic force in Globalization 3.0 -- the thing that gives it its unique character -- is individuals and small groups globalizing. Individuals must, and can, now ask: where do I fit into the global competition and opportunities of the day, and how can I, on my own, collaborate with others globally? But Globalization 3.0 not only differs from the previous eras in how it is shrinking and flattening the world and in how it is empowering individuals. It is also different in that Globalization 1.0 and 2.0 were driven primarily by European and American companies and countries. But going forward, this will be less and less true. Globalization 3.0 is not only going to be driven more by individuals but also by a much more diverse -- non-Western, nonwhite -- group of individuals. In Globalization 3.0, you are going to see every color of the human rainbow take part.

''Today, the most profound thing to me is the fact that a 14-year-old in Romania or Bangalore or the Soviet Union or Vietnam has all the information, all the tools, all the software easily available to apply knowledge however they want,'' said Marc Andreessen, a co-founder of Netscape and creator of the first commercial Internet browser. ''That is why I am sure the next Napster is going to come out of left field. As bioscience becomes more computational and less about wet labs and as all the genomic data becomes easily available on the Internet, at some point you will be able to design vaccines on your laptop.''

Andreessen is touching on the most exciting part of Globalization 3.0 and the flattening of the world: the fact that we are now in the process of connecting all the knowledge pools in the world together. We've tasted some of the downsides of that in the way that Osama bin Laden has connected terrorist knowledge pools together through his Qaeda network, not to mention the work of teenage hackers spinning off more and more lethal computer viruses that affect us all. But the upside is that by connecting all these knowledge pools we are on the cusp of an incredible new era of innovation, an era that will be driven from left field and right field, from West and East and from North and South. Only 30 years ago, if you had a choice of being born a B student in Boston or a genius in Bangalore or Beijing, you probably would have chosen Boston, because a genius in Beijing or Bangalore could not really take advantage of his or her talent. They could not plug and play globally. Not anymore. Not when the world is flat, and anyone with smarts, access to Google and a cheap wireless laptop can join the innovation fray.

When the world is flat, you can innovate without having to emigrate. This is going to get interesting. We are about to see creative destruction on steroids.

How did the world get flattened, and how did it happen so fast?

It was a result of 10 events and forces that all came together during the 1990's and converged right around the year 2000. Let me go through them briefly. The first event was 11/9. That's right -- not 9/11, but 11/9. Nov. 9, 1989, is the day the Berlin Wall came down, which was critically important because it allowed us to think of the world as a single space. ''The Berlin Wall was not only a symbol of keeping people inside Germany; it was a way of preventing a kind of global view of our future,'' the Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen said. And the wall went down just as the windows went up -- the breakthrough Microsoft Windows 3.0 operating system, which helped to flatten the playing field even more by creating a global computer interface, shipped six months after the wall fell.

The second key date was 8/9. Aug. 9, 1995, is the day Netscape went public, which did two important things. First, it brought the Internet alive by giving us the browser to display images and data stored on Web sites. Second, the Netscape stock offering triggered the dot-com boom, which triggered the dot-com bubble, which triggered the massive overinvestment of billions of dollars in fiber-optic telecommunications cable. That overinvestment, by companies like Global Crossing, resulted in the willy-nilly creation of a global undersea-underground fiber network, which in turn drove down the cost of transmitting voices, data and images to practically zero, which in turn accidentally made Boston, Bangalore and Beijing next-door neighbors overnight. In sum, what the Netscape revolution did was bring people-to-people connectivity to a whole new level. Suddenly more people could connect with more other people from more different places in more different ways than ever before.

No country accidentally benefited more from the Netscape moment than India. ''India had no resources and no infrastructure,'' said Dinakar Singh, one of the most respected hedge-fund managers on Wall Street, whose parents earned doctoral degrees in biochemistry from the University of Delhi before emigrating to America. ''It produced people with quality and by quantity. But many of them rotted on the docks of India like vegetables. Only a relative few could get on ships and get out. Not anymore, because we built this ocean crosser, called fiber-optic cable. For decades you had to leave India to be a professional. Now you can plug into the world from India. You don't have to go to Yale and go to work for Goldman Sachs.'' India could never have afforded to pay for the bandwidth to connect brainy India with high-tech America, so American shareholders paid for it. Yes, crazy overinvestment can be good. The overinvestment in railroads turned out to be a great boon for the American economy. ''But the railroad overinvestment was confined to your own country and so, too, were the benefits,'' Singh said. In the case of the digital railroads, ''it was the foreigners who benefited.'' India got a free ride.

The first time this became apparent was when thousands of Indian engineers were enlisted to fix the Y2K -- the year 2000 -- computer bugs for companies from all over the world. (Y2K should be a national holiday in India. Call it ''Indian Interdependence Day,'' says Michael Mandelbaum, a foreign-policy analyst at Johns Hopkins.) The fact that the Y2K work could be outsourced to Indians was made possible by the first two flatteners, along with a third, which I call ''workflow.'' Workflow is shorthand for all the software applications, standards and electronic transmission pipes, like middleware, that connected all those computers and fiber-optic cable. To put it another way, if the Netscape moment connected people to people like never before, what the workflow revolution did was connect applications to applications so that people all over the world could work together in manipulating and shaping words, data and images on computers like never before.

Indeed, this breakthrough in people-to-people and application-to-application connectivity produced, in short order, six more flatteners -- six new ways in which individuals and companies could collaborate on work and share knowledge. One was ''outsourcing.'' When my software applications could connect seamlessly with all of your applications, it meant that all kinds of work -- from accounting to software-writing -- could be digitized, disaggregated and shifted to any place in the world where it could be done better and cheaper. The second was ''offshoring.'' I send my whole factory from Canton, Ohio, to Canton, China. The third was ''open-sourcing.'' I write the next operating system, Linux, using engineers collaborating together online and working for free. The fourth was ''insourcing.'' I let a company like UPS come inside my company and take over my whole logistics operation -- everything from filling my orders online to delivering my goods to repairing them for customers when they break. (People have no idea what UPS really does today. You'd be amazed!). The fifth was ''supply-chaining.'' This is Wal-Mart's specialty. I create a global supply chain down to the last atom of efficiency so that if I sell an item in Arkansas, another is immediately made in China. (If Wal-Mart were a country, it would be China's eighth-largest trading partner.) The last new form of collaboration I call ''informing'' -- this is Google, Yahoo and MSN Search, which now allow anyone to collaborate with, and mine, unlimited data all by themselves.

So the first three flatteners created the new platform for collaboration, and the next six are the new forms of collaboration that flattened the world even more. The 10th flattener I call ''the steroids,'' and these are wireless access and voice over Internet protocol (VoIP). What the steroids do is turbocharge all these new forms of collaboration, so you can now do any one of them, from anywhere, with any device.

The world got flat when all 10 of these flatteners converged around the year 2000. This created a global, Web-enabled playing field that allows for multiple forms of collaboration on research and work in real time, without regard to geography, distance or, in the near future, even language. ''It is the creation of this platform, with these unique attributes, that is the truly important sustainable breakthrough that made what you call the flattening of the world possible,'' said Craig Mundie, the chief technical officer of Microsoft.

No, not everyone has access yet to this platform, but it is open now to more people in more places on more days in more ways than anything like it in history. Wherever you look today -- whether it is the world of journalism, with bloggers bringing down Dan Rather; the world of software, with the Linux code writers working in online forums for free to challenge Microsoft; or the world of business, where Indian and Chinese innovators are competing against and working with some of the most advanced Western multinationals -- hierarchies are being flattened and value is being created less and less within vertical silos and more and more through horizontal collaboration within companies, between companies and among individuals.

Do you recall ''the IT revolution'' that the business press has been pushing for the last 20 years? Sorry to tell you this, but that was just the prologue. The last 20 years were about forging, sharpening and distributing all the new tools to collaborate and connect. Now the real information revolution is about to begin as all the complementarities among these collaborative tools start to converge. One of those who first called this moment by its real name was Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard C.E.O., who in 2004 began to declare in her public speeches that the dot-com boom and bust were just ''the end of the beginning.'' The last 25 years in technology, Fiorina said, have just been ''the warm-up act.'' Now we are going into the main event, she said, ''and by the main event, I mean an era in which technology will truly transform every aspect of business, of government, of society, of life.''

s if this flattening wasn't enough, another convergence coincidentally occurred during the 1990's that was equally important. Some three billion people who were out of the game walked, and often ran, onto the playing field. I am talking about the people of China, India, Russia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and Central Asia. Their economies and political systems all opened up during the course of the 1990's so that their people were increasingly free to join the free market. And when did these three billion people converge with the new playing field and the new business processes? Right when it was being flattened, right when millions of them could compete and collaborate more equally, more horizontally and with cheaper and more readily available tools. Indeed, thanks to the flattening of the world, many of these new entrants didn't even have to leave home to participate. Thanks to the 10 flatteners, the playing field came to them!

It is this convergence -- of new players, on a new playing field, developing new processes for horizontal collaboration -- that I believe is the most important force shaping global economics and politics in the early 21st century. Sure, not all three billion can collaborate and compete. In fact, for most people the world is not yet flat at all. But even if we're talking about only 10 percent, that's 300 million people -- about twice the size of the American work force. And be advised: the Indians and Chinese are not racing us to the bottom. They are racing us to the top. What China's leaders really want is that the next generation of underwear and airplane wings not just be ''made in China'' but also be ''designed in China.'' And that is where things are heading. So in 30 years we will have gone from ''sold in China'' to ''made in China'' to ''designed in China'' to ''dreamed up in China'' -- or from China as collaborator with the worldwide manufacturers on nothing to China as a low-cost, high-quality, hyperefficient collaborator with worldwide manufacturers on everything. Ditto India. Said Craig Barrett, the C.E.O. of Intel, ''You don't bring three billion people into the world economy overnight without huge consequences, especially from three societies'' -- like India, China and Russia -- ''with rich educational heritages.''

That is why there is nothing that guarantees that Americans or Western Europeans will continue leading the way. These new players are stepping onto the playing field legacy free, meaning that many of them were so far behind that they can leap right into the new technologies without having to worry about all the sunken costs of old systems. It means that they can move very fast to adopt new, state-of-the-art technologies, which is why there are already more cellphones in use in China today than there are people in America.

That is why there is nothing that guarantees that Americans or Western Europeans will continue leading the way. These new players are stepping onto the playing field legacy free, meaning that many of them were so far behind that they can leap right into the new technologies without having to worry about all the sunken costs of old systems. It means that they can move very fast to adopt new, state-of-the-art technologies, which is why there are already more cellphones in use in China today than there are people in America.

Rao is right. And it is time we got focused. As a person who grew up during the cold war, I'll always remember driving down the highway and listening to the radio, when suddenly the music would stop and a grim-voiced announcer would come on the air and say: ''This is a test. This station is conducting a test of the Emergency Broadcast System.'' And then there would be a 20-second high-pitched siren sound. Fortunately, we never had to live through a moment in the cold war when the announcer came on and said, ''This is a not a test.''

That, however, is exactly what I want to say here: ''This is not a test.''

The long-term opportunities and challenges that the flattening of the world puts before the United States are profound. Therefore, our ability to get by doing things the way we've been doing them -- which is to say not always enriching our secret sauce -- will not suffice any more. ''For a country as wealthy we are, it is amazing how little we are doing to enhance our natural competitiveness,'' says Dinakar Singh, the Indian-American hedge-fund manager. ''We are in a world that has a system that now allows convergence among many billions of people, and we had better step back and figure out what it means. It would be a nice coincidence if all the things that were true before were still true now, but there are quite a few things you actually need to do differently. You need to have a much more thoughtful national discussion.''

If this moment has any parallel in recent American history, it is the height of the cold war, around 1957, when the Soviet Union leapt ahead of America in the space race by putting up the Sputnik satellite. The main challenge then came from those who wanted to put up walls; the main challenge to America today comes from the fact that all the walls are being taken down and many other people can now compete and collaborate with us much more directly. The main challenge in that world was from those practicing extreme Communism, namely Russia, China and North Korea. The main challenge to America today is from those practicing extreme capitalism, namely China, India and South Korea. The main objective in that era was building a strong state, and the main objective in this era is building strong individuals.

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Meeting the challenges of flatism requires as comprehensive, energetic and focused a response as did meeting the challenge of Communism. It requires a president who can summon the nation to work harder, get smarter, attract more young women and men to science and engineering and build the broadband infrastructure, portable pensions and health care that will help every American become more employable in an age in which no one can guarantee you lifetime employment.

We have been slow to rise to the challenge of flatism, in contrast to Communism, maybe because flatism doesn't involve ICBM missiles aimed at our cities. Indeed, the hot line, which used to connect the Kremlin with the White House, has been replaced by the help line, which connects everyone in America to call centers in Bangalore. While the other end of the hot line might have had Leonid Brezhnev threatening nuclear war, the other end of the help line just has a soft voice eager to help you sort out your AOL bill or collaborate with you on a new piece of software. No, that voice has none of the menace of Nikita Khrushchev pounding a shoe on the table at the United Nations, and it has none of the sinister snarl of the bad guys in ''From Russia With Love.'' No, that voice on the help line just has a friendly Indian lilt that masks any sense of threat or challenge. It simply says: ''Hello, my name is Rajiv. Can I help you?''

No, Rajiv, actually you can't. When it comes to responding to the challenges of the flat world, there is no help line we can call. We have to dig into ourselves. We in America have all the basic economic and educational tools to do that. But we have not been improving those tools as much as we should. That is why we are in what Shirley Ann Jackson, the 2004 president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, calls a ''quiet crisis'' -- one that is slowly eating away at America's scientific and engineering base.

''If left unchecked,'' said Jackson, the first African-American woman to earn a Ph.D. in physics from M.I.T., ''this could challenge our pre-eminence and capacity to innovate.'' And it is our ability to constantly innovate new products, services and companies that has been the source of America's horn of plenty and steadily widening middle class for the last two centuries. This quiet crisis is a product of three gaps now plaguing American society. The first is an ''ambition gap.'' Compared with the young, energetic Indians and Chinese, too many Americans have gotten too lazy. As David Rothkopf, a former official in the Clinton Commerce Department, puts it, ''The real entitlement we need to get rid of is our sense of entitlement.'' Second, we have a serious numbers gap building. We are not producing enough engineers and scientists. We used to make up for that by importing them from India and China, but in a flat world, where people can now stay home and compete with us, and in a post-9/11 world, where we are insanely keeping out many of the first-round intellectual draft choices in the world for exaggerated security reasons, we can no longer cover the gap. That's a key reason companies are looking abroad. The numbers are not here. And finally we are developing an education gap. Here is the dirty little secret that no C.E.O. wants to tell you: they are not just outsourcing to save on salary. They are doing it because they can often get better-skilled and more productive people than their American workers.

These are some of the reasons that Bill Gates, the Microsoft chairman, warned the governors' conference in a Feb. 26 speech that American high-school education is ''obsolete.'' As Gates put it: ''When I compare our high schools to what I see when I'm traveling abroad, I am terrified for our work force of tomorrow. In math and science, our fourth graders are among the top students in the world. By eighth grade, they're in the middle of the pack. By 12th grade, U.S. students are scoring near the bottom of all industrialized nations. . . . The percentage of a population with a college degree is important, but so are sheer numbers. In 2001, India graduated almost a million more students from college than the United States did. China graduates twice as many students with bachelor's degrees as the U.S., and they have six times as many graduates majoring in engineering. In the international competition to have the biggest and best supply of knowledge workers, America is falling behind.''

We need to get going immediately. It takes 15 years to train a good engineer, because, ladies and gentlemen, this really is rocket science. So parents, throw away the Game Boy, turn off the television and get your kids to work. There is no sugar-coating this: in a flat world, every individual is going to have to run a little faster if he or she wants to advance his or her standard of living. When I was growing up, my parents used to say to me, ''Tom, finish your dinner -- people in China are starving.'' But after sailing to the edges of the flat world for a year, I am now telling my own daughters, ''Girls, finish your homework -- people in China and India are starving for your jobs.''

I repeat, this is not a test. This is the beginning of a crisis that won't remain quiet for long. And as the Stanford economist Paul Romer so rightly says, ''A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.''

Thomas L. Friedman is the author of ''The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century,'' to be published this week by Farrar, Straus & Giroux and from which this article is adapted. His column appears on the Op-Ed page of The Times, and his television documentary ''Does Europe Hate Us?'' will be shown on the Discovery Channel on April 7 at 8 p.m.

(*) (*) (*) very, very interesting.......... ;) ;) ;)

(k) (k) off to watch the Pope's funeral on CNN soon......talk about a 7 hour differerence~ (S) (S) (S)

Peace,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-07-2005, 11:50 PM

A blonde and a lawyer are seated next to each other on a flight from LA to NY. The lawyer asks if she would like to play a fun game? The blonde, tired, just wants to take a nap, politely declines and rolls over to the window to catch a few winks. The lawyer persists and explains that the game is easy and a lot of fun. He explains, "I ask you a question, and if you don't know the answer, you pay me $5.00, and vise versa."

Again, she declines and tries to get some sleep.

The lawyer, now agitated, says, "Okay, if you don't know the answer you pay me $5.00, and if I don't know the answer, I will pay you $500.00."

This catches the blonde's attention and, figuring there will be no end to this torment unless she plays, agrees to the game.

The lawyer asks the first question. "What's the distance from the earth to the moon?"

The blonde doesn't say a word, reaches into her purse, pulls out a $5.00 bill and hands it to the lawyer. "Okay, " says the lawyer, "your turn".

She asks the lawyer, "What goes up a hill with three legs and comes down with four legs?"

The lawyer, puzzled, takes out his laptop computer and searches all his references, no answer. He taps into the air phone with his modem and searches the net and the library of congress, no answer. Frustrated, he sends e-mail to all his friends and coworkers, to no avail. After an hour, he wakes the blonde, and hands her $500.00.

The blonde says, "Thank you, " and turns back to get some more sleep.

The lawyer, who is more than a little miffed, wakes the blonde and asks, "Well, what's the answer?"

Without a word, the blonde reaches into her purse, hands the lawyer $5.00, and goes back to sleep.

(*) (*) (*) ;) ;) (h) (h)

(k) (k) (k)

Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-07-2005, 11:53 PM

Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes of All Time:

http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/aprilfool/

(*) (*) (*) ;) ;) ;)

Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-07-2005, 11:54 PM

http://www.prankplace.com/wrap1.htm?KBID=2274

(*) (*) ;) (h) (h)

(k) (k) ,
SL and DTB (Doc the Boxer)

sweetlady

04-07-2005, 11:57 PM

Apparently at some point, the brain trust of America Online was wondering what else they could add training wheels to when it occurred to them that it was not such a great leap from "You've got mail" to "You've got a call." The Time Warner subsidiary launched its Voice-over-Internet-Protocol service today in more than 40 markets nationwide, becoming the latest entry in an increasingly crowded market that includes the major cable and telecommunications companies. The debut of "AOL Internet Phone Service" comes as demand for the company's once-ubiquitous dial-up Internet service is gradually dissolving. Though AOL remains the No. 1 online service provider with some 28.5 million subscribers worldwide, members have ditched the service in droves in recent years. AOL hopes that by bringing its simple-is-as-simple-does approach to VoIP, it will convert more of its existing dial-up customers to its own broadband service and lose fewer of them to competitors. "We have evidence that a lot of narrowband customers that haven't moved to broadband yet look at Internet telephony as a reason to move to broadband," James Tobin, vice president and general manager of advanced voice services at AOL, told Dow Jones Newswires. Of course, there are other reasons as well. Technology research company IDC this week projected that 27 million Americans would be using Internet-based telephone services by 2009, nine times the estimated 3 million today, as more households migrate to high-speed broadband Internet access. "AOL getting into this business is a very big thing," said Joseph Laszlo, a senior analyst with Jupiter Research. "They bring a very strong brand and strong reputation for ease of use to the market."

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/11334947.htm

http://www.smartmoney.com/bn/ON/index.cfm?story=ON-20050407-000010-0023

http://www.internetnews.com/infra/article.php/3495076

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32849-2005Apr6.html

(*) (*) where's that propeller-head smiley when I need her? ;) ;) (h) (h)

(S) (S) ,
SL and DTB

sweetlady

04-07-2005, 11:59 PM

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/business/columnists/gmsv/11334952.htm

(*) (*) ;) ;) (h) (h)

(k) (k) ,
SL and DTB

sweetlady

04-08-2005, 12:00 AM

http://www.shakeskin.com/Shakeskin/Gallery/Shaken/

(*) (*) :o :o :| :| ;)

(k) (k) ,
SL & DTB

sweetlady

04-08-2005, 12:02 AM

http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/research/recording_head/pr/PerpendicularAnimation.html

(*) (*) :o :o ;) ;)

Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-08-2005, 12:03 AM

http://www.ifilm.com/ads/asl/fullscreen/index.jsp?uri=/ifilmdetail/204155&htv=12

(*) (*) (h) (h)

SL and DTB

sweetlady

04-08-2005, 12:04 AM

http://www.mobjects.net/hugms/

(*) (*) :| :|

(S) (S) (l) (l) ({) (}) ,

SL and DTB

sweetlady

04-08-2005, 12:06 AM

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2005/pope/index.html

(*) (*) (l) (l) (l) (l) (l) (l) (l) (l) (l) (l) (l)

Respectfully,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-08-2005, 09:34 AM

Subject: Hillary honor
Date: Sat, 2 Apr 2005 15:12:24 +0000
Senator Hillary Clinton was invited to address a major gathering of
the American Indian Nation two weeks ago in upper New York State. She
spoke for almost an hour on her future plans for increasing every Native American's present standard of living, should she one day become the first female President. She referred to her career as a New York Senator, how she had signed "YES" for every Indian issue that came to her desk for approval.

Although the Senator was vague on the details of her plan, she seemed
most enthusiastic about her future ideas for helping her "red sisters
and brothers".

At the conclusion of her speech, the Tribes presented the Senator with
a plaque inscribed with her new Indian name - Walking Eagle. The proud
Senator then departed in her motorcade, waving to the crowds .

A news reporter later inquired to the group of chiefs of how they come
to select the new name given to the Senator.

They explained that Walking Eagle is the name given to a bird so full
of shit it can no longer fly.

(*) (*) :o :o :o (a) (a)

({) (}) ,
A VERY tired Sweetlady and napping Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-08-2005, 09:42 AM

live......the CNN coverage startedat 3:00 a.m. EDT, and the high Mass at 4:00 a.m.

I've never heard applause or cheers at a Mass before especially at such as serious event.....santos! santos! It's clear that everyone there (including what seemed like half of the people of Poland) were cheering their emotional goodbyes and thoughts of His Holiness being cannonized as soon as possible.

I got goose bumps.

This link includes what the Pope wrote as his last wishes and messages:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/04/07/pope.will.ap/index.html

(*) (*) very, very touching in my opinion. (f) (f) (f) (f) (f) (f) (f) (f) (f) (f) (f) (f)

(f) (f) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-10-2005, 03:16 PM

sweetlady

04-10-2005, 03:19 PM

Think of this as a sort of "Magnificent Seven," except with five riders and Larry Ellison in the Yul Brynner role. An alliance of five major technology companies has joined the European Commission's long antitrust battle against Microsoft, accusing it of wide-ranging anticompetitive behavior. The companies are Oracle, Real Networks, IBM, Red Hat and Nokia and the aegis under which they're operating is the European Committee for Interoperable Systems. "We are very concerned about Microsoft's anticompetitive conduct," ECIS representative Thomas Vinje told Reuters. "Microsoft, in the wake of buying off several of the Commission's supporters, has been saying that the Commission stands naked, that is has little or no industry support for its case. I think that this resoundingly demonstrates that is not true." The EC hasn't yet granted the ECIS leave to intervene, but my guess is it will. Its member companies all certainly have a right to be concerned that Microsoft might someday parlay its desktop dominance into the areas in which they all do business.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054047/

http://www.computerworld.com/printthis/2005/0,4814,100883,00.html

http://www.reuters.com/audi/newsArticle.jhtml?type=technologyNews&storyID=8100948

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/11325290.htm

(*) (*) <humming "old western" music to myself>........ ;) (h)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-10-2005, 03:24 PM

http://www.mailorderhusbands.net/order/

(*) (*) for those with sensitivities or hate all men - you might want to skip this particular URL that I myself found particularly offensive to womyn. Just my opinion.

:o :o :o

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-10-2005, 03:29 PM

Isn't the list of air travel stressors long enough already without tossing the din of cell-phone chatter into the mix? Really, the thought of being stuck in the middle seat of a cramped airplane with my neighboring passengers gibbering on about their annoying relatives or latest business deals is enough to make me consider buying a Winnebago. Anyway ... a survey of airline passengers found that they strongly support keeping restrictions on cell phone usage during flights, mostly because they (shocker!) prefer not to be confined in an aluminum tube thousands of feet above the ground with 100 people all shouting into their phones, trying to be heard over the engine noise. Sponsored by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA and the National Consumers League, the survey was conducted as the Federal Communications Commission moves ahead with a rule-making process aimed at lifting its ban on cell phones and other portable electronic devices in the air. "The airplane is one of the few places you can go to have some quiet time," Susan Grant, vice president of public policy at the National Consumers League, told the Washington Post. "If we lose that, there will be no place to hide from the aggravation of having to listen to the unwanted conversation of other people."

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/11342789.htm

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/11338056.htm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35523-2005Apr7.html

(*) (*) :| :| I just cannot imagine sitting next to someone talking for hours on a cellphone while on a transcon flight when I flew every week. :| :| I'm sure something will be done about it....... Meanwhile, Bose has some absolutely perfect noise-cancelling earphones that truly work - I can't even hear the aircraft engines! (h) (h)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-10-2005, 03:32 PM

http://www.cine-magic.com/fffQ.html

(*) (*) ;)

(k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-10-2005, 03:34 PM

http://www.mikeslist.com/2005/04/bionic-suit-goes-on-sale-this-year.html

(*) (*) seems like a good idea for disabled folks.....IF they vendor is serious.
Where DO people find these web sites? ;) ;)

Back to researching leadership topics........while the Doc'meister naps on the couch........ (l) (l)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-10-2005, 03:38 PM

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

Published: April 10, 2005 NYTimes

Here's my prophecy about the next pope: He will allow married men to become priests.

This is simply a matter of survival: all over the world, the Catholic Church is running out of priests. In the United States, there was one priest for every 800 Catholics in 1965, while now there is one for every 1,400 Catholics - and the average age is nearly 60. In all the United States, with 65 million Catholics, only 479 priests were ordained in 2002.

The upshot is that the Catholic Church is losing ground around the world to evangelical and especially Pentecostal churches. In Brazil, which has more Catholics than any other country, Pentecostals are gaining so quickly that they could overtake Catholics over the next decades.

No one understands the desperate need for clergy more than the cardinals themselves. In fact, John Paul II himself laid the groundwork for an end to the celibacy requirement.

Few people realize it, but there are now about 200 married priests under a special dispensation given by the Vatican to pastors of other denominations - Episcopalians, Lutherans and so on - who are already married and wish to convert to Roman Catholicism (typically because they feel their churches are going squishy by ordaining women or gays).

"It's really kind of a nonissue," the Rev. John Gremmels, one of those married Catholic priests, in Fort Worth, told me of his status as a father of the usual sort.

The Vatican also permits Eastern Rite Catholics in places like Ukraine and Romania to have married priests. That was part of an ancient deal: they would be Catholics and accept the pope's authority, staying out of the Orthodox Church, and in exchange they would be allowed married clergy and liturgies in local languages.

Polls show that 70 percent of American Catholics believe priests should be able to marry. David Gibson, author of "The Coming Catholic Church," quotes Cardinal Roger Mahony as telling him that it's reasonable to raise the issue and adding: "We've had a married clergy since Day 1, since St. Peter."

It's true that St. Peter, the first pope, was married, and so were many of the apostles and early popes. But then Christians began to put more emphasis on chastity, with Tertullian describing women as "the gateway to the devil."

Origen of Alexandria, the great third-century Christian philosopher, castrated himself. And Hugh of Lincoln, a 12th-century bishop who was later canonized, claimed that a heavenly being had obliged him by coming down from heaven and castrating him, leaving him feeling much more peaceful.

By the Middle Ages, the church was clamping down on corruption and the tendency of priests to leave church assets to their sons. So in the 11th and 12th centuries the rules for celibacy became formalized.

Of course, the church sometimes adapts to local cultures. Christianity is at its most dynamic in Africa, but clergy in Africa have often complained that the effort to attract priests there is hobbled by a cultural emphasis on having children. In central Africa a few years ago, an Italian priest told me of a local bishop's children. I thought he was speaking metaphorically about the parishioners, but the missionary shook his head.

"No, he has a wife," the priest said of the bishop. "Celibacy just runs against the culture here. In fact, if we find a priest who sticks to just one wife, we promote him to bishop."

Ordaining women would also be an excellent way to provide a new source of clergy. John Paul wrote forcefully about the dignity and equality of women, even championing the female orgasm. One of his successors as pope will surely apply those precepts of equality to the church itself and allow the ordination of women. But maybe not in the next papacy.

It's often noted that Pope John Paul II chose all but three of the cardinals who will choose the next pope, but that doesn't necessarily mean another conservative pope. After all, Pope Pius XII chose all but two of the cardinals who in 1958 chose his successor, the far more open-minded Pope John XXIII.

As my Times colleague Peter Steinfels writes in "A People Adrift," his book about Catholics: "Today the Roman Catholic Church in the United States is on the verge of either an irreversible decline or a thoroughgoing transformation." Faced with that choice worldwide, losing ground to Pentecostals, the next pope will be forced to choose transformation.

(*) (*) !! :| :| In-fricking-deed!

(k) (k) Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-10-2005, 03:42 PM

'Spamalot' Discovers the Straight White Way

By JESSE McKINLEY

Published: April 10, 2005 NYTimes

THE other night at the Shubert Theater, home of the freshly minted hit "Spamalot," there were lines everywhere. There were lines at the box office and lines at the cancellation window. There were lines at the souvenir stand and lines at the bar. There were lines upstairs, lines downstairs and lines on the stairs in between.

But there was one spot with no line whatsoever: the ladies' room.

That's because "Spamalot," Broadway's hottest show, drawn from the 1975 cult film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," has managed to tap into a rare, highly prized Broadway demographic: men; specifically, the kinds of teenagers and 20-somethings who find jokes about fish, flatulence and the French absolutely sidesplitting and who normally wouldn't be headed to the theater unless dragged by a girlfriend, school trip or court order.

"They are what the movie preview experts call young males under 35," said Mike Nichols, who directed "Spamalot." "And we have them."

Indeed, "Spamalot" may have created an entirely new breed of raving musical theater fan, one who has probably never heard of Rodgers and Hammerstein or Kander and Ebb or even - gasp - Stephen Sondheim, but who can quote full stretches of dialogue from 30-year-old films by British sketch-comedy troupes.

"I see guys in standing room yakking it up, hounding their girlfriends, elbowing them," Mr. Nichols said. "The guys actually lead it."

Guys like Jerry Gioia, 23, an air-conditioning duct worker (or "tin-knocker" as he prefers to be called) who lives with his parents in Bellmore, N.Y., and who, before last week, had seen exactly one Broadway show. (It was "Beauty and the Beast," and it was "very creative," he said.)

But last Saturday night, Mr. Gioia - a self-described huge Python fan - headed to Broadway with his uncle and two cousins.

"I like the dry humor," he said, standing outside the theater at intermission, a cigarette in one hand and a bag of "Spamalot" merchandise in the other. "I hear other plays have comedy on Broadway, but I don't know. This, though, is hysterical. It's even better than the movie."

Nobody's saying that "Spamalot" is only drawing men, of course; since opening on March 17, the show has regularly sold out the Shubert and built an advance of more than $20 million, a figure that indicates that it is selling in every demographic imaginable. (And women are certainly attending; on Saturday night - date night - the queue for the ladies' room was almost, but not quite, as long as for the men's.) Industry officials, though, say they are impressed by the show's ability to draw men in their 20's, 30's, and 40's, and their kids.

"It seems so far that 'Spamalot' has the potential to become a show for young guys like 'Wicked' is for young girls," said Jed Bernstein, the president of the League of American Theaters and Producers.

As such, "Spamalot" may already be grasping the holy grail of Broadway: new audience members. Faced with an aging consumer base - the average Broadway theatergoer is older than 40 - producers have become increasingly desperate to build new groups of potential ticket buyers, whether they are Beach Boys fans (targeted by the new musical "Good Vibrations") or devotees of East German transvestite antique collectors ("I Am My Own Wife").

Last year's revival of Lorraine Hansberry's "Raisin in the Sun," starring Sean Combs and Phylicia Rashad, illustrated how another niche audience, blacks, could contribute to a play's success on Broadway. Musicals like "Wicked" and "Hairspray" - both big hits - have done well in part by drawing hordes of women in their teens and 20's, many of whom identify with the young, flawed-but-strong female protagonists. (In "Hairspray," the heroine, Tracy, is overweight; in "Wicked," Elphaba, the nice witch, is just plain green.)

In fact, Broadway's audience is now nearly two-thirds female, according to statistics from the League of American Theaters and Producers. Women, who also make up the majority of ticket buyers, are more likely to be regular and repeat theatergoers. (Men, it seems, have some commitment problems.) And when it comes to young men, the numbers are even more discouraging; men under 35 - coveted by advertisers, television programmers and others trying to get their hands in the pockets of America - make up only about 12 percent of the average Broadway audience.

No one knows how many of these men are straight and how many are gay. What's certain is that, right or wrong, there is a perception that Broadway is awash in gay-themed shows, a stereotype amplified by high-profile productions like Boy George's "Taboo," "The Boy From Oz," starring Hugh Jackman, and this year's revival of "La Cage Aux Folles," all of which have gay characters at their centers.

And while avid theatergoers, including many gay men, will go to see almost any musical regardless of subject matter, young straight men not in the habit of seeing plays seem to need some assurance that they will find something familiar and likable. And what could be a safer bet than a guy movie like "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"? (It's worth noting that another of the season's big musical comedies, "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," also comes from a film that traffics in bawdy humor and boys behaving badly.)

Harvey Fierstein, who in addition to currently playing Tevye in "Fiddler on the Roof" also wrote the book for "La Cage Aux Folles," says it would be a stretch to say the needs of straight men are not being met on Broadway: "When have straight white men not gotten what they wanted?" But he agrees that Broadway has been doing a bad job of catering to the desire for the type of broad, silly, overt comedy currently on display at the Shubert.

"There's always been a place for a show like 'Spamalot,' " said Mr. Fierstein, who saw it in previews. "But we as a Broadway community got narrow minded and stopped doing those type of wild, slapsticky shows. We forgot how to do it."

Indeed, "Spamalot" also seems to be tapping into a sort of nostalgia for adolescent humor that is a staple of movies of the Farrelly brothers (and the Marx Brothers, for that matter) but that is rarely seen on Broadway.

Brian Peltonen offers a case in point. A video-game programmer from Boston, Mr. Peltonen, 27, said he had seen all the Monty Python movies several times ("even 'Jabberwocky,' " he said, citing a tangential entry in the Python canon) and bought four tickets for "Spamalot" as Christmas presents, including one for his buddy, Karl Hutter, 28, who flew in from Beijing to see the show. (Mr. Peltonen also brought his girlfriend, Alicair, who had never seen a Broadway show.)

"I figure the Python people wouldn't bring it to Broadway unless they thought it was good enough," Mr. Peltonen said, adding that if it wasn't for "Spamalot," there would be about "a 10 percent chance" of his coming to Broadway. "It wasn't exactly Ionesco or O'Neill, but we were laughing pretty hard."

In "Spamalot" the heroes aren't deep or even genuine, but they are funny, which is what matters to many men. "Gags about cruelty and violence and sophomoric dopey things have a kind of male feel to them," Mr. Nichols said. "It's what guys do and like to hear about on poker night."

Tim Curry, who plays a very silly King Arthur in the musical, confirms this, claiming to regularly see packs of young men chortling along to the show.

"They come in pockets of four or five guys from the frat, or who four or five guys who were frat brothers," he said, sounding a bit like the narrator of a National Geographic wildlife special.

Mr. Curry, of course, knows a thing or two about cultish fan bases, seeing as he was the star of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," which like "Holy Grail" was released in 1975. "I think they are the same in that when young people experience a movie it becomes a badge of their smartness," he said. "And then it becomes a club."

As such, there's also probably a small cultural movement at work here, too, as evidenced by the rise of recent adaptations of many of the ur-texts of male geekdom, from the blockbuster film saga "The Lord of the Rings" (which is also being turned into a musical) to "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," a movie being released this month. (And the BBC recently announced that Dr. Who was coming back.)

Still, the "Spamalot" phenomenon surprises some who have been going to - and performing on - Broadway for years.

"If I were of frat boy age and I had $100, would I opt for a Broadway ticket or would I want to spend that on booze and drugs?" Mr. Fierstein asked. "Even I, and I am as gay as a pink leather piñata, would choose booze and drugs."

Mr. Nichols said he hoped that his audience would be permanently converted. "The excitement is having gotten some of those men back who might have approached the theater like it's modern dance and not without provocation," he said. "It's nice to have them back."

Or coming for the first or the second time, as in the case Mr. Gioia, who said he loved "Spamalot" and would probably go to see other Broadway shows: if, of course, there was anything that held some appeal. "It's like reading a book," he said, "I'm only going to read something that interests me. Otherwise, how often am I going to be here?"

(*) (*) Pooh......I really would love to see this play. Anyone else see the old film "Monty Python's Holy Grail" and still remember many of the funny lines? I think seeing David Hyde Pierce and Hank Azaria (both great actors) as well as participating as an audience member in the performance itself by calling out some of the most famous lines would be a riot! (h) (h) (h)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-10-2005, 03:48 PM

A Gesture Life
By COLM TOIBIN

Published: April 6, 2005 NYTimes Magazine

He turned like an actor turns. He seemed, as the television lights illuminated his face, to be intrigued and then mildly astonished by the size of the crowd. He seemed, as he stood alone, wearing immaculate white, to have come to us from another world, and to be bemused and surprised by the universe he now saw before him. It was Aug. 14, 1991, at the monastery of Jasna Gora, the church of the Black Madonna at Czestochowa, the spiritual capital of Poland. Researching a book on Catholicism in Europe, I had joined a million young people gathered that day to see the pope.

The temporary altar was perched on the old walls of the monastery; below was a natural amphitheater. John Paul slowly began to walk up the steps. I cannot remember if there was music or a choir, because that was not important then. How he moved was important; his gait was deliberate and considered, but neither frail nor faltering. Even though he had his back to us, it appeared as he ascended as if his mind were pondering some deep, old spiritual hurt, something personal and sacred to him, and he had forgotten his exalted role in the world.

And then he hesitated, and he turned, and he managed a great melancholy smile while never losing an aura of power. Not once was his effect unambiguous for these hours when I watched him as the Polish night came down and lights were turned up and his face appeared on huge screens; not one gesture or shift of tone could be described simply, using a single term. His humility as he observed the crowd came patterned with pride; his burdened self came lined with real strength; the guarded image he portrayed, almost a loneliness, came mixed with a sense of exhilaration at where he was now and what he saw. He combined innocence and knowledge.

He did not wave or make any gesture, but prepared to turn and make his way closer to the altar, allowing his steps now to wander from side to side as if he were alone and in a state of reverie and contemplation. And then he seemed to take in the congregation out of the side of his eyes as he turned briefly and waved for the first time.

The ceremony lasted for hours. He did not once lose the full rapt attention of the crowd. He did nothing dramatic, said nothing new. Before he spoke — and every word he said was translated into many languages on our radios — he remained still. There must have been music. But it was the lights that I remember and the sense that he had no script for this, that it was natural and improvised and also highly theatrical and professional. More than anything, it was unpredictable.

And in that first hour, or maybe half-hour, he did something genuinely astonishing. With a million of us watching, he lifted his hands and cupped them over his face. It was nothing like a gesture of despair; he did not put his head in his hands out of unhappiness. He held his head high and proud so that it could be seen, and he left his hands in place covering it. The crowd watched him, presuming this would last a few moments as he sought some undistracted purity for his prayer or his contemplation. We waited for him to lower his hands, but he did not. He stayed still, the world gazing up at him. What he did ceased to be a public gesture, but became instead intensely private. It was like watching somebody sleeping. I do not know how long it lasted. Maybe 20 minutes; maybe half an hour. He was offering the young who had come here in the infant years of Eastern European democracy not a lesson in doctrine or faith or morals but some mysterious example of what a spiritual life might look like. Somehow he managed to put a sort of majesty into it. Even those among us, like myself, who had no faith anymore and a serious argument with the church had to watch him with awe. He was showing us his own inner life as beautifully simple as well as strange and complex.

Then he spoke. He listed all the countries represented at the event, giving special mention to Russia's "passing from slavery." The large contingent of Spaniards kept interrupting him, singing "Juan Pablo Segundo, te quiere todo el mundo." And he managed again to seem impatient with them and amused by them also. When, in his list of countries, which he delivered in Polish, he came to the United States, he asked his audience, "Do you know where that is?" And then half under his breath, but loud enough for his translator to hear, he muttered ruefully, "Perhaps too well."

Soon there were hymns, and the pope became somber. He moved the atmosphere effortlessly from that of a rock concert to that of the solemn vigil of the 15th of August, marking the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven. A large, heavy cross was carried up the steps by a group of young people; prayers were read by representatives from various countries. When the girl from Sudan finished her contribution, she turned and sprang, frantically making her way toward the pope. She made it up two flights before she was caught by security. The crowd shouted and whistled as the guards seemed to be causing her pain. And then the pope stood and motioned toward her. The security men hesitated and then let her spring once more toward the pope and run to him and embrace him. She wrapped her arms around him.

His sermon displayed him at his most eloquent and mysterious. The words he repeated were: "I am. I remember. I watch." "Look at the cross," he said, "in which God's ‘I am' means Love. Look at the cross and forget not. . . . To watch is to love your neighbor — it means fundamental human solidarity." He did not mention sex or sin. He gave his blessing in Latin and then stood alone and silent, as one of the hymns known to most of his audience was sung.

I watched his face on one of the big screens. In repose he was managing still to be both the stern father and the kind uncle, allowing the considerable number of ambiguities in his being to amount to something powerful and touching and memorable. His eyes were kind and intrigued by things, but also guarded, almost weary, and then, watching him there under the fiercely sharp lights that Polish television shined on him, I studied his mouth, which seemed to me that night to belong to a different being, a more implacable and more stubborn man who would care deeply about discipline and doctrine. His eyes understood and forgave everything; his mouth and the set of his chin forbade deviation and did not want there to be any change. His power, as the night came to an end, arose from the tension between the two, the lure of the drama in his own physiognomy. It is unlikely that the church in our lifetime will be able to find a figure as interesting and intriguing. It is unlikely that the million of us there that night will ever again in our lives see a spectacle so effective and seductive. The glory, or its very opposite, has departed.

Colm Toibin is the author of "The Sign of the Cross: Travels in Catholic Europe" and, most recently, "The Master," a novel.

(*) (*) (*) (*) <sigh.....sniffle....> Rest in Peace PJPII. And please pray for ALL of us....we surely need it. (l) (l) (l)

God/dess Bless,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

04-10-2005, 03:57 PM

By E.J. GRAFF

Published: April 10, 2005 (where else?) NYTimes...... ;)

Married or single? For most taxpayers, that's one of the easy boxes to check on the dreary 1040's. But for roughly 5,000 Massachusetts couples this year, deciding how to answer that question is both personally and politically troubling. On May 17, 2004, Massachusetts began applying the nation's first gender-neutral civil-marriage law, a gay rights breakthrough that launched a flotilla of giddy weddings. Since then, pundits have been warning of an imminent showdown between Massachusetts marriages and the national government's 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Passed by Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton, DOMA defined marriage for federal purposes as being between one man and one woman. As a result, Massachusetts couples face a peculiar double reality: they are married in Massachusetts and single in the United States.

Married couples rarely bump into federal law, except in times of disease, disaster, divorce, death -- and taxes. But tax time is now here, and on April 15, Massachusetts newlyweds will have their first en masse encounter with federal law. Because the Internal Revenue Service must abide by DOMA, these couples are supposed to file as married on their state returns -- but as single with the feds. Many of the newlyweds are appalled that they must think twice about how to declare themselves in this yearly exercise in civic responsibility. Will this be the moment of collision, the next explosion in the culture wars?

Gay advocacy groups hope not, believing that tax-filing status is the wrong issue at the wrong time. ''We are always worried that private lawsuits would arise out of tax day,'' says Gary Buseck, legal director of GLAD (Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders). Along with the nation's other major gay advocacy groups, GLAD fully expects to challenge DOMA's constitutionality -- eventually, when the right injustice comes along. That might be a widowed mom denied her dead spouse's Social Security benefits or a widower refused the federal benefits set aside for public-safety officers' families. Death and taxes may both be unavoidable, but the former garners a lot more sympathy in court and on TV.

Even so, many Massachusetts brides (more than 3,000 female couples) and grooms (more than 1,600 male couples) find their predicament difficult. ''It's awful,'' says Don Picard of Cambridge, who married Robert DeBenedictis with their children, then 5 and 1, in tow. ''To sign a document you know is false, where you're asked to state it's accurate, realizing that there's nothing you can do to make it work -- you cannot win.'' Or as Sue Hyde, New England field organizer for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (and a newlywed herself after 20 years with her bride, a dozen of those years spent raising kids), puts it, ''Once again the federal government is asking lesbians and gay men to perjure ourselves.'' Hyde compares the I.R.S.'s marriage-status filing instructions in Publications 17 and 501 to the U.S. military's ''don't ask, don't tell'' policy, under which lesbians and gay men must serve in silence. As she sees it, both policies are compulsory falsehoods.

Lisa Keen, a contributor to The Boston Globe, sees tax-filing status not as a minor bureaucratic nicety but as a morally wrenching confrontation with her own integrity. ''Regardless of what the federal government's decision is about its own reality, I recognize that my marriage is real,'' she says. ''And it is legal. And therefore I will check off 'married.' What are they going to do, put me in jail?''

Jail is unlikely. In fact, despite the widespread fear among lesbians and gay men that the current administration is eager to find and smash their marriages, it's not clear that that's true for the I.R.S. After all, there's no place on the 1040 form to declare whether you are male or female, since that's irrelevant to how much you owe. In theory, the I.R.S. could cross-check the filer's and the spouse's sex against the government's Social Security database. But why would it? ''Historically, filing status has not been a primary focus of our compliance efforts,'' explains Eric Smith, an I.R.S. spokesman. ''The largest focus we have is on tax abuse, abusive tax shelters, that sort of thing.''

With a stringently limited enforcement budget, the I.R.S. is not especially worried about married same-sex filings that would deprive the Treasury of very little, if anything. Couples who check off ''married filing separately'' (as Lisa Keen expects to do) would pay essentially the same amount in taxes as they would if they filed as unmarried. Couples filing a joint return might save a few hundred dollars on their taxes. For the I.R.S., however, finding that couple in the haystack of Massachusetts tax filings may well not be worth the time and resources required.

Mathew D. Staver, president and general counsel of the conservative advocacy group Liberty Counsel, isn't happy that same-sex couples filing as married might be getting away with fraud. For easier detection, he says, the I.R.S. should add a male/female box to check. Otherwise, he says, ''down the road, people could say, 'We've been filing as married for quite a long time, and the I.R.S. hasn't done anything about it.' It undermines the institution of marriage. Practice can ultimately become future law.''

Even if this April 15 doesn't bring a collision between state and federal laws, it will bring a grinding sense of cognitive dissonance. But it won't be the first time that Americans' legal statuses have varied with the jurisdiction. In 1869 and 1870, women in the territories of Wyoming and Utah gained the right to vote -- a right they lost if they moved just one state over, to neighboring Nebraska or Nevada. In 1940, a North Carolina woman and man fled their respective spouses, got Nevada divorces, married each other and returned to North Carolina -- where they were arrested, convicted and jailed for ''bigamous cohabitation.'' What's shared is a dual consciousness, a sense of partial citizenship, a knowledge that rights and even identity shift uneasily at the border between one jurisdiction and another.

Within the next months and years, more states may make their marriage laws gender-neutral: legislative proposals and lawsuits are hurtling forward in California, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Washington. Thousands more couples could thus face the annoyance of being half-married, joining their historical predecessors on an uncomfortable social frontier. In their frustrations, they may understand all too well what one Supreme Court justice wrote about a divorce-recognition case in 1948: ''If there is one thing that the people are entitled to expect from their lawmakers, it is rules of law that will enable individuals to tell whether they are married, and if so, to whom.''

E.J. Graff, a resident scholar at the Brandeis Women's Studies Research Center, is the author of ''What Is Marriage For? The Strange Social History of Our Most Intimate Institution.''

(*) (*) Really funny graphic that accompanied this article...... :o :o Have fun and stay cool....... (h) (h)

Peace,
Sweetlady and Doc the awake Boxer who needs a walk........ (f) (f)

sweetlady

04-12-2005, 11:45 PM

http://www.boardsmag.com/screeningroom/commercials/1635/

(*) (*) ;) (h)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-12-2005, 11:47 PM

http://www.ruben.fm/format.html

(*) (*) ;) ;) (h) (h)

(k) (k),
Sweetlady and Doc the handsome Boxer

sweetlady

04-12-2005, 11:52 PM

By SOMINI SENGUPTA and HOWARD W. FRENCH

Published: April 10, 2005 NYTimes

NEW DELHI, April 9 - Wen Jiabao, prime minister of China, began a four-day visit to India on Saturday just as the two countries - a third of humanity - are coming into their own at the same moment, with the potential for a dynamic shift in the world's politics and economy.

The impact on the global balance of power, the competition for resources and the health of the planet is causing many analysts and political leaders to sit up and take notice.

"Both countries have waited 3,000 years for this moment," said Gurcharan Das, the former chief executive of Procter & Gamble India and now an author.

Onetime rivals who went to war in 1962, India and China today find their economies growing at a remarkable clip. Both have a giant appetite for energy. Both are hungry for new markets. And both, it seems, are now gingerly testing the possibilities of doing business together.

It is not an accident that Mr. Wen began his visit not here in the capital but in Bangalore, the southern high-tech hub whose phenomenal rise China has eyed.

Trade is booming between them, especially as seen from the Indian side: after the United States, China is now its second largest trade partner, and it is growing by a giant 30 percent each year to an estimated $14 billion this year.

For the United States and the rest of the world, the effects of the sudden awakening of the Asian giants could be profound. In the years ahead, it may mean more downward pressure on wages, the outsourcing of more jobs, greater competition for investment and higher prices for scarce resources.

Indeed, Beijing's overtures toward India, though clearly made with the economic opportunities in mind, are also being contemplated with a keen awareness of China's rivalry with the United States. Washington has also courted New Delhi, lately promising to help make it a major world power.

India and China say they will push hard to resolve a decades-old border dispute. There is talk of a free trade agreement as well as joint oil exploration and purchases of commercial airliners. China may even endorse India's bid to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, or at least strongly hint at its support.

But Stephen P. Cohen, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, says relations could become difficult.

"As long as their relationship remains trade, economic ties, cultural, even kibitzing with the U.S., that is fine," Mr. Cohen said, "but as soon as you get some confrontation, on the border, Chinese goods flooding into India, or an incident at sea, or in Tibet or Nepal, then things quickly become much more nationalistic and complicated."

Indeed, competition is as much the byword as cooperation. The day after Mr. Wen arrives here, work is set to begin on India's first Indian-built aircraft carrier.

China is increasingly on people's minds here, both as a model to be learned from and a cautionary tale. From boardrooms to think tanks to op-ed pages, Indians speak often nowadays of matching their neighbor's success and power, or as some now dare suggest, surpassing it.

"Reinventing the silk route" was the headline of a column on Tuesday on the op-ed page of The Economic Times, a financial daily. The latest edition of Business World, a weekly, asked on its cover: "India and China: What can they do together?"

The short answer is more and more. Chinese-made toys, toasters and televisions have proliferated across the Indian marketplace. On any given day, a shopper at Chandni Chowk market in Delhi can pick up a Ganesha idol, or electric versions of the traditional oil lamps,or water pistols used to splash passers-by during the spring festival of Holi - all made in China.

India exports raw materials for China's booming construction industry, largely ore, iron and plastic, and its pharmaceutical companies have begun producing drugs for the Chinese market.

Indian software services companies, too, have set up shop in China for development and customer support. At least one Indian company, Zensar Technologies, has set up a joint venture with a Chinese firm and is bidding on a large e-government contract in one Chinese province.

NIIT, the Indian technology education firm that began training Chinese software developers in 1998, today has 100 training centers in 23 provinces across China. For Indian software, said Vijay Thadani, a founder of NIIT, China is the next big thing.

"There's an excitement with setting up a Chinese operation," Mr. Thadani said. "There is an enigma attached."

The India-China dalliance is perhaps most critical when it comes to satisfying both countries' incredible appetites for energy. Clearly, China and India already compete over finite sources of oil and gas. Mani Shankar Aiyar, India's petroleum minister, insisted that China and India would have to join hands.

In Sudan, he noted, the Chinese are building a refinery; the Indians are building a pipeline. The Indian state-owned oil company is also now producing oil in Sudan in cooperation with the Chinese state-owned oil company.

"We are both in quest of energy security. Why should that make us rivals?" Mr. Aiyar argued.

The speculation was not always so. In 1959, John F. Kennedy spoke of the importance of what he saw as a contest between these giants, casting their rivalry as one "for the leadership of the East, for the respect of all Asia, for the opportunity to demonstrate whose way of life is better."

Not least, the two nations pursued famously divergent paths: for India, democracy and belated economic reforms since the 1990's; for China, a Communist system that began reforms in 1979, unleashing rapid economic growth.

But for much of the last half century that contest was a dud. China nearly self-destructed during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960's, and India wasted decades on policies that left its economy closed and stagnant while hundreds of millions of its people were mired in poverty.

Today, their simultaneous emergence has few comparisons in modern history, economists say. According to the World Bank, their combined growth can be credited with cutting the share of the world's population living in extreme poverty to 20 percent in 2001 from 40 percent two decades earlier.

Despite India's rapid growth, however, China's development enjoys a good 15-year head start, and the gap shows no signs of narrowing. Indians worry openly whether a consensus for growth can be sustained with the kind of single-mindedness that has helped propel China.

There is constant talk these days of turning Mumbai, the southern commercial metropolis formerly known as Bombay, into a new Shanghai, China's most glitteringly modern city.

More to the point may be Bangalore, India's booming capital of telephone call centers and high-tech software. Growth there has been menaced by political delays that have stalled construction of a new airport for seven years. Shanghai, on the other hand, built one of the world's most spectacular airports in three years.

Such contrasts have left some Indians to remark, sometimes despairingly, about a "democracy price" that slows development. At the same time, Indians almost invariably say they would have it no other way.

"I'm often approached by friends returning impressed from China, saying how our airports in Bombay and Delhi can't compare," said G. P. Deshpande, a longtime China scholar at Jawaharal Nehru University in Delhi. "When I tell them that these things come in a package, that you don't just get the new airports, and I describe the package, though, they say no thank you."

The package Mr. Deshpande alludes to is strict authoritarianism, which allows the local and central governments in China to rezone entire districts without so much as a hearing, to pollute city and countryside without having to face public objections and to conduct large-scale social engineering, often disastrously, but with similarly little question.

For their part, mainstream Chinese intellectuals talk of India's advantages in democratic governance. For all of China's apparent strengths today, they say, future success may depend on democratic reform.

"If China learns its lessons from India, it can succeed in democratizing in the future," said Pang Yongzhing, a professor of international relations at Nankai University in Tianjin.

"India is a far more diverse country," he said, "a place with the second largest Muslim population in the world, and lots of ethnic minorities, and yet it organizes regular elections without conflict. China is 90 percent Han, so if India can conduct elections, so can China."

Chinese have also begun openly to question the kind of growth their authoritarianism has spawned.

"We are using too many raw materials to sustain this growth," said Pan Yue, China's environment minister, in a recent interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel. "To produce goods worth $10,000, for example, we need seven times more resources than Japan, nearly six times more than the United States and, perhaps most embarrassing, nearly three times more than India.

"Things can't, nor should they, be allowed to go on like that," he said.

Others worry about China's seeming addiction to large investment, which leads to huge waste and steep cyclical downturns, a shaky financial system imperiled by a huge burden of nonperforming loans, and rampant official corruption.

"In India there is a lot more room to move around," said Zhang Jun, director of the China Center for Economic Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai. "Their capital markets are good, their banking sector is better than in China, and there is entrepreneurialism everywhere in India, along with well-protected intellectual property rights. All of these are things that China lacks."

Pressed for a prediction, Mr. Zhang said he saw the two countries' positions converging within 15 or 20 years, by which time they may rank as the two largest economies in the world, if still far below the United States and other top economies in terms of per capita wealth.

How they get there, and the examples they set along the way, may hold important lessons for other developing nations, on global peace, human rights and democratization.

"If China continues to grow and grow, people will inevitably begin to think this is proof of the validity of their system, and that would be very bad for all of Asia," said Subramanian Swamy, president of India's Janata Party and former minister of law, commerce and justice.

"On the contrary, if India continues to emerge, taking a seat on the Security Council, it will have a tremendous impact for the good," he said. "AAs far as exporting democracy, it is only a matter of time before India gets the self-confidence to begin doing this."

(*) (*) profound insights...........and definitely a harbinger....... :o

(S) (S) this lady is tired......maybe try to sleep again......have a lovely mid-week!

(f) (f) (f) (f) (f) (f) ,

Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-12-2005, 11:56 PM

Published: April 7, 2005

WASHINGTON

Before, Republicans just scared other people. Now, they're starting to scare themselves.

When Dick Cheney tells you you've gone too far, you know you're way over the edge.

Last week, the vice president told The New York Post's editorial board that Tom DeLay should not have jumped ugly on the judges who refused to order that Terri Schiavo's feeding tube be reinserted. He said he would "have problems" with the DeLay plan to get revenge on the judges: "I don't think that's appropriate."

Usually, the White House loves bullies. It embraces John Bolton, nominated as U.N. ambassador, even though, as The Times reports today, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is reviewing allegations that Mr. Bolton misused intelligence and bullied subordinates to help buttress W.M.D. hokum when he was at State.

But there's some skittishness in the party leadership about the Passion of the Tom, the fiery battle of the born-again Texan to show that he's being persecuted on ethics by a vast left-wing conspiracy. Some Republicans are wondering whether they need to pull a Trent Lott on Tom DeLay before he turns into Newt Gingrich, who led his party to the promised land but then had to be discarded when he became the petulant "definer" and "arouser" of civilization. Do they want Mr. DeLay careering around in Queeg style as they go into 2006?

On Tuesday, Bill Frist joined Mr. Cheney in rejecting Mr. DeLay's call to punish and possibly impeach judges - who are already an endangered species these days, with so much violence leveled against them. "I believe we have a fair and independent judiciary today," Dr. Frist said. "I respect that."

Of course, Dr. Frist and the White House still want to pack the federal courts with right-wing judges, but they don't want it to look as if they're doing it because Tom DeLay told them to or because of unhappiness at the Schiavo case.

No matter how much Democrats may be caviling over the House Republicans' attempts to squelch the Ethics Committee before it goes after Mr. DeLay (the former exterminator who pushed to impeach Bill Clinton), privately they're rooting for Mr. DeLay to thrive. They're hoping to do in 2006 what the Republicans did in 1994, when Mr. Gingrich and his acolytes used Democratic arrogance and ethical lapses to seize the House.

Mr. DeLay is seeking sanctuary in Rome at the pope's funeral, and he will hang on to the bitter end. He got thunderous applause from his House colleagues yesterday morning, showing once more that Mr. DeLay, the House majority leader, has a strong hold on the loyalty of those who have benefited from the largesse of his fat-cat friends and from his shrewdness in keeping them in the majority.

"I think a lot of members think he's taking arrows for all of us," Representative Roy Blunt told the press yesterday, backing up Mr. DeLay's martyr complex.

Mr. DeLay lashed out at the latest article questioning his ethics, calling it "just another seedy attempt by the liberal media to embarrass me." Philip Shenon reported in The Times that Mr. DeLay's wife and daughter have been paid more than half a million dollars since 2001 by the DeLay political action and campaign committees.

Republican family values.

The political action committee said in a statement that the DeLay family members provided valuable services: "Mrs. DeLay provides big picture, long-term strategic guidance and helps with personnel decisions."

Political wives are renowned for injecting themselves into the middle of their husbands' office politics at no charge; a lot of members would pay them to go away.

The Washington Post also splashed Mr. DeLay on the front page with an article about a third DeLay trip under scrutiny: a six-day trip to Moscow in 1997 by Mr. DeLay was "underwritten by business interests lobbying in support of the Russian government, according to four people with firsthand knowledge of the trip arrangements."

All the divisions that President Bush was able to bridge in 2004 are now bursting forth as different wings of his party joust. John Danforth, the former Republican senator and U.N. ambassador, wrote an Op-Ed piece in The Times last week saying that, on issues from stem cell research to Terri Schiavo, his party "has gone so far in adopting a sectarian agenda that it has become the political extension of a religious movement."

When the Rev. Danforth, an Episcopal minister who prayed with Clarence Thomas when he was under attack by Anita Hill, says the party has gone too far, it's way over the edge.

(*) (*) as usual, her views are right on target. ;) ;) (o) (o) back to bed if only to read......

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-13-2005, 02:25 PM

http://www.prangstgrup.com/lecturemusical/quicktime.php

(*) (*) ;) ;)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-13-2005, 02:26 PM

http://www.paulbeard.org/wordpress/index.php/archives/2005/04/11/your-wish-is-my-command/

(*) (*) ;) (h)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-13-2005, 02:32 PM

The Calm Before the Storm?

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

Published: April 13, 2005 NYTimes

So here's a question that I've been wrestling with lately: With all these reports about the bungling of U.S. intelligence, and the C.I.A.'s relying on bogus informants with names like "Curveball" or "Knucklehead" or whatever, why have there been no terrorist attacks in the U.S. since 9/11? I've got my own pet theory about what's produced this period of calm - and, more important, why it may be coming to an end.

Let's start with the facts. Despite all the code reds and code oranges we've been subjected to by the Department of Homeland Security, and despite the mountain of newspaper articles about how underprotected our ports and borders are, the fact is that not only has there not been another 9/11, but there has not even been a serious failed attempt that we know of.

I'm not complaining - I'm just wondering why. It still seems to me ridiculously easy to blow up a car in the heart of Chicago. And anyone who has flown on a private jet since 9/11 can tell you that security at these private terminals is still so lax that if you showed up in a Saudi headdress with a West Virginia driver's license under the name of "Billy Bob bin Laden" and asked for flight directions for your chartered Learjet to Lower Manhattan, there's a good chance no one would stop you.

So, how then do we explain the calm? To begin with, I'd give a tip o' the hat to the C.I.A., the F.B.I. and the Department of Homeland Security. I have no doubt that their increased vigilance - and coordination with European and Arab intelligence services - has made it much harder for terrorists to organize. Moreover, thanks to Gen. John Abizaid's Centcom forces in Afghanistan, Al Qaeda no longer has a whole country from which to plan, train and coordinate terrorist attacks with impunity. The fact that Al Qaeda effectively controlled a country is what made it unique. Also, new U.S. visa policies have made it much harder for bad guys to get into America.

If your name is Muhammad and you are a 21-year-old single Arab man and you have not visited Disney World yet, well, you may want to consider Euro Disney, because your chances of getting a U.S. tourist visa are very low. Frankly, I wish this were not the case because we're keeping a lot of good, talented Arab men and women from getting educated in America, which is the best way of building friends. This is one of the sad byproducts of 9/11 - but it has undoubtedly made it more difficult for the few bad apples to get in as well.

Despite all of that, I fear that we may now be entering the most dangerous period since 9/11. Why? Because I've always believed that one of the most important reasons there has been no new terrorist attack in America has to do with the U.S. invasions of both Iraq and Afghanistan. It is not only that the Bush administration has taken the fight to the enemy, but that the enemy has welcomed that fight.

To the extent that the Baathists and Jihadists have a coordinated strategy, their first priority, I think, is to defeat American forces in the heart of their world. Because if they can defeat America in the heart of the Arab-Muslim world, it will have so much more resonance than setting off a car bomb in Las Vegas - especially now that 9/11 has set the terrorism bar so high in terms of effect.

If the Jihadists can defeat us in the heart of their world, and force us from Iraq, it will have a huge impact on the Arab street and shake every pro-American Arab regime. The Jihadists have always understood that Iraq is the ballgame. Iraq is the big one. Winning there is what really advances their agendas.

The reason things may be getting more dangerous now is that the formation of a freely elected government in Iraq may signal that the Baathist-Jihadist insurgency is being gradually defeated. The U.S. may even be able to withdraw some troops. And there is nothing worse for the Baathists and Jihadists than to be defeated in the heart of their world - and, even more so, to be defeated in the heart of their world by other Arabs and Muslims who are repudiating the Jihadists' vision and tactics.

I fear that when and if the Jihadists conclude that they have been defeated in the heart of their world, they will be sorely tempted to throw a Hail Mary pass. That is, they may want to launch a spectacular, headline-grabbing act of terrorism in America that tries to mask, and compensate for, just how defeated they have become at home.

In short, the more the Jihadists lose in Iraq, the more likely they are to use their rump forces to try something really crazy in America to make up for it. So let's stay the course in Iraq, but stay extra-vigilant at home.

(*) (*) Holy jackrabbits Batman! Sometimes Friedman really goes far out in left field. Hopefully, he's dead wrong on this one. :| :| :| :| :s :s

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-13-2005, 02:38 PM

Recline Yourself, Resign Yourself, You're Through

By MAUREEN DOWD

Published: April 13, 2005 NYTimes

Baby boomers' almost comic fear of aging reminds me of that silent movie scene in which Harold Lloyd hangs precariously from the hand of a giant clock, literally pulling time from its moorings.

Despite the boomers' zealous attempts to stop time - with fitness and anti-aging products, with cosmetic enhancements by needle, laser and knife - time has caught up.

The deaths of iconic figures and the noisy debate over assisted suicide have brought boomers face to face with their nemesis. "Suddenly," The New Republic observed, "we are all speculating about the feeding tubes in our future." Boomers want to control mortality so they're looking at living wills, and legal and medical options.

I've visited the future, and it isn't pretty.

My mom fell and fractured her neck one night a couple of winters ago. She was sent to a nursing home to recuperate. It was the third circle of gloom. Residents sat around, zombie-like, or slowly maneuvered in wheelchairs or with walkers. I suddenly understood why all of my mom's friends who had gone into nursing homes had become listless and died soon after. The facility was depressing, with bad food and impersonal attendants who seemed inured to their surroundings.

It seemed like the sort of place people checked into but not out of. My mom's hazel eyes were filled with dread, so I bought a sleeping bag at the nearest R.E.I. and slept on the floor beside her bed for four weeks.

There were blizzards outside and lethargy inside. All through the night, Alzheimer's patients would moan: "Help me! Why doesn't anyone come to help me?" They were unable to remember the last time an attendant stopped by. After a while, there didn't seem much point in getting dressed. I put on one of my mom's extra-large flannel robes and some slippers and started shuffling around the nursing home. I felt like one of those cursed women in Grimm's fairy tales who turn into crones in a blink. Soon the residents began acting as if I were one of them, just one with better mobility. They would call out for me to fix them tea in the microwave - "Just Sweet 'N Low," one woman ordered briskly.

One night an elderly woman asked if I would come into her room and dial her daughter's number for her. "I haven't heard from her in so long," she fretted. I called the number and left a message on the answering machine: "Your mother misses you."

As I hung up, the old woman looked up at me with big suspicious eyes. "What are you doing in my room?" she demanded in a hostile voice. She had forgotten me already.

Most nights, I watched two sweet-looking old ladies sneak down the hall to purloin supplies at the nurses' station - cat burglars heisting Depends.

In my old life, I read glossy catalogs from Bliss Spa and Bergdorf's. Now I sat in the drab community room reading Dr. Leonard's "America's Leading Discount Healthcare Catalogue," which promotes the notion of senior superheroes with vision-enhancing Eagle Eyes sunglasses; Sonic Earz, to amplify sounds up to 60 feet away; and Frankie Avalon's Zero Pain roll-on pain reliever.

It was upsetting to see how many body parts could go wrong. For $12.99, you could get "heel wraps," little slings to keep the cream on your heel cracks; for $4.99, a straightener for overlapping toes; for $12.99, a "control panty" to banish unflattering tummy bulge.

I told my mom about the control panty. She looked intrigued. "Who does it control?" she wanted to know.

Why was I fighting aging so hard? It would be so easy to succumb. I could stock up on everything I'd eventually need: extra-long easy-grip scissors to clip toenails; the "button helper," a wire loop to help reach buttons; Toppik, the "amazing 30-second hair transplant," which sprays the scalp with color-matched hair fibers; a "Remember Me" poem and photo mat for departed relatives, friends and pets; and the best seller "Natural Cures 'They' Don't Want You to Know About."

Dr. Leonard's assumes seniors have a healthy interest in sex. It offers a device called an Eroscillator for women, with a guide from Dr. Ruth. And for men, there's an aerobics video featuring "totally nude" young women: "Because you can see the naked, well-toned bodies of the female instructors, you can follow each exercise and see exactly how to achieve the precise muscle extension and position." Right.

Once Mom was sprung, I quickly went back to fending off mortality, ordering the latest age-delaying moisture complexes from the Bliss catalog.

But I know Dr. Leonard's is out there, waiting patiently for me. Not an Appointment in Samarra, but an Appointment with the Eroscillator.

(*) (*) What a great sense of humor and perspective on aging with dignity.....for Baby Boomers. I remember when my grandmom was in a home and it was just like as Maureen described......pretty awful AND attendants steal the residents' things as well. The latest intense growth in residence communities for older folks provides a humane, even life-enhancing environment in my view. (o) (o) (l) (l)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-13-2005, 02:45 PM

By DANIEL J. WAKIN

Published: April 13, 2005 NYTimes

ROME, April 12 - The cardinals electing a successor to Pope John Paul II are facing unusual popular pressure to declare him a saint, with some cardinals responding through deft messages, press leaks and internal lobbying. The canonization campaign may even be playing a role in the succession politics.

Calls for sainthood began almost immediately after the pope died on April 2 and reached a peak at his funeral on Friday, when mourners in St. Peter's Square held banners saying, "Santo Subito," or "Saint at Once," and chanted, "Santo, Santo." Reports of miraculous cures through his intervention poured in.

Several Italian newspapers reported that the Vatican had quietly been collecting messages from people attesting to healings attributed to him.

Luigi Accattoli, one of the most respected Vatican reporters, wrote in the Milan daily Corriere della Sera that a petition had already been circulated among the cardinals seeking signatures for a fast-track canonization process for John Paul. The usual process involves years of careful investigation, and it sometimes takes centuries for the final declaration.

Several cardinals confirmed that the idea of rapid canonization was discussed the day after the pope's funeral at their daily meeting.

If John Paul is canonized, he will be only the fourth pope to be so honored in 900 years.

According to some, an early hint of the effort came when Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany closed his eulogy at John Paul's funeral. He said, "We can be sure that our beloved pope is standing today at the window of the Father's house." Two Italian cardinals made similar statements in recent homilies.

While to some ears the phrase was typical of a Catholic eulogy, Vittorio Messori, an Italian writer who collaborated on the pope's 1994 book "Crossing the Threshold of Hope," said it was evocative of sainthood. "If he is in paradise, he is a saint," Mr. Messori said.

Cardinal Francesco Marchesano evoked the idea of miraculous healing. He said that when he had been in the hospital for an operation on his carotid artery and lost his voice, John Paul caressed his throat and said: "The Lord will give back your voice. You will see. I will say a prayer for you.'" Cardinal Camillo Ruini spoke of "the certainty of his new, mysterious and luminous presence."

The death of a pope often has prompted calls for canonization, but what is striking now is their volume and rapidity, and the fact that cardinals are stepping forward so quickly. "All the cardinals want to wrap themselves in the mantle of John Paul II," said Christopher M. Bellitto, a history professor at Kean University in Union, N.J. "Putting forth his name for canonization is one part of that."

The movement for canonization may be tied to pre-conclave maneuvering. According to this interpretation, it is an effort to build a consensus of like-minded cardinals, or even to position one of John Paul's inner circle as the best successor. The theory is that only someone of great weight, like a Cardinal Ratzinger or Cardinal Ruini, someone close to the pope or his thinking, could follow a man of such spiritual magnitude.

Emphasizing canonization is an effort to show that "only continuity is allowed in the succession of John Paul," said Alberto Melloni, a historian of Vatican conclaves.

Hans Kung, a prominent Swiss theologian who has been at odds with the Vatican, said a move to push for sainthood was a means of pressing the cardinals to choose a successor in line with the pope's conservative thinking.

He was quoted on Monday by Reuters as saying, "A campaign for Pope John Paul's beatification, inspired and engineered by the Vatican, is in full swing, and it will try to smother all internal criticism." Beatification is a major step toward canonization.

According to Mr. Accattoli, the Corriere reporter, the cardinals are divided about pushing for sainthood, with some arguing that it would be better to show prudence and let the canonization process run its normal course.

During the cardinals' meeting on Saturday, Cardinal Ratzinger, dean of the cardinals, called on Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, who headed the Vatican department in charge of creating saints under John Paul.

Cardinal Saraiva Martins noted there was an ancient custom of allowing sanctification by public acclamation. But he said church rules now held that five years must pass before a candidacy can begin. He noted that the next pope could speed up the time frame, as John Paul had done for Mother Teresa.

John Paul made more saints, 483, than all of his predecessors put together.

Moving to canonize popes is a tricky business, because it gives rise to comparisons among them, casts attention on parts of papal legacies that raised debate - like Pius XII's record regarding the Jews in World War II - and can be interpreted as the seal of approval for their policies.

Since about 1100, only three popes have been canonized: the 13th-century Pope Celestine V, the 16th-century Pope Pius V, and Pope Pius X, who died in 1914, according to "Making Saints" by Kenneth L. Woodward.

John Paul beatified the 19th-century Pope Pius IX, as well as Pope John XXIII. A group of cardinals, during the Second Vatican Council, which Pope John had set in motion, campaigned to have him acclaimed a saint shortly after his death in 1963 as a way to seal his efforts to modernize the church, but they were turned down by Pope Paul VI.

(*) (*) I hope they make PJPII a saint soon without the politics. From the applause and excited cheers during the funeral to many editorials, it seems to me that millions of people, even non-Catholics want sainthood granted asap. (a) (a) (f) (f) (f) (f)

Peace,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-13-2005, 02:51 PM

Morning Report 4/13/05
Bush's Papal Bull
The neocons sure loved that dead pope. Now about those murdered nuns in Honduras . . .
THE BUSH REGIME fawns over the dead pope in Rome, but what about those dead nuns in Honduras in the '80s?

Apparently, there are dead Catholics, and then there are dead Catholics.

The timing—not the content—of yesterday's hearing on future Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte's Senate confirmation hearing was striking.

It came right on the heels of George W. Bush's head-over-heels lovefest in Rome at Pope John Paul II's funeral, at which Bush family chum Cardinal Bernard Law was honored with a starring role.

Speaking of confessions, we've never heard one from Negroponte regarding the '80s Central American right-wing death squads like Battalion 316 that were accused of murdering and torturing people—including nuns and priests—while the U.S. government—including Negroponte—protected them and the corrupt dictators who ordered them to kill.

People are still demanding that Negroponte be held accountable. That won't happen. He's sure to be confirmed by the Senate, despite the shadows that follow him a quarter of a century later—like at yesterday's hearing, as reported by the Washington Post:

Tension arose over Negroponte's defense of his role as U.S. ambassador to Honduras in the 1980s, when critics say he played down human rights abuses by militias allied with the Honduran government. Negroponte said that "whatever activities I carried out, whatever courses of action I recommended in Honduras, were always entirely consistent with applicable law at the time."

A protester yelling, "We need a truth commission to show the U.S. supports torture!" was escorted from the chambers and warned not to return.
This is the 21st century, and after a brief hiatus, cold warriors like Negroponte are in control. And the neocons are hardly known for their catholic tastes. They like big-C Catholics, people who hide what's going on in big, conservative institutions—people like Cardinal Law, who was outed as one of the Church's chief coverup artists in its monumental sex-abuse scandal in Boston.

Springtime is the season for Weads and cardinals to pop up, but let's stick to Negroponte.

Dig into the history of Negroponte's '80s Central American tour by browsing the Baltimore Sun's dynamite package of stories from 1995 on, starting with "Unearthed: Fatal Secrets." The pungent sub-headline on the story by Gary Cohn and Ginger Thompson said it all:

When a wave of torture and murder staggered a small U.S. ally, truth was a casualty. Was the CIA involved? Did Washington know? Was the public deceived? Now we know: Yes, yes and yes.
Here's more:

At the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa, U.S. officials were confronted with personal and written appeals for help from relatives of the disappeared.

Former Honduran Congressman Efrain Diaz Arrivillaga said he spoke several times about the military's abuses to U.S. officials in Honduras, including Negroponte.

"Their attitude was one of tolerance and silence," he said. "They needed Honduras to loan its territory more than they were concerned about innocent people being killed."
Later in '95, Negroponte finally agreed to talk to the Sun reporters and insisted that he tried to help during those dark days in Central America.

But for an up-close and personal look at Negroponte, read Sister Laetitia Bordes's account of her 1982 encounter with Negroponte while she was trying to find out what happened to nuns who had disappeared. In "Facing the Nightmare of Negroponte," she recalls Negroponte as "the man who gave the CIA-backed Honduran death squads open field when he was ambassador to Honduras from 1981 to 1985." Here's an excerpt:

Thirty-two women had fled the death squads of El Salvador after the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero in 1980 to take refuge in Honduras. One of them had been Romero's secretary. Some months after their arrival, these women were forcibly taken from their living quarters in Tegucigalpa, pushed into a van and disappeared. Our delegation was in Honduras to find out what had happened to these women.

John Negroponte listened to us as we exposed the facts. There had been eyewitnesses to the capture, and we were well read on the documentation that previous delegations had gathered.

Negroponte denied any knowledge of the whereabouts of these women. He insisted that the U.S. Embassy did not interfere in the affairs of the Honduran government and it would be to our advantage to discuss the matter with the latter.
To try to make a long, sad story short, here's another excerpt from the nun's piece:

In 1994, the Honduran Rights Commission outlined the torture and disappearance of at least 184 political opponents. It also specifically accused John Negroponte of a number of human-rights violations. Yet, back in his office that day in 1982, John Negroponte assured us that he had no idea what had happened to the women we were looking for.
I had to wait 13 years to find out. In an interview with the Baltimore Sun in 1996, Jack Binns, Negroponte's predecessor as U.S. ambassador in Honduras, told how a group of Salvadorans, among whom were the women we had been looking for, were captured on April 22, 1981, and savagely tortured by the DNI, the Honduran Secret Police, before being placed in helicopters of the Salvadoran military. After take-off from the airport in Tegucigalpa, the victims were thrown out of the helicopters.

Binns told the Baltimore Sun that the North American authorities were well aware of what had happened and that it was a grave violation of human rights. But it was seen as part of Ronald Reagan's counterinsurgency policy.
Timing is everything. Just this week, the National Catholic Reporter, the excellent independent weekly covering the Church, devotes its cover to the martyred Salvadoran archbishop Romero, more popular than ever on the 25th anniversary of his assassination—while he was saying Mass—by a government-sanctioned death squad. Paul Jeffrey's cover story from San Salvador notes:

Why Romero—25 years after his death—is growing in popularity here must be understood against a background of deteriorating economic conditions for the countryâ€™s poor. Globalization has made some Salvadorans even wealthier than before; the traditional landowning rich have been replaced by new financial sector elites who benefited from extensive privatization and the 2001 "dollarization" of the countryâ€™s economy.

The 43 percent of the population that lives on less than $2 per day faces difficult times, and the looming approval of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) promises only to deepen the crisis for the poor. Were it not for the more than $2 billion received every year in family remittances from outside the country, and particularly from the United States, the feeling of hopelessness would be even worse.
As I said earlier, there are all kinds of Catholics. Some get blessed by Bush and the neocons; others don't. Bernard Law is one kind. And MarÃ/disabled due 2 spam/a Julia HernÃ¡ndez, director of the human rights office of the Archdiocese of San Salvador, is another. Jeffrey quotes her as saying:

"At a time when our reality is deteriorating rather than improving, we need MonseÃ±or Romeroâ€™s testimony in defense of human rights and in favor of a consecrated life of service to others. Heâ€™s the model, the paradigm for us in these times."

http://villagevoice.com/blogs/bushbeat/archive/000844.php

(*) (*) BRAVO!!!! Bush is such an a**hole.....AND he was booed by the huge crowd in St. Peter's Square when he came out to shake the archbishop's hand before the Pope's funeral........<adding my own "boo!" too> ;)

Peace,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-13-2005, 02:55 PM

.......pretty photos........for some folks......

http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0515,missusa,63024,15.html

(*) (*) not exactly my cup of tea, but I'm sure some of my friends might find these photos rather entertaining....... ;) ;) Enjoy!

Kisses,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-13-2005, 02:56 PM

http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0515,tribeca,62920,20.html

(*) (*) ....for the film buffs like me...... (h) (h)

Have a lovely rest of your Wednesday!

Peace,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-13-2005, 03:00 PM

What if professors could lecture 24-7? Blog culture invades academia.

by Geeta Dayal

April 12th, 2005 4:38 PM

Imagine if the great thinkers of the past could have blogged, bouncing ideas off each other in real time, engaging in rapid-fire debates across borders. Would it have led to some kind of intellectual utopia, or total chaos? Would we be regaled with post after post from Adorno complaining about what he had for lunch that day?
Even if Blogger and Movable Type had existed back then, Adorno still might not have blogged about anything at all. Despite the ongoing media blitz about blogging, and the eye-popping stats—according to a recent report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 7 percent of the 120 million U.S. adults who use the Internet said they have created a blog or Web-based diary, and blog readership jumped by 58 percent in 2004—the majority of professors and academic types still don't have blogs. Academic bloggers are increasing in number, but they're still a distinct minority.

"It takes a certain kind of style, patience, and openness to non-specialists," explains Jay Rosen, associate professor at NYU's journalism department and author of the influential media blog PressThink. "You actually have to communicate with the public. It's really for those who want to enter into public debate somehow, and despite all the blather you hear about 'public intellectuals' there are very few academics who want to do that."

Say you're already a public intellectual. Why start a blog? "I started blogging because I wanted to understand it," says Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig, who blogs at lessig.org. "I write about the intersection between technology and policy, and this is an important intersection to understand."

Lessig found that blogging opened up his sphere of interaction considerably. "I've published a bunch of articles in law reviews, and I think I've gotten maybe a total of 10 letters about them in the history of my career as an academic," he says. "I publish stuff on the blog, I get literally hundreds of e-mails about things all the time." Lessig even went so far as to set up his 1999 book, Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace as a wiki, so that Internet users worldwide can update and add to the text. The raging "blawgosphere"—blogs by law school profs, students, and grads—is one of the most organized and lively pockets of online academic discourse. Meta-sites like blawg.org and lawprofessorblogs.com collate and monitor hundreds of law-related blogs.

Law blogs, media blogs, and politics blogs all seem like natural choices for a general audience of Net readers. And if you're an academic who's ever published a paper with the word cyberspace in it, you're pretty much required to have a blog as a matter of course. But what about, say, the theoretical physics blogosphere? It's a little less happening, but there are a few stars. Sean Carroll, an assistant professor of physics at the University of Chicago and co-author of papers with mind-warping titles like "Classical Stabilization of Homogeneous Extra Dimensions," tries, admirably, to explain his arcane world in his blog, Preposterous Universe.

"It can serve a useful purpose in providing some expert commentary when something hits the news, like Hawking's ideas about black holes last summer," says Carroll. "And I like to think that it does provide a window into the wider concerns of an academic scientist when I talk about dinosaurs or theater or music. Writing it has made me more disciplined and careful about my ideas and how I express them; you can't get away with things in front of a thousand readers that you might in casual conversation."

Eszter Hargittai, an assistant professor at Northwestern and blogger at the group academic blog crookedtimber.org and her own esztersblog.com, chimes in, saying, "First, I take much more care in discussing something when it is going to be read by hundreds or thousands of people than I do when I'm making a comment to someone in passing in the hallway. Second, on blogs that attract considerable commenting, the feedback from readers can be valuable. Even if people disagree or misunderstand, the various reactions are a good reality check."

For some in the academy, blogging offers an escape valve, a forum for free expression that's not bound to the constraints of their fields. "Academic work on music is so bloodless most of the time," says Jon Dale, who is finishing his Ph.D. dissertation on post-punk at the University of Adelaide in Australia and blogs at Worlds of Possibility). "There's a writing style common to so much academia, especially musicology and cultural studies, that saps music of all its life force." British cultural theorist Mark Fisher, author of the renegade cultural studies blog K-Punk, says, "The way I understood theory—primarily through popular culture—is generally detested in universities. Most dealings with the academy have been literally clinically depressing." For him, K-Punk "seemed like the space—the only space—in which to maintain a kind of discourse that had started in the music press and the art schools, but which had all but died out, with appalling cultural and political consequences."

Many academics are quick to establish a separation between their university work—which, after all, is what pays the bills—and their presence online. Wayne Marshall (wayneandwax.com), a lecturer at Brown, says that he blogs only in lowercase letters to drive home the distinction that his blog is separate from his academic work in ethnomusicology. And the professors who use blogs to blow off steam about the day-to-day drudgery of their jobs—grading papers, writing recommendations for ungrateful students, fighting for tenure—often choose to remain anonymous. So it's difficult to tell who wrote the tantalizing rant that began: "Summers is an idiot."

Blogs constitute a burgeoning field of study too; there are academic conferences on blogging, along with grad students writing papers and even dissertations on the subject—like Cameron Marlow, founder of blog-monitoring service blogdex.net, who is at the M.I.T. Media Lab, where he is finishing his doctorate on blogging, and danah boyd of UC Berkeley (zephoria.org), who is studying the hows and whys of online social networks.

For some, blogging fills a gap. "I have always tried to write in a public language for a general readership," says NYU's Rosen, "and I had been fascinated by the writing on the Web as far back as '95 and '96. I didn't realize it at the time, of course, but what I really wanted was a weblog."

Josh Kortbein, a philosophy Ph.D. candidate at the University of Minnesota, started his blog) Internet light-years ago—in 1999. To paraphrase Brian Eno on the Velvet Underground, not everyone read Josh's blog, but everyone who did started one. "I write my blog because I wish that things were different, and I'm thinking about how to make them that way."

http://villagevoice.com/arts/0515,edsuppdayal,62903,12.html

(*) (*) gotta love this! (h) (h)

(f) (f) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-14-2005, 04:41 PM

definitely expert Flash interactive experience.....I can't wait for Joannie's costumes with all of the feminine lace and ruffles....... (l) (l) (l) No bustle for me though, like Kate in "Tombstone"....so I can ride astride a horse.... ;)

When you have time, you're gonna LOVE this interactive presentation of costumes.....especially how the choices made reflected the characters........

unfortunately, HBO only has three of the characters, Al, Trixie and Silas, but from the looks of it, there's lots more to be built!

http://www.hbo.com/deadwood/behind/sets_and_costumes/costumes.html

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

sweetlady

04-14-2005, 04:44 PM

again, not all of the buildings have been virtually built as yet as with the costumes, but definitely worth the wait!

AND HBO has just ordered another 12 shows for the 2006 season <grinning so that lipstick is on my earlobes... (k) (k)

http://www.hbo.com/deadwood/behind/sets_and_costumes/sets.html

(l) (h) (l) (h) (l) (h) (l) (h) (h)

Peace,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-14-2005, 04:47 PM

A truly Canadian Apology to the USA, courtesy of Rick Mercer from This
Hour Has 22 Minutes, CBC Television:

On behalf of Canadians everywhere I'd like to offer an apology to the
United States of America. We haven't been getting along very well recently
and for that, I am truly sorry. I'm sorry we called George Bush a moron.
He is a moron, but it wasn't nice of us to point it out. If it's any
consolation,
the fact that he's a moron shouldn't reflect poorly on the people of
America. After all, it's not like you actually elected him.

I'm sorry about our softwood lumber. Just because we have more trees than
you, doesn't give us the right to sell you lumber that's cheaper and
better than your own. It would be like if, well, say you had ten times the
television audience we did and you flood our market with great shows,
cheaper than we could produce. I know you'd never do that.

I'm sorry we beat you in Olympic hockey. In our defense I guess our
excuse would be that our team was much, much, much, much better than
yours. As word of apology, please accept all of our NHL teams which,
one by one, are going out of business and moving to your fine country.

I'm sorry about our waffling on Iraq. I mean, when you're going up
against a crazed dictator, you want to have your friends by your side. I
realize it took more than two years before you guys pitched in against
Hitler, but that was different. Everyone knew he had weapons.

I'm sorry we burnt down your White House during the War of 1812. I see
you've rebuilt it! It's very nice.

I'm sorry for Alan Thicke, Shania Twain, Celine Dion, Loverboy, that song
from Seriff that ends with a really high-pitched long note. Your beer. I
know we had nothing to do with your beer, but we feel your pain.

And finally on behalf of all Canadians, I'm sorry that we're constantly
apologizing for things in a passive-aggressive way which is really a
thinly veiled criticism. I sincerely hope that you're not upset over this.
Because we've seen what you do to countries you get upset with.

(*) (*) I LOVE this! (and hope anyone else interested does as well).

Happy digital trails........

Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-14-2005, 04:48 PM

On April 14, 1865, President Lincoln was shot and mortally wounded by John Wilkes Booth while attending the comedy "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C.

On April 14, 1866, Anne Sullivan Macy, the American teacher who helped educate the blind, deaf and mute Helen Keller, was born. Following her death on Oct. 20, 1936, her obituary appeared in The Times.

1759 Composer George Frideric Handel died in London.

1775 The first American society for the abolition of slavery was organized by Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush.

1828 The first edition of Noah Webster's ''American Dictionary of the English Language'' was published.

1902 J.C. Penney opened his first store, in Kemmerer, Wyo.

1904 Actor John Gielgud was born in London.

1912 The British liner Titanic collided with an iceberg in the North Atlantic and began to sink.

1931 King Alfonso XIII of Spain went into exile and the Spanish Republic was proclaimed.

1939 ''The Grapes of Wrath'' by John Steinbeck was published.

1956 Ampex Corp. demonstrated its first commercial videotape recorder.

1981 America's first operational space shuttle, Columbia, landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California after its first test flight.

1997 Whitewater figure James McDougal drew a three-year prison sentence for 18 felony fraud and conspiracy counts.

1999 NATO mistakenly bombed a convoy of ethnic Albanian refugees; Yugoslav officials said 75 people were killed.

2002 Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returned to office two days after being ousted and arrested by his country's military.

2002 Tiger Woods became only the third player to win back-to-back Masters titles.

2003 Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit fell to U.S.-led forces with unexpectedly light resistance.

2003 U.S. commandos in Baghdad captured Abul Abbas, leader of the Palestinian group that killed an American on the hijacked cruise liner Achille Lauro in 1985.

(*) (*) saw this in today's NYTimes and thought that there were a few interesting coincidences........

Peace,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-14-2005, 04:53 PM

Ballmer sees Google Video as key to finally monetizing "Monkey Boy" video: Is it just me, or is "the Google Grid" forming a lot more quickly than one might think? This morning Google launched its Video Upload Program, and began accepting video content from anyone who cares to offer it. Although Google is accepting videos for upload and indexing, it is not making them searchable yet. The plan is to eventually let users search, play back, and purchase videos stored in Google Video; owners will have the option of giving their videos away or charging. "The world of video is very complex and we recognize that," Jennifer Feikin, director of Google Video, told Search Engine Watch. "This project is to understand how people have authored their video" so that Google can gain experience with the myriad formats before providing a search capability.

http://www.ntk.net/ballmer/mirrors.html

http://www.robinsloan.com/epic/

http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/2004/11/29/summary_of_the_world_googlezon.htm

https://upload.video.google.com/video_faq.html

http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/050413-163129

(*) (*) (h) (l) (h) (l) (h) (l) (l)

(f) (f) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-14-2005, 04:58 PM

They took to the slots right away, and, boy, you should see those little simians hit the buffet: Tired of working for someone else? Looking for a steady income stream? Here's a business plan, no charge: Find more stuff for online casino GoldenPalace.com to slap its name on. In its shameless (and remarkably successful) publicity quest, GoldenPalace.com has purchased curiously shaped food (the Lincoln Fry, the Pete Townshend Potato, the Dorito Papal Mitre, and of course the Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese Sandwich), used body parts as billboards (foreheads, bellys, cleavage) and purchased an assortment of naming rights (an adult woman, unborn triplets). And the latest proud bearer of the GoldenPalace.com name? A newly discovered, defenseless species of titi monkey found in Bolivia's Madidi National Park by by Dr. Robert Wallace of the Wildlife Conservation Society. Wallace gave up the naming rights, figuring an auction could bring in some bucks for the cause, and he was right. The casino shelled out $650,000 to have the foot-tall primates known forever more as Callicebus aureipalatii. "This species will bear our name for as long as it exists," said GoldenPalace.com CEO Richard Rowe. "Hundreds, even thousands of years from now, the GoldenPalace.com Monkey will live to carry our name through the ages. Naming this species has bought us scientific, as well as virtual immortality." Kinda gives you chills, doesn't it?

http://www.goldenpalaceevents.com/auctions/fry01.php

http://www.goldenpalaceevents.com/auctions/potato01.php

http://www.goldenpalaceevents.com/auctions/popechip01.php

http://www.goldenpalaceevents.com/auctions/grilledmary01.php

http://www.goldenpalaceevents.com/auctions/forehead01.php

http://www.goldenpalaceevents.com/auctions/pregnant03.php (YUCK!!)

http://www.goldenpalaceevents.com/auctions/cleavage02.php

http://www.goldenpalaceevents.com/auctions/name01.php

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/11388446.htm

http://www.goldenpalaceevents.com/auctions/gpmonkey01.php

http://www.goldenpalacemonkey.com/

(*) (*) Silly way to pass the time for sure. Amusing but no coffee warnings in my opinion...... ;)

Have fun and safe travels,

Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-14-2005, 05:00 PM

http://217.72.188.122/~varia11091/owlweb/Owl_home.htm#ilog

(*) (*) <smiling.....> ;)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-14-2005, 05:06 PM

Feature Story: Podcasting: One Small Step for Technology, One Giant Leap for Personalized Audio

It's not just for hobbyists anymore, either. Everyone from Paris Hilton to Superman is getting in on the podcasting action.

April 13, 2005
In some respects podcasting seems like a step in the wrong direction. There are so many ways to receive sophisticated content now that the idea of downloading short audio files to an audio player seems almost quaint. And streamed content often comes with transcripts since visitors have indicated they would rather read—or quickly skim—the text than watch and listen to the full file. That said, podcasting has taken off like a rocket and the astounding success of MP3 players has shown the world that consumers demand personalized audio.

Will Podcast for Food
Podcasting's golden boy is former MTV veejay and teen hearthrob Adam Curry. He developed the iPodder [link to: www.ipodder.org] script, which was later finessed and polished by Dave Winer. iPodder downloads audio files to MP3 players including iPods and any Windows Media Player-supported device. Curry is about to release , PodShow.com which seeks to make a viable business out of podcasting and targets advertisers, podcasters, and listeners with specific messages regarding what podcasting can offer them. Although the venture is still relatively hush-hush, it’s set to launch later this year and has already sparked serious discussion in the industry.

Myriad other podcast clients, aggregators, and products are available, including the Primetime Podcast Receiver, Bradbury Software's FeedDemon, and yet another double top-secret endeavor called Odeo.

Odeo is helmed by Noah Glass (of AudBlog and Evan Williams (founder of Blogger.com, and their company has received a great deal of press following a preview by Williams in March. While the industry was excited by screenshots of the service that made it online, Williams felt that the press focused too much on the business and not enough on Odeo's efforts to enable people to publish to the Web. "Our focus is on humanizing a very promising technology," Williams explains on the Odeo blog, "making it easier for those already doing it (listening or creating), and getting many more people involved by creating a great experience. If we do it right, maybe money will come—to us and others. If not, someone else will do it. I'm pretty confident it will be good for the democratization of media either way."

Beyond Podcasting
In an effort to commercialize podcasting further, Guerrilla Marketing International and Jackstreet Media have announced a five-city tour to promote the business of podcasting and delve into the issue of "nanocasting," which Guerrilla Marketing describes as commercial podcasting aimed at those outside of the iPodder world. According to Jay Conrad Levinson, founder of the Guerrilla Marketing concept, "Nanocasting refers to the programming produced for the smallest, most narrowly but clearly defined target audience. This is the audience that is most interested in the type of programming and from a marketing standpoint, the audience that is most likely to buy related products." Admission to one of the tour stops runs a hefty $3,997, indicating Guerrilla Marketing’s effort to be recognized as both influential and upscale.

Another relatively new venture is video podcasting, already dubbed vidcasting, which allows users to view content on mobile phones, handheld video players, and video-enabled iPods, should they ever hit the market. The waters get muddy when trying to differentiate between video podcasting and video blogging, which at the end of the day seem to be same thing save for some potential differences in delivery.

Podcasting Live from Paris and Australia!
Even Hollywood is partaking in podcasting. Paris Hilton will be podcasting to promote her upcoming movie, House of Wax, though until video podcasting becomes more popular she may not have the opportunity to be as scandalous as usual. Executives hope that the large number of 18-34 year olds with MP3 players will enable them to directly reach their target market. The podcast launches April 29th and enables listeners to "Join Paris and friends as she shops, parties, poses and publicizes in the days leading up to the May 6 opening of House of Wax" according to the site.

In a more family-friendly podcasting push, Warner Bros. (which is also behind House of Wax) will be podcasting from the set of Superman Returns in Australia. Fans of the Superman empire are already reviewing images of Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane, speculating on the validity of possible spoilers coming from local Australian media outlets, and discussing how the movie may or may not overlap with the WB's Smallville, so the podcast could be an outstanding hit.

Podcasting is often described as TiVo for radio, but Royal Farros, CEO of MessageCast also likens it to Napster in the sense that, "it's a customer revolution." With Napster, the problem was that consumers needed a better way to receive music; "with podcasting it's, 'I want a better way to receive information,’" he says. MessageCast's LiveMessage alerting service has become popular with podcasters who sign up for the free service that then allows them to create a message to send to listeners when a new podcast is available.

As with blogs, it is likely that the number of podcasts will rise exponentially, with quantity outweighing quality, until the initial novelty wears off and listeners become more discriminating. And it certainly remains to be seen whether there is significant money to be made in podcasting, but the interest, the technology, and the expertise behind podcasting ensures that--profitable or not--podcasting will make its mark on portable audio.

(*) (*) (h) (h) (h) (h) Way, way cool! (l) (l) (h) (h)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

Lady_Di

04-16-2005, 10:58 PM

By ROBERT FRIEDMAN, Perspective Editor
Published March 27, 2005 NYTimes

Like many of you, I have been compelled by recent events to prepare a
more detailed advance directive dealing with end-of-life issues. Here's
what mine says:

* In the event I lapse into a persistent vegetative state, I want
medical authorities to resort to extraordinary means to prolong my
hellish semiexistence. Fifteen years wouldn't be long enough for me.

* I want my wife and my parents to compound their misery by engaging in
a bitter and protracted feud that depletes their emotions and their
bank accounts.

* I want my wife to ruin the rest of her life by maintaining an
interminable vigil at my bedside. I'd be really jealous if she waited
less than a decade to start dating again or otherwise rebuilding a
semblance of a normal life.

* I want my case to be turned into a circus by losers and crackpots
from around the country who hope to bring meaning to their empty lives
by investing the same transient emotion in me that they once reserved
for Laci Peterson, Chandra Levy and that little girl who got stuck in a
well.

* I want those crackpots to spread vicious lies about my wife.

* I want to be placed in a hospice where protesters can gather to bring
further grief and disruption to the lives of dozens of dying patients
and families whose stories are sadder than my own.

* I want the people who attach themselves to my case because of their
deep devotion to the sanctity of life to make death threats against any
judges, elected officials or health care professionals who disagree
with them.

* I want the medical geniuses and philosopher kings who populate the
Florida Legislature to ignore me for more than a decade and then turn
my case into a forum for weeks of politically calculated bloviation.

* I want total strangers - oily politicians, maudlin news anchors,
ersatz friars and all other hangers-on - to start calling me "Bobby,"
as if they had known me since childhood.

* I'm not insisting on this as part of my directive, but it would be
nice if Congress passed a "Bobby's Law" that applied only to me and
ignored the medical needs of tens of millions of other Americans
without adequate health coverage.

* Even if the "Bobby's Law" idea doesn't work out, I want Congress -
especially all those self-described conservatives who claim to believe
in "less government and more freedom" - to trample on the decisions of
doctors, judges and other experts who actually know something about my
case. And I want members of Congress to launch into an extended debate
that gives them another excuse to avoid pesky issues such as national
security and the economy.

* In particular, I want House Majority Leader Tom DeLay to use my case
as an opportunity to divert the country's attention from the mounting
political and legal troubles stemming from his slimy misbehavior.

* And I want Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to make a mockery of his
Harvard medical degree by misrepresenting the details of my case in
ways that might give a boost to his 2008 presidential campaign.

* I want Frist and the rest of the world to judge my medical condition
on the basis of a snippet of dated and demeaning videotape that should
have remained private.

* Because I think I would retain my sense of humor even in a persistent
vegetative state, I'd want President Bush - the same guy who publicly
mocked Karla Faye Tucker when signing off on her death warrant as
governor of Texas - to claim he was intervening in my case because it
is always best "to err on the side of life."

* I want the state Department of Children and Families to step in at
the last moment to take responsibility for my well-being, because
nothing bad could ever happen to anyone under DCF's care.

* And because Gov. Jeb Bush is the smartest and most righteous human
being on the face of the Earth, I want any and all of the
aforementioned directives to be disregarded if the governor happens to
disagree with them. If he says he knows what's best for me, I won't be
in any position to argue.

(*) (*) This article was certainly meant as tougue-in-cheek, but several great points were made in my view. Caustic humor is sometimes needed to drive the points home for people like Tom DeLay who needs to resign. :@ :@

(*) (*) and now to regularly, irregularly and sometimes irreverent programming....... ;) ;)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

btw, good to see you again
how is Doc doing?

anyhows, here it is
I do love my family~!

From one boxer family to another...

________________________________________________

Living Will
I,Marty Platzner , being of sound mind and body, do not wish to be kept alive indefinitely by artificial means. Under no circumstances should my fate be put in the hands of peckerwood ethically challenged politicians who couldn't pass ninth-grade biology if their lives depended on it.

If a reasonable amount of time passes and I fail to sit up and ask for a
Breyers ice cream; cold beer etc., it should be presumed that I won't ever get better. When such a determination is reached, I hereby instruct my spouse, children and attending physicians to pull the plug, reel in the tubes and call it a day.

Under no circumstances shall the hypocritical members of the Legislature
(State or Federal) enact a special law to keep me on life-support
machinery.It is my wish that these boneheads mind their own damn business, and pay attention instead to the health, education and future of the millions of Americans who aren't in a permanent coma.

Under no circumstances shall any politicians butt into this case.
I don't care how many fundamentalist votes they're trying to scrounge
for their run for the presidency, it is my wish that they play politics
with someone else's life and leave me alone to die in peace.

I couldn't care less if a hundred religious zealots send e-mails to
legislators in which they pretend to care about me. I don't know
these people, and I certainly haven't authorized them to preach and
crusade on my behalf.They should mind their own business, too.

If any of my family goes against my wishes and turns my case into a
political cause, I hereby promise to come back from the grave and make
his or her existence a living hell.

Signature

Witness

DATE__________

DATE__________

_____________________________________________

My mother added a clause to hers, stating that whomever is there at the time of her death, is to place chocolate upon her tongue, in her mouth. She wants that to be the last taste on earth. She is also planning on being cremated and the remains to then be placed in a giant Hershey's Chocolate Sryup can. Then that can be buried at the National Cemetary. G-d love her... Only my mother...

My father, is equally amazing. And I know both of them would haunt us forever if we disobeyed their wishes. Which have always been discussed in our house. Death is as natural as life. Not a taboo subject in our house.

btw, they are both caring for a very aged boxer as well, who can't do stairs anymore and is being treated royally. They have a younger one of their own, too. But are full time baby sitters for Brandy, a beautiful 14 year old red boxer, who is still a puppy at heart. Just can't move like one anymore. Their little baby is classic fawn, Cookie... a little sweetheart, but a handfull. Chasing rabbits is apparently a fulltime job in the Rockies.

I will send them this post of yours. They will love it.

Nothing quite like a boxer,
d

sweetlady

04-20-2005, 10:19 PM

you wrote......"btw, good to see you again
how is Doc doing?

anyhows, here it is
I do love my family~!

From one boxer family to another..."

Lady_Di,

Thanks so, so much for your thoughtful posting! There definitely seems to be some deep common ground among boxer lovers for sure...... (l) (l)

Doc had a CBC blood test and re-check of his lymph nodes earlier today, and all was well but the oncologist wants me to take him to their other office (two hour drive each way) for an ultrasound, xrays and another blood test just to make sure that what came up back in January (internally) is completely gone. If not, he'd have to go through one more four-types-of-chemo round (he has been through two) with the exception of a different fourth chemo.

That appt. is two weeks from tomorrow and so I'm saying prayers that those tests come back fine. (and try not to worry in the meantime) Then it's just a matter of taking him for blood tests to make sure that he's staying in remission.

By the way, while waiting for the oncologist today, Doc met a"new girlfriend" pal and it was unbelievable after going there for four months - that I FINALLY met someone from the same town where I live - and that she drives that hour or so each way as well. Her black pitbull little girl fell in love with Doc, and he with her - and so her owner and I exchanged telephone numbers so that we could take them for walks as well as Doc getting a NEW VET! The lady had a great vet whose new office is not far waay. (his former vet? That's another story.....but briefly, she mis-diagnosed Doc having acute pancreatitis over New Years, cost me well over $4K and then it was really lymphoma........)

At the end of the day, I'm extremely grateful for anyone who took the time to read my posts and who sent prayers and healing thoughts Doc's way. Thank you for sharing what you did and for asking about him.

Kindest Regards,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-20-2005, 10:22 PM

Very, very cool! I'm a Portuguese Water Dog!....the user interface reminded me of the old teletypes at a couple of radio stations back in the late 60's and early 70's.....I LOVED this and think you will too.......

http://www.gone2thedogs.com/

Click on "GAME" at the left side of the screen, then answer 10 questions
to see what kind of dog you are.

(*) (*) I REALLY loved this....make sure to turn your speakers up since there's accompanying audio. What a cool test...... (h) (h)

(S) (S) ......restful sleep everyone......

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-20-2005, 10:25 PM

http://www.artomat.org/

(*) (*) ;) ;) (h)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-20-2005, 10:27 PM

Area 51 via GoogleMaps:

How to get there:
Type 'Rachel, NV' into Google, select Google Maps, go to 'satellite'

Zoom out three levels until you see several white splotches (salt flats, I presume)

Double click on the salt flat that's now along the left edge, an inch or two below the Zoom bar

Zoom back in a few levels

http://www.livejournal.com/community/the_unexplained/37956.html#cutid1

(*) (*) :| :| :| :| :| :| :|

Peace,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-20-2005, 10:31 PM

http://airlinemeals.net/indexOldies.html

(*) (*) :o ;)

Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-20-2005, 10:32 PM

http://www.cafepress.com/carly_survivor

http://www.cafepress.com/carly_victim

(*) (*) ;) ;)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-20-2005, 10:35 PM

Q U O T E D

"The decision would be guided by the idea not to piss off 1.1 billion (Roman Catholics.)"

-- Rogers Cadenhead on his disposition of the domain BenedictXVI.com, which he bought a few weeks back on a hunch

(*) (*) ;) ;)

Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-20-2005, 10:37 PM

http://www.strangeisle.com/g30/?p=308

;) ;)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-20-2005, 10:38 PM

http://www.lookatentertainment.com/v/v-509.htm

(*) (*) Gotta luv those Brits....... ;)

(f) (f) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-20-2005, 10:39 PM

http://www.china-inflatables.com.cn/products/slides/T8-136.htm

(*) (*) :o :o

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-20-2005, 10:41 PM

http://www.rentmyson.com/

(*) (*) :| :|

Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-20-2005, 10:42 PM

http://accordionguy.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2005/3/30/494760.html

(*) (*) Huh? What next? ;) ;)

(k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-20-2005, 10:45 PM

High-tech Winnebagos:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4543494713

(*) (*) Too much fun for one night....... ;) Off to take the Doc'meister outside and grab a book to read to relax away from the Internet.......ah, nice analog activity.... ;) ;) (h)

(S) (S) Peaceful dreams,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-21-2005, 03:06 PM

Wide Awake (1998)

In his first Hollywood venture, writer-director M. Night Shyamalan explores the mysteries of the afterlife through 10-year-old Joshua (Joseph Cross). After losing his grandfather to cancer, the boy sets out to find God -- but quickly realizes the search won't be easy. With the support of his family and the sports-loving Sister Terry (Rosie O'Donnell) at his Catholic boys' school, Joshua comes to find the peace of mind he's been looking for.
Starring: Rosie O'Donnell, Dana Delany, Denis Leary, Robert Loggia, Joseph Cross

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

(*) (*) ......not only did it bring tears of laughter as I remembered my own Catholic school experiences, it also reminded me of my own mom's dad with whom I had an especially close relationship. Definitely a 4 star to watch again!

sweetlady

04-21-2005, 03:10 PM

Coming Home (1978)

While her husband is in Vietnam, Sally Hyde (Jane Fonda) volunteers at a veteran's clinic, where she encounters embittered paraplegic Luke Martin (Jon Voight). Sally begins to feel progressively disconnected from her spouse and embarks on an emotional and physical affair with Luke. When Sally's husband returns, however, the trio must contend with a new reality -- and with a country that turned its back on America's fighting men.
Starring: Jane Fonda, Jon Voight, Bruce Dern, Penelope Milford, Robert Carradine, Robert Ginty, Mary Gregory

(*) (*) What I can't believe is that not only did I miss it in the theaters when it came out the year after college graduation, but that Fonda and Voight BOTH won Academy Awards for their roles in this superb film.

5 Stars! (*) (*) (*) (*) (*)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-22-2005, 12:46 PM

April 22, 2005

Great leadership quotes and inspirational quotes that I found to spark ideas:

"People ask the difference between a leader and a boss.... The leader works in the open, and the boss in covert. The leader leads and the boss drives." (Theodore Roosevelt)

"The marksman hitteth the target partly by pulling, partly by letting go. The boatsman reacheth the landing partly by pulling, partly by letting go." (Egyptian proverb)

"No man is fit to command another that cannot command himself." (William Penn)

"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit." (President Harry S Truman)
"I not only use all the brains I have, but all I can borrow." (Woodrow Wilson)

"What should it profit a man if he would gain the whole world yet lose his soul." (The Holy Bible, Mark 8:36)
"A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline." (Harvey Mackay)

"Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple, learn how to look after them, and pretty soon you have a dozen." (John Steinbeck)

"I keep six honest serving-men, They taught me all I knew; Their names are What and Why and When, And How and Where and Who." (Rudyad Kipling, from 'Just So Stories', 1902.)

"A dwarf standing on the shoulders of a giant may see farther than the giant himself." (Didacus Stella, circa AD60 - and, as a matter of interest, abridged on the edge of an English £2 coin)

"Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful." (Samuel Johnson 1709-84)

"The most important thing in life is not to capitalise on your successes - any fool can do that. The really important thing is to profit from your mistakes." (William Bolitho, from 'Twelve against the Gods')

"Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be, For my unconqureable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance, I have not winced nor cried aloud: Under the bludgeonings of chance my head is bloody but unbowed . . . . . It matters not how strait the gait, how charged with punishements the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul." (WE Henley, 1849-1903, from 'Invictus')

"Everybody can get angry - that's easy. But getting angry at the right person, with the right intensity, at the right time, for the right reason and in the right way - that's hard." (Aristotle)

"Management means helping people to get the best out of themselves, not organising things." (Lauren Appley)

"It's not the critic who counts, not the one who points out how the strong man stumbled or how the doer of deeds might have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred with the sweat and dust and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause and who, at best knows the triumph of high achievement and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat." (Theodore Roosevelt, 23 April 1923.)

"Behind an able man there are always other able men." (Chinese Proverb.)

"I praise loudly. I blame softly." (Catherine the Great, 1729-1796.)

"Experto Credite." ("Trust one who has proved it." Virgil, 2,000 years ago.)

"One hundred percent of the shots you don't take don't go in." (Wayne Gretzky, former National Hockey League superstar. (Ack D Christian)

"In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing." (attributed to Theodore Roosevelt. Ack DC)

"People who regard themselves as highly efficacious act, think, and feel differently from those who perceive themselves as inefficacious. They produce their own future, rather than simply foretell it." (Albert Bandura, b.1925, American psychologist, writer, academic and prioneer of social cognitive theory, notably the 'self-regulatory mechanisms through which people exercise some measure of control over their thought processes, motivation, emotional life, and accomplishments' - see the quote below also. Incidentally, 'efficacious' means 'sure to produce desired effect'.)

"Humans are producers of their life circumstance not just products of them." (Albert Bandura - see above.)
"Nietzsche was the one who did the job for me. At a certain moment in his life, the idea came to him of what he called 'the love of your fate'. Whatever your fate is, whatever the hell happens, you say, 'This is what I need.' It may look like a wreck, but go at it as though it were an opportunity, a challenge. If you bring love to that moment - not discouragement - you will find the strength is there. Any disaster that you can survive is an improvement in your character, your stature, and your life. What a privilege! This is when the spontaneity of your own nature will have a chance to flow. Then, when looking back at your life, you will see that the moments which seemed to be great failures followed by wreckage were the incidents that shaped the life you have now. You’ll see that this is really true. Nothing can happen to you that is not positive. Even though it looks and feels at the moment like a negative crisis, it is not. The crisis throws you back, and when you are required to exhibit strength, it comes." (Joseph Campbell 1904-87, American writer, anthropologist and philosopher - see the related Nietzsche quote below)

"There are victories of the soul and spirit. Sometimes, even if you lose, you win." (Elie Wiesel, b.1928 in Transylvania, Holocaust survivor, American citizen since 1963, author of several significant humanitarian books, 1976 Andrew Mellon Professor of Humanities at Boston University, 1978 appointed Chairman of the President's Commission on the Holocaust, 1980 Founding Chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 1986 Nobel Peace Prizewinner and established the The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, which seeks to promote and aid the nurturing and inspiration of young people to build a better, more harmonious and humane world. With thanks to C Byrd and her teacher Da Shi Yin De. This wonderful quote provides an inspirational example of a deeply positive attitude to life and experience far beyond conventional measurement of reward.)

"Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Whenever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must - at that moment - become the center of the universe." (Elie Wiesel)

"Always the beautiful answer who asks a more beautiful question." (Edward Estlin Cummings 1938, poet, 1894-1962. Think about it. Whatever it's original context, the quote serves well to illustrate a central idea of coaching and helping people; ie., when someone asks for advice, they don't want someone else's answer, instead, they want help finding their own. A 'more beautiful question' can provide such help. This philosophy is also characterised in Sharon Drew Morgen's Facilitation methodology.)

"Seeker of truth, follow no path. All paths lead where truth is. Here." (EE Cummings. Incidentally there is plenty of evidence that Cummings did not expressly wish his name to be shown in lower case: 'e e cummings', as is the common pratice. Cummins did use lower case in his poetry but the consistent use of lower case for his name has been perpetuated by commentators since his death, erroneously.)

"Why not go out on a limb? That's where the fruit is." (Will Rogers, cowboy, actor, philanthropist, 1879-1935. Ack CB)

"I have heard many stories about parents who have hurt their children so much, planting many seeds of suffering in them. But I believe that the parents did not mean to plant those seeds. They did not intend to make their children suffer. Maybe they received the same kind of seeds from their parents. There is a continuation in the transmission of seeds, and their father and mother might have gotten those seeds from their grandfather and grandmother. Most of us are victims of a kind of living that is not mindful, and the practice of mindful living, of meditation, can stop these kinds of suffering and end the transmission of such sorrow to our children and grandchildren. We can break the cycle by not allowing these kinds of seeds of suffering to be transmitted to our children, our friends, or anyone else." (Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Buddhist author, from 'Peace is Every Step' - this quote is a wonderful antidote for the desperation of Larkin's 'This Be The Verse' on the same subject of parental effects on children. Both quotes are excellent illustrations for Transactional Analysis, as is the wonderful Person Who Had Feelings story.)

"I shall tell you a great secret, my friend. Do not wait for the last judgement. It takes place every day." (Albert Camus, writer and philosopher, 1913-60, from 'La Chute' (The Fall) 1956.)

"Some men see things as they are and ask 'why?'; I dare to dream of things that never were and ask 'why not?'." (commonly attributed to Bobby Kennedy because when he used it he failed to credit the actual originator, George Bernard Shaw.)

"Make your heart like a lake, with calm, still surface, and great depths of kindness." (Lao Tzu, ack JH)
"Instead of making others right or wrong, or bottling up right and wrong in ourselves, there's a middle way, a very powerful middle way...... Could we have no agenda when we walk into a room with another person, not know what to say, not make that person wrong or right? Could we see, hear, feel other people as they really are? It is powerful to practice this way....... true communication can happen only in that open space." (Pema Chodron, Buddhist nun who runs Gammpo Abbey retreat in Nova Scotia)

"What is the world full of? It is full of things that arise, persist, and cease. Grasp and cling to them, and they produce suffering. Don't grasp and cling to them, and they do not produce suffering." (Ajahn Buddhadasa)

"Courage is not the towering oak that sees storms come and go; it is the fragile blossom that opens in the snow." (Alice Mackenzie Swaim)

"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time." (Jack London)

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born." (Anais Nin, French-born American writer, 1903-1977)

"Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire." (Fred Shero, Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers hockey coach - Ack P Ho)

"Fantasic things happen - to the way we feel, to the way we make other people feel. All this simply by using positive words." (Professor Leo F Buscaglia, teacher, writer and humanitarian, 1924-1998)

"It's not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something. May I suggest that it be creating joy for others, sharing what we have for the betterment of personkind, bringing hope to the lost and love to the lonely." (Leo F Buscaglia)

"Ninety per-cent of what we worry about never happens, yet we worry and worry. What a horrible way to go through life! What a horrible thing to do to your colon!" (Leo F Buscaglia)

"We don't see things as they are, we see things as we are." (Anais Nin, French-born American writer 1903-77. Ack Ray Dodd - the quote appears in his book 'The Power Of Belief')

"(You have a choice as to whether) you are either part of the steam roller or part of the road." (unknown - ack TW - aphorism/argument for adopting a new idea, adapting to change, or contributing to performance improvement, rather like Eldridge Cleaver's wonderful quote "If you're not part of the solution..."

"The stone age didn't end because they ran out of stones" (unknown, ack TW)

"If your enemy turns to flee, give him a silver bridge." (Spanish proverb, in Spanish: "A enemigo que huye puente de plata.")

"We should be careful to get out an experience only the wisdom that is within it - and stop there; lest we be like the cat that sits down on a hot stove lid. She will never sit down on a hot stove lid again - and that is well; but also she will never sit down on a cold one any more." (Mark Twain, aka Samuel L Clemens, 1835-1910
"To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom." (Bertrand Russell, 1872-1970)

"A mistake is only a mistake if you don’t learn from it." (Unknown, Ack KN)

"With every willing pair of hands comes a free brain." (Unknown, Ack KN)

"Let us be thankful for the fools. But for them the rest of us could not succeed." (Mark Twain)

"Always do the right thing. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest." (Mark Twain)

"If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything." (Mark Twain - Thanks IM for these three Twain quotes)

"No-one ever listened themselves out of a job." (Calvin Coolidge, US President. Ack JC)

"There is none so blind as those who will not listen." (William Slater)

"In the midst of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer." (Albert Camus, 1913-1960, French author & philosopher)

"Too many have dispensed with generosity in order to practice charity." (Albert Camus)

"We seldom confide in those who are better than we are." (Albert Camus, from La Chute, 1956)

"You cannot acquire experience by making experiments. You cannot create experience. You must undergo it." (Albert Camus)

"Do not walk behind me, I may not lead. Do not walk in front of me, I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend." (attributed to Albert Camus)

"People ask the difference between a leader and a boss.... The leader works in the open, and the boss in covert. The leader leads and the boss drives." (Theodore Roosevelt)

"The marksman hitteth the target partly by pulling, partly by letting go. The boatsman reacheth the landing partly by pulling, partly by letting go." (Egyptian proverb)

"No man is fit to command another that cannot command himself." (William Penn)

"Take what you want and then pay." (Aztec proverb)

"Difficulty is not an obstacle, it is merely an attribute". (Wal Sakaluk)

"If it's hard to do, then you're doing it wrong." (Lynn Doolan)

"We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them." (Albert Einstein)

"I strive to be brief and I become obscure." (Horace, 65 BC the pedant's justification...)
"The true voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." (Marcel Proust. Thanks Robert VázquezPacheco)

"Despise violence. Despise national vanity and selflove. Protect the territory of conscience." (Susan Sontag. Thanks RVP)

"The future's already here it just isn't evenly distributed." (William Gibson, science fiction writer)

"We are born princes and the civilizing process makes us frogs". (Eric Berne. Thanks CB)

"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind." (Rudyard Kipling. Thanks CB)

"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit." (President Harry S Truman)
"I not only use all the brains I have, but all I can borrow." (Woodrow Wilson)

"Before you speak, ask yourself: Is it kind, is it necessary, is it true, does it improve on the silence?" (Shirdi Sai Baba, Indian saint thanks Carole Byrd)

"Don't tell my mother I'm in politics: she thinks I play the piano in a whorehouse." (Mark Twain)

"If you're not part of the solution you must be part of the problem." (the commonly paraphrased version of the original quote: "What we're saying today is that you're either part of the solution, or you're part of the problem" by Eldridge Cleaver 1935-98, founder member and information minister of the Black Panthers, American political activist group, in a speech in 1968. (thanks RVP)

"What should it profit a man if he would gain the whole world yet lose his soul." (The Holy Bible, Mark 8:36)
"A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline." (Harvey Mackay, thanks Brad Hanson)

"Form follows function." (Louis Henri Sullivan, American architect, 1856-1924)

"I strive to be brief, and I become obscure." (Horace, Roman poet, 658 BC)

"I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles overcome while trying to succeed." (Booker T Washington, American musician, thanks Marlene Kincaid)

"A person who graduated yesterday and stops studying today is uneducated tomorrow." (Origin unknown thanks BLP)

"Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they've got a second. Give your dreams all you've got and you'll be amazed at the energy that comes out of you." (William James, American Philosopher, 1842-1910 thanks Jean Stevens)

"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer, 1749-1832, thanks Yvonne Bent)

"Respice, adspice, prospice." ("Look to the past the present and the future." Thanks Amy Willis)

"Nemo surdior est quam is qui non audiet." ("No man is more deaf than he who will not hear." Origin unknown, thanks AW)

"It requires a very unusual mind to undertake the analysis of the obvious." (Alfred N Whitehead, 1861-1947, thanks Katherine Hull)

"Intelligence is quickness to apprehend, as distinct from ability, which is capacity to act wisely on the thing apprehended." (AN Whitehead)

"Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple, learn how to look after them, and pretty soon you have a dozen." (John Steinbeck)

"You can't talk your way out of a situation you behave yourself into." (Dr Stephen Covey, thanks Eric Welburn)
"Catch a man a fish feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and feed him for life." (Unknown)

"Better go home and make a net, rather than dive for fish at random." (Chinese proverb)

"I keep six honest serving men, (They taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When, And How and Where and Who." (Rudyad Kipling, from 'Just So Stories', 1902.)

"A dwarf standing on the shoulders of a giant may see farther than the giant himself." (Didacus Stella, circa AD60 and, as a matter of interest, abridged on the edge of an English £2 coin)

"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." (Sir Isaac Newton, 1676.)

"Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful." (Samuel Johnson 1709- 84)

"The most important thing in life is not to capitalise on your successes any fool can do that. The really important thing is to profit from your mistakes." (William Bolitho, from 'Twelve against the Gods')
"It is with the heart that one sees rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." (Antoine de SaintExupery from The Little Prince)

"Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be, For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance, I have not winced nor cried aloud: Under the bludgeonings of chance my head is bloody but unbowed . . . . . It matters not how strait the gait, how charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul." (WE Henley, 18491903, from 'Invictus')

"Everybody can get angry that's easy. But getting angry at the right person, with the right intensity, at the right time, for the right reason and in the right way that's hard." (Aristotle)

"Politics is the art of the possible." (Prince Otto von Bismarck, 1867)

"We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road. They get run down." (Aneurin Bevan)

"Even if you think you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." (Will Rogers, American Humorist. Ack N Borkowski)

"The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do." (Samuel Jefferson)
"Seek first to understand, and then to be understood." (Dr Stephen Covey)

"Management means helping people to get the best out of themselves, not organising things." (Lauren Appley)
"He who wishes to talk well must first think well." (Origin unknown)

"When you speak, your speech should be better than your silence would have been." (Origin unknown)

"It's not the critic who counts, not the one who points out how the strong man stumbled or how the doer of deeds might have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred with the sweat and dust and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause and who, at best knows the triumph of high achievement and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat." (Theodore Roosevelt, 23 April 1923.)

"Experto Credite." ("Trust one who has proved it." Virgil, 2,000 years ago.)

"Life is like a very short visit to a toyshop between birth and death." (Desmond Morris, 1991.)

"Whoever in debate quotes authority uses not intellect, but memory." (Leonardo Da Vinci)

"If you don't agree with me it means you haven't been listening." (Sam Markewich.)

"The world is divided into people who do things, and people who get the credit. Try, if you can, to belong to the first class. There's far less competition." (Dwight Morrow, 1935.)

"What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure." (Samuel Johnson.)

"This report, by its very length, defends itself against the risk of being read." (Sir Winston Churchill.)

"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." (Confucius 551-479 BC)

"When you are thirsty, it's too late to dig a well." (Japanese Proverb.)

"You can't clear the swamp when you're up to your arse in alligators." (Traditional, unknown.)

"The future of work consists of learning a living." (Marshall McLuhan, 1911-1980.)

"If it ain't broke don't fix it." (Bert Lance, member of Jimmer Carter's US government, 1977.)

"The best time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining." (John F Kennedy)

"He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and dance; one cannot fly into flying." (Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844-1900.)

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." (Nietzsche.)

"What does not kill us makes us stronger." (attributed to Friedrich Nietzsche, based on his words: "Out of life's school of war: What does not destroy me, makes me stronger." from The Twilight of the Idols, 1899)
"The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas." (Linus Pauling.)

"What is worth doing is worth the trouble of asking somebody to do it." (Ambrose Bierce, 1842-1914.)
"Behind an able man there are always other able men." (Chinese Proverb.)

"Understanding human needs is half the job of meeting them." (Adlai Stevenson, 1900-1965.)

"I have always said that if I were a rich man I'd hire a professional praiser." (Sir Osbert Sitwell, 1892-1969.)

"A life spent in making mistakes is not only more honourable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing." (George Bernard Shaw, 18561950.)

"Managers are people who never put off until tomorrow what they can get somebody else to do today." (Unknown.)

"I praise loudly. I blame softly." (Catherine the Great, 1729-1796.)

"Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardour and attended to with diligence." (Abigail Adams in 1780) Thanks to John Mcgregor.

"The cream always rises to the top." (Unknown.)

"Nature abhors a vacuum." (Unknown.)

"You've got to be before you can do, and you've got to do before you can have." (Zig Ziglar)

"What is fame? an empty bubble; Gold? a transient shining trouble." (James Grainger, from 'Solitude', 1755)

References:
Chapman, A. (2004). Businessballs.com. Retrieved April 22, 2005 from: http://www.businessballs.com/leadership.htm

(*) (*) ....so where's the smiley with the "poindexter-type of eye-wear? ;) ;) Have a lovely Friday.

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-22-2005, 12:49 PM

OP-ED COLUMNIST
Smoke Gets in Our News By MAUREEN DOWD

Published: April 20, 2005 NYTimes

WASHINGTON
In the free fall of TV news, ABC's attempt to create a successor for Ted Koppel's "Nightline" will go down as one of the most hilariously embarrassing moments.

One show tested recently, according to reports, was set in a nightclub. It had white tablecloths, candles, a jazz quintet, a live audience at little tables and - this is not a joke - faux fog.

We've gone from the fog of war to the fog of news.

The nightclub segments that were tested had Gen X hosts and guests, and red-blue debates on Michael Jackson, the Olsen twins' "dumpster chic" and "mad as hell" rants.

ABC decided not to go with the smoke machine. Still, Ted Koppel - who vowed last year to leave "Nightline" before he was forced to cover "wet burka" contests - must be spinning in his country home.

Les Moonves of CBS has said that with the sonorous era of Dan, Tom, Peter and Ted coming to an end, viewers are no longer interested in "voice-of-God, single-anchor" formats.

But who knew they would prefer the voice of Frank? A ring-a-ding Sinatraesque "one for my baby and one more for the road" network voice?
In Washington last week, Rupert Murdoch echoed Mr. Moonves in giving the American Society of Newspaper Editors some bad news about young people in the age of the Internet, blogging and cable news:

"They don't want to rely on the morning paper for their up-to-date information. They don't want to rely on a god-like figure from above to tell them what's important. ... They certainly don't want news presented as gospel."

So media big shots are moving away from patriarchal, authoritarian voice-of-God figures, even as the Catholic Church and politics are moving toward patriarchal, authoritarian voice-of-God figures.

The white smoke yesterday signaled that the Vatican thinks what it needs to bring it into modernity is the oldest pope since the 18th century: Joseph Ratzinger, a 78-year-old hidebound archconservative who ran the office that used to be called the Inquisition and who once belonged to Hitler Youth. For American Catholics - especially women and Democratic pro-choice Catholic pols - the cafeteria is officially closed. After all, Cardinal Ratzinger, nicknamed "God's Rottweiler" and "the Enforcer," helped deny Communion rights to John Kerry and other Catholic politicians in the 2004 election.

The only other job this pope would be qualified for is "60 Minutes" anchor.

President Bush has also long acted as if he channeled the voice of God. And now Tom DeLay and Bill Frist are also pandering to the far-right-wing and evangelical Christians by implying that God speaks - and acts - through them, too.

Mr. Bush's more subtle obeisance to the evangelical right is no longer enough. Puffed up with its electoral clout, the Christian right now wants politicians to genuflect openly.

The doctor who would be president is down on both knees. He's happy to exploit religion by giving a video speech on a telecast next Sunday that will portray Democrats who block the president's judicial nominations as being "against people of faith."

A flier for the Christian telecast, organized by the Family Research Council, shows a confused teenage boy with a Bible in one hand and a judge's gavel in the other. The text reads: "The filibuster was once abused to protect racial bias, and it is now being used against people of faith."

The born-again Tom DeLay has been fighting his ethical woes by acting like a martyr for some time. Dr. Frist, by contrast, was not known for playing the religious card before. But he is clearly willing to turn himself over, lock, stock and barrel, if it will help him marginalize such Christian-right faves as Rick Santorum and Sam Brownback, and garner support from those who always vote because they see elections in terms of eternity.

Even Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a Bible-Belt Republican, seemed surprised by the brazen move by Dr. Frist, the Senate majority leader. He told Newsweek: "Questioning a senator's motives in that way is a very dangerous precedent."

And, of course, the Democrats are apoplectic. "I cannot imagine that God - with everything he has or she has to worry about - is going to take the time to debate the filibuster in heaven," Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois said.

As they toy with less lofty multiple-anchor formats, the networks may be more open to women. But at the Vatican and in the Christian right's vanguard, we can be sure that the voice of God is not female.

E-mail: liberties@nytimes.com

(*) (*) I JUST LOVE WHAT THIS LADY WRITES........<THINKING TO MYSELF....I keep accidently hitting the all caps key...... :s :s Have a fun Friday. (f) (f) (f)

Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-22-2005, 12:52 PM

Speaking of miracles and praying, while on-line looking for a rosary yesterday, I also ordered a rosary bracelet for myself with these crystals that I don't believe that I've heard of before (headquartered in Austria, I think) and was googling this morning and decided after seeing a few tiaras to do another search........now THIS is something affordable for all of those "princesses-at-heart types:

http://www.americanacouture.com/ditiswcrstt.html

(*) (*) ah, for the femme who has almost everything.....if not a gorgeous tiara on top of gorgeous fair hair, then a snug-T with lots of these crystals sewn on the front in the form of a tiara! ;) ;) Nice thought anyway. (f) (f)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-22-2005, 12:54 PM

http://www.bc.edu/publications/bcm/fall_2003/features.html

(*) (*) (*) Long article but worth the read in my view. (l) (l)

Peace,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-22-2005, 12:56 PM

(and there aren't too many that impress.... ;)

http://www.earthdinner.org/using_cards.html (Provides the files to download and print them out...pretty cool!)

http://www.earthdinner.org/plan_your_dinner.html A personal favorite activity that honors local farmers.....Think Globally, Eat Locally)

Participating Earth Dinner Restaurants
The Earth Dinner™ 2005

The following Chefs Collaborative member restaurants are among those hosting Earth Dinners across the country this month.
East

Pattigeorge's Restaurant
4120 Gulf of Mexico Drive
Longboat Key, Florida 34228
941-383-5111
Chef Tommy Klauber
Earth Dinner Open to the Public on Friday, 4/22/05
6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Mediterra Restaurant & Bar
29 Hulfish St.
Princeton, New Jersey 08542
609-252-9680
Chef Lawrence Robinson
A special Earth Dinner chef’s tasting menu will be offered the week of April 18-22, 2005. Available both lunch and dinner. Open to the Public.

The Green Table
Chelsea Market
75 Ninth Ave.
New York, New York 10011
212-741-6623
Chef Mary Cleaver
Wednesday, 4/20/05, Seatings 6:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
A three-course prix fixe featuring local and organic ingredients and wine, with an emphasis on NY state produce and meats. Open to the Public by reservation.

Claire’s Corner Copia & Basta Trattoria
1000 Chapel St. and 1006 Chapel St.
New Haven, CT 06510
Corner Copia: 203-562-3888 / Basta Trattoria: 203-772-1715
Chef Claire Criscuolo
Chef Crisuolo will host Earth Dinners featuring organic ingredients at both of her restaurants on 4/22/05. Open to the Public.
Midwest

Soundings Restaurant at Shedd Aquarium
1200 South Lakeshore Drive
Chicago, IL 60605
312-692-3269
Chef Bonnie Paganis
A private Earth Dinner event on Friday, 4/22/05 at Noon. A three-course plated luncheon featuring a sustainable seafood dish.
West

Noble's Diner
4133 Mt. View Drive
Anchorage, Alaska 99508
907-770-3811
Chef Robert Kinneen
Series of Earth Dinners throughout the month of April with locally grown produc,e and a special Earth Dinner on Friday, 4/22/05 with local growers. Open to the Public.

Café Juanita
9702 NE 120th Place
Kirkland, WA 98034
425-823-1505
Chef Holly Smith
Commemorating five years of presenting northern Italian cuisine to Seattle's dining public, Caf? Juanita is featuring special weekly four-course Earth Dinner tastings at $45/person.

Cook's Double Dutch
Chef Jennie Cook
9806 Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
310-280-0991
A Month to Celebrate Mother Earth, April 6th-May 1st: three-course prix-fixe featuring soup or salad, an organic entr?e, and something sweet! $25/person

The Side Car Restaurant
Chef Tim Kilcoyne
3029 East Main St.
Ventura, CA 93009
805-653-7433

The Kitchen
1039 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO 80302
303-544-5973
Chefs Kimbal Musk & Hugo Matheson
Family-style prix fixe Earth Dinner on April 18, 2005 at 7:00pm. Open to the Public, $45/person ($10 goes to Health Camp).

***********************************************

The Earth Dinner™ Table (Don’t forget the chairs!)

Let your creativity run wild. Be inspired by the Earth theme and have a ball! Here are some ideas:

Table of natural inspiration. Flowers, greens, earth colors, candles, natural textures. Get the kids involved ahead of time. Plan for grace and beauty.

How about an elemental centerpiece? Think about bringing in the elements - Earth, air, water and fire. What objects can you find that represent each of these?

Party favors: Decorate mini pots planted with various herb starters found at your local nursery. Your children will delight in preparing these for your guests, while learning about the herbs and their uses. Rosemary, sage, basil, chives and thyme make beautiful favors that later can be transplanted in spring gardens and used in delicious recipes.

Or, wrap one or two wildflower seed packets together with ribbon and place on each guest's plate to take home.

Of course, reuse, recycle and return. Try to stick with organic and natural items to decorate your table and serve the food.

For Earth Dinner shopping and recipe ideas, visit:

www.organicvalley.coop/recipes/earthdinner

(*) (*) Interesting web site and the cards really are unusual.... :o

(k) (k) Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-22-2005, 12:58 PM

Canyon Pass home site views

http://www.dovemountain.com/flashdemo/index.html

It was such a wonderful experience to take several moments to look at the home sites and views of the high desert......<ah......>

(*) (*) worth the 20 minutes of exploration in my view...... (a)

Carpe diem!
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-22-2005, 01:00 PM

A Radical in the White House
By BOB HERBERT

Published: April 18, 2005

Last week - April 12, to be exact - was the 60th anniversary of the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. "I have a terrific headache," he said, before collapsing at the Little White House in Warm Springs, Ga. He died of a massive cerebral hemorrhage on the 83rd day of his fourth term as president. His hold on the nation was such that most Americans, stunned by the announcement of his death that spring afternoon, reacted as though they had lost a close relative.

That more wasn't made of this anniversary is not just a matter of time; it's a measure of the distance the U.S. has traveled from the egalitarian ideals championed by F.D.R. His goal was "to make a country in which no one is left out." That kind of thinking has long since been consigned to the political dumpster. We're now in the age of Bush, Cheney and DeLay, small men committed to the concentration of big bucks in the hands of the fortunate few.

To get a sense of just how radical Roosevelt was (compared with the politics of today), consider the State of the Union address he delivered from the White House on Jan. 11, 1944. He was already in declining health and, suffering from a cold, he gave the speech over the radio in the form of a fireside chat.

After talking about the war, which was still being fought on two fronts, the president offered what should have been recognized immediately for what it was, nothing less than a blueprint for the future of the United States. It was the clearest statement I've ever seen of the kind of nation the U.S. could have become in the years between the end of World War II and now. Roosevelt referred to his proposals in that speech as "a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all regardless of station, race or creed."

Among these rights, he said, are:

"The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation.

"The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation.

"The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living.

"The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad.

"The right of every family to a decent home.

"The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health.

"The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident and unemployment.

"The right to a good education."

I mentioned this a few days ago to an acquaintance who is 30 years old. She said, "Wow, I can't believe a president would say that."

Roosevelt's vision gave conservatives in both parties apoplexy in 1944 and it would still drive them crazy today. But the truth is that during the 1950's and 60's the nation made substantial progress toward his wonderfully admirable goals, before the momentum of liberal politics slowed with the war in Vietnam and the election in 1968 of Richard Nixon.

It wouldn't be long before Ronald Reagan was, as the historian Robert Dallek put it, attacking Medicare as "the advance wave of socialism" and Dick Cheney, from a seat in Congress, was giving the thumbs down to Head Start. Mr. Cheney says he has since seen the light on Head Start. But his real idea of a head start is to throw government money at people who already have more cash than they know what to do with. He's one of the leaders of the G.O.P. gang (the members should all wear masks) that has executed a wholesale transfer of wealth via tax cuts from working people to the very rich.

Roosevelt was far from a perfect president, but he gave hope and a sense of the possible to a nation in dire need. And he famously warned against giving in to fear.

The nation is now in the hands of leaders who are experts at exploiting fear, and indifferent to the needs and hopes, even the suffering, of ordinary people.

"The test of our progress," said Roosevelt, "is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."

Sixty years after his death we should be raising a toast to F.D.R. and his progressive ideas. And we should take that opportunity to ask: How in the world did we allow ourselves to get from there to here?

(*) (*) SUPERB!!! <thinking that the Village Idiot and crew are light-years from leaders like this. :o :o <Grrrrr> (a)

Smooches,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-22-2005, 01:04 PM

Taos
By CRISTINA OPDAHL

Published: April 17, 2005

Why Go Now

Late spring in Taos is the golden moment, the calm before the storm, before the pseudo-hippies arrive in late June for the jam bands at the Taos Solar Music Festival, before the high tourist season in summer, when tall men in bolo ties appear on the sidewalks and women in heavy turquoise jewelry and long flowing skirts abound. The weather has settled into the same predictable, perfect temperature: every single day is warm enough to meditate outside under a cottonwood tree, but not yet the pressure-cooker hot of mid-June and July. The wildflowers and three-foot-high yuccas are blooming in the surrounding desert. Go before summer hits and you'll find Taos is still the tiny village/artists commune/spa or spiritual retreat/shopper's dream - pick what you want it to be - without too many other artists, retreatists or shoppers blocking your view of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains or interrupting your tranquility.

Where to Stay

While touches like the gold-plated anaconda and African drums in the bar at the luxury resort El Monte Sagrado (1) are over the top for some Taoseños, El Monte has kept some of the true Taos character: guest casitas surround the Sacred Circle, a grassy area bordered by 80-year-old cottonwoods. Gray water (water from laundry and showers) is recycled through a series of ponds and natural treatments intended to mimic natural processes, then used to water the grounds, and the resort is partly powered by solar electricity. (All of this is a tribute to Taos as a center for green building, with its own completely solar powered radio station and the fully sustainable Earth Ship development.) But this is no bare bones eco-lodge: the bathrooms are decadently appointed, the rooms decorated according to theme - hand-blown glass chandeliers for the Marrakesh Suite, a river stone mandala for the Bali Suite. The Kama Sutra Suite features a king-sized bed carved with tantric images and its own fresh water dipping pond. Suites run from $325 to $1,095; 317 Kit Carson Road; (800) 828-8267; on the Web at www.elmontesagrado.com.

There seem to be more bed-and-breakfasts than there are artists in Taos - the combination of small, old, renovated adobe houses, crooked, narrow streets, village atmosphere and hippies-turned-entrepreneurs seems to breed them. Casa de las Chimeneas (2) (505) 758-4777, 405 Cordoba Lane near Kit Carson Road, is a bed-and-breakfast in a recently renovated 1925 Spanish adobe hacienda with a luxurious courtyard and its own spa. Buffet dinners made with vegetables from a local organic farm are served in the early evening. Rooms from $165 to $325.

Where to Eat

What is special about Taos food is its small cafe quality. It's often organic, made-from-scratch and eclectic. One of the best examples is the Sheva Café, (3) located on the main north-south street in Taos, at 812B Paseo del Pueblo Norte, (505) 737-9290, www.shevacafe.com. Try the organic lamb stew and the soy milk smoothie, sweetened with baklava syrup. The average bill is $16 a person without wine or beer. The Bean, (4) a coffee and pastry shop located nearby at 900 Paseo del Pueblo Norte, (505) 751-9918, is probably the likeliest place to run into Julia Roberts-as-local (her ranch is just up the road), hair disheveled and groggily looking for a cup of coffee.

The most expensive restaurant in otherwise reasonably priced Taos, Joseph's Table, (5) located in the Hotel la Fonda de Taos on 102A South Taos Plaza, (505) 751-4512, www.josephstable.com, is well worth the $60-a-person average meal price, without wine. The plates rival those in any of Manhattan's best restaurants. Some dishes incorporate just a regional ingredient or two, such as the too-perfect lobster and masa bread pudding on Mexican cream corn. Or, sit at the bar and try the polenta fries with grilled radicchio and gorgonzola crème. Either way, though this is Taos at its fanciest, you'll be comfortable wearing jeans.

What to Do During the Day

Once a counterculture hotspot, Taos has become so multifaceted - grown up, shall we say? - that its crystal-wearing, goddess-worshipping roots have nearly been eclipsed. What's left is, yes, a touch of occasional cloying New Age hype, but also sophisticated alternative therapies. The spa at El Monte Sagrado offers a full range of spa treatments, plus some of its own, including altitude adjustment therapy to help with the 7,000 foot elevation. If you're looking for a deeper overhaul, head to Taos Kundalini Yoga and Health Center, (6) 413A Paseo del Pueblo Norte (505) 751-1335, one the Web at www.taoskundalini.com. The advanced therapist Harbhajan Khalsa can heal what ails you by realigning your nerves and tissues, balancing your cerebral spinal fluid and dissipating your negative patterns. Mr. Khalsa, who claims clairvoyance, can also tell you what ails your husband, who is not present, while fixing you for $150 an hour.

There is ample opportunity to buy locally crafted jewelry and pottery in the shops around Taos Plaza, but why not buy direct from the source? Taos Pueblo, (7) (505) 758-1028, www.taospueblo.com, at the end of Veterans Highway, two miles northeast of the Plaza, is where simple, classic micaceous pottery has been made for at least 1,000 years in this ancient community. The adobe complex, one of the oldest continuously inhabited dwellings in the United States, was alive and well when Europe was still in the Dark Ages. In 1680, it was at the center for the most successful Indian uprising in history, when the pueblo Indians of the region drove the Spaniards all the way back to Mexico for more than a decade.

In the early 1900's, Taos was a locale where, like Paris in the 1920's and Greenwich Village in the 60's, lightning struck, forces converged, and top-tier artists brought each other here through word of mouth, collectively fanned the Muse and fed off each other's inspiration. They called themselves the Taos Society of Artists, and a wonderful collection of the resulting work, as well as that of Nicolai Fechin and other artists, can be found at the Taos Art Museum, (8) 227 Paseo del Pueblo Norte, (505) 758-2690, www.taosartmuseum.org. For the best in Native American and Spanish art, head for the Millicent Rogers Museum, (9) 1504 Millicent Rogers Road, (505) 758-2462, www.millicentrogers.org to view well-preserved Anasazi pottery, Apache baskets, brilliant Spanish colcha embroidery and 19th-century religious carvings.

What to Do at Night

Taos is so tiny, you can just be there and you're, well, there. But if there is an "it" place in Taos, it's the Taos Inn, (10) 125 Paseo del Pueblo Norte, (888) 458-8267, www.taosinn.com. There, you can find both sides of Taos out in full bloom; it's the place where local people go to be seen or just stop by, dirty and dusty from a hike, and conversations run between the particular intricacies of photovoltaic systems and the qualities of Macon Domaine de la Bongran 2000. The crowded lounge of the Adobe Bar is also the most likely place you'll find yourself standing elbow-to-elbow with Robert Redford or Lauren Hutton. Most nights you'll get a taste of regional talent from instrumental funk to country-and-western. To blend in, sip Patrón tequila at the bar or dine on the green chile and rellenos at Doc Martin's, the Inn's not-too-shabby restaurant.

Should you be hankering for the real deal, a place that Kit Carson and Buffalo Bill Cody reputedly visited a lot, where you might at midnight fancy yourself on the set of "The Long Riders," head to the Alley Cantina, (11) 121 Teresina Lane, (505) 758-2121, www.alleycantina.com. It's the place you're least likely to run into other out-of-towners. Drink cheap Mexican beer - definitely not wine - and listen to loud, local salsa or blues in this low-ceilinged, smoky, hole-in-the-wall bar.

Where to Shop

Shopping for art in Taos is like thrift-store shopping - it's all about hunting for a gem among many similar items. You may begin to feel bug-eyed, but you should persevere. Cichon Fine Art, (12) at 133 Bent Street, (505) 715-4657, displays striking black-and-white photographs of rugged landscapes.

For a good selection of the distinct Taos painting style - desert and mountain landscapes, flowers, adobes and churches, all abstracted to a rather pleasant degree, try Gallery A, (13) at 105-107 Kit Carson Road, (505) 758-2343.

To help you pick the perfect 19th-century Navajo rug, the saleswoman at Taos Fine Art, (14) 103 Kit Carson Road, (505) 737-5333, will wrap one around her shoulders so you can see how it was meant to be used (worn, not walked on) and seen, with the stripes and pattern coming together in the front. Prices range from $300 to $250,000.

Your First Time or Your 10th

If, as Agnes Martin once said, "Art is the concrete representation of our most subtle feelings," the place to get a dose of "Playing," "Innocence," "Ordinary Happiness," "Perfect Day," "Friendship," "Love," and "Lovely Life" is the Agnes Martin Room at the Harwood Museum. (15) Large paintings that bear these names by the minimalist artist, who lived in Taos the last decades of her life, hang in a serene octagonal room. The Harwood Museum is southeast of the Plaza at 238 Ledoux Street, (505) 758-9826, www.harwoodmuseum.org.

How to Get There

If you like to book your airline tickets online, you'll need to book your trip to Albuquerque, N.M., then arrange to take one of two commuter flights a day that run from Albuquerque to Taos, through Westward Airways at www.westwardairways.com, (877) 937-8927. Tickets from New York to Albuquerque run about $300 with two-week advance purchase. The short hop to Taos is $50 to $100 one way. Alternatively, you can fly to Santa Fe, a 90-minute drive away, for about $550.

How to Get Around

So much of Taos is centered around the small plaza, you'll spend most of your time in Taos on your feet. There is no public transportation, so you'll need a rental car to get anywhere off the Plaza.

(*) (*) and to think back to August of 1987 during Indian Market in Sante Fe when I was an invited guest of Gorman, the famous artist and painter who has an exquisite home with breathtaking views in Taos......those were the days when I had friends who drove Rolls Royces. Even got to drive one once or twice back then....talk about smooooooth ride..... ;) (h) (h)

With respectful humility, (okay, usually) ;) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-22-2005, 07:52 PM

Galileo Galilei --

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has
endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to
forgo their use."

Bernt Øksendal, Stochastic Differential Equations:
An Introduction with Applications --

"We have not succeeded in answering all our problems. The answers
we have found only serve to raise a whole set of new questions.
In some ways we feel we are as confused as ever, but we believe we
are confused on a higher level, and about more important things."

Bertolt Brecht, from _The Life of Galileo_ --

"The aim of science is not to open a door to infinite wisdom but to
set a limit to infinite error."

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

Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-22-2005, 07:54 PM

J. D. BIERSDORFER

Published: April 21, 2005 San Jose Mercury News

Required Program For Flashy Sites

Q. What is the Flash player that my browser says I need?

A. Flash is a program by Macromedia that lets Web site designers add animations and interactive elements to their pages. To see these animations, you need to have the Flash plug-in installed with your Web browser. The Flash player, which is free, can be downloaded at www.macromedia.com/software/flashplayer.

Mice Should Click, Not Hard Drives

Q. My computer is making grinding sounds. Is this bad? What should I do?

A. Unless you are operating a power tool, loud clicking or grinding from a mechanical device - including a hard drive - may be a sign that something is about to break.

The complication with a hard drive, of course, is that valuable files are stored there, and there may be no easy way to rescue the data.
Hard drives are basically motorized platters spinning rapidly as a read-write head floats above on a cushion of air and magnetically inscribes the data onto the disk. All your files, folders and Green Day songs are stored on the disk's magnetic surface.
There are other sources of computer noise, including loud internal cooling fans and even desk clutter that rattles with the natural vibrations of your computer. First, clear the area and listen closely to the machine.

Grinding noises can mean that the read-write head is scraping against the surface of the disk and damaging it. Clicking noises coming from a hard drive are also cause for concern, and may mean that the drive's read-write heads are misaligned; the drive is probably damaged.

If you hear a high-pitched whine, your hard drive's bearings may be on the way out, but you may be able to save most of the data if you get the machine to a computer-repair professional right away. In fact, if you can use your computer despite the ominous noises, you should back up all data onto another drive immediately.

If your hard drive dies before you can back up the files, a data-recovery service may be your last hope. Companies including DriveSavers (www.drivesavers.com), the Disaster Recovery Group (www.disasterrecoverygroup.com) and OnTrack (www.ontrack.com) specialize in extracting stranded files from broken hard drives, but the price may be more than $1,000.

RAW Photo Files For Do-It-Yourselfers

Q. What is the RAW format in digital photography?

A. Some digital cameras can be set to save pictures in a variety of file formats, and a lot of things happen inside the camera when you have it set to snap photos in the common JPEG format. From the press of the shutter button to the recording of the image on your memory card, the camera processes the picture file in several quick steps.

Some include applying your chosen contrast, white balance and saturation settings to the picture data your camera's sensor has just captured, as well as your settings for image size, quality and file compression. Once the camera has made all of these adjustments to the data image file, the processed JPEG file is copied onto the camera's memory card.

But some digital cameras can be set to capture a RAW file instead of a JPEG. A RAW file is the untouched picture data from the image sensor before the processing takes place.

(Different camera makers may vary the way they handle these data files, though, so some companies may have a small amount of in-camera processing, even on RAW files.)

Not all digital cameras can create RAW data files, and the files themselves can be quite large compared with a compressed JPEG file. Serious photographers often favor RAW files because they prefer to modify the images themselves on a computer instead of relying on the camera to make exposure and other adjustments.

(*) (*) :o :o ;) ;)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-22-2005, 07:56 PM

Posted on Fri, Apr. 22, 2005

Developing world needs knowledge more than hardware, speakers say

By K. Oanh Ha

Mercury News

Is the digital divide dead?

Yes, concluded speakers at a Santa Clara University symposium Thursday where participants agreed that throwing computers at the developing world isn't the answer to global inequity. What's really needed is a bridge to close the knowledge divide, according to the speakers.

``The problem comes down to much more than technology,'' said Geoffrey Bowker, executive director of the university's Center for Science, Technology and Society, which hosted the conference, also sponsored by Applied Materials. ``What we need is open source science . . . a framework where knowledge and information is shared with the developing world.''

Speakers at the event, attended by about 200, talked about the importance of creating a ``digital commons'' -- a public, online space for knowledge that would help alleviate social and economic problems in poor countries, as well as inequities between the developed and developing worlds.

Some said it was time to rethink intellectual property laws that often prevent poor countries from tapping into useful innovations and technology. ``We should recognize that intellectual property rights are competing with basic human rights,'' said Raoul Weiler, head of a European think tank.

Multinational companies have a responsibility to help poor countries overcome the knowledge divide rather than just ``raiding'' them, speakers said.

One speaker cited an example where an American company did raid the knowledge of a developing country. In Ecuador, a video documentary was put on the Internet about a plant that generations of indigenous people in the Andes have cultivated to treat lung cancer. Shortly after, a California company came in to commercially extract the plant for cancer medicine, said Karin Delgadillo, executive director of the Chasquinet Foundation. Her organization created the information center that made putting the documentary on the Internet possible.

``The company just came in and took the ancestors' wisdom without compensating the local people.''

Speakers also called on Silicon Valley companies to help create a framework for sharing global knowledge. One way is for companies to target their products at poor communities, rather than those with the highest purchasing power, said Brooke Partridge, director of market and business development in Hewlett-Packard's emerging market solutions division.

(*) (*) I suppose this means there is now a relative balance of electronic power.......uh, yea, right...... ;)

Peace,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-22-2005, 08:02 PM

Microsoft delays release of Gay Rights Service Pack 2: It's difficult to believe that a company that has no trouble telling regulators all over the world where to get off would ever give in to the Christian right. But that's what the company is being accused of today after withdrawing its support for a Washington state bill that would have barred discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The Stranger reports that Microsoft, at the forefront of corporate gay rights for decades, officially changed its position on House Bill 1515 -- which was defeated by one vote on Thursday -- from support to neutrality, apparently after a prominent evangelical church located a few blocks from Microsoft's sprawling headquarters threatened to organize a national boycott of the company's products. Microsoft denies it caved, claiming it decided to be neutral on the bill because it was narrowing its focus to other legislative matters. "Our government affairs team made a decision before this legislative session that we would focus our energy on a limited number of issues that are directly related to our business," said Mark Murray, a company spokesman. "That decision was not influenced by external factors.'' That's a tough claim to swallow, though, given Microsoft's pioneering support of local and national gay rights legislation. More difficult still when Ken Hutcherson, the pastor of Antioch Bible Church in Redmond, told the New York Times that he twice met with Microsoft executives in February and old them to that unless they "backed off" the bill he "was going to give them something to be afraid of Christians about." Good luck sweeping this one under the rug, folks.

http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/04/take-action-microsoft-abandons-gays.html

http://www.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/2005-06/Htm/Bills/House%20Bills/1515.htm

http://thestranger.com/2005-04-21/feature.html

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002249615_gaymicrosoft22m.html

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/11456808.htm

(*) (*) Software (operating systems and applications software that is) "Darth Vader" bows to local church preferences.......seems like such a powerful SOB could have stood up and taken a stand. That he did not also speaks volumes, in my view. :@ :@ Grrrrr.

<and now back to my irreverent, though usually respectful postings - that is unless it's the Village Idiot and his crew runing the U.S. into the ground - another group with power that abuses it.>

:| :| I need to make myself some hot tea........;)

(f) (f) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-22-2005, 08:05 PM

OP-ED COLUMNIST

Sizzle, Yes, but Beef, Too By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

Published: April 22, 2005 New York Times

New York Times columnists are not allowed to endorse U.S. presidential candidates. Only the editorial page does that. But in checking the columnist rule book, I couldn't find any ban on endorsing a candidate for prime minister of Britain. So I'm officially rooting for Tony Blair.

I've never met Mr. Blair. But reading the British press, it strikes me that he's not much loved by Fleet Street. He's not much loved by the left wing of his own Labor Party either, and he certainly doesn't have any supporters on the Conservative benches. Yet he seems to be heading for re-election to a third term on May 5.

Indeed, I believe that history will rank Mr. Blair as one of the most important British prime ministers ever - both for what he has accomplished at home and for what he has dared to do abroad. There is much the U.S. Democratic Party could learn from Mr. Blair.
First, you don't have to be a conservative to be a conviction politician. For years Mr. Blair was derided by the press as "Tony Blur" - a man of no fixed principles, all sizzle and no beef, who dressed up the Labor Party as "New Labor," like putting lipstick on a pig, but never really made the hard choices or changes. The reality is quite different.

In deciding to throw in Britain's lot with President Bush on the Iraq war, Mr. Blair not only defied the overwhelming antiwar sentiment of his own party, but public opinion in Britain generally. "Blair risked complete self-immolation on a principle," noted Will Marshall, president of the Progressive Policy Institute, a pro-Democratic U.S. think tank.

Remember, in the darkest hours of the Iraq drama, when things were looking disastrous (and there have been many such hours), Mr. Bush could always count on the embrace of his own party and the U.S. conservative media machine and think tanks.
Tony Blair, by contrast, dined alone. He had no real support group to fall back on. I'm not even sure his wife supported him on the Iraq war. (I know the feeling!) Nevertheless, Mr. Blair took a principled position to depose Saddam and keep Britain tightly aligned with America. He did so, among other reasons, because he believed that the advance of freedom and the defeat of fascism - whether Islamo-fascism or Nazi fascism - were quintessential and indispensable "liberal" foreign policy goals.

The other very real thing Mr. Blair has done is to get the Labor Party in Britain to firmly embrace the free market and globalization - sometimes kicking and screaming. He has reconfigured Labor politics around a set of policies designed to get the most out of globalization and privatization for British workers, while cushioning the harshest side effects, rather than trying to hold onto bankrupt Socialist ideas or wallowing in the knee-jerk antiglobalism of the reactionary left.

The strong British economy that Mr. Blair and his deft finance minister, Gordon Brown, have engineered has led to spending on health and education - as well as on transportation and law and order - that has increased "much faster than under the Conservatives," The Financial Times noted on Wednesday. "The result has been numerous new and refurbished schools, dozens of new hospitals, tens of thousands of extra staff and much new equipment."

And these improvements, which still have a way to go, have all been accomplished so far with few tax increases. The vibrant British economy and welfare-to-work programs have, in turn, resulted in the lowest unemployment in Britain in 30 years. This has led to higher tax receipts and helped the government pay down its national debt. This, in turn, has saved money on both interest and welfare benefits - money that has been plowed back into services, The Financial Times explained.

In sum, Tony Blair has redefined British liberalism. He has made liberalism about embracing, managing and cushioning globalization, about embracing and expanding freedom - through muscular diplomacy where possible and force where necessary - and about embracing fiscal discipline.

Along the way, he has deftly eviscerated the Conservatives, leaving them with only their most fringe policies - another reason American Democrats could learn a lot from him. Their own ambivalence toward globalization and the new New Deal our country needs to make more Americans educated and employable in a world without walls, and their own ambivalence toward muscular diplomacy, cost Democrats just enough votes in the American center to allow a mistake-prone Bush team to squeak by in 2004. So if Mr. Blair does win in the U.K., I sure hope that Democrats in the U.S. are taking notes.

(*) (*) (*) (*) (*) (*) Tom does it again! (h) (h)

Have a lovely evening and weekend......

Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-22-2005, 08:09 PM

Dear MoveOn member:

It's worth taking a moment to remember why Republican leaders are so intent on seizing power over the courts:the minimum wage, the Clean Water Act, the constitutional right to privacy, and so many other progressive advances are still too popular to for politicians to gut outright! So they're hoping to stack the Supreme Court with justices so far to the right they'll do what Congress can't. It's an extraordinarily devious plan–they're relying on judicial activism to roll back our rights, even as they claim they're trying to curb it --and the lynchpin is next week's vote on the "nuclear option."

Here's the catch: the more Republicans realize the public is watching, the more nervous they get. So on Wednesday, MoveOn members across the nation are organizing emergency Rallies to Stop the Judicial Takeover. We'll gather in front of courthouses and federal buildings to send a clear message: Americans want fair judges, not extremists appointed to favor corporate interests and right-wing fringe groups.

Sign up now for rally in your state:

http://www.moveonpac.org/event/judicialrallies/

The stakes of this fight could hardly be higher. It's Earth Day today, so look out the window and imagine living in a country in which courts ruled that we had to pay polluters to stop polluting. Sound farfetched? This is the upshot of the radical legal theories embraced by many of Bush's corporate-biased nominees, and it shows in their records. For example, the Los Angeles Times editorialized that Priscilla Owen, an appeals court nominee approved yesterday by a Senate Committee, "often side[s] with business in disputes involving employee rights, consumers and the environment" and has "a record of indifference to the problems of most Americans." In one case, she "argued that property rights justified giving large landowners the power to exempt themselves from water pollution controls and land use safeguards." 1

Janice Rogers Brown, also approved yesterday, has spoken in support of elevating corporate property rights to a level on par with fundamental rights like free speech. She also "wrote in a solo dissent that private property is now 'entirely extinct in San Francisco.'" 2 And putting corporate property rights before other values doesn't just hamstring environmental protection -- workplace safety, the right to unionize, consumer protection, even programs like Social Security end up on the chopping block too.

Of course, the fight over the courts is not just about giving corporate interests free reign to pollute the air and abuse workers. As the Schiavo tragedy showed, Republican leaders are also pandering to fringe religious groups who want to use our judicial system to force their particular beliefs on the rest of us -- something our nation's founders (who spent plenty of time in church themselves) considered a very bad idea. Imagine a country where all forms of contraception are illegal; where the government decides what your doctor can and can't tell you based on one group's narrow religious dogma; where the police might interfere with your most private life and death family decisions.

Together, we're pulling out all the stops to make sure this vision of America doesn't come to pass. MoveOn members have blanketed the nation with over 40,000 letters to the editor, tens of thousands of calls, hundreds of thousands of petition signatures, and hard-hitting messages on the airwaves.

But there's no substitute for public rallies where we can stand up and be counted. That's why Wednesday's events -- organized jointly by MoveOn PAC and our friends at the Coalition for a Fair and Independent Judiciary -- are so critical. Please come to a rally in your state, even if it means leaving a bit early from work and traveling to get there. You can search for rallies near you at, or sign up to host your own:

http://www.moveonpac.org/event/judicialrallies/

We're on the right track -- news reports say Republicans' private polling shows the public moving our way -- but we've still got an uphill fight ahead of us to find a few more Republican votes and keep Democrats standing strong. The best way to do that is to join together next Wednesday and show Congress, and our neighbors, how many of us are concerned about the Republican drive for absolute power over the courts.

Thank you for all that you do,

–Justin, Rosalyn, Matt, Ben and the MoveOn PAC Team
Earth Day, April 22nd, 2005

1. [Emphasis added] Letter concerning Priscilla Owen from environmental groups to U.S. Senators; http://www.moveon.org/r?r=700&t=3.

2. Letter concerning Janet Rogers Brown from environmental groups to U.S. Senators; http://www.moveon.org/r?r=700&t=4

PAID FOR BY MOVEON PAC
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

(*) (*) (*) (*) (*) (*) (*) (*) (*) We just gotta get out there and do something. These moveon got folks off their asses and out to vote last Fall. Anyone interested in this rally against the Repubs stacking the judicial deck, PM me?

({) (}) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

04-23-2005, 11:27 AM

In Portland, Ore., a Bid to Pull Out of Terror Task Force
By SARAH KERSHAW

Published: April 23, 2005

Citing irreconcilable differences with how the Federal Bureau of Investigation has operated in a post-Sept. 11 world, city officials in Portland, Ore., said yesterday that they planned to pull their police officers out of an F.B.I.-run antiterrorism task force.

Federal officials said no other city had taken such an action.

Mayor Tom Potter, a Democrat and former Portland police chief, along with several city commissioners, said they expected the City Council to approve the move next week.

Mr. Potter said that several sticking points in negotiations with the F.B.I. over how investigations are conducted and who has "top secret" security clearance had prompted his decision to remove the two officers, now detailed to the antiterrorism task force, from under the auspices of the F.B.I.

At a news conference yesterday, Mr. Potter was joined by the F.B.I.'s highest-ranking official in Portland and an official from the United States attorney's office there, in what appeared to be a show of forced congeniality. City officials said in interviews that it was clear there was hostility between the F.B.I. special agent in charge in Portland, Robert J. Jordan, and the mayor, but that they had appeared to mend fences before the news conference.

Mr. Potter said that the city's law enforcement agencies would still cooperate with the F.B.I., although his officers, if the plan is approved, would report to the Police Department, not the F.B.I.

"I do not take this step lightly," Mr. Potter said at the news conference. "We're not severing our ties; we're only changing them."

The move by Mayor Potter is not the first time that Portland, which has often shown an independent streak, has clashed with the F.B.I. In November 2001, the Police Department announced that its officers would not cooperate with the government's efforts to interview thousands of Muslim men in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

In a telephone interview after the news conference, Mr. Potter said his main rationale for this decision was that the F.B.I., in negotiations over the last several weeks, had refused to give him and his police chief the same top secret clearance given to the two officers on the antiterrorism task force. In negotiations, the bureau agreed to give the police chief clearance, officials said, but refused to give it to the mayor, who under Portland government tradition is also the police commissioner, with oversight over the department.

This angered Mr. Potter, he said, adding that his lack of security clearance would effectively render him unable to know, in highly classified investigations or other cases, what his own police officers were doing.

"It's important that I know what they know," the mayor said. "Because that is part of the oversight process. If there are things that I don't know that they know, there's always an opportunity for something to go wrong."

In brief remarks at the news conference, Mr. Jordan said: "We collectively have discussed many different proposals. I fully respect the mayor's right and responsibility to provide appropriate oversight of city police officers."

"I make the commitment to you, Mr. Mayor," Mr. Jordan added, "and to the citizens of Portland that we will continue to work with you and the Portland Police Bureau to protect the public's safety."

F.B.I. officials in Washington declined to comment on Mr. Potter's decision and his negotiations with the bureau, saying the situation was being handled by the local field office and Mr. Jordan, who, his office said yesterday, would be unavailable to comment further.

While Mr. Potter focused heavily in his announcement yesterday on the security clearance sticking points, he indicated he was also concerned about how the F.B.I., which last year wrongly arrested and detained a Muslim resident of a Portland suburb, Brandon Mayfield, and then apologized, was handling the protection of civil rights for area citizens in their antiterrorism efforts.

City Commissioner Randy Leonard, who drafted the resolution that would remove the officers from the task force, was more blunt about his concerns about the antiterrorism law known as the USA Patriot Act and how the F.B.I. was enforcing it, including its tactics in the high-profile Mayfield case.

"It would be disingenuous to say I have not been influenced by this kind of national sense - international, really - that we have taken this hard swing to the right in terms of guaranteeing personal freedoms of the citizens of this country," Mr. Leonard said.

Referring to the F.B.I., Mr. Leonard, a former Portland fire department lieutenant, added, "We as a city are not ceding over our police officers to them."

City Commissioner Dan Saltzman - there are four commissioners, and the mayor also has a vote on the Council - had not made up his mind yet, pending a review of the agreement between the city and the F.B.I., his chief of staff, Jeff Cogen, said yesterday. But it appeared likely the mayor would secure a majority.

"The commissioner was disappointed that the city and the F.B.I. were unable to reach agreement," Mr. Cogen said. "But he knows the negotiations were done in good faith."

(*) (*) I remember back in the 1970's/early 1980's when the then- mayor of Portland had some "artwork" installed including one life-sized statue of a man in a rain coat flashing...... :| However, I believe that the current mayor, being a former chief of police, certainly must have some compelling reasons for wanting to protect Portland on his own (with his staff and other organizations I'm assuming...) Good for Portland! I hope other cities follow their lead. (*) (*) (*) (*) (*)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

04-23-2005, 11:28 AM

EDITORIAL
A Civil Debate Over Civil Union

Published: April 23, 2005

One of the amazing things about Connecticut's approval of a law guaranteeing the rights of gay couples was the almost placid way the political process worked. This is a pioneering law - the first enacting civil union voluntarily, without court pressure - yet it was adopted with a minimum of political fireworks. There are healthy lessons in this for the rest of the nation as this vital human right progresses.

Connecticut's legislators were obviously influenced by shifting public opinion in favor of taking the historic step, but even more by the gatherings across the state where gay couples invited politicians and neighbors into their homes to experience their domestic lives firsthand. This grass-roots lobbying by gay and lesbian couples proved that their humanity was not to be denied, even if the word "marriage" was denied to them as the final compromise was passed by large, bipartisan margins and was enthusiastically signed by Gov. Jodi Rell, a Republican.

The law firmly extends to gay couples the same rights and protections guaranteed to married heterosexuals, including tax and insurance benefits, family leave, hospital visits and more. Its passage was undoubtedly eased by an amendment that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. But there's cause for optimism that this obstacle may be removed, considering the state's progressive path since the day, 40 years ago, when the courts finally struck down a puritanical law that criminalized birth control.

In the past 15 years, Connecticut has protected gays and lesbians under hate-crime, employment and housing laws, and allowed unmarried couples to raise adopted children. Just as civil union was the next logical step, so may the term marriage be finally extended someday.

Other states are heading in a different direction. Fourteen have banned gay marriage in the last year, with Kansas going further and outlawing civil union. But Connecticut's new law and the bolstering of gay unions in Vermont, Massachusetts and California provide a response to the tendency of civil libertarians to presume that lawmaking is transitory and less reliable than a court decision. Critical as the courts are, there's nothing more stirring than the sight of a legislature, representing the will of the people, passing laws to protect the rights of a vulnerable minority group.

(*) (*) (*) (f) (f) (f) (f) (f)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-23-2005, 11:34 AM

(*) (*) (*) I'm printing this one out, most definitely! (l) (l) (l) (l) (l)

Uncle Dick and Papa

By MAUREEN DOWD Published: April 23, 2005

It was a move so smooth and bold, accomplished with such backstage bureaucratic finesse, that it was worthy of Dick Cheney himself.

The éminence grise who had long whispered in the ear of power and who had helped oversee the selection process ended up selecting himself. In Cheneyesque fashion, he searched far and wide for a pope by looking around the room and swiftly deciding he was the best man for the job.

Just like Mr. Cheney, once the quintessentially deferential staff man with the Secret Service code name "Back Seat," the self-effacing Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has clambered over the back seat to seize the wheel (or Commonweal). Mr. Cheney played the tough cop to W.'s boyish, genial pol, just as Cardinal Ratzinger played the tough cop to John Paul's gentle soul.
And just like the vice president, the new pope is a Jurassic archconservative who disdains the "if it feels good do it" culture and the revolutionary trends toward diversity and cultural openness since the 60's.

The two leaders are a match - absolutists who view the world in stark terms of good and evil, eager to prolong a patriarchal society that prohibits gay marriage and slices up pro-choice U.S. Democratic candidates.

The two, from rural, conservative parts of their countries, want to turn back the clock and exorcise New Age silliness. Mr. Cheney wants to dismantle the New Deal and go back to 1937. Pope Benedict XVI wants to dismantle Vatican II and go back to 1397. As a scholar, his specialty was "patristics," the study of the key thinkers in the first eight centuries of the church.

They are both old hands at operating in secrecy and using the levers of power for ideological advantage. They want to enlist Catholics in the conservative cause, turning confession boxes into ballot boxes with the threat that a vote for a liberal Democrat could lead to eternal damnation.

Unlike Ronald Reagan and John Paul II, the vice president and the new pope do not have large-scale charisma or sunny faces to soften their harsh "my way or the highway" policies. Their gloomy world outlooks and bullying roles earned them the nicknames Dr. No and Cardinal No. One is called Washington's Darth Vader, the other the Vatican's Darth Vader.

W.'s Doberman and John Paul's "God's Rottweiler," as the new pope was called, are both global enforcers with cult followings. Just as the vice president acted to solidify the view of America as a hyperpower, so the new pope views the Roman Catholic Church as the one true religion. He once branded other faiths as deficient.

Both like to blame the media. Cardinal Ratzinger once accused the U.S. press of overplaying the sex abuse scandal to hurt the church and keep the story on the front pages.

Dr. No and Cardinal No parted ways on the war - though Cardinal Ratzinger did criticize the U.N. But they agree that stem cell research and cloning must be curtailed. Cardinal Ratzinger once called cloning "more dangerous than weapons of mass destruction."
As fundamentalism marches on - even Bill Gates seems to have caved to a preacher on gay rights legislation because of fear of a boycott - U.S. conservatives are thrilled about the choice of Cardinal Ratzinger, hoping for an unholy alliance. They hope this pope - who seems to want a smaller, purer church - encourages a militant role for Catholic bishops and priests in the political process.

Cardinal Ratzinger did not shrink from advising American bishops in the last presidential election on bringing Catholic elected officials to heel. He warned that Catholics who deliberately voted for a candidate because of a pro-choice position were guilty of cooperating in evil, and unworthy to receive communion. Vote Democratic and lose your soul. "Panzerkardinal," as he was known, definitely isn't a man who could read Mario Cuomo's Notre Dame speech urging that pro-choice politicians be allowed in the tent and say, "He's got a point."

The Republicans can build their majority by bringing strict Catholics and evangelicals - once at odds - together on what they call "culture of life" issues.

But there's a risk, as with Tom DeLay, Dr. Bill Frist and other Republicans, that if the new pope is too heavy-handed and too fundamentalist, his approach may backfire.

Moral absolutism is relative, after all. As Bruce Landesman, a philosophy professor at the University of Utah, pointed out in a letter to The Times: "Those who hold 'liberal' views are not relativists. They simply disagree with the conservatives about what is right and wrong."

(*) (*) what a tremendous gift this writer has. I really enjoyed learning Cheyney's Secret Service nickname as "Back Seat" as well as the comparison to the late Pope John Paul II's "Rottweiler" who is now Pope. My favorite was the last sentence though:

"Those who hold 'liberal' views are not relativists. They simply disagree with the conservatives about what is right and wrong."

(h) Absolutely.

Carpe diem!

Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-25-2005, 06:16 AM

The L Word: news, interviews, recaps and commentary on Showtime's lesbian series:

http://www.afterellen.com/TV/thelword.html

http://www.afterellen.com/TV/thelword/recaps2.html

The L Word: Season 2 News (most recent news on top):
http://www.afterellen.com/TV/thelword-news.html

Upcoming Lesbian-Related DVD Releases by Date:

http://www.afterellen.com/dvd-releaselist.html

(*) (*) .....really nice web site where I found all kinds of intersting and surprising links and info... (h) (h)

<sipping coffee and shaking out those "mental cobwebs".....I am *such* a night person (as differentiated from lady of the evening...);)

(k) (k),
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-25-2005, 06:17 AM

http://www.afterellen.com/archives-trends.html

(*) (*) (h) (h)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

04-25-2005, 06:22 AM

:o :o :o .....surprised the heck out of me.....

When Law and Order's Assistant District Attorney Serena Southerlyn was
fired on this week's episode of the long-running NBC drama Law and
Order, no one was surprised: the news of actress Elizabeth Rohm's impending
departure from the series after four years had been announced months
before.

But almost no one was prepared for her final scene, in which Southerlyn
came out as a lesbian.

Elisabeth Rohm (Angel, One Life to Live) joined the cast of Law and
Order in 2001 as ADA Serena Southerlyn, and quickly became one of the show's more disliked characters for what was perceived by many to be her cold and robotic personality.

But she did have some fans, including many lesbian viewers who had
their suspicions about Southerlyn's sexuality. Since the writers have offered
few personal details about Southerlyn (or most of the other characters),
this was only conjecture--until last night.

In the final scene of the January 12, 2005 episode ("Ain't No Love"),
District Attorney Branch (Fred Thompson) fired Southerlyn for being too
passionate and personally involved with her work, telling her she would
be better suited for advocacy work than criminal law. Southerlyn asked
"You're not firing me because I'm a lesbian?" Branch replied "No," and
Southerlyn responded "Good...good" before the screen faded to black and the
credits began to roll.

That was the end of the episode, and Southerlyn's career on Law and
Order. Law and Order is one of the most-watched series on television,
garnering millions of viewers every week on primetime and in syndication. The
series is also credited with launching the popularity of the procedural drama
on TV, spawning a number of imitators in the last decade including two Law
& Order spinoffs, which have also gone on to do very well in the ratings.

The series has been criticized, however, for its lack of openly gay and
lesbian characters in the last fifteen years. There have been plenty of
lesbian guest characters--either as victims, witnesses, or
perpetrators--but no lesbians among its cast. Then rumors began to
circulate last year that one of the ADAs would be outed, and we hoped
we might finally get a lesbian on Law and Order--although not quite like
this.

To out Southerlyn in her final scene on the series feels a little like
having your cake and eating it too: Law and Order gets to expand its
diversity of characters and lay claim to a token lesbian among its
cast, but avoid the ramifications of it because the character leaves the
series immediately after her sexuality is revealed.

Many viewers are likely to feel cheated out of the opportunity to see
Southerlyn on the series as a lesbian character. Watching the series
with the knowledge of Southerlyn's sexual orientation changes and enriches
the viewing experience for many lesbian and bisexual women--both of the
series in general, and of Southerlyn in particular--even if her personal life
is never explored. In a world where lesbians are still rare on network
television, just knowing a character is gay is important, and enough to
keep many viewers tuned in.

The decision to disclose Southerlyn's sexuality during the termination
of her employment--rather than in a more neutral context--is also
problematic. While the information was imparted in the matter-of-fact style in which Law and Order discloses all personal information about its regular
characters, introducing it for the first time in such a negative context--as a
possible reason for termination--subtly reinforce the association between coming out as a lesbian and negative consequences.

Even if Branch indicated that Southerlyn's sexuality wasn't the issue
(and we have no reason to think it was), the fact that the writers revealed
Southerlyn's sexuality in the context of being a potential problem,
with no scenes during the last four years with positive references to her
sexuality to offset this negative association, leaves viewers with a negative
impression of lesbianism overall--particularly given that Southerlyn is
not the most popular character.

Whatever your opinion of Serena Southerlyn and her outing, she is still
a confidant, assertive character with a successful career (her recent
firing notwithstanding) who has been watched by millions of Americans for four
years. She may not be the warmest woman on the planet, but Southerlyn
is certainly not an overwhelmingly negative portrayal of a lesbian--no
small accomplishment given the prade of lesbian stereotypes we've seen on
network TV recently.

While the way the writers handled Southerlyn's sexual orientation
certainly leaves much to be desired, the fact remains that with this disclosure,
Southerlyn has become one of the most prominent lesbian characters on
network TV in the last few years.

She also gives the endless Law & Order reruns on TV--and the fourteenth
season, which is now available on DVD--a whole new appeal for lesbian
viewers.

http://afterellen.com/TV/2005/1/lawandorder.html

(*) (*) (f) (f) (f) (f)

({) (}) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-25-2005, 06:25 AM

http://www.afterellen.com/archives-seniors.html

(*) (*) .......always nice to see a category on Ellen's site within which I relate..... ;) ;)

Have a lovely Monday and start of your week...... (f) (f)

(k) (k),
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-25-2005, 06:26 AM

http://www.afterellen.com/archives-butch.html

(*) (*) ({) (}) ({) (})

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-25-2005, 06:33 AM

.....amazing......a nice recap for those whop don't have "on-demand" cable service to watch the same episode again...to catch the dialogue that might have been missed...... (h)

http://www.afterellen.com/TV/thelword/recaps2/209/1.html

(*) (*) .....<sigh>.....Showtime announced that a third season was approved for production.....maybe thay'll add some older characters that are positive examples and that "stay" on the show as regulars.......Camryn Manheim and Sandra Berhardt have been on the show (Camryn for 3 episodes only) and Sandra for the whole season 2. Last night some of the show's characters went on an Olivia Cruise....and there were scenes that were just hilarious in my opinion.. ;) (6) ;)

.......so nice that I watched it twice....... (a)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-25-2005, 08:05 AM

If you can start the day without caffeine,

If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,

If you can resist complaining and boring people with your
troubles,

If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it,

If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to
give you any time,

If you can overlook it when those you love take it out on you
when, though no fault of yours, something goes wrong,

If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,

If you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor
friend,

If you can face the world without lies and deceit,

If you can conquer tension without medical help,

If you can relax without liquor,

If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,

If you can honestly say that deep in your heart you have no
prejudice against creed, color, religion, gender preference, or
politics,

THEN, you have reached the same level of development as
your dog!!

(*) (*) I LOVED this one and hope that you enjoy it as much as I did this morning. Have a smooth and enjoyable week..... ({) (})

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-25-2005, 12:20 PM

25 RULES FOR LIVING IN THE SOUTH

If you visit the South, please keep the following in mind... If you
are going to live, or visit in the South, you need to know the rules.

In an effort to help outsiders understand the rules of the
Southerner's mind, the following list will be handed to each person as they enter a Southern State.

1. That farm boy you see at the gas station did more work before breakfast than you do all week at the gym.

2. It's called a "gravel road," No matter how slow you drive, you're going to get dust on your Navigator. Drive it or get the hell out of the way.

3. The red dirt -- it's called clay. Red clay. If you like the color don't wash your car for a couple weeks -- it'll be permanent.

4. We all started hunting and fishing when we were seven years old. Yeah, we saw Bambi. We got over it.

5. Go ahead and bring your $600 Orvis Fly Rod. Don't cry to us if a flathead breaks it off at the handle. We have a name for those little 13-inch trout you fish for -- bait.

6. Pull your pants up. You look like an idiot.

7. If that cell phone rings while a bunch of mallards are making
their final approach, we will shoot it. You might want to ensure it's not up to your ear at the time.

8. No, there's no "Vegetarian Special" on the menu. Order steak. Order it rare. Or, you can order the Chef's Salad and pick off the
two pounds of ham and turkey.

9. Tea - yeah, we have tea. It comes in a glass over ice and is
sweet. You want it hot -- sit it in the sun. You want it unsweetened -- add a lot of water.

10. You bring Coke into my house, it better be brown, wet, and served over ice.

11. So you have a sixty thousand-dollar car. We're real impressed. We have a quarter of a million-dollar combine that we only use two weeks a year.

12. Let's get this straight. We have one stop light in town. We
stop when it's red. We may even stop when it's yellow.

13. We eat dinner together with our families. We pray before we eat (yeah, even breakfast). We go to church on Wednesdays and Sundays and we go to high school football games on Friday nights. We still address our seniors with "yes, sir" and "yes, ma'am," and we sometimes still take Sunday drives around town to see friends and neighbors.

14. We don't do "hurry up" well.

15. Greens - yeah, we have greens, but you don't putt on them. You boil them with salty fatback, bacon or a ham hock.

16. Yeah, we eat catfish, bass, bream and carp. You really want
sushi and caviar? It's available at the bait shop.

17. They are pigs. That's what they smell like. Get over it. Don't
like it? Interstate 85 goes two ways - Interstate 40 goes the other
two. Pick one.

18. Grits are corn. You put butter, salt, and maybe even some pepper on them. If you want to put milk and sugar on them, then you want cream of wheat- go to Kansas. That would be I-40 west.

19. The "Opener" refers to the first day of deer season or dove
season. Both are holidays. You can get pancakes, cane syrup, and sausage before daylight at the church on either day.

20. So every person in every pickup waves? Yeah, it's called being friendly. Understand the concept?

21. Yeah, we have golf courses. Don't hit in the water hazards. It spooks the fish and bothers the gators -and if you hit it in the
rough, we have these things called diamondbacks, and they're not baseball players.

22. That Highway Patrol Officer that just pulled you over for driving like an idiot -- his name is "Sir," no matter how young he is.

23. We have lots of pine trees. They have sap. It drips from them. You park your Navigator under them, and they'll leave a logo on your hood.

24. You burn an American flag in our state, you get beat up. No
questions. The liberal contingent of our state legislature -- all
four of them -- enacted a measure to stop this. There is now a $2.50 fine for beating up the flag burner.

25. No, we don't care how you do things up North. If it is so great
up there why not visit a Northern state or stay there. And not, down here. We don't have an accent, you do!

(*) (*) with a mom from the north and a dad from the south, I have a skewed perspective of the "War of Nothern Aggression" AKA Civil War.... ;) Suffice to say that I learned at an earlier age what chicken-fried steak, grits and other soul food was....

:o :o whew! the wind is really kicked up today and it feels like a Fall day rather than a Spring one in that it's gray......I guess Doc won't be going on that walk with his new grrlfriend pooch later today. Maybe later this week.

(f) (f) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-30-2005, 04:44 AM

http://dsc.discovery.com/anthology/unsolvedhistory/earthquake/interactive/interactive.html

(*) (*) Fun, and I am really glad that it's virtual after living in northern CA (7 years) and southern CA for another 7 years......Yikes! :| :|

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-30-2005, 04:48 AM

(Euronext Paris) - Air Liquide - Liquid nitrogen for a new bridge in San Francisco
(30/01/04 09:54 CET)

Air Liquide was selected to supply an important quantity of liquid nitrogen in a very short time to cool the concrete being poured into the foundations of the new Oakland Bay bridge.

The new bridge is 3.5 km long and will be opened in 2008. It is designed to resist earthquakes better than the present bridge that was severely damaged in 1989.

Nitrogen is the main component of air and is characterized by its very low temperature of -196°C in a liquid state, which makes it very useful in a number of industrial applications. It is used, among other things, to freeze unstable or very humid soils when pouring foundations. In the case of the Oakland Bay bridge, its extraordinary cooling power was used to lower and maintain the temperature of cement to less than 10°C by injection into each cement truck just prior to pouring.

Air Liquide America’s California team responded to this exceptional requirement and provided some 227,000 liters of liquid nitrogen non-stop for 40 hours to cool 10,000 tons of concrete, through a unique injection staging area and continuous temperature controls.

“We have been established in California since 1968 and we are very proud to be involved in an operation of this significance”, said B.K. Chin, Chief Operating Officer, Air Liquide America, “When the new bridge opens, it will serve a multitude of travellers and will add a new architectural signature to the area’s skyline.”

Present in 65 countries, Air Liquide is the world leader in industrial and medical gases and related services. The Group offers innovative solutions based on constantly enhanced technologies. These solutions, which are in line with Air Liquide’s commitment to sustainable development, help to protect life and enable our customers to manufacture many indispensable everyday products. Founded in 1902, Air Liquide has more than 30,000 employees. The Group has successfully developed a long-term relationship with its shareholders built on confidence and transparency and guided by the principles of corporate governance. Since the publication of its first consolidated financial statements in 1971, Air Liquide has posted strong and steady earnings growth. Sales in 2003 totaled 8,394 million euros, of which sales outside France accounted almost 80%. Air Liquide is listed on the Euronext Paris stock exchange and is a component of the CAC 40 and EuroStoxx 50 indexes (ISIN code FR 000012007).

www.airliquide.com

http://www.euronext.com/trader/companynews/0,4772,1732_3245113_127059797,00.html?idInstrument =18775&isinCode=FR0000120073&viewName=new_companypressreleasedetail

(*) (*) :o :o (h)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-30-2005, 04:50 AM

http://www.cse.polyu.edu.hk/~ctbridge/links/usa.htm

(*) (*) ....ah, really interesting in my view......learned a few new things.

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-30-2005, 04:52 AM

Uh, how many O's in Google? As anyone who learned their keyboard skills on a manual typewriter can appreciate, the advent of computers, spell checkers and painless editing has led even the best of typists into some sloppy fingerwork. But these days, a typo can carry a heavy penalty. The folks at F-Secure are warning that some slimeballs have set up site designed to trap unwitting travelers who mistype google.com as googkle.com. DO NOT go to this site -- just by visiting, you will be exposed to all manner of Trojan droppers, downloaders, backdoors and spyware.

http://www.f-secure.com/v-descs/googkle.shtml

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1790348,00.asp

(*) (*) Holy Moly! Whatever you do, do not mistype, eh? (*) (*) :| :|

(f) (f) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-30-2005, 04:55 AM

http://poststuff5.entensity.net/042205/media.php?media=officeparty.wmv

(*) (*) :o :o ;) ;)

Have a lovely weekend,

Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-30-2005, 04:56 AM

Chinese watermelon art

.....make sure that your speakers are turned up a little......

http://www.americade.info/melons1.htm

(*) (*) ;) ;) (h) (h)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-30-2005, 04:58 AM

http://www.merzo.net/

(*) (*) (h) (h)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-30-2005, 04:59 AM

......quite cool, I think..... ;) (h)

http://www.trackertrail.com/survival/fire/cokeandchocolatebar/

({) (}) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-30-2005, 05:00 AM

.......this is really quite funny, especially for John Cleese fans! (*) (*)

http://www.backuptrauma.com/video/default2.aspx

It's *still* hilarious!!!!

(f) (f) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-30-2005, 05:01 AM

http://www.wired.com/news/space/0,2697,67304,00.html?tw=rss.TOP

Still, it's been great:

http://hubblesite.org/

(l) (l) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-30-2005, 05:03 AM

Showtime L-Word Home Page:

http://www.sho.com/site/lword/home.do

**************************

The L Word: DVD Extras- "The Characters' Looks": http://www.sho.com/site/lword/behind_the_scenes.do You have to scroll down a little to find it and definitely worth it. Make sure to turn up your speakers......

***************************
Ring tones and graphics:

Cell phone ring tones: I want the The L Word Season 2 Theme Song! (long version....)

http://msf.m-qube.com/lword/Default.aspx

*************************

L-Word Fashion Showcase (again, turn up speakers.....)

http://www.starbrand.tv/thelword/

(*) (*) (f) (f)

(k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-30-2005, 05:05 AM

By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE

Published: April 25, 2005 NYTimes

LOS ANGELES, April 23 - Get ready for the next level in the blogosphere.

Arianna Huffington, the columnist and onetime candidate for governor of California, is about to move blogging from the realm of the anonymous individual to the realm of the celebrity collective.

She has lined up more than 250 of what she calls "the most creative minds" in the country to write a group blog that will range over topics from politics and entertainment to sports and religion. It is essentially a nonstop virtual talk show that will be part of a Web site that will also serve up breaking news around the clock. It is to be introduced May 9.

Having prominent people join the blogosphere, Ms. Huffington said in an interview, "is an affirmation of its success and will only enrich and strengthen its impact on the national conversation." Among those signed up to contribute are Walter Cronkite, David Mamet, Nora Ephron, Warren Beatty, James Fallows, Vernon E. Jordan Jr., Maggie Gyllenhaal, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., Diane Keaton, Norman Mailer and Mortimer B. Zuckerman.

"This gives me a chance to sound off with a few words or a long editorial," said Mr. Cronkite, 88, the longtime "CBS Evening News" anchorman. "It's a medium that is new and interesting, and I thought I'd have some fun."

In some ways, Ms. Huffington's venture is a direct challenge to the popular Drudge Report. Started nearly a decade ago by Matt Drudge, the Drudge Report lifts potentially hot news from obscurity and blares it across a virtual "front page," usually before anyone else. While his squibs are sometimes cast with a conservative slant, his "developing" scoops often send the mainstream media scrambling to catch up.
Ms. Huffington's effort - to be called the Huffington Post (www.huffingtonpost.com) - will also seek to ferret out potentially juicy items and give them legs. In fact, she has hired away Mr. Drudge's right-hand Web whiz, Andrew Breitbart, who used to be her researcher.

But unlike the Drudge Report, the Huffington Post will be interactive, offering news as well as commentary from famous people and allowing the masses to comment too, although not always directly with the celebs. Notables will oversee certain sections, with Gary Hart, the former Colorado senator, for example, taking the lead on national security issues. R. O. Blechman, the magazine illustrator, has designed the site. All material will be free and available on archives.

While many of the bloggers are on the left of the political spectrum, some conservatives have also signed on, among them Tony Blankley, editorial page editor of The Washington Times, and David Frum, the writer who coined the phrase "axis of evil" when he was a speechwriter for President Bush.

In a solicitation letter to hundreds of people in her eclectic Rolodex, Ms. Huffington said the site "won't be left wing or right wing; indeed, it will punch holes in that very stale way of looking at the world."

This is not unlike the persona that Ms. Huffington, who left the Republican Party nine years ago, tried to craft in the 2003 California governor's race, when she ran as an independent. She came in fifth, with less than 1 percent of the vote, to Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican. She describes herself now as a "progressive Democrat" who rejects party orthodoxy, but the site is likely to start as a watering hole for liberals.

"This was borne in part out of frustration with the elections, the last one and the one before that," said Kenneth B. Lerer, a former executive vice president of AOL Time Warner, who helped found the Huffington Post. "A lot of people didn't know what to do after those campaigns, and this will allow them to enter the dialogue."

Mr. Lerer and Ms. Huffington will manage the Post, with Mr. Lerer overseeing a staff of half a dozen people in a loft in lower Manhattan. Ms. Huffington and Mr. Breitbart are based in Los Angeles.

Mr. Lerer said the Post, which will generate revenue by selling advertising space, was being financed initially by him, Ms. Huffington and 10 others he identified as "friends and family." The bloggers will not be paid.

Group blogs are not altogether new; what is new is brand-name people writing them. But it is just this aspect of the Post that is raising questions among Web watchers about whether it can succeed. Jay Rosen, who writes about blogs on his Web site (www.pressthink.org), said he doubted that celebrities would be driven by the same passion that drives many regular bloggers.

"These aren't exactly people who lack voice or visibility in our culture," he said in an e-mail message. "Gwyneth Paltrow has no incentive to speak candidly and alienate future ticket buyers. Barry Diller doesn't have time to hunt down juicy links for his readers. And where does Jon Corzine fit into any conversation those two might be having?"

Mr. Drudge said he was "excited" for Ms. Huffington. "The Internet is still in its infancy," he said by e-mail. "It's wide open."

But he suggested that Hollywood types would not be able to sustain a successful Web site. "I suspect the Hollywood players will find it harder to maintain a compelling webspot" than to open big at the box office, he wrote. "There are not simply thousands of theaters you have to pack in - there are millions of Internet users and eyeballs to dazzle."
Joan Walsh, editor in chief of Salon.com, an online news magazine that features, among other things, group blogs about politics, commended Ms. Huffington for bringing "energy and creativity" to the blog phenomenon, and adding star power.
"What she's smart about is that reader interaction is really critical, so talking about it as a blog shows that she understands where it's going right now," she said. "But she has to be careful about the perception of this as a celebrity blog."
She warned that some who promise to blog never will, and others may have difficulty translating their voices. Those factors, plus reader reaction, could alter what the Post becomes. "You think you're shaping the Web, but the Web shapes you," she said.
In her solicitation letter to bloggers, Ms. Huffington promised them no heavy lifting. "You're actually already doing the hardest work of a blogger: having interesting opinions and fresh takes on the hot stories of the day," she wrote. "We'll just provide a megaphone."
Many of the bloggers are tech-savvy and young, and most entries will be true blogs - unedited and in real time. She said she was not worried about having enough material.
"We're not dependent on 1, 2 or even 10 people to keep posting throughout the day," Ms. Huffington said. "By having so many interesting people taking part, there will always be somebody posting something interesting."
Ms. Ephron, the writer, who is one of the bloggers, said it was this casual aspect of the venture that appealed to her. "The idea that one might occasionally be able to have a small thought and a place to send it, without having to write a whole essay, seems like a very good idea," she said.

She also sees the Post as a chance for the left to balance out the right.

"In the Fox era, everything we can do on our side to even things out, now that the media is either controlled by Rupert Murdoch or is so afraid of Rupert Murdoch that they behave as if they were controlled by him, is great," she said. But sometimes, she added, "I may merely have a cake recipe."

Ms. Walsh of Salon.com said that managing the politics of the site could be tricky. The initial enthusiasm is likely to be among the left, who feel like they are getting kicked by Drudge and the right, she said. But the blogosphere is independent and skeptical and rejects political cant, she said, adding, "You don't want to be doing predictable journalism and pandering to people."

Another trick will be balancing the bloggers' ability to put forth their ideas with their desire for protection from abusive comments. Jonah Peretti, who is overseeing the site's technology, said the bloggers would decide for themselves whether to engage with readers. "It's something we'll experiment with," he said. "We want to make sure there's a productive, interesting dialogue and not just people ranting."
The Post will also set another blogging milestone: Ms. Huffington has signed a contract with Tribune Media Services, which syndicates her newspaper column, to syndicate parts of her blog to newspapers and their Web sites.

"Newspaper editors across the country are increasingly intrigued by the phenomenon of blogging and are open to finding ways to capitalize on the best of it," said John C. Twohey, the syndicate's vice president for editorial and operations.

But he said some editors were also uncomfortable with the unfiltered nature of blogs and that he had told Ms. Huffington it was a mistake for her to call the Post a blog.

As a result of that concern, Ms. Huffington said, while the bloggers will be unfiltered on the Post, they will be fact-checked and copy edited for the syndicate. Mr. Twohey said the syndicate would peddle the Post to potential clients not as a blog but as "daily excerpts from a longer-form Web site to which 300 prominent Americans are contributing." Running blogs through a grammarian's keyboard raises questions, of course, about whether they can translate to print without losing their immediacy and authenticity.

But those involved in the project seem prepared to let the site take its course. "It certainly is inspired by millions of people online who are writing away to their hearts' content," said Mr. Breitbart. "But if it doesn't look like a blog, it will become its own product unto itself."

(*) (*) ...."the left balancing out the right"???? Left-leaning folks unite....not at this particular blog, but certainly elsewhere in this virtual digital tundra....;)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-30-2005, 05:09 AM

http://sfbayarea.craigslist.org/about/best/sfo/66795671.html

(*) (*) (h) (h)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-30-2005, 05:15 AM

Everything you need to know about Windows, but were afraid to ask

http://www.vnunet.com/features/1162672

(*) (*) Superb resource to save in my opinion. (l) (l)

Getting that umbrella out....today's already wet and continued rain expected all day. Darn, and Doc had a date with his 8 year old pitbull grrlfriend (that he met at the oncologist's two weeks ago) to go for a walk later this morning. Perhaps tomorrow. (o) (l) (l) Let your smile be your umbrella!

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-30-2005, 05:18 AM

Finally, the answer to Silicon Valley traffic: Not wider highways. Skinnier cars.
Skinnier cars?

http://www.mitsuoka-motor.com/english/lineup/microcar/index.html

(o) (o) It's time to make a pot of coffee and get going on the day. As always, it's been a delight to visit B-F! (l) (l)

(f) (f) (f) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

maineforshore

04-30-2005, 06:30 AM

Good Morning Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer (f)

I have had time to come in and read and as always thank you for the very interesting links that you place here in your virtual tundra.

I always learn something new by coming in here and very much enjoy it.
So once again thank you for your time and links.

I also enjoyed reading that Doc the Boxer is doing quite well (f) That is great!
May you also have a very nice weekend.

maine

sweetlady

04-30-2005, 10:39 AM

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

Thank you for your most thoughtful, kind posting. Doc and I also appreciate your prayers for his (hopefully) continuing recovery.

You have a fine weekend also..... ({) (}) (f)

Warmly,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-30-2005, 10:41 AM

Breaking up marriages (or at least being the brunt of those pesky breakup rumors) is very hard work, so the oh-so-fit Angelina Jolie spends a lot of time working out. When she was preparing for the very physical role of Lara Croft in "Tomb Raider," Angelina was on a strict protein diet of meat and fish supplemented by tons of water and vitamins. She learned to kickbox, did bungee ballet and spent a lot of time scuba diving and training with weapons in addition to daily workouts with a personal trainer. At the time, Angelina was married to husband Billy Bob Thornton. She boasted to the media that the best way she kept in shape was a vigorous bedroom workout with Billy Bob. These days, her boudoir exercise partners are merely speculation (Brad Pitt, anyone?), so Angelina gets most of her exercise in the gym from weights and cardio activities.

Fast Facts about Angelina Jolie
• She speaks fluent French.
• She performed her own stunts in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. :o :o
• Her childhood dream was becoming a funeral director. :| :|
• She has the Latin phrase

Credits
• Alexander (2004)
• The Fever (2004)
• Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)
• Shark Tale (2004)
• Taking Lives (2004)

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/celebrity/toptenwrap.jsp?archive=0504&slot=6

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-30-2005, 10:47 AM

http://images.google.com/images?q=Angelina+Jolie&hl=en&btnG=Search+Images

http://www.debbieschlussel.com/joliequeenofjordan.jpg

(*) (*) (w) (f) That oughta brighten anyone's dull outlook...... ;) Like sharon Stone, both womyn can carry off a little bit of butch and *still* look feminine in my view. (f) (f)

Hugs,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-30-2005, 10:54 AM

http://www.cinebxl.com/acteurs/sstone5.jpg (I needed a glass of water ;)

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&q=Sharon+Stone&btnG=Search

http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/MMPH/242296.jpg

http://www.azimut2001.com/images/sfondi/modelvarie/sharon_stone.jpg

(*) (*) I loved this one since I have the same hat and wear my long hair for baseball games <like once a year>:

http://web.telia.com/~u87727183/sharon.jpg

http://funnynews.free.fr/photos/951.jpg (I felt hot and not from hormones!);)

(f) (f) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-30-2005, 10:58 AM

http://photos1.blogger.com/img/108/968/400/the-l-word-actresses.jpg

(*) (*) Absolutely gorgous group shot and very tastefully done..... (l)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-30-2005, 11:00 AM

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Stargazer+lilies&spell=1

(*) (*) smell really nice..... (f) (f)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-30-2005, 11:05 AM

http://www.laden.dk/Billeder/h/hydrangea%20macrophylla%20mariesei%20bl%C3%A5%20H1 5.jpg

http://www.bitstop.ca/pictures/flowers/hydrangea.jpg

http://pharm1.pharmazie.uni-greifswald.de/systematik/7_bilder/yamasaki/Hydrangea.jpg

http://pharm1.pharmazie.uni-greifswald.de/systematik/7_bilder/yamasaki/Hydrangea.jpg

http://www.jkatchcreations.com/galleries/botanicals/pictures/blue%20hydrangea%202.jpg

(*) (*) What an exqusite medium blue flower......my grandmom used to call them "snow balls"....the huge blue and pink bushes that she had in her yard when I was young. <sigh>

(f) (f) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-30-2005, 11:08 AM

this was the closest but I thought they were too red if going with blue flowers:

http://www.distinctivehomeandgarden.net/Orchids-Cut-03-2-213-709%20Purple%20Sabini%20Dendrobiums.jpg

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-30-2005, 11:14 AM

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&q=blue+iris&btnG=Search

http://home.pacbell.net/kenww/my_iris/bearded_unknown/blue_iris-web.jpg

http://www.anthonydelia.com/images/blue_iris.jpg

http://www.dungevalley.co.uk/Iris%20sibirica%20'Perry's%20Blue'.jpg

https://a248.e.akamai.net/7/248/497/0001/www.proflowers.com/prodimg/IRS30blue_l.jpg
(*) (*) Gorgeous!!)

http://southworthjamesr.tripod.com/pages/demons/Pages/blue-iris.jpg

http://www.mooseyscountrygarden.com/hen-house-garden/wet-blue-iris.jpg

(f) (f) Enjoy your day and evening........

Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-30-2005, 11:18 AM

http://www.sspictures.fsnet.co.uk/images/gbflowers/periwinkle.jpg

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&q=periwinkle+flowers&btnG=Search

http://www.paghat.com/images/periwinkle_latemar.jpg

(*) (*) (f) (f) I think I need to put some music on to go along with looking at lovely blues and shades of purple flowers...... (8) (8)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-30-2005, 11:25 AM

http://www.thebridesbouquet.com/lavenderRoseHandtie36BIG.jpg

(*) (*) Perfect! http://www.dutchgardens.com/Images/Products/26060T.jpg

http://www.theplantshoppe.com/bridal/handtied18.JPG

(*) (*) I'll have to find one for one of my hats:

http://www.hatsupply.com/images/lavenderrose.jpg

http://www.thebridesbouquet.com/lavenderRoseHandtie24BIG.jpg

(l) (l) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-30-2005, 11:28 AM

Must be that this color has so many names......

http://www.desertoasis.net/images/bluegirl1.jpg

(*) (*) Gorgeous!

http://knightmare.free.fr/non-flying/flowers/images/rose_mauve_02_massif.jpg

http://www.enderleingardenroses.com/assets/images/roses/lady_x.jpg

(*) (*) Very unusual...check out the tips:

http://www.rainforest2548.org/91parad.jpg

(l) (8) (l) (8)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-30-2005, 11:30 AM

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&q=Phalaenopsis+orchid&btnG=Search

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-30-2005, 11:32 AM

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&q=Gerbera+daisies&btnG=Search

(*) (*) These are alot like banjo music in that I've never seen a sad-looking flower in this category.....but then most types of daisies look pretty happy. ;)

(k) (k),
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

04-30-2005, 11:35 AM

and I teasingly call him "Ferdinand"... ;)

Truly one of my favorite-smelling flowers:

Dark blue hyacinth:

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&q=Dark+blue+hyacinth&btnG=Search

http://www.touchofnature.com/Fall%20Pictures/hyacinth_kingoftheblues.jpg

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

05-06-2005, 07:30 AM

I think it's pretty funny that older folks like me have started watching the "Daily Show", especially the 11:00 p.m. version that recaps the day's news in a quite hilarious way *and* I learn about new books and authors.......:-) Although Jon Stewart is by no means my only source of news being the broadband researcher and surfer of information that I am...;-)

Tuning in to Jon Stewart, and Britney Schmidt
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: May 6, 2005

Many authors hate to go on grinding book tours. But I've always found it a useful way to be a foreign correspondent in America and take the pulse of the country. Here are the two most important things I learned from a recent book tour:

First, many educated people seem to be getting their news from Comedy Central. Say what? As any author will tell you, the best TV book shows to be on have long been Don Imus, Charlie Rose, C-Span, Tim Russert on CNBC, "Today," Oprah and selected programs on CNN, Fox and MSNBC. They are all still huge. But what was new for me on this tour was the number of people who also mentioned getting their news from Jon Stewart's truly funny news satire, "The Daily Show." And I am not just talking about college kids. I am talking about grandmas. Just how many people are now getting their only TV news from Comedy Central is not clear to me - but it is a lot, lot more than you think.

Second, and this may be related to the first, there's a huge undertow of worry out in the country about how our kids are being educated and whether they'll be able to find jobs in an increasingly flat world, where more Chinese, Indians and Russians than ever can connect, collaborate and compete with us. In three different cities I had parents ask me some version of: "My daughter [or son] is studying Chinese in high school. That's the right thing to do, isn't it?"

Not being an educator, I can't give any such advice. But my own research has taught me that the most important thing you can learn in this era of heightened global competition is how to learn. Being really good at "learning how to learn," as President Bill Brody of Johns Hopkins put it, will be an enormous asset in an era of rapid change and innovation, when new jobs will be phased in and old ones phased out faster than ever.

O.K., one ninth grader in St. Paul asked me, then "what courses should I take?" How do you learn how to learn? Hmm. Maybe, I said, the best way to learn how to learn is to go ask your friends: "Who are the best teachers?" Then - no matter the subject - take their courses. When I think back on my favorite teachers, I don't remember anymore much of what they taught me, but I sure remember being excited about learning it.

What has stayed with me are not the facts they imparted, but the excitement about learning they inspired. To learn how to learn, you have to love learning - while some people are born with that gene, many others can develop it with the right teacher (or parent).

There was a great piece in the April 24 Education Life section of The New York Times that described Britney Schmidt, a student at the University of Arizona who was utterly bored with her courses, mostly because her professors seemed interested only in giving lectures and leaving. "I was getting A's in all my classes, but I wasn't being challenged, and I wasn't thinking about new things," she said.

She had to take a natural science course, though, and it turned out to have a great professor and teaching assistants, who inspired her. "I was lucky," she said. "I took a class from somebody who really cared." The result: a scientist was born. Ms. Schmidt has since been accepted to graduate school at U.C.L.A. in planetary physics and the University of Chicago in cosmo-chemistry.

I just interviewed Craig Barrett, the chief executive of Intel, which has invested millions of dollars in trying to improve the way science is taught in U.S. schools. (The Wall Street Journal noted yesterday that China is graduating four times the number of engineers as the U.S.; Japan, with less than half our population, graduates double the number.)

In today's flat world, Mr. Barrett said, Intel can be a totally successful company without ever hiring another American. That is not its desire or intention, he said, but the fact is that it can now hire the best brain talent "wherever it resides."

If you look at where Intel is making its new engineering investments today, he said, it is in China, India, Russia, Poland and, to a lesser extent, Malaysia and Israel. While cutting-edge talent is still being grown in America, he added, it's not enough for Intel's needs, and not enough is being done in U.S. public schools - not just to leave no child behind, but to make sure that the best students and teachers are nurtured and rewarded.

Look at the attention Congress has focused on steroids in Major League Baseball, Mr. Barrett mused. And then look at the attention it has focused on science education in minor-league American schools.

That's the real news out there, folks. And it's not funny.

(*) (*) :o :o

(k) (k) and TGIF,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

05-06-2005, 07:34 AM

Stoop Warming is a Sign of Spring

By BRENT STAPLES
Published: May 5, 2005 NYTimes
The unseasonably cold spring has imposed an unfortunate side effect on my Brooklyn neighborhood - the delay of "stoop sitting" season.

For most Americans, the front-door step is a miserly shelf barely large enough for the morning paper. But for those of us who live in brownstone New York, the front stoop is often a grand exterior staircase decorated with ironwork that leads from the sidewalk to the main entrance. This style was imported more than three centuries ago by settlers from the low-lying Netherlands, where the threat of flooding made it wise to build parlor floors high above street level.

Space-starved New Yorkers quickly turned their stoops into alternative living areas that were heavily used in summer. As a British traveler wrote in the 1820's: "It is customary to sit out of doors on the steps that ornament the entrances of the houses. On these occasions, friends assemble in the most agreeable and unceremonious manner. All sorts of cooling beverages and excellent confectionary are handed round, and the greatest good humor and gaiety prevail."

These rollicking stoop scenes calmed down considerably when air-conditioning came along and let people spend torrid nights indoors. But dinner parties at my house often resolve themselves on the stoop, as they did in the 19th century, with talk, a nightcap and more talk as guests ready themselves for the journey home.

People tan themselves or read on the high stoops of Brooklyn. There are also the famous stoop sales, where households can sell off unwanted possessions. But the stoop sitter's most crucial function is to stir the social mix by inviting conversation from passers-by. Neighbors who have not been seen all winter inevitably stop at the stoop to pass on news of births, deaths and plans to retire to Florida. New neighbors pass by shyly at first but eventually stop to join in. Dogs participate, too, scooting up the steps to greet the sitter.

This process is way behind schedule this year, thanks to the bone-chilling spring. But those ice-cold steps will need to warm up considerably before the stoop sitters can settle into place and get the conversation started.

(*) (*) ;) ;) Porches are still pretty cool however got to have screened-in version due to mosquitos biting me all over...... ;) I *hate* THAT! ;)

Carpe Diem!

Sweetlady and her handsome Boxer, Doc

sweetlady

05-06-2005, 07:36 AM

Diana memorial reopens - again
Friday, May 6, 2005 Posted: 6:22 AM EDT (1022 GMT) www.cnn.com

LONDON, England -- The problem-plagued fountain built in memory of Princess Diana reopens Friday after being closed for four months of repairs.

Visitors were to be allowed through the gates of the London memorial at 10 a.m. to inspect the ring of Cornish granite, once dubbed "a moat without a castle."

In marked contrast to the grand ceremony in July last year in the presence of Queen Elizabeth, Diana's sons Princes William and Harry and Diana's brother Earl Spencer, this opening will be extremely low-key.

"There will be no ceremony. The gates will be opened by whoever has the keys. It's just business as usual," a Royal Parks spokesman told the UK's Press Association.

Workers were dependent on a bout of good weather over the last few days to ensure that the fountain was finished on time.

"The path needed four hours of dry weather to dry. If we had had howling wind and rain over the last 48 hours, it could have been a problem," the spokesman said.

In the 10 months since it was unveiled by the queen, the monument, which was not completed until seven years after Diana's death, has been beset with problems.

The beleaguered £3.6 million ($6.6 million) fountain, designed by American architect Kathryn Gustafson, was blocked by fallen leaves the day after it opened, suffered a broken pump, and had to be closed two weeks later when tourists slipped over while paddling.

Health and safety experts were called in, and the fountain in London's Hyde Park was switched off and its stone surfaces roughened to improve the grip.

In August it was reopened and new rules were introduced, including banning people from walking in the ring of flowing water.

The memorial was closed again in January this year and new repairs ordered when the area around the fountain turned into a mud-bath.

The new additions -- estimated to have cost up to £300,000 ($572,000) -- include a robust, hard-wearing rye grass turf, normally used on sports pitches, to replace existing waterlogged grass.

The grey-green resin-bonded path has also been lengthened by about 250 meters (yards), drainage at the site enhanced, and metal bars placed underneath the bridges to prevent debris getting trapped.

(*) (*) ...too bad Diana couldn't have been remembered in a more dignified, much more classy manner......my humble opinion..... (l)

Peace,
Sweetlady and Doc

sweetlady

05-06-2005, 07:38 AM

Holy Crap: The empire strikes back: Uneasy nods to contemporary politics is all this Heaven knows
by Michael Atkinson
May 3rd, 2005 4:34 PM Village Voice

What more spectacular and reverent way to celebrate the selection of the world's richest and most sanctimonious corporation's new puppethead than release a Hollywood softball epic about the Crusades? Deus lo volt, as the knights used to cry. Untold millions of slaughtered infidels later, President Bush announces his "crusade" against Muslim terrorists, the Islamic and secular worlds go apeshit over the reference, and Ridley Scott says, Eureka! The time is right! Kingdom of Heaven is well aware of the sociopolitical slag pit into which it plops, and the movie does what any self-respecting politician would do: sidestep the issues, soft-pedal mortal costs, talk a fat game, and divert your attention away from history with exercises in spectacle and power.

As the Second Crusade's brooding Luke Skywalker, the blacksmith Balian (Orlando Bloom) is soon distracted from the funk over his dead wife and child by a Crusading Baron (Liam Neeson) passing through, who informs our expressionless hero that he had raped Balian's mother and is the lad's father, and why not come with him to Jerusalem—declared more than once as some kind of "new world!" After skewering a scummy priest, Balian accepts and even submits to an Obi-Wan swordsmanship lesson in the blue forests of Gladiator, before entering the digitized walls of the Holy City proper. From there, we're dawdling around in a calamitous three-year period beginning in 1184, when the city was ruled by Baldwin IV the Leper King (Edward Norton, behind a mask), who maintained an uneasy truce with Muslim leader Saladin (Ghassan Massoud). "Peace," we're told, "reigns between Muslim and Christian!" This utopian fantasy doesn't last long, thanks to the less-devout-than-power-mad Reynald (Brendan Gleeson) and Guy de Lusignan (Marton Csokas), the designated evil Templars. (The presence of an obnoxious French knight only reinspires memories of the Pythons amid the Scottish mist.) Bloom and Jeremy Irons, who gets the Dafoe-in-Platoon, we-were-fighting-for-something-once speech, represent the liberal garde. The simplistic narrative cosmology drags on the eyelids like a covert Star Wars sequel.

For the most part, Kingdom of Heaven is stupefyingly dull; the naturally dramatic material is reduced to vapid gazes, monosyllabic declarations, and aeons of sword-clanging combat, dolled up with every shuddery slo-mo post-production gimmick on Scott's state-of-the-art hard drive. His film, containing not so much as a single undoctored sunset, has as much human humor and energy as a car commercial, a Sir Ridley specialty. (Bloom is no help; his earnest emptiness makes old-school costume vet Victor Mature look like Jim Carrey. What wouldn't we give for Angelina Jolie and a snake?) In fact, the unfettered passion on display for monstrous marching hordes, army formations, and computer- generated masses (occasionally seeming to use programming left over from
The Return of the King) suggests a fascist or at least newly Riefenstahlian perspective.

But getting to the bone of the matter, Scott's movie grabs a hold of this lit-dynamite "crusade" business rather delicately. On one hand, Kingdom of Heaven is ostensibly secular, left-leaning, and almost anticlerical—the greatest vehemence is reserved for weaselly bishops. Saladin and his Muslims are noble, tolerant, and pragmatic, and in a telling reversal, the catapult-shelling of Jerusalem is as close to the full-on bombing of Baghdad as American audiences will ever have to tolerate.

Mountains of Muslims die anyway, of course, which is regarded as the price of event moviemaking as well as empire. Balian, playing down party affiliation like a congressman in TV ads, inspires the civilian Jerusalemites to fight with heroic rationalizations like "None of us took this city from the Muslims!" Well, in that case . . . Not that second-generation Israelis aren't prone to saying similar things. Can you make a film about the Crusades and pretend that the Christian invaders aren't mortally responsible for the world's longest-running imperialistic carnage? Or that the culpability doesn't matter? Perhaps screenwriter William Monahan appreciated the nuanced moral vacuum produced by Schindler's List, the American Holocaust movie with a sensitive Nazi for a hero and a sense of guiltless salvation that's palatable in public schools from Southampton to Seattle.

"Who has claim?" Balian hollers late in the fray—implying that no one does, and that Jerusalem is only a few weapon surrenders from being Mr. Rogers's Neighborhood. The optimism is touching, but it's hard to say that Scott has, in the end, made an anti-war film. It's just anti-reality.

http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0518,atkinson1,63635,20.html

(*) :| :|

(k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

05-06-2005, 07:41 AM

Mama Warbucks: Hillary Clinton brings home the dollars for New York's defense contractors

by Kristen Lombardi
May 3rd, 2005 11:10 AM

When someone like Newt Gingrich commends a Democrat's service on the Senate Armed Services Committee, you know you're looking at a serious hawk. That hawk is Hillary Clinton, junior senator from blue-state New York and possible presidential candidate in 2008.

Gingrich, with an eye on his White House bid, told a group of newspaper editors last month that she'd make a formidable opponent. "Senator Clinton is very competent, very professional, very intelligently moving toward the center, very shrewdly and effectively serving on the Armed Services Committee," the GOP hard-liner said. Gringrich should know: He sits with her on a star-studded Pentagon advisory group.

When not fending off terrorists or bucking up the troops in Iraq, Clinton has been equally fierce about defending defense dollars for her home state.

Just ask Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who got the back-off sign from her at an April 19 budget meeting of a Senate Armed Services subcommittee. Clinton isn't assigned to this smaller group, but she showed up anyway. And we know what she said, because her aides sent out a press release and video snippet of their Democratic boss fighting the good fight on Capitol Hill.

Lieberman, a fellow committee member, had sought a coveted $1.7 billion contract to build the presidential Marine One helicopter in his home state. The deal was awarded January 28 to Lockheed Martin—in upstate New York. Now Clinton feared he would try to block its funding.

She spoke briefly, telling the subcommittee: "Now that the contract has been awarded, we think it is important we proceed expeditiously." Cut this money, in other words, and you're crossing me.

For the defense industry in New York, the Marine One contract ranks among its hardest-fought battles in recent memory, and plenty of state politicians had a hand in advocating that the 750-job contract go to Lockheed's plant, in Owego, a struggling area outside Binghamton. Yet no one was more tenacious than Clinton. On April 7, she and fellow senator Chuck Schumer thwarted a sneaky attack by Connecticut's Christopher Dodd, who tried to insert a fatal amendment into an unrelated bill. Clinton and Schumer pulled some parliamentary moves of their own, and prevailed.

"Lockheed Martin won it fair and square," Clinton said of her actions at the time, "and the people at the Owego plant worked their hearts out for this project."

So did she, turning the Marine One bid into something of a pet project over the past year. She took a test flight of the Lockheed chopper and met with navy administrators. She even placed a call to British prime minister Tony Blair, who was cheering for the craft to be built in his country.

The first New York senator to serve on the Armed Services Committee in the modern era, Clinton has used her two years there to carve out a muscular image on national security. Last week, when the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency told lawmakers he thought North Korea could deliver a nuclear strike, it was Hillary Clinton who had asked the key question.

Mitchell Moss, who teaches political science at New York University, says Clinton "has done an enormous amount on the committee to establish herself as a hawk on national issues." Moss likens her to the late Henry "Scoop" Jackson, the U.S. senator who represented Washington State from the 1950s until 1983. Jackson epitomized the great centrist Democrat—he was a true liberal on domestic issues, and a hawk's hawk on foreign policy and national security.

But there's another way that Clinton mirrors Jackson: bringing home the bacon. The Washington senator worked so hard at it that he earned the title "the senator from Boeing." Clinton doesn't have such a reputation—yet. In press releases last year, she took credit for securing roughly $125.5 million in defense projects statewide. This year, she has touted having already inserted $156 million in military construction projects in the fiscal 2006 defense budget.

"Senator Clinton is going back to the Scoop Jackson days," Moss says, "and she's filling a big gap in New York."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not long after Clinton landed her spot on the prestigious committee—which controls the $419 billion national defense budget—she contacted U.S. Congressman Steve Israel, of Long Island, who serves on its House version. Israel says the two discussed how to use their respective seats to New York's advantage. Once a defense stronghold, with companies concentrated in Israel's backyard, the state has seen the industry shrivel over the past two decades.

"We made a decision to work very closely together to fight for defense procurements," Israel says.

Their first test surfaced just months later, in March 2003, when Israel learned the defense giant Northrop Grumman was ready to move part of its Long Island operations out of state. The congressman called Clinton and, within hours, they had company executives in her Capitol Hill office. They discovered the Pentagon had slashed funds for a Northrop-produced radar system for the navy. Without the money, the company would shutter its Melville plant and cut 100 jobs.

Clinton and Israel mapped out a plan to save the facility, working Pentagon officials and Armed Services members to secure additional funding. "We found the money," Israel says. To date, they've brought in $28.3 million to keep the program going.

Clinton has found the money in less dramatic ways as well. Her office puts out a steady stream of press releases highlighting military expenditures for the Empire State. None compare to the big-ticket Marine One deal, her aides say, but there are meaningful wins. Like the $16.8 million the senator managed to earmark for an upstate aircraft manufacturer last year. Or the $43.5 million in defense research grants she got for five universities. When it comes to fighting for such things, Israel says, "Senator Clinton has been an absolute pit bull."

She certainly plays the part onstage. Witness her performance at an April 18 visit to Telephonics, in Farmingdale, a 1,200-person defense operation specializing in radar and electronics equipment. Clinton had come to be briefed by officials of the company on two of its latest defense programs, in hopes of garnering her support. Afterward, she went to the basement to address hundreds of employees packed into three nondescript conference rooms. They listened raptly as Clinton relayed her 2003 pact with Israel.

"We have some of the best and most talented high-tech companies in the country right here in this state, but we're not getting our fair share," Clinton told the crowd. "So we're working hard to make sure New York gets what it deserves."

She thanked the employees for their innovative ideas, which she pledged to showcase to all the right people on the Hill.

"A lot of what will make a difference for our troops will come out of the companies of Long Island," she declared, to rousing applause.

Her appearance lasted 20 minutes, and she dashed out of the room before workers could shake her hand. But it was enough to leave them with a sense of optimism. One manager, who kept marveling that "someone so powerful would come to visit us," said how fortunate the local defense industry is. "Having Hillary on that committee will bring business back to these facilities."

It's a sentiment echoed over and over by local defense experts, most of whom have nothing but praise for the senator. "I haven't heard anyone say anything negative," says U.S. Congressman Peter King, a Long Island Republican. "They are pleased with her, and they tell me that every chance they get."

Adds George Hockbrueckner, a D.C. lobbyist for New York defense companies: "She gets the job done, and people love her for it."

And why wouldn't they? Defense and military folks give Clinton high marks for listening to their concerns, promoting their products, leveraging her ties to the Pentagon —in effect, for classic constituent services. At the same time, no one thinks her position on Armed Services can offer more than a marginal benefit to New York. As one retired executive from Long Island puts it: "There won't be any barn burners to bring here." The defense industry just doesn't dominate the state's economy the way it does in, say, Florida and Virginia. New York gets only $5.2 billion worth of defense contracts—a fraction of the state's $833 billion economy overall. Virginia, by contrast, reaps as much as $23.5 billion in military expenditures.

"There isn't much that Senator Clinton can do, in terms of the bottom line, on the defense front," says William Hartung, who studies defense policy at New School University's World Policy Institute. "It's not a big industry like finance or human services."

Then again, he adds, "the senator knows what she's doing. She's not serving on this committee purely for constituent services."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As with everything that Senator Clinton does nowadays, people tend to see her Armed Services work through the prism of presidential ambitions. The committee, as Democratic analysts point out, presents the perfect way for Clinton to burnish her bona fides to prepare for a 2008 bid. The seat gives her access to military information, a platform for speaking about national security issues, a rationale for visiting the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, a means to build up her own armor for attacks on her as a Northeast liberal.

"It's all part of creating a centrist Democrat image," says Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf. By virtue of her post, she has become well versed in the latest weapons and field tactics. She has backed every defense appropriation bill, including the latest $81 billion for Iraq and Afghanistan. The committee, Sheinkopf adds, "raises her national profile in a way that is out of sync with how her enemies would present her. It's important for her career."

Clinton's advisers take issue with the idea that the senator got on Armed Services simply to boost her résumé. They say Clinton's interest in military and defense matters dates back to her days in the White House, when she pushed for an investigation into why thousands of Persian Gulf war veterans returned with various illnesses. With New York not getting its per capita share of anti-terrorism funding, they argue, the state needs someone where Clinton is.

On the face of it, Clinton has tackled her duties with a sincerity suggesting she's in it for more than opportunity's sake. "It's not transparently obvious that what she's doing is paving the way for a presidential run," says Michael O'Hanlon, of the Brookings Institute, who tracks the committee's work.

O'Hanlon thinks Clinton has stood out, especially as a rookie member. He cites her thoughtful critique of President Bush's Iraq policy—her concern about the extended use of Guard and Reserve members, about the lack of body armor, about the exit strategy. He also cites her support for New York's military families generally—pushing for better pay and improved health benefits for the Guard and Reserve. She has also visited all 13 military installations across the state at least once, some two and three times.

"She's doing a fantastic job," O'Hanlon says, "and I'm not in any way a Hillary fan."

Neither are Republican members on Armed Services. Yet Clinton has managed to impress them with her thoughtfulness and knowledge. John Ullyot, the spokesperson for the Armed Services Republicans, calls the New York senator "a very valued member of the committee."

All this may bode well for Clinton '08. But today, what matters is how her Armed Services work plays at home. Her devotion to military issues has hardly gone over well among her core base of liberal supporters. Peace activists have already picketed Clinton's midtown office on two occasions. And they don't find much good in what the senator is doing on the committee.

"We don't like it," says Leslie Cagan, of United for Peace and Justice. They don't like her calls for additional troops in Iraq, or her lukewarm critiques of the Bush policy. They're not crazy about her advocacy for defense funds, either. If anything, Cagan adds, "We'd like the senator to be fighting for drastic cuts in military spending."

New York's liberals may just have to swallow their dislike for Clinton's hawkish ways. Her Armed Services work has translated into inroads among defense executives and military families—in short, key Republican constituencies. They might help in 2008, but she certainly needs them in her Senate race next year.

"They remember the days of Scoop Jackson," says Congressman King, explaining why local defense folks react positively to Clinton. "They realize they've found a Democrat who is willing to work for them."

Indeed. Last January, on the day the Pentagon would announce that Lockheed Martin got the Marine One contract, Senator Clinton boarded a plane in White Plains for Owego. She was there when the good word came. As Clinton told the 2,000 Lockheed workers celebrating that day, "I said I would be here win or lose because we're a team."

http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0518,lombardi,63597,5.html

(*) (*) .......hmmmmm, "anything to get the 2008 voters"???? What happened to womyn offering more peaceful, honoring and respectful ways and processes towards a safer, less violent world?? (f) (f)

(l) (l) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

05-06-2005, 07:45 AM

Liquid City
The Mint Masquerade:
The not-so-girly julep makes Derby Day one smooooth ride

by Corina Zappia
May 5th, 2005 2:10 PM

For many of us, our first introduction to the mint julep is from reading The Great Gatsby—from this we discover it’s a drink offered on silver platters at the Plaza, a drink for rich people who wear a disconcerting amount of pastel. It's a refresher for breathless damsels in petal-thin dresses, femme fatales named Daisy, wilting away bewitchingly in the summer heat. Coquettishly offer to muddle up a little mint for any sad Gatsby-like sucker, and he's yours for life.

Only upon sipping our first do we realize this is hardly the demure, lady-like summer beverage it appears to be. Its genteel-sounding name belies a wicked amount of what-the-hell-did-I-do-last-night bourbon. I suppose that's what makes this southern drink the truest of southern belles—daintily accented with mint, camouflaged with copious helpings of sugary sweetness—yet underneath it all, one shotgun-wielding, hard-ass mama who'd steal your man and torch your debutante dress if given the slightest opportunity.

Far from its Gatsby-like associations, the mint julep since 1938 has been the official drink of the Kentucky Derby and Churchill Downs, the Louisville horse track that's been host to the event since 1875. More than 80,000 juleps, served in commemorative, collectable Derby glasses, will be sold this weekend at Churchill Downs. The highfalutin celebs and royalty booze up on them while seated in Millionaire's Row (which in 2004, had the honor of hosting Nick and Jessica, Anna Nicole Smith, Chuck Woolery, and Taylor Dayne). The regular folks, stuck in the infield, also pound 'em all day, viewing the race on big-screen TVs.

Given the heavy, southern-fried menu on Derby Day, the choice of a potent mint julep makes sense. What else are you going to drink with cheese-grits casserole and chocolate-bourbon Derby Pie? But they don't regard this as the Louisville version of Mardi Gras for no reason. Down too many and you'll start to think wearing hats like these in public is somehow okay.

In New York, the classic julep seems to get bumped off the menu for Chocolate Martini #253, but some bartenders still include them on the menu—and are adamant about what it takes to make a truly good one. "It's really all about the quality of the mint leaves, and the care with which it's muddled with the sugar," says
Patio Bar owner Jimmy Carbone, who shakes up a mean one for $7. "You just take the mint and muddle it gently with the sugar water and the bourbon. If you're too aggressive, the mint dies. It should just be aromatic."

Choice bourbon is also key. At Patio and Campbell Apartment, they use Maker's Mark; Angel's Share relies on Old Standard for their $11 version. Blue Smoke beverage manager Justin McManus pours eight-year-old Jim Beam Black for his praised $9.50 one, and muddles his mint with ice as well as sugar and a splash of bourbon. "It's important to make them to order, not just have a batch sitting there," says McManus. Carbone is in agreement: "Some places will prepare the mint ahead of time, or they'll put it in a blender . . . a prepared mint mix just doesn't do it." Beware those recipes that call you to mix it up, then freeze it for a few days until ready to use—or god forbid, some foul factory-made version. Despite what you witness on Derby Day, salvation rarely comes from a bottle. With Louisville a gazillion miles away, there's little racetrack you can find to recreate true Derby revelry. Belmont Parkway always hosts a Derby party, as do several bars in the city, like Dewey's Flatiron. Or take matters into your own hands, and toss your own Kentucky Derby soirée. Invite your friends over, turn on the races. Rent Seabiscuit, and make fun of Tobey's hair. Maybe it's better after a helluva lot of mint juleps.

http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0519,zappia1,63780,15.html

(*) (*) .....what nice, fun article for those who enjoy imbibing in moderation......MY kind of folks to hang out with most definitely......... (h) (h)

({) (}) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer

sweetlady

05-06-2005, 07:59 AM

Liberty Beat
Who Owns the Constitution?
With republicans in power, equal protection under the laws will continue to diminish

by Nat Hentoff
May 5th, 2005 6:54 PM

The conscience of this nation is the Constitution. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On September 17, 1987, I was privileged to be in the audience at the Association of the Bar of the City of New York when Justice William Brennan, who had become the conscience of the Bill of Rights on the high court, gave the 42nd Annual Benjamin N. Cardozo Lecture.

That lecture, still available in the archives of the Association of the Bar of this city, should be read by members of Congress and every law student and law professor in the country—as well as by every judge, from local housing and family courts to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Titled "Reason, Passion, and 'The Progress of the Law,' " Brennan's emphasis on what he called "the human reality of the judicial process" is even more vital now that the Rehnquist Supreme Court has prioritized economic rights and the rights of individual states over the rights and liberties of individual Americans throughout the country.

Moreover, since George W. Bush is very likely to name the next chief justice of the Supreme Court as well as one or two other replacements before the end of his second term, it is crucial for leaders of the Democratic Party, including future presidential aspirants, to do more than obstruct Bush's nominees. The Democrats have to tell the country what their criteria are for the Supreme Court and other life-tenured federal judges—instead of mechanically objecting to nominees for being "out of the mainstream."

In New York, in 1987, Brennan emphasized that the framers of the Constitution made "a sharp break with the past and its assumptions of a natural social hierarchy. They saw government as a contract formed by the individuals of the society with each other, instead of a mutual arrangement between rulers and ruled."

Therefore, due process—fairness—the basis of our system of justice, "now applied to all officials [very much including judges], commanding them to treat citizens not as subjects, but as fellow human beings. In short, due process requires that the rulers and the ruled acknowledge their common humanity, and that official judgment always remain human judgment."

During the Warren Court (1953 to 1969), William Brennan was Chief Justice Earl Warren's closest adviser and confidant (Brennan joined the Court in 1956). This was the Court that created furors by declaring unconstitutional segregation in public schools by individual states and insisting on the federal due process constitutional rights of criminal suspects and prisoners—and in other ways, was often focused on what Brennan called "the essential dignity and worth of each individual."

In his later years on the Supreme Court, William Brennan was a frequent dissenter because he saw less and less concern—on the Rehnquist Court—for "the essential dignity and worth of each individual."

I got to know Justice Brennan during many months of researching a profile of him for The New Yorker—and afterward. He never lost his conviction that his passion for individual rights and liberties would eventually be regenerated on the Supreme Court because, he said:

"The genius of the Constitution rests not in any static meaning it might have had in a world that is dead and gone, but in the adaptability of its great principles to cope with current problems and present needs."

To give you one example, among many, of how far the Rehnquist Court has departed from "the essential dignity and worth of each individual," there was its majority ruling in the case of Patricia Garrett (University of Alabama v. Garrett, 2001).

Patricia Garrett, a supervising nurse at the University of Alabama's medical center in Birmingham, was transferred from her position—and demoted—after having been treated for breast cancer. When she sued, the Rehnquist Supreme Court (5-4) agreed with Alabama, on the basis of states' rights, that employees of that state are not protected, even under the Americans With Disabilities Act, if they are discriminated against because of a disability.

Arlene Mayerson, directing attorney of the Disability Rights and Education and Defense Fund, said, "The majority decision sets a new low in equal-protection law," despite the "Fourteenth Amendment guarantee of equal protection of the law."

Democrats have to alert the citizenry about the radical change by the Rehnquist Court in "federalism"—how power over individual lives is shared between the national and state governments. (See my column last week.) As Howard Gillman, a Supreme Court specialist at the University of Southern California, warns, the issue of federalism has become "the biggest and deepest disagreement about the nature of our constitutional system. . . . At some level, the country will eventually decide which of these two visions will triumph."

In 1986, Justice Brennan, speaking in New York to the American Bar Association's Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities, said:

"We do not yet have justice, equal and practical, for the poor, for members of minority groups, for the criminally accused, for the displaced persons of the technological revolution, for alienated youth, for the urban masses, for the unrepresented consumer—for all, in short, who do not partake of the abundance of American life. . . . The goal of universal equality, freedom, and prosperity is far from won and . . . ugly inequities continue to mar the face of the nation. We are surely nearer the beginning than the end of the struggle."

Who among the leaders of the Democratic Party is saying that now—when we are still far from the fulfillment of the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of "due process of law" and the right of "any person" to "the equal protection of the laws"?

"A well-instructed people alone can be permanently a free people," said James Madison, the chief architect of the Bill of Rights. Where are these teachers of the people in the Democratic Party leadership?

http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0519,hentoff,63786,6.html

(*) (*) I would tell those evangelical christian findamentalist off-the-wall "we're going to heaven and you're not" NUT CASES (including Da Village Idiot and his Secret Service "Back Seat" who is working the hand puppet controls on good ole Dummy, I mean Dubya (among others in political power) to pla-lease go take a hike.......Thank Goddess Tony Blair won in the U.K., as well as another liberal as Prime Minister in Australia!!! And then there's always Canada.....as a haven for more independently-minded folks who are not the conservative right's sheep herded by a blind, deaf, dumb (but we all knew THAT already) shepherd. Talk about very poor leadership.

This country seems to be racing fast towards no personal privacy, womyn required to wear head coverings (in church that is and I say this only to make a point....), and funny daily news shows like Jon Stewart's "Daily Show" and god-forbid, Jay Leno someday not being able to joke about who and what they want?

ARGH! <rasberries....) 2008 cannot get here soon enough for me. The more democracy that we Americans supposedly get, the more dysfunctional the whole system and process actually is......check out Zakaria's book on "Illiberal Democracy" - it was an eye-opener for me! There are places in the world which actually have greater freedoms in many ways than Americans. :o :o

.....and now back to my irreverent and totally unscheduled programming..... ;) ;)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady and Doc the Boxer