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August 31, 2005

Typhoonery

ell, we're over halfway through this thing. The department store and supermarket has closed for the day so I'm feeling a bit cabin-feverish. Wind and occasional rain outdoors. Apparently one person has been killed by this typhoon. We're not in Katrina's league, thank gawd.

Odd looking clouds outside. I haven't posted pics because there simply isn't much that looks very interesting. Got a good book and have been watching a YES documentary. YESSPEAKS, narrated by Roger Daltry. He's terrible at it. But it's good to see interviews and the 2003 concert with the classic lineup of Anderson/Howe/Squire/Wakeman/White. Most of them now live on the west coast of the U.S.

Oh yeah, I ordered room service for lunch, their SUPREME Cheeseburger. I swear to gawd it was less than 3 inches in diameter. It was more like an hor's doeuvre. And the bathrobe is sized for a 5' 6" 140 lb person. *sigh*

Until next time...


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Eye of Typhoon Talim

t's 6:00 am and the eye of the typhoon has arrived. Calm, somewhat sunny. I expect the winds to be picking up and clouds going in the opposite direction in an hour or two. Might take another stroll, just for fun...

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Warm, Dry and Windy

ust took a walk outside. 4:30 am in Hsinchu. No rain. Felt like 80 mph winds with gusts up to 90. The direction of the typhoon is changing so maybe the eye will miss us. Saw several people riding mopeds in this wind. Taiwanese must be experienced at it. Also noticed that all the trees around the hotel are anchored with four-legged piping. More later.
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Douglas Adams


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Serious Tutoring

wonder why I never got a tutor like this:

Private tutor imparts carnal knowledge to schoolboy

"And I'd always thought she was really serious about education. She certainly gave it her all," a Nagoya educational circles insider tells Josei Seven.

The "she" in question is Mayumi Taniguchi, a 47-year-old home tutor now facing charges for breaking an Aichi Prefectural Government ordinance, aimed at providing youth with a wholesome upbringing, by allegedly seducing a 15-year-old schoolboy and giving him lecherous lessons in a local love hotel.

"She came right out in the questioning session and admitted to bedding the boy. The details of the case haven't been released, but apparently on the night it happened, she told the boy they were out too late and suggested they pass the night away at a love hotel," an investigation insider tells Josei Seven.


Do we call them "love" hotels in Western countries?

*** It is easier for a tutor to command than to teach. John Locke


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Typhoon Talim Update

round 9:00 pm the winds and horizontal rain started. Thunderclaps and a steady low-level bass-toned roar outside my 21st-floor window. Clouds flying by from right to left like a speeded up movie. The government has ordered all schools, government offices and financial offices closed. My employer is having all of us take this day off. (It's 3:00 am as I write this.)

Typhoon Talim is moving at 13 mph with 114 mph winds. (Katrina had 145 mph winds.) What's amazing (or not so amazing) is how nonchalant all the Taiwanese are. This is not like Katrina because these people have these typhoons every year. Everything is built to take them into account. There are government water pumping stations maintained around the country to control flooding. They are prepared. The main dangers are in mountainous areas.

The Chinese news stations show roiling ocean waves, flooding and downed trees, but nothing too devastating yet.

I still see cars on the streets and even a moped in an alley driving around.

The eye should be here in a few hours. I'll take a walk outside when it does.

Otherwise, all is normal and a bit anticlimactic. Maybe I should brave the winds when they start up going the other way. Must find a raincoat first.

It turns out the first 8 floors of the hotel I'm in is a department start with a full supermarket in the basement, so I don't have to go outside for any necessities. The lobby is on the 12th floor. I have three restaurants to choose from.

It's a good life. Wish my wife was here...

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Say Howdy to the Typhoon

an you feel it yet, just by looking at this satellite image? As of 3:00 pm, local time. I will be calling a cab in about an hour or so.

The rain is coming down about 30 degrees off the vertical. Showers, but not monsoon-like yet...

And me without a raincoat.


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August 30, 2005

Some GOOD Polls About Terrorism

onah Goldberg reports the good news about Arab support of the U.S.:
If the war has created more terrorists and made the world hate us more, why exactly has Muslim and Arab opinion of the United States improved?

According to the massive Pew Global Attitudes Survey, views of the United States have been improving. We’re not exactly back to the days when Kuwaiti babies were being named George Bush, but the trends are in our favor. The share of people with a favorable view of America went up in Indonesia by some 23 points, in Lebanon by 15 points, and in Jordan by 16 points. Trends in France, Germany, Russia, and India have been moving our way, too.

But the news gets even better. Support for terrorism and Osama bin Laden has been plummeting across the Arab and Muslim world (save for in Jordan, where the large Palestinian population plays a big role). Support for democracy, meanwhile, has improved. According to Pew, “nearly three-quarters of Moroccans and roughly half of those in Pakistan, Turkey and Indonesia see Islamic extremism as a threat to their countries.” The share of those supporting suicide bombings and the targeting of civilians has fallen by more than one-third in Lebanon — where democracy is on the move, by the way — and by 16 and 27 points in Pakistan and Morocco, respectively. Similar declines in support for Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda, and the like have been recorded.


Isn't that nice? Now, how come I don't hear this all over the news???

One of the polls he refers to is here.


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Typhoon Talim Hits Eastern Taiwan

t's started. At least on the other side of the island. Sounds to me like I'll be awake all night listening to the wind and the rain and the thunderclaps! As long as the power stays on, I will watch movies on my laptop!


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Speaking of Earthquakes...

...check this out! It's an underwater recording of the huge Indonesian earthquake recorded by underwater mikes used to detect nuclear explosions. Put own the headphones and turn up the sound! It's positively eerie! You can read about it here.

Just had a big thunderclap hit here in Taiwan... Sounds like I'm in the Midwest again... Californians are wimps when it comes to tunderstorms. A few rocking cracks and they think the world's coming to an end!


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TinyPhoon

here's a constant breeze now, with a little but of rain... I don't have a raincoat! And I think my umbrella will be pointless!

When I lived in Kansas as a child I remember seeing a tornado. One tore off the observation tower of the radio station my dad worked at in Colby, KXXX.

I live in earthquake country now. Been in a couple. I watch the news and can't understand why people would rather face hurricanes and tornadoes. With hurricanes, you have all that awful anticipation almost EVERY year. Will it hit? Will it veer away? Should I board up the windows and head for the shelter or the in-laws in the next state?

An earthquake is easy. No anticipation, no worries, then WHAMMMM! RRUMBLE RRRUMBLE RRRRUMBLE!!!

In a minute it's over and then it's primarily cleanup and no anticipation or worries for years or decades to come.

Git your butt over hear to earthquake country! Forget this hurricane/typhoon stuff!


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Classic Leading Man

f only it were true! Thanks to Dash, livey, and others for the heads up.
Cary Grant You scored 23% Tough, 19% Roguish, 0% Friendly, and 57% Charming!
You are the epitome of charm and style, the smooth operator who steals the show with your sophisticated wit and quiet confidence. You are able to catch any woman you want just by flashing that disarming smile. When you walk into a room, the women are instantly intrigued and even the men are impressed. When you find yourself in trouble, you are easily able to charm your way out of it, or convince others to help you. You're seen as dashing, suave and romantic. Your co-stars include Katharine Hepburn, Irene Dunne, and Joan Fontaine, stylish women who know a class act when they see it.

Find out what kind of classic dame you'd make by taking the Classic Dames Test.

Link: The Classic Leading Man Test written by gidgetgoes on Ok Cupid

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Supertyphoon Talim Loves Me!

o here is a map of Taiwan. I'm staying in a hotel in Hsinchu, on the upper left near the coast.

Now here is the supertyphoon tracking map for Talim:

DOES THIS SUPERTYPHOON HAVE MY NAME ON IT OR WHAT?

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE!!!

NOW THERE IS ANOTHER RIGHT BEHIND IT!!!

And I thought I was going to be bored in Taiwan!!!


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Hello, It's Me

ere I am at my workplace in Taiwan. Without my mustache. That's one of the etch tools on the wall that my company makes and sells.

It's a little after 3:00 am as I post this. Jetlag. No winds yet. The full force of the supertyphoon should hit tomorrow. Should be winds tonight.

I took a "benchmarking" shot out my hotel window yesterday so that I can post the windy shots and you have something to compare them to.

Nothing about it on CNN. Still all Katrina all the time. And on ESPN it's women's logrolling! Oh joy.

Update: Hey, CNN just showed a graphic of supertyphoon Talim! We got about 30 seconds and then back to Katrina.

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Origami You Can Download

ound this cool site. Cool, that is, if you like to do the origami thing. You can download pdfs to make fish, ice cream cones, and flower arrangements (mixing origami and ikebana). Check it out!

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Your Own Rollercoaster

o what do you do if you're an engineer and love rollercoasters? You build your own, of course, in your own backyard. Check out his videos!
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Top 10 Ways to Destroy the Earth

kay, I did have to laugh at this, but there's a little part of me that wonders if we are allowing geeks too much leeway and tax monies to pursue their particularly weird specialties. Sam Hughes at LiveScience has come up with a guide the tells us the Top 10 Ways to Destroy the Earth. Not destroy life on earth, but ending the planet as we know it.

Destroying the Earth is harder than you may have been led to believe.

You've seen the action movies where the bad guy threatens to destroy the Earth. You've heard people on the news claiming that the next nuclear war or cutting down rainforests or persisting in releasing hideous quantities of pollution into the atmosphere threatens to end the world.

Fools.

The Earth was built to last.

Yes indeed. So what are the Top 10 Ways? It's worth reading the full text of the entire list, but since you might be in a hurry, here's the Reader's Digest version:


10. Total Existence Failure: You will need: nothing. Method: No method. Simply sit back and twiddle your thumbs as, completely by chance, all 200,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000 atoms making up the planet Earth suddenly, simultaneously and spontaneously cease to exist.

9. Gobbled Up By Strangelets: You will need: a stable strangelet. Method: Hijack control of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider in Brookhaven National Laboratory, Long Island, New York. Use the RHIC to create and maintain a stable strangelet. Keep it stable for as long as it takes to absorb the entire Earth into a mass of strange quarks.

8. Sucked Into a Microscopic Black Hole: You will need: a microscopic black hole. Method: simply place your black hole on the surface of the Earth and wait.


7. Blown up by matter/antimatter reaction: You will need: 2,500,000,000,000 tons of antimatter. Method: This method involves detonating a bomb so big that it blasts the Earth to pieces.

6. Destroyed by vacuum energy detonation: You will need: a light bulb. Method: This is a fun one. Contemporary scientific theories tell us that ... the volume of space enclosed by a light bulb contains enough vacuum energy to boil every ocean in the world. ... All you need to do is figure out how to extract this energy and harness it in some kind of power plant - this can easily be done without arousing too much suspicion - then surreptitiously allow the reaction to run out of control.

5. Sucked into a giant black hole: You will need: a black hole, extremely powerful rocket engines, and, optionally, a large rocky planetary body. Method: after locating your black hole, you need get it and the Earth together.


4. Meticulously and systematically deconstructed: You will need: a powerful mass driver, or ideally lots of them; ready access to roughly 2*10^32J. Method: Basically, what we're going to do here is dig up the Earth, a big chunk at a time, and boost the whole lot of it into orbit. Yes. All six sextillion tons of it.

3. Pulverized by impact with blunt instrument: You will need: a big heavy rock, something with a bit of a swing to it... perhaps Mars. Method: Essentially, anything can be destroyed if you hit it hard enough. ANYTHING. The concept is simple: find a really, really big asteroid or planet, accelerate it up to some dazzling speed, and smash it into Earth, preferably head-on but whatever you can manage.

2. Eaten by von Neumann machines: You will need: a single von Neumann machine. Method: A von Neumann machine is any device that is capable of creating an exact copy of itself given nothing but the necessary raw materials. Create one of these that subsists almost entirely on iron, magnesium, aluminum and silicon, the major elements found in Earth's mantle and core. It doesn't matter how big it is as long as it can reproduce itself exactly in any period of time. Release it into the ground under the Earth's crust and allow it to fend for itself.


1. Hurled into the sun: You will need: Earthmoving equipment. Method: Hurl the Earth into the Sun.


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August 29, 2005

Guess What? Typhoon Coming!

ell, wouldn't you know it. I've been in Taiwan fewer than 24 hours and there's a typhoon coming, Typhoon Talim, probably hitting Taiwan in two days! Ol' lucky me!

If you check the forecast tracker here, you will see a little island within the circle marked 3118UTC. That little island is WHERE I AM RIGHT NOW!!! In fact it looks like the eye of the typhoon will pass over Hsinchu.

I assume that if the concierge says, "Mr. Alexander, we do not recommend that you leave the hotel today" that I will stay in my room on the 21st floor. I wonder if I will feel the sway of the building with the winds?

According to this map, it will be a category 3 with winds from 111-130 mph just before it hits. doesn't sound so bad considering what Hurricane Katrina is doing to the South.

BTW, in the Atlantic and eastern pacific you call the hurricanes. In the west and south pacific you call them typhoons and in the Indian Ocean you call them cyclones. I think I got that right.

Oh oh...I just found this story at Bloomberg. It could turn into a Category 5 after all... Here's the full text:

Talim, Forecast to Become a Supertyphoon, Heads Toward Taiwan


Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Typhoon Talim is strengthening and may become a supertyphoon as it moves across the Pacific Ocean in the general direction of the northern coast of Taiwan, according to the U.S. Joint Typhoon Warning Center's Web site.

Talim's winds were blowing at a maximum 230 kph (144 mph), with gusts as strong as 276 kph, at 2 a.m. this morning Taipei time, the Hawaii-based center said in an advisory on its Web site.

The center of Talim was located 1,039 kilometers east- southeast of Taipei and 1,124 kilometers east-northeast of the city of Laoag in the Philippines's northern island of Luzon, the advisory said. Talim, the 13th named storm of the typhoon season, has increased speed and is forecast to track west-northwest at 20 kph. Its winds may start being felt on Taiwan's east coast as early as tomorrow.

Winds are expected to strengthen to 250 kph later today with gusts as high as 304 kph, the center said. That would make Talim, which means sharp, or cutting edge, in Tagalog, the language of the Philippines, a Category 5 storm under the Saffir-Simpson scale, or a supertyphoon under Pacific rankings.

Typhoon Matsa earlier this month battered Zhejiang province in China after sweeping past Taipei. The storm, with winds of 144 kph, left at least one person dead and forced the government to evacuate 1.24 million people and shut airports and ports.

Last month, Typhoon Haitang left three people dead and 21 injured, causing $261 million of damage in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, the official Xinhua news agency reported on July 21. In Taiwan, Haitang left 12 people dead.


Gee. And here I was wondering if I would have anything to write about!!! I should be able to take pictures from my hotel room!!!

I'll keep you all updated.


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Those Darn Georgians

knew that there was sumtin'...different about you Georgians. This news article tells some fo the story:
A twin-engine plane crash landed on its belly at the Eastman-Dodge airport after the two people on board forgot to put down the landing gear.

The Georgia Aviation Technical College plane slid to a halt after scraping down the runway around 12:45 p.m. Wednesday, Eastman Fire Chief Carl Johnson said.

"They didn't know they had a problem until they touched down," Johnson said.


Yep, that's about when you might know sumtin's wrong. And as if that tweren't enuff:
An intern flight instructor and his teacher were practicing single-engine landing and forgot to lower the landing gear, said Johnny Payne, public affairs director with the college.

Heh.

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An Innocent in Taiwan, Day 1



hat's the view from my hotel room on the 21st floor. Dead center is the WinDance Mall, a place I expect to visit more than once since it has the Warner Village Theaters (Warner Brothers / Village Roadshow), which happens to be the most exciting toursit attraction they have in all of Hsinchu.

Ah, Taiwan. The Land of...Well, it was foggy and only 83 degrees when I arrived. Not so bad, except the humidity was 80% and my little free desktop Weather Channel information window tells me that it really feels like 92 degrees. Today it's already 81 degrees and 84% humid at 3:00 am. (The pleasures of jetlag.)

The East China Sea to the north, the South China Sea to the south. And China to the east, where another Chinese general was boasting about using nuclear weapons on the U.S. Somewhere in these nearby waters I hope their is a good aircraft carrier acting as the local sheriff

I had a driver patiently waiting at the Taipei airport to take me the one-hour trip to my hotel. I say patiently because the flight leg from Hong Kong was an hour delayed. I waited outside in the heat, seeing all the varieties of cars (from VWs to Mercedes). I wondered what had been ordered up for me by the hotel? Of course. A nice black Mercedes, which the hotel is happy to charge the company.

My driver called himself "Andy." Andy is married, having taken his honeymoon in Switzerland, and has two boys. He works about 20 hours each day, 6 or 7 days each week. Apparently, Taiwanese like to escape from their families as much as do all people around the world.

He asked what I did. I said training and organizational development. He was still practicing his English so I explained that I helped employees be happier and managers be better managers. Andy then smiled and said, "Ah, you are my idol!" For a moment I thought American Idol had saturated the Asian television market, but now I am convinced that I have my first devoted minion in a grand cult of personality worship that I can build in the 25 days I am here.

We made it to the Ambassador Hotel, tallest building in Hsinchu, which will help keep me from getting lost as I walk around the neighborhood. I unpacked in the room that I will be calling home for a while. Called my lovely wife to assure her that I was not a victim of technology.

Then I took a walk to the nearest 7-11 store. Seriously. One block north, two blocks west. I recognized Coke, Pepsi, Pringles, some gum and candy. The rest could have been byproducts and animal parts as far as I could tell. I say Pringles advisedly, since the one flavor I noticed was French Consumme. There were some cucumber-flavored Lay's potato chip.

I came with little to show for the trip, except hot moisture and sticky clothes.

Well, if there are few sights to see, at least I have a television set to while away the lonely hours. I give you my channel choices in this otherwise very English-friendly hotel:

1. TTV: Chinese
2. CTV: Chinese
3. CTS: Chinese
4. FTV: Chinese
5. TVBS: Chinese
6. TVBSN Chinese
7. MUCH-TV: Japanese with Chinese dubbing
8. ET-NEWS: Chinese Entertainment News
9. DONG HONG TV: Hong Kong Chinese
10. CNN Asia: All Katrina Hurricane All the Time
11. CNBC: Global Version. The Cost of Katrina All the Time
12. BLOOMBERG: They must think business travellers are only interested in business.
13. ESPN: Mostly billiards or dog show competitions, in Chinese.
14. STAR SPORTS: In Chinese
15. GTV: Chinese
16. BBC Asia: All News All the Time. All Katrina or Iraq All the Time.
17. NHK1: Japanese
18. NHK2: Japanese
19. STAR WORLD: Older American Sticoms, like Still Standing, Who's Line Is It Anyway?, Becker...
20. DISOCVERY: (That's how they spell it.) Animals and nature, in Chinese.
21. STAR MOVIE: Chinese movies with commercials.
22. HBO Asia: Older HBO movies and shows. They're just getting Deadwood. I almost started watching Claude Van Damme in Maximum Risk, but thought better of it.
23. MTV: Chinese version.

Th-th-th-that's All, Folks!

I guess there are four or five stations I might glance at occasionally. Good thing I brought a supply of DVDs!

Since I AM an innocent in Taiwan I thought I should keep some of my American roots, so I brought the first and second season of that quintessential 1980s American TV hit series DALLAS. Nothing like good ol'boys making oil deals, screwing the wives of strangers and family fistfightin'. JR Ewing, the self-made American.

I also brought the first two seasons of Stargate SG1, which must have something going for it since it's in its NINTH season. Nothing can replace Babylon 5, but there is always hope.

I also brought several movies, a bunch of Inspector Morse, and a some music concert DVDs on YES and EMERSON, LAKE, and PALMER and THELONIUS MONK.

It's close to 4 am. Time to plan the day, find the fitness room, and dedicate myself to trimming up a little so my wife is pleasantly surprised. If only I can resist comfort food in my loneliness...

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August 27, 2005

An Innocent in Taiwan, Day 0

y flight leaves in 5 hours at 1:20 am. I've got Business Class on Cathay Pacific Airways and sleeping pills, so I might get a few hours sleep before arriving Monday at 10:15 am.

I've decided that since the one time I visited Taiwan it was dark to and from the airport, I did training in the hotel, had jetlag and did not leave the hotel at all, that I am still innocent as a Taiwan tourist.

So as I have the time, I will blog and Innocent's view of Taiwan, probably starting Monday.

Chow!


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August 25, 2005

Taiwan Minus 2 days

fly out for Taiwan Saturday night at 1:20 am (actually Sunday morning). It's 17 hours with a change of flights in Hong Kong. Luckily I'll be in Business Class, which means I may actually get some sleep after watching a few movies. (Long flights are notorious for catching up on movies one hasn't seen.)

Since I'll be staying for 4 weeks, away from wife, away from the cat, away from the new Fall TV season (thank god for TiVO), I'll be packing my own entertainment:

I'm also packing some books to keep me from going stir crazy:

And there should be a few movie theatres in the neighborhood. Fortunately I will be staying in a nice hotel rather than a corporate apartment. It will get old, but at least I will have easy access to restaurants, fitness facilities, and laundry and dry cleaning.

Stay tuned for pictures next week and an almost day-by-day account of an ex-pat life in Taiwan.

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August 24, 2005

Yellow Cake in Iraq

et's focus on yellow cake uranium in Iraq for a minute. Here are a some articles, most from The American Thinker, describing yellow cake in Iraq. This I think constitutes legitimate WMD concerns:

Case Not Closed: Iraq’s WMD Stockpiles by Douglas Hanson (March 2004)
Douglas Hanson was a US Army cavalry reconnaissance officer for 20 years, and is a Gulf War I combat veteran. He has a background in radiation biology and physiology, and was an Atomic Demolitions Munitions (ADM) Security Officer, and a Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defense Officer. As a civilian analyst, he has worked on stability and support operations in Bosnia, and helped develop a multi-service medical treatment manual for nuclear and radiological casualties. He was initially an operations officer in the operations/intelligence cell of the Requirements Coordination Office of the CPA, and was later assigned as the Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Dr. Kay has concluded that Iraq’s key scientists had ended up working directly for Saddam in development of WMD programs, and that they had fooled him into believing in non-existent weapons. My experience, and the character of day to day life in Iraq, indicate just the opposite. We at the MOST have been trying to put 8000 scientists and engineers back to work without their Baathist enforcers and “project managers.” It has been a Herculean task. While the scientific knowledge of the individuals is intact, actually managing complex programs is well beyond the reach of these people.

To assert that the scientists bypassed the Baathist infrastructure, the Iraqi Intelligence Service, and Special Republican Guard commanders, all the while fooling Saddam is, to put it mildly, a real stretch. To this day, many still fear the consequences of cooperating with the ISG. We would need to see the detailed rationale for Dr. Kay’s conclusions on this matter to gauge if Saddam was really fooled by scientists scared to death of him and the Baath Party, or if he ran one of military history’s most successful deception operations. If he did the latter, we must also ask why he would risk the toppling of his regime, and his death or capture, over non-existent WMDs. The only alternative explanation to these two questionable scenarios is that WMD stockpiles did in fact exist, but that they have been hidden, and/or spirited out of the country.

Dr. Kay and the ISG have already proven that Iraq was in violation of several UN resolutions. Their findings include, among others, that Iraq was involved in manufacturing of the biotoxin Ricin “right up to the end,” the restarting of Saddam’s nuclear program, and the development of BW “seed” agents, such as botulinum, that could be used to regenerate stockpiles of BW agents once UN sanctions were lifted.


Here we go again by Douglas Hanson (December 2004)

France had given them tons of yellowcake and low-enriched uranium (LEU) to get their “research” program off the ground. Generally, reactors use uranium enriched to 20 percent, but modern nuclear weapons need about a 93 percent enriched fuel. However, if scientists increase the amount of highly enriched uranium (HEU) in the bomb, a lower level of enrichment can still produce a detonation. The “Little Boy” bomb dropped on Hiroshima was enriched to only 80 percent, yet achieved a yield of 15 kilotons (KT) . So even if the highest level of enrichment was not achieved, Iraq had plenty of raw materials to make up the difference.

About that 500 tons of yellow cake... by Rick Moran (July 2005)

We interrupt this scandal to ask a question that, due to it’s “explosive” nature was never asked when the story broke almost exactly a year ago…

What were 500 tons of yellow cake uranium still doing at the nuclear research center of Al-Tuwaitha in Iraq when American tanks rolled into Bagdhad?


And let's not forget the 2 tons of low-enriched uranium shipped out of Iraq that the U.N. complained about:

U.S. Transferred Nearly 2 Tons of Uranium From Iraq (July 2004)

UNITED NATIONS – The United States didn't have authorization from the U.N. nuclear watchdog when it secretly shipped from Iraq uranium and highly radioactive material that could be used in so-called "dirty bombs," U.N. officials said Wednesday.

The nearly 2 tons of low-enriched uranium and approximately 1,000 highly radioactive items transferred from Iraq to the Untied States last month had been placed under seal by the International Atomic Energy Agency at the sprawling Tuwaitha nuclear complex, 12 miles south of Baghdad, the officials said.

Methinks such uranium is a WMD issue, n'est pas?

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August 23, 2005

Best Movie Clip Ever?

ccording to Extreme Wisdom, this clip with Bob Hope is the best ever. Good for a chuckle.
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The "Al Qaeda in Iraq" Debate Continues

'm pulling out comments from a previous post to make it easier to read and access. The debate so far:


hehehe what an absurd article , you could equally say if you answer no to all these questions that come and join the fascist party ..

how odd , anyone can do this .. ... lets swap it all round shall we

do you believe that the Bush administration will achieve success in iraq ?

do you believe that invasion of another countries soveriegn land and the occupation of that land should be defended regardless ?

when 9/11 happened do you immediately think that the terrorists did it for some random bullshit reason like "they hate our freedoms and our way of life" instead of releasing the obvious ie , they hate our policies ?

do you believe that all natural resources on this planet belong to you and if any country refuses to let you have some then you have a right to drop depleted uranium on their children ?

do you feel after the issues of Gitmo and abhu graab and falluja that the military can be trusted to exercise military power effectively ?

do you believe that if you through more troops and money at the jihadist problem that you actually will change the views of muslims and win the war on a noun ?

do you honestly thing bush is like ghandi ?

do you believe that fox news is actually a news company and not an oxymoron ?

do you think it is right to attack people who wish to express their freedom of speech ?

do you believe that bill o'rielly is an ideal american patriot ?

do you wonder why america with all its power is not invading more countries and pushing its weight around even more ?

do you believe that the republicans are so right that companies like fox are with in there rights to make up quotes and fictitious stories about what kerry says and does and refuse to retract any lies until after the election ?

do you believe that american's are smarter then the rest of the world even though less then 20 % of americans own a passport and over 70 % of americans actually thought saddam had something to do with 9/11 ?

do you entertain the thought of leaving the country 'only' when the rest of the world belongs to us ?

do you support the troops even when they use chemical lights to bugger muslims with and when they arrest afghan types some of which are nearly 70 years old and deny them rights under the geneva convention or when they drop bombs onto shelters that are so powerfull that the women and children melt into a single ball of fat that runs like a river through the room ?

do you live off your tax free haven and mock people who earn less money a year then you earn in a month ?

do you believe that the government should keep it damn hands of all this extra money i got through the tax loop holes ?

do you believe the government owes you a refund ?

do you believe that if someone has no money they must be a moron ?

do you believe that you should be able to invade someone elses country and overthrough the government just because you hate what that country stands for ?

do you believe that amnesty international , the red cross etc are just simply wrong when they claim america has human rights issues to address ?

do you believe that democracy delivered by a gun works but it just hasnt been properly applied ?

do you love the idea of meglomania but despise peoples ability to resist it ?

come on , are you really so brainwashed you actually believe your own article ?
osama 08.19.05 - 8:05 am #

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"You are so stuck in an ideology that you do not listen, and you don't respond to evidence and reason that contradicts what you espouse. "

funny , i dont remember the last time anyone from the right had a valid argument that contained 'evidence and reason' regarding IRAQ and the WOT that holds up to much scrutiny , but if your sure they do , lets try a simple one ,

justify our invasion of iraq ?

now remember they had no WMD

we did not have UN support

he was evil yes , but as the cia said he wasnt inside the top 5 nasty list and certainly was as evil as dictators such as those in kurdistain who boil to death those that try to push democracy and we befriended them

there was not any terrorist's in iraq pre 2003

iraq was not a muslim country infact it was multi religious and included catholics in government

the only links to terrorists in iraq were found in the kurdish areas , the people we suported

Osama bin laden and saddam had less chance of becoming friends then coke and pepsi

of course if i am wrong on any 'facts' here then please inform me of my error , it would be a delight to actualy find a single human being on the planet from the right who actually has 'facts' and not rhetoric to respond with

and is able to maintain those views with credibility after some very light scrutiny

i live in hope
Jono 08.19.05 - 9:29 am #

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Hey WitNit!

Osama and Jono have just volunteered to validate your test!

(hee hee)>@_/ (he gleefully quacked as he stirred the pot vigorously!)
VARepublicMan Email Homepage 08.19.05 - 12:10 pm #

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Interesting that osama above thinks that the flip side of my question:

"Do you hope that the Bush Administration will fail in Iraq?"

would be:

"do you believe that the Bush administration will achieve success in iraq?"

You gotta have basic comprehension skills, bubba. The flip side would be:

"Do you hope that the Bush Administration will succeed in Iraq?"

That's quite a difference. But then ideologues aren't interested in conversation, are they? When Rob questioned me, I questioned him. I engaged in a dialogue and I think we both learned something in the process. Same with VAR.

But somehow reading your extended response, there doesn't seem to be much room for a conversation.

Yes, there is a way to create a separate list for rightwing ideologues. They exist and they can be just as wacky.

But right now the far right has less to do with mainstream conservatism, it seems to me, as the far left has to do with mainstream liberalism.

I am saddened to think that today the words and policies of a John F. Kennedy would be regarded as far right conservatism.
WitNit Email Homepage 08.22.05 - 3:27 pm #

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Jono

What are your primary sources for the statements you make? Frankly, there are some you make that have long-since been disproven, such as:

"there was not any terrorist's [sic] in iraq pre 2003"

"the only links to terrorists in iraq were found in the kurdish areas , the people we suported"

Given the current data, these are laughably absurd. Do you examine data, or parrot opinions?
WitNit Email Homepage 08.22.05 - 3:31 pm #

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I agree with Rob. We should try to steer away from the left-right bashing thing. It's wasting time that could be spent discussing the actual issues. As far as I can discern the terms 'left', 'right', 'liberal' and 'conservative' are meaningless labels almost always used to construct strawman arguments.

"Do you basically believe that Americans are ignorant and should not be allowed to make political decisions for themselves?"

Not just most Americans but most people around the world, regardless of political ideologies, are surprisingly ignorant about politics. They have better things to do with their time than read about what one set of liars (Media) say about another set of liars (Politicians).
The COnsigliere Email Homepage 08.22.05 - 4:19 pm #

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woot ! debate ..

Jono
you said
"
What are your primary sources for the statements you make? Frankly, there are some you make that have long-since been disproven, such as:"

"there was not any terrorist's [sic] in iraq pre 2003"

unless you are including al-zarqawi and his imenent arrival in iraq in january 2003 , especially to prepare to fight the US , or are you including the lovely fiction already retracted by our government of saddam sending people to meet al-qaeda ?

but lets be fair , i said to you personally , if any of these 'facts' are wrong then please point out my error , i did not actually expect you to do so without providing a single piece of evidence to support why it is wrong ,

dont tell me it is just pure rhetoric to start with ?

please supply at least two indenpendant (non political) sources of information that proves that "terrorists were in iraq pria to 2003" or of course . just tell me i am wrong ?

it is i that has made the statement and asked a question of you , i believe it was "justify our war in itaq ?"

"the only links to terrorists in iraq were found in the kurdish areas , the people we suported"

again , you deny its truth but without even requiring a non political source you could bubble off to happy fox news land and do a search for al-qeada and iraq and you will find my point

you said "Given the current data, these are laughably absurd. Do you examine data, or parrot opinions"

oh , i see and by your response you have made that clear i see , not a single fact in your response , not a single data point apart from to state that mine are wrong and you complain that all you hear is rhetoric , you ever thought it could be your own voice ?

if my points are wrong tell me HOW it is wrong and WHY it is wrong and WHAT independant source you are using

dont just do the kinder garden routine of "your wrong"

seems your not of to a good start , but i am still waiting for facts we can all check


will wait and see if you try again but it already seems as though my dream of having an educated fact based debate with someone from the right is failing again
jono 08.22.05 - 11:13 pm #

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ps you said to osama "That's quite a difference. But then ideologues aren't interested in conversation, are they?"

hahahaha do you include yourslelf in your response to me

in osama's post you have tried to pick a single issue and highlight it to imply the error of the whole post , BUT you said in your post if you agree with ANY single one of these points then ....

so do you ?

any one of his points ?

just maybe a little tax cut ?


would be interesting to see if you make it to fascist on his scale ?


just wondering

, anyway i will check back later and see if you have any nice little facts or any well formed debatable argument

i am getting a feeling that your all mouth but i hope i am wrong
jono 08.22.05 - 11:22 pm #

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that is funny ..

you actually expect someone to supply a source for an event that they claim did not happen

how odd , can you supply a source that actually shows that NO penquins drove a car around your house last night ? of course not


the criteria was set and it surely is for you to show a source that makes that point invalid ?

you claim to use reason , but have used little in your response
Bob the Builder 08.23.05 - 7:11 am #

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*sigh* Jono, I like the way you set it up: Cite "independent sources." I suspect that that's your way of being able to say when confronted with evidence "Hey, that's a CONSERVATIVE source and they are all proven liars anyway." Then you don't have to deal with evidence.

But I'll give it a shot and see how you respond. I've written about this before, but you're probably new. One indepth source is

The Mother of All Connections

This article is long, detailed and cites sources. I urge you to peruse it carefully and recognize that it simply stands to reason that Al Qaeda has been active in Iraq before the war. If an article such as this is not a good enough starting point for you, and you decide that it's just more lies because of the source, this "debate" will likely be very short.

Good luck. I know how hard it is facing facts that conflict with ideology. I've had to shed mine over the last 20 years. And before you go off convinced thinking I'm merely a dumb conservative, you might want to read my post on

ConsLibModism.


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August 22, 2005

Headlines Japanese Style


apan's Mainichi Daily News just LOVES to play with headlines. With a little too much alliteration:

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Bored in the Netherlands

hat do you do when you retire to the Netherlands and find out you're bored out of your skull? You begin to have unusual dreams:

A former Hollywood stunt man now living in the Netherlands launched his greatest project to date Tuesday: a 45-foot replica Viking ship made of millions of wooden ice cream sticks and more than a ton of glue.

Rob McDonald named the ship the "Mjollnir" after the hammer of the mythic Norse god of thunder, Thor.

After the 13 ton boat was lifted into the water by crane, "Captain Rob," as he is known, stood calmly on the stern as a team of volunteers rowed the apparently sturdy vessel around the IJ River behind the city's central station.

"I have a dream to show children they can do anything," McDonald said before the launch. "If they can dream it, they can do it."

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Stupid Robbers' Tricks

ne more example why most of the people in prison are there because of sheer stupidity:

A home invasion was solved by a phone's redial button when an accused burglar in this west Georgia town allegedly used the phone to call his mother for a ride after breaking in.

According to sheriff's investigator Alan Lee, a resident of Villa Rice returned home Sunday from a few days out of town and was missing credit cards, a check book, cell phone and jewelry. The victim tried hitting redial on her phone, and the mother of 23-year-old Kevin Tucker answered.

The call led to the arrests of Tucker and 18-year-old Brittany Leigh-Anne Smith, said Lt. Shane Taylor. Taylor said a deputy spoke with Tucker's mother, who said the two had called and asked her to pick them up from the residence.

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Comcast Gets Down!

e careful if you complain to Comcast. They might just get a little testy with you, even resort to formal namecalling:

LaChania Govan said she got bounced around by her cable company when she called to complain. She made dozens of calls and was even transferred to a person who spoke Spanish — a language she doesn't understand.

But when she got her August bill from Comcast she had no trouble understanding she'd made somebody mad. It was addressed to "Bitch Dog."

"I was like you got to be freaking kidding me," said Govan, 25. "I was so mad I couldn't even cuss."

Oooo, I think Comcast has some baaaaad customer service employees. Can they track them down? Yep.

Company officials went through the records and identified two people who were involved with the name change and fired them, Andrews-Keenan said. It's unknown why the employees did it.

Of course, Comcast isn't the only company with such issues:
In another case, Peoples Energy customer Jefferoy Barnes started getting letters addressed to "Jeffery Scrotum Bag Barnes."

"I had no bad words at all. I guess the earliest letter is dated in May and from then on up until now my name has been listed as Jeffery Scrotum Bag Barnes and I have no idea why."


Bad boys!

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Off to Taiwan???

just got word that they are thinking of sending me to Taiwan next week...for a MONTH! Aug. 29-Sept. 23. Four weeks, three weekends.

Excuse me while I try my best to adapt to the culture shock.

AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

That's better...

If they do, I should be put up in a corporate apartment with DSL, I'll bring my digital Canon, grab a Pimsleur 10-lesson introduction to Mandarin Chinese and give you all a tour of what the heck it's like to live in such a place for a month. Assuming the mainland Chinese don't invade while I'm there.

I'll be staying in Taiwan's Silicon Valley Hsinchu. Over an hour's drive from Taipei where all the action is. Apparently geeks don't have much need for sightseeing where they work.

Oh, and September is typhoon month in Taiwan. I'll report, you decide.

Luckily, the intern that has been working with me is from Taiwan, so she'll give me tips on what to do on weekends. At least one weekend I hope to pop over to Hong Kong for the first time and check it out. It's only a 90-minute flight.

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August 21, 2005

Asshole Test

illy Budd at American Dinosaur says you're an asshole if this post doesn't bring a tear to your eye. He might be right.
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August 20, 2005

WTF?







































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Fictional Fridays

ilk has been smart silly kind enough to invite me to participate in this week's Fictional Fridays.

The rules are simple: use one or all of the images below and write a story of no more than 1000 words.

Here is my humble Femme Noir offering. Enjoy!


SIN CITY

She stood on the balcony of her Paris penthouse hotel room, wearing a sleeveless, black silk Louis Vuitton that stopped just above the inside of her knees. Her calves curved all the way down. I would have liked to have run my hands along those calves.

A black grand piano sat on a riser above the sunken sitting area. A bottle of Dom Perignon Magnum champagne, 1990 vintage, lay half empty on a glass table set on an oval base of solid green jade. A tall, fluted champagne glass lay on its side next to the bottle. A dozen yellow roses in a tall, intricately blown Crystal d'Arques vase framed the back of the bottle. A small card lay open beside it.

The room was lit by two candles on the table, flickering, almost burnt out. The ceilings were high, the walls elegantly wainscoted. Impressionist paintings hung cheerlessly above in shadows. A small fire burned in a classic Louis XV Versailles fireplace. It competed with the slight cold breeze oozing in low through the French doors opening to the balcony.

"I missed you in Egypt," I whispered.

She didn't tense in surprise. She didn't turn around. She couldn't have been older than 32. No taller than five foot four inches. Not thin. Slightly voluptuous, with dark hair pulled back, tightly woven in a donut braid. She stood slightly turned to the right so I could see the flawless curve of the silk directly holding her rounded breast. The nipple, feeling the cold air, pushed hard against the silk.

Her voice was deeper than I expected, earthy, rich, well-traveled.

"The Sphinx is in need of a makeover," she said. "And those pyramids? Just hollowed-out tombs. I don't appreciate life offering such an obvious mirror. I left three days early."

There was no anger in her voice, no bitterness. Just a hint of the weary traveler.

I loosened the buttons on my three-button jacket. I preferred Italian, wearing a black Armani suit, with a black Jersey rayon t-shirt and black Ferragamo Comodore slip-ons. I stepped closer. The Aubusson carpet was thick and soft, masking my approach.

"Paris makes for a much better rendezvous," I said. "A city of sin, a city of art, a city of romance and extremes."

Her ribs expanded with each breath. She wore a necklace of large white pearls. I could see a large brown mole on her right shoulder.

"Paris is ugly," she said. "The smog, the smug people, the dog shit on the sidewalks, the Eiffel Tower looking down like some pretentious hydraulic crane. I don't know why I come back here."

I removed a couple of Gitanes from a case in my lapel, lit both with a mother-of-pearl lighter, and drew in the thick tobacco smoke. I came closer and reached around handing her one of the cigarettes. She took it and placed it between her blood-red lips. She sucked in the smoke and slowly, casually blew it out over the city.

I placed one hand lightly on her shoulder. "I see you received my roses."

"They were lovely." She said it sincerely. I can always tell when they're sincere.

We smoked in silence. She stopped when hers burned halfway, dropping it on the balcony and stepping on it with her black strapless pumps. One of the two candles had finally burned out.

"There's always a place for a little more beauty in this ugly world," I said, flicking my cigarette out over the balcony, letting it drop to the empty street below.

I ran my hand down her arm, stopping at the elbow. "I can take you away from all this," I said. "There's no reason anymore to try to hide in the crowds. No need to wear any masks. No need to be anything they want you to be. Not anymore."

She turned toward me and I let my hand slip from her elbow, trace the curve of her back and rest on her other arm. She looked up at me and I smiled. We took in the look of each other's eyes for the first time.

"Kiss me," she said. "Kiss me, like it was the last kiss you were ever going to give a woman."

I cradled her head with my left hand and leaned over, bringing my lips to hers. She opened her mouth and lightly touched my lips. Hers were warm and soft and luscious. I pressed her body towards mine and kissed her deeply, smelling her champagne fragrance, giving her everything she wanted, giving her the last ounce of dying passion a man could give to a woman. A final scene of passion, tension, and romance.

The final candle burned out.

POP! A flash of light…

The bullet entered professionally just under the ribcage. But it missed the heart. She still had her hand placed in the small of my back. She was stronger than I expected.

She let me down gently, laying me back on the thick, soft Aubusson carpet. I could feel the warm blood flowing through the hole in my jacket. I let go of the suppressor-fitted H&K Mark 23 handgun that I held in my right hand. Only then did I see the small, snub-nosed revolver in hers. It looked like a Charter Arms 38 Special 5-shot. A nice woman's gun.

As my legs grew cold, I noted that she held the gun steady. I closed my eyes.

"I'm sorry, love," I heard her whisper into my ear, and I didn't doubt her. "I changed my mind. You haven't already cashed my check yet, have you?"

FINI

For other stories using the same pictures, check out:

Phoenix at Villains Vanquished.

Heather at Show Angel's Heaven.

TeaFizz.

silk at Ink Blot.


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August 19, 2005

Jane Austen