Monday, February 28, 2005
CRB and Amelia
After todays jump in the CRB, which measures a basket of commodity prices, we are within a few points of the all time high set in the early 1980's. Gold was then over $500 USD per ounce. Gold is at least $65 USD under priced at $435.
Jim Puplava in his Financial Sense Online, today looks ahead to Greenspan's and the Fed's next actions in the financial markets. Don't miss it!
Mover Mike
Here's a reminder. Cascade Aids Project
I blogged here and here about a Portland band called Amelia. Amelia's next gig is a benefit for the Cascade Aids Project on March 3rd at the Weiden and Kennedy building in the Pearl District. It is free and Amelia plays from 7:30 to 9:30. Here is a way to hear an excellent band for free AND help a worthy cause with your contributions. See you there.
Mover Mike
USA NEXT and AARP
USA Next is taking its anti-AARP campaign to the next level. Here are some of their points, from a memo released today:IMO, the first two points are legimate issues and AARP is on the wrong side. I don't know if #3 is a legimate issue for AARP, and I am unconvinced on the merits of the Brady Bill.
- AARP has never worked to eliminate the double tax on Social Security
benefits
- AARP has regularly opposed eliminating the death tax and cuts in the
capital gains tax
- AARP opposed the marriage amendment in Ohio last year
- AARP has supported gun control measures such as the Brady Bill
Mover Mike
Captain Ed in North Korea To Return To The Bargaining Table
So once again the grown-ups at the Bush White House have won another round of diplomacy where the Democrats wouldn't have had the nerve to play. It's yet another reason why we're better off with Bush serving a second term than having John Kerry bringing back Madeline Albright for an encore.Hear, Hear!
Mover Mike
Croooow Blog
"You, me, the media and the blogosphere. With some ranting and raving on the side." says goodbye today. You will be missed!
Mover Mike
I get emails from Bullguard, a spyware company, and this little puzzle took up a lot of my time one day:
Check out this link from BullGuard Curiosities
Mover Mike
WOW!! $899.00 Syntax Launches 26″ Olevia LT26HVE LCD HDTV
Mover Mike
Sunday, February 27, 2005
Academy Awards-My Picks
I picked most of the majors, but it wasn't my night!
Best Picture
Million Dollar Baby
Best Actor
Jamie Foxx (Ray)
Best Actress
Hillary Swank (Million Dollar Baby)
Best Supporting Actor
Morgan Freeman (Million Dollar Baby)
Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Cate Blanchett (The Aviator)
I said Natalie Portman (Closer)
Best Director
Winner:Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby)
I said Martin Scorsese (The Aviator)
Screenplay - Original
Winner: Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)
I said John Logan (The Aviator)
Screenplay - Adapted
Winner: Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor (Sideways)
I said Paul Haggis (Million Dollar Baby)
Animated Feature
The Incredibles
Animated Short
Winner : Ryan
I said Gopher Broke
Foreign Language Film
Winner: The Sea Inside
I said The Chorus
Documentary Feature
Winner: Born into Brothels
I said Super Size Me
Documentary Short
Winner: Mighty Times: The Children's March
I said The Children of Leningradsky
Art Direction
The Aviator
Visual F/X
Spidy 2
Costumes
Look for The Aviator
Makeup
Winner: Lemony Snicket's
I said The Passion of the Christ
Editing
Winner: The Aviator
Million Dollar Baby
Cinematography
Winner: The Aviator
The House of Flying Daggers
Sound Mixing
Ray will pick this one up.
Sound Editing
Winner: The Incredibles
I said Spiderman
Original Score
Finding Neverland
Song
Winner: Al Otro Lado Del Río - The Motorcycle Diaries
I said The Chorus
Short Film (Live Action)
Winner: WASP
Two Cars, One Night
Mover Mike
The Sunday Oregonian
I did think it news that the Chief Exec. of CNN's news department accused the US Military of deliberately targeting reporters. Arrieta-Walden says
And if you only read the news pages of The Oregonian, you wouldn't know that the top CNN news executive had stepped down because of controversy about his remarks on whether U.S. soldiers targeted journalists.There was no controversy. Three people and a reporter that reported the story were shocked in Davos, Switzerland over Jordan's remarks: Sen Chris Dodd, Congressman Barney Frank and David Gergen. All agreed that Jordan accused the military of deliberately murdering reporters. A mindset has developed among some that reporters are being murdered and by our military. I posted about this here in Do Journalists in Iraq Feel Threatened? I listed ten reporters that had been killed in Iraq. The information comes from the group Reporters without Borders.
That's the story The Oregonian missed. And because the MSM media didn't write about and The Oregonian gets its news from the wire services, we could only know about Jordan from the conservative blogs. (And Guckert/Gannon from the liberal blogs.) It's time The Oregonian gets with it. It's time you monitor actively the major blogs and see what is being "blogswarmed". Start with Daou Report, PunditDrome, read BuzzMachine, Hugh Hewitt, Instapundit, PowerLine and read Mover Mike! If you continue to rely on your MSM sources, you will continue to shortchange your readers; you will continue to miss the big stories.
Mover Mike
I'm not through with the Sunday Oregonian. On page E3, No scenario of 'Day After Tomorrow" by Christopher Burt, we get this
But even though global warming is now an indesputable scientific fact, the link between it and extreme weather remains tenuous.Now that is just plain wrong, it is NOT an indisputable fact. I posted here Hockeystick Broke & Compound Interest that one of the leading pieces of evidence, that was used as a key piece of evidence for global warming, was flawed. Stop allowing tripe like this to be in the paper, unquestioned.
Mover Mike
And finally, Right-wing group USA Next uses ad to take aim at AARP by Tom Teepen, we get this
So USA Next is laying on the same crew that smeared John Kerry's in-fact sterling Vietnam War service--the PR firm, activists and consultants of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth scam--to do a number on AARP.First, either Teepen stole the verbiage from Maureen Dowd, who wrote almost the same words, or she stole it from him. Second, I contributed money to The Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Kerry's campaign in my opinion was over when this group appeared. (I have witnesses to prove that comment.) The simple way to settle this matter is for Kerry to sign SF-180 releasing all his military records as he said he would do in a post-election interview on Meet the Press to Tim Russert. Until then, don't tell me about his sterling Vietnam service.
Mover Mike
Saturday, February 26, 2005
The Credit Bubble
From Investment Outlook by Bill Gross | March 2005, we see that the supply of Treasurys has increased four-fold since 1985, and almost 70% of the new debt is purchased by foreigners.
The second chart shows net purchases rising at a parabolic rate. Because we are flooding the world with our dollars, foreign countries are recycling those dollars into the purchase of our debt at an ever increasin quantity. Parabolic curves do not end well!
It seems to me that we are between a rock and a hard place. We can complain about the ever increasing debt of the federal government and individuals using home equity to finance purchases, but we are like an animal on a tread mill. We will not like the consequences of slower debt creation.
Mover Mike
Friday, February 25, 2005
Adelphia, School District #1, Maureen Dowd
Who thinks the Justice Department should get involved and who thinks the set owner should just change channels if they don't like the content?
Mover Mike
The Oregonian, today, has an article Portland schools likely face cuts by Steven Carter. There is a projected budget of $402 million for the 2005-06 year and a projected budget of $411 million for 2006-07 year. We have a student body of 47,500 (which is down 10,000 from a few years ago). There is concern that there will be a budget gap this year of $51 million and due to expiring taxes, a budget gap next year of $98 million.
Now for me if I'm going to run a budget gap of $51 million this year, I don't project a budget next year of higher spending. I suspect, based on my work with an Economic Development Committee (EDC), a lot of budgets are top down budgets. They start with spending and then figure out where the money is coming from. In this case $402 Million divided by the number of students (47,500) works out to $8,463 per student. A budget gap of $51 million, cuts that by $1100.
Shouldn't we be able to educate a student for $7,300 to $8,463 a year? How about getting 10 students together for $73,000 to $84,630? I don't know the answer, yet, but I do know we have an ongoing education crisis in this city and state. We keep cutting the school year. The enrollment in this school district continues to drop. The paper says that because of expiring taxes, rates to homowners in the school district will fall $2.53 per 1000 assessed property value and will be lost to the schools. A property owner with a home value of $350,000 will realize an $855 drop in taxes. To me, that's real money! With these questions, will I vote to raise my taxes back $855? Would you?
Mover Mike
Speaking of the schools...how long do we have to put up with Derry Jackson, charged "with four counts of violating a restraining order and violating a two-year probation sentence that was handed down by a judge last week." Jackson serves on the Portland School Board. Jackson could face a total of two years in jail if found guilty.
Mover Mike
And to Maureen Dowd who has this to say about the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth "who dynamited John Kerry, a war hero, by sliming him as a war criminal", just ask Kerry to fulfill his pledge made on Meet the Press to Tim Russert post election. Sign the SF-180 and we'll put this debate to rest.
Mover Mike
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Catching Up...
Mover Mike
The price paid for blogging Iran Everytime you complain about the Patriot Act, think of Iran. Iran jails blogger for 14 years
Mover Mike
At The Buck Stops Here Matt Evans has an excellent post about the "takings clause" and its application to Kelo v. City of New London. The bottom line for Evans is
The fact that the Takings Clause requires compensation when property is taken for "public use" in no way implies that property can be taken without compensation if it is for "private use." Instead, it implies that the government is not empowered to take property for "private use" under any conditions whatsoever.Mover Mike
Spyware infiltrates blogs (hat tip: Dougpetch.com) One more reason to use Firefox and avoid "Next Blog" for now.
Mover Mike
I've posted a lot about our porous borders and threat to our national security. The Hedgehog Blog has what I hope is a contribution to the debate about those illegals already here and what should our policy be. Immigration And The National Interest: Where Should Conservatives Stand?
Mover Mike
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
More on The Oregonian
Mover Mike
Kelo v. City of New London, Update
In THE COMMON GOOD AND THE VOTER'S PARADOX
A rational and selfish individual will not voluntarily contribute to community welfare even though he/she would share in that welfare. We could even suggest that the only people who do voluntarily sacrifice personal rewards for the public good are nothing but patsies. The person who refuses to contribute to the common good gets a double reward. He or she gets the immediate reward of the money or effort saved, and the long term reward of collecting whatever public good the patsies createdThere are two choices to solve the problem. The market approach or the common good approach. Some will object to the market approach as favorable to the rich. However, since people choose their self interests, the common good can only be enforced by regulation and taxation (The point of the Gun).
From Capitalism Magazine
Individual rights protect man's freedom -- freedom from the coercion of others -- to pursue his life and happiness in the only way he can, by following reason. Initiating force against another, by its vary nature, is anti-reason and therefore anti-life. This is what our mainstream intellectuals and politicians obscure, evade and oppose when they advocate the violation of individual rights.The thing that got me interested in the first place was news that the Bush Administration was planning on filing an amicus brief in favor of the City of New London. The deadline for filing amicus briefs in Kelo vs City of New London passed without intervention by the Bush administration. A decision is expected in July.
When a collectivist claims that individual rights must be subordinated to the "public good," his concept of "public" is divorced from individuals, and his concept of "good" is divorced from reason, freedom and justice. His claim amounts to: The needs or desires of some necessitate the enslavement and destruction of others.
Mover Mike
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
The USD and S. Korea
Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar fell the most in more than four months against the yen and dropped versus the euro, Korean won and at least 30 other currencies after the Bank of Korea said it plans to diversify its reserves.I have added a number of blogs to my blogroll (see those that are in bold) that post on the USD and currencies in general. I have a feeling that we will all be wanting more information about the effects of a falling dollar on us personally over the coming years. I think that Gold will be considerably higher and in the 70's the price of Gold was higher than the Dow Jones Average. I believe the two will cross again and we all should have some dollars in this area for insurance. I do.
Mover Mike
The Oregonian Responds
Eason Jordan VS Jeff Gannon in The Oregonian in which I state that to be completely silent on Eason Jordan, yet play up the story of Jeff Gannon speaks volumes about the bias that exists in the MSM and The Oregonian. I concluded by saying:
Come on, Oregonian, start doing the job we subscribers pay you to do!
The Oregonian has an archives accessible through OregonLive. You can access the past 14 days and the last three years, ending at Dec. 31, 2004. I said the only note on Eason Jordan is this snippet from February 17th
The New York Daily News reports that former CNN exec Eason Jordan is dating actress Sharon Stone. Word is the 46-year-old movie siren hooked up with the 44-year-old news executive during the World Economic Conference in Davos, Switzerland.I was told there was one article I missed by Kathleen Parker.
With the recent toppling of CBS' Dan Rather and now CNN's top news executive, Eason Jordan, I think we can declare without fear ofShe goes on to say
contradiction that rigor mortis is settling over the carcass of the
Fourth Estate.
What Jordan essentially said, for those who were in orbit the past two weeks -- or who rely strictly on mainstream media -- was that the U.S. military had targeted journalists in Iraq, where about 36 journalists have been killed since 2003.(emphasis added)So, the people who read The Oregonian read on the 16th that Eason Jordan is gone. Shouldn't there have been some context for that commentary between Jan 27th and Parker's column on Feb 16th? Yet the same paper can
Speaking about priorities, reminds me. At a recent dinner party a number of us were sitting around after dinner talking about the latest news of Michael Jackson, Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt, etc., etc.. I asked everyone, after a lot of this, "Who is the Speaker of the House, the next in line after the Vice President?" Silence!...Dennis Hastert, Rep. J. Dennis Hastert, 14th District of Illinois.
I love Boston Legal when the co-star William Shatner says Denny Crane! Well, to The Oregonian, Denny Hastert!
Mover Mike
Monday, February 21, 2005
RIP John Raitt
Hat tip to The Glittering Eye, Bonnie Raitt we know how close you and your father were and our heartfelt condolences go to you and your family.
Mover Mike
What would Perot Say?
As H Ross Perot would say, "Now, that's sad! That's just sad!" Hat tip to People's Republic of Minnesota and MSNBC.
Boy Love, Jordan and Gannon, and Blogroll
Putting aside for a moment the predations of homosexual priests on altar boys, we are not conditioned to think of males as victims of sex ctrimes. Indeed, guys have a word for the man or boy who is preyed on by an attractive older woman: luckyEvery boy's fantasy right? Pitts again argues that "12-year-old boys are still largely unformed, still emotionally undeveloped, still in the process of becoming." Remember, when we see the books appear, when the networks do the movie of the week, this is not a love story. Remember, too, that an organization called NAMBLA (The North American Man/Boy Love Association) wants to educate society about the positive and beneficial nature of man/boy love. Let's get our outrage back!
Mover Mike
Yesterday, I posted on the difference in coverage in The Oregonian of Eason Jordan and Jeff Gannon. I asked the paper to do their job, the one we as subscribers pay them to do. I emailed the article to all members of the editorial board. (Their emails adresses are here.) I haven't had any response from the lot, but with their permission, I will let you know what they say. Before the last word on this subject is written, I would ask The Oregonian staff to read PowerLine's post Have They No Shame? No, Actually, They Don't. It's a point by point rebuttal to their editorial.
Mover Mike
Please welcome the following to my Blogroll
Mad Canuck - The rantings of a Canadian guy living the American dream in New York.
Precinct 333 - a teacher in Texas, writing yesterday about Ward Churchill and tenure
Pytheas Online - An examination of issues of civilization and conflict.
Regime Change Iran - All the new developments on Iran in excerpt form!
The Other Corner - written by Dan and Greg, check out their article on PEWSLAG Musing Minds
Mover Mike
Saturday, February 19, 2005
Eason Jordan VS Jeff Gannon in The Oregonian
February 17th, 2005 from The Oregonian
The New York Daily News reports that former CNN exec Eason Jordan is dating actress Sharon Stone. Word is the 46-year-old movie siren hooked up with the 44-year-old news executive during the World Economic Conference in Davos, Switzerland.However, on February 19th on the Editorial page, yet, is this op-ed:
The 'Jeff Gannon' storyHere's Musing Minds on the subject:
It illustrates the far superior success of right-wing bloggers over lefties in getting mainstream media to jump on news
Saturday, February 19, 2005
Those inclined to accept right-wing mythology about the "left-wing mainstream media" should consider for a moment the sensational story of fake White House reporter "Jeff Gannon."
Never heard of him? That's not surprising. Mainstream news outlets have scarcely touched it. Yet it's been raging for weeks on left-leaning Web sites, which so far have been unable to elevate the story beyond the blogosphere.
Bloggers on the right, by comparison, have enjoyed spectacular success getting the supposedly leftist media to heed and advance their journalistic agenda. This creates a fertile new issue for industry researchers: Why is it that Internet bloggers on the left, compared with those on the right, have so much less demonstrable influence on mainstream journalism?
The "Jeff Gannon" story is a case in point. Try to imagine this scenario: John Kerry wins the presidency and appoints a press secretary who grants a White House press pass to a fake reporter with a fake name representing a fake news outlet. And what if this "Jeff Gannon," whose real name is James Guckert, gets called upon daily to lob softball questions at White House briefings?
And what if it turns up that Gannon/Guckert has an eyebrow-raising connection to the investigation of the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame?
And what if Gannon/Guckert was involved in setting up Web sites promoting homosexual prostitution? And what if racy nude photos of him start flooding the Internet?
The only thing imaginary about this scenario was the part about Kerry being president. Had it been Kerry whose aide allowed Gannon/Guckert such access to the president, just think of the furor. Conservative Web jockeys, in tandem with talk-radio shouters, would have created a frenzy thrusting the sordid story onto front pages across the land. At the very least, President Kerry's press secretary would be out of a job.
Bloggers on the left are no less bullies than those on the right. But it's possible that mainstream U.S. news organizations resent the liberal-bias tag so much that they're more susceptible to pressure from the right.
Whatever the case, the "Jeff Gannon" story is legitimate: On Jan. 26, at a time of heightened national security, a phony reporter with a pseudonym and ties to the Republican Party got to sit just a few feet from the president at a nationally televised news conference and was called upon -- ahead of dozens of actual reporters -- to ask an inanely sympathetic question.
How does something like this happen? Frustrated bloggers on the left would love to get the White House press corps -- leery, possibly lazy, but definitely not lefty -- to find out.
A Good Indicator of Media Bias – How the Media Defines BiasCome on, Oregonian, start doing the job we subscribers pay you to do!
It seems that the Gannon Story is gaining some traction in the MSM. Just to recap. Eason Jordan, the head of CNN news makes public statements that US troops are murdering journalists (just the latest in a series of similar statements). The other big recent media “story” is that of Jeff Gannon, who it seems, operates under a fictitious name and runs a small conservative blog, got access to White House Press briefings. That the media would be completely silent on the Jordan Story, and give any play to the Gannon story speaks volumes about the prism through which the MSM views the world
Mover Mike
China and Our Navy
President Bush's plan for the Navy calls for buying fewer ships, while China, a potential security hot spot, is increasing and repositioning its fleet.Some are very concerned, including Sen. Trent Lott (Miss.) and Sen. Susan Collins (Maine). Both senators come from shipbuilding states. Then I see this article (hat tip Free Republic) from Global Politician: China’s Shipbuilding Industry: An Emerging Threat to U.S. National Security?
China is experiencing the greatest national expansion of its shipbuilding industry in the country’s maritime history, with growth expected to continue well into the next decade.Frankly, I'm worried. In China, we have a country that is emerging as the next Superpower, wants to consolidate its hold on its traditional territory (Taiwan); I suspect, remembers that we talked openly about "nuking" them to support Taiwan; is engaged in a furious competition for raw materials with the US to fuel their economy, has at least 25,000 spies in this country, and has nuclear weapons and a growing capability to deliver them. We say we are at war, but as I said here it doesn't look like we are, and we are in woeful shape financially, with our twin deficits. Either we are going to increase military spending big time soon, or we will be coming from behind again as we did after Pearl Harbor....snip...
Coinciding with the growth of the Chinese shipbuilding industry has been a precipitous decrease in the number of available U.S. Navy surface ships. The number of U.S. Navy ships has declined from a total of 594 in 1987 to 289 in 2004 -- the smallest U.S. Navy since 1917.
Mover Mike
Friday, February 18, 2005
The Tyranny of Eminent Domain
On February 22nd, the future of property rights in America will be at stake as the Supreme Court begins oral arguments in the case of Kelo v. New London. The central question at issue is: should the government be able to use its power of eminent domain to seize property from one private party and transfer it to another?I wrote here how the Bush Administration was filing an amicus brief on behalf of the developers and against the property owner Susette Kelo et al, a nurse who bought and painstakingly restored a home in Connecticut.
Mover Mike
H5N1, Rights, and Banned Sandwiches
Governments should consider stockpiling vaccine against H5N1 bird flu now, before a pandemic starts, a World Health Organization report out next month will advise.The US will have 4 million doses to protect us!
Mover Mike
Thrasymachus Online has book report of a different kind of plague, one that instantly kills all mammals (but one) with a Y chromosome (men).
Mover Mike
Tram From Vietnam And The Real American Dream
By Bryanna Bevens. Anecdotal evidence of different rules for immigrants.
Tram wanted to know why Asians should follow the law and spend years working on their citizenship if the benefits are the same for illegal aliens from Mexico.Indeed!
Mover Mike
The Templar Pundit has a post about sandwiches banned by Rutgers. I thought, "What sandwich could be offensive?" It was a tough search to find this story in The Daily Targum and I had to register.
Students split on Grease Truck names
A Grease Truck worker - who wished to be identified as "Mr. C" - was visibly upset yesterday about covering up certain names on his truck.The sandwiches are "Fat Dyke" and "Fat Bitch"
"I'm very upset. We're all very upset," he said. "I've been selling [Fat] Bitches for 14 years."I could rant about our changing mores in regards to words, but why? I wouldn't order a "Fat Bitch" or a "Philly Cheesesteak". I prefer the "Brisket on a Poor Boy" or a "Hero".
Mover Mike
Japan, US and Taiwan
The agreement to be announced Sunday eclaring the Taiwan Strait as a "common strategic objective" of Washington and Tokyo is the most significant alteration since 1996 of the US-Japanese Security AllianceMover Mike
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Housing, China, and Bill Maher
Mover Mike
Tancredo challenges U.S. one-China policy Some of you are too young to remember Matsu and Quemoy, two islands off the coast of China and part of China claimed by Gen. Chiang Kai-shek residing on Taiwan. The Formosa Resolution was passed on 29 January 1955,pledging
the US to the defense of Taiwan, authorizing the president to employ American forces to defend Formosa and the Pescadores Island against armed attack, including such other territories as appropriate to defend them.We have had a two-China policy until
Pres. Carter decided to cut ties with Taiwan and shift U.S. recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, Carter did not consult with Congress.At various points in the 50's leaders, Eisenhower and Dulles for and Churchill against, talked about using Atomic weapons against the mainland to support the government in Taiwan.
Mover Mike
Bill Maher, nuff said!
Said Maher: "When people say to me, 'You hate America,' I don't hate America. I love America. I am just embarrassed that it has been taken over by people like evangelicals, by people who do not believe in science and rationality. It is the 21st century. And I will tell you, my friend. The future does not belong to the evangelicals. The future does not belong to religion."I suspect that's why Russia banned religion and what was Lenin's famous quote, "Religion is opium for the people. Religion is a sort of spiritual booze, in which the slaves of capital drown their human image, their demand for a life more or less worthy of man."
But a slave who has become conscious of his slavery and has risen to struggle for his emancipation has already half ceased to be a slave. The modern class-conscious worker, reared by large-scale factory industry and enlightened by urban life, contemptuously casts aside religious prejudices, leaves heaven to the priests and bourgeois bigots, and tries to win a better life for himself here on earth. The proletariat of today takes the side of socialism, which enlists science in the battle against the fog of religion, and frees the workers from their belief in life after death by welding them together to fight in the present for a better life on earth. Lenin
Mover Mike
The Mountain Stream
Our house was set in the trees and over the deck off the bedroom was a fir bough where I tied our gift. When the wind started to gently blow that night, the chime pealed like a church bell calling parishioners to mass. I lay there cringing, tensely waiting for the next sledgehammer blow. It was much louder than I imagined. Quickly, I found some surgical tape to wrap the edge of the clapper to mute the sound. That experience stayed with me as Beverly and I searched through gift shops at the beach for the perfect wind chime.
Wind chimes come in all sizes and materials. There are chimes made of pieces of colored glass that tinkle; there are chimes made of broken pieces of pottery with a dull glass-like sound. We found bamboo chimes that are melodic and have an oriental sound. There are chimes that are not unique except for the town advertisement.
While in Rockaway last Memorial Day, we found a windchime called Mountain Stream. It has brass tubes and is tuned to the key of D. Imagine that, the key of D! If you are more partial to A Flat (and I can't for the life me have A flat on our deck) they had A Flat. I hung the key of D wind chime on the deck. For the first few days, when the wind gently wafted around the corners of the house, there was a happy sound.
I noticed, though, when the north wind came up in the evening of a hot summer day, there was, still, just a happy sound! Our Mountain Stream was sheltered by the neighbor's shrubbery. I found another location that was in the river of air. That night it was like my ex-father-in-law had returned. I was sure the neighbors would be calling the police. A nude dash in the night, a new location and now, with just a small breeze, there can be this pure ting, ting, ting. When the East wind blows, we get the full octave. Instead of a water feature, we drift off to the Mountain Stream.
Mover Mike
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Black Nike One Black
Due to incredible demand for the black Nike One Black, Nike Golf will offer a limited number of two-ball sleeves of the black Nike One Black with the purchase of a dozen Nike One Black or Nike One Gold golf balls at participating golf shops and golf specialty stores.As I said here, a great viral marketing campaign!At last week's FBR Open, Rory Sabbatini, Justin Leonard, K.J. Choi and Stewart Cink each teed up the black Nike One Black on the par-3 No. 16. Each day they passed through No. 16 they teed it up. Ironically, Cink, Choi and Sabbatini were all grouped together for Saturday's Third Round, making for an interesting sight with three black golf balls on the green. The buzz from "the most exciting hole in golf" carried far beyond Scottsdale, Arizona and calls for the black Nike One Black started rolling in before the tournament ended.
Mover Mike
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Cascade Aids Project
The next gig we have is a benefit for the Cascade Aids Project on March 3rd at the Weiden and Kennedy building in the Pearl District. It is free and we play from 7:30 to 9:30. Hopefully we will see you there.Now all you Portlanders, here are samples from their first album:
Wings
Marigolds
Safe and Sound
Come Clean
Stranded
Here is a way to hear an excellent band for free AND help a worthy cause with your contributions.
Mover Mike
Monday, February 14, 2005
TCS and the Chill on Speech
They are afraid that there will be a chill cast over speech, because people say things that are inappropriate, or word things improperly or have a slip of the tongue. As a consequence the speaker gets pillored and fired. Apparently, one shouldn't be responsible for things one says.
Eason Jordan resigned his position as top news executive at CNN because he had allegedly said that the U.S. military was deliberately killing journalists in Iraq.He accused the US Military of deliberately targeting reporters in front of a friendly crowd that mostly believed as he did. When called on it, he chose to deny his comments. He could have said, "Yes, I said it and here's the proof" or "Yes, I said it and there should be an investigation." And now TCS says people will be less free to speak their minds in the future. Bull! Words have consequences. You can no more yell fire in a crowded theater than attempt to thwart an election with false documents or smear the military with false charges. This is a PC world, unfortunately. Only TCS is trying to make us believe that there are exceptions, one of which is smearing the military.
Mover Mike
How We Fight War has Changed
Hundreds of bombers opened their bellies and thousands of bombs tumbled out, screaming earthwards and landing willy-nilly on the medieval German city of Dresden.Latest bombing technology helps reduce risk to Iraqi civilians
...snip...
The city burned and tens of thousands died, mostly civilians.
One truth in Iraq, said Col. Bob Chapman, is the minds and hearts of Iraqis won’t be won if America drops bombs on them.Leaders from both sides in the past "believed bombing civilians would break their spirit and force an end to the war." Let our enemy know, you will not break our spirit!
That’s why, the director of operations for U.S. Central Air Force Command said, great care is taken in the country before a bomb is dropped.
“We take collateral damage mitigation very seriously,” he said in a telephone interview from Shaw Air Force Base, S.C. “Almost every weapon we drop is a precision munitions now.”
Mover Mike
Bill DeSmedt's Singularity
"Back in the mid-sixties, a researcher name of John Bell designed an experiment. Bell's Inequality, it's called. Took over fifteen years before anybody could figure how to carry it out, but when they did, Bell's Inequality proved--proved, mind you--that our electron has neither a definite location nor a definite speed until somebody decides to look at one or the other."That means that it's all a conversation. Nothing is real until we think it so. The United States did not not exist until it was imagined. Closer to home, if you told yourself "I'm not good at art or math", your conversation became reality. Fascinating book about the physics of Singularity, and so much more. I'm waiting for the sequel....snip...
"The relevance is that it makes particle physics a branch of psychology."
...snip...
"A branch of psychology. Think about it: here we have the best-tested, most reliable theory in the history of science. A theory, by the way, that's essential to the workings of everything from your laptop there, to these little seatback HDTV's for the in-flight movie. And what it's saying, when you get right down to it, is..."
...snip...
What it's saying, is: it takes conscious choices, by conscious minds, to make reality real."
Mover Mike
Hockeystick Broke & Compound Interest
In Climate Debate,The 'Hockey Stick'Leads to a Face-Off
But is the hockey stick true?My god, Antonio Regalado, what took you so long! Mover Mike posted about this over a month ago.
According to a semiretired Toronto minerals consultant, it's not. After spending two years and about $5,000 of his own money trying to double-check the influential graphic, Stephen McIntyre says he has found significant oversights and errors. He claims its lead author, climatologist Michael Mann of the University of Virginia, and colleagues used flawed methods that yield meaningless results.
GLOBAL WARMING BOMBSHELL: Hockeystick Broke
PS: I emailed Regalado at the WSJ, with my rhetorical question, not expecting a reply. However, I did get this reply after I posted: "You know, I had to call a few people figure it out for myself." Antonio, I appreciate your article and the ok to release his emailed response.
Mover Mike
From 
The U.S. Treasury wants Congress to approve a 13 percent funding boost to cover interest payments on government debt next year as part of its overall request for an increase in funding… The increase would be the highest in at least 18 years and the request comes the same day the White House predicted the federal budget deficit will rise to a record $427 billion in the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30., forcing the Treasury to issue government securities to plug the gap. Interest on debt payments will rise an estimated 8.2 percent to $347.9 billion in fiscal 2005, from $321.6 billion last year.”Mover Mike says a 13.2% increase would boost interest payments alone in fiscal 2006 to $393.13 Billion up from $347.9 Billion. Compounding is the 8th Wonder of the world. We cannot continue this game for a whole lot longer. At just 8% per year compounded, the interest on the federal debt doubles to $800 Billion.
Then we have the Trade Deficit:
Mover Mike
Please welcome
Gideon Strauss - the next neocalvinism and the renewal of culture
Mover Mike
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Targeting Journalists
The more outlandish a conspiracy theory is, the more likely it can be utterred without fear of reprisal in certain circles. Some small kernel of truth that adds any credibilty to the claim is a bonus. After all, journalists do get killed on battlefields. Civilians are often victims of crossfire. Soldiers sometimes mistakenly fire on their brothers-in-arms. It's a small step from those facts to an assumption that somewhere, somehow a soldier might have intentionally fired on a journalist in the heat of battle. That's the start of a slippery slope, nearer the bottom of which some are surprised to find executives with major news organizations opining that such events occur with a frequency that could not be unnoticed by the powers-that-be in both the military and the media.I suspect, there are many that will find fault with America, that have no respect for the US Military, and are willing to believe like Jordan. They can take an incident like Abu-Ghraib and indict the whole for the actions of a few.
Mover Mike
Please welcome:
A Face Made 4 Radio,A Voice Made 4 the Internet - PROUD MEMBER OF THE ALLIANCE
The Radio Equalizer -Brian Maloney - Insight into politics and radio from talk show host and writer Brian Maloney.
The Urban Grind - A view of current events, politics and life in general from the perspective of a conservative woman in Manhattan(!!!)
Mover Mike
Amelia and Mississipi Studios
N. Mississippi Ave to see Amelia live. I posted about this upcoming event here.
An old church once stood where Mississippi Studios is now, torn down and replaced by this small recording studio, teaching facility and intimate setting. A musician or band may perform from the stage inside or on the floor with the audience. In this case Amelia, a Portland band of four or five (depending who is sitting in that night) generated great sounds from the stage where there were 10 additional seats. The dark rose colored room holds 70 or so. With the lights down low a picture of Willie Nelson could still be seen watching from the stage.
We discovered Amelia when Kink FM played "Jigsaw".
“Jigsaw” opens with a clanging guitar hook, a soft lounge-lizard rock/samba beat, and a languid vocal from Teisha Helgerson that likens love to a scattered puzzle.(No Depression Magazine - July/August 2004)I immediately asked, "Who's that?"
Amelia consists of lead singer Teisha Helgerson, guitarist Scott Weddle, bass player Jesse Emerson, and Richard Cuellar on drums and percussion.
There is great pleasure in hearing music live. We were in the third row and enjoyed seeing the band up so close. They were casual with each other and the audience, almost like sitting in on one of their practices. I couldn't help stare at good looking Helgerson. Her delivery seemed effortless. When I wasn't staring, I was watching Weddle, so into playing a variety of guitars that I picked up some new riffs for my air guitar. A wonderful evening with Amelia and a wonderful venue.
Mover Mike - 5021
Saturday, February 12, 2005
Lamis Awad Speaks About Eason Jordan
Lamis Awad, a Tunisian journalist who attended the event, said Jordan criticized the US forces for targeting reporters working for Al-Jazeera news channel in particular.There are two instances in the article in which Al-Jazeera accuses the US Military of deliberately attacking their offices in Kabul and Baghdad killing its correspondent Tariq Ayyoub.
“The US administration would not allow any journalist working in a heavyweight American channel like CNN to publicly criticize its policies in Iraq,” she told the Doha-based broadcaster commenting on the resignation.
Al-Jazeera– nicknamed “the CNN of the Arab world” - is the most-watched channel in the Arab world.No indication from Eason Jordan if his new job will be Al-Jazeera chief news executive.
The station’s officials plan the launch of an English satellite TV by the end of this year. It already has a sports channel and plans to also start up a documentary channel and another for children in 2005.
Mover Mike
No Eason Jordan in The Oregonian
Oops! Your search found no matches. Please try a new search belowI remember when Portland had two daily newspapers, The Oregonian and The Oregon Journal. These two papers competed until they merged and then there was just The Oregonian. Now there is competition again with 5 to 8 million blogs, each a newspaper, in a way, and we see what is not being reported. No longer does someone in a glass office decide for us what stories to print.
Mover Mike
Friday, February 11, 2005
Eason Jordan Quits
Guess that answers that question!
Now, can we hear from Reporters Without Borders or Committee to Protect Journalists?
Hat tip to the Drudge Report!
Mover Mike
Do Journalists in Iraq Feel Threatened?
In 2003, in Iraq
Mazen Dana, Reuters
Palestinian cameraman Mazen Dana, 43, was shot dead by an American soldier on 17 August 2003 as he was filming Abou Ghraib prison in a suburb of Baghdad. US officials said the soldier mistook his camera for a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.
José Couso, Tele 5
Two TV cameramen, Spaniard José Couso and Ukrainian Taras Protsyuk, were killed on 8 April 2003 when a US tank fired on the hotel Palestine in Baghdad, where many foreign journalists were staying.
Taras Protsyuk, Reuters
Two TV cameramen, Ukrainian Taras Protsyuk and Spaniard José Couso, were killed on 8 April 2003 when a US tank fired on the hotel Palestine in Baghdad, where many foreign journalists were staying.
Terry Lloyd, ITV News
Reporter for the British TV network ITN, veteran British war reporter Terry Lloyd, 51, was killed in gunfire, probably from US-British troops, near Basra on 22 March 2003.
In 2004, in Iraq
Dhia Najim, Reuters
Dhia Najim, an Iraqi freelance cameraman working for the news agency Reuters was shot dead (by a sniper) in disputed circumstances on 1st November 2004 in the town of Ramadi, west of Baghdad.
A Reuters dispatch also noted that press photographs taken on 31 October showed US marine snipers taking up position in Ramadi. Reuters ruled out any possibility Najim being linked to the rebels and called for a thorough investigation by the US army. Najim's colleagues and family believe he was killed by a US sniper.
Mazen al-Tomaizi, Al-Arabiya
Palestinian journalist Mazen al-Tomaizi, who worked for the pan-Arab TV news station Al-Arabiya and the Saudi TV station Al-Ekhbariya, was reporting live on Al-Ekhbariya at the scene of a burning Bradley fighting vehicle on 12 September 2004 in Baghdad when he was hit by the impact of a missile fired from a US helicopter.
Mahmoud Hamid Abbas, ZDF
When he phoned the ZDF office in Baghdad to say he was coming he mentioned he had just filmed a house destroyed by US warplanes. About 25 minutes later, he rang again to say he had seen a second attack. During the call, he suddenly said he and others with him were being fired at. There was a dull thud, apparently an explosion, and the line was cut off, according to ZDF correspondent in Iraq.
Hossam Ali, freelance
Iraqi freelance photographer Hossam Ali was killed in Falluja on 15 August 2004 in unclear circumstances.
Ali Al-Khatib, Al-Arabiya and Ali Abdel Aziz, Al-Arabiya
Two Al-Arabiya journalists were hit by American shots on 18 March 2004 near the Borj al-Hayat Hotel although there their vehicle was clearly marked "TV."
The TV crew was there because the Borj al-Hayat Hotel had just sustained a rocket attack. Abdel Aziz's brother, Haidar Abdel Aziz, said Al-Arabiya had been given permission to film by the US army. "Suddenly, a Volvo did not stop at the roadblock and the soldiers began to open fire," he said. "My brother and the journalist wanted to leave, they ran towards their car, and at the moment that it was starting up, an armoured vehicle fired on it."
Yesterday, I posted here and here that Ann Cooper of the Committee to Protect Journalists used words like "U.S. troops harassing journalists", murder and "at least nine of the 23 journalists killed were deliberately targeted". I can see from the list above of 10 reporters killed in Iraq in two years, how some might feel threatened. But...Is it deliberate?
Mover Mike
Nike Black Golf Balls???
I went to Nike's site, www.nike.com, found the golf section and discovered a great viral marketing campaign. The balls name is One Black. It is a solid core WHITE ball, but for a limited time you can get a sleeve of black One Blacks. You can read all about the ball at Nike Golf. For the record, none of my family works at Nike or is dependent on Nike in any way. I was not paid in any way to write about One Black. I have tried in the past to get Adidas to pay me NOT to wear their logos when I play tennis. If you saw me play, you would know why.
Mover Mike
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Defeat Law Of The Sea Treaty
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea was a terrible idea when President Reagan refused to sign it in 1982 and fired the State Department staff who helped to negotiate it. It's an even worse idea today because of the additional dangers it poses.Read what Phyllis Schlafly says about LOST and urge your comgressmen and women to vote against it.
Mover Mike
Committee to Protect Journalists
The number of journalists killed worldwide increased significantly during the past year, with 56 newspeople dying on the job in 2004, up from 38 in 2003, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, which has tracked such statistics since 1992. Murder, not warfare, was the leading cause.(emphasis added)These are serious charges, "murder, deliberately killed"!The deaths ranged from the Philippines, where eight journalists were slain in a series of attacks, to Mexico, where drug-fueled violence claimed the lives of two journalists. In Iraq, where crossfire was the leading cause of death among journalists, at least nine of the 23 journalists killed were deliberately targeted, CPJ reported (emphasis added).
Mover Mike
CPJ and Eason Jordan
The Pentagon was pleased with the "embed" coverage, but openly irritated that hundreds of other journalists reported on the war "unilaterally," that is, without traveling with the troops. Now, several months after the end of active war and the embed program, the press corps covering Iraq is virtually all unilateral, residual good will from the embed program is fading, and a troubling pattern has emerged of U.S. troops harassing journalists covering the post-war violence.Who is Ann Cooper?
Ann Cooper is the executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based nonprofit organization promoting press freedom worldwide. She is a former correspondent for National Public Radio who covered the former Soviet Union and Africa.Cooper's bio may color her reporting on this subject and tends to support Eason Jordan's accusations of the US Military. If he said what he is alleged to have said, then he owes it to all of us to back up his statements with evidence. Why hasn't made any comments on the Jordan story?
The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization founded in 1981. We promote press freedom worldwide by defending the right of journalists to report the news without fear of reprisal.made any comments on the Jordan story?
CPJ Search: Eason Jordan
No documents found relating to your query.
Try to widen your search and enter more words related to your topic.
Hint: Searches are wider for ANY words rather than ALL or EXACT PHRASE.
Mover Mike
Sen. Allen, Sen Dodd, and N Korea Nukes
A member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said Wednesday the videotaped comments of a CNN news executive claiming that U.S. troops in Iraq had targeted journalists should be released. The senator also condemned the remarks, saying they could provide fodder for enemies of the United States.Carl Limbacher in NewsMax
Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) called the comments by Eason Jordan, the head of CNN's news division, "outrageous and wrong," and said he wants to see the videotape of Jordan making the comments.
On Tuesday (Sen. Christopher) Dodd's office released a statement saying he " was outraged by [Jordan's] comments," adding that he is "tremendously proud of the sacrifice and service of our American military personnel."Mover Mike
North Korea Has Nukes, Refuses Negotiations By Susan Jones
North Korea told the world on Thursday that it already has nuclear weapons - to protect itself from the United States; and it also announced that it will not return to six-way talks intended to curb its nuclear ambitions.Mover Mike
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Blame Firefox
Open Source web browsers are causing untold damage to businesses around the globe, according to Microsoft security specialist David Keppelmeyer.I tried to go to connect, but I couldn't connect with Firefox or IE."If you are a business that uses Internet Explorer and other businesses are using Firefox, when the next worm hits it's you that suffers. That's directly the fault of Firefox adopters. In effect other businesses who have switched have squeezed more attacks your way"
Mover Mike
Asian Tsunami Earthquake Update
The earthquake that created the devastating Asian tsunami on 26 December 2004 was three times more powerful than first thought, say researchers analysing long-period seismic waves.Mover Mike
Welcome to:
A Guy In Pajamas - ... continuing in the long tradition of pajama-clad insurgents.
AZ Perspective and Junk - News and events, topics relating to Arizona and other interesting things such as science, culture, and the arts.
Ingrown Brain Stem - In advertising, likes conspiracy theories and Tori Amos (I don't think the two are related!)
Kilabe's Hive - Where's the damn bar again?
Mister Pundit - A Canadian, "From leftist to realist. I'm free at last."
Mover Mike
Armored Vehicles, Saudi Support, and Sales Tax on R.E.
In the transcript of Feb 6th of Sec. Def. Donald Rumsfeld on Meet the Press with Tim Russert this exchange took place:
SEC'Y RUMSFELD: ...By February 15th, nine days from now, there will not be a vehicle moving around in Iraq outside of a protected compound with American soldiers in it that does not have an appropriate level of armor.Did we go from 25% to 100% of all vehicles "moving around in Iraq outside of a protected compound"? Stay Tuned!
MR. RUSSERT: Which is a pretty dramatic change, because Newsweek had said that, of the 19,000 Humvees in the Iraqi theater, according to the Army's latest numbers, only a quarter were fully armored.
Mover Mike
Hat Tip to The Big Picture! The Chicago Sun-Times writes about what it is that the Saudi's teach in American Mosques
"The Saudi textbooks and documents spread throughout American mosques preach a Nazi-like hatred for Jews, treat the forged Protocols of the Elders of Zion as historical fact, and avow that the Muslim's duty is to eliminate the state of Israel," writes Nina Shea, the Center's director. In addition, they "instill contempt for America because the United States is ruled by legislated civil law rather than by totalitarian Wahhabi-style Islamic law." Woe to Christians who should be actively hated because they stir up images of crusaders and colonists and because they are "enemies to Allah, his Prophet and believers." Woe to Muslims who advance tolerance and human rights -- they, too, are infidels. Woe to homosexuals or heterosexuals who have sex outside marriage -- it is considered "lawful" to kill them.Mover Mike
Sales Tax on Property Sales
I have been meaning to comment on this post from RoguePundit. Officials in Asland, OR, believe affordable housing is a problem. First, they have established a living wage of $11.44 an hour. Since there is little land for dense housing and where there is, there is NIMBY, residents who fear dense housing will negatively affect their property values, the city wants to impose a sales tax on property sales to be used for low-income housing. Currently, state law prohibits such a tax. So Ashland is trying to get Portland to support changing the law.
In Oregon, we passed a property tax limitation a number of years ago. Our property taxes would be based on market value today, rather than appraised value plus a maximum increase per year. There is getting to be quite a difference between appraised base and market value, if you have owned the same home since this law was passed. Cities and especially schools are constantly crying for more money, and School Dist #1 (Portland) is no exception, never mind that enrollment is down substantially.
Housing affordability is a problem. We have had a net migration into our state. We have urban growth boundaries, which concentrate all new housing within the boundaries, and I suspect, we still, have lower housing prices per square foot than elsewhere on the coast. A sales tax on property sales would be a boon for the city.
What both cities fail to understand is a sales tax will not solve the affordable housing problem in Ashland. Sellers will just raise their price to offset the tax, so they net the same amount. In Portland, when a house sells, there is a new base for taxation created and thus more taxes for the city, anyway. They just want a new source of revenue. Tax revenue to a politician is like a drug. Giving in, just encourages them to want more.
Mover Mike
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Canada, Nukes, CNN's Jordan, Immigration and Iran
Back on Nov. 2nd, I wrote here about people in the US promising to move to Canada if Bush won. Charlottesvillain at TigerHawk has an interesting post about this subject The exodus continues. Apparently, some people are their word. Anybody know the whereabouts of Steve and Karen Crawford or Gretchen Witte? Are they still here in the states? The Lone Wolf has some thoughts, too.
Mover Mike
In a post on Jan 14th The Middle East is on the Brink of Going Nuclear, I posted about A Q Khan. Today in The TOMO Report PAKISTAN TO ARM ARAB REGIMES WITH NUKES? we have an update.
Mover Mike
Check out Michelle Malkin's update of the substantiation of Eason Jordan remarks. And...check out the filth that gets said about Malkin. There is NO place that this kind of gutter language is acceptable.
Hat tip to The Royal Flush
The Radical Centrist has some excellent commentary about the "blogswarm" and possible repercussions of comments by CNN's Jordan.
Mover Mike
The Kreeper's Korner gets published
Editor: Illegal immigration costs the United States billions of dollars every year in lost taxes and wages, health-care costs, fraudulent welfare claims, identity theft, increased education costs, and crime.Mover Mike
I missed this! The Indepundit has an article about student protests in Iran
Mover Mike
Monday, February 07, 2005
M-113 APC's, C-130's and Military Spending
At the start of World War II, building a 10,000 ton Liberty ship took 12 months. Three years later, this was down to four days, and the ships were coming off assembly line at the rate of 13 per week. The Willow Run bomber plant in Michigan was turning out a four-engine B-24 every hour.I have read, today, that only 25% of our vehicles are armored and C-130's are taking over some of the transport duties to lessen the danger to our troops. Now the Army plans to send 734 Vietnam-era M-113 APC's to Iraq. This is the vehicle that troops would rather ride on top and risk exposure to enemy fire, than run the risk of being drenched with fuel and trapped inside.
Some of today's weapons are more complex and take longer to build, but three years into the war, armor, for instance should be coming off assembly lines like sheets of plywood. Instead, armor is in short supply, and troops are dying for lack of it.
Mark Helprin asked in January if President Bush was fighting this war on the cheap. I have said it is eerie that we are at war, yet see no signs of it in our daily domestic lives, other than wives, parents and children of our military personnel. The war is being fought overseas, yet our borders are as porous as a T-shirt that's been washed every week for 12 years. Why? Are the politicians afraid to tell us that massive military spending is heading our way? Are we in for a repeat of the sixties under Johnson, when he tried to give us "guns and butter" and what we got was massive inflation? Are big increases in spending a threat to the USD?
Mover Mike
Social Security, Amelia on Saturday
In April, you’ll be 62 years old, and after forty years at the same job, you’d like a rest, and a chance to look around to see what else you might like to do. How much money do you have in your social security account after paying into it all these years?Mover Mike
None.
Every dime is gone. Spent by congress. (They just dumped in another batch of I.O.U.s the other day, in fact.)
Going to see Amelia this Saturday at Mississippi Studios. Their latest album just grows and grows on me. Give a listen on their website Amelia
2/12 (Sat) AMELIA with MY BRAVE FACE
“Lead singer Teisha Helgerson’s husky yet smooth vocals and Amelia’s Jazz-influenced, ethereal songs manage sexy mystery and quiet desperation reminiscent of the Cowboy Junkies. Though both bands’ songs are dark and quiet, Amelia’s aren’t nearly as depressing as the Junkies – there’s light, sweet and amazing light, at the end of Amelia’s tunnels.” (Willamette Week)
“Amelia demonstrates a seamless union of identity, sound and
purpose….striking a balance between old and new, worldliness and Americana.”
(The Oregonian)
My Brave Face imagines the Costello/McCartney band that never was with all the harmonies you might envision.
8 pm (doors: 7 pm) $10 www.ameliaband.com
Mover Mike
Update on Bird Flu, VW Viral Ad, and US Inflation
Scientists in China have developed a bird flu vaccine for poultry and mammals that can fend off the deadly virus and help stop its spread, the China Daily newspaper said on Monday.Mover Mike
From Modern Tribalist (Please welcome him, BTW) Foolish Spain
Spain thinks that the problems of illegal immigration can be solved by making the immigrants legalMover Mike
Hat tip to Instapundit for Carnival of the Capitalists writing about the downside of "viral marketing" from The Mobile Technology Weblog
Buckley's first law of business is "Don't sue your customers", followed by "Don't sue anyone, if you can possible avoid it."Two admen made an ad featuring a VW used by a terrorist, blows up on the inside, without blowing up on the outside, now they are being sued, a violation of Buckley's rule #2. BTW here's the ad from Adland also
Rumour Mill Update 3: It has been brought to our attention that the RoSPA (The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) is incensed at this spot. They noticed that the driver of the VW doesn't appear to be wearing a seat belt or any other form of safety harness, thus making him a unsuitable role model for impressionable British youth. "Remember, ladies and gents - Seat belts save lives."Mover Mike
I happen to believe that inflation is understated in this country. Two articles that agree with my point of view explain how we arrive at our numbers and compare our growth rate to Europe.
US inflation: are Savers Screwing the Pooch?
Mover Mike
Sunday, February 06, 2005
Congrats New England
Mover Mike
Please Welcome
Heavy-Handed Politics - works for a non-profit in Minneapolis and follows the news of Proposition 200.
I just don't get it - An old happily married guy from Phoenix who just seems to be clueless about most everything that goes on in the world. (but is clued in about Proposition 200 and on the front line.
Pamibe - a Blog for Bush, who thinks we should have sealed our borders after 9/11
Mover Mike
Superbrain Chip, N. Koreans, and the Super Bowl
Advance reports suggest the chip is significantly more powerful and versatile than the next generation of micro-processors announced by the consortium's competitors, Intel and AMD....This sounds like significant competition for Intel and AMD and a new cycle of corporate and consumer expenditures.
The two leading chipmakers are just moving from 32-bit to 64-bit computing and to dual-core processors essentially two “brains” on a single chip.Cell is understood to have at least four cores and be significantly faster than Intel and AMD chips.
Mover Mike
15 N. Koreans Nabbed Crossing U.S.-Mexico Border
The Los Angeles-based Association of People From Five Northern Provinces said on Sunday it learned that 15 North Koreans were arrested by U.S. Border Patrol as they tried to smuggle themselves into the U.S. from Tijuana, Mexico. But the association’s president Kim Ho-jeong added it remained to be confirmed whether the 15 really were defectors.I am glad they were caught, but how many more go undetected?
Mover Mike
Welcome to:
The primary Hyscience author is a retired new-drug R&D researcher with an international background in the development of immunobiologics, pre-clinical research, corporate development and venture capital. Secondary authors have similar or more medically-oriented backgrounds. Guest authors include moderate Muslims with significant technical expertise and first-hand knowledge of the Middle East and Islam.It is here that we can keep track of the Avian Flu developments.
T F Stern's Rantings - a retired City of Houston Police Officer who has some good rules for blogging.
The Kreeper's Korner - The online Home of The Infamous Kreeper-X!
Truth, Lies & Common Sense - Check out the blog. There is a review of The Americans by Gordon Sinclair
Finally, the Super Bowl. New England is a seven point favorite, however Philadelphia hasn't won a sports championship for 22 or 23 years and has been to the Super Bowl three times in the last four years. This is their fourth try in five Minnesota has been in this position and so has Denver, so why not Philly? The last time was 1981 and they lost, the drought ends today. Philly by one!
Mover Mike
Saturday, February 05, 2005
The Diplomad, Oil for Food Scandal, and New Links
Mover Mike
Hammorabi on Feb 3rd in The UN Iceberg of Oil for Food Scandal has a link to the 246 page report and says that a UN agency (UNMOVIC) is still receiving money today long after Sadaam is gone, depriving Iraqis. This outrage must end!
The Iraqis want two things out of the UN now. First the UN should apologize to the Iraqi people and second to compensate Iraq and return its stolen money. Its UNMOVIC should be dissolved immediately.Mover Mike
Please Welcome the following blogs:
Cutting Edge Of Ecstasy - He's bold:
What do we have to do to get a President with the testicular fortitude to tell the Mexican government to shut the hell up and stop the invasion of our country?DemoNcratic Blunderground.com - A medium to expose the Artful Dodgers of the THE ELITE MEDIA who change the Fourth Estate into a Fifth Column of lies, deception, slander, fraud, and libel. The shameful method they use to inform and telegraph information harmful to our Servicemen/Servicewomen in The Worldwide War on Terrorism to our enemies; known and unknown ... within and without ... will not go unchallenged.
Fourth Estate-Fifth Column - More from Sergeant America
Optical Illusions - These Optical Illusions are presented here in the spirit of providing an entertaining venue to educate those interested in illusions and expanding the traditional assumptions of what constitutes an illusion.
Section 31 - Searching out and identifying potential dangers to America...quietly.
The Diplomad inspired this site, and continued to provide inspiration as we worked to find our collective voice in the blogosphere. They will be missed, and are of course welcome to post here, or at My Blog is Your Blog any time. I'll be reading their archives for some time to come.Mover Mike
Proposition 200 Update and Bird Flu
Arizona passed Prop 200 which basically says, according to Bryanna Bevens at V-Dare:Now in Proposition 200 and Mexico's War on Arizona
...if you are not a citizen:
* You are not allowed to vote ANYMORE.
* You are not allowed to benefit from tax-paid, state services ANYMORE.
In a nutshell, if you are going to illegally enter the U.S., seek welfare benefits, put your kids in public school, commit a violent crime, demand a language other than English or vote in any election, I would not recommend you set your sights on Arizona……perhaps California?
I suspect that other states will propose their own "Prop 200" and that may get out the vote as much as bans on gay marriage did in 2004.
During a January 28 radio interview, Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez has threatened the State of Arizona with legal action through the international courts in order to overturn Proposition 200, a ballot initiative lawfully passed last fall to curb state expenditures on illegal aliens.Mover Mike
On February 1st, I wrote
Is Bird Flu on the Way Here?The NYT on February 5 in an Op-Ed When Influenza Takes Flight
The first confirmed case of bird flu being spread between people occurred in Thailand recently, when a woman caught it from her daughter.
IMAGINE this situation: A sudden outbreak of a little-understood disease in two European countries kills 41 of the 54 people it is known to have infected. In its wake it leaves 150 million chickens dead, some of them killed by the virus causing the outbreak, others slaughtered to stop its spread. At a zoo in one country, rare tigers suddenly begin dying from the disease. Reports from elsewhere in Europe say the virus, which is normally found only in chickens, is now also infecting pigs, cats and ducks.Mover Mike
Unfortunately, we don't need to imagine all this - it's happening right now in Asia. An outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza - commonly known as bird flu - has swept through Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam, killing humans, wiping out entire flocks of chickens and spreading fear.(emphasis added)
Thursday, February 03, 2005
Janeane Garofalo, You Are An Embarrassment!
Garofalo: Fingers with ink comparable to Nazi salute
Actress and liberal talk-radio host Janeane Garofalo is taking issue with congressional Republicans who dipped their fingers in ink for President Bush's State of the Union speech as a sign of solidarity with Iraqi voters, likening it to a Nazi salute.Shame on you Janeane Garofalo, you are an embarrassment. You trivialize what this woman and others like her went through to survive. You make light of the risks these people faced to vote. Just today 12 Iraqi army recruits were pulled off a bus and killed.
Any who dipped a finger in blue ink in this country did it in admiration for the courage it took to vote and the joy the action brought to the Iraqis.
Mover Mike
Thursday, February 3rd
Big sperm race is staged on German reality TV
After Big Brother and Jungle Camp, Germans can tune in to a TV reality show this week that breaks new ground in trashiness ... Sperm Race. Twelve men will compete against each other to see which one of them has the 'fastest' sperm.Mover Mike
...the sperm will 'race' towards an egg
...the winner will also be given a suitably German reward, a red Porsche.
"Dean Wormer" of Animal House, Actor John Vernon, Dead at 72
Mover Mike
What's become of Teresa Heinz Kerry? Insider the Beltway reports
"I just checked, and she no longer uses her [entire] last name; only during the [presidential] campaign did she use Kerry," the council's Tamara Rodriguez Reichberg told Inside the Beltway upon our inquiry.Mover Mike
13-year old to address Linux conference
Elizabeth (Garbee) will be speaking on "Extending Tuxracer – Learning by Playing", a seminar which Chair of the 2005 organising committee Steven Handley has said will revolve around making modifications to Tuxracer (a popular open source game involving Linux’s cuddly mascot) with the aim of making the game more fun. Ex-Debian Project Leader and dad Bdale will also present at the conference.Let's see when I was 13, I was in playing the clarinet in 7th grade band.
Mover Mike
NY Times Pays for Spots on Web Site
The New York Times will have three of its story headlines featured at the top of 80 categories for an undisclosed price. All but a few of the topics are focused on New York City and New York state.What am I missing here. If the topics are mostly about NY, why would the NYT have to pay?
Mover Mike
Happy Ayn Rand Centenary!,
I have read all her books, Atlas Shrugged, many times. I remember sitting with the late Portland architect Will Martin, discussing The Fountainhead. Her writings have been with me in spirit since college and colors my views of art, politics and economics. She was so far-sighted. So much of the good-old-boy money-politics we have today, Ayn Rand wrote about and led to the saying "Who is John Galt?" We have a Federal Reserve Chairman who sat at the knees of Rand, who seems to have gone over to the dark side with regard to Gold. For many years I accepted her atheism, or for me it was agnosticism, but that changed in 1988 when I found I needed God in my life. I read the other day that she still sells 300,000 books a year. Recommended reading for high school and above.
Mover Mike
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
The State of the Union
Abroad, the president sent a strong message to the axis of evil and its cadet member, Syria. He expanded the issue with Iran from its weapons to its oppressive theocracy – and returned to the promise he made in 2002 to stand with the Iranian people against the unelected few who oppress them in the name of religion.And Second:
Gently and flatteringly, Bush served notice on Egypt and Saudi Arabia that they must move toward democracy – and to the Palestinians that they must move away from terrorism. He offered a cogent, credible and convincing account of the connection between tyranny and terror.
Michael Barone has aptly compared the Bush presidency to a pulsar: a star that goes dark for long periods and then bursts forth in a sudden spurt of activity. I’ll confess: Bush sometimes worries me. There will be periods of weeks or even months when the gravity of government seems to pull him down, when the energy and imagination of the best hours of his government seems to have seeped away. And then there follows a moment like this speech, when this president surges back into action and his government regains its gravity-defying momentum.It was a powerful moment between Safia Taleb al-Suhail and the parents of Byron Norwood. I suspect it was a moment that would bring a mist to the eye of even the most hardened. Anyone who serves his or her country wants to believe the sacrifice was worth it. Safia Taleb al-Suhail, with her history then her blue finger proved it was.
Bush seems to pay lip service to domestic matters except for Taxes and Social Security. He is in his element when he figuratively leaves these shores. There is steel in his voice and moral courage in his words. Like Churchill, he is a war time president, and he does not shrink from major efforts.
Mover Mike
