...more recent posts
guess i just inadvertently got as close to the president as i ever will. if youre keeping track that would be approximately 10 feet. his motorcade drove across grand st and then turned north on the bowery. as everyone was forced behind the baracades and blockaded onto the sidewalk, i wasnt going anywhere so i stood and watched like everyone else who was stuck between bowery and christie and beyond. as the motorcade made its way down the block, i was thinking it must have been a pretty odd sight from within the heavily armored oversized limo that carried the dignitaries to see the street lined four deep with asian americans many with flags outstretched. but maybe thats the type of scene you become immune to if you are often stumping across the highways/byways of america. but i would think now with the events at hand its hyperrealized.
i cant actually say i saw the shrub . the windows were semitranslucent and the only person i could make out was an older gentleman who wore large framed glasses as he waved to the onlookers. he looked like an investment banker or an ambassador -- old rich and familiar with the trappings of power.
the last police escort finally moved through and eventually all the cruisers that were blocking the intersections disengaged and finally the barricades were released and everyone sputtered on their way.
I ran an estate sale for my boss over the weekend. I now have a 70's style beigh leather sectional sofa (cheezy yet cool) , a set of 60's italian stainless steel pots and pans with cool handels (industrial chic) a new HP PC "pavilion" (super hotrod) and a 1972 pinball machine "wild lIfe" cartoon tarzan and jane motif (one busted rubberband, otherwise fully opperational) and a small bit of pay. Pinball competition anyone ?
now theyve really gone too far. strom thurmond just collapsed on the senate floor. (damn those terrorists!) can jesse helms be far behind?
my email and internet explorer are dead or so it seems, i opened an attachement from hungary and got the goo lash virus, jim what can we do if any thing, nortan antivirus zip disked in by linda has found 38 infected programs and 3 common virus's but could delete only 4 programs and one virus the 34 on my restore part of C disk cant be helped per nortan and i cant iE, OE but can use the rest of the computer......OUCH
wasnt someone yacking about david halberstam at aka? heres an interview with salon regarding the current crisis and the attitudes that helped it along.
i was just watching a little of the cbs sunday morning show. the human muppet aka senator lieberman was droning on about something. then they cut to the jingoistic insert before going to a commercial. as the music swells, bush gazes over a sea flag waving admirers. it looks like they are of the military persuasion. and i got nauseous and muted the sound while channeling i cant close my eyes and make it go away. and i thought, what song is that from? the subconscious radio station is always on.
the aol homepage had a link to the princeton review college rankings so i clicked through. it was either that or watch the fox sunday morning gabfest. no contest. i always like to see how the old alma mater stacks up against the competition. so theres all sorts of fun and pointless rankings. trinity college has a stranglehold on the second slot in the most homogeneous category and has the nineteenth spot on the reefer madness list. i can barely contain my school pride. but even more astounding was that i took the counselor-o-matic quiz to see where i would match up well with schools and the selection it came up with was trinity college. i guess it was fated all along. heres the counselor page if you are hopelessly bored.
A group of volunteers is joining the Library of Congress and the Internet Archive in San Francisco to piece together what the Web looked like during and after the events of Sept. 11, according to the Washington Post.
The project -- which will rely on Web pages archived offline after terrorists crashed planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon -- expects to publish its results Oct. 11. Kirsten Foot, a University of Washington professor who is co-directing the effort, told the Post: "There is the potential for a new level of civic activism emerging. There's been a huge surge in people feeling compelled to make statements about the events online. We see it everywhere online, and we want to preserve a record of it."
Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive, said the idea is to build a new kind of library. "This isn't just about historians storing stuff in a closet. We are trying hard to become a meaningful resource to people in real time," he said.
The Internet Archive can be found at archive.org.
jim get ready to rock!!!!! surf's up!!!!!
David and Nelson
a terror between the sheets
Jim,
I can't seem to find that post re. the CIA you described to me.............
The Rev. Jerry Falwell blamed the terrorist attack on the American Civil Liberties Union, abortion providers, gay-rights advocates, and the federal courts. It was because they had turned America away from God. "He lifted the curtain of protection," Falwell said, "and I believe that if America does not repent and return to a genuine faith and dependence on Him, we may expect more tragedies, unfortunately."
auden on bin laden another time
fox has decide that the grieving is over and wants the healing to begin. thats why theyve begun heavily promoting their upcoming horrorshow, the next iteration of "Who Wants To Marry A Millionaire?" called "Who Wants To Be A Princess?" i know i feel better.
Return to (ab)normalcy:
How about those Mets?
more on the DOD v.POWell
Someone sent this by email--I don't know the source and haven't verified it. Has anyone seen this?
Thursday September 20 09:31 PM EDT
Maher Causes "Cowardly" Flap
Allow Bill Maher to rephrase: It's the politicians who are cowards, not the
American military.
That sums up an apology Wednesday by Maher, the normally unrepentant, sporadically funny and always outspoken host of ABC's Politically Incorrect, who angered some viewers and advertisers Monday by condemning past U.S. military actions as "cowardly."
Both Federal Express and Sears, Roebuck and Company have pulled their ads from the late-night political forum after Maher condemned recent U.S. missile attacks, during his first episode since last week's terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.
"We have been the cowards lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away," he said. "That's cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, it's not cowardly."
On Tuesday night, ABC and Maher defended the show as one that "celebrates freedom of speech." But by Wednesday, after both FedEx and Sears pulled their ads, Maher apologized and sought to clarify.
"In no way was I intending to say, nor have I ever thought, that the men and
women who defend our nation in uniform are anything but courageous and
valiant, and I offer my apologies to anyone who took it wrong," Maher said
in a statement. "My criticism was meant for politicians who, fearing public
reaction, have not allowed our military to do the job they are obviously
ready, willing and able to do and who now will, I'm certain, as they always
have, get it done."
From the Times of London, a map showing the international scope of the loss.
Retired CBS news anchorman Walter Cronkite called for the immediate appointment of a censorship board to monitor the strict secrecy that Ashcroft has announced. Cronkite said that secrecy is necessary in the war against terrorism, but that the government should immediately appoint a board of journalists and historians that will be aware of all the government's plans and actions. Secrecy must not be used to protect political decisions or government failures, but only for military purposes, Cronkite said.
ever hear of an upside down inverted flag as a signal of distress or war? i had seen some flags taped up in such a configuration around my neighborhood. i just thought it was the chinese being patriotic but misguided.
also, good ethel of late.
and in other parts of the world...(UPI)
The king of the African nation of Swaziland has banned young unmarried girls and women from having sex for five years in an effort to stem the rise of AIDS in the country.
King Mswati III used the occasion of his 33rd birthday Sunday to revive the Umchwaso Chastity Rule. Under the order, young girls must wear yellow woolen tassels that send the message "do not touch me," according to the African Eye News Service. Men in violation of the rule would have the tassels thrown at them and be fined $152 or one cow.
The news service quoted Mswati spokeswoman Lungile Ndlovo as telling the nation's women, "You will be expected to observe a 5-year sex ban which means no shaking hands with males, no wearing of pants and you will be expected to wear woolen tassels wherever you go."
The ban does not extent to women 19 years old or older "already involved in a love relationship," Ndlovo said, but those women must wear red with black tassels while "those who are still virgins will wear blue with yellow tassels."
An estimated 22 percent of Swaziland's 1.1 million people are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
"...as a rock band, the Butthole Surfers were an avant-garde mess, but as a techno-pop outfit, they make remarkably accessible music..."
From the end of this Providence Phoenix article on Bjork, Stereo Lab, and the Butthole Surfers.
archived vollman on afghanistan