:: PROLEGOMENA ::

:: Monday, January 31 ::

A Symposium On Blogger Ethics & The Future Of Blogging

Karol's there with others - it's a quick read. CLICK!

The concept of blogging is so simple to me. It exercises the brain, and puts you in the company of thinking people. Employers simply need to understand that blogging is thinking out loud about things that matter.


:: michael parker Monday, January 31, 2005 [+] ::
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TSUNAMI AID UPDATE

For those of you who did not understand my January 25 post down below, read this article in the British press about who is doing the real work in the Indian Ocean:

US Navy officer attacks 'travelling circus of aid workers' for impeding the tsunami relief effort in Indonesia

..love this part:

Stanton was similarly scathing of television crews. "We had to dedicate two helos [helicopters] and a C-2 cargo plane for Dan Rather and his entourage of door-holders and briefcase-carriers from CBS News," he claimed.

There's a decision we sometimes consider, "Let's not go and say we did." Dan Rather is familiar with this concept, but there is entertainment value in touring the devastation, even if you burn up charitable resources in the process.


:: michael parker Monday, January 31, 2005 [+] ::
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W IS FOR WOMEN !

I cannot escape thinking how Democrats rallied and demanded a re-vote for three counties in South Florida in 2000, yet rallied and even rioted to prevent this:



And then declared it could never happen on schedule, but now brush it off as a "sort-of demarcation point."

YES, THE LEFT LITERALLY PROTESTED AGAINST VOTING

(Click photo for larger image.)

Dennis Prager was over it three years ago:

In general, the left does not care about women, independent judiciaries, minorities, democracy, gays or almost anything else for which it marches. That is why the left opposed America's war in Afghanistan, which liberated women from being treated like animals.

Oh - but we shouldn't over-hype this election.


:: michael parker Monday, January 31, 2005 [+] ::
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MORE FROM KERRY'S MEET-DA-PRESS

This gobbledy-gook was too much for my short-term this morning... here's his Iraq election blab:

"It is significant that there is a vote in Iraq. But no one in the United States ... should try to over-hype this election. This election is a sort of demarcation point, and what really counts now is the effort to have a legitimate political reconciliation. And it's going to take a massive diplomatic effort and a much more significant outreach to the international community than this administration has been willing to engage in."

Over-hype? Like... your service in Vietnam? and what the hell is "legitimate political reconciliation" on Planet Kerry? He's not even talking about a peaceful transfer of power in Iraq. He is actually going back to comdemning the Bush administration for taking the lead from a UN that cannot enforce its own resolutions. he is actually saying that being liked by the UN is more important than 25 million Iraqis having elected leaders.

Demarcation? Does this poseur even know what that word means? sort of? This is a sort-of demarcation point? I thought this was the election they said could not possibly happen on January 30.

"What the administration does in these next few days will decide the outcome of Iraq. And this is ... the last chance for the president to get it right."

Actually, what the administration did in the removal of Saddam, his heirs, and the Ba'athists decided the outcome of Iraq. After that, Iraq having an election today further decides the outcome of Iraq - did you get that memo, Senator Kerry?

:: michael parker Sunday, January 30, 2005 [+] ::
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PRETTY GOOD FOR A BLACK CHICK

Kerry, just interviewed on Meet the Press, explained his vote against Secretary Rice, but not without referring to how far she'd come.Given Kerry's proclivity to steal talking points from others, ("Bring it on;" "We need a regime change;" "Help is on the way.") I am surprised he did not take Bob Kerrey's condescending greeting to Rice: "I'm very impressed, and indeed I'd go as far as to say moved by (her) story, the story of (her) life and what (she's) accomplished. It's quite extraordinary."

Cartoonists Cox and Forkum illustrate Joh Kerry's no-vote here in one of my favorite all-time cartoons.


:: michael parker Sunday, January 30, 2005 [+] ::
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SO... SHOULDN'T IT BE CALLED...

"Mad cow" disease found in goat

mad goat disease?


:: michael parker Sunday, January 30, 2005 [+] ::
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"We were getting bored with the box." - Philip Johnson (1906-2005)

If skyscrapers are the opposite of war, then Johnson was a great man of peace. He also understood New York City and this remark helped me get closer to understanding it:

"New York City is endless. They said that the buildings on Wall Street would ruin New York, and a generation ago they said that Rockefeller Center would ruin New York. They didn’t. And the reason these buildings go up so close to each other is because people want to be next to other people."

Paul Goldberger wrote, "It is a painful fact of our time that buildings seem increasingly to resemble each other no matter where they are built, and that means cities increasingly resemble each other, too." But, where Philip Johnson left his mark, you know the city.

My favorites (click images for close-ups):

The IBM Building, Atlanta, since renamed One Atlantic Center

The lovely elliptical Lipstick Building, NYC.

Pennzoil Place and NCNB Center in Houston.

Pittsburgh Plate Glass


:: michael parker Thursday, January 27, 2005 [+] ::
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MORE ON THE AUSCHWITZ ANNIVERSARY

There were many, many other camps, you know. It concerns me that the events of the week will cause millions to forget that not only was the number of camps, death camps, and ghettos much greater, other victims had to wait for many more months more liberation.

(click for larger image)

Via Urban Grind, blogger Tom Carter writes a very smart thing:

There are many reasons why the Holocaust should never be forgotten, but one may be more important than all others. It's true, of course, as some say, that there have been other examples of the horror of large-scale genocide, and there will be others. But there is a critical difference. This genocide was carried out against an accomplished people, a people who have contributed more to humanity than any other, by another people, meaning much of Europe, to whom the world looks for leadership and example in culture, achievement, and humanitarian impulse. If humanity could so seriously fail in that case, who is ever safe, anywhere?

Commenter Ron at the Grind adds this from his memory of US History:

One of the interesting things about this quote is that it mirrors remarks of John Adams in letters he wrote in the early 19th century. Adams used the quote as a basis for calling for a Jewish homeland.

This suggests a link between the founding philosophy of our country and modern state support for Israel, and another thing few people realize.


:: michael parker Wednesday, January 26, 2005 [+] ::
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YEAR SIXTY ONE BEGINS

And Kofi Annan had words:



What future Secretary-General will be in this photo, the Word "Auschwitz" replaced with "Rwanda," Bosnia," or "Darfur"?

It only brings this image to mind:



Why would I think this?


:: michael parker Tuesday, January 25, 2005 [+] ::
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BUT WITH NO PLANE TO HIJACK...

23 at Guantanamo Attempted Suicide in 2003

Hotel Habana, Cuba's tallest building, was safe.

Wow! - It's gotta be... 30 floors high! Communism reaches such amazing heights!


:: michael parker Monday, January 24, 2005 [+] ::
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GREAT GEEK STUFF

Every day I visit NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day and usually get very sidetracked by the multiple links in the text. Two days ago I learned about the Voynich Manuscript, written in a language no one has ever translated.

The Huygens probe is out of power on Titan, but Cassini still orbits. Learning about methane rain, rivers, and lakes was as fascinating as learning about iron gas - iron in a gaseous state! - swirling around a black hole in a condition outside of Einstein's Theory of Relativity.

But back to the more mysterious Saturnian moon Titan and its abundance of methane - where are the cows and why is it cold enough to have cryovolcanic flow?

Here on Earth, we have been given a countdown, a deadline, for a global warming catastrophe:

The countdown to climate-change catastrophe is spelt out by a task force of senior politicians, business leaders and academics from around the world - and it is remarkably brief. In as little as 10 years, or even less, their report indicates, the point of no return with global warming may have been reached.

Senior politicians, business leaders, and academics. In that order? Oh boy!

You may find interesting more than 17,100 basic and applied American scientists, two-thirds with advanced degrees, who have signed the Global Warming Petition instead. I bet you never heard of this. They sign this declaration:

There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gases is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth's atmosphere and disruption of the Earth's climate. Moreover, there is substantial scientific evidence that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide produce many beneficial effects upon the natural plant and animal environments of the Earth.

That's is the part I have never understood in this greenhouse emission panic - carbon dioxide. That was the earliest thing I learned about plants - they breathe what we exhale and make the oxygen we breathe.

:: michael parker Monday, January 24, 2005 [+] ::
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Susan Blogs from DC:

Can I say that protestors are tacky? I mean, they are--same shit as
last time. They scream obsenities and they complain that they aren't
covered by the conservative (?!?!) media. They made it necessary for
police in riot gear to be 3-5 deep along the parade route in some
places. Once again, folks who loaded up the family wagon and shelled out
lots of money were diswayed from their good time by these people, who
frankly, I don't get. Their information is wrong, their signs are
misspelled, and frankly, I'm embarrassed for them. Even though I
thought Bill Clinton was a sick joke as a man, let alone president, he
still WAS PRESIDENT and my Mama raised me that you show respect.

And they left their signs all over the ground again.

The Ball was very fun, good bands, good DJs, yummy food and lots of
drinks. I'm very tired. We kept saying we'd leave early but then we
didn't.

:: michael parker Friday, January 21, 2005 [+] ::
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HAPPY INAUGAURATION DAY!
..to the 62 million-plus Americans who voted to re-elect the man who stands for something, and a Congress to match!

Plus a special message to the Daily Mirror :
..and the terrierist you rode in on!



:: michael parker Thursday, January 20, 2005 [+] ::
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BLACK POWER!



But not for blacks with minds of their own...

Condoleezza Rice Receives 16-2 Vote as Next Secretary of State

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee OKs Dr. Condoleezza Rice as the next Secretary of State by a 16-2 vote.

Democrats John Kerry and Barbara Boxer as the only "no" votes.

THE PROBLEM IS PUTIN, INDEED

A fairly recent George Will column just came to mind:

Moscow Plans First Stalin Monument Since 1960s

..for his fight against the Nazis. Hell, Stalin only killed three times as many of his own people, and FDR called it an "agricultural policy".


:: michael parker Wednesday, January 19, 2005 [+] ::
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SUNDAY MORNING SURF YIELDS EVIDENCE OF KERRY'S POSSIBLE PAST LIVES

While deleting things I run across a link from way back that I saved for who-knows-why:
http://www.organica.us/sources?url_id=764559

It leads me here:
http://www.askbjoernhansen.com/

Scrolled down to a photo of a skyline. I like to identify skylines. First guess: LA.
In the comments, Beachwood Canyon is mentioned, but my brain gets confused.

Google search goes here, where I am reminded of the 1932 suicide at the Hollywood sign. (I was right about the skyline.)

Google suicide Peg Entwistle. Find findadeath.com.

At the same time, Meet the Press is on TV and they are running the clip of President Bush saying, "Bring it on!" (which was later stolen by the completely unoriginal John Kerry during the 2004 campaign).

Then somehow I end up on Rudolph Valentino's page, which leads me to this apparent image of John Kerry's past life:





This, of course, threw me back to another pair of images:




Not one single original bone.


:: michael parker Sunday, January 16, 2005 [+] ::
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ISRAELI HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE UPDATE

Lesbian couple get okay for adoption

In a landmark decision, the [Israeli] Supreme Court decided in a 7-2 ruling yesterday that two lesbians who have been living together for 15 years will be allowed to adopt each other's children.

Activate! Join the protest:
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=14297_Hatefest_at_University_of_Toronto&only=yes

Remember - we are all Palestinians.


:: michael parker Saturday, January 15, 2005 [+] ::
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I AM AN INTELLECTUAL

-Burkas represent the diversity on the planet.
-We are all Palestinians.
-We shouldn't have interfered with the tradition of never-a-vote in Afghanistan.

-They weren't cowards.

-The Iraqis aren't ready to vote, either.
-We should have left Saddam's torture chambers and rape-rooms alone - WE'RE NO DIFFERENT!
-Let the seventeen UN Security Council Resolutions work.
-Books not bombs.
-No blood for oil!
-No oil from Alaska!
-Unbreathable air! Undrinkable water!
-If you drop your Trees Please sign on the ground, DC Sanitation will clean up after you - see? Socialism works!

-When Clinton lied, no one died!
-Abu Ghraib. ABU GHRAIB!
-Typical born-again Christian President says he will protect my right to choose what to do with my own soul. HOW DARE HE?!
-Choice is my RIGHT!!

-My right to express my dissent has been taken away!




:: michael parker Saturday, January 15, 2005 [+] ::
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OUT OF ORDER AT WEATHER.COM

Sunset 5:40 pm

6pm

Sunny 42°F

:: michael parker Friday, January 14, 2005 [+] ::
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LANDING LIGHTS ON!

It's happening right now!



:: michael parker Thursday, January 13, 2005 [+] ::
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FANCY DRESS
I hate it when the media jump to conclusions. Did it occur to them that Prince Harry, aware of the differences between their nations due to the recent action in Iraq, was simply reaching out to the French?



Wow- even this royally educated mind is still a stupid kid going for shock value among his partying peers. He probably did it to scoff at the probable overreaction to an arm gesture expressed in the heat of the moment at at soccer match in Italy earlier this week. Unfortunately - he doesn't compare, and he's too old to spank.

MY POINT IS...
Prince Harry's ignorance is an echo of not-just-young ignorance in America, where I am actually astonished to learn this:

Only 21 percent of administrators and 30 percent of students knew that the First Amendment guarantees religious freedom. Only six percent of administrators and two percent of students knew that religious freedom is the first freedom mentioned in the First Amendment.

Now how in Sam Hill can they be this damn stupid? I am accustomed to stupidity among half of my fellow countrymen, but this is maddening. It's the First Amendment, for Pete's sake. First. FIRST. How do we get a damn thing done in this country if so many people are too goddamned lazy to read the FIRST Amendment?

Fortunately, as I noted yesterday (below), our President knows this. Bush, in an interview about his faith, spoke of his responsibility to "protect the right" - protect, instead of merely allow. At least it's certain he's read the Amendment.


:: michael parker Thursday, January 13, 2005 [+] ::
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