Jerry Markling, chief of the Gaming Control Board's enforcement division, said he believes enforcing a dress code would run afoul of a state law requiring that gambling be conducted in the public eye.Uh, right.
...I am setting up this blog primarily to highlight media inaccuracy, and also to point out some first class examples of investigative journalism and reporting.I think too many people have fallen into the rut of only pointing out the bad reporting, and aren't giving enough thought to highlighting what gets done right.
...You can't compare us to Iceland," they say, "Iceland has fish." So, of course would Britain, but for the ecological calamity of the CFP. "We're nothing like Norway," they go on, "Norway has oil." Indeed; and Britain is the only net exporter of oil in the EU. Then my particular favourite: "But Switzerland has all those banks." Yes. And London is the world's premier financial centre - although it is, admittedly, being slowly asphyxiated by EU financial regulation...hat tip: Orrin Judd
I just finished reading Hard Bargain: How FDR Twisted Churchill's Arm, Evaded the Law, and Changed the Role of the American Presidency by Robert Shogan (1999 trade paperback, ISBN: 0813336953). It's a good read, but not a fast one. I'd recommend it for history buffs, WW II military buffs, and anybody trying to get a handle on how the United States government morphed into its present shape and size.
Up until the last chapter it's a pretty straightforward, well-documented look at history as it unfolded rather than any sort of advocacy book. (In the last chapter Shogan gives an overview of what he sees as oversteps made by more recent Presidents using FDR's actions as precedent, and lets loose with what he thinks we should take away as the main lessons from all this, and what he thinks we should do about it.)
Shogan provides analysis, but is amazingly even-handed overall, as far as I could see. As it says in the Author's Note:
...Those who seek either to sanctify or demonize Roosevelt will find little support here. Neither angel nor devil, FDR emerges from these pages as a politician, seeking after the light as he saw it, but also seeking after reelection. This is not the story of villains against heroes, etched in black and white. The fundamental contest here is between principle and expediency, which can be glimpsed only in various shades of grey. It is my hope that the past seen through this prism can help to illuminate the future.I don't know about the future, but I kept running into bits and pieces that seemed to help explain some of what is going on these days.
August 26 marks the 85th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which granted America's women the right to vote. Washington women had achieved this a decade earlier -- but not without a long struggle dating back to the Territory's first legislature. Speaking of which, agitation for the separation of Washington from Oregon formally began on August 29, 1851, with a little gathering at Cowlitz Landing. It climaxed three years later, but only after Congress changed the new territory's proposed name of "Columbia" to Washington in order to, we kid you not, avoid confusion with the District of Columbia.They must be kidding. I don't care what they say, they must be joking.
If anybody reading this is involved in an upcoming book-related event of a "suitable for mixed company" variety, drop a note in the comments on how to get more information. I love helping to publicize stuff like this.
I get the feeling the day of my birth was not a celebration.To:
No one ever said, but I have a hunch my birth announcement had an invisible PS that everyone could see, In lieu of balloons: Bring a hankie.
My midnight arrival was like a cold shower to the unsuspecting obstetrician. With no prepared speech for such a tragedy he blurted out, "Your daughter is going to live I am sorry to say." Thats what my dad recollects.
One more thing: I recognize that God has given me a voice for the endangered species - babies in utero with birth defects - the ones targeted for a medical abortion because they will never have a quality life. I welcome any and all opportunites to challenge that misconception with stories from the life of Judy Ann.Thank goodness she was blessed with a mother who saw her as a daughter - not as an embarrassment or, worse yet, some sort of commodity that was subject to quality control measures, if I can put it like that.
And, also just so you know, the following is also now available in mass market:
No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Both series have sold great guns in trade paperback, to the surprise of a number of people (who thought the larger format and higher price - not to mention the reputation of trade paperbacks for being niche market publications - would drive away just all sorts of potential customers).
Whether because of his ideological preference for Becker's approach or for some other reason that I don't know about, Buruma falsified the thrust of my book by misquoting me. I have sent the following letter to The New Yorker demanding a correction, and am awaiting satisfaction:
Ian Buruma repeatedly plays fast and loose with quotations in assembling his malevolently creative summary of “Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader” (“Kimworld,” August 22). Several such instances seem to involve a disgraceful effort to gin up evidence backing his theme of gullibility among foreign observers with whose views he differs. To imply that I saw the rulers’ charisma as somehow offsetting evil deeds, he lifts a phrase, “there might be two sides to the story,” from my argument against unnecessary demonization of Kim Jong Il. This he mendaciously juxtaposes with a remark about Kim Il Sung’s personal magnetism, which appeared nearly 500 pages earlier in the context of the elder Kim’s pursuit of women. So that he can cluck that it is “naïve” not to realize that a “warm handshake will not explain why an entire people submitted,” he deceptively paraphrases the middle of a sentence in which I wrote that Kim Il Sung’s engaging presence was one factor that inspired loyalty. Deleting “one,” so that this appears to be the only factor, he ignores my chapter-length exploration of other factors including the biggest, the indoctrination system. As for Buruma’s suggestion that I struggled too hard for “balance” (the quotation marks are his) in evaluating the Kims’ regime, I actually wrote, “There was precious little on the positive side of the ledger page to balance the horrors” of the gulag. Ultimately Buruma, objecting to my refusal to frame the history of North Korea as a simple morality tale, seeks to portray me as a pushover for smooth-talking despots. Nothing doing, Ian. Pointing out the danger of being taken in by a Great Schmoozer, I observed of the Japanese politician Shin Kanemaru that Kim Il Sung “charmed his pants off.”
Buruma also distorts my reference to Andrew Holloway’s description of Pyongyang residents’ kindness and modesty, leaving readers to imagine that Holloway’s was a recent observation. That enables the reviewer to offer a glib contradiction—although in fact, as I noted, Holloway lived in Pyongyang almost two decades ago. In the very next paragraph I wrote that the subsequent famine severely tested North Koreans’ altruism, and in a later chapter I wrote that by the late 1990s their “fierce struggle for survival” required them to replace collectivist morality with self-interest. At Louisiana State University I’ve been teaching students that writers who refuse to let the facts get in the way of a good story are the bane of the journalistic trade. Buruma could do with matriculation, but I imagine he’ll have to pay out-of-state tuition. In any case, I want a correction.
Bradley K. Martin
Nagano, Japan
Author of the popular books, Poem Portraits, Garden In My Heart, and Poems for Children, James J. Metcalfe now offers his readers this new collection of verse from his daily newspaper column, syndicated throughout the United States, and in Canada, Mexico, and Ireland.This guy was internationally known? I start to feel silly that I don't know him already.
His philosophical lines stem from the rich and wide experiences of his forty-five years, including the dangerous days of his gangbusting for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, his exciting expose of the German and German-American Bunds for the Chicago Times, and other phases of his colorful career as a journalist...That does it. Any guy who can stare down gangs and Nazis and still maintain a charming outlook on life is my kind of guy. This is the kind of guy (if this description is right) to whom I would erect a statue if I were in charge of erecting statues. This is an American par excellence, in other words.
Jim Metcalfe, who was born in Berlin, Germany, and Lillian, a native of Stavanger, Norway, met at a high school dance in Chicago. For some years now the Metcalfes have been making their home in Dallas, Texas.That does it. Immigrants make good. The best of America, personified. I am really embarrassed to not have known about him before this. I'd love to hear from anyone older than myself who was a fan back when.
Sorry, but as of May 2, 2005, Movielink no longer supports Windows 98 and ME operating systems. Movielink also does not support Mac or Linux.That leaves me out. But you guys with Windows 2000 or XP, feel free to have fun without me ;-)
In order to enjoy the Movielink service, you must use Windows 2000 or XP, which support certain technologies we utilize for downloading movies.
CAMP VICTORY, Iraq, Aug. 15, 2005 — The weight of their body armor combined with the strain of having to lift a jackhammer over their heads makes their arms quiver like jello. Sweat pours down their faces and burns their eyes, but they won’t stop now. They can’t.Full article
One after another, they connect four-foot stainless steel rods together and drive them further below the surface of the earth. Thirteen rods and 52 feet later, the rods refuse to be driven any further.
The engineers assigned to Multinational Corps-Iraq then cover the exposed tip of the rod with a custom access cover and insert a fluorescent orange sign to indicate the location is ready to be surveyed.
The team of U.S. and British Army geodetic surveyors has successfully established another reference point along the road to reconstruction in Iraq, one of many in the first Iraqi Geospatial Reference System that identifies geospatial locations using names or numeric coordinates.
[snip]
The joint coalition team began working on the project in April, which is modeled on the National Spatial Reference System in the United States.
[snip]
By the time the project is completed around June 2006, the Iraqi Geospatial Reference System will be comprised of six hubs called Continuously Operating Reference Stations and about 300 different reference points known as High Accuracy Reference Networks that are geographically located throughout Iraq.
FORWARD OPERATING BASE WARRIOR, Iraq, Aug. 15, 2005 — A group of over 100 scouts and adult leaders met in Hasar, Iraq, Aug. 4 to learn cooking, teamwork and other skills from the community’s growing co-ed International Scouting Program.Full article
The fledgling program, known as Kashafa, began July 7 when U.S. soldiers of the 116th Brigade Combat Team’s Task Force 1-148 Field Artillery and leaders from the community of Hasar, Iraq, celebrated a ribbon cutting and inauguration of the program. By that time, leaders had been trained, uniforms distributed to participants and weekly meetings planned.
[snip]
Working with local leaders to establish community-building programs in the province of Kirkuk is part of the 116th Brigade Combat Team’s mission while deployed in north central Iraq. The unit’s mission also includes assisting Iraq’s new government, supporting economic development, facilitating communications and improving security and stability in the region.
In a related development, police in northern Greece arrested a man who claimed to have received a telephone text message from a passenger. The man — identified as Nektarios-Sotirios Voutas, 32 — told Greek television stations that his cousin on board the plane sent him a cell phone text message minutes before the crash saying: "Farewell, cousin, here we're frozen."Augh. If the police are right, I'm glad they figured it out early like this. "Garbage in, garbage out" applies to crash investigations just like everything else.
But authorities determined he was lying, and arrested him on charges of dissemination of false information.
The settlement agreement puts in writing district policy that "allows teachers, no matter what their religious beliefs, to use appropriate educational material (including supplemental handouts of historical significance) during instructional time that has religious content" and also allows teachers "to teach students during instructional time about matters involving religion" so long as the content is compliant with district-prescribed curriculum and is not used to influence a student's religious beliefs.Sounds healthy and reasonable to me.
French trade minister Francois Loos defended the restrictions and challenged retailers to find suppliers in the Mediterranean region in Europe.Nice guy.
"This is evidence that the measures from the European Union on the initiative of France are effective," he told AFP.
"They are causing problems for retailers and I invite them to look towards companies in the euro-Mediterranean area.
Most historians agree that dropping the uranium and plutonium bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki shortened World War II, thereby avoiding an inevitable Allied invasion of Japan and its predicted carnage to both sides. There are historians and ethicists who hold a dissenting opinion, but Japanese aviator Mitsuo Fuchida is not among them.Full article
Fuchida, Tibbets says, approached him at a military reception sometime after the war and said, “I’m Fuchida. Shall we talk about it?”
Apparently recognizing that the American aviator did not understand what he was talking about, Fuchida told Tibbets that he had led the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
“You sure did surprise us,” Tibbets recalls saying.
“What the hell do you think you did to us?” Fuchida replied.
The two war-hardened aviators and survivors chatted a few minutes when Fuchida confided to Tibbets, “You did the right thing to drop the bombs. Japan would have resisted an invasion using every man, woman and child, using sticks and stones if necessary.”
“That would have been a slaughter,” Tibbets says. “I believed at the time, and I believe now, that President Truman made the right call.”
The children were at the Theatre, acting to Three Cows as much as they could remember of Midsummer Night's Dream. Their father had made them a small play out of the big Shakespeare one, and they had rehearsed it with him and with their mother till they could say it by heart...I don't know why, but I like that very much, especially when you combine it with the rest of the first paragraph, which is rich in detail. I have the Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics trade paperback edition (ISBN 0140183531), which has helpful end notes that tie the text to history and fable and compare The Strand versions against various other published versions.
Cured meats such as ham and bacon can only be frozen for a short period of time (1 to 3 months) because the salt in them hastens rancidity.I thought the salt was a preservative? Hmmm. This calls for further research, I think.
Blanching (scalding vegetables in boiling water or steam for a short time) is a must for almost all vegetables to be frozen. It stops enzyme actions which can cause loss of flavor, color and texture.I wish I knew who started the myth that homemaking is unskilled labor...
[snip]
Blanching time is crucial and varies with the vegetable and size. Underblanching stimulates the activity of enzymes and is worse than no blanching. Overblanching causes loss of flavor, color, vitamins and minerals. Follow recommended blanching times...
As the Churchill Downs bugler played "My Old Kentucky Home," an emotional Pat Day officially hung up his saddle today during a press conference at the Louisville, Ky. track, where he is the all-time leading rider with 2,481 wins, including 155 stakes wins.Full article
[snip]
Day retires with 8,803 career victories, which ranks him fourth behind all-time leader Laffit Pincay, Jr.'s career total of 9,530. Day is the all-time leader in career earnings by a jockey as his mounts earned $297,912,019.
Day won the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) in 1992 with W.C. Partee's Lil E Tee. His Triple Crown resume includes a record five Preakness Stakes (gr. I) and three wins in the Belmont Stakes (gr. I). He rode in a record 21 consecutive Kentucky Derbys, a streak that ended when hip surgery forced him to miss this year's renewal.
[snip]
The Colorado native said he would immediately focus his energy on his work with the Racetrack Chaplaincy of America, a national organization of chaplains from U.S. racetracks that serves the spiritual, physical, emotional, and social/educational needs of the workforce at those tracks.
In addition to speaking at chaplaincy fund-raising events, Day said, he wants to spend time walking through the backstretch with Racetrack Chaplaincy of America's 58 sanctioned chaplains and then giving a message of eternal hope to groups of backstretch workers....
