3/22/2003

Secret Intelligence - We've heard that there are things the Bush administration knows that it would rather not reveal because it would comprimise security. The Smoking Gun has revealed one of these tidbits.

The BBC has had to apologize for showing Bush getting his hair adjusted just before speaking.

3/21/2003

The Human Body - Last weekend I took the kids to see a new IMAX film called The Human Body.

Mattie spent most of the time with her hands over her eyes. Kit was fascinated by the heart pumping and remarked "I didn't know my heart was so loud!" Both enjoyed the part of the film dealing with babies and reproduction.

The film uses CGI and other methods to illustrate the processes at work in the human body. Among them, the skeleton, respiration and circulation, the reproductive cycle, digestion, and how neurons fire. There is probably little new here in the way of facts for longtime documentary enthusiasts, though one or two facts were new to me. What's special is the presentation, which is superb. It's a little gross at times, but very well done, as many IMAX films are.

In the previews we were treated to a trailer of the new Titanic IMAX film, done by James Cameron and a crew of explorers who go down to film the actual wreckage. They take actor Bill Paxton along with them. Game over, man!
SARS Reaches Mass? - MSNBC is reporting More suspected SARS cases in U.S.
In Massachusetts, a health official said a man there who traveled to Hong Kong and Singapore last week, has shown possible symptoms of SARS but has never been ill enough to be admitted to the hospital.

3/20/2003

Wonderful Feeling? - How does it feel to send people into combat and possibly kill Iraqi civilians?
Minutes before the speech, an internal television monitor showed the president pumping his fist. "Feels good," he said.
I wonder if this ranks up there with receiveing oral sex on the "feels good" scale.
Exciting War Coverage!!!! USA Today reports that Iraq war could herald a new age of Web-based news coverage.
This time, reporters and producers with wireless laptops and handheld digital cameras will file reports from battlefields and military installations. Cameras are at key locations for live feeds 24 hours a day. Interactive, 3-D maps will update troop movements, casualties and weapons used.


Wow, I can see all the nifty little web-based video, JavaScript and Flash animations that we'll be treated too.

Hey, I have a great idea. How about a script that allows you to click a button and display a picture and bio of your own dead Iraqi civilian. Every person who clicks gets a name and a face of a civilian casualty. That would impress me.

Although it should be obvious that I have the members of our armed forces best interest in mind (since i don't want them over there in the first place) since this war has begun I hope that they return home both safely and soon.

3/19/2003

Buggery - BBC News reports:European Union officials have launched an investigation after bugging devices were found at offices used by several delegations - including those of France, Germany and the UK. When we find out what country or agency is responsible for bugging France and Germany, does that mean we have a new axis - the Axis of Weevils?
Passion for Peace - My father-in-law's PeacePassion blog contains his thoughts and links on the situation in which we now find ourselves.
Interruption - Somehow I apparently disabled the subscription service temporarily. I've re-enabled it now. I swear I don't remember pushing that disable button. Darn poltergeist!

3/18/2003

Anna Kournikova - She's said to be one of the most downloaded women on the internet (photos, that is.) Now, the next time you see a picture of this youngster, John Ashcroft may be looking over your shoulder with interest.
Food That Will Haunt Your Mind - Right out of the "What Were They Thinking?" file come Weight Watchers recipe cards, circa 1974. It's a recipie! It's a torture device. Face it folks, it's both.
War - So, the air of inevitability that the administration has worked so hard to spread has permeated our skin. We're now at the point that I can practically hear people sighing around me, hoping the war would start so that it can just be gotten over with. Let's start this war, we're bored with it already. Next news story.

I think I'm going to be sick.

3/17/2003

Happy St. Patrick's Day! - EOM
Spring is here - Yesterday it was positively sweltering compared to recent weather. This made for a beutiful day to be outside, but did make it a bit tougher for shose running the New Bedford Half Marathon. Maggie was among them. CONGRATS on finishing your second 1/2 marathon!

You can feel spring. Having the windows open in the house, the fresh air perfuming the office... coming home after the race to the house like that was very relaxing.

Unfortunately, I am indoors now. But I can see the pine trees right outside the window. I've got it wide open and I'm about to open the back door to the landing, to let the air flow through.
Peace Slipping Away - Bush is going to address the nation tonight, embassies are closing, the government is recommending that inspectors leave Iraq and the networks are telling their reporters to leave Baghdad. I wonder what's up? We were at a peace vigil last night in Westport. There were 25-30 people there in front of the Quaker meeting holding candles, part of a larger vigil which took place all over the world.