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What a
holiday break it’s been...I am now the fourth and final member of our
small family to be afflicted with a stomach virus whichthe Greek Mangas(yet another victim of the nastiness) has dubbed “the black death.”
Oddly enough, a lot of the ugliness at my house started around the same time as the final broadcast of ABC’sMonday Night Football. Could it be that the farewell musings ofAl Michaelswere just too much for us and we were overcome with gut-wretching disgust?
Anyway, the unpleasantness of our collective ill health has put the
kibosh on some of my lofty plans for this holiday break. In
addition to some projects here at home, I had started a few pieces for
greeklish.org, including an article about the recentWikipedia/John Siegenthaler Sr. fiascoas well as some more tsunami updates. Unfortunately, this stuff is on the back burner until I'm in better shape.
At any rate, there's plenty more on the way, pending my recovery.
In the meantime, please enjoy this comic strip panel which makes
absolutely no sense when viewed by itself...
The Seinfeld episode "The Strike" sets the date of the nondenomiational holiday of Festivus
as December 23. I haven't purchased my aluminum pole yet, but
hopefully I will come into one yet through some sort of "Festivus
Miracle."
Happy Festivus to all! Further Reading Festivus Wikipedia article
Those
of you who have visited my home library probably realize that I have
developed somewhat of a penchant for art that is from the "Soviet Realism"
tradition (or along that general line). Over the course of past few years, I have accumulated a
small collection of Soviet-themed statuettes, postcards and
posters. Most of these acquisitions came to me by way of
eBay. My most current eBay find is a replica of the Soviet
monument known as “Mother Russia”
or “Mother Motherland is Calling.” I have been searching for replica of
this monument for some time and this acquisition is both a new favorite
of mine and a great addition to my fledgeling collection. The
statuette is solid iron and it stands about 10 inches high. It’s
lacking in detail in some areas, but key points such as the figure’s
pose and facial expression are surprisingly accurate.
The
real monument (known as “Rodina Mat' Zovyot!” or simply “Rodina Mat” in
Russian) was erected in 1967 to commemorate the Soviet victory at
Stalingrad. Although many things have changed since the fierce
battle there (among them the name “Stalingrad”—now called "Volgograd,"
as well as the dissolution of the USSR itself), Rodina Mat still stands
today and it it remains an enduring symbol of national pride and
supreme sacrifice. The monument stands 160 feet high and weighs over
1,000 tons. The sword held aloft by Rodina Mat is over 70
feet long. She is truly a massive and somber tribute to an epic
struggle.
The
country of Sri Lanka had the second-highest death toll of all the
countries affected by the 2004 South Asia Tsunami. According to
Wikipedia, in Sri Lanka alone the tsunami killed an estimated 38,195
people and displaced approximately 573,000 people. It is
important to note that due to the scale and scope of the disaster,
casualty figures still vary from source to source.
Shortly after last year's tsunami, I made contact with my Internet
friend Sameera in Sri Lanka to see how he had fared. At that
time, he shared with me that he was okay and that he had not lost any
of his family, but he added that many people throughout the area were
anxiously awaiting word from their family and friends. Over the
days and weeks that followed, Sameera shared articles with me from
regional news sources including sites like Tamilnet.com.
Sameera’s correspondence and the selections from local news agencies
helped me to develop a better understanding of the situation in Sri
Lanka. I recently asked Sameera to share his thoughts on how
things stand in Sri Lanka one year after the tsunami.
As many of us likely recall, the Bush administration proffered an
embarrassingly low $15 million in aid immediately following the
tsunami. The US eventually boosted its aid to more respectable
levels and many, many other countries contributed to the relief efforts
over the course of the moths that followed. Organizations like Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières
(MSF) also provided much-needed services throughout the region,
including Sri Lanka. However, some recent news reports speculate that
as little as 25% of tsunami aid has been utilized, with much of the
remaining aid caught up in planning for projects or bureaucratic red
tape. Even some relief organizations seem to have considerable
difficulty in determining how to proceed with aid disbursement.
For example, ABC News (US) recently reported that the American Red
Cross has only released a total of $180 million in tsunami aid out of
the $560 million which they collected.
Sameera notes that some humanitarian organizations have done good work
in selected areas, but this is generally on a very small scale when
compared to the massive need for medical treatment shelter and other
types of aid. He suggests that some kind of centralized and coordinated
effort would have dramatically improved the delivery of vital services
to affected areas. He also notes that the absence of a strong
presence by the government likely contributed to the ability of certain
groups to take advantage of the residents who were already reeling from
the disaster. Most notably, there has been an increase in the
exploitation of orphaned children in affected areas.
Government bureaucracy and political intrigue have eliminated the
possibility of a quick recovery for the hundreds of thousands of Sri
Lankans in affected areas. Sameera writes that it is clear that
there is no comprehensive government plan in place for reconstruction
and that most recent efforts focus on token development projects that
are intended to curb mass anger. He adds that the two ruling
parties generally avoid severe criticism of one another when it comes
to tsunami recovery efforts, as if to avoid calling attention to their
shared deficiencies on the matter.
The imminent threat of a renewed violent conflict looms
as well. According to Sameera, the underlying political tensions
between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE) are reaching a critical point. On June 24, 2005, both
sides agreed upon the Post-Tsunami Operational Management Structure
(P-TOMS), but the political issues that existed prior to the tsunami
have persisted and open fighting could resume between both sides in the
near future. Recent news reports from the area indicate that the
government is now blaming the LTTE for a series of attacks on police
and that in the midst of this turmoil, cease fire agreements are
crumbling.
The relief campaign that was spearheaded by former US Presidents
Clinton and Bush continues to trumpet the purported progress brought
about by American aid and initiatives. But some of the figures
cited by western organizations are more than a bit problematic when
compared to dispatches from local organizations and eyewitnesses.
During his recent visit to Sri Lanka, Bill Clinton indicated “Ninety
percent of children are back in school, epidemics have been prevented
and transitional shelter has been provided to almost all internally
displaced people.” However, reports from the government of Sri
Lanka place the number of reconstructed at somewhere between 868 and
3,200—and remember that over half a million people were displaced.
This is obviously more than a simple
discrepancy. Other reports indicate that only a small
fraction of schools have been rebuilt since the disaster.
Sameera sums up the frustration felt by many: “Nearly a year
after Tsunami one doesn't require anything more than a tour in those
affected areas to see the actual status of the work. It is acceptable
that such a construction takes time, but to build up a plan and
initiate work, I think 12 months is more than enough. But the majority
of victims either live in those temporary camps or have found their own
solutions. Nothing to speak about health and education in those areas.”
It is true that some have benefitted through relief efforts and the aid
of humanitarian organizations, but a variety of factors have resulted
in the protreacted needless suffering of many in Sri Lanka, Much
work remains to be done in Sri Lanka, but it is unclear who will lead
the way in developing a cohesive and aggressive recovery plan.
Over
the weekend, I picked up the new CD from The Darkness, “One Way Ticket
to Hell...And Back.” I listened to the whole thing today I have
to say, it’s awesome, awesome awesome! When I purchased
“Permission to Land” a while back, I had already heard a few singles
and I was totally hooked. Kiss, Slade, and The New York Dolls are
favorites of mine and The Darkness is certainly in the glam rock/metal
vein. I don’t really listen to a lot of “new” music, so The Darkness was
a really pleasant surprise.
“One Way Ticket”
is a tremendous second album for The Darkness. There are a lot of
interesting sounds and techniques going on with these songs, including
some Arabian-sounding playing on the title track and some really
interesting effects on the track “Hazel Eyes.” “Hazel Eyes” is
definitely one of my favorite cuts thus far, because it features a really
amazing range of effects, including some really cool phasing at the
beginning of the song with a shift to a short acoustic interlude before
the song really gets going. The track also includes some
synth-bagpipes towards the end. What a song!
My only real complaint here is that the new album is just way too
short. It’s only about 35 minutes long. Considering that we
waited 2 years for a new release this time around, I think it’s
reasonable to expect that we’d get a lengthier offering to tide us over
until the next time. They just want to keep us begging for more,
I suppose.
The best thing
about this album is that it’s really, really fun. The guys in the
band are supposedly very serious about their music and their act, but
it’s clear that they have a great sense of humor because it shows
through time and again in their music and in their videos. Make
no mistake about it, though—The Hawkins brothers are true guitar gods.
One of these
days, I’ll devise some kind of well-defined rating scale for my recommendations, but
be assured that “One Way Ticket to Hell...And Back” gets my highest rating possible for a metal album: Two horns up! Further reading Rock-Based Music of Exceptional Quality :: The Darkness (official site) The Darkness (Wikipedia entry)
The
South Asia Tsunami of 2004 killed an estimated 194,000 people and
displaced approximately 1.5 million people throughout the region.
Over 51,000 people are still listed as missing. Few disasters in
human history have been so far-reaching and so devastating.
Through
my work on a variety of Internet projects, I have been fortunate to
correspond regularly with individuals from all around the world,
including parts of South Asia. At the time of the tsunami, I had
been corresponding with several people in India and Sri Lanka and I
thought of them as I watched the first news reports from the
region. Much to my relief, I was able to make contact via e-mail
with all my friends and acquaintances in South Asia shortly after the
tsunami. Over the course of the days and weeks that followed, each of
these individuals generously shared their own candid opinions regarding
the disaster and its aftermath. Their collective insight
contributed to my understanding of the tragedy itself as well as the
underlying social and political issues throughout the region.
With
the one-year anniversary of the tsunami approaching, I have again asked
my friends from India and Sri Lanka to share their thoughts regarding
the impact of the tsunami on the people of South Asia. Over the
course of the next few weeks, I will share their reminiscences and
reflections in a series of articles on our weblog.Further Reading: 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake (Wikipedia article) The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami Blog
The
first decent winter storm of the season is on the way to the Miami
Valley. We know it’s coming, but we don’t know exactly what we
should expect. We’re not getting a lot of details from the local
newscasts, either. The local television media generally makes a
big fuss over the weather. In the Dayton area, there are 4 major
television stations that feature regular newscasts. Now, I would
generally say that these stations are all equally bad...But in all
fairness, two of our local stations are owned by Sinclair
Broadcast Group, so their “newscasts” really don’t count as “news,” per
se. Anyway, the local newscasts have their own weather “teams” which
usually consist of one “Chief Meteorologist” and a few other television
personalities (I am sure they all studied meteorology at some point,
but I have a really hard time referring to these folks as
“meterologists”). As part of any of the local television weather
forecasts, one typically has to sit through at least 2 or 3 animated
synopses of the weather for the preceding 24 hours plus some elapsed
video of the day’s weather from an outside tower cam. Eventually—if you
really hang in through all the patter and cute little personal
anecdotes—you might still hold out hope that you’re going to get a good
idea of what the weather might be like for the rest of the week.
But if you think it’s that easy, you’re only kidding yourself...If you
wait around long enough, you might get to see a forecast for the next
24 hours, complete with some computer animated duckies or
snowmen. There’s usually a 5-day or 10-day forecast at the very
end, but if you really track these over the course of a week or so, you
can quickly get a very good idea just how ambiguous and inaccurate they are.
I would have thought that “Triple Doppler Radar” and “FutureCast”
technology would eventually prove to be more accurate than rain gauges
and wall barometers. I actually miss the days when a weather
forecast was about 2 minutes long and it consisted mostly of black and
white satellite images.
Lately, the weather folks are getting more and more crafty in how they
can suck people into staying tuned. Here’s how it works: At
the beginning of the week (or maybe over the weekend) you might hear
that the weather team is “keeping an eye” on some kind of “disturbance”
that might sweep through later in the week. Later on, it’s
revealed that we might see the first “accumulation” of the season by
the end of the week. However, because some of the “computer
models” might “disagree,” you’re going to have to stay tuned for
regular updates. While you’re at it, you might consider
downloading the channel’s desktop weather alert software so you can get
“lifesaving” updates that are “up to the minute” and
“dependable.” Now, as the weather system comes closer, the
weather folks are forced to give a few more details. But there’s
a bit of discretion to exercise, here. The weather folks seem to
be under the impression that the general public is absolutely terrified
of snow. They go so far as to refer to it as “the white stuff”
instead of calling it “snow” or “precipitation,” inferring that maybe
if they don’t use the proper terminology, they will somehow magically ward off
the bad weather. It’s supposed to be cute, but it’s just plain
annoying.
As of now, we’re about 12 to 24 hours away from what might be a
respectable snowfall. For the past few days, all we’ve heard is
that the snow will be “plowable.” Plowable? Tonight, I
finally saw some real numbers in a forecast and it looks like we’re looking
at 3 to 5 inches. Whatever the case, I’ll need a shovel to get
through it all...And I’m not just talking about the snow...
I
went to a local cafeteria-style place for lunch yesterday. The lady at
the checkout counter rang up my lunch and the total came to $6.66. She
refused to read the total out loud, saying, "You can figure it out for
yourself. That number isn't coming out of my mouth." Now at this point,
I considered going back and purchasing an additional $1.11 in food,
figuring that a lunch tab of $7.77 might land me eternal
salvation. But in the end, I thought it would be best to just pay
the bill and go on about my business.
Maybe next week I’ll go
back and purchase 13 slices of Devil’s Food cake and see what kind of
reaction I get.
The
real monument (known as “Rodina Mat' Zovyot!” or simply “Rodina Mat” in
Russian) was erected in 1967 to commemorate the Soviet victory at
Stalingrad. Although many things have changed since the fierce
battle there (among them the name “Stalingrad”—now called "Volgograd,"
as well as the dissolution of the USSR itself), Rodina Mat still stands
today and it it remains an enduring symbol of national pride and
supreme sacrifice. The monument stands 160 feet high and weighs over
1,000 tons. The sword held aloft by Rodina Mat is over 70
feet long. She is truly a massive and somber tribute to an epic
struggle.
The
first decent winter storm of the season is on the way to the Miami
Valley. We know it’s coming, but we don’t know exactly 
