2005.4.30=6[#120]:4703.3.22[#60+21/60]: [Inca,Iraq,Toad] 2sisRefuseGetMomPassport. 0)Nations' Size. 1)Israel<>US. 2)911. 3)Russian Oil. 4)Schiavo.

[Inca's Stone Walls] http://davideandrea.com/personal/ideas/inca_stones/ [Iraqi Girl] http://tinyurl.com/ [Toad Explosions] http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200504/s1352292.htm Cloudy sun mild: 7:50 up, mom tel Zdu several times and Jung failing to have someone to go to SF for her passport, states not going back to Taiwan. Home, 2 sons in, soon Lung then Jyun(to Giraffe School) left. Email to Dr. Chen, blog now 11:21am. 1:50pm lunch. Mei back walks to rental as S. has just answered me they have a new baby. Long topic on "0) The Size of Nations". Mei refuses to sign again, this time the rent check for Monday deposit. Not as serious as the last time refinancing from variable to fixed interest. But, this time it's almost time to be ready to leave for Taiwan. Very much pressured, so explosion, very rare for many years now. Now 5:56, finish this. O.h., 8:20-9:20 "Winter Sonata"##16/20,Back to him/her to marry, 11:55 bed. 0) The Size of Nations: "Roger Kerr Speech - The Size Of Nations", Wednesday, 2 February 2005, 11:44 am Speech: New Zealand Business Roundtable: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0502/S00021.htm "" The richest member of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is Luxembourg with a per capita income estimated by the OECD (on a purchasing power parity basis) of around US$50,000, more than twice that of New Zealand. It could be argued that Luxembourg is hardly a country, merely a small region within the giant European Union economy. But Norway, Ireland, Switzerland, Denmark, Austria, Belgium, Sweden and Finland, all OECD countries with a population of around 10 million or less, have an average per capita income above the OECD average, while tiny Iceland, with a population of a mere 300,000, is in 10th place in the 30-member OECD. Outside the OECD, Hong Kong and Singapore are of course well known cases of small, successful countries. In Africa, Botswana is a country with a growth record that has far exceeded much larger countries like South Africa and Nigeria in recent decades. Tiny Mauritius, with its remote location in the Indian Ocean, is another strong performer. An even more extreme case is Bermuda. Its population is only 60,000, it is a barren island in the mid-Atlantic, and it has no valuable natural resources. Yet its per capita income is above that of the United States and nearly twice that of New Zealand. Bermuda has prospered through low levels of government spending and taxation (it has no income or corporate taxes), respect for the rule of law (ultimately adjudicated by the Privy Council), limited government intervention in business, strict welfare policies and no welfare dependency. Bermuda is thought to have a higher level of economic freedom than Hong Kong. Of the ten countries with populations over 100 million, only the United States and Japan are prosperous. Gary Becker, a Nobel laureate in economics, has noted that since 1950 real per capita GDP has risen somewhat faster in smaller nations than it has in bigger ones. Becker argues that "dire warnings about the economic price suffered by small nations are not at all warranted". He goes so far as to say that smallness can be an asset in the division of labour in the modern world, provided economies are open to international transactions. If the debate on the economic effects of smallness and remoteness continues, as it no doubt will, it needs to engage with the findings of a recently published book by respected economists Alberto Alesina and Enrico Spolaore, titled The Size of Nations. They begin by reminding us of a fact that many have overlooked in all the talk about globalisation: that globalisation has been accompanied by a substantial increase in the number of countries. Since 1945 the number of independent countries has more than doubled, from 74 to 193. More than half have fewer people than the US state of Massachusetts, which has 6 million inhabitants. Relatively speaking, New Zealand is not as small as it once was. Why do we need reminding that the number of countries has been rapidly growing under our noses? Because we are used to thinking that globalisation eliminates national borders. In 1990, a book was published titled The Borderless World: Power and Strategy in the Interlinked Economy. Its author, Kenichi Ohmae, viewed the expanding multinational networks as having ever less attachment to any home base, so making national borders increasingly irrelevant. That is the direction in which many people have imagined a globalising world to be moving. And yet, since Ohmae’s book appeared, many thousands of kilometres have been added to the total length of international borders in our so-called borderless world. The great increase over the last 50 years in the number of countries, and their falling average size, has mostly followed the break-up of empires. Decolonisation of the old European empires added several new countries to the world list, especially in Africa. The collapse of the Soviet Union added 15 more. The continuing demise of communism in Europe led the federation of Yugoslavia to fall bloodily apart, whereas Czechs and Slovaks arranged an amicable divorce. Against the trend, Yemen reunified, and so did Germany. But I would surmise that many former East Germans regret that they did: showered as they have been with largesse by their rich Western relations, they have done far worse than their Polish and Czech neighbours, who had no choice but to sort themselves out as independent countries. This is also the lesson of foreign aid: at best it is a minor factor in helping countries to develop, and works only if institutions and policies in recipient countries are in good shape. At worst it helps prop up corrupt and ineffective governments and holds development back. The growing number and falling size of nations has often been accompanied by devolution, even within old and well-established countries. In response to growing regional sentiment, Spain has adopted a system of regional government. In the United Kingdom, Scotland and Wales, as well as Northern Ireland, now have their own assemblies. All these trends share an underlying logic that Alesina and Spolaore articulate in their book. Part of that logic is globalisation: free trade in goods, services and capital makes small countries viable. The book suggests that economists have generally regarded the size of countries as ‘exogenous’, that is, not to be explained but treated as a brute geographical fact. Yet a country’s borders are man-made, and as such they could have turned out differently and are always subject to potential change. At one time New Zealand was a dependency of New South Wales, and later had the option of joining the Australian federation. Occasionally speculation surfaces that it might yet choose that option. From an economic point of view, however, the choice is largely irrelevant. Since around 1993, when New Zealand finally established a generally sound overall framework, our trend growth rate has improved substantially and has more or less matched that of the median Australian state. "" 1) US <> Israel?? "Israeli Assassination Attack upon British Prime Minister Sends Shockwaves through United States Government", by Sorcha Faal: [[ ""Sorcha Faal is an International Researcher and Author who goes beyond the simple explanations used to explain today’s issues. “Life is meant to be more than accepting our world as separate pieces; everyone must see the interconnectedness of everything.” She is fond of saying. As a child growing up in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sorcha’s life mirrored others of her generation in experiencing in education and life an experience of freedom, thought and religion not known to her parents or grandparents."" http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index615.htm ]] and as reported to her Russian Subscribers; April 29, 2005: http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index730.htm "" Russian Intelligence Agencies are circulating reports today showing increasing concerns that the secret war being conducted by the United States against Israel may indeed be about to break into open hostility, and as we’ve previously reported about in our April 22nd report titled "United States Declares Secret War against Israel over Attempt to Collapse World Economy, New Zealand Prime Minister Targeted". Increasing these concerns was the targeting of the British Prime Ministers airplane over the skies of London this past Wednesday by members of the Israeli Mossad acting under the orders of Israeli Prime Minister Sharon, and as we can read as reported by the BBC News Service in their article titled "Lightning strikes Blair's plane" and which says, “Mr. Allen said he heard a loud bang but the prime minister, who was talking to a journalist at the time, was apparently "imperturbable".”The rest of us certainly weren't imperturbable," Mr. Allen said. "All I remember was a red and white flash just in my mind which woke me up with a start," he said. "The plane wobbled from side to side but it was also quite rough anyway because it was pretty cloudy and rainy. Lots of people looked momentarily shocked." Such was the fear of the United States towards this attack against the British Prime Minister that the Americans upon learning of it rushed both their President and Vice President to protective bunkers, and as we can read as reported by the Reuters News Service in their article titled "Bush Taken to Bunker After Airspace Scare" and which says, "President Bush was hustled into an underground shelter on Wednesday amid fears an aircraft had entered the restricted airspace around the White House, officials said. The Secret Service determined minutes later that it was a false alarm. Vice President Dick Cheney also was moved to a secure location as heavily armed Secret Service agents cleared the area in front of the presidential mansion." But not from lightning was this attack made against the British Leader but rather from one of the most advanced and secretive weapons developed by the Israelis called a Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL), and of which it is said, "The Tactical High Energy Laser program is a key component of U.S.-Israel strategic cooperation designed to counter short-range rockets." But like many other such joint programs between the United States and Israel, the Intelligence Agencies have discovered massive deception by the Israelis in not keeping their new discoveries secret but also marketing these discoveries to the enemies of the United States, including both Iran and China and as we had previously reported; “Also angering Israel was the American decision to exclude them from participation in one of the most ambitious aircraft projects of this new century, the new American Joint Strike Fighter, and as we can read as reported by the Jerusalem Post in their article titled "US dumps Israel from jet development", and which says; "The Defense Ministry is downplaying reports from Washington that it was so angry over Israeli arms transfers to China that it suspended Israel from participating in the development of the prestigious JSF fighter. United States Defense officials, quoted by Reuters, said over the weekend that Israeli representatives were no longer invited to participate in discussions about the design of the Joint Strike Fighter, known as the F-35, the next-generation warplane." United States Intelligence officials have been fearing this type of attack against their airplanes since the arrest of David Banach of Parsippany, New Jersey, an American holding duel Israeli and American citizenship, and a former member of the Israeli Defense Forces, and as we can read as reported by the USA Today News Service in their article titled "N.J. man charged with aiming laser at aircraft", and which says, "A New Jersey man was charged Tuesday under federal anti-terrorism laws with shining a laser beam at a charter jet flying over his home, temporarily distracting the pilots. David Banach, 38, is the first person charged in a rash of recent incidents in which lasers were shined at aircraft around the country." Russian Intelligence Agencies further report that after the events of this Wednesday the American Intelligence agencies removed all Israeli connected protectors of the American President from close access, and to which the War Criminal Sharon promptly retaliated by denying the American Military Forces training Palestinian Police Forces the right to arm those policemen, and as we can read as reported by the Israeli Haaretz Newspaper in their article titled "Israel rejects U.S. request to arm Palestinian police" and which says; "" c. April 29, 2005, EU and US all rights reserved. [Ed. Note: The United States government actively seeks to find, and silence, any and all opinions about the United States except those coming from authorized government and/or affiliated sources, of which we are not one. No interviews are granted and very little personal information is given about our contributors to protect their safety.] 2) 911: "The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions About the Bush Administration and 9/11", by David Ray Griffin, Interlink (March 1, 2004): (1) "Media Reviews", thinking peace: http://www.thinkingpeace.com/Lib/lib104.html "" "That 9/11 has become a defining moment in our history cannot be gainsaid. But its exact significance is an exceedingly contentious question notwithstanding the seeming clarity of prevailing accounts. David Ray Griffin deconstructs those accounts with a host of unresolved puzzles strongly suggestive of some sort of culpable complicity by US officials in the event. His book presents an incontrovertible argument of the need for a genuinely full and independent investigation of that infamous day. "--Douglas Sturm, Presidential Professor of Religion and Political Science, Emeritus, Bucknell University. "" (2) Amazon.com: http://tinyurl.com/dzvg2 "" Editorial Reviews: From Publishers Weekly A philosopher at the Claremont School of Theology, Griffin scrutinizes the time line and physical evidence of September 11 for unresolved inconsistencies. Griffin draws heavily on three similarly skeptical examinations, by Nafeez Ahmed, Paul Thompson and Thierry Meyssan, whose The Big Lie was a bestseller in France, and which the New Republic has called "thinâ€"and thinly argued." Based on these sources, Griffin maintains that a full investigation of the events of that tragic day is necessary to answer such questions as whether American Airlines Flight 77 did crash into the Pentagon (though many will find it impossible to doubt this) and how United Airlines Flight 93 was downed. He claims that if standard procedures for scrambling fighter jets had been followed, the hijacked planes should have been intercepted in time, and that structurally, the collapse of the World Trade Center towers most likely was caused by explosives placed throughout the towers, not from the plane crashes. He strongly implies that the Bush administration had foreknowledge of the attack and sought to conceal what Griffin suggests was the Pakistani intelligence agency's involvement in the planning for the attacks. His analysis is undergirded by the theory that a significant external threat, on the scale of Pearl Harbor, was very much in the interest of the Bush administration, which he believes is intent on self-interested aggressive foreign policies. Even many Bush opponents will find these charges ridiculous, though conspiracy theorists may be haunted by the suspicion that we know less than we think we do about that fateful day. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Joseph C. Hough, President, Union Theological Seminary, New York "...ought to be read by any American who values our democracy..." "" "" As a former journalist ..., March 22, 2004 Reviewer: David E. Roy, Ph.D. "drdavid" (Fresno, CA) - See all my reviews As a former journalist, I am incredulous that this overwhelming abundance of evidence, all of which points to a story of incredible magnitude, has not been seriously and thoroughly investigated by the press. Watergate, exposed by Woodward and Bernstein, potentially pales into insignificance in comparison with the implications of the data and arguments offered in this extraordinarily well-researched and clearly written book. Prof. Griffin's courage and tenacity must be admired. This is a quick and chilling read. I highly recommend it. "" 3) Russian Oil: (0) "PASSIONAL SUICIDE: Japan commits hara-kiri - loses Siberian oil pipeline to China for American Love": http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VladimirPutinRoundTable/message/82 "" Who could’ve thought less than one year ago that China will ever get oil from Siberia, ahead of Japan? At that time the deal was as sealed, Japan having clear priority to China. In the meantime though, Japan has chosen a reckless pro-American path, waiting to be stuffed with hard American weaponry, allegedly meant to defend it from China, in exchange of a total political commitment to the US’ cause, arrogantly creating additional problems to Moscow by claiming Russian territories, move staged by the US in order to distract Putin’s thoughts. Meanwhile China played obedient, carefully observing Putin’s orders: see the anti-Japanese demonstrations staged by the Chinese leadership that took place last week, threatening Japan with boycotting the negotiations for a seat in the UN Security Council. The mass demonstrations had in fact the purpose to put pressure on Japan and to “convince” it to lessen a bit its aggressive pro-American stance, pressuring it to turn back to the negotiation table with Russia. Japan was practically constrained to agree attending the memorial ceremonies set to be held in Moscow on 9-th of May, if it still wants to put hope in the tiny chance that remained for getting Siberian oil. "" (1) "Surfeited Europe Hinders Oil Companies to Export Oil Profitably", KOMMERSANT Daily, APRIL 29, 2005: http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=574369 "" President of Transneft oil pipline operator Semen Vaynshtok attends the 3rd international Pipline Forum in the Moscow Expo-Centre. // Interview Russian Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko signed on April 26 a decree On Determination of the Stages of the Construction of the Pipeline System Eastern Siberia – the Pacific Ocean. Semyon Vainshtock, president of Transneft oil transporting company tells Kommersant correspondent Irina Rybalchenko about the details of the project. - You have stated that the route of the construction of the Eastern oil-pipeline will most likely have a branch tube for Daquing. Has this question been settled and who will finance the construction of this section – the Russian or the Chinese party? - The decision on the branch tube for China has not been made yet. If we decide to stretch a branch tube for China, then the construction of this 70-km section will be financed by Transneft since this section is in the Russian territory. - It is planned to pump 30 million tons of oil from the Western Siberia and 5 million tons from the Eastern Siberia after the project has started working at capacity. There are only two well-known oil-fields in Siberia – Talakanskoye (the license pertained by Surgutneftegaz) and Verkhnechonskoye (the license belongs to Verkhnechonsk-Neftegaz owned by TNK-BP, Interros and the Committee on the Handling of the State Property of Irkutsk Region).They will be producing no more that 17 million tons by 2010. Where will you get the rest of the oil? "" (2) "Japan: no money for pipeline through China", Asia Times; Apr 26, 2005: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/GD26Ad02.html "" TOKYO - Japan will not contribute financially to a Russian oil pipeline construction project if a branch to China is built first, according to sources. Russian authorities are scheduled to compile their plans for construction methods and other details related to the pipeline project on May 1. "" (3) "INDUSTRY AND ENERGY MINISTER GIVES LIFE TO EASTERN OIL PIPELINE", RIAN "Novosti"; 14:28 http://en.rian.ru/business/20050428/39755116.html "" MOSCOW, April 28 (RIA Novosti) - Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko signed off on building the Eastern Oil Pipeline, a route with the capacity to transport 30 million metric tons of oil per year. The pipeline is intended to pump oil from deposits in Western Siberia and will extend nearly to China. However, government officials did not mention if Russian oil would also be delivered to Japan, Gazeta.Ru reported. "" (4) "GOVERNMENT PICKS YUKOS ROUTE FOR PIPELINE", 2005-04-29 12:17 http://tinyurl.com/98pqc "" MOSCOW, April 29 (RIA Novosti) - Industry and Energy Minister Victor Khristenko has signed off on the Eastern Siberian oil pipeline, listing the various stages of the development of the pipeline, which will stretch from Taishet in the Irkutsk region to Skovorodino in the Amur region, 70 km from the Russian-Chinese border, Vedomosti reported. The government was unable to settle on a route for more than five years, deadlocked between the route that backs up to China and the route that heads toward the Pacific, of which Japan was in favor. Yukos has maintained since 1999 that the Chinese route was more expedient. Yukos was opposed by Rosneft and Transneft, which preferred the idea of the Japanese route. "" (5) "Japan ready to join Russia pipeline project", V. Khristenko; Kazinform; 22.04 / 15:28 | 127: http://www.inform.kz/txt/showarticle.php?lang=eng&id=120060 "" Tokyo, April 22. KAZINFORM. - The Japanese government has confirmed readiness to take financial part in Russia's project to build a Taishet-Nakhodka oil pipeline and in prospecting and developing Eastern Siberian oilfields for filling it, Russian Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko said. He said that Tokyo wanted to have final answers to questions that are of interest to Japanese experts, including when, in what amount and where oil would come, Kazinform quotes Itar-Tass. Khristenko leads a Russian delegation to a meeting of the inter-governmental economic cooperation commission in Tokyo on Friday. "" (6) "Are Moscow and Tokyo Doubting Wisdom of Nakhodka Project?" Henry Weidel; Turkish Weekly: http://www.turkishweekly.net/comments.php?id=737 "" Dmitry Medvedev's recent interview in the Russian journal Ekspert (April 4) raised eyebrows for a variety of reasons. The fact that he even consented to give an interview is news in itself. The Kremlin Chief of Staff has been largely invisible to the public eye since his appointment last year. Medvedev warned that without a unified leadership Russia could "disappear" as a political entity. He also stated that the leadership is unhappy with dissent, giving ominous signals that the Kremlin could be ready for an even stronger power grab to rein in political opposition, both in the regions and in the center. "" 4) "Terri Schiavo's Final Hours: An Eyewitness Account", Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director, Priests for Life, President, National Pro-life Religious Council: http://www.priestsforlife.org/euthanasia/terrisfinalhours.htm "" You may have seen on the news that I was at Terri Schiavo's bedside during the last 14 hours of her earthly life, right up until five minutes before her death. During that time with Terri, joined by her brother and sister, I expressed your care, concern, and prayers. I told Terri over and over that she had many friends around the country, many people who were praying for her and were on her side. I had also told her the same things during my visits to her in the months before her feeding tube was removed, and am convinced she understood. ""

2005.4.29=5:[#119]4703.3.21[#60+20/60]: [Planet.., Network] AAA tel.10 minutes. Dr. Chen Meeting. 1)US Safety & Economy. 2)Iraq. 3)China Trade/Titan.

[Planet] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3686106.stm [Climate] http://www.opendemocracy.net/debates/article-6-129-2455.jsp [Network] http://www.pcguidebook.com/homenetwork.asp http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,115070,00.asp Cloudy cool gradually fair: Up 6:15, Homeowner ins. man in charge tel. 9-9:10, no more checking diary today. Emails to blog here for US Safety. Mei back 6:15, finish to go to dinner party. Hiro drives with 2 couples to Taiwan Legislator, Chen, Min-Jen, Ph.D. dinner party at Long War 12 persons x 4-5 tables, and later listen to his report and Q&A, criticizing Lien Chan and so on. Jung joins us back home, immediately dive to o.h. Lien Chan arrives Xi'an at 12:20am, speech 12:35-:53, bed 1:40. 1) US Safety & Economy: (1) Safer Now? "Bush administration eliminating 19-year-old international terrorism report", by Jonathan S. Landay; Knight Ridder Newspapers; Posted on Fri, Apr. 15, 2005: http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/11407689.htm "" WASHINGTON - The State Department decided to stop publishing an annual report on international terrorism after the government's top terrorism center concluded that there were more terrorist attacks in 2004 than in any year since 1985, the first year the publication covered. Several U.S. officials defended the abrupt decision, saying the methodology the National Counterterrorism Center used to generate statistics for the report may have been faulty, such as the inclusion of incidents that may not have been terrorism. Last year, the number of incidents in 2003 was undercounted, forcing a revision of the report, "Patterns of Global Terrorism." "" (2) US Economy: "Stuck In The Spin Cycle", Robert L. Borosage; TomPaine.com; April 29, 2005: ""Robert L. Borosage, a veteran strategist and institution builder, is co-director of the Campaign for America's Future"": http://www.tompaine.com/20050429/articles/stuck_in_the_spin_cycle.php "" With the economy slowing, wages stagnant, the Republican Congress stained by scandal and his poll numbers plummeting, George W. Bush called only the fourth press conference of his presidency to stanch the hemorrhaging. "I have a duty as the president," he said, "to define the problems facing the nation and to call upon people to act." What are those problems? Social Security benefits are too high and must be cut? Oil and gas subsidies are too low and must be raised? No wonder more and more Americans are beginning to think this president is part of the problem and not the solution. "" 2) Iraq: "Recording and publicly releasing Iraqi civilian casualty numbers", by Marla Ruzicka USA Today 18 April 2005; 27 April 2005: "These statistics demonstrate that the U.S. military can and does track civilian casualties": "Aid worker's words — just a week before she was killed": http://globalresearch.ca/articles/RUZ504A.html "" BAGHDAD — The writer, a 28-year-old humanitarian aid worker from California, was killed Saturday in Baghdad when a suicide bomber aiming for a convoy of contractors pulled alongside her vehicle and detonated his explosives. Her driver also died. She filed this piece from Baghdad a week before her death. "" 3) China Trade & Neolithic Titan: (1) "US and EU to probe China textiles", BBC News; Last Updated: Friday, 29 April, 2005, 10:39 GMT 11:39 UK: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4496131.stm "" China is one of the world's largest textile producers The US government has accepted a request from the US textile industry to investigate the sharp increase in imports of textiles from China. The European Union, too, has confirmed the launch of its long-expected inquiry into nine types of China-made clothing. But the EU's trade commissioner on Friday made a plea for Westerners to avoid protectionist thinking. Concern has risen over the level of Chinese textile imports since a system of trade quotas ended in January. "" (2) "Remains of Neolithic Titan discovered in S. China region", English.eastday.com, 25/4/2005 11:16: http://english.eastday.com/eastday/englishedition/nation/userobject1ai1045126.html "" Archaeologists in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, south China, have unearthed remains of an 180- centimeter-tall man from a tomb dating back more than 6,000 years. "Such a tall man was seen rarely in south China in ancient times," said Huang Xin, head of the Cultural Relics Management Institute of Youjiang District, Baise City. Huang is one of the archaeologists who took part in the recent excavation at the Neolithic site in Gongyuan Village, Yangxu Town of Baise City. ""

2005.4.28=4:[#118]4703.3.20[#60+19/60]: [Sandstorm] Shot, Dog AAA&Hist., Lien Beida: 1)Globalization. 2)Islam. 3)Human Origins: China.

[Iraq Sandstorm] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/4491531.stm Rainy cloud cool mild: Lost sleep early morning, 6:15 up. Jyun hands in 2p. of "Dog": Questions, Facts, Issues, then Lung drives him to BART. Bath, breakfast, blog for topic of "Globalization" from last night's rebroadcasting of 4.5=2 Charlie Rose interviewing Thomas L. Friedman on "The World is Flat", stating that Taiwan designs electronic something then to all across China's coast for parts, to Malaya for composition, back to Taiwan for sale. Now 10:37am. Finish topic 12:39pm! 9-10 repeat "Winter Sonata", 1-2 repeat "Strugle", so tv for Lien in China. Now 1:51pm, for lunch & ins.co.? & hospital shot 4:30pm. Now just past 3pm. To AAA getting 800-922-8228 claim tel.no., to hospital for the 3rd & last shot. Home tel AAA getting the idea better to claim so they can help investigate. 6-7 "Winter Sonata" #15, 6:55?-7:37pm live Lien speech in Beida: Beida prof., esp. Fu Ssunien, Shen Gangbo to Taida & Hu Shih to Taiwan Academia Sinica, 1st applaud at "Insisting on peace". 7:37-7:59pm, Q&A. Yes, somewhat moving even to change my mind? Not really. Our president Chen's answer to the whole thing is very good: We don't want to be put in a bird cage! 8-9pm "Stairway to Heaven": He finally catches up with her, but she has different name and identity, like "Winter Sonata". Still check diary and blog from 2.1=2 to 2.13=7 for now, since Jyun's "FACTS" jumps from 2.2=3 to 2.12=6. 9-10pm "W.S."#15: He doubts own identitiy. Just start dinner, almost 10pm! 10-11 "Lovers over Snow(?)": Love between girl and brother-in-law both police. He is hurt. Now 11:36pm, finish for the time. 12-1 "Blue Fog(?)"#13: He to him to bring her to US. Lien-Hu mtg. in progress, 1:10 bed. According to Jyun, ie Sze-jun's "FACTS", on "DOG", p.1: "Tuesday February 1, 2005 1. Between 3-6pm, dog was running at large, reports of his sighting were made by police officers-animal control-residents, calls made to my answering machine." [[ Mr. Earl L. Jiang, Attorney at Law's April 21, 2005 letter addressed to "Sze-Jun Tsai": "Date of incident: 2/5/05" & "an incident occurred on February 2, 2005". ]] 2. I went to pick him up(7pm)from a man on Osgood Rd, who stated that my dog bit him. 3. The first thing he asked me at his house was where I parked(strange). Then he showed me his injuries, which did not seem severe(holding tissue over dried wound). 4. He brought out my dog in a raccoon trap that is next to his house. The first thing I noticed is that my dog cannot move at all in the trap and the fact that his collar was tied to the trap's handle. 5. He released my dog from the trap and I picked him up. We spoke about him going to the doctor tomorrow and that I would follow up with him tomorrow night after work. Wednesday February 2, 2005 1. I called him at that night and asked him how he was doing. 2. I asked him if he had gone to the doctor, he stated that he did. I did not think he was telling the truth as he later stated he just put medicine on it. 3. I ended the call by asking if I could keep following up with him or if he wanted to call me back, he stated his wish to contact me. Saturday February 12, 2005 [[ I'm out, so don't know the following. ]] 1. He came to our house asking for money. 2. We asked to see a bill and he claimed he hadn't received a bill yet. 3. He stated he would bring the bill tomorrow morning and he would settle with my dad. [[ I don't know about this settlement idea. ]] 4. Later on in the evening he called our house making veiled threats when I asked for greater clarification as to what was going on. He never came to our house on Sunday 2/13. [[ We left around 1pm for Skylawn Park, until past 5pm. ]] 1) Globalization of the Twenty-first Century, for the USA: (1) "The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century", by Thomas L. Friedman, Farrar, Straus and Giroux: http://tinyurl.com/dqtln "" Editorial Reviews Amazon.com Thomas L. Friedman is not so much a futurist, which he is sometimes called, as a presentist. His aim, in his new book, The World Is Flat, as in his earlier, influential Lexus and the Olive Tree, "" "" Globalization 3.0, as he calls it, is driven not by major corporations or giant trade organizations like the World Bank, but by individuals: desktop freelancers and innovative startups all over the world (but especially in India and China) who can compete--and win--not just for low-wage manufacturing and information labor but, increasingly, for the highest-end research and design work as well. "" --Tom Nissley "" From Publishers Weekly "" "" For Friedman, cheap, ubiquitous telecommunications have finally obliterated all impediments to international competition, and the dawning "flat world" is a jungle pitting "lions" and "gazelles," where "economic stability is not going to be a feature" and "the weak will fall farther behind." Rugged, adaptable entrepreneurs, by contrast, will be empowered. The service sector (telemarketing, accounting, computer programming, engineering and scientific research, etc.), will be further outsourced to the English-spoken abroad; manufacturing, meanwhile, will continue to be off-shored to China. As anyone who reads his column knows, Friedman agrees with the transnational business executives who are his main sources that these developments are desirable and unstoppable, and that American workers should be preparing to "create value through leadership" and "sell personality." This is all familiar stuff by now, but the last 100 pages on the economic and political roots of global Islamism are filled with the kind of close reporting and intimate yet accessible analysis that have been hard to come by. "" (Apr. 5) (2) "The Flight of the Creative Class: The New Global Competition for Talent", by Richard Florida, HarperBusiness (April 12, 2005): http://tinyurl.com/7bpra "" From Publishers Weekly Following up on The Rise of the Creative Class (2002), He argues that the loss of even a few geniuses can have tremendous impact, adding that the "overblown" economic threat posed by large nations such as China and India obscures all the little blows inflicted upon the U.S. by Canada, Scandinavia, New Zealand and other countries with more open political climates. Florida lays his case out well and devotes a significant portion of this polemical analysis to defending his earlier book's argument regarding "technology, talent, and tolerance" (i.e. that together, they generate economic clout, so the U.S. should be more progressive on gay rights and government spending). He does so because that book contains what he sees as the way out of the dilemma—a new American society that can "tap the full creative capabilities of every human being. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. "" "" From Booklist Professor Florida makes an impassioned plea, using his first book, The Rise of the Creative Class (2002), as a jump start, for the U.S. to retain its stature as an open and welcoming home for talent. And lest readers think that the author has overstated the hype, that engineers, scientists, and other innovators are not emigrating from America, he musters up an incredible quantity of quality statistics that would disable any contrarian, from the unaffordability of our cities to our insistence on outsourcing. Yet this brain drain is not attributable simply to verifiable factors; rather, it is in large part driven by our demise as an open, tolerant society. Look at the numbers of films now produced in Toronto, New Zealand, and Australia. Who now has the lead in developing new ideas in consumer electronics? Note the decreasing numbers of Nobel Prizes awarded to U.S. citizens. How do we solve the problem? He admits his four-pronged program is not an overnight panacea; it requires a profound societal shift. Barbara Jacobs Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved "" (3) "The Lexus and The Olive Tree : Understanding Globalization", by Thomas L. Friedman, Anchor(May, 2000): http://tinyurl.com/8dagy 1. "" Amazon.com One day in 1992, Thomas Friedman toured a Lexus factory in Japan and marveled at the robots that put the luxury cars together. That evening, as he ate sushi on a Japanese bullet train, he read a story about yet another Middle East squabble "" "" globalization--the Lexus--is the central organizing principle of the post-cold war world, even though many individuals and nations resist by holding onto what has traditionally mattered to them--the olive tree. "" "" involving international relations, global markets, and the rise of the power of individuals (Bill Gates, Osama Bin Laden) relative to the power of nations. "" --Lou Schule 2. "" Not Even Close to the Whole Story, February 24, 2002 Reviewer: doomsdayer520 (State College, PA USA) "" "" Friedman also completely avoids the issue of corporate domination, as rulings by the pro-corporate WTO have allowed multinational companies to supersede the laws of sovereign nations (such as the blatant disregard for Nigeria's environmental laws by Western oil companies). Finally, Part Four of this book descends into anemic boosterism "" 3. "" Yeah, it is that simple, March 1, 2005 Reviewer: Brandon E. Wolfe (Arizona, USA) "" "" As a scientist, I value books that are clear and direct. "" "" He has single-handedly changed middle east politics--King Jordan has copied him explicitly, and Bush's speeches run about two weeks behind Friedman's articles. "" 2) Islam's Future: (1) "The Future of Islam", by Lakshmi Chaudhry, AlterNet. Posted April 28, 2005: http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/21891/ ""Reza Aslan explains why the real target in the 9/11 attacks was not the United States but moderates in the Muslim world"": "" In recent weeks, a young Iranian-American author has been making his rounds of the talk show circuit. Turn on the TV and you might catch a glimpse of him on "Meet the Press" or more recently Jon Stewart's "Daily Show". Reza Aslan is a man in demand these days. Aslan's new-found popularity is hardly surprising since his latest book, No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, offers a surprising answer "" (2) "Dawn of an Islamic Revolution", by Reza Aslan, AlterNet. Posted April 28, 2005: http://www.alternet.org/story/21887/ ""A Muslim reformation, after centuries of stony sleep, has finally awoken and is now slouching toward Medina"": ""Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from Reza Aslan's new book, "No god but God" published by Random House."" 3) Human Origins Hypothesis: "New evidence challenges hypothesis of modern human origins", People's Daily Online; UPDATED: 17:51, April 27, 2005; Source: Xinhua: http://english.people.com.cn/200504/27/eng20050427_182971.html "" New evidence challenges hypothesis of modern human origins Chinese archaeologists said newly found evidence proves that a valley of Qingjiang River, a tributary on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, might be one of the regions where Homo sapiens, or modern man, originated. ""

2005.4.27=3:[#117]4703.3.19[#60+18/60]: [War&Politics] M...' Answer in 3): 1)WH Scandal? 2)US Congress. 3)"China Has Made It!?"

Thin cloud cool to mild, a bit rain/sun: Up 8:20, 8-9 China's "Gold Powder(?)", 9-10 "Winter Sonata"#13concert, Lung concerned about insurance coverage, emails reply [W]M.'s details of Chinese military threats ending with real worry about American loss of liberty, my answer under "China Has Made It!? #10000[Tsai 05.4.27=3 #1] Yes, A..., M... gets it just as it is. Mr. Lien Chan really should know far better. Or he actually knows, but cannot help but playing into the "communist" Chinese game of "Talk, talk, attack, attack. Attack, attack, talk, talk" long history of the original Chiang's KMT of China crumbling wholescale swiftly. But, what a grand and irresistably enticing show given to him in China, guranteeing to be played into their trap! > The old Go players are good at that. I wonder if he's out providing the Taiwan government an exit strategy, like promising to forment a coup in the event that they really try to become an independant state? The promise costs him nothing and in the event that it looks like the mainlanders are going to invade, a coup on the one side and a government in exile on the other, might be the only solution that they have. Somehow, I don't see the old Go players allowing the "One Country, Two Systems" model to continue if they have to go to all of the trouble to present a credible threat to the Taiwanese in order to keep em in the fold. Then again, maybe sophistry raised to the level of self delusion isn't limited to the United States and Canadian governments. I hate to see the old KMT headed for it's final crash like that though. Then again, how many times in Chinese history has a victorious politician or General managed to win by turning an opponent's vanity against himself? Hubris always invites Nemisis and this situation is no different than any other in this regard. > This time, it seems not to be a beginning of live and let live for a far better future act. Rather, starting from the enactment of the "Anti-secessionist law" then these invitations of the chairmen of the 2 major oppositon parties of Taiwan to China with full "glory", tactiful production of confusion and manipulation of a gigantic strategy. The whole game is in their hands, secretly and securely. The game has just started, with, it seems, the full support of the USA at the sides. Who could be against peace any way! > Yup. One of the things that I'm seeing is an attempt to erode unity on the islands themselves. If there is a lack of a common purpose in defending Taiwan, the Mainlanders hand is strengthened because the political steps necessary to put an effective defense in motion will be delayed until it's too late. The Old Go Players understand the Inverse Square Law all too well. And they have a better understanding of human psychology than most. And it shows. And the guys in Washington suffer the condition of their reach all too often exceeding their grasp. Nothing is ever simple about China and there are always subtle nuances that aren't going to be appearant unless you grew up speaking Chinese, and even then it's got to be the right Chinese. The guys who run the Mainland for the most part speak and think in Mandarin as a first language. Most of the people over here who speak Chinese, speak Cantonese, which has, outside of the common written ideographs, a different syntax and structure and a whole bunch of different premises. That's what makes it so hard even when you have printed literature, to divine the intentions of the persons who wrote it. Take that condition that the Go Players and other Legalists seek- serenity. In English, it's an absence of stress-- a feeling of security. In Mandarin in particular, it's nothing of the sort. Nearest translation I can get, (and it doesn't precisely translate into English on any but the most superficial level) is " order and harmony under heaven". And when you break that one down, you've got a whole different meaning, especially when you put it in the context of people who have internalized the old Chinese Legalist philosophy, as the Old Go Players have. And since they grew up with it, they're not going to question it's premises anymore than fish question water. And for about the same reasons, I might add. To the Old Go Players, Order and Harmony under Heaven pretty much translates out to a centralized authoritarian state with tributary states in a subordinate role to it. Hegemonism in it's classical form, which has been the policy since the Ch'in Emperor. Ideology is a rationalisation for that state of affairs, and it doesn't matter if it's pseudo Confuscianism of the post Ch'in Dynasties or the Communism that Mao's restoration of the Ch'in regime created, in the end, it's all Legalism. If it were up to me, (and unfortunately it's not-- pragmatists need not apply) I'd approach China on a transactional basis. When you've got two completely different ways of thinking at a confrontation point, you need a common denominator and a transactional basis for relations would make more sense. Forget morality, ethics, ideology or any of the rest of that largely self referential stuff. Proceed on the basis of, "I want this, and I'll trade you that" or "I'll cede this if you'll reciprocate with that", and then just operate the whole thing as an armed trade. The Chinese, even under Communism, are a mercantile people. And it's easier to use a transactional model to resolve contradictions than it is to try and resolve ideological, historical and cultural mismatch by the idiotic sophistries that come out of Washington and the various special interest groups and think tanks that mostly make a complete mess of our foreign and national security policy anyway. Reduce things to self interest and a lot of appearant contradictions get resolved fast. > Now some are even talking > about this whole show as initiated by the US, or at least not in opposition at all. Taiwan in corner now, or anything could be done now? It's a the biggest and loud show all over China. They are in an unreserved and open happiness now. > If we're involved in this, the Old Go Players in Beijing are rolling on the floor laughing at us. It amounts to an offer to stab our allies in the back and commit suicide in the bargain. How could one not laugh at an offer to impale one's self on one's own sword? Small wonder that Jiang Jemin and Hu Jintao have absolutely no respect for us. If the tables were turned, I'd be rolling on the floor laughing myself to death too. As for me, it's as embarassing as watching Jerry Lewis movies. When I look at Washington or the dissident parties in Taiwan, the question I always ask is, "what ever are those grown men doing?" And when it occurs to me that for the most part they don't know either, that's when I start to get the shakes, because that is a frightening thing indeed. ""

2005.4.26=2:[#116]4703.3.18[#60+17/60]: [unhcr,rockart,Nixon,scandal,Bushmen] Drive mom passport, attorney for us. 1)MoveOn. 2)US Right. 3)Jane Fonda.

[UNHCR, Refugees] http://un1.freewebpage.org/ [UK rock art] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/4476303.stm [Nixon Tape...at Bohemian Grove] http://www.prisonplanet.com/032604nixontape.html [biggest scandal...Bush/Reagan?] http://www.thelawparty.org/FranklinCoverup/franklin.htm [Bushmen fight for homeland] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4480883.stm Thin cloud soon fair mild: 5:30 up from 2:30! Large scale hunt for passport and related documents without any find so far 9:32am. Ju is furious no one has told her about Jung & mom's delaying, demands mom to pay for penalty. Smashing to the end of emails at 10:22 now, even joining in the revival of [War&Politics] forum. Going to o.h. then to San Francisco with mom by BART as she suggested? Still drive mom to SF TECO of Taiwan, apply for her new replacement passport, with extra $15 for special quick processing. At o.h., tel. Jung then Ju, the latter prefer to delay going back with mom, then home to emails to reply [W]'s A. and joining Nexus ["Politics, philosophy, humor and humanity - all topics welcomed"] forum where, according to A., D. is busy while quiet now away from [W] & [C], while tv 6-7 "Winter Sonata" repeat, 7-8 "Blue Fog(?)"#11 serious, 8-9 now "Stairway to Heaven"#4 car accident now here too, all Korean and really from fun to deeply and serously moving, Lung home 8:10, Ch. with dog then, 8:20 finish emails again, so here now 8:40. Reply to A. cut short by Jyun's printing of his letter concerning dog to someone. 8:50 attorney W., mother of sons' student, returns Jyun's call [all gone] suggesting to check insurance coverage first. 9-10 "Winter Sonata" again. The guest dog is apparently still here making sound, as Mei back from computer class 7-9 at 9:05, soon Jyun & Ch. back, 9:20 Lung back. Tell Jyun about call, Lung cares also, probably go to check with my ins. co. tommorow. Late dinner again & 10-11 "Lovers on Snow(?)". Jyun still out, now 11:52 to finish. 12-1 "Blue Fog(?), 1:05 bed. 1) "MoveOn Muscles Up", by Don Hazen, AlterNet. Posted April 26, 2005. ""MoveOn founder Wes Boyd discusses how progressives can gain the offensive advantage, the power of the Democratic rank and file, and the futility of moving to the center. This is excerpted from "Start Making Sense: Turning the Lessons of Election 2004 into Winning Progressive Politics" (Chelsea Green), edited by Don Hazen and Lakshmi Chaudhry. To learn more about the book and to purchase it, visit the Start Making Sense website"": http://www.alternet.org/story/21862/ "" On January 20, 2005, Inaugural Day, MoveOn proposed a strikingly ambitious plan: to organize "networks of neighbors and friends" in every Congressional district that would together create a "national message," and to use the networks to take back the House of Representatives in 2006. In the missive sent to its 3-million-member list, the MoveOn leaders said the plan came directly from the members in terms of their comments about MoveOn's future. For many members, this was a signal that the organization had dramatically shifted gears after the Democrats' defeat in November. For Wes Boyd, cofounder, with Joan Blades, of MoveOn, the declaration represented a transition from working in support of John Kerry's presidential bid and the Democratic Party to building a true grassroots movement. "" 2) "The Right's Siege Mentality", by Paul Waldman, TomPaine.com. Posted April 26, 2005: ""At Justice Sunday, speaker after speaker told of the terrible injustice being perpetrated by Senate Democrats. Sinister, powerful liberals are attacking you, your children and everything you believe in. Despite all evidence to the contrary, it's the conservative rallying cry": http://www.alternet.org/story/21865/ "" Many progressives watched in puzzlement at the end of last year as religious conservatives declared that a war was being waged across America, a campaign of untold savagery whose sole victim was a holiday celebrated by approximately four out of every five Americans. Forced to endure the horror of department store signs reading "Happy Holidays," conservatives beat their breasts and gnashed their teeth over the War on Christmas. "" "" Soon enough, the conflict over the filibuster and judicial nominations will come to its conclusion. But win or lose, those so angry about the "judicial war on faith" will quickly discover another war being waged against them, another reason to proclaim that--all evidence to the contrary--they are the real victims. Paul Waldman is a senior fellow with Media Matters for America and a senior contributor to The Gadflyer. "" 3) "During rant on Fonda, Crowley repeated debunked claim of betrayal": http://mediamatters.org/items/200504250002 "" MSNBC host Monica Crowley repeated a baseless claim that actress and anti-Vietnam War activist Jane Fonda "betrayed American POWs" by passing secret notes given to her by American prisoners of war to their Vietnamese captors, resulting in the POWs' torture and murder. As Media Matters for America has documented, Col. Larry Carrigan, the surviving POW specifically named by those relaying the rumor, has said that he never met Jane Fonda and never handed her a secret message. From the "Rants and Raves" segment of the April 21 edition of MSNBC's Connected: Coast to Coast (also posted to the show's weblog at MSNBC.com): CROWLEY: In 1972 Jane Fonda was at the height of her fame, a movie star and icon in her own right out of the shadow of her famous father. That's when she used her fame to oppose the war in Vietnam. Jane Fonda took to the streets to let her views against the war be known. But she didn't stop there. She took her show on the road, to the enemy. During her stay as a guest of the North Vietnamese government, she climbed atop an enemy gun, used to shoot down American airplanes. She broadcast messages on Radio Hanoi telling American pilots to disobey their orders and stop the bombing runs, and she betrayed American POWs who covertly identified themselves to her only to see her tell the enemy they tried to communicate with her. She now says that her trip to North Vietnam was a large lapse in judgment, but she doesn't regret the radio broadcasts or taking her opposition to the war to American soldiers in harm's way. And that's precisely the problem. — R.S.K. Posted to the web on Monday April 25, 2005 at 11:48 AM EST ""

2005.4.25=1[#115]:4703.3.17[#60+16/60]: [Girls Abduction, Scotland], Passport Loss reported. 1)Putin's USSR. 2)Muslim on Iraq. 3)US Media.

[Girls Abduction] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4478913.stm [Britain Cave Engravings Oldest] http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/earth_sciences/report-43445.html [Scotland] http://www.rampantscotland.com/famous/famous.htm http://netmedia.co.uk/history/week-14/ http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/stonehaven/dunnottarcastle/ http://www.dunechtestates.co.uk/ Map: http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/areace.html Cloudy then fair mild: Up 7:15, Jyun tel then faxes 3 pages on obtaining lost Taiwan passport, then we all try to find it all over, mom very hard to exaustion again, I start lunch quickly, then haul off old newspapers, lots, lots of them. Mom tel Setjian trying to open her big baggage fails. Almost 5pm drive mom to Police Dept. online apply lost record, then to Kinko's for extra photos, to Jyun's place, I escape leaving mom to Jyun, to home soon dinner & emails, now 11:03pm blog to get [Scotland]. TV: Violent reactions in Taiwan on Lien Chan's China visit. Jyun is still out here, typing notes about my letter on computer. Now 12:51am. So far no luck about mom's lost passport. Taiwan tv's show live Lien Chan's violent departure and welcoming at H.K. and Nanjing. 2:30 bed! 1) "Putin deplores collapse of USSR", BBC News, Last Updated: Monday, 25 April, 2005, 10:04 GMT 11:04 UK: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4480745.stm "" President Putin: Russia will pursue its own model of democracy Russia's President Vladimir Putin has described the collapse of the Soviet Union as "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe" of the 20th century. Mr Putin's annual state of the nation address to parliament was broadcast live on Russian television. He said the break-up of the USSR in 1991 was "a real drama" which left tens of millions of Russians outside the Russian Federation. He also said Russia must develop as a "free and democratic" country. But he stressed that Russia "will decide for itself the pace, terms and conditions of moving towards democracy". "" 2) A Progressive Muslim on Iraq: "The Value of Human Life", by Omid Safi, AlterNet. Posted April 25, 2005. ""A progressive Muslim critique of the U.S. occupation of Iraq."" http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/21854/ "" This is an excerpt from the recently re-released 'Twilight of Empire' (Perceval Press), featuring a new foreword by Howard Zinn. This piece was written soon after the occupation began, but we feel it still has resonance. The ongoing U.S. occupation of Iraq presents a special challenge for Muslims who self-identify as socially and politically progressive. The challenge is to speak out, rise up, and act against the unilateral American display of unbridled military power, as well as against acts of violence by some Iraqis toward that same American might or perceived Iraqi sympathizers. This double critique arises out of the Qur'anic view that to save the life of one human being--any human being--is to have saved the life of all humanity, and to take the life of a single human being, any human being, is as if to destroy all of humanity [Qur'an 5:32]. "" 3) US Media: (1) "Media Blackout on Trilaterals", by James P. Tucker Jr.; Republished from American Free Press; Mon, 25 Apr 2005 08:08:57 -0500 [Posted By gaanjah_mama]: http://www.gnn.tv/headlines/2454/Media_Blackout_on_Trilaterals "" Summary: Bilderberg and the Trilateral Commission have interlocking leadership and a common agenda. David Rockefeller and Henry Kissinger are leaders of both groups. The Trilaterals’ European chairman, Peter Sutherland, head of Goldman-Sachs International, is also a Bilderberg leader. Former House Speaker Tom Foley is the TC’s North American chairman. “The Trilateral Commission’s meetings have inspired conspiracy theories of powerful puppeteers who secretly pull the strings of world power as they seek to establish a new world order,” the Times story said. “The theories are based partly on fact.” "" (2) "The Right's Siege Mentality", Paul Waldman, TomPaine.com; April 25, 2005: ""Paul Waldman is a senior fellow with Media Matters for America and a senior contributor to The Gadflyer."" http://www.tompaine.com/articles/the_rights_siege_mentality.php?dateid=20050425 "" Many progressives watched in puzzlement at the end of last year as religious conservatives declared that a war was being waged across America, a campaign of untold savagery whose sole victim was a holiday celebrated by approximately four out of every five Americans. Forced to endure the horror of department store signs reading “Happy Holidays,” conservatives beat their breasts and gnashed their teeth over the War on Christmas. ""

2005.4.24=7[#114]:4703.3.16[#60+15/60]: [Space, UK Local], Mom pressured, School, Typed Letter for Laws. 1)Time to May 19th. 2)US to Theocracy?!

[Peaceful Space blog] http://space4peace.blogspot.com/ [UK Local Government] http://www.commonpurpose.org.uk/home/public/civilsociety/hsw/localgov.aspx Cloudy cool to mild: Up 6:45 sleepy! Mom is anxious to find her passport, and pressured from going back to Taiwan soon, mom and I are both edgy. Still drive to School for exercise, dance, and lunch, then home to emails thinking about writing a letter to the attorney, now 3:21pm, only Lung at home. Type the letter after the first one half done gone trying to save as draft, Lung gone, and now Jyun and Ch. home. Give the print of letter to Jyun, but cannot copy and paste here. Nap. Skip 7-8 "Winter Sonata" #10, 8-9 #11, brand new first half! Now 8:13pm pretty dark, just finished emails finally. No tel. Jyun no response after he has read my letter. Mei just back and asks about mom. Finish this now. O.h. dinner right away, 12:00 bed. 1) Time to May 19th: "NEW MILLENNIUM BEING: MY TAURUS GARDEN: SELF-SUFFICIENCY AND MANIFESTATION, Number 104 - April 23, 2005", by Gururattan Kaur Khalsa, Ph.D. http://www.yogatech.com/nmb/backissues/nmb104.html "" The Sun moved into Taurus grazing pastures April 19th and will stay in this field through May 19th. The Scorpio Full Moon/Lunar Eclipse is April 24th at 3:08 AM PDT (10:08 AM GMT). The Taurus New Moon is May 8th at 1:46 AM PDT (8:46 AM GMT). SECURITY AND PLEASURE IN THE PHYSICAL WORLD When the Sun moves into the earth sign Taurus, things seem to calm down a bit. Life can feel scattered and frenetic when the Sun is in fiery Aries. We are reborn during Aries springtime. The major focus of Aries is to feel alive and to establish a sense of Self and Soul. Taurus introduces us to our body, the earth and physical things. The Bull’s path focuses on its rapport with the physical world. The Bull seeks security and stability. Its ultimate goals are pleasure, relaxation and peace. "" 2) USA toward Theocracy? (1) "Lurching toward theocracy", by Bill Berkowitz [[ "a longtime observer of the conservative movement. HisWorkingForChange column Conservative Watch documents the strategies, players, institutions, victories and defeats of the American Right" ]], Online Journal Guest Writer: http://www.onlinejournal.com/Commentary/040505Berkowitz/040505berkowitz.html "" April 5, 2005 (WorkingForChange)—On November 7, 1938, Herschel Grynszpan, a 17-year-old Polish Jew, assassinated Ernst von Rath, a low-ranking German official, at his embassy in Paris. Two days later, Kristallnacht ("Night of Crystal"), a pogrom that destroyed synagogues, Jewish-owned homes, stores and community centers, commenced. "" "" Ten years after World War II, Milton Mayer went to Germany, where he spent a year searching to find out how ordinary Germans—not Nazi Party leaders—seamlessly and somewhat comfortably accepted and embraced fascism. "" "" Mayer quotes a colleague: "This separation of government from people, this widening of the gap, took place so gradually and so insensibly, each step disguised (perhaps not even intentionally) as a temporary emergency measure or associated with true patriotic allegiance or with real social purposes. And all the crises and reforms (real reforms, too) so occupied the people that they did not see the slow motion underneath, of the whole process of government growing remoter and remoter. . . ." "" "" Don't expect the jackboots to march around the corner tomorrow. Don't expect homes to be indiscriminately raided. Don't expect citizens to be hauled off in the dead of night—although that has been the case with indiscriminate arrests of many Muslim immigrants since 9/11. Consider, however, the anti-democratic warning signs: the Patriot Act and subsequent civil liberties-busting legislation; election snafus seamlessly fading into history; a war carried out on the basis of misinformation and disinformation; secret prisons where captives are tortured. "" (2) "On Ten Commandments Bill, Christian Right has it Wrong", by Frederick Clarkson [[ "the author of 'Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy.' " ]]; Published on Wednesday, April 21, 2004 by the Christian Science Monitor: http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0421-03.htm "" Whatever one's view, Moore, known to many as "the Ten Commandments judge," has come to personify a revisionist view of American history - one that, if it gains wide currency, threatens to erode the culture, and constitutional principle, of religious pluralism in the US. Moore's story is already the stuff of legend. After being elected chief justice, he had a 5,280-pound monument to the Ten Commandments installed in the rotunda of Alabama's state judicial building in 2001. Moore insisted he had a First Amendment right to "acknowledge God" as the "moral foundation of law." The result of the inevitable lawsuit was US District Judge Myron Thompson's decision that Moore had violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment by creating "a religious sanctuary within the walls of a courthouse." When Moore refused to remove the rock, he was removed from office. Judge Thompson got it right. But Moore and his allies see the decision as a defining moment in their campaign to "overthrow judicial tyranny." At stake over the long haul is the authority of the courts to protect individual civil rights against religious and political majoritarianism. ""

2005.4.23=6[#113]:4703.3.15[#60+13/60]: Mom: passport. "Dog bite" letter. 1)Chinese Finance. 2)US 911, Pol, Canada. 3)Oil Dry? 4)Lost H-Bomb. 5)Life.

Rainy cloud mild later clear a bit: Up 6:55, around 9am? leaving Jung, mom, Xiang driving, drive home receiving Jung's call twice for not able to find mom's green card (later found, but new passport lost), home Lung SJMercury then bath then out, Jyun now out of room, have read a letter: "Law Offices of Earl L. Jiang, Murco Plaza, 39111 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite 223, Fremont, California 94538" April 21, 2005 Sze-jun Tsai RE: My Client: Ernest Fujita [[ He, he, him below ]] Date of incedent: 2/5/05 Nature of Incident: Dog bite: Dear Mr. Tsai: I represent Ernest Fujita with respect to an incident that occurred on February 2, 2005 in which he was bitten by a dog. It is my understanding that you were the owner of the dog that bit Mr. Fujita. A copy of the Animal control report regarding the incident is enclosed herewith. A dog owner is strictly liable when his or her dog bites someone. California Civil Code #3342 provides in relevant parts as follows: "a) The owner of any dog is liable for the damages suffered by any person who is bitten by the dog while in a public place or lawfully in a private place, including the property of the owner of the dog, regardless of the former viciousness of the dog or the owner's knowledge of such viciousness...." You are therefore liable for Mr. Fujita's damages. There are 52o categories of damages Mr. Fujita can recover from you. The first category is special damages which is actual expense. The second category is general damages for pain, suffering and ellect on daily life. Mr. Fujita was bitten on his left hand and required medical care. Mr. Fujita sought emergency medical care at Washington Hospital. The cost of the medical care he received was $651.38. Mr. Fujita also paid $10.00 to obtain a copy of the Animal control report. A copy of the bill for the medical care and a receipt for the report is attached hereto. Mr. Fujita was unable to use his left hand for several weeks after the accident. He continues to experience residual numbness in the bite area. [[ I welcomed him to come to our house or for me to visit his home for any compensation agreeable to him, when he telephoned us several(4-7?) times, but he has never told me to visit his home, and he has shown up in our house only once, and he told me then to pay him $100.00, One Hundred Dollars, to settle the whole thing. But, he failed to bring his Washington Hospital's emergency care bill as agreed between me and him on his telephone call for that visit. Then I asked him to visit the Social Security Office(?) in Fremont with me. He told me that he didn't have Medicare, then I accompanied him to the Social Security Office(?) in Fremont, and he received instruction to apply to the Medicare office for financial assistance from them. He did show his medicare card to them. Both I and Sze-jun talked with him then, and Sze-jun going to fetch the said dog has talked with him. During all those talks between us and him, he has never mentioned to either of us his apecific physical conditions mentioned above in this letter, i.e. "Mr. Fujita was unable to use his left hand for several weeks after the accident. He continues to experience residual numbness in the bite area." ]] Mr. Fujita's total special and general damages is estimated at $7,500.00. However, in the interest of resolving this matter without further delay, Mr. Fujita is willing to release you from all financial liablility for his damages in exchange for your payment of $5,000.00. Please forward this letter to your homeowners insurance carrier for response. Most homeowner policies will provide coverage for damages arising from the actions of the homeowners' pet. I can deal with your insurance carrier to try and resolve Mr. Fujita's claim. Alternatively, you can issue a draft in the sum of $5,000.00 made payable to "Ernest Fujita and Earl L. Jiang, his attorney" and forward said draft to me to settle this matter directly without involving your insurance carrier. I will forward to you Mr. Fujita's signed release of all claims upon receipt of payment. I would appreciate a response to this letter from you, or your insurance carrier within the next two weeks. Ignoring this letter will not make it go away. Please be advised that Mr. Fujita will file a civil lawsuit against you if there is no reponse to this letter. Sincerely, [[ signed ]] Earl L. Jiang Attorney at Law cc: Ernest Fujita Just finish this letter and my explanation above at 11:55am now. Going to print this and show it to Jyun (Sze-jun) for improvement or factual examination. Unable to print. Good lunch. Mei home. To topic now 2:24pm. Give blog address to Jyun for him to check & type on the dog bite case, then join alumni.net (thought it's about Columbia Univ.) with BBCWeb Services, emailed to Columbia U. Alumni's Mr. Ting in Taipei, now 7-8 "Winter Sonata" back to #7. 2 sis tel mom lost her new passport. Hope to be in o.h. for the Japanese "W.S." at around 8:15. Now 7:38pm finish. Hrried to o.h., dropped paper clipping sciessor, 8:15- Japanese "Winter Sonata" #15/20 after his 2nd car accident he is awakened with critical memory returned from unconciousness then gradually recovering his memory, shattering his and her hi school classmates. "Yoshitsune, #11: Night before Tempest", in Oo-shuu, north Honshu, growing in power by a few men gathering around and his host protecting, this Minamoto clan son is soon ready to have a total revenge on the most powerful Heike clan under his former father-figure Taira-no-Kiyomori, wedded with the emperor: http://www.samurai-archives.com/yoshitsune.html Going to bed, thought about getting Small Court permission to check Mr. Fujita's emergency treatment? bed 12:10. 1) China's Finance: "Commodities to Fall on China's `Hard Landing,' Lombard Says", April 21 (Bloomberg) -- Commodity prices will fall for the next two years as China's economy endures a ``hard landing'' because of a slump in U.S. consumer spending, Lombard Street Research Ltd. said: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000081&sid=an5_QJuKPOVQ&refer=australia "" China's nominal growth in gross domestic product will plunge by the end of next year to 4 percent, the weakest since 1999, from 15.5 percent in the first quarter, the London-based consulting company forecasts. Copper and oil prices reached records this month on concern that supplies will fall short of demand in China. "" 2) USA: 911, Politics, & Canada: (1) "WHY AMERICANS REFUSE TO BELIEVE THE 9/11 EVIDENCE!!!: An Analysis by TvNewsLIES.org", - April - 2005: http://www.tvnewslies.org/html/refusing_the_9_11_evidence.html "" The attacks of 9/11 were so unthinkable that most Americans would refuse to believe the complicity of their own government, even if presented with a mountain of evidence. Very simply, it is possible to escape blame if you do something that nobody in the world believes you could do. "" (2) US Politics: "The Nuclear Option: America’s final fight?", © Bryan Zepp Jamieson, 4/20/05: http://zeppscommentaries.com/Politics/nuclear.htm "" How important is the debate in the Senate next week over getting rid of the so-called "judicial filibuster"? Put it this way: if the GOP prevails on this one, America is finished. No exaggeration, no hysteria. Just a simple, cold analysis of the situation. You see, at this point, the far right controls much of America. They control the White House. They control the House of Representatives. They control the counting of votes in elections. They control much of America’s media. They control many of America’s churches. The only things they don’t have control over are the Senate, wthere the filibuster means 60 votes are needed on key issues and they only have 55 seats, and the Judiciary, where a majority of judges are those picked by Presidents other than members of the Bush clan. Ending the filibuster would turn the Senate into a rubber stamp, and allow the GOP to pack the courts with every right wing whack job they can dredge up. "" (3) Canada: "Go Canada", Andrew Aulisi and Jonathan Pershing; April 22, 2005: http://www.tompaine.com/articles/go_canada.php?dateid=20050422 "" Andrew Aulisi is a senior associate in the Sustainable Enterprise Program at the World Resources Institute. Jonathan Pershing is the director of the Climate and Energy Program at the World Resources Institute. The border between the United States and Canada runs 5,500 miles across North America and is marked by little more than a narrow clearing of land. The nearly invisible nature of the border is a reflection of several hundred years of common history, language, governance and markets. But the seemingly narrow divide between the United States and Canada masks many profound differences in how these countries view the world. Nothing demonstrates this more clearly than Canada’s recently announced national program to cut greenhouse gas emissions, bringing it into compliance with the Kyoto Protocol on global warming. "" 3) Oil!!! How Many Lives and How Much Misery for How Long? "The end of oil is closer than you think: Oil production could peak next year, reports John Vidal. Just kiss your lifestyle goodbye", Thursday April 21, 2005 The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/oil/story/0,11319,1464119,00.html "" The one thing that international bankers don't want to hear is that the second Great Depression may be round the corner. But last week, a group of ultra-conservative Swiss financiers asked a retired English petroleum geologist living in Ireland to tell them about the beginning of the end of the oil age. They called Colin Campbell, who helped to found the London-based Oil Depletion Analysis Centre because he is an industry man through and through, has no financial agenda and has spent most of a lifetime on the front line of oil exploration on three continents. He was chief geologist for Amoco, a vice-president of Fina, and has worked for BP, Texaco, Shell, ChevronTexaco and Exxon in a dozen different countries. "" 4) Mystery of the Lost "thermonuclear weapon": "Lost: One H-Bomb. Call Owner: After 47 Years, a WMD Remains AWOL", by Clark Rumrill Special to The Washington Post; Sunday, April 17, 2005; Page D01: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59703-2005Apr16.html "" Just after midnight on Feb. 5, 1958, two U.S. Air Force jets, each traveling 500 mph, collided 35,000 feet over the Georgia countryside. Improbably, all four crew members survived and the accident might have passed into dim memory if not for the thermonuclear weapon jettisoned off Tybee Island, Ga. The bomb is still there. "" 5) Life: Origin & Saver: (1) Clues to Life's Origins: "Space Sugar a Clue to Life's Origins: Discovery of Molecule in Region of Extreme Cold Indicates Possibility the Beginning Came From 'Out There'", by Guy Gugliotta Washington Post Staff Writer; Monday, September 27, 2004; Page A07: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52311-2004Sep26_2.html "" A cotton candy-like cloud of simple sugar drifts in the unspeakably cold center of the Milky Way about 26,000 light years away, offering a remote, yet tantalizing, hint of how the building blocks of life may have reached Earth billions of years ago. This frigid cloud is composed of molecular glycolaldehyde, a sugar that, when it reacts with other sugars or carbon molecules, can form a more complex sugar called ribose, the starting point for DNA and RNA, which carry the genetic code for all living things. "" (2) Life Saver: "Sleeping mice a dream lifesaver", by Rob Stein and Alok Jha; April 23, 2005: http://tinyurl.com/b7qe6 "" The science-fiction dream of putting severely ill patients into hibernation until doctors can better treat them is a step closer to reality. For the first time, scientists have managed to make a mammal hibernate on demand, inducing a state of reversible hibernation in mice. ""

2005.4.22=5[#112]:4703.3.14[#60+12/60]: TV, 6 to Taiwan done. 0)Maria Ruzicka to Iraq.

Gradually cloudy cool mild: Up late as usual here, 8:30-9 China News, 9-10 "Winter Sonata" #10 again. Mom tel need photo for passport, diary, 2 calendars on bed, then out breakfast and emails, finding topic to come here now 1:18pm, after Jung & Mei & Ju tel, all UA 5.2=1 to 6.13=1, unable to get Mei's Evergreen Airline saving $22 or $50 each, Ju 3 incl. me after Jung 3 incl. mom, after responding to [G] J. on Scotland parliament with "Democracy Scotland & KMT (& to Taiwan)". Now 1-2 "Revenge", new type Korean drama of a youth joining underground fighting for mom's car accident, to topic. 2-3pm "Jin fen shih jia" #4 of China? elder son of Premier hunts after a literary family girl in Beijing by buying next door house and organizing a poetry club. 3-4pm "Revenge", full bath, 5-6pm "The story of A-tieh", going to o.h. for mom's photo soon. 5:17pm. Old home drove mom to Kinko for mom's passport photos, 2 for $14.08, then to FoodMaxx then back to o.h., mom cooked quickly for dinner, bed 12:25. 0) Marla Ruzicka to Iraq: "Marla Ruzicka's Legacy", by Michael Shellenberger, The American Prospect. Posted April 22, 2005: ""Marla's canny approach to advancing the military's responsibility toward civilians has the potential to change the future of warfare": http://www.alternet.org/story/21838/ "" Last Saturday my friend Marla Ruzicka was killed by a suicide bomber in Baghdad. Just 28 years old, Marla was one of just a handful of foreign human rights workers to set foot in Iraq this year. "" "" Marla made an early, detailed Iraqi civilian death count of 2,000 -- mostly by going door-to-door interviewing survivors. ""

2005.4.21=4[#111]:4703.3.13[#60+11/60]: [Catholic,Security,Moon,EcoFreedom,Climate...] Jung Air dates, Shot, TV 1)US Militarism 2)China Mummies.

[Catholic New Schism] http://www.alternet.org/rights/21826/ [Post-911 US Security] http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=569619 [Swiftboating Hillary] http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/21830/ [US House Pollution Bill?] http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/21824/ [Korean Rev. Moon's Dance] http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/21821/ [US Armageddon Lobby] http://www.againstbombing.com/ArmageddonUpdates.htm [US Time's Cloud] http://tinyurl.com/7c3ph [Economic Freedom Index]http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2002247730_harrop21.html [Climate Change] http://www.opendemocracy.net/debates/contacts-6-129.jsp http://www.opendemocracy.net/debates/article-6-129-2435.jsp http://www.opendemocracy.net/debates/article-6-129-2439.jsp# [Carbon Counter] http://www.opendemocracy.net/debates/article-6-129-2434.jsp# http://www.opendemocracy.net/blogs/page/climateChange Clear up mildly cool: Up 4:30? Back for a little nap, Jyun calls me up, drive him to station right away then back. Lung up early just for today, bath then out to teach. Mei back and goes. Early breakfast & emails & "Winter Sonata", getting Caucasians reaching China earlier than Chinese brings me here, now 9:51am. Then 2 very heavy topics of "American Militarism" & "Caucasians before Chinese to W. China", and many [Climate]. Late lunch, to hospital for 2nd Twinrix [should be 1 week earlier], then 3rd 1 week later [should be 2 weeks later]. But, Jung tel back and back to Taipei with mom on 5.2=1 & 6.13=1 with UA, should check mom's passport. 6-7pm "Winter Sonata" now. Almost 7pm, also finally answered Hsinchu Hi alumni email. Now for mails and documents. 7-8pm "Blue Fog(?)"#8, not just about the love between a much grown up man and a young girl, but ALSO among family members, especially between fathers and daughters. 8-9pm also a Korean tv drama, "Stairway to Heaven"#1: different family background living as a family with a bad stepmother and sister. & documents & snack, too hungry. 9-10pm "Warriors of the Yang Family"#15 or "Winter Sonata"#10 again, tending to the latter, the beauty is very tasteful and new discovery of the meaning even hidden or somehow structured within the context of the whole story is rewarding. Mei home 9:15?, 9:30 tel United Mileage Plus, 800-421-4655 for my no. 00619702255. But not enough miles. Wait Jung for exact time and price (also insufficient miles), tel mom and her passport has passed! Perhaps Saturday at San Jose instead of San Francisco. 10-11pm also Korean, "Lovers over Snow(?)", elder sis' hus teaches young sis rather harshly, yes still about family members love & soon dinner. Just over the "Lovers", with original Korean language pieces as ending, which sounds particularly attractive, both Chinese and Japanese just do not make it. Jyun still out. 11:00-:30 China Crosstalk, now 11:30-12:00 NHK Japanese News. Finish now 11:53pm, Lung out to print, Mei bed with drama of lady teacher and student love hardship story in Korean (sound better and more real) with Chinese subtitle from DVD? bed 1:20. 1) New American Militarism: (0) A Comprehensive Survey: "Re-examining the War We Have", from ""Tomgram: Which War Is This Anyway? Are We in World War IV?"", by Tom Engelhardt [[ who runs the Nation Institute's Tomdispatch.com ("a regular antidote to the mainstream media"), is the co-founder of the American Empire Project and the author of The End of Victory Culture, a history of American triumphalism in the Cold War ]]; Tomgram: a project of the Nation Institute [[ "Founded in 1966, The Nation Institute has a fundamental commitment to the values of free speech and open discourse. The Institute places particular importance on strengthening the independent press in the face of America's increasingly corporate-controlled flow of information, and through its programs the Institute promotes progressive values on a variety of media platforms. The Institute sponsors a number of projects including conferences, seminars, televised town hall-style meetings, e-mail and web communications, book publishing, syndicated public affairs radio programming, film production, fellowships and internships" ]]; compiled and edited by Tom Engelhardt: http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=2251 (1) "The Normalization of War", by Andrew J. Bacevich [[ Professor of International Relations and Director of the Center for International Relations at Boston University. A graduate of West Point and a Vietnam veteran, he has a doctorate in history from Princeton and was a Bush Fellow at the American Academy in Berlin. He is the author of several books, including the just published The New American Militarism, How Americans Are Seduced by War. ]] [[ "" Andrew J. Bacevich has written a book on militarism, American-style, of surpassing interest. Just published, "The New American Militarism, How Americans Are Seduced by War" would be critical reading no matter who wrote it. But coming from Bacevich, a West Point graduate, Vietnam veteran, former contributor to such magazines as the Weekly Standard and the National Review, and former Bush Fellow at the American Academy in Berlin, it has special resonance. Bacevich, a self-professed conservative, has clearly been a man on a journey. He writes that he still situates himself "culturally on the right. And I continue to view the remedies proffered by mainstream liberalism with skepticism. But my disenchantment with what passes for mainstream conservatism, embodied in the present Bush administration and its groupies, is just about absolute. Fiscal irresponsibility, a buccaneering foreign policy, a disregard for the Constitution, the barest lip service as a response to profound moral controversies: these do not qualify as authentically conservative values. On this score my views have come to coincide with the critique long offered by the radical left: it is the mainstream itself, the professional liberals as well as the professional conservatives who define the problem." "" -: http://www.alternet.org/story/21827/ ]]: http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=2334 "" At the end of the Cold War, Americans said yes to military power. The skepticism about arms and armies that pervaded the American experiment from its founding, vanished. Political leaders, liberals and conservatives alike, became enamored with military might. The ensuing affair had and continues to have a heedless, Gatsby-like aspect, a passion pursued in utter disregard of any consequences that might ensue. Few in power have openly considered whether valuing military power for its own sake or cultivating permanent global military superiority might be at odds with American principles. Indeed, one striking aspect of America's drift toward militarism has been the absence of dissent offered by any political figure of genuine stature. "" (2) "The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced By War", by Andrew Bacevich: http://tinyurl.com/brfwb (3) "The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic (The American Empire Project)", by Chalmers Johnson; Amazon.com: http://tinyurl.com/a2j8p "" Editorial Reviews Amazon.com Since September 2001, the United States has "undergone a transformation from republic to empire that may well prove irreversible," writes Chalmers Johnson. Unlike past global powers, however, America has built an empire of bases rather than colonies, creating in the process a government that is obsessed with maintaining absolute military dominance over the world, Johnson claims. The Department of Defense currently lists 725 official U.S. military bases outside of the country and 969 within the 50 states (not to mention numerous secret bases). According to the author, these bases are proof that the "United States prefers to deal with other nations through the use or threat of force rather than negotiations, commerce, or cultural interaction." This rise of American militarism, along with the corresponding layers of bureaucracy and secrecy that are created to circumvent scrutiny, signals a shift in power from the populace to the Pentagon: "A revolution would be required to bring the Pentagon back under democratic control," he writes. In Sorrows of Empire, Johnson discusses the roots of American militarism, the rise and extent of the military-industrial complex, and the close ties between arms industry executives and high-level politicians. He also looks closely at how the military has extended the boundaries of what constitutes national security in order to centralize intelligence agencies under their control and how statesmen have been replaced by career soldiers on the front lines of foreign policy--a shift that naturally increases the frequency with which we go to war. Though his conclusions are sure to be controversial, Johnson is a skilled and experienced historian who backs up his claims with copious research and persuasive arguments. His important book adds much to a debate about the realities and direction of U.S. influence in the world. --Shawn Carkonen From Publishers Weekly In his prescient 2000 bestseller, Blowback, East Asia scholar Johnson predicted dire consequences for a U.S. foreign policy that had run roughshod over Asia. Now he joins a chorus of Bush critics in this provocative, detailed tour of what he sees as America's entrenched culture of militarism, its "private army" of special forces and its worldwide archipelago of military "colonies." According to Johnson, before a mute public and Congress, oil and arms barons have displaced the State Department, secretly creating "a military juggernaut intent on world domination" and are exercising "preemptive intervention" for "oil, Israel, and... to fulfill our self-perceived destiny as a New Rome." Johnson admits that Bill Clinton, who disguised his policies as globalization, was a "much more effective imperialist," but most of the book assails "the boy emperor" Bush and his cronies with one of the most startling and engrossing accounts of exotic defense capabilities, operations and spending in print, though these assertions are not new and not always assiduously sourced. Fans of Blowback will be pleased despite Johnson's lack of remedies other than "a revolution" in which "the people could retake control of Congress... and cut off the supply of money to the Pentagon." Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved "" (4) "Andrew Bacevich on the New American Militarism", Tomgram: a project of the Nation Institute; compiled and edited by Tom Engelhardt: http://www.tomdispatch.com/ "" We are now in an America where it's a commonplace for our President, wearing a "jacket with ARMY printed over his heart and 'Commander in Chief' printed on his right front," to address vast assemblages of American troops on the virtues of bringing democracy to foreign lands at the point of a missile. As Jim VandeHei of the Washington Post puts it: "Increasingly, the president uses speeches to troops to praise American ideals and send a signal to other nations the administration is targeting for democratic change." As it happens, the Bush administration has other, no less militarized ways of signaling "change" that are even blunter. We already have, for instance, hundreds and hundreds of military bases, large and small, spread around the world, but never enough, never deeply enough embedded in the former borderlands of the Soviet Union and the energy heartlands of our planet. The military budget soars; planning for high-tech weaponry for the near (and distant) future -- like the Common Aero Vehicle, a suborbital space capsule capable of delivering "conventional" munitions anywhere on the planet within 2 hours and due to come on line by 2010 -- is the normal order of business in Pentagonized Washington. War, in fact, is increasingly the American way of life and, to a certain extent, it's almost as if no one notices. "" 2) Caucasians Earlier than Chinese to Western China: (0) "Mummy News: MUMMY SCIENCE: CHINA", Last Updated 21 April 2005: http://www.mummytombs.com/main.news.htm (1) "Genetic testing reveals awkward truth about Xinjiang famous mummies (AFP)", Khaleej Times [[ "the No.1 English language daily newspaper published from Dubai, United Arab Emirates" ]], 19 April 2005 http://tinyurl.com/b2f8s http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=31&art_id=qw1113884462293B255 "" URUMQI, China - After years of controversy and political intrigue, archaeologists using genetic testing have proven that Caucasians roamed China's Tarim Basin 1,000 years before East Asian people arrived. The research, which the Chinese government has appeared to have delayed making public out of concerns of fueling Uighur Muslim separatism in its western-most Xinjiang region, is based on a cache of ancient dried-out corpses that have been found around the Tarim Basin in recent decades. It is unfortunate that the issue has been so politicized because it has created a lot of difficulties,?Victor Mair, a specialist in the ancient corpses and co-author of Mummies of the Tarim Basin? told AFP. It would be better for everyone to approach this from a purely scientific and historical perspective.?o:p> The discoveries in the 1980s of the undisturbed 4,000-year-old eauty of Loulan?and the younger 3,000-year-old body of the harchan Man?are legendary in world archaeological circles for the fine state of their preservation and for the wealth of knowledge they bring to modern research. "" "" in the second millennium BC, the oldest mummies, like the Loulan Beauty, were the earliest settlers in the Tarim Basin. rom the evidence available, we have found that during the first 1,000 years after the Loulan Beauty, the only settlers in the Tarim Basin were Caucasoid.?o:p> East Asian peoples only began showing up in the eastern portions of the Tarim Basin about 3,000 years ago, Mair said, while the Uighur peoples arrived after the collapse of the Orkon Uighur Kingdom, largely based in modern day Mongolia, around the year 842. odern DNA and ancient DNA show that Uighurs, Kazaks, Krygyzs, the peoples of Central Asia are all mixed Caucasian and East Asian. The modern and ancient DNA tell the same story,?he said. "" "" Meanwhile, Yingpan Man, a nearly perfectly preserved 2,000-year-old Caucasoid mummy, was only this month allowed to leave China for the first time, and is being displayed at the Tokyo Edo Museum. The Yingpan Man, discovered in 1995 in the region that bears his name, has been seen as the best preserved of all the undisturbed mummies that have so far been found. Yingpan Man not only had a gold foil death mask -- a Greek tradition -- covering his blonde bearded face, but also wore elaborate golden embroidered red and maroon garments with seemingly Western European designs. His nearly 2.00 meter (six-foot, six-inch) long body is the tallest of all the mummies found so far and the clothes and artifacts discovered in the surrounding tombs suggest the highest level of Caucasoid civilization in the ancient Tarim Basin region. "" (2) "The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West", by J. P. Mallory, Victor H. Mair; Publisher: Thames & Hudson (June, 2000) : http://tinyurl.com/eyyxg "" Most of it's book scholarship, not field investigation. It tries to show how various populations in China got where they did "" "" What this is, mainly, is a discussion about the cultural name and the language of the mummies might be. This is fine, and should occupy a chapter, but half the book is specifically related to trying to pin down a name out of Chinese and European sources and where they came from from archaeological and linguistic knowledge. "" (3) "The Mummies of Urumchi", by Elizabeth Wayland Barber; Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (April, 2000): http://tinyurl.com/b38nj "" From Publishers Weekly In 1994, a most astonishing discovery was made in Western China. Incredibly well-preserved mummies dating back 2000 years were unearthed in this remote region?mummies with large, colorful wardrobes, mummies that were distinctively Caucasian. The mystery of what six-foot-tall, fair-haired people were doing in China at the time took Barber, an expert on ancient textiles at Occidental College in L.A., to the desert city of Urumchi in 1995, where archeologists at the site hoped that her expertise might help them understand what these unlikely people were doing there. She had excellent material to work with: the mummies were in such remarkable condition that they still had full heads of hair and beards, and their skin was only slightly weathered. Most had been buried with plenty of brightly colored clothes to wear (one man was buried with 10 hats, each a different style), which gave Barber a treasure-trove of textiles with which to work. Barber structures her tale as a mystery, revealing information piecemeal until she presents her conclusions about the origin of the mummies. In the process, she treats readers to a lively story about the ebb and flow of ancient cultures, a story largely deduced from the development of weaving, dyeing, embroidery and fashion. Barber's hypothesis about how Caucasian mummies wound up in Urumchi, which has something to do with the Silk Road, is so clear and logical that readers will be satisfied that all relevant possibilities have been thoroughly examined. "" (4) "Xinjiang Mummies, also called 鈜chi mummies", Last Updated 20 April 2005: http://www.mummytombs.com/mummylocator/group/urumchi.htm "" The mummies of the Xinjiang region were found in the driest, saltiest part of Central Asia--in Chinese Turkestan (wedged between Kazakhstan and Mongolia)--around the towns of Cherchen and Loulan. Sometimes they are called 鈜chi mummies, and sometimes Tarim mummies. All come from the same general area. Dating as far back as 4,000 years, they were made by accident--naturally--by the dry climate in the salty Tarim basin. The oldest mummies from Cherchen found so far died about 3,000 years ago, while the oldest mummies found near Loulan died about 4,000 years ago. "" (5) "China's Mystery Mummies", Mummies Unwrapped [http://library.thinkquest.org/J003409/index.htm]: http://library.thinkquest.org/J003409/china.htm

2005.4.20=3[#110]:4703.3.12[#60+10/60]: [Iraq Blog] 1)"The Girl Blogger from Iraq" 2&3)Baghdad Burning"

[Iraq Blog] 1) http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/21782/ 2) http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/21764/ [Pope] http://www.cwnews.com/news/biosgloss/definition.cfm?bioID=12 Clear cool then mild: Up 8:20, neighber Korean wife tel (after very close then quite critical) til Mei home receive it, 9:40 breakfast, tv, & emails till now 11:11 blog here for [Iraq Blog]. Mei dinner, class, then has just dinner again herself. Finishing here now 11:12pm. Former President Lee Teng-hui speaks out loudly his disapproval of the "Chinese Nationalist Party"(his former party) chairman of Taiwan visiting China to meet Communist chairman [[ "Winter Sonata" shows also the problem of identity, memory in relation to one's soul ]] who is speaking at the same time, it seems. So bed 12:40. 1) ""The Girl Blogger from Iraq, By Lakshmi Chaudhry, AlterNet. Posted April 20, 2005. Riverbend talks about her life, Iraq, and the world at large -- and how her blog makes sense of them all. On Aug. 17, 2003, Riverbend posted the first entry of her blog, where she introduced herself to her readers: "I'm female, Iraqi and 24. I survived the war."" 2) ""an edited excerpt from "Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog from Iraq" by Riverbend, published by The Feminist Press. The book is a collection of blog entries that rougly span the first year of U.S. occupation, from August 2003 through September, 2004."" 3) "Baghdad Burning : Girl Blog from Iraq", by Riverbend, & by James Ridgeway (Introduction): http://tinyurl.com/dkzxd