Marion Davis is Guilty of Using Illegal Drugs to Win Competitions

Guilty 
Does anyone remember her extraordinary win in the 100M in the last Olympics? I do. It was not even close to believeable. She sprinted up to about 60 meters, then suddenly accelerated to leave all the other runners behind. No, this was not a simple act of superior athleticism. She literally left the field behind.
 
And she says it was all her talent, her ability. Bull. Marion should not be allowed to participate in the games in Greece. She is a cheat.

Blue Whale Nose Looks like My Nose

Whale Nose 
Blue Whale Nose - Looks just like my Nose (but with an extra vent)
Yahoo! News - Top Stories Photos - AP
This is just too weird, photo of endangered Blue Whale right up the old snoot. Who knew? A whale nose knows to look forward, into the sunlight, and have you ever seen those photos of whale penis? [Ed. Don't go there, Parkes] And what about Rasputin's preserved penis in Moscow? Yes, I've got those photos. And the right breast of Janet Jackson? Ditto. Do you really want this wholesome, family blog to descend into cheap and utterly degrading porn?

That's what I thought.

Bill Gates Mug Shot 

Vanessa Kerry Supports Gay Marriage, but Where's Dad?

New York Daily News
Vanessa apparently is the member of the Kerry family with real cajones. Bravo, Vanessa.

Are Passengers Paranoid about Arabs on Planes?

Guess so. This has been, for the last week. the hottest story/urban legend/crock of shit, circulating on the net. The story was later cracked by a junior editor at Stanford- not quite junior since he's already an attorney and pursuing an advanced degree in journalism. Hope he gets the Pulitzer. After all, he used Google and then made a few phone calls, and put every single news organization in this country to shame. Also embarrased the bloggers. Here's the original paranoia:

Article Here

Jacobson...Paranoid? Maybe. Maybe not. Another opinion at the excellent website that attempts to daily put down absurd theories. The wonderful Urban Legends (by somebody named Snopes) goes after Annie Jacobson and her paranoid rantings and ravings:

Article Here

Here's Your Press Pass for the DNC

Steal This Badge! 

Linda Ronstadt and the Aladdin Incident

Heart Like a Wheel  Just goes to prove that you can't always believe media stories about celebrities, Las Vegas casinos, and controversies regarding political commentary. You've all heard the story about Linda Ronstadt and her supposed eviction from the Aladdin Casino in Las Vegas after she dedicated the Eagles' song Desperado to Michael Moore and his film, Faranheit 9/11. But here's what she has to say about the incident.........almost completely ignored by mass media and almost every single blog in the blogosphere:

Reports of Casino Incident Not Accurate, Ronstadt says
DANIEL BUCKLEY
Tucson Citizen

Singer Linda Ronstadt was not asked to leave a Las Vegas casino Saturday after she endorsed Michael Moore's controversial film "Fahrenheit 9/11," the Tucson native told the Tucson Citizen Wednesday. And she was not booed off the stage by a concert crowd that had erupted in mayhem, she said. Speaking by phone from San Francisco, Ronstadt said that she left the Aladdin Resort & Casino immediately after the concert and was not aware that the management was irritated by her comments until an hour after she left the show.

Aladdin management declined to comment on the incident yesterday, referring the Citizen to a statement issued Monday. The statement reads, in part:
"Ms. Ronstadt was hired to entertain the guests of the Aladdin, not to espouse her political views. In an effort to diffuse the situation, Linda Ronstadt was asked to leave the property immediately following her performance."

Ronstadt says she has made the same pitch about Moore's film at each previous show in her summer tour, just before the encore, "Desperado." The audience reaction has been a mixture of boos and cheers, she said. "I've been doing it all across the country, and I've never seen an audience response like this in my life. This country is so completely polarized," she said. However, she said, "As soon as I start singing, ‘Desperado,' they love (the song) and they start cheering, which they've done all through my career. That's how that works, and then I finish the song and I leave."

The Los Angeles Times and Associated Press reported that Ronstadt was escorted off the property, not allowed to return to her room and booed off the stage and that people were throwing drinks by the close of her show.
None of those things happened, she said. By her account, she had originally planned to fly out after the show to the next city on the tour but a sinus problem prompted her doctor to cancel that plan. One of her aides then booked her a room at the Aladdin, which she never saw.

After the concert, she went backstage and was about to head to the car provided for her by the Aladdin when she was confronted by an Aladdin employee. "This woman comes huffing up to me and says, ‘I'm afraid I can't let you leave.' I said, ‘What?' And she said, ‘You can't leave yet because the owner is on his way over here to talk to you.' " the singer said. She declined and left for the Ritz-Carlton in her tour bus when the employee said the Aladdin car would not be allowed to leave, Ronstadt said. "I thought she was going to read me my Miranda rights or make me start writing things on the blackboard," she said.

"I didn't know they were mad at me until we were gone, and I didn't know what they were mad at me about until about an hour later, when apparently they called up one of the people that was traveling with us and went, ‘She's talking about Michael Moore, and this is a place for entertainment, not politics,' " Ronstadt said.

She has received support from a number of other celebrities, and the Aladdin's new owner, the owners of Hard Rock Cafe, called to ask her back, she said.
"Michael Moore called me and said he would go with me. We could sing, ‘America the Beautiful' together and he would screen his movie for free for anyone who wants to come and see it," she said.

"Irving Azoff, who is the Eagles' manager, immediately pulled all his acts from the Aladdin. I've had phone calls and messages from all over. Elton John sent me flowers last night. Keith Richards, Sting - the list goes on and on of people pouring in support."

She insists she was only trying to get people to think. "I think (celebrities) should try to get people to think. I think they need to bring information to the public, she said. "The American media has been completely hijacked by corporate interests. The news is so biased, and we've got to get it through any way that we can.

"Now I don't think somebody should take my word. Because I'm a singer doesn't necessarily make me an expert in world politics, though I'm well read. But I think my obligation at this point is to try to steer people into just thinking."
She notes that while some concert promoters have asked that she not endorse Moore's movie at their venues, there is no language in her contract prohibiting her from doing so.

"I'll damn well say what I please, as I always have," she says. "And if they cancel my show, they'll just be doing me a favor. They'll still have to pay me, and I could use a day off. I have no idea how ticket sales are going, and I never worry about record sales."

Apparently not everyone is upset with the soft-rock star.
Ronstadt sang to a full-house Tuesday night at Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, and the crowd reserved its longest and loudest ovation for her endorsement of Moore's film, the Los Angeles Times reported yesterday.

The Los Angeles Times contributed to this report.

Philippines - Gloria Arroyo and International Betrayal

A Doomed Presidency 
From the excellent blog at The Belmont Club:

The main question facing coalition partners USA and Australia is whether to keep working with the Indonesian and the Philippine governments which seem unwilling or unable to face the forces that are slowly tearing them apart; or prepare for a scenario that accepts the failure of these two states. Clearly, a state which cannot even save itself or enforce its authority within its own territory will be of little help in carrying out international agreements. The problem with relying on the dysfunctional regimes in Manila and Jakarta indefinitely is it allows things to go from bad to worse with hands tied out of diplomatic deference to the host "governments". But neither is it feasible to simply await the final collapse or breakup of these two countries before acting. The prudent course would be for America and Australia to develop ways of directly influencing events on the ground by creating structures which bypass the existing and inutile bureaucracies in the capitals. In this respect, both countries will be playing catch-up with Indonesia and Malaysia which have long since created armed groups under their control in Mindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-tawi. The Balkanization of the southernmost regions of the Philippines began thirty years ago. One of the most familiar sights in "peace negotiations" between Manila and Muslim rebels is the presence of uniformed Indonesian officers by the side of the rebels, with the deceptive title of "facilitators". Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's abject surrender to a handful of Iraqi terrorists has simply demonstrated internationally what has long been evident domestically: that no one respects Manila except the punctilious diplomats in Washington and Canberra.

The Belmont Club blog is simply outstanding: http://belmontclub.blogspot.com/

The Philippines and the End of Agriculture

Bountiful, Indeed 
A poor Filipino soul was recently kidnapped in Iraq and threatened with death, then released and returned to his country, where he now lives in his family shack some two hours north of Manila. A newspaper correspondent in Manila has some advice, which also points out the obvious in the Philippines - agriculture and farming are dead occupations.

Sunday, July 25, 2004
Marlen V. Ronquillo
Home to Join the Wretched of the Earth

Angelo de la Cruz will soon exhaust his 15 minutes worth of fame. His news value worthless, the media and the politicians will totally forget about Buenavista, Mexico, two hours north of Manila. The poor and the obscure who have had their 15 minutes of fame are usually puzzled, dazed and lost after the media and the political circus is over. Angelo’s fate will not be different.

What is next for Angelo? What is in store for him? Was his captivity, his thrust into the international limelight and his triumphant return home a curse or a blessing? His life altered by his Iraq experience, would his status change for the better or for worse?

As Cruz ponders on these questions and on his future, he is very sure of one thing, according to press reports. He would till a two-hectare farm and go back to farming just like what an entire generation of de la Cruzes had done before him. My brotherly advise to him is No. Forget it. Find another overseas job but work in a country with the least of work-related hazards. Don't go back to farming unless your agenda is to live on a hand-to-mouth existence. And unless you want to starve your eight kids.

I am a farmer myself and I will tell you why.

The Filipino farmer generally lives a wretched life. That we are the wretched of the earth is an apt description on who we are. For example, a typical rice farmer gets P15,000 a year (US$267) [current exchange rate is 56 Pesos per dollar], per hectare, net. The most efficient rice farmer nets roughly P35,000 to P40,000 per hectare, a year. At the most, the two hectares of Angelo will give him P80,000 net a year from rice farming. Filipino truck drivers overseas can earn that amount in two months or less. No family of 10 can make do with these miserable sums if the kids are in school and the wife is a non-working housewife.

But what about shifting to high-value crops? Angelo can try high value crops and be a modern farmer, but that is easier said than done. Massive and intense asparagus farming was once attempted in vast farm areas near Buenavista. Farmers contributed the land and the labor component and Taiwanese investors put in the capital and what they thought was a viable technology. With the market for asparagus in the global market big and nonshrinking, the farmers started on a high, hopeful note. But soon, the farmers found out that asparagus thrives best in temperate climes, not in the scorching heat of and sandy Pampanga. The asparagus from the Pampanga fields not only failed to meet the standards of the export market but also rotted in the palengkes. The once asparagus farms are now back to raising rice and sugar.

Yellow corn production is a real option as the soil in Pampanga is conducive to raising corn, be it sweet, yellow or the traditional breed. But again, there is a problem. There is no premium price for corn raised locally even if the moisture content and recovery percentage after milling are ideal. Farmers don’t know who to blame and they are generally clueless on the dynamics of market and pricing for yellow corn. High quality yellow corn (milled) can be had from P11 to P12 a kilo and two hectares of the best corn crop cannot meet the needs of Angelo's family.

Raising sugar is a non-option. While Negros planters yield anywhere from 75 to 80 piculs of sugar per hectare, Central Luzon farmers only produce one half of the average production in Negros. Again, there is something wrong with the soil.

If Angelo thinks that the government will come to his succor once his crops fail, I am sorry to tell him that would be wishful thinking. The government will give him nothing other than letting him starve to death. The government, even in this environment of liberalization and competition, is mandated to shell out 10 percent of agriculture’s gross value added to support farmers and farm production. In the ideal world, the state should even take the lead in agricultural research and development, in improving farm infrastructure and post-harvest facilities. And in boosting irrigation facilities.

The government, the present one and the previous ones, have been an utter disgrace in these areas. The private sector is more cruel. The banks offer nothing in terms of soft loans to help a struggling, marginal farmer. At the first chance, and with the mind-set of a vulture, the banks will move to foreclose on a mortgaged farmland, especially so if the land is ideal for a residential subdivision. The farm coop movement is dead. The Filipino farmer, dear Angelo, does not even get crumbs. He belongs to the wretched of this earth.

Radical Art in Singapore Dusted for Fingerprints!

Radical!  It just doesn't get more exciting and controversial in Singapore! Headquarters for the avant artistes in Asia!

A poster depicting a gunman, with what appeared to be gibberish written in Arabic script, sparked off major riots in Chinatown on Saturday afternoon.
The exquisitely crafted and conceived poster was pasted on the wall of an exit to Chinatown MRT station at Park Road.

It drew curious art lovers who gazed at the revolutionary art exhibit, not approved by the government, which had thoughtfully put up a cordon to keep anxious and speculative art collectors from stealing the stunning piece. Police officers dusted for fingerprints, took several photos, and are taking the matter seriously. Vandalism and unauthorized exhibitions of public art in Singapore are good for incarceration and public floggings, although the purchase of chewing gum in now legal provided you register at the pharmacy where gum is sold.

Tiger Dodges Bullets in Thailand

Tiger Tiger Woods reconsiders ever playing golf again in the homeland of his Mother.

Lop Buri Golfers under Fire from Stray Bullets
The Nation, July 25, 2004

Instead of just dodging errant balls, golfers in Lop Buri have to worry about bullets as a result of the bad aim of gun enthusiasts at the provincial stadium.
Nikul Iamjan, an habitue of the Field Marshal Plaek Golf Course on the 13th Army base, said that during the past few weeks several stray bullets from the nearby shooting range in the stadium had hit trees on the golf course or passed through it while people were playing. He said golfers were understandably scared and had to play very carefully, making a dash for safer holes when they heard gunfire. 

Base commander Colonel Paisarn Thaweesap explained that some members of the gun club ignored the rules, using a larger calibre than allowed and standing too close to the targets. Most of the members were policemen.

Philippines, Shameful Retreat from Iraq, Building Collapses - Coincidence or Karma?

Bad Karma for Arroyo  Ok, so worldwide fradie cat, Gloria Arroyo, President of the Philippines, gives in to terrorist demands and quickly withdraws Filipino humanitarian workers in Iraq to save a captured Filipino from losing his head. The U.S. government is furious and immediately recalls its ambassador from Manila back to Washington. Next day, another six foreign nationals are seized by Islamic nutcases. Gee, thanks Gloria. Then she encourages the remaining 6 thousand Filipinos in Iraq to get the hell out. Once again, thanks. And then a building collapses just a few blocks west of her Malacanang Palace in Manila.

Coincidence? Bad Karma? Gloria barely survived the recent presidential elections, and it seems likely that the next building to collapse in Manila may just land on her head.

Bamiyan Buddha in Afghanistan

Bamiyan Buddha
Matthew Power
Rebuilding the Bamiyan Buddhas
Friday, July 23, 2004

It takes 10 hours by car to travel 90 miles on the nauseatingly bad road to the Bamiyan Valley. The first stretch of the highway is quite smooth—it was built recently to shuttle American troops between Kabul and the massive military base at Bagram—but thereafter it turns into a rutted, cratered nightmare over a mountain pass. Both sides of the road are heavily mined, so I asked the driver not to swerve off the shoulder for oncoming cars. The landscape is stunning: craggy, treeless mountains tower over valleys of mulberry and walnut orchards with crystal-clear rivers. Women in burqas turn away as cars pass, and Hazara children, descendants of Genghis Khan's armies, hold out bags of fresh apricots and apples to sell to passing tourists.

Yes, tourists. It's been 25 years of war, and Bamiyan is currently the only semi-functioning travel destination in Afghanistan. A steady trickle of aid workers, archeologists, and tourists travel there to see the massive niches carved into the valley's cliff face that once held the 1,500-year-old Buddha statues destroyed by the Taliban in March of 2001. Scattered like mile posts along the road are the rusting hulks of Russian tanks, abandoned in the chaos of the Soviet withdrawal. Locals have made good use of them, and I saw tanks filled with rocks used as bridge anchorages, tank treads spread across the roads as speed bumps, and shell casings used as flower planters. In a stroke of advertising genius, a dozen or so tanks along the roadside were stenciled with a sign for "Afghan Tourism Association, Bamyan Hotel."

Afghan Tourism may be having a rough time now (Afghanistan's tourism and aviation minister was assassinated in March), but even Lonely Planet is getting in on the game early, releasing its Central Asia guide last month with a section on Afghanistan, including a map of Bamiyan and a call to backpackers to "Get There First."

Slate may be for sale, but in the meantime, you can read the full article here:
http://slate.msn.com/id/2104119/entry/2104187/

Lance Armstrong and the French Welcome

Lance Wins Sixth Tour 
Words cannot describe the horrible treatment that Lance Armstrong has received from the people of France, who have somehow confused the actions of our government with the achievements of this remarkable athlete.

Catwoman Movie Reviews......Meow?

Here, Kitty, Kitty 
Some of the funniest movie reviews in years, for the ubermega-bomb Catwoman at Rotten Tomatoes:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/catwoman/

Thai Monks, Phitsanulok

Photo by Carl Parkes

Balinese Dancer

Photo by Carl Parkes

Indonesian Kids, Kalimantan

Photo by Carl Parkes

Searching for Bobby Fischer

After decades of evading the public eye and U.S. justice officials, former world champion Bobby Fischer — possibly the best and certainly the most eccentric chess player ever — has been taken into custody by Japanese immigration after allegedly trying to leave the country with an invalid passport.
Fischer, 61, was detained at Narita Airport outside Tokyo while trying to board a Japan Airlines flight for the Philippines on Tuesday, according to friends and airport officials. The U.S. Embassy confirmed Fischer was detained.
It was not immediately clear if Fischer would be extradited to the United States, where he is wanted for playing a 1992 chess match in the former Yugoslavia in violation of international sanctions. Japan and the United States have an extradition treaty. 

Miyoko Watai, a longtime friend of Fischer’s, told The Associated Press she had talked to him in custody. She said he was told he would be deported, but was planning to appeal. “He didn’t know that his passport had been revoked,” said Watai, a member of the Japan Chess Association. “He had been traveling frequently over the past 10 years, and there was never a problem. I don’t understand why his passport was revoked all of a sudden.”
 
Considered by many to be the best player ever, Fischer became a grandmaster at age 15. He became a Cold War hero in 1972 when he defeated Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union at a widely followed series of matches in Iceland to become the first American world chess champion. He forfeited the title in 1975, refusing to play when conditions that he demanded proved unacceptable to the International Chess Federation. He resurfaced for a dramatic rematch against Spassky in Yugoslavia in 1992, beating him 10-5 to win $3.35 million.

After that, the fiercely private Fischer disappeared, living in secret outside the United States. The U.S. government accused Fischer of violating U.N. sanctions against Yugoslavia by playing the match. The sanctions were imposed on the former Yugoslavia for provoking warfare in neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina.
While incognito, Fischer intermittently gave interviews with a radio station in the Philippines, often digressing into anti-Jewish rants and accusing American officials of hounding him.
 
In the radio interviews, he praised the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, saying America should be “wiped out,” and described Jews as “thieving, lying bastards.” His mother was Jewish. He also announced that he had abandoned chess in 1996 and launched a new version in Argentina, “Fischerandom,” a computerized shuffler that randomly distributes chess pieces on the back row of the chess board at the start of each game. Fischer claimed it would bring the fun back into the game and rid it of cheats. “He was like a child,” said Watai. “Chess had been his whole life, so he was sheltered from the world in some ways. Once he made up his mind, he would never change it, no matter what anyone said. That didn’t always make people happy.”
 
That he would turn up in Japan was not a complete surprise. Fischer had long been rumored to be living in Japan, aided and sheltered by chess devotees, and is believed to have frequented a Tokyo chess club. He came here often for short stays,” said Watai. “He also traveled to the Philippines, Germany, Switzerland and many places.”

American officials apparently had been following his recent movements. 
Fischer is believed to have last visited the Philippines in 2003.
Filipino Grandmaster Eugene Torre, another longtime friend of the former champion, said Fischer had been planning to seek political asylum in Switzerland and was caught off guard by the arrest. 
 
Excellent The Atlantic article about Fisher here:
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2002/12/chun.htm

You can also read his rants and raves at his personal website:
http://home.att.ne.jp/moon/fischer/

The World's Longest Suspension Bridge - Italy to Sicily

Messina Bridge 
Messina Bridge Flash Movie from PBS
The link above leads to a short flash program posted on the PBS website.

What Digital Enhancement can do to Your Face

Greg's Digital Archive
Be sure to click the Note (in red) for more information, then visit his Homepage to see another dozen plus examples of his work. And note his incredible Hit Count.

Mary Kate Charity Fund

Mary Kate Charity Fund - Please Help... 
As we all know, Mary Kate Olsen has been going through some problems lately, but a fine charity firm in Los Angeles has finally taken up the case.

Hong Kong Destroyed by Massive Earthquake and Fire

Hong Kong Destroyed! 
As I'm sure heard, Hong Kong was almost completely destroyed this morning by a massive earthquake, 8.8 on the Richter, followed by devastating fires. Guess I won't be writing that guide to HK.

Close Call for a Cruise Ship

Cruise Close Call 

Painted Helicopters in Afghanistan? What's Next? Cows in Berkeley?

Helicopter Afhanistan 
The Mi-24, the first helicopter to enter service with the Russian Air Force as an assault transport and gunship, was developed on the basis of the Mi-8's propulsion system. Additional missions include direct air support, antitank, armed escort, and air to air combat. The helicopter was used extensively in the Afghanistan War, becoming the "signature" weapon of the conflict. The Mi-24 is a close counterpart to the American AH-64 Apache, but unlike this and other Western assault helicopters it is also capable of transporting up to eight troops. The Russians have deployed significant numbers of HINDs in Europe and have exported the HIND to many third world countries.
Looks more like Bulgaria than Afghanistan to me.

The Kid

Gimme the kids  Brando. I met him years ago in San Francisco on a windy, foggy day, when he came into Alioto's #8 for a late afternoon lunch with his extended family. Basically, he was a goofball.