Monday, May 31, 2010

MEMORIAL DAY 2010




In the US, Memorial Day is a national holiday established to commemorate soldiers who died while in military service. It is an especially poignant time for service men and women who survived combat, as well as for the families of those who died. One tradition on this day is to visit a cemetary or war memorial, in order to remember and honor those who sacrificed their lives.

My own tradition is a quieter one. If I lived on the east coast, I would doubtless pay homage at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (images at top and bottom, click to enlarge) and at Arlington National Cemetary (image at center) in Washington, DC. My several past visits there have all been moving and cathartic. As it is, I spend this day in solitude, allowing my thoughts to drift back to memories of those I knew during the Vietnam War, and those from other wars as well. It is a truism that veterans share a common history and a common language which others cannot enter. This is what makes it so very difficult to return to civilian life, suddenly isolated from one's lifelong friends, for whom one would have died without hesitation in order to save. It is a more subtle truism that veterans often have more in common with their counterparts on the "enemy" side, than with friends and family from their own culture. The shared experience of war runs deep. Perhaps this is why John McCutcheon's ballad Christmas In The Trenches never fails to move me to tears. It is based on an actual event in World War I. You can hear his song here.
















Tangent 1 -- I regularly watch Netflix movies at home on DVD, rented three at a time. By sheer coincidence, the one remaining film at my disposal today is "The Messenger", a story of two GIs in the Army's Casualty Notification Service. Teams of two bear the news of a soldier's death or injury to his/her family. It may sound morbid at first blush, but I can think of few more important assignments than being the caring person in uniform who must help lessen the storm of emotion such news must arouse.

Tangent 2 -- I find it to be singularly tactless and disrespectful that the forces of commerce and greed relentlessly advertise "sales" for religious, military and other holidays. I boycott any store which bombards the airwaves with advertisements for such sales, and encourage others to do the same. When you think about it, these events happen so often that you have to wonder whether the merchants' prices are intentionally jacked up to begin with. How else could they remain in business? There are sales for New Years, Presidents Day, Spring, Easter, Memorial Day, Summer, Independence Day, the return to school, Autumn, Halloween, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas -- every month of the year. Those who espouse capitalism and free enterprise should be ashamed of themselves for cheapening these holidays with shoddy commerce. The ritual of compulsive shopping and conspicuous consumption started just after World War II, during a time of relative peace and prosperity, and has accelerated and morphed into a national pasttime in the years since. Which doesn't say much for the values of our culture.

Finally, on a lighter note, here is an informative and fun article on the biology, physics and chemistry of grilling. There are cooking tips and a recipe or two, for you backyard barbecue freaks. Enjoy your day. And take a moment to remember those who, at the moment you read this, are stationed in Iraq, Afghanistan and in other places we don't even know about. Whether or not you support our current wars (I do not), it is important to honor those who serve.



















Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there. I did not die.

Tiny Party Ideas



Having a tiny party is a unique and fun event. Here are a few tiny parties to give you some ideas.





Tiny favor bags.






Tiny hats on tiny dolls. All the above images are from The Farm Chicks.




More Tiny Ideas....






Teeny, weensy envelopes were mailed inside another envelope - inside another larger envelope, etc. 







 Tiny hamburgers, tiny hot dogs and tiny veggies make this a truly tiny party. Check out more details of the tiny party



Tiny cupcakes and tiny scoops of ice cream - tiny party and image from here.







Tiny products....



Fairy Mini Miniature Tea Set Ceramic Floral Teapot


Bella Cupcake Couture Mini Cupcake Wrappers Black Lu Lu, 18-Pack




Baker's Secret Basics Nonstick 24-Cup Mini Muffin Pan


Sunday, May 30, 2010

OBAMA'S OIL CREDIBILITY / PREDATOR DRONES




OBAMA'S OIL CREDIBILITY. In his news conference on May 27, President Obama at last stepped up to the plate and assumed governmental and Presidential responsibility for a portion of the mismanagement of the Gulf oil spill. He made reference to the too-cozy relationship between oil companies and the regulatory agency which issued blank-check drilling permits and turned conveniently away from egregious safety violations during drilling. The head of that agency resigned on the same day as the news conference.

President Obama made several disquieting statements, the most glaring of which was having been proved wrong in his alleged belief "that the oil companies had their act together when it came to worst-case scenarios." As Frank Herbert notes, the President knows, or should know, that "these are greedy merchant armies drilling blindly at depths of a mile and more beneath the seas while at the same time doing all that they can to stifle the government oversight that is necessary to protect human lives and preserve the integrity of the environment." The history of commerce has for centuries been a history of rapacious greed and self-entitlement, under the guise of misleading phrases like "natural resources" and "manifest destiny."

BP has lied from day one, and continues to do so. The original oil escape estimate of 1000 barrels a day, perpetuated for weeks, has been revised by reputable oceanographers to at least 12,000 to 20,000 barrels a day (itself a conservative estimate). With no end in sight. The most likely scenario is that oil will continue to spew into the Gulf until a second relief well is completed, sometime in late August. Four months. 120 days. 20,000 barrels of crude oil a day. You do the math. The Gulf coast and the waters offshore will take decades to recover -- the spillage from Alaska's Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 is still in evidence on the rocky shores of Prince William Sound. And that spill is dwarfed by the volume of oil in the Gulf.

So please, Mr. President. You're doing the right thing by holding BP accountable. But don't insult my intelligence by asking me to believe that you actually trusted these slimy bastards. Saying so makes you look either astronomically naive (which you are not), or complicit in not regarding this event as the environmental catastrophe it is. Neither is acceptable behavior in this nation's leader. As David Gurgen eloquently urges, it is time to take command.















Predator drones. It's been a busy week. On May 28, a UN representative called for an end to the use of unmanned aircraft (Predator drones) for targeted killings in Afghanistan and Pakistan by intelligence agencies. The UN report will cite a lack of accountability among agencies like the CIA, and will call for drones to be operated by the military instead.

Apparently the military can't get it right either. The very next day, May 29, a military report condemned military drone operators for their responsibility in the deaths of 23 Afghan civilians (men, women and children) during a drone and helicopter attack in February. Drone operators in the US, and ground commanders and Special Operations personnel in Afghanistan, were too quick to believe that the passengers in a three-vehicle convoy were military-age men, and acted without caution in ordering the strike. Air strikes account for fully a third of all civilian casualties in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan.

The value of unmanned surveillance is clear, provided that it is conducted competently. And competent it must be, if we are to avoid creating even more terrorists than our presence on the ground already does. And should there be any lingering doubt, our two wars in the Middle East have never been just about interdicting terrorism. They have been about the control of oil, in Iran and in Afghanistan's neighbor Uzbekistan. US addiction to oil will continue to drive wars, and destroy lives, and foment new terrorism against us, until we get serious about alternative energy sources. The clock is ticking.

DIY: Baseball Decor and More...

Making a baseball window valance is pretty simple. Embellish the valance with pennants, two baseball bats, and a baseball make this plain window treatment into a spectacular baseball valance.





DIY instructions how-to make baseball window treatments.


Saturday, May 29, 2010

Black Ferrari 612 Scaglietti.

Dunia Motor
The 612 Scaglietti is not a very popular member of the Ferrari family. More often than not, the big grand tourer is eclipsed by its prettier, sexier and nimbler sisters. Those shopping for a Ferrari are also likely to already have a �family car�. But famous Ferrari tuner hasn�t forgotten the 612, and has released a tuning package for the successor of the 456.

The 5.8-litre V12 engine gets a horsepower bump to 565 bhp from 530 bhp. Torque has increased to 609 Nm from 588 Nm. These new figures are achieved with the help of a �specially calibrated engine management system� along with Novitec�s high performance exhaust system. This means the Scaglietti�s 0 to 100 km/h time is down to just 3.9 seconds and top speed is 325 km/h.
Arena Kereta
Other additions include a new taillight design and a new tyre/wheel combination � 275/30 ZR 20 up front and 355/25 R 21 rears. Inside, one can customise the seats to their heart�s content. Leather seats can be custom tailored to body measurements and even the addition of lateral support and lowered seat positions for tall drivers can be done. Customers can go as far as choosing the thickness and material of their steering wheel. Like many supercars today, the steering will be flat-bottomed.

SUN AND STARS


You'll want to click on the above image to enlarge it -- the dark spots at the upper right portion of the solar disk are not sun spots, but rather the International Space Station and the space shuttle Atlantis, transiting the sun. The photo was taken on May 16 during Atlantis' final orbital mission, about 50 minutes prior to the shuttle's docking with the space station. The ISS orbits at an average 185 miles above the earth's surface. The sun is about 93 million miles away, and its diameter is approximately two and a quarter million miles (enough to line up 109 Earths in a row). All of which should give the gentle reader some sense of the vastness of that blazing background, and the relatively puny size of the human objects in sillouette.

Bonus -- here's a link to a time-lapse movie of the night sky over Ecuador's Cotopaxi volcano. Check out the text for a description of the phenomena you'll see as the movie progresses. Enjoy.

Friday, May 28, 2010

FAT COPS / AMNESTY / OIL SECRETS







FAT COPS. We're all familiar with the unfortunate stereotype of police officers frequenting donut shops. Alas, it appears that cops are not immune from our culture's descent into overeating. Fully one third of Americans (including children) are clinically obese, and another third are seriously overweight. Cops are getting fatter too. So much so that many cities are setting standards for diet and exercise. Among them is Mexico City, where three-quarters of the 70,000 police officers are overweight. My own observation in my travels in the US is consistent with this trend among police officers. Not only is it harder to run down an escaping suspect when one is fat, it also increases one's risk for early disease or death. To see where you stand, check out the BMI (Body-Mass Index) chart, broken down by gender and by height. As a rule, the closer you are to the lower end of your ideal weight range, the healthier you are.


AMNESTY. As in Amnesty International, the human rights and social justice organization whose genesis was in an article published in 1961. The group is independent of any state funding or control, thus is free to evaluate and publicize human rights violations by any nation -- and does so effectively and impartially. If you would like to learn more, or would like to become involved in their mission. please check out their website.


OIL SECRETS. Well, secret only if you've had your head in the sand. I've posted frequently on the causes (both physical and corporate) and the effects of the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster which occurred on April 20. The oil spill has become the largest in US history. Even if BP is successful in capping the damaged wellhead today, there are still five and a half weeks' worth of oil slicks making their way toward the Louisiana coast, with another newly-discovered subsurface oil plume moving toward Florida.
Here, for those who take a serious interest in the environment and in responsible business, is a list of ten things you need (but don't want) to know about the BP oil spill. These facts are an offense to any rational, concerned person, and yet they are not anomalies. They are the norm.
Tangentially, here is a link to a photo essay by Gerald Herbert, documenting the effect of oil on wildlife large and small. His photography is excellent, the images heart-rending. Be sure to click on the "View Essay" cue to see all his images. Their disburbing subject matter is not a reason to avoid seeing these photos. I've long been an adherent to the Quaker belief in bearing witness, i.e. not turning away from an unjust or abusive event that is unfolding before one's eyes, merely because it is distressing Rather, if one cannot intervene directly, then remaining present and mindful is the most effective way to respect and honor the victims -- especially when coupled with sharing the event with others, through telling the story or by sharing images like these. It is the only way to bring home the full reality of tragedies like the Gulf spill.

Baby Girl's Happy Room!

This whimsical, Asian-inspired nursery exudes happiness. Little Crown Interiors is a Southern-California design firm that specializes in nurseries and children's rooms. Little Crown Interiors describes this adorable room, "The bright aqua blue walls to the colorful stretched canvas artwork, it' s a perfect room for a baby girl to grow up in. The largest wall features a swirly tree wall decal with added butterflies and dragonflies for 3D effect.


























Custom textiles are featured throughout the room: there's a custom crib bedding set (which was made to be beautiful and eye-catching, even without a bumper) a custom glider pillow, custom changing pad covers, and a custom toy box cushion and throw pillows. The bright pink nursery rug is ultra soft, and a custom finished wall hook ties in with the beautiful custom painted birdcages which hang from the ceiling."


Oopsy Daisy Cherry Blossom Birdies Canvas Wall Art


Thank you for sharing!




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