Tasty sampler

Junior Boys tops off the electronica iTunes-free-download-list. Quality.

Looking for a good Thai restaurant in New York City? Check out SEA in the Williamsburg part of Brooklyn. Great food, prices, and atmosphere.
That whole neighborhood is a hipster's paradise.

Why laissez-faire is un-American

Worried over the ever-increasing reach and clout of big government? Perhaps you should be more worried about the monopsonistic juggernaut you're shopping in.

http://www.harpers.org/BreakingTheChain.html

Murrage

Apparently this is the big year to get married in China:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5213834.stm

A two-front war

We're losing the battle of minds.

Want to know my beef with the conservative worldview? It's not that it advocates strong military action as a way of safeguarding American interests; that is the reality of the world and we may as well be upfront about it. It's that this worldview is grounded in the belief that simply setting rules around people and enforcing them is enough to alter human behavior. The strict-parent model, with swift and harsh punishment as a way of deterring misbehavior, is applied everywhere, from criminal justice to international terrorism. Capture or kill the enemy, and show their peers what happens to those who cross the line, and people will naturally fall into order.

Except, it's not working. We're losing the battle in Iraq, in Afghanistan, against terror groups worldwide who are finding it easier and easier to recruit members, to inculcate themselves onto local populations, to gain political legitimacy. We're losing these battles because strength in arms must go hand-in-hand with a campaign of thought and persuasion against the very ideas that prop up our enemies. We spend billions of dollars on missiles and tanks and private contractors, while extremists set up madrassas and food handouts in impoverished villages ignored by the Western world. We make token efforts to bring development to the areas most vulnerable to Islamofascist encroachment, but are swift to fly in troops equipped with guns but without local knowledge or language training, to root out the groups offering the only alternative to chaos and oblivion. How is anyone surprised that when given the chance to elect a government through free elections, these countries side with anti-American, extremist politicians? We're in denial of the fact that we've been outfoxed, by those who have been quietly building support for years. For all the effort that we put into domestic politics, we've been horrible politicians worldwide.

We made an effort in Indonesia, after the tsunami, when American troops flying the American banner undertook missions purely to rescue lives, rebuild villages, and improve their quality of life. The result? The Indonesian government has become one of our most effective allies in fighting terrorist cells and one of the few Islamic countries in the world where the US remains relatively popular.

It's a battle of minds as much as arms. We ignored that when invading Iraq without a plan for restoring order and faith in secular, democratic government afterward. 2,500 American deaths later, how far have we come? The country is sliding into civil war, and it's only now that we're making an appreciable effort to strengthen civil institutions, health infrastructure, and economic stability, the things that convince people to trust progress and the American agenda for freedom. Israel is ignoring that right now, only offering threats to justify its air raids, rather than promises to rebuild the villages it destroys and create a progressive society in the wake of Hezbollah's physical destruction. If it leaves Southern Lebanon a burnt-out shell of a region after all this is over, the threat will come back one-hundred fold. If it fills the void with something good, something that convinces people that Israel, the West, free thought, free speech, and democratic government are positive influences on the lives of everyone, that will be the real blow to Hezbollah.

We can be so good at this, at fighting this battle of ideas, because we have logic and compassion on our side and what we're espousing is individual freedom. If only our leaders took it more seriously.

Some solidarity, please?

I called my parents to consult on what to do for my birthday, given that nobody I know will be in geographical proximity. They told me they were going on a cruise.

Midterms are a-comin'

Top 5 races I'll be watching this year:

• Connecticut US Senate - Lieberman defending against a double-threat of Lamont in the primary and the general election in November. As Jon Stewart eloquently put it, upon presenting a video clip of a puttering, pandering Lieberman in 2004, "Where's your Joe-mentum?!"
• Virginia US Senate - Incumbent Senator George Allen (R) is challenged by former Secretary of the Navy Jim Webb, recently victorious from a hotly contested primary. Webb is an interesting candidate in that he represents the Democrats' recent drive to recapture the white, moderate, middle-class male vote that largely shifted to red in the post-Reagan years.
• Pennsylvania US Senate - Everyone's favorite ultra-conservative-douchebag-turned-Urban-Dictionary-legend is up for re-election, and Democrats want that seat bad.
• California Gubernatorial - Arnold's numbers have been down for as long as I can remember, but Democrats have yet to rally convincingly around Phil Angelides. Arnold has been particularly inept at the job since he took over in 2003, so I'm hoping he gets replaced soon.
• Pennsylvania Gubernatorial - Ed Rendell is a good guy, and I'm rooting for him to keep his seat in November. This race might be an important preview to Pennsylvania's electoral race in 2008.
  

What Sarah Said

Netflix thinks I would enjoy the following movies:

• The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (with Bradley Whitford!)
• Chicken Little
• Glory Road
• Underworld: Evolution

In contrast, I've got the following queued up:

• Out of Sight
• Two for the Road
• Schoolhouse Rock!
• Good Night and Good Luck

Looking forward to seeing these upcoming movies:

• Miami Vice - If it's half as good as Collateral
  
• The Science of Sleep
• For Your Consideration - The latest Christopher Guest release
  
• Marie Antoinette
• Casino Royale - With a scene featuring parkour
  
• The Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie
• Spider-Man 3
  

Great-looking games coming up, or already here:

• Guitar Hero II (PS2)
  
• FFXII (PS2)
• FFIII (DS)
• Yoshi's Island II (DS)
• FFV Advance (GBA)
• Tekken: Dark Resurrection (PSP)
• Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth (PSP)
• Starfox Command (DS)
• The DS web browser

Wallowing in geekery right now.

Top 5 Dream Jobs

Top 5 Dream Jobs

1. Lead singer for a reasonably good indie band - Seems like the most fun and glamorous part of being in a band. Not asking for huge exposure, just enough to live off of touring and records. Get to write lyrics, travel to cities, and most importantly, hobnob with other great bands. Barriers to entry: singing ability, lyric-writing ability, connections with musicians.
   
2. US Ambassador to another country - Very good prestige-to-work ratio. Good balance of political and administrative responsibility. Korea would be the top and most logical choice, but I could settle for just about anywhere stable. Get to travel, meet important people, eat great food, foster international cooperation. Barriers to entry: political connections, mastery of foreign language, experience in international affairs.
   
3. Big-shot real estate developer - Directly shape the forms of cities, build huge projects, make tons of money. Get to implement cutting-edge urban planning concepts or innovative architecture designs as I see fit. Again, get to travel, meet important people, make a difference. Barriers to entry: many years of experience, decent connections, real estate training, inspiration.
   
4. Food, music, video game, or movie critic - Based in a major city. Get to eat, listen to music, play games, or watch movies all day. Get to attend exclusive concerts, festivals, and trade shows. Help influence opinions and tastes. Free swag. Barriers to entry: significant writing experience, expertise in one particular area.
   
5. Tenured professor at MIT - Another top-tier school might also work, but MIT would be first choice. Get to teach at the best university in the country. See and shape the bleeding edge of urban studies, help change the world. Meet important people, work with really smart people. Barriers to entry: many years of practical work experience or quality research background, good work ethic, patience, grasp of academia politics.
   

I'd also want to work from home as much as possible, be a good father and such. Opportunity for travel is a priority, yes, but I'd want to leverage that into a worldly education for myself and my kids. Some element of improving lives of others would be nice. Money would also be nice, but mainly to accomodate travel and good food.

*please post your own top 5 jobs in the comments*

"Civil war" is not hyperbole

Exerpt from Harper's Magazine, August 2006 issue. By Ken Silverstein.

In May 2005, Shiite militia groups in Iraq began depositing corpses into the streets and garbage dumps of Baghdad. The victims, overwhelmingly Sunni, were typically found blindfolded and handcuffed, their corpses showing signs of torture—broken skulls, burn marks, gouged-out eyeballs, electric drill holes; by that October, the death toll attributed to such groups had grown to more than 500. In November, American troops discovered more than 160 beaten, whipped, and starved prisoners—again, mostly Sunni—at a secret detention center run by the country's Interior Ministry. Since then, Shiite militias have become so integrated into the Iraqi government's security apparatus and their work so organized, systematic, and targeted that they are commonly referred to in Iraq (and in the American media) by their proper name: death squads. The death squads, which have expanded their area of operations from the capital across much of the country, are now believed to be responsible for more civilian deaths than the Sunni and foreign insurgents who are the United States' ostensible enemies there. By any reasonable measure, Iraq is in a state of civil war, and some of its most ruthless and lawless combatants are members of the government's own security units.

The rise of the death squads corresponds almost precisely to the April 2005 appointment of Bayan Jabr as interior minister in Iraq's transitional government. The Interior Ministry, which is something like a combined FBI and Department of Homeland Security, controls billions of dollars and more than 100,000 men in police and paramilitary units. Jabr was a former high-ranking member of the Iranian-backed Badr Brigade, the military arm of the fundamentalist Shiite Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) that is now the dominant political force in the country. After taking over the Interior Ministry, he quickly purged it of Sunnis, and members of the Badr Brigade were widely incorporated into the ministry's police and paramilitary units.

Jabr—who in May of this year was named finance minister in a new government headed by Nuri al-Maliki—has disavowed any personal or institutional responsibility for violence committed by the death squads. He has now acknowledged that some groups operated within the Interior Ministry while he headed it, but he insists that they were few in number; he blames much of the sectarian killing on terrorists “using the clothes of the police or the military.” At a press conference last November that followed the discovery of the torture chamber in an Interior Ministry building, Jabr said, “You can be proud of our forces. [They] respect human rights.” (For this article, Jabr did not respond to requests for comment sent to his press office in Iraq.)

Jabr wears glasses and a neatly trimmed beard that has rapidly turned white over the past few years. He is always immaculately groomed and dressed, and although a devout Shiite—an American who worked with Jabr recalled that he would halt meetings for prayer—he favors expensive Western-style suits rather than the robes worn by many of his colleagues. Jabr's tribe was persecuted harshly by Saddam Hussein's regime, and so he (along with thousands of other Shiites) fled to Iran, where he became a member of SCIRI, founded in Tehran in 1982 with the goal of toppling Hussein's government. The council was heavily supported by the Iranian government, but it also had mostly cordial ties with the the U.S. government and ultimately became part of the Iraqi National Congress, the umbrella opposition alliance created by Washington after the Gulf War and headed by Ahmed Chalabi. During the 1990s, Jabr ran SCIRI's local office in Syria, where he coordinated relations with other anti-Saddam exile groups. In May 2000, when SCIRI fighters launched a rocket attack on Hussein's presidential palace in Baghdad, it was Jabr who served as spokesman. Along with Chalabi, Jabr was among a group of sixty-five exiles named to the Iraqi Opposition Coordinating Committee that was founded in London in December of 2002, just three months before the American invasion.

Iraqi Sunnis accuse Jabr of sponsoring abuses committed by Shiite militias linked to his Interior Ministry. General Muntazar al-Samarrai, a former commander of special forces at the Interior Ministry, publicly stated that Jabr had condoned the torture of detainees. In late 2005, Falah al-Naqib, who preceded Jabr as head of Interior, told the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, that sixteen Sunni men whom Jabr ordered to be arrested were later executed, according to an account in The New Yorker. American officials began pushing for Jabr's ouster from the Interior Ministry in 2006, suggesting that he was too close to Shiite militias and had turned a blind eye to death-squad activities—or, in the most generous interpretation, had taken insufficient steps to control them. Either way, Jabr is thought to have greatly contributed to the political violence in Iraq. “He allowed his ministry to become a preserve of the Shia militias,” said Ken Katzman, a senior analyst on Iraq at the Congressional Research Service. “It all flows from there.”

* * *

Prior to taking over at Interior, Jabr served as the minister of housing and construction under the Coalition Provisional Authority that was installed by the Bush Administration following the March 2003 invasion, a position he held until mid-2004. Interviews and internal documents show that a number of senior CPA officials, as well as the local CIA station, became convinced that Jabr was unusually corrupt and thuggish, even by the dismal standards of postwar Iraq. In April 2004, the CPA officials took their concerns to Paul Bremer, head of the CPA and a man sometimes referred to as Iraq's “proconsul,” so great was his authority over the country, and pushed for Jabr's dismissal before the CPA turned over power to a transitional government two months later.

Two of those pushing hardest for Jabr's removal were Michael Karem, Bremer's special adviser for housing and reconstruction, and Rick Clay, one of Karem's top aides. They accused Jabr and several of his deputies of demanding kickbacks, and of complicity in the theft of huge amounts of equipment belonging to the Housing Ministry. A memo Karem sent to Bremer on April 12, 2004, referred to “increasing allegations of corruption at the Ministry,” complained that Jabr had been “less than forthright about his practices,” and detailed what it called his “more egregious management practices,” including his engineering of “systematic work stoppages of time sensitive projects which you had designated a priority.”

The CPA officials were also alarmed by Jabr's ties to the Badr Brigade and his sectarian tendencies. The Iraqi minister, Karem wrote in the memo, “has shown an increasingly authoritarian style of leadership that is affecting work at all levels of the ministry and created a climate of fear and retribution among employees.” Karem reported a “growing pattern of religious discrimination at the Ministry,” particularly in recruiting Shiites for the “Facilities Protection Service,” a police force created by Bremer that later was suspected of playing a major role in political murders.

A few days after sending the memo, Karem and Clay were called to a meeting with Vice Admiral Scott Redd, the CPA's deputy administrator, and several other U.S. officials. “We were thrilled at the end of the meeting,” Karem recalled. “Everybody was shaking their head about the corruption. They said that they were going to get rid of the minister.” Days later, he and Clay were asked to return to Redd's office. They walked in expecting to hear that Jabr had been fired. Instead they were told that their services with the CPA were as of that moment terminated; the minister would stay on. “We were told that we had lost effectiveness because we couldn't work with the minister,” Karem recalled. “We were in shock.”

Shiites are the biggest single bloc in Iraq and were brutally repressed during Saddam's rule, so their rise to political dominance is in many ways a natural outgrowth of the war. But the story of Jabr's role in postwar Iraq reveals how American blindness, incompetence, and cynicism allowed religious sectarianism to thrive after the downfall of Saddam. Indeed, Jabr appears to be merely the most ruthless of a class of Shiite leaders who have sought to engineer Shiite dominance behind the scenes, at times with direct U.S. sponsorship. Two other cabinet members who served with Jabr—former Health Minister Abdul Mutalib Mohammed Ali and former Transportation Minister Salaam al-Maliki—are both closely linked to Muqtada al-Sadr, the Shiite cleric whose own militia group, the Imam Mahdi Army, is also accused of sectarian killings and has periodically fought U.S. troops in Iraq. (The new cabinet has similarly problematic figures: besides Jabr as finance minister, it features as education minister a man named Khudayr al-Khuzai, who has been a major figure within the Dawa Party, founded in the late 1950s to promote an Islamic state in Iraq.) Sectarian tensions have been compounded by American hostility toward the secular political forces, as well as by the Bush Administration's insistence that the government allot political power on the basis of religious and ethnic head counts. This is precisely the formula that proved so disastrous in Lebanon, a country that for nearly two decades was mired in a bloody civil war—a path that Iraq appears headed along today.

Pix

Some great pictures cribbed from various websites:


From BBC news, a samurai horse race as part of the Nomaoi festival. Quite possibly the coolest sporting event ever conceived.


From Cute Overload, puppy!


The Wrens playing in Hoboken, NJ. They'll be in Cambridge in September for a set at the Middle East Downstairs.

Please don't sue me.

The news makes me nauseous

"The senator was notified Wednesday by a reporter at U.S. News & World Report that the image of the burning Twin Towers could not have depicted the actual event because the smoke was blowing the wrong way. He immediately ordered the image replaced with a photograph of the moment, his campaign said."

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/07/20/ohio.senate/index.html

As if exploiting the images of 9/11 for a political advertisement wasn't bad enough, the advertising firm went to the trouble of filming fake footage of burning Twin Towers for use in the commercial. From the same people who brought you Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine

Watched the Potomac Nationals (Minor League A) take down the Salem Avalanche 2-1 today. They have a charming little ballpark in the middle of Woodbridge, Virginia, and I got a great seat next to first base for only $4.50. The walk-off run was a line-drive to center with two outs in the bottom of the 9th. Not bad for my first Minor League game.

Opened up the box for my Renu eyedrops, specifically designed to moisturize contact lenses without having to take them out, and couldn't help but be amused and a bit disturbed at the little advertisement inside for their MoistureLoc brand of lens cleaner. That is the brand that caused fungal infections and blindness a few months ago, and had to be pulled from shelves. I had already gone through about half a bottle when I first heard about it.

Schilling gets the win for today's victory over the Rangers, and Wakefield has apparently been pitching through a fractured rib for a month.

The Fringe Festival is coming to DC this week and I plan on catching the one-man Star Wars show next weekend.

Top 5 Goldeneye favorite weapons:

1. Grenade launcher - bouncing shots off walls into adjacent rooms is way too much fun.
2. DD44 Dostovei - weaker than the Magnum, but faster and more fun to riddle opponents with multiple head shots.
3. Automatic Shotgun - a real clutch weapon, surprisingly useful against automatics if you're brave enough to close distance.
4. RC-P90 - no surprise here; a gun that performs like butter.
5. ZMG 9mm - looks cool, large clip, generally reliable gun that you don't get to use too often.

JFK's Inauguration speech

Sox swept KC in three. If they take the division, it's unlikely they'll have to face the Yankees as the wildcard will go to either Detroit or Chicago. As it stands the Sox are 1.5 games ahead.
In another life, I think, I might have become a sabermetrician.

But here, a few months ago I was up working late at night and feeling rather forlorn for it. Somewhere in my web browsing I was directed to this speech, and it was critically inspiring. If you've never heard the whole thing before, you really should.

Vice President Johnson, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, President Truman, reverend clergy, fellow citizens, we observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom -- symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning -- signifying renewal, as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three quarters ago.

The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe -- the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.

We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this Nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

This much we pledge and more.

To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United, there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided, there is little we can do -- for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.

To those new States whom we welcome to the ranks of the free, we pledge our word that one form of colonial control shall not have passed away merely to be replaced by a far more iron tyranny. We shall not always expect to find them supporting our view. But we shall always hope to find them strongly supporting their own freedom -- and to remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.

To those peoples in the huts and villages across the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required, not because the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.

To our sister republics south of our border, we offer a special pledge -- to convert our good words into good deeds in a new alliance for progress -- to assist free men and free governments in casting off the chains of poverty. But this peaceful revolution of hope cannot become the prey of hostile powers. Let all our neighbors know that we shall join with them to oppose aggression or subversion anywhere in the Americas. And let every other power know that this Hemisphere intends to remain the master of its own house.

To that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations, our last best hope in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace, we renew our pledge of support -- to prevent it from becoming merely a forum for invective -- to strengthen its shield of the new and the weak and to enlarge the area in which its writ may run.

Finally, to those nations who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request -- that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction.

We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.

But neither can two great and powerful groups of nations take comfort from our present course -- both sides overburdened by the cost of modern weapons, both rightly alarmed by the steady spread of the deadly atom, yet both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays the hand of mankind's final war.

So let us begin anew, remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.

Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.

Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and control of arms and bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of all nations.

Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage the arts and commerce.

Let both sides unite to heed in all corners of the earth the command of Isaiah -- to "undo the heavy burdens...and let the oppressed go free."

And if a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion, let both sides join in creating a new endeavor, not a new balance of power, but a new world of law, where the strong are just and the weak secure and the peace preserved.

All this will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be finished in the first 1,000 days, nor in the life of this administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.

In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.

Now the trumpet summons us again -- not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need -- not as a call to battle, though embattled we are -- but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation" -- a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.

Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility -- I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it -- and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.

John F. Kennedy - January 20, 1961

You can hear it here.

Happy time

For personal reference:

http://happyhourcity.com/index.php

A commentary piece in TIME makes the point that political ads images of coffins of American war casualties are not only within propriety, but also that these images deserve media attention. At the very least, anyone who was okay with Republicans constantly flashing images of the 9/11 attacks during the 2004 campaigns needs to tone down their moral outrage.

One argument against is that media coverage of flag-draped coffins arriving in Dover is in bad taste and disrespectful to the dead. However, when did paying homage and reminding the public of a soldier's sacrifice, of over 2500 soldiers' sacrifices, become disrespectful? These things need to be acknowledged, need to fester in the back of our minds, so that when our minds fix on the war in Iraq the prominent images are not Saddam's statue toppling or Bush on an aircraft carrier, but are instead those of war. Of car bombs and night raids, security checkpoints and mosque bombings, of coffins that are still coming back at the same pace as two years ago. To acknowledge that death means something beyond abstract rhetoric or numbers that only garner attention for their relation to multiples of 500.
There was a news story a while back that I can't remember completely, but there was some kind of uproar over some of the war dead having returned to the US without the proper coffin treatment; i.e. in crates. The details are fuzzy, but clearly the story didn't get much further because you couldn't confirm anything, because the public and media didn't have access. If that's the case though, we've pretty much failed on every count, haven't we?

Use your noodle

Picture from Seoul trip are up in the photoblog.

I'm thinking about catching a Potomac Nationals game tomorrow evening.

Top 5 favorite Asian noodle dishes:

Pad woon-sen (Thai)
Lemongrass chicken and spring rolls over rice vermicelli (Vietnamese)
Ice cold neng-myun (Korean)
Restaurant ramen in miso-flavored soup (Japanese)
Singapore-style chow mai (Chinese)

The stem-cell bill passed in the Senate, 63-37, but looks set for a presidential veto. The rationale?

"The president is not going to get on the slippery slope of taking something living and making it dead for the purposes of scientific research." - White House press secretary Tony Snow

We're a lot further down this "slippery slope" than they profess. In the grand scheme of injustices that our government perpetrates against helpless individuals, stem cell research is peanuts. Detentions, torture, preemptive war, bombing civilians; these are all things we've done in the name of the greater good, and it's certainly debatable whether any of these actions are even effective in reaching their respective goals. Yet the administration takes no serious action in limiting its ability perform these acts (which affect people who are actively living lives, who have families suffering from their absence) but sees fit to impede the progress of medical research.
We have a tremendous opportunity to relieve a lot of suffering, and embryonic stem-cell research promises discoveries that benefit all humankind. This is what Bush's first and only presidential veto is about to negate.

A scorcher

Temperature in DC Metro area is expected to top 100 degrees today, something that hasn't happened since 2002; the humidity is such that it should feel just shy of 110 degrees outside. I was considering taking my car in to work, which is pricier (parking is at least $12 for the day) and involves sitting in at least an hour of traffic. When I checked the radio, however, they mentioned that Metrobus in Northern Virginia was free today so as to encourage people to take the bus and reduce the cars on the road. Sure enough, I got on the bus, and the $3 express line was free today. Clearly their idea worked pretty well, as I would have otherwise driven in, adding my car's exhaust, heat, and congestion to what is also shaping to be a day of poor air quality.
Unfortunately, I wish I could say the same for the trains, which ran about 15 minutes late today. Not sure why the heat would affect subway operation.

Sox came back from 4-0 to win it in the 9th inning last night. My boys are clutch.
Atlanta is back to second place in their division; that was fast.

Pee-Wee's Playhouse was on Adult Swim last night. It's hard to believe our parents let us watch this stuff as kids. They really don't make 'em like this anymore.

Top 5 television crushes of all time:

1. C.J. Craig, The West Wing
2. Natalie Hurley, Sports Night
3. Dina Alexander, Salute Your Shorts
4. Winnie Cooper, The Wonder Years
5. Clarissa Darling, Clarissa Explains It All

Moving the house to Mesa, man

The Sox are only half a game ahead in the AL East, and are up against Kansas City in a three game series. We need these wins...

Money Magazine ranked the top 10 big cities to live in (along with many other lists ranked by various criteria) here: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2006/index.html

In order, they are:

1								Colorado Springs, CO															369,800 (population)
2								Austin, TX															690,300
3								Mesa, AZ															442,800
4								Raleigh, NC															341,500
5								San Diego, CA															1,255,500
6								Virginia Beach, VA															438,400
7								Omaha, NE															414,500
8								Columbus, OH															730,700
9								Wichita, KS															354,900
10								New York, NY															8,143,200

Weak-end

Between the jetlag, the heat, the loneliness, the two Sox losses to Oakland, and the violence in the Middle East, this past weekend has been the worst of the summer, so far. Strange to say, but I can't wait to get back to school.

Here we are then, top 5 favorite fast food meals:

1. Popcorn shrimp with fries and biscuit - Popeye's
2. Bacon Swiss Crispy (chicken sandwich) with crisscut fries - Carl's Jr.
3. 60 piece chicken nugget bucket - McDonald's (I've only seen this once, at Duke University of all places...)
4. Double Double (cheeseburger) with carmelized onions, fries and a shake - In-and-Out Burger
5. Lobster burrito with chips, guac, and salsa verde - Rubio's Baja Grill

Muzak

Top 5 favorite music videos from the 90's

1. Smashing Pumpkins, "1979"
2. Blind Melon, "No Rain" - You go little bumblebee girl. You go on and dance.
3. Jamiroquai, "Virtual Insanity"
4. Radiohead, "Fake Plastic Trees"
5. 2Pac, "California Love"

The man

"I drink from the keg of glory, Donna, bring me the finest muffins and bagels in all the land."

"You know, I realize that as an adult not everyone shares my view of the world, and with an issue as hot as gun control I'm prepared to accept a lot of different points of view as being perfectly valid, but we can all get together on the grenade launcher, right? "

"A book which if I was stuck with it on a desert island I still wouldn't read it. "The Adventures of James C. Adams, Mountaineer and Grizzly Bear Hunter of California." I believe I would eat this book before I read it."

"Of course not, sir. You're a much bigger cotton candy ass than they are."

"Let me tell you why this is a dangerous area. Because I can't make decisions based on the fact that I like your smooth skin."

The ladies

Top 5 movie crushes of all time:


Annie Hall, played by Diane Keaton in Annie Hall


Holly Golightly, played by Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's


Eve Kendall, played by Eva Marie Saint in North by Northwest


Charlotte, played by Scarlett Johansson in Lost in Translation


Su Lizhen Chan, played by Maggie Cheung in In the Mood for Love

Yes, it's got Seoul...

Back from South Korea. Here are a few lists to celebrate.

Top 5 movies of all time, chronological order:
Vertigo (1958)
Chinatown (1974)
Annie Hall (1977)
Chungking Express (1994)
Lost in Translation (2003)

Top 5 favorite movies from the past couple years:
V For Vendetta
Thank You For Smoking
Roll Bounce
Before Sunset
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring