Pewter Skies, Fuchsia Blossoms

(Toledo, OH) The dreary late April weather in Toledo today did not prevent our crabapple tree from exploding into a flowery pink supernova.

A favorite of the squirrels, birds, and sundry other animals that populate my neighborhood, this tree and its brilliant pink petals traditionally signal to me that planting can begin in my gardens.

I did sneak a few hardier seeds and crowns in the ground already (marigolds and asparagus), but I use the arrival of the crabapple blossoms as my cue to get busy sowing seeds.

Grandmother Accused of Burning 9-Month-Old Grandson

Left: Infant Robert Grodi III, before the burn incident

(Newport, MI) A grandmother in this small Monroe County community faces first degree child abuse charges after an incident in which her 9-month old grandson suffered severe burns to the legs, knees and feet.

Cheryl Ann Grahl, 50, maintains her innocence, and told policethat the child climbed into a hot tub and turned on the water himself.

"I will not plead guilty to something I haven't done," Grahl told WTVG-13 in an interview.

The infant is in St. Vincent Mercy Hospital in fair condition with first-, second-, and third-degree burns on his legs, feet and back.

The Monroe County Sheriff's office, however, said that the burns are consistent with immersion, and the infant's injuries do not match up with Grahl's claims.

The baby's parents also believe that an earlier injury that the infant suffered may also be child abuse. About one month ago the baby received a burn on his arm that the grandmother claimed occurred when she accidentally dropped a curling iron on him.

The baby's father, Robert Grodi Jr., was shocked by the experience of seeing his child in the intensive care unit.

"They pulled off his bandage and they peeled off his whole leg in one piece," he told WUPW-36. "I couldn't quit crying. This has destroyed our lives."

Grodi cannot understand how a relative could harm the toddler.

"Three days ago he was a normal child. I went to work and by lunch he was in a burn unit," Grodi said. "I'm doing everything I can to stay strong for him. To tell you the truth all I want to know is why. Why my baby."

Plausible Deniability: Toledo Leaders and the 1849 Cholera Epidemic

Left: Puck cartoon showing NY officials trying to keep cholera at bay

The 1832 worldwide epidemic of cholera showed the efficacy of developing local boards of health to monitor environmental conditions and to track the spread of epidemic disease. Toledo, like many American cities, filled its Board of Health with prominent citizens; these men, however, did not necessarily possess any particular expertise as doctors or scientists, and typically came from the ranks of commerce.

The Board did not officially begin to announce cholera cases until 13 July 1849. Toledo mayor Daniel O. Morton, President of the Board, moved to add one or more physicians to the group as the 1849 cholera outbreak unfolded:

The President suggested the appointment of one or more physicians to the Board of Health...but it was decided that it was inexpedient [emphasis aded] to make the appointment.

The actions of the Board in denying a motion to add physicians into the mix of public servants are not surprising; their presence might lead to the declaration of the presence of commerce-killing cholera in the community. Seeking the advice of physicians, however, was not all that Morton wanted in the Board of Health:

The President also suggested that a special committee be appointed to procure a suitable building for a hospital, and to furnish the same. Upon consideration, the Board declined to raise the committee.

The cost of maintaining even a small community hospital could be a cumbersome financial burden on a community, and Toledo officials were reluctant to commit to such an endeavor. Moreover, given that they considered the disease to be the province of the intemperate, there seemed to be little need to pass along to taxpayers the costs of caring for people of questionable morals. The best that Morton could initially get the Board to agree to was the creation of special committees, which were charged with inspecting the city’s wards for any sign of cholera.

The Board released a report on 16 July 1849 that noted “9 cases of Cholera and no deaths within the last 48 hours.” Despite the official recognition of nine cases in the previous two days - and at least 26 official cases since the Board decided to announce the presence of cholera in Toledo – the members of the special committees presented a quite rosy scenario at the nest Board meeting on 16 July 1849:

Mr. Saxton, of the First Ward, from the special committee for visiting and examining houses, reported that the committee performed said duty, and found no cases of cholera in his ward.

Mr. Bennett, from the same Committee, 2d Ward, reported that he had visited nearly every house in the Ward, and that there was no cholera, and very little sickness of any kind. The boy who was reported dying is well.

Mr. Babcock, from the same Committee, 3d Ward, reported that the Committee had been active in the discharge of their duty that they found no cholera, though there were five persons sick in a house with water standing under the floor - a very filthy, dirty place.

Mr. Nichols, from the same Committee, reported that he, assisted by Street Commissioner Crane, had examined the buildings in said ward, and found no cholera, and but few of other diseases, and these where water stands and stagnates. Saw several very filthy places, and served the necessary notice.

The observations of the businessmen-turned-cholera inspectors are worthy of further analysis. None of the men saw – or chose to report – anything resembling a cholera case in their respective wards. In fact several of the committee representatives seemed to go out of their way to make their wards seem like the veritable pictures of perfect health (“very little sickness of any kind,” “but few of other diseases”).

The members of the special committees also seemed keen to report any houses or facilities that seemed substandard and thus the sort of buildings in which lived disreputable sorts (“a very filthy, dirty place,” “several very filthy places”). Finally, the miasmic theory of putrefying matter in stagnant water also runs through the observations of the inspectors (“where water stands and stagnate,” “water standing under the floor”).


Left: Nineteenth-century poster touting cholera prevention measures

Within a matter of days, however, even the optimistic men of commerce could no longer ignore the cholera in their midst. The Board, which had previously dismissed the anti-cholera initiatives of Mayor Morton, suddenly changed its positions on proactive public health measures by 19 July 1849:

Board of Health
Since yesterday there have been 16 [cholera] cases and 5 deaths.

Mayor reported that he had directed the Marshall to take possession of the Draper House, corner of Summit and Locust streets for a Hospital - approved.

Street Commissioner reported that he had contracted for furniture for the Hospital - approved.

Mr. Bennett reported that he had procured a supply of Dr. Hawthorn's Cholera Remedies to be put up and kept on hand at all the drug stores - approved.

The Board recommended that the use of green vegetables be carefully avoided, and that veal and fresh pork be excluded form every table. Particular attention should be paid to personal cleanliness, to which frequent bathing is indispensable. Every kitchen and the grounds around every building and elsewhere, where filth is likely to accumulate should be cleansed and thoroughly limed. No tenement should be without a quantity of lime on hand.

Throughout the remainder of July, and the months of August and September 1849, the Toledo Blade and the Board of Health dutifully reported the “cases,” although rarely did either organization actually use the word “cholera” in the information presented to the public. In all, 80 cholera deaths were officially noted by the Board of Health in the 1849 outbreak, while over 200 people were sickened by V. cholerae that year. The Board, however, differentiated between official and unofficial cases, not counting any that were reported by “private” sources:

Since 4 o'clock P.M. yesterday, no cases have been officially reported to the Board. From private sources of information the Board feels authorized to report 7 cases and 4 deaths during the last 24 hours. Of the deaths, 3 were children and on an adult.

These “private” reports were not counted as part of the official death and disease tally, but rather left in a bureaucratic category unto themselves. The Board and the regional press used every means at their disposal to under-report cholera cases, as the potential economic losses from a panicked citizenry were apparently deemed more important than public health and safety.

Mean Jean Gets Spanked

(Columbus, OH) The Ohio Elections Commission on Thursday reprimanded US Rep. Jean Schmidt for claims last year on her Web site that she possessed two college degrees when she had only earned one.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that a letter citing the campaign's "reckless disregard for truth" was to be sent by the commission to Schmidt, her campaign and her husband, Peter, who acted as committee treasurer.

The ruling arrived five days before Schmidt faces former US Rep. Bob McEwen in a contest for the GOP nomination to represent Ohio's 2nd District Congress.

Schmidt went to Congress last year in a special election to replace Rob Portman, tapped by President Bush to become US trade representative before recently being named to head the White House budget office.
Oh, what tabgled webs we weave...

Rapid Rhetoric: CAPARISON

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word I came across that I have never previously used.

caparison n. 1. an ornamental covering for a horse, and/or decorative trappings and harnesses; 2. particularly rich clothing or adornments.

The word caparison has etymological cousins in the obsolete French word caparasson, the modern French caparaçon , and the Old Spanish caparazón; all of these are derived from the Medieval Latin cappa.

Protests Aim to "Shut Cities Down"

Left: Aerial view of April 10 rally in LA

(Los Angeles, CA, Washington, DC) Pro-immigration activists have called for a national boycott and marches on Monday, May 1, and they claim millions of Latinos will take to the nation's streets to demand amnesty for illegal immigrants and influence immigration reform.

"For this day the purpose is clear: we will force a national boycott. On May 1, we're asking working men and women of immigrant origin and all its supporters to not go to work, not go to school, not to shop and not to sell anything," said Juan Jose Gutierrez, who is the national coordinator for the Latino Movement USA.

Hispanic leaders across the country are divided over Monday's boycott. Some call it a nonviolent protest in the mold of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., while others believe that too much protesting could hurt the cause of immigration reform.

Thousands of truck drivers working out of the Port of Los Angeles and cab drivers who serve Los Angeles International Airport are expected to strike for the day or possibly the week.

"If truckers aren’t trucking, the port isn’t working," said Los Angeles organizer Jim DeMaegt. "If cab drivers don’t drive, LAX will be shut down. Nobody knows precisely what will happen, but there is a lot of support."

Predicting the effects of the rallies depends largely on the turnouts.

"There will be 2 to 3 million people hitting the streets in Los Angeles alone. We're going to close down Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Tucson, Phoenix, Fresno," said Jorge Rodriguez, a union official who helped organize earlier rallies.

Among the most vocal in opposition to the rallies has been Jim Glichrist, founder of the Minutemen Project.

"It's intimidation," said Gilchrist. "It's intimidation when a million people march down main streets in our major cities under the Mexican flag. It angers the people you are trying to impress. This will backfire just like the Mexican flag parades backfired."

Of course, one might make the same argument of "intimidation" for stationing paramilitary forces like the Minutemen on the border.

Now that the boycott (or paro in Spanish) has been called, the organizers need to deliver on their plans, or face the prospect of appearing ineffective.

If nothing else, Monday appears to be gearing up to be a day to remember.

Bowling Green to Host Global Night Commute

(Bowling Green, OH) Hundreds of high school and college students will spend Friday night outside St. Aloysius Church as part of the "Global Night Commute," which is designed to bring attention to the plight of children in Uganda.

The students and other people participating at the vigil will meet at 7:30 at the Union Oval at Bowling Green State University, and proceed to walk to St. Aloysius. The vigil will continue until 7:00 am Saturday morning.

The movement began with the production of the film "Invisible Children," which is the tale of tens of thousands of northern Ugandan children fleeing the Lord’s Resistance Army . The LRA is a rebel paramilitary group largely filled with youngsters who were abducted in the middle of the night.

The children were tortured, indoctrinated, and forced to fight in the region’s 20-year-old civil war. As many as 30,000 children have been kidnapped from their villages and forced to serve as soldiers and sex slaves for the rebels.

Over 48,000 people have committed to taking part in vigils this weekend, hoping to raise both awareness and money for the humanitarian efforts to save Ugandan children.

On Chernobyl and Nuclear Power

(Toledo, OH) Depending on which dateline you fall under, either yesterday or today is the twentieth anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

I heard a twenty-something news anchor mangle the pronunciation of "Chernobyl" last night, and it occurred to me that the youngish newscaster could be forgiven. After all, the person was likely a small child when the partial meltdown occurred in Reactor 4 on April 26, 1986.

Figures vary widely on the human costs of the catastrophe. Approximately 55 people died from radiation poisioning in the days and weeks immediately following the tragedy. Thousands more died from cancer and other diseases since 1986, while many thousands more will likely suffer reduced lifespans from acquired radiation-related diseases.

Greenpeace claims that 93,000 people have already died from radiation-related illnesses, and the group argues that in "Belarus, Russia and the Ukraine alone the accident could have resulted in an estimated 200,000 additional deaths in the period between 1990 and 2004."

Radioactive fallout from the disaster has spread throughout the northern hemisphere, circling the globe. The nations of Belarus and the Ukraine have been hardest hit, and areas of Russia continue to show dangerous levels of residual radiation.

Surprisingly the Ukraine government continued to operate the facility until 2000, arguing that the energy needs of the nation outweighed any risks to workers or the surrounding countryside.

Reactor 4 remains encased in a concrete "sarcophagus," and the deadly radioactive material threatens to seep into the groundwater.

Which brings us to the important question of the day: do the needs of Americans for affordable energy outweigh the unique risks associated with nuclear power? The dramatic rise in oil prices has generated calls for a renewed American nuclear energy effort.

While some might dismiss Chernobyl as indicative of the inefficiency of the Soviet system, the Davis-Besse plant near Toledo, Ohio came dangerously close to a similar fate several years ago. Corrosion on a reactor head created holes that were a mere 5/8" from being exposed to an uncontrollable meltdown.

This near-disaster could have been as deadly - or worse - than the catastrophe in Chernobyl. Look at your children before you answer.

New Father Gerald Robinson Case Site

Left: Father Gerald Robinson, courtesy of realnews247.com

(Toledo, OH) I am up to my eyeteeth in a thesis and some editing projects (not to mention my work as a journalist), and I have had to pass up on my SECOND chance to go on CNN.

This opportunity was with Nancy Grace. I will probably kick myself in the arse for skipping the TV spot, but there is no way I can pull it off right now. I have written on the case locally, but there are far more up-to-speed people who would make excellent analysts.

CNN - call Bill Frogameni, for one.

Anyways, for those looking for good coverage of the tial, I heartily recommend Toledo blogger Lisa Renee Ward's new site. She has been following the case closely for some time now, and has collected one of the best resource sites around. She doesn't like to use the word "journalist," but her work is as good or better than many of the hacks covering this trial, and she is digging up some of the hidden angles.

Comment Verification Turned Back On

(Toledo, OH) As much as I hate the word verification feature for comments, I have been forced by a persistent, filthy spammer to re-install this anti-spam check.

The twit - or perhaps spam bot - keeps pushing "a place where you can
make some nice extra cash secret shopping" with a hyperlink to some scam site.

So, I apologize for the annoyance of the word verification, but I tire of deleting 30 or more of these stupid messages a day.

Rapid Rhetoric: MÉSALLIANCE

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word I came across that I have never previously used.

mésalliance n. mistaken marriage; marriage into a lower social class.

From the French words més-, ("bad") alliance, ("alliance," "marriage")

Here is a quotation from the George Eliot novel Daniel Deronda (1876):

"It shows the Arrowpoints' good sense, however, to have adopted the affair, after the fuss in the paper," said Sir Hugo. "And disowning your own child because of a mésalliance is something like disowning your one eye: everybody knows it's yours, and you have no other to make an appearance with."

Don Monroe Speaks about Marina District

Left: Earlier vision of proposed Marina District, courtesy of Pizzuti.com

This article also appears in the Toledo Free Press

(Toledo, OH) Mayor Carty Finkbeiner's decision to fire Columbus-based Pizzuti Companies as the developer for the proposed Marina District on April 3 has created an opportunity for the city to perform many of these duties in-house.

The man tapped by Finkbeiner to lead the project is Don Monroe, executive director of River East Development Corporation. Monroe has been involved with East Side development for more than 30 years.

Monroe said he was never involved in the decision to bring on Pizzuti in the first place.

"That decision was made on the part of the Ford administration," he said. "I did not participate in that process at all."

The amount of actual work done by Pizzuti, according to Monroe, remains unclear. He said the developer and its subcontractors were paid approximately $250,000 for their work prior to the termination of the Pizzuti contract.

"It's hard to evaluate. Obviously, they didn't get any development done, and they did not put in place any commitments to developments that were already in place in the city or the port, such as the marina and the boat terminal," he said. "It's hard to put a value on their predevelopment activities."

Monroe said the mayor's decision to fire Pizzuti was primarily one of performance.

"I believe that was a guiding point with the mayor. He made it clear early in his administration that he expected results," he said. "So, if the mayor had other reasons, they were secondary to the non-delivery of an anchor tenant by Pizzuti."

Monroe said he believes the enormity of the Marina District has scared off many developers.

"Anything of this magnitude as a redevelopment project takes a lot of money and energy," he said. "Most prospective developers never submitted a proposal; they just gave their qualifications. We've already had two developers come and go on this project."

Among the ideas Finkbeiner and the development team are exploring is the possibility of a boardwalk and waterway system in the Marina District.

"We'd need to evaluate the cost and value to our community if we did put some sort of a waterway system there," he said. "But in addition to building a canal, we're looking at several piers and lagoons that can help fund development."

There may be some other changes from previous visions of the Marina District, Monroe said.

"We are tentatively looking at adding an amphitheater in International Park as well as a visitors' center," he said. "We are expanding the boundaries of the Marina District to include most of International Park, and we want to expand the amount of housing shown in the earlier proposals."

Monroe said he has heard little new about the possibility of potential retail anchor Bass Pro making a decision about its new location.

"I personally don't know any more than I did the day after they were here. It's a pretty tight-lipped corporate group," he said. "They are pretty much in the driver's seat, especially with the legislation just passed in Columbus designed for them. I don't know that anyone is in a position to influence them, but they have said they want a store open in 2007."

Despite problems the Marina District has faced, Monroe said he is optimistic the Finkbeiner administration has the pieces in place for a successful project.

"We shouldn't slight the cleanup; the city has completed work in excess of $10 million," he said. "There will be a marina, and there will be a terminal. The marina should be completed in less than a year, and the terminal should be started in less than a year."

Monroe said skeptical observers of the Marina Project should understand there is one significant change in the newest incarnation of the development team.

"At this point, this one is being wholly driven by the city, as opposed to outside interests," he said. "That's the important difference, and we have a mayor who is fully committed to making this project succeed."

1849 Cure for Diarrhea

(Toledo, OH) As an 1849 outbreak of cholera hit Northwest Ohio, civic leaders worked hard to keep the citizenry from any knowledge of the arrival of the disease.

After all, the typical response in cases of epidemic disese was a flight to the countryside, which would have disastrous effects on the local economy. The typical response by a city's leaders would be to deny the obvious as long as possible, and keep news of the outbreak of disease very quiet.

That is, unless the disease appeared in a rival town, and then plenty of attention would be given to the epidemic that struck everywhere but here.

The Toledo Blade in the nineteenth century was no stranger to the process of hushing up epidemics, as the paper valued the advertising revenue of its commercial clients. However, in the midst of the "epidemic-that-wasn't," the paper ran an interesting recipe for curing acute diarrhea, one of the hallmarks of cholera:

For Diarrhea
Tincture of Opium.......1/2 ounce
Tincture of Cathechu....1/2 ounce
Spirits of Lavender.......6 drams
Spirits of Camphor........2 drams

DOSE - teanspoonful every hour until relief is procured.

The above prescription is from Dr. Morton, of Sandusky City, furnished to us by a gentleman of this city, who has made use of it with great success. We are informed that is generally used and approved in Sandusky.

Opium, of course, is a potent narcotic, and the cathecu plant produces the betel nut, a potent stimulant more akin to cocaine than caffeine.

I am not sure if the cure worked, but a person could have a heck of a time with this concoction.

Warning: Stepped-Up I-475 Patrols

(Toledo, OH) With construction near I-475 and US-23 in Sylvania the Ohio State Patrol has increased the number of traffic cars on both eastbound and westbound I-475.

Of particular note to motorists is the hiding place on westbound I-475, where merging traffic from southbound I-75 meets the freeway.

I have seen a car there each of the last three days, and they are busy collecting revenue - I mean protecting public safety - for the state of Ohio.

Personally, I hope to never again get a ticket. I have been point-less for some time now (some would say I have always been pointless, but that is another story), and the decline in insurance rates is an added bonus.

Egyptian Police Arrest 3 in Dahab Bombings

Left: The bombs destroyed storefronts along the Dahab promenade; photo courtesy of AP.com

(Dahab, Egypt) Egyptian police arrested three people today in relation to the coordinated bomb attack that ripped throught this Sinai beach resort at the height of Egypt's tourist season, killing as many as 40 people and injuring hundreds.

It is not yet known if the suspects have connections with international terrorist organizations, although media reports indicate that a caller claimed responsibility for al Qaeda.

The explosions, however, came a day after Osama bin Laden issued a call to radical Muslims to support al-Qaeda in fighting what he calls "a war against Islam by the Crusaders."

Dahab has long been a destination for western tourists, and traditionally catered to the sort of backpacking, lower-budget vacationers attracted by its scuba diving, deap sea fishing, and inexpensive accommodations. In recent years more upscale facilities have begun to spring up on the coast, including a 5-star Hilton hotel.

Striking as they did in the height of the Coptic Easter season, the bombers likely sought to disrupt Egypt's lucrative tourist trade.

Lawn Mower Maintenance Tip

Left: Typical lawn mower carburetor; the float bowl is at the very bottom in this image

(Toledo, OH) Being someone who absolutely hates to pay a repair person when I can spend four hours tearing something apart myself (generally with good results, although I occasionally create some interesting home repair highlights), I thought I would share a simple maintenance tip that might save you a few dollars on repairs.

Diligent homeowners remember to run their lawn mowers in the fall until the machine has consumed the last of the fuel. This keeps any fuel from remaining in the system from degrading over the winter.

Then there are the rest of us, who remember this advice in springtime.

The problem is that the degraded gasoline loses much of its combustibility when it stagnates.

I used to struggle starting my mower in the spring until a friend taught me a simple trick. At the very bottom of most simple carburetors is what is known as a float bowl. Holding the bowl in place is usually a single hex bolt.

Using the appropriate-sized socket or wrench, loosen the bolt; keep a small bowl underneath to catch any remaining fuel. Clean the bowl and reinstall, making sure to put the float bowl gasket in place too.

You might want to take this time to replace the spark plug, oil, and air filter, as well. Place clean, new fuel in the tank, and VROOOM! Away you go.

My friend, who does small engine repair on the side, said that he often makes an easy $25 by simply cleaning out last fall's funky old gas and replacing the spark plug on mowers.

Also, that old gasoline can be recycled in with the new gas you just bought, as long as the ratio of new to old gas is at least 4:1.

Mubarak: "A Wicked Terrorist Act"

Left: Tourists aid a victim of the terror attacks in Dahab

(Dahab, Egypt) Three explosions ripped throught the Egyptian resort town of Dahab today, leaving as many as 40 people dead and hundreds wounded.

One blast hit a tourist restaurant, another tore through a hotel and the third explosion was detonated in a supermarket in the resort town's tourist area about 7:15 p.m. local time (1:15 EST).

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak called the explosions a "wicked terrorist act," and local groups claiming al-Qaeda ties took responsibility.

"The president stressed the need to ... track down those responsible for this wicked terrorist act, so that they pay the penalty by force of law," the state news agency MENA said.

Coming on the Coptic Easter holiday, the attacks were likely intended to hit the Egyptian government where it is most vulnerable - its lucrative tourist industry. Similar terrorist attacks have occurred in Sinai resort areas over the past 18 months.

The bombings also come one day after Osama bin Laden released his latest video, which called for actions against the West and governments in the Middle East that are in league with the West.

A witness said the Al Capone restaurant, one of the area's most popular spots for tourists, was completely destroyed.

"The tables and chairs have gone, there is nothing left," said Joseph Nazir, who owns a safari company in Dahab. "Everybody is panicking, a lot of people are crying. We will be affected by this for a long, long time."

Blasts Rock Egyptian Resort of Dahab

(Dahab, Egypt) Three explosions rocked the Sinai resort city of Dahab today, leaving at least 35 people dead and more than 200 wounded.

Body parts and piles of debris were seen in the streets after an explosion in a restaurant that caters to tourists, residents said. A witness said that cars and buses leaving the resort were being stopped and searched by police.

Coming in the midst of an Egyptian holiday, these coordinated terror attacks seem aimed at striking at the Egyptian government, viewed by radical Islamists as a tool of the West. Egypt relies heavily on its tourist industry for tax revenue and foreign currency.

"There is smoke coming from the area and there are people running everywhere," Reuters quoted a witness as saying.

Groups claiming links to al-Qaeda took responsibility for the attacks; Egyptian officials say that new militant Islamic groups have developed in the Sinai peninsula. Authorities do not know if there exist solid connections between the Dahab bombers and al-Qaeda or other international terrorist networks.

Oh, How I Love Blogger

(Toledo) I apologize to site visitors for the lack of posts and any difficulty in loading this page today.

Blogger, it seems, has been experiencing some massive server and network problems. Of course, given the fact that Blogger provides little in the way of updates, and never answers emails, I have had to surf message boards to learn anything.

This only reinforces my resolve to obtain a separate doamin name for this site.

Thank you for your patience.

Rapid Rhetoric: ZOANTHROPY

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word I came across that I have never previously used.

zoanthropy n. delusion of a person who believes himself changed into an animal. It is related to the mythical condition of lycanthropy, a supernatural affliction in which people are said to physically shapeshift into werewolves.

Clinical lycanthropy is a rare condition, and it is considered to be an expression of a psychotic episode caused by another condition such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or clinical depression.

Diversion: Shakespearean Insult Generator

Left: Wit and more

(Toledo, OH) The Bard was not only a prolific playwright but also one of the quickest wits in his - or any - generation.

With that in mind, be sure to check out this random generator of insults penned by William Shakespeare.

Here is the first insult that rose as a virtual challenge to my site trespassing (taken from All's Well That Ends Well:

"Methink'st thou art a general offence and every man should beat thee."

Enjoy thee this villainous abominable misleader of youth!

(swiped from Hamlet, Act II)

Protesters Ignore Curfew in Nepal Capital

An opposition party supporter with the slogan 'Loktantra Zindabad' painted on his head, courtesy of AP.com

(Kathmandu, Nepal) A popular uprising that has engulfed this Himalayan nation for the past 18 days has moved beyond its pro-democratic roots to become a movement against the Nepalese monarchy itself.

At least 23 people were injured today in clashes between protesters and police in different parts of the city, as security forces fired rubber bullets and teargas to disperse the crowds. King Gyanendra's offer to deliver power to an alliance of seven political parties has failed to quell protests against his rule.

Gyanendra seized control of the federal government last year, arguing that the political parties had failed to bring stability or end a 10-year communist insurgency.

Opposition leaders are reportedly debating whether they should reinstate parliament themselves, thereby setting up their own government to run parallel to that of King Gyanendra.

Among the protesters Sunday was S.M. Dixit, a 64 year-old physician who supports that idea.

"It is the right of the people, the democratic right of the people to form a parallel government," he said. "Because we do not accept this government. We never accepted this government. We have a right to form our own government and that government must come out whether the king wants it or not."


The opposition coalition called for street protests to continue throughout the week, including another massive rally Tuesday.

"We urge all the people, the old and the young alike, to come out of their homes, their villages, their neighbourhoods and get to the nearest point on the ring road for the mass rally," read a statement from the coordinating body.

Nepal, a nation of some 28 million people, is nestled in the Himalayas between China and India. The country is the only official Hindu state in the world. Eight of the ten highest mountain peaks - including Mount Everest - are located in Nepal.

Any Problems Loading This Page?

(Toledo, OH) I received an email the other day from a reader who said that the Index page for this site loads with all of the posts starting below the point where my sidebar ends (links and all that stuff).

Is this happening when you visit this site?

I checked my template, and it seems as though there is sufficient space allocated (30 px) for there not to be an overlap between the sidebar and the area where the posts are.

If you are having difficulty, I would greatly appreciate any feedback.

Bush: "Tough Summer" Ahead

Left: President Bush at a fuel cell plant in West Sacramento, CA

(Washington, DC) President George W. Bush believes that rising oil prices spell difficulties ahead for American consumers.

"We're going to have a tough summer because people are beginning to drive now during tight supply," Bush said. "The American people have got to understand what happens elsewhere in the world affects the price of gasoline you pay here."

These are some of the first comments Bush has made about the recent spike in oil and gasoline prices, and some pundits believe that the President's remarks indicate that the GOP is worried that gas prices could be a political albatross in the 2006 elections.

Bush, however, continues to look at the demand side of the equation.

We've got a real problem when it comes to oil. We're addicted, and it's harmful for the economy, and it's harmful for our national security," he said. "The American people have got to understand what happens elsewhere in the world affects the price of gasoline you pay here."

Certainly the demand for oil in countries like China and India has contributed to the reduction in supplies. However, the President dodged the issue of recent saber-rattling with Iran as a contributory factor.

The President also avoided the issue that the major oil companies and cartels are reaping record profits.

"We're watching real carefully to make sure people are treated fairly," the president said, though failing to offer specifics on how the federal government is monitoring price-gouging.

The controversy over big oil profits became even more heated when it was announced last week that outgoing Exxon CEO Lee Raymond received a retirement package of over $400 million in December.

Report: "Nazis Run Scared Out of Sacramento"

Left: State capitol building in Sacramento, CA

(Sacramento, CA) Looks like a good day for the antifa; a news item on Indybay.com reports that a crowd of 50 anti-Nazis chased 6 uniformed NSM members away from the California state capitol.

This comes on top of a strong turnout of anti-Nazi protestors in Lansing, MI; some 1,300 people protested or attended an alternate rally, while only 77 members of the National Socialist Movement managed to show up.

From the Indybay posting:

"After a short standoff, the CHP were heard telling the Nazis to leave, and that 'there was only so much they can do', seeing as the crowd was ready to tear them to shreds. The Nazis tucked their tails and took off in their aqua colored Toyota Tercel liscence plate 3EME340 and ran scared."

More as it comes in...

Lansing Leaderboard Tally: 1300 Antis, 400 Cops, 81 Reporters, 77 Nazis

Left: Lansing police officer gets ready for the NSM rally, courtesy of Lansing State Journal

(Lansing, MI) The early results are in from Nazifest 2006 in Lansing, and it looks like the NSM has produced another expensive (for taxpayers) dud. No surprise there.

The most accurate counts I have seen so far point to a total of 77 Nazis and assorted white nationalists in attendance at the rally on the steps of the Michigan state capitol. This is a far cry from the 200 predicted by NSM spokesman Bill White, although White's counting methods suggest that the man may be cross-eyed.

The estimates I have read suggest a cost of $250,000 to Lansing and the state of Michigan, which works out to a cost of $3,246 to protect each Nazi from getting their skulls kicked in by throngs of protesters.

In a way this rally was more cost-effective than some of the previous NSM circuses. The two Toledo rallies cost, respectively, $12,692 and $7,895 per Nazi in protection costs (based upon turnouts of 26 Nazis at Toledo I and 38 at Toledo II, with security costs of $330K and $300K).

The best news, though, is that injuries and property damage were minimal. A Lansing State Journal reporter saw an early scuffle in which a protester sustained a head laceration, and reports indicate that both sides were, in the main, orderly and law-abiding.

OK - the most important part - assessing my predictions:

Historymike predicted...45 Nazis, 77 showed up.
Historymike predicted... Bill White would say 190 Nazis, but so far he says 160. I could win this one, since his counts usually grow as time passes.
Historymike predicted...600 antis, and 800 showed up, plus 500 people at the diversity rally.
Historymike predicted...36 arrests, only 15 so far.

I say that my reputation as the Midwest's preeminnent Nazi rally handicapper is still intact. Nikki and Harry Schwartz still reign as champs worldwide.

Early News From Lansing Nazi Rally

(Lansing, MI) Left: Aerial view of NSM members getting ready to caravan to state capitol, courtesy of WZZM - Grand Rapids

The Lansing State Journal is reporting that the totals for the National Socialist Movement (NSM) rally in the Michigan state capitol are 800 protesters and 75 Nazis.

I received a phone call from a member of the antifa who said the Nazis numbered "60-70," and that "there may be a thousand protesters."

The caller said that the Nazis cannot be heard because their "sound system is pathetic" and that the chants of the protesters "are drowning out the fascists."


Addendum, 4:09 pm: WWJ Radio 950 in Detroit had a reporter on the scene who just provided an update. He said that there have been 11 arrests so far for various protest-related infractions, including disorderly conduct.

The on-site reporter said that "the Nazis were outnumbered by reporters 81-77" by his count.

He added that there were an additional 500 people attending the city's diversity rally held away from the state capitol.

True to form, Bill White of the NSM is saying that the NSM had 120 or more people. That's at least a 50% inflation rate over the numbers provided by on-site observers.

Addendum, 4:49 pm: Bill White's count is now up to 160 NSM supporters. He claims that there were 40 in the crowd in addition to his count of 120. Let the spin continue.

White also adds that NSM members were left in the motel rooms, lost in the caravans, and denied entry by police, although he has yet to claim that the Jew-dominated media Photo-Shopped out supporters from their photos, like he has at past rallies. I suspect he will continue to play creative accounting games until he gets to a number over 200.

Dear Bill: People might actually take the NSM more seriously if you were not such a notorious liar. Better to say "75 diehard stormtroopers" than to create such laughable - and easily dismissed - fabrications.

Addendum, 5:12 pm: The Lansing State Journal has upped the number of arrests to 15. They counted 800 protesters at the rally, and, coupled with the 500 attendees of the diversity rally at Eastern High School, this brings the score to 1,300 Non-Nazis, 77 Nazis. Sounds like a blowout.

Avoiding Cholera: 1849 Advice from Toledo Blade

While working in the archives today I came across the following poem - no author was listed - in the June 16, 1849 edition of the Toledo Blade.

Anti-Choleric Prescriptions

Don't get in a fluster and go on a buster,
nor allow yourself to be terrified;
But keep a cool head, and never be liked,
to join a hurrah and a spree.

If a sparking you go, and we know you do so,
keep an eye on the time as it flies;
And now do you see, don't stay later than three,
if you are anyways modelly wise.

Don't dread it all, be ye young or small,
neither be overly rash;
But keep calmly on, as ye always have done,
and avoid eating acid and trash.

Be tidy and clean, avoid everything green,
whether it be cabbage or krout;
And quite skimming you'll go, if you take for a motto:
"always know what you're about."

At the time the understanding of cholera was that the disease struck person so flow character, and that the disease was spread in a miasmic fashion; that is, foul odors wafting from putrefying garbage, dead bodies of victims, and through poor hygiene.

We have since learned that cholera is a water-borne disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The microbes are ingested by drinking contaminated water, or by eating improperly cooked fish and shellfish.

On the same day that this poem ran, the city of Toledo released this report:

Board of Health, June 21st.
There has been no case of cholaera in this city up to this time. The report in circualtion this morning as to there being some cases on canal boats just arrived, is without foundation. By order of the Board.

Of course, every other city in the eastern half of the US was reporting the epidemic. Here is a sampling from the telegraph postings on the same day in the Blade:

BY TELEGRAPH For the Blade by O'Rielly's Line

New York, June 23
48 cases and 11 deaths by cholera since last report.

Cincinnati, June 22
C.M. Clay, at the last accounts, was in a fair way of recovering. Cholera has assumed a more general form. Several very respectable citizens have died.

Richmond, June 21
Four cases of Cholera and one death.

St. Louis, June 22
Accounts have reached here, of a renewal of disturbances between the emigrants and Indians, and a number of both have been killed. Cholera was making sad havoc among the emigrants. Parties of stragglers are daily returning.

Buffalo, June 23
Cholera, 6 cases and 2 deaths in the last 24 hours.

Toledo did not officially admit any cases until mid-July 1849. This was a common practice among municipalities - report the epidemic elsewhere, but deny that the disease was manifest "in our fair city." This sort of head-in-the-sand thinking likely prolonged and worsened the ravages of cholera.

Neo-Nazi Teens Vowed to Shoot Up School

Left: A student stands outside Riverton HS, courtesy of AP

(Riverton, KS) Five teens intended to go on a shooting spree at their high school but were prevented from carrying out the plot after one of the group discussed the plot on a Web site, according to law enforcement and school officials.

One of the arrested students had posted a message on his MySpace account in which he talked about the anniversary of Adolf Hitler's birth as well as the Columbine shootings, both of which share an April 20 date.

Police found guns, ammunition, knives and coded messages in the bedroom of one suspect, while discovering documents about firearms and references to Armageddon in the school lockers of two other suspects.

"What the resounding theme is: They were actually going to do this," said Sheriff Steve Norman. "The message, it was brief, but it stated that there was going to be a shooting at the Riverton school and that people should wear bulletproof vests and flak jackets."

Riverton school district Superintendent David Walters said the significance of the threat didn't become clear until Wednesday night. At that point a woman in North Carolina who had chatted with one of the suspects on Myspace.com received more information that there would be about a dozen potential victims, and at least one of those would be a staff member.

The woman notified authorities in her state, who called the local sheriff's department, Norman said.

The sheriff reported that the potential victims were popular students and that the suspects - ages 16-18 - may have been bullied in the past.

"I think there was probably some bullying, name calling, chastising," he said, adding that investigators learned the suspects were computer buffs who liked violent video games.

MySpace.com has pulled the related sites.

Riverton student Michaela Ferneau said Friday was told that she was one of the targets. One of the teen suspects had talked to her about the Columbine massacre in January.

"We thought he was joking because he was always joking about stuff like that," Ferneau told ABC on Friday. "I guess I told on them, apparently, when I didn't know I did. It's kind of scary to know that people from a little town like this would even try anything like that."

Oil Breaks $75 per Barrel

Left: Traders in the oil futures pit of the NY Mercantile Exchange, courtesy of AP

(New York) Light sweet crude for June delivery rose to $75 a barrel in early afternoon trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, setting a new record.

Brent crude for June rose to $73.15 a barrel on London's ICE Futures exchange over Western fears of the Islamic Republic's determination to push ahead with its uranium enrichment plans.

The likelihood increases that oil may hit $85 per barrel during the peak summer demand, which could send gasoline prices skyrocketing to $3.50 a gallon or more in the US.

Explosion Jars West Toledo Neighborhood

Left: Artist's rendition of the explosion

(Toledo, OH) Residents in the vicinity of Secor and Laskey were startled by a loud explosion Friday morning that resembled a gunshot.

The cause of the loud noise was an over-inflated basketball, which - when being bounced on a resident's driveway - suddenly erupted at about 11:41 am.

"Holy crap, that was loud!" said one participant, identified only as "Mischievous Son on Vacation."

Neighbors near the explosion, however, did not particularly share the glee of the hoopsters, nor did a local historian ensconced in research at the time.

"I swear to God, there will come a day of reckoning," said the unidentified writer. "They, too, will one day have children, and the cycle will continue."

There were no reported injuries among the teens from either the explosion or by the irate parents of the hyperinflators. Investigators point to the removal of the basketball's outer leather layer as a primary cause in the explosion.

Rapid Rhetoric - CACHEXY

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word I came across that I have never previously used.

cachexy (sometimes called cachexia) - n. 1. Particularly bad state of health as a result of malnutrition or starvation; 2. depraved manner of thinking, mental deficiencies.

The adjective is "cachectic," and there is a potential adverb form of "cachectically." The word is also sometimes spelled without the [h], as "cacexy." The word is derived from the Greek words kakos ("poor") and hexis ("state" or "disposition").

Great Black Swamp Settlement and Endemic Malaria

Another excerpt in an ongoing research project on the Great Black Swamp's disease history in which I am engulfed

As the military campaigns against Native Americans and their sometime British cohorts ended, white settlers staked land claims in and around the Great Black Swamp; this process was hastened with the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Contemporaneous with the arrival of such settlement was the documentation of the presence of certain “intermittent” and “remittent” fevers in humans who lived in and around the Swamp.

The Reverend Joseph Badger, a Connecticut Missionary Society preacher, made his first journey through the Swamp en route to Detroit beginning September 9, 1801. His journal notes on September 23 that he “began to feel unwell” as he returned to the rapids of the Maumee. On September 27, he recorded the following entry in his journal:

This morning I shook with the ague, followed by a high fever; Saturday took calomel; Sabbath took an emetic before the fit came on. I shook, however, at a fearful rate. Took calomel and jalap on Monday. Having medicine with me, I continued to take an emetic before the shake came on, and calomel the next day, for four or five days in succession. The ague and fever left me in a feeble state...

The fever and ague continued to plague Badger as he wound his way eastward through the Swamp and into northeastern Ohio. He suffered a serious relapse in late October:

This morning I was very unwell; had considerable fever; and was able to sit up but little...[h]ad this morning [November 1, 1801] a return of fever; was unable to sit up or entertain any hope of going for some time...[h]ere I was confined eleven days, the most of the time to my bed...

By November 12, Badger’s condition deteriorated at a rapid pace:

I was so reduced as not to be able to mount my horse without help…On the 15th, just before I arrived at Esquire Hopkins’, the whole of my left side was struck with a paralytic shock, so that it was difficult for me to walk or use my left hand; my left eye, and the muscles of my face, were so affected that the eyelash had lost its power; my mouth was drawn out of shape, and my tongue so affected that I could not speak freely, or take food without difficulty.

Badger’s description of his symptoms is entirely consistent with those associated with cerebral malaria, in which the untreated P. falciparum parasites attack the tissues of the brain and the rest of the central nervous system. Seizures, altered consciousness, and paralysis can be manifestations of cerebral malaria.
Left: A portion of the remaining Swamp

The journal of William C. Holgate documented the perception held by those outside the region that the Great Black Swamp was an area of ill health. Holgate captured his thoughts as he sailed up the Maumee River from Lake Erie in the following passage:

The rich growth of trees on either side of the river, here and there the log cabin surrounded by pleasant beautiful fields and blooming orchards tended to rouse within me feelings, that almost obscured the deep dre[a]d and antipathy which had previously imbibed against it on acct. of the tremendous sickliness of the region.

James Bowland moved to the area of Lower Sandusky with his parents in 1835 while he was still a child. He saw the Swamp in a near-pristine state, and described conditions in the region in the following passage from his memoirs:

Among the early pests about the home were swarms of house flies, gad flies, blue bottle flies, and millions of mosquitos. The swales and marshes and other pools of stagnant water afforded a great breeding place for them, as well as for fever and ague...It was a great relief when cold weather put an end to these pests.

Caleb Atwater was a writer and politician who arrived in Ohio in 1815. Though rife with errors and dodged by accusations of plagiarism, his A History of the State of Ohio (1838) contains numerous references to the unhealthy reputation of Northwest Ohio. In the following passage the author references the toll that the Swamp took on soldiers passing through:

The black swamp has already cost the nation a million of dollars, besides many brave men who perished from the sickness which they caught wading through it. Pittsburgh and Greensburgh in Pennsylvania, and Petersburgh in Virginia, will long remember those who thus perished and were buried in this black swamp. Ohio lost in the same way, and in the same swamp, not a few of her best soldiers.

Daniel and Experience Parsons lived in Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan for several decades, arriving in Chesterfield Township (near modern-day Morenci, MI) in 1834. Experience maintained correspondence with her brother, who lived in Maine. In an 1837 letter Experience described the improvement in health as compared to the time the family spent in the Swamp west of Sandusky:

As for health I believe it [Chesterfield Township] to be healthy. My family has enjoyed good health since we came to this country, much better than we ever did in Ohio.

At least one member of the Parsons family remained in the Sandusky area; Experience recounted the health travails of her son William in 1839; the sudden turn in fortunes for William – who believed he was suffering from a typical bout with ague – suggests either the onset of cerebral malaria, or the confluence of an opportunistic infection that ravaged the weakened immune system of the young man:

My husband went to Sandusky the fore part of May where our son William died. He was unwell several days and his friends advised him to send for the doctor, but he said no. He was in the habit of having a sick spell every fall. It was nothing, he said, but the ague and he should be well in a few days. One of the neighbors gave him some medicine to brake [sic] the fever but, alas, it was no fever and ague. He grew worse and was not sensible…he lived but five days after he was taken and remained insensible. He died October 12, 1838.

Daniel Drake visited the region in the thousands of miles he traveled during the production of his medical opus. He described the endemic presence of “intermittent and remittent fevers” in Northwest Ohio:

I learned that, from the commencement of settlement down to the time of my visit, in 1842, the whole locality had been infested with these fevers; cases of which sometimes assumed a malignant and fatal character.

Father Alexis Campion sought to build an orphanage in Toledo, and traveled to Montreal in an attempt to persuade the Sisters of Charity to open a facility in the region. He painted for the Grey Nuns a rather grim picture of the disease environment of the young community at the time of his 1855 trip:

The inducements he offered were far from attractive. He drew a graphic picture of the dreary locality; the prevalence of malarial disease, resulting from stagnant pools and swamps found everywhere in the then unhealthy City, giving it the name of "Grave of the United States."

Waggoner also documented a tale in this morbid vein; the account revolved around a raconteur’s experience with a traveler. Asking for directions, the visitor was told to follow the “main traveled road.” The journey down this road, according to the story, brought the traveler to the local graveyard.

Recognizing the reputation of insalubrity associated with living in the vicinity of the Great Black Swamp, residents of the region considered ways in which they might counteract this ignominious standing. A movement thus arose to rename the river that was most closely linked with this status:

Other poets, too, had written so much on the unhealthy character of the Maumee Valley, that it was resolved, at a meeting held November 7, 1855, to call the river “Grand Rapids River,” and to give the bay and the valley the same name. It is worthy of note that Wood county took the initiative, in carrying out the resolution, by changing the name of the old town of Gilead to Grand Rapids.

The typical travails of nineteenth-century white settlers in the American wilderness - such as isolation, dangerous animals, and hostile indigenous peoples - made for a harsh life. In Northwest Ohio, though, the presence of endemic malaria created conditions even less conducive to population growth in the ranks of settlers.

Would-be Lawyer Bill White Loses Another One

NSM's Bill White playing lawyer in Toledo on December 9, 2005

(Lansing, MI) The National Socialist Movement, defended by wannabe Nazi attorney Bill White, lost in their attempts to get a judge to declare security measures for the April 22 rally illegal.

Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Paula Manderfield will allow police to use chain-link security fencing and metal detectors to separate Nazis and protesters at the Saturday rally.

Today's outcome is not unlike White's earlier efforts in Toledo to represent himself and the NSM in court. While an intelligent person, White continues to waste the time and money of himself, the NSM and the courts in these ill-conceived media events disguised as court proceedings.

Then again, perhaps it is only the publicity tht Bill White craves, and in that case he has achieved a smidgen of success.

Heckler Hauled Away at White House

Left: Woman in black just after heckling President Hu and just before getting escorted away from the South Lawn

(Washington, DC) In a strange twist of irony, a heckler was hauled away by Secret Service during the meeting of President Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao just as President Bush was discussing freedom of speech.

"Stop persecuting the Falon Gong!" yelled the woman to President Hu as she was dragged away.

From the Drudge Report:

As Hu Jintao was speaking, as yells of protesters became audible, the screen went black. Feed then came back and once again went black when woman was once again audible. During CNN International's post-speech commentary, at mention of south lawn heckler, screen went black again... feed returned when topic was no longer being discussed...

More as I learn it...

On the Nazis and Their Trip to Lansing

Left: Teargas filling up the intersection of Mulberry and Central in Toledo on October 15

(Toledo, OH) The traveling road show of the National Socialist Movement will slither into Lansing, MI this Saturday, hoping for a repeat of the violence they inspired in Toledo last October 15.

Lansing city officials, however, have consulted with counterparts in Toledo over the past few weeks in an effort to share tactics on preventing violence that sometimes accompanies the NSM and similar groups.

Despite the claims of spokesNazi Bill White that the NSM is a law-abiding, peaceful bunch of red-blooded patriots, the real goal of the group is based on their dreams of sparking race wars.

I watched White and Mark Martin successfully stir the crowd up on October 15 with racial epithets. I later read their gleeful comments about the "true nature of blacks" after the angry crowd rioted.

While the NSM claims after every event that they have achieved a "great victory," only the violence of October 15 in Toledo seems to be a touchstone for the group.

The city of Lansing appears to be following the blueprint of the second Toledo rally by creating separate zones for the protesters and the Nazis.

My prediction: The NSM will draw 45 supporters, while claiming that another 100 got turned away by police and that the Jews in the media photoshopped another 45 out of all photos (historymike, by the way, has been dubbed "HistoryKike" by the NSM, and is a card-carrying member of said Jewish conspiracy, even though he is Catholic).

The fact that April 20 is the birthday of Adolf Hitler - and one of their reasons for gathering - will mean little to the rest of the white supremacists, many of whom scoff at the swastika-wearing NSM as "Hollywood Nazis."

They will be opposed by a crowd of 600 antifa (White will say 150), and the Lansing police (augmented by droves of Michigan State Police) arrest everyone who sneezes within a radius of 200 yards of the event.

The Nazis will go home, claim another "great victory," and three dozen protesters will get locked up for the weekend. Yet another snoozer in the annals of modern American Fascism.

In fact, I think I will stay home this weekend and work on some historical research that has been waiting to be completed. I originally toyed with the idea of driving the 90 minutes or so to Lansing and watching the clowns try to start another riot, but with gas approaching $3.00 a gallon here, I can find better entertainment locally.

Maybe I'll plant some asparagus.

Gold Now at $632 per Ounce

(San Francisco, CA) Gold futures surged $9 an ounce in mid-day trading, reaching their highest levels since 1980. Analysts pointed to high crude prices and a jump in consumer prices as triggers for the continued rise in the price of gold.

"The volatile mixture of oil, gold, and world economics and politics continues to show signs of disquieting instability," said Jon Nadler of Kitco.com. "The three components of this maelstrom appear to feed off of each other, as news propels oil, and then oil propels gold."

Gold is a traditional hedge against inflation, and is also the preferred investment strategy of those who fear political instability. I invested rather heavily in gold in the late 1990s, especially as I thought Y2K might cause some serious disruptions to the economy.

Had I held on to my Eagles, I might have been able to cash in on this run. Alas, I dumped them at a very small profit in 2000-2001.

This has been the story of my investment life; if I ever sound as though I am knowledgeable and push an investment strategy, do the exact opposite of me and you should turn a handsome profit.

These days I diversify in managed funds, close my eyes, and congratulate myself for avoiding the temptation of day-trading and speculation in volatile markets like precious metals and currencies.

Addendum, 3:20 pm: Undoubtedly influenced by the fact that historymike is not buying gold, wise investors have jumped in and driven the prie of gold above $640 per ounce later this afternoon.

White House Shakeup: McClellan Gone, Rove Reined In

(Washington, DC) Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary for the past 2-1/2 years, has resigned from his post in the latest Bush administration personnel changes.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove also gave up some of his responsibilities in policy-making, leading to speculation that the President may be embarking in new directions on domestic and/or foreign policy. The job of deputy chief of staff for policy is being given to Joel Kaplan.

Among the names being tossed around to replace McLellan are Tony Snow, FOX commentator and a former White House speechwriter, Dan Senor, a former coalition official in post-invasion Iraq, and former Pentagon spokesperson Victoria Clarke.

President Bush praised Mclellan for his performance at the White House.

"I don't know whether or not the press corps realizes this, but his is a challenging assignment dealing with you all on a regular basis," Bush said. "And I thought he handled his assignment with class, integrity. He really represents the best of his family, our state and our country. It's going to be hard to replace Scott. But, nevertheless, he's made the decision and I accept it."

Local Universities Meet the Phoenix Challenge

(Toledo, OH) Stodgy old professors writing on chalkboards and uncomfortable wooden seats are a few of the memories that many people have of their college classroom experiences.

The technological revolution, however, has also revolutionized the process of attaining a college degree. Many students find that distance learning (DL) courses are easier to fit into their busy schedules.

With over 150 campuses, the nation’s largest online program and over 300,000 students, the for-profit University of Phoenix is the nation's largest private university. The university’s parent company, the Apollo Group, recorded $2.2 billion in revenues last year, and recently created Axia College, an online institution designed to tap into the market for associate degrees.

Critics have derided the distance learning phenomenon as “dot degrees,” but local universities and colleges have had to quickly adjust to online competitors.

One local institution – the University of Toledo – has achieved distinction in the distance learning field. UT is currently ranked as the largest online program among four-year institutions in the state of Ohio.

“UT is offering 784 courses online this year, and our DL enrollment will be over 11,000 students,” said Karen Rhoda, director of Distance and eLearning at the University of Toledo. “The university has been experiencing double-digit growth in distance learning students for the past five years.”

Rhoda said that there are important differences between DL courses at UT as compared with similar courses at online schools like the University of Phoenix.

“Most of the distance learning courses offered at UT are taught by tenured faculty,” she said. “Many of the for-profit online schools offer classes taught by instructors with bachelor or master’s degrees, and some of those instructors may not even be teachers by trade, merely having some experience in a technical field.”

One of the most attractive features of UT’s distance learning program, according to Rhoda, is the ability for students to have flexibility in scheduling.

“Many students add one or two distance learning courses because of time conflicts with the traditional classes on campus,” she said. “Many of the core curriculum classes needed by undergraduates to fulfill degree requirements are available.”

Unlike some traditional universities, students enrolled in DL classes at UT can complete entire degrees without setting foot in a traditional classroom.”

“We offer a variety of bachelor’s degrees that can be completed entirely online,” she said. “We also offer a Master of Liberal Studies and a Master of Science in Engineering at the graduate level.”

Rhoda said that UT continues to fine tune its distance learning program to remain competitive with schools like the University of Phoenix.

“In 2005 we unveiled an online eWriting Center for distance learning students,” she said. “This is one of many support services offered by the university to provide DL students with a quality education.”

Russ Sprinkle works as a tutor for UT’s eWriting Center, and he believes the quality of this service exceeds that provided by other online programs.

“UT’s eWriting Center closely models its existing campus Writing Center,” he said, adding that he also tutors online for Phoenix. “We work with individual students to develop their writing skills as many times as they need over the course of a semester, rather than giving a brief glance at a submitted paper.”

Bowling Green State University has also been making strides in developing online degree programs.

“In the current semester we have 1,282 students in 87 online classes,” said Connie Molnar, director of distance learning at BGSU. “There has been almost a four-fold increase in the number of DL students at BGSU since 2001.”

BGSU received a $45,000 grant from the Ohio Learning Network to fund the establishment of a Learning Community Initiative Regional Center. The grant will support local faculty learning communities.

“The goal of the now four-year old OLN Learning Communities Initiative is to support high quality learning and teaching as colleges and universities employ technology in courses,” said Molnar.

Like UT, BGSU offers online BA and MA programs, as well as a consortium PhD degree in Technology Management.

Owens Community College has also joined the online education movement, and there are currently 5,500 eOwens students enrolled in 247 online class sections.

“That is approximately 25% of our total enrollment and is nearly a 50% increase of eOwens students over spring 2005,” said Mark Karamol, division director of eLearning at Owens. “Students can complete six different degrees and two certificates entirely via eOwens.”

Owens also offers instructional packages called Telecourses, in which students pick up audio or videotapes of lectures and email their work to the instructor, said Karamol.

For the foreseeable future, online colleges will continue to grow in enrollment and course offerings. Northwest Ohio colleges and universities appear to be in a perfect position to attract the high-tech students of the 21st century.

This article also appears in this week's Toledo Free Press.

Spring Hits My Backyard

Left: Bright red parrot tulips in my garden

(Toledo, OH) I officially declare the arrival of spring at my house. I wait until our tulips bloom before I consider winter to be closed.

There is something inspirational in watching the tulips poke through the ground, arch upward, and bring forth such a burst of color. We have other flowers that compete with the tulips for beauty, but the tulips seem to have an almost in-your-face attitude in the audacity with which they challenge the brown dregs that remain after winter.

Here's hoping the tulips in your life bloom forever.

Two Lacrosse Players Arrested in Duke Rape Case

Left: Collin Finnerty leaves court after his arraigment

(Durham, NC) Two Duke University lacrosse players were arrested today on charges of raping and kidnapping a stripper hired to dance at a team party. The Durham DA may also charge a third person in the case.

Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty were charged with first degree forcible rape, first degree sexual offense, and kidnapping. Bond was set for each player at $400,000,

"It had been my hope to charge all three of the assailants at the same time, but the evidence available to me at this moment does not permit that," said District Attorney Mike Nifong. "Investigation into the identity of the third assailant will continue in the hope that he can also be identified with certainty."

Left:Seligman and Finnerty arrive for booking

A father of one of the lacrosse players not charged in the case vehemently denied that any team members were involved in criminal activity.

"I'm not an emotional person, but every day I cry. I have tears in my eyes. I feel like the world's been pulled underneath my feet," said Brian Loftus, of Syosset NY. "My kids, when you hear them sobbing on the phone that their lives are destroyed and you hear other people saying the same thing you wonder what went wrong. And we know nothing went wrong. I cannot stress that any more. Nothing happened that night."

The arrests stem from a party that was held on March 13. The accuser, who is a mother of two, a college student and an escort service dancer, told police March 14 that she was sexually assaulted by three men in a bathroom at a house shared by members of the lacrosse team. The accuser is black, and she said that her attackers were white.

Oil Tops $72 per Barrel

(London) Oil hit a record $72.20 a barrel on today; analysts blamed Iran's continued defiance of US pressure to halt its nuclear program.

North Sea Brent crude oil jumped 74 cents to set the new all-time high as Iran and the West escalated rhetoric over the Islamic Republic's determination to push ahead with its uranium enrichment plans.

Some industry analysts believe that oil may hit $85 per barrel during the peak summer demand, which could send gasoline prices skyrocketing to $3.50 a gallon or more in the US.

Bronchitis Sucks

(Toledo, OH) Being waylaid with a sinus infection that has morphed into a nasty case of bronchitis, I apologize for the dearth of posts in the past 24 hours.

After a trip to the physician's office and some powerful antibiotics I hope to be back in the saddle in the next day.

What really sucks is that a producer for Anderson Cooper 360 called and wanted me to do an interview on the Father Gerald Robinson murder trial. I am hacking up so much phlegm that I had to pass; I can't go more than a sentence without wheezing and sounding like death on two legs.

I did give them some numbers of more talented local people than I to do the segment, plus I gave them some background info to understand the story better.

What this means is not that I am particularly noteworthy as a commentator - egads - but rather that having a Web presence is an excellent way to make connections that would otherwise be out of reach to a freelance writer.

Ah well - I'll make sure not to be sick the next time Toledo hosts a media extravaganza like this trial.

Besides, Michael Miller of the Free Press would kick my ass if I went on CNN tonight after I failed to meet a deadline for TFP today.

Rapid Rhetoric: ZARF

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word I came across that I have never previously used.

zarf, n. In the Middle East coffee is often consumed with handleless cups, while tea is sipped in handleless glasses. A zarf is a decorative holder, usually made from metal, with a handle that prevents the hot cup or glass from burning fingers. Some zarfs also have no handles, such as the insulation jackets that hold glasses to keep their contents cold. Zarfs are generally highly ornamented; the term is derived from the Arabic word that roughly translates as "saucer."

Accused Killer an Avid Blogger

Left: Mug shot of Kevin Ray Underwood

(Purcell, OK) The man accused of killing a 10-year-old neighbor girl as part of a plan to eat human flesh also joked about cannibalism on his online diary.

Kevin Ray Underwood, whose blog is titled "Strange Things are Afoot at the Circle K," left dozens of posts that contained hints of a man on the verge of acting out in a violent fashion.

The body of Jamie Bolin was found in a large plastic tub in Underwood's closet; the dead girl had deep saw marks in her neck.

Left: Jamie Rose Bolin

On February 28 of this year, Kevin Underwood composed the following post:

Because I can't handle the social interaction, and I get pissed off. Pissed off at myself for not being able to be social, and pissed off at the other people because they can, and pissed off at God for making me be this way. If there is a God. Pretty much the only time I believe in God is when I want to blame Him for something. Or, when I'm really depressed, to cry and beg him to make me better, to make whatever is wrong in my brain go away, so that I can live like a normal person.

That's all I want in life, is to be able to live like a normal person.

I've been really bad again lately. I need to have the doctor write me a prescription for more Lexapro or something, and start taking that again. I wonder if they even still make Lexapro? I checked some of those online pharmacies, to see if I could get it cheaper from Canada or something, but none of them I've looked at have it. They have five or six other antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications, but not that one.

I've been really bad lately, probably worse than I've ever been. Except for work, I've hardly left the apartment in close to two months. I keep not going to the store until I'm completely out of stuff to eat and HAVE to go. Until a couple of days ago, I hadn't even taken my trash out in weeks. I could barely even get into my kitchen for all the piles of trash everywhere and on every available counter space. Because along with the social anxiety, this time I seem to have developed a tremendous apathy. I just sit here at the computer every minute of the day, when I'm not at work. A week or so ago, I spent my day off sitting here at the computer, barely moving from the chair, for 14 hours. I just can't make myself do anything, even simple stuff, like pick up something that falls on the floor. I'm like "Oh, I'll pick that up later, maybe," and then it lays there for a week.

Could anyone have known what Underwood was thinking? Is there anyone to whom he was remotely close that might have seen signs that Underwood was about to commit unspeakable acts of violence?

Hindsight, of course, is the most perfect of visions, and Underwood's posts make a disturbed sort of sense now.

Still, I wonder if any of his readers saw this coming.

Rapid Rhetoric: FUNAMBULIST

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word I came across that I have never previously used.

funambulist, n. A word used to describe a tight-rope walker or rope dancer.

The term is derived from the Latin words "Funis" (rope) and "ambulare" (to walk). Apparently this behavior, which we associate with the circus, was a popular form of entertainment in Roman times as well.

The term can also be used to describe someone who displays agility in feats of mental prowess.

TPD to Upton United Methodist Church:"Tone It Down"

(Toledo, OH) Toledo Police interupted a church service at the Upton United Methodist Church Wednesday night and ordered the congregation to lower the volume of their music. The officers notified the church that, after 9 pm, city laws kicked in.

A WTVG-13 video is here .

Full disclosure: I have met the Reverend Pat McKinstry on many occasions, and she is one of the most sincere, decent people I have ever met.

That being said, the idea that police would enter a church service and tell the members to quiet down is mind boggling. Dear TPD: do you think this might have waited until after the service?

Certainly the high volume of "boom" cars thudering through the Upton neighborhood could be a better place for police to focus their attention on noise pollution; I would certainly choose gospel music wafting through the neighborhood as opposed to loud rap or death metal from some idiot's car.

Soaring Prices Help Fund $400 Million Exxon Payout

Left: Exxon's Lee Raymond

(Irving, TX) After 13 years of running America's largest oil company, Lee Raymond is calling it quits.

To show the corporate gratitude for a job well done (the company posted $36 billion in 2005 profits), Exxon put together a little retirement package for the outgoing CEO when he left in December.

To the tune of $400 million. The retirement package includes a pension, stock options, a $1 million consulting deal, two years of home security, personal security, a car and driver, and use of a corporate jet for professional purposes.

Documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed that Raymond received a $51.1 million paycheck in 2005.

Not bad work if you can find it.

To his credit the company's market value increased over fourfold to $375 billion, passing BP as the largest oil company and General Electric as the largest US corporation. Net corporate income soared from $4.8 billion in 1992 to the record $36.13 billion produced in 2005.

Still there is something obscene in an arrangement where one man makes $144,573 per day. At the risk of sounding like a dreamy socialist, it seems to me that extreme inequities like this concentrate too much wealth and power in the hands of too few.

Rapid Rhetoric: GOSSYPIBOMA

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word I came across that I have never previously used.

gossypiboma, n. A surgical sponge accidentally left in the body of a patient after surgery. It is derived from the Latin word "gossypium" (cotton) and the Swahili word "boma" (place of concealment).

If the object does not cause infection or obstruction, it is usually left in the patient. However, pateients sometimes develop acute sepitcemia when a foreign object like this is inadvertantly left behind after surgery.

Selmer Church to Celebrate Easter without Matthew and Mary Winkler

Congregants planting flowers outside Fourth Street Church of Christ

(Selmer, TN) The congregants will file in to Fourth Street Ohurch of Christ tomorrow for Easter services, but they will do so without their spiritual leader, Matthew Winkler.

Minister Winkler was shot on March 21 by his wife, Mary Winkler. A motive for the killing has not yet been announced by prosecutors of the defense team. Mrs. Winkler remains jailed until a June grand jury hearing.

"Yes, church is going to be without the preacher," said Selmer resident Holly Lucas. "Kids are going to be without their daddy, and this time of year family's important."

Defense attorney Steve Farese Sr. said that Mary Winkler appears to be more forthcoming in his recent visits with the accused shooter.

"She appears to be coming out of her initial shock," he said. "She is starting to open more, she is starting to be able to give us more details of the time period surrounding the events."

Game Officials Hunt Bear that Killed Ohio Girl

Left: Elora Petrasek, 6, died Thursday when she was attacked by a black bear

(Nashville, TN) Game wardens in a remote Tennessee forest set traps baited with sardines and doughnuts to lure a bear that attacked an Ohio family, killing a 6-year-old girl and mauling her mother and 2-year-old brother.

The 350-pound black bear killed 6-year-old Elora Petrasek and critically injured her 2-year-old brother, Luke, and her mother, Susan Cenkus.

The attack occurred in the Cherokee National Forest in southeastern Tennessee. The family was at a pool below Benton Falls on Chilhowee Mountain when the bear attacked, according to state officials.

The Clyde, Ohio family was among several groups of visitors viewing a waterfall when some of the children reported seeing a bear on the trail ahead.

Adults in the party were trying to drive the 350- to 400-pound bear off the trail when it attacked, biting Luke Cenkus's head and puncturing his skull.

Witnesses said that the bear picked up the boy in its mouth while the mother and other visitors tried to fend it off with sticks and rocks. The mother and the boy were critically injured and flown to Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga.
Left: American black bear, similar to the type that attacked Ohio family

The girl apparently ran away, and almost an hour passed before rescuer Danny Stinnett found the bear hovering over her body about 100 yards off the trail. He fired a handgun to scare off the bear before finding the lifeless body of young Elora.

"There is a chance that the same bear would attack someone else, so I hope they do catch him," said Lynn Rogers of the North American Bear Center in Ely, Minn.

Experts say that the best recourse if charged by a black bear is to fight back. Use whatever gear you have close on hand attempt to injure it such that it no longer finds you worth the fight. In particular, aim for the nose, as this is the most sensitive part of the bear.

Update: Mumps Epidemic

Left: Child with the mumps

(Des Moines, IA) The mumps epidemic in Iowa continued to spread this week and reached 605 cases in Iowa by Thursday, public health officials said. Although the highest concentration of cases remained in eastern Iowa, the virus that causes mumps has infected at least one person in half of the state's 99 counties.

"I certainly would consider this a serious threat," said Dr. Patricia Quinlisk, the state's epidemiologist. "We're doing everything we can to try to address it, get information out, do what we can to try to get it under control."

The state typically records less than 10 cases of mumps per year. The mumps outbreak has also jumped the state line into south-central Nebraska, the Nebraska Health and Human Services System said.

The CDC said that the outbreak is being caused by the genotype G strain of the virus. This particular strain was responsible for about 56,000 cases of mumps in the United Kingdom in 2005. State officials do not know where in Iowa the outbreak originated.

Mumps is a viral infection of the salivary glands, and symptoms include fever, a mild rash, headache, muscle aches and glandular swelling. The disease can lead to serious complications, including meningitis, dafness, and damage to the testicles.

The disease is caused by a paramyxovirus, and is spread from person to person by airborne saliva droplets or through direct contact with contaminated articles.

Before the development of the MMR(measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine, the virus was the leading cause of viral meningoencephalitis in the United States.

Quinlisk said that a traveler to Britain may be the index case for the outbreak.

"It may have been a college student, since we did see the first activities on college campuses, but we can't prove that," Quinlisk said.

Iran Issues Terse Military Warning to US

(Tehran) Iranian leaders today said the country could defeat any American military action directed against its controversial nuclear progam, in one of the Islamic regime's most forceful challenges yet to the United States.

"Our answer to those who are angry about Iran achieving the full nuclear fuel cycle is just one phrase. We say: Be angry at us and die of this anger," the official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted President Ahmadinejad as saying. "We won’t hold talks with anyone about the right of the Iranian nation (to enrich uranium),” he added.

The UN Security Council has called upon Iran to suspend all enrichment-related activity by the end of the month and could decide to implement sanctions when it meets after the deadline passes.

"Today, thank God, the Iranian nation is a powerful one and we are going to have a dialogue with the world from a position of power," said Ahmadinejad during a speech in northeast Iran.

In another address on Friday, Mr. Ahmadinejad described Israel as a “rotten, dried tree that will be eliminated by one storm,” and suggested that Israel was created as a tool to threaten the Middle East.

State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said that for the elected leader of one country to call for the destruction of a sovereign state is a source of grave concern.

"I think that when they do bring up this topic, of how to deal with the Iranian nuclear program, that this kind of rhetoric - which we can only assume represents the true policy intentions of the Iranian regime - will provide impetus for the international community to act in a strong, diplomatic manner with respect to Iran, to force them through diplomatic leverage, to change their behavior," he said.

Mary Winkler Case: A Timeline

(Selmer, TN) With an eye toward organzing the known facts in an easy-to-reference format, this post will simply place in chronological order the major events in the shooting of Matthew Winkler and arrest of his wife Mary Winkler.

February 2005 : Matthew Winkler hired at the Fourth Street Church of Christ in Selmer, TN.
March 21, 2006: Matthew Winkler found dead in his home by parishioners.
March 22, 2006: An Amber Alert is issued for Mary Winkler and her three girls; there is fear of foul play.
March 23, 2006: Mary Winkler, 32, was found with the couple's three young daughters late Thursday night in Orange Beach, Alabama, 340 miles south of the Selmer church.
March 24, 2006: Mary Winkler waived extradition, allegedly confessed, and was sent back to Tennessee to face first-degree charges for the murder of her husband Matthew.
March 25, 2006: Extradited to Tennessee, Mary Winkler expresses remorse, and said that "she was sorry for everything she had done."
March 27, 2006: Mary Winkler retains Steve Faresem Sr. to head her defense team.
March 27, 2006: Funeral visitation for Matthew Winkler in Selmer
March 27, 2006: Educational fund set up for Winkler children.
March 27, 2006: Arraignement of Mary Winkler in General Sessions Court.
March 28, 2006: Funeral of Matthew Winkler draws a crowd of over 500 mourners.
March 30, 2006: Winkler attorneys hint at post-partum defense
March 31, 2006: Police sieze church computers in looking for evidence.
April 3, 2006: Attorneys for Mary Winkler weigh options
April 7, 2006: Attorneys for Mary Winkler suggest that she may be covering for some unknown assailant.

Update: Lost in the Outback

(Birrindudu, Australia) An Australian man lost in the Outback for 10 weeks said that he survived on a diet of frogs, grasshoppers, and leeches.

"I ate the leeches raw, straight out of the dam, grasshoppers I just ate them," said Ricky Megee Thursday. "But the only thing I really sort of had to cook was the frogs. I slipped them onto a bit of wire and stuck the wire on top of my humpy (bush shelter), let the sun dry them out a fair bit until they were a bit crispy and then just ate them."

Megee is not quite sure how he became lost in the Australian wilderness; some reports said that his car had broken down, while others speculated that a hitchhiker may have assaulted him.

"The last thing I remember was driving up the road and getting a bit dazed and confused," he said. "The next thing was waking up, face down, in a hole. There was some plastic on me with some rocks and dirt thrown on top."

His underground reverie was broken in an unusual manner.

"What woke me was that there were four dingoes scratching the rocks to try to get at me," he said.

The emaciated man was found by farm workers at a rough shelter on the banks of a dam on a remote cattle property in the Northern Territory. Megee, who is believed to be from Queensland, was suffering from severe malnutrition and exposure.

Mark Clifford, who manages the Birrindudu cattle station, said the area was one of the "most isolated places in Australia."

"It's probably not too bad out there if you've got a hardy constitution, which he obviously does," Clifford said. "It's the middle of the wet season at the moment, so he had enough water to keep himself in a decent state. So it's not as hard as people think. And there's lots of frogs and snakes and lizards about. They don't give you much nutrition, but they give you enough. Still, he was 105 kilos [230lb] before it happened and was 48 kilos afterwards."

US Court Overturns Homeless Law

(Los Angeles, CA) The policy of the city of Los Angeles to arrest homeless people for lying, sitting, or sleeping on public sidewalks violates the constitutional prohibition against cruel and punishment, according to a federal appeals court.

The suit brought by the ACLU challenged the city's practice of arresting persons for violating a municipal ordinance that states that "no person shall sit, lie or sleep in or upon any street, sidewalk or public way."

A federal judge originally dismissed the case after finding the ordinance penalized conduct, not a person's homeless status. Today's ruling reverses that decision.

“We hold only that, just as the Eighth Amendment prohibits the infliction of criminal punishment on an individual for being a drug addict, or for involuntary public drunkenness that is an unavoidable consequence of being a chronic alcoholic without a home, the Eighth Amendment prohibits the City from punishing involuntary sitting, lying, or sleeping on public sidewalks that is an unavoidable consequence of being human and homeless without shelter in the City of Los Angeles,” wrote justice Kim Wardlaw in the majority opinion for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

I agree with the majority opinion. If a homeless person is not causing trouble, they should not be arrested simply for sleeping on a bench or curling up under a bridge. The City of Los Angeles would be better served - if they are indeed concerned about the problems associated with homelessness - by addressing the root causes, instead of punishing a person for simply being without a home.

Police action should be reserved for criminal activity; heck, I can think of at least a half-dozen times when I laid down on a public bench or on a lawn to catch a quick catnap. Should I, also, be subject to arrest?

The Collective Imbecility of Google, Part II

(Toledo, OH) Within hours of being declared inelligible to run Google AdSense posts, Google subsidiary Blogger suddenly added a mandatory word-verification feature to my blog posts.

Here are their stated reasons for adding this feature to my account:

Blogger's spam-prevention robots have detected that your blog has characteristics of a spam blog. (What's a spam blog?) Since you're an actual person reading this, your blog is probably not a spam blog. Automated spam detection is inherently fuzzy, and we sincerely apologize for this false positive.

Before we can turn off mandatory word verification on your posts we'll need to have a human review your blog and verify that it is not a spam blog. Please fill out the form below to get a review.

Coincidence? I think not. The virtual Google bastards simply notified their ether undelings at Blogger that mine was a "suspicious" blog.

Dear Google and Blogger: I am a real, live, and pissed-off blogger who writes about things that interest him.

And right now what interests me is the colossal, programmed imbecility manifested in the corporate mentalité of Google-Blogger. Fix this, and fix it now, nimrods, or I shall be forced to compose daily blog posts reaching the entire blogosphere detailing the boundless ineptitude with which the entities headquartered at Mountain View, CA operate.

Man Surivies for 10 Weeks on Leeches, Insects, Frogs

Left: Dinner, anyone?

(Birrindudu, Australia) An Australian man lost in the Outback for 10 weeks said that he survived on a diet of frogs, grasshoppers, and leeches.

"I ate the leeches raw, straight out of the dam, grasshoppers I just ate them," said Ricky Megee Thursday. "But the only thing I really sort of had to cook was the frogs. I slipped them onto a bit of wire and stuck the wire on top of my humpy (bush shelter), let the sun dry them out a fair bit until they were a bit crispy and then just ate them."

The emaciated man was found by farm workers at a rough shelter on the banks of a dam on a remote cattle property in the Northern Territory. Megee, who is believed to be from Queensland, was suffering from severe malnutrition and exposure.

Mark Clifford, who manages the Birrindudu cattle station, said the area was one of the "most isolated places in Australia."

"It's probably not too bad out there if you've got a hardy constitution, which he obviously does," Clifford said. "It's the middle of the wet season at the moment, so he had enough water to keep himself in a decent state. So it's not as hard as people think. And there's lots of frogs and snakes and lizards about. They don't give you much nutrition, but they give you enough. Still, he was 105 kilos [230lb] before it happened and was 48 kilos afterwards."

Euston Manifesto

Today, 13-April-06, we — bloggers, academics, campaigners, writers, scientists, journalists, citizens — launch the Euston Manifesto. With this document we hope to publicly assert our progressive, democratic, egalitarian, internationalist principles in the face of recent attacks upon them from the Right and, to our dismay, the Left.

Many of us are of the Left, but we come from across the range of political positions. We are not founding a political party. There were differences amongst us over Western military intervention in Iraq. Our declaration is not definitive, final, or perfect; it is, we hope, the beginning of a renewed debate, grounded in a common set of progressive values. You can read and sign the document at our Website where donations towards our costs are also welcome.

While the group suggests that comments be closed on this announcement, I will leave them open on my site. We want to launch this movement in a co-ordinated way and make sure there is time for people to understand exactly what we stand for before criticising it. We welcome discussion of the Euston Manifesto across blogs, in the media, and in the public world and intend that the Euston Manifesto Group, the organisation founded upon the manifesto's principles, will promote such debate by organising meetings, sponsoring seminars, and publishing ideas.

Riots Mar Death of Indian Film Star Rajkumar

(Bangalore) Violence that left at least three persons dead and dozens injured as tens of thousands of grief-stricken fans today bade a tearful adieu to actor Rajkumar Thursday.

Hundreds of vehicles and buildings were burned in the violence, which began after crowds broke through barriers to see the actor's last rites.

Police repeatedly fired teargas shells and resorted to laticharge (organized baton swinging) as crowds in the tens of thousands tried to force their way into the funeral.

A Microsoft research facility in the city was stoned, and many of India's leading technology companies sent workers home early.

Pictures of the late Rajkumar are seen all over the city - displayed at roadside shrines, pasted on vehicles, and carried by mourners.

"With Rajkumar dead, I don't care about my business. It is like everything is dark in the middle of the day," said a milk supplier.

Are there any Western movie stars whose passing might spark such a mob, or are such displays reserved solely for championship sports teams?

This story reminds me more of the chaos and violence after the 1984 Detroit Tiger championship. Even though I lived six miles from the stadium, thoroughfares such as Warren Avenue were filled with people. I watched a couple dozen hooligans try to tip over a DOT bus, with the driver and passengers inside. Roaming bands of thugs ran down the street busting windows and stealing merchandise.

Cultures in Conflict: Oceanic Encounters, Trade, and Empires 1500-1700

(Toledo, OH) The University of Toledo, its College of Arts and Sciences, and the UT History Department present the second annual Cultures in Conflict conference. The theme of this year's two-day conference is "Oceanic Encounters, Trade, and Empires, 1500-1700."

All sessions will be held in room 2591 of the UT Student Union, and are open to the public.

Friday, 14 April 2006
Session One: The Atlantic World....10:30-12:45
Chair: Peter Linebaugh, UT

Joseph C. Dorsey, Purdue University, “El Cabildo de San Juan Bautista de Puerto Rico: la Audencia de Santo Domingo, y la Casa de Contratacion de Sevilla, 1530–1595”

Arne Bialuschewski, Brown University, “Black People under the Black Flag: Piracy and the Slave Trade on the West Coast of Africa, 1718–1723”

Jorge Chinea, Wayne State University, "Diasporic Marronage: Some Colonial, Intercolonial and Global Repercussions of Slave Flight."

Charles Beatty Medina, UT, "Refashioning Resistance: Marronage in Esmeraldas and the Atlantic Dialogue of Incorporation."

Sherwin Bryant, Northwestern University, “Centering the Margins: The Transatlantic Slave Trade to Quito and the Expanding Boundaries of the Atlantic World.”


Session 2: The Indian Ocean.....2:30-4:30
Chair: Glenn J. Ames, UT

Michael S. Laver, University of Pennsylvania, “A Strange Isolation: the Japanese, the Dutch, and the Asian Economy in the Seventeenth Century”

Ronald S. Love, University of West Georgia, “The Embassy of the Chevalier de Chaumont to the Kingdom of Siam, 1685”

Michael Brooks, University of Toledo, “Prester John: An Examination of the Mythical Figure who fueled European Expansion”

Nicole Creech, The University of Toledo, “The Estado da India and the East India Company, 1640–1680: The Role of Religion in the Transfer of Bombay”

Carl Sobocinski, Kent State University–Stark, “French Missionary Activities in Madagascar during the 17th Century”

Saturday, 15 April 2006

Session 3: Cross–Cultural Exchanges.....10:15-12:15
Chair and Comment: Charles Beatty Medina, UT

Glenn J. Ames, The University of Toledo, “The livro de alforria from the Historical Archive of Goa: A Preliminary Statistical Analysis”

Timothy Walker, The University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, “The Slavery Question in Seventeenth Century Portuguese India”

Jeffrey Irvin, The University of Toledo, “Paradigm and Praxis: Mozambique and the Limits of Portuguese Mercantilism”

Pedro Machado, New York University, “The Gujarati–Mozambique Nexus of Trade, 1700–1800”

Matthew Romaniello, George Mason University, “’Our Civility and decent way of living:’” Anglo–Russian Conflict over the Tobacco Trade”

Rapid Rhetoric: DACTYLOMEGALY

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word I came across that I have never previously used.

dactylomegaly- n. a condition that describes abnormal largemess in fingers and toes. From the Greek "dactylo" (finger, toe) and "megas" (great, massive).

Broken History: Vandals Strike Auto-Lite Memorial

Left: Torn-up paving bricks are strewn over the site; all photos by historymike

(Toledo, OH) The Point Place lighthouse is not the only local monument to suffer the indignity of vandals in recent weeks.

At the memorial for the old Auto-Lite plant display floodlights have been smashed, a brass picket has been ripped from the hands of the brass striker who held it, and trash is strewn about the site.

Scrawled on the remains of the brass picket is the name "Hitler."

Left: The name of a Nazi icon is etched into the brass; click the picture for a larger photo

The plant was the site of the infamous 1934 strike that was instrumental in the rise of the UAW. The picketers were met by some 900 National Guardsmen; two strikers died and over 200 were wounded in the conflict.

The site is littered with trash, and there is evidence that the wall offers a conveniently obscured place for people to drink and get high; of course, given the amount of broken glass on the site, partiers have to stand to avoid being cut.

I first wrote about this park in a 2003 City Paper article as part of an extended look at the lack of enthusiasm for local history. In the ensuing 3 years the memorial has only suffered further decay and vandalism.

Left: Graffiti adorns the memorial wall, constructed from original Auto-Lite plant bricks.

The park, featuring brass sculptures by Seattle artist Hai Ying Wu, commemorates the strike. Toledo’s monument to the struggle sits as a dilapidated metaphor of the seeming lack of concern by the city for its heritage.

Google AdSense - Kiss My Fat Ass

(Toledo, OH) My short-lived experiment with Google ads on this site has ended; the thieving scoundrels in Mountain View, CA have decided to pull the plug on my account:

It has come to our attention that invalid clicks have been generated on the Google ads on your site(s). We have therefore disabled your Google AdSense account.

I am assuming that the decision to kill my account was based on this post, in which I subtly suggested that readers might want to say "hello" to my advertisers. From my perspective this was not an inducement to artificially inflate clicks.

Not only have they unilaterally chosen to delist me as a site eligible to run their ads, but they have also notified me that the "earnings on your account will be properly returned to the affected advertisers."

Uh, Google? You never sent me a check. Also, you can take the $11 or so in commissions that I earned for a month's activity and stick it up your virtual ass.

I will be watching to see if - as some sites have claimed - your vindictiveness carries over to my page rank. Be assured that I will make it my personal goal to expose any corporate retribution on your part.

By the way - this gives me the opportunity to sell my own ad space, so if you are interested in advertising on this site, feel free to contact me at my email address.

"Cheetah," Tarzan Co-Star, Turns 74

(Palm Springs, CA) Cheeta, a chimpanzee who starred in a dozen "Tarzan" movies in the 1930s and 1940s, celebrated his 74th birthday this week.

Handlers of the chimp, who has a form of diabetes similar to that found in hmans, baked Cheetah a sugar-free cake.

"He had a good time," said Dan Westfall, operator of the primate sanctuary Creative Habitats and Enrichment for Endangered and Threatened Apes (CHEETA). "The party went real good."

Chimpanzees tend to live for 40 to 45 years in the wild and into their mid-50s in captivity.

Dan Westfall adopted Cheeta in 1992 from his uncle Tony Gentry, who was a Hoyylwood animal trainer; Gentry obtained Cheeta from Africa in the 1930s.

Prodi "Confident" of Victory over Berlusconi

(Rome) Center-left coalition leader Romano Prodi said today that he is "confident" that his narrow Italian election victory will stand when the votes are checked.

Prodi, a former Italian prime minister, called the situation facing the country "complex and difficult."

"Now we will work for our program together with the coalition and together with all Italians, including those who did not vote for us," he told reporters.

Berlusconi, who is claiming the existence of "irregularities" in the parliamenmtary election, refused to concede defeat.

"Nobody now can say they have won until all necessary legal verification procedures have been completed," Berlusconi said at a press conference in Rome yesterday.

A mere 25,000 votes separate the two candidates in the lower Italian parliament house.

In the 315-seat Italian Senate, Prodi won 158 seats, Berlusconi's center-right coalition won 156, and one independent was elected.

Rapid Rhetoric: EPICARICACY

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word I came across that I have never previously used.

epicaricacy- n. the act of taking pleasure in the misfortune or tribulations of others.

This word is the closest English equivalent to the German word Schadenfreude.

Epicaricacy is derived from the Greek word επιχαιρεκακία, or epichaerecacia. The etymology of the term is from the Greek words "epi-" (upon), "chara" (joy), and "kakon" (evil).

The Great Search Terms Experiment, Part Three

(Toledo, OH) In February I took part in the great Brrreeeport experiment, in which I created a series of posts using the nonsense word "brrreeeport" to gauge how traffic would build.

The results were rather impressive; for a week my blog generated about 1,000 new, unique visitors before the novelty wore off.

My new experiment, which I learned about from Craig at Lead and Gold, involves using a post with the top Technorati search terms on a given day.

For the next three days I will add an experimental post using that day's top search terms. Here, then, are today's terms:

1. Berlusconi
2. Immigration
3. Iran
4. Myspace
5. Duke Lacrosse
6. Duke
7. Youtube
8. Prodi
9. Proof
10. Provenzano
11. Apple
12. Iraq
13. Boot Camp
14. Elezioni
15. “Gospel Of Judas”


I will keep the blogosphere updated on the relative merits and/or flaws to this experiment.

It's Official: Iran Joins the Nuclear Club

(Teheran) President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said today that his country has successfully enriched uranium for the first time, a milestone in its goal to develop nuclear fuel.

"I am officially announcing that Iran has joined the group of those countries which have nuclear technology. This is the result of the Iranian nation's resistance," Ahmadinejad said in a televised address. "Based on international regulations, we will continue our path until we achieve production of industrial-scale enrichment."

Iranian Vice-President Gholamreza Aghazadeh, who is in charge of the country's nuclear program, said that Iran has produced 110 tons of uranium gas; the gas is then pumped into centrifuges to complete the enrichment process.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said that the US will "be talking about the way forward with the other members of the Security Council and Germany about how to address this" if Iran continues in its stated nuclear goals.

"Defiant statements and actions only further isolate the regime from the rest of the world," said McClellan to reporters today. "This is a regime that needs to be building confidence with the international community. Instead, they're moving in the wrong direction. This is a regime that has a long history of hiding its nuclear activities from the international community, and refusing to comply with its international obligations."

Great Black Swamp Blogger Syndicate

(Toledo, OH) I am launching a new web ring of sorts; this will be similar to the Open Trackback Alliance, which you can learn more about from this link.

The premise is simple: members agree to add all members to their blogrolls, and agree to produce a weekly post featuring interesting items found on the pages of other members.

The purpose of the Syndicate will be two-fold: to help connect people in the blogging community of Northwest Ohio, as well as to provide those desired post links that help improve a site's Google page rank.

If interested, email me and I will get you added to the list. Comments on the parameters of the web ring are also appreciated.

Tuesdays - OTA Link Days

(Toledo, OH) On Tuesdays, I perform my duties as a member of the Open Trackback Alliance and highlight some articles that I found noteworthy on the sites of other members.

Follow this link to learn more about the project, which was developed by Samantha Burns.

Peakah's Provocations has some humorous retorts to stale pickup lines that used in bars.

Chad at Pirates Man Your Women asks what the numbers 1, 2, and 42 have in common. It turns out that they are all "moments of the Riemann zeta function." Click the link to learn more.

Other interesting OTA blogs I visited this week: TMH's Bacon Bits, the unusual Quietly Making Noise, the wacky Mental Rhinorrhea, the wretched hive of scum and Villainy at Pirate's Cove, tales and observations from the Beatnik Samurai known as Stray Dog, and the irrepressible Imagine Kitty Magazine.

The Great Search Terms Experiment, Part Two

(Toledo, OH) In February I took part in the great Brrreeeport experiment, in which I created a series of posts using the nonsense word "brrreeeport" to gauge how traffic would build.

The results were rather impressive; for a week my blog generated about 1,000 new, unique visitors before the novelty wore off.

My new experiment, which I learned about from Craig at Lead and Gold, involves using a post with the top Technorati search terms on a given day.

For the next three days I will add an experimental post using that day's top search terms. Here, then, are today's terms:

1. Immigration
2. Berlusconi
3. Elezioni
4. Duke Lacrosse
5. Myspace
6. Prodi
7. Global Warming
8. “Yes He Would”
9. Youtube
10. Iran
11. Judas
12. Video
13. Duke
14. “Jade Seah”
15. Webaroo


I will keep the blogosphere updated on the relative merits and/or flaws to this experiment.

Cover-up, Goof-up, or Elaborate Hoax - The Mysterious "Death" of Dakota Fanning

Left: Purported screen shot of CNN page announcing death of Dakota Fanning, courtesy of Celluloid & Vinyl

(Los Angeles, CA) Gonzo gossip and entertainment site Celluloid and Vinyl broke the story of CNN posting news of the death of child actress Dakota Fanning this morning.

The purported CNN story - for which C&V has provided a screenshot of the original article - looks legitimate, although with the wide availability of PhotoShop any image must be considered with a wary eye.

The text of the purported CNN death notice reads as follows:

Mystery shrouds the cause of death for lovable actress Dakota Fanning. At only 12 years old, Dakota had starred in several movies, including last summer;s blockbuster "War of the Worlds." She is survived by her parents Joy and Steve Fanning and sister Elle.

The Internet Wayback Machine, which allows users to access deleted pages, does not have any 2006 entries for CNN.com.

What do you think: coverup of a death, colossal mistake by CNN, or wicked satire by a site seeking fame, fortune, and a house in the hills?

Officer Tickets 82-year old Woman: Too Slow in Crossing Street

(Sunland, CA) Regular visitors to this site know that I am a sucker for weird news stories, which - in my mind - always seem to be the most human of all news items. I am also an afficianado of the average-person-getting-screwed-by-the-system story, which makes my blood boil.

This next story has both elements.

Mayvis Coyle, an 82-year old who uses a cane, was ticketed by a traffic cop for being to slow in crossing a street in this California town. The $114 citation was for "crossing against a don't-walk signal."

"I entered the crosswalk, it was green," said Coyle. "It turned red before I could get over. There he was, waiting, the motorcycle cop. He said, 'You're obstructing the flow of traffic.'"

Another resident of Sunland said that the crossing signals are quite quick.

"I can go halfway, then the light changes," said Edith Krause, 78. "I try my darndest to get to the other side without being killed."

It is not just the elderly who have difficulty crossing the street in the allotted time.

"It sucks," said Sara Johnson, 14, of Sunland. "When the light turns red, you can't cross the street."

Sgt. Mike Zaboski of the Valley Traffic Division told the LA Daily News that he could not comment on Coyle's ticket. The paper timed the signal at 20 seconds.

"Right now, pedestrian accidents are above normal," he said. "We're looking out for pedestrians - people who think they have carte blanche in crossing the street. I'd rather not have angry pedestrians, but I'd rather have them be alive."

I hope that we have not reached the point where, in our hurried lives, we cannot wait a few extra seconds for an old woman to cross the street.

What is more amazing is that no one in the city or police department has seen fit to intercede and get this February 15 ticket dismissed. The negative publicity from this story must certainly be creating headaches for the local governments.

An Experiment in Search Terms

(Toledo, OH) In February I took part in the great Brrreeeport experiment, in which I created a series of posts using the nonsense word "brrreeeport" to gauge how traffic would build.

The results were rather impressive; for a week my blog generated about 1,000 new, unique visitors before the novelty wore off.

My new experiment, which I learned about from Craig at Lead and Gold, involves using a post with the top Technorati search terms on a given day.

For the next three days I will add an experimental post using that day's top search terms. Here, then, are today's terms:

Sondaggi Elezion
Youtube
Wikipedia
Iran
Elezioni
Berlusconi
Immigration
Exit Poll
“Air Force One”
“Yes He Would”
Platzeck
“Jade Seah”
Judas
Apple
Video
Myspace
Duke LaCrosse
Prodi

I will keep the blogosphere updated on the relative merits and/or flaws to this experiment.

Oil Approaches $69 Per Barrel

(New York) Oil prices rocketed toward record levels today as tensions over the Iranian nuclear program and possible US military action - including tactical nuclear strikes - created a climate of jittery investors.

Adding to the unsettled Middle East picture was the specter of continuing supply disruptions in Nigeria.

U.S. crude rose $1.35 cents to $68.74, threatening to close in on last August's $70.85 record. London's Brent North Sea crude was up $1.64 to $68.93.

"The market had become a bit too comfortable expecting a diplomatic solution in Iran," said Tobin Gorey, commodities strategist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. "Whether it ever comes to military action or not, it certainly shakes some complacency out of the market."

Some industry analysts believe that oil may hit $85 per barrel during the peak summer demand, which could send gasoline prices skyrocketing to $3.50 a gallon or more in the US.

Toledo Blade the Focus of Beech Street Protest

Left: Protesters gather in front of Toledo Blade building; all photos by historymike

(Toledo, OH) Surrounded by dozens of Toledo Police riot squad officers, mounted patrolmen, and SWAT teams, a crowd of perhaps 1,000 people rallied outside the Toledo Blade building this afternoon to protest the paper's commitment to fair bargaining practices.

Union employees of the Toledo Blade, who are engaged in contract talks with the paper, were joined by representatives of numerous Toledo unions, including the UAW, the AFL-CIO, and the Teamsters.

Police snipers and SWAT teams sat atop the Blade building and surrounding structures in a show of force to prevent the crowd from turning violent.



Left: Officers deployed on and above Beech Street across from the Blade building

However, the mood of the crowd was more akin to that found at an outdoor rock concert, especially with the balmy 60 degree temperatures. I sang along to Elvis Costello's "Pump it Up," blasting from a PA system, as I snapped pictures in the crowd and around the perimeter of the Blade building.

"Hey, friend - it's too nice of a day for a riot," joked one protester to a uniformed officer.

Speakers at the rally repeatedly urged the crowd to remain peaceful, but there was no point at which the protesters were anything but cheerful.

Officials from a variety of local unions addressed the crowd from the back of an 18-wheeled stage.

Left: Teamsters president Bill Lichtenwald greeting friends in the crowd

"Just because Toledo is a strong union town does not mean we can't work together," said Bill Lichtenwald. "But tell me - what are we going to gain by hiring two part-time workers to replace one full-time Blade employee?"

Lichtenwald lauded the efforts of union Blade employees.

"All I ever hear the Blade employees talk about is how proud they are of this paper," he said. "These are the people who have made the Block family millions of dollars over the past 80 years."

Many of the speakers - and most of the crowd - focused their ire on the law firm of King and Ballow, hired by the Blade to negotiate with its unions. Blade writer Larry Vellequette led the crowd in a rousing version of "King and Ballow," sung to the tune of the Kingsmen's 1963 hit "Louie, Louie":

Left: The Blade's Larry Vellequette

King and Ballow
Whoa, whoa
You gotta go!

Dennis Duffy, president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 8, said that the represenatives of King and Bellew were "some of the most bloodthirsty negotiators" he has ever dealt with at the bargaining table.

"I have been in the business of negotiating contracts since 1980, and I have never seen the likes of these people," he said, leading the crowd in a chant of "Send them back to Tennessee!"

Left: Riot police marching up Beech Street

Interactions between protesters and the uniformed and plainclothes officers were polite and friendly. Danny Smith, director of the Toledo Port Council, reminded the crowd that the police "are union brothers and sisters with a job to do."

Given recent Glass City disturbances, one can forgive Mayor Carty Finkbeiner for erring on the side of caution.

One protester, however, questioned the expenditures.

"Will the Toledo Blade be paying all of the overtime for these four or five dozen police?" he asked me.

I suspect that the answer to that question will be "no."

Berlusconi Likely Defeated in Italian Elections

(Rome) Exit polls today in Italy's general elections predict a defeat for Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, with center-left leader Romano Prodi emerging as the country's next leader.

According to an exit poll by the Nexus research institute, Prodi's Union coalition should capture between 50 and 54 percent of the vote in both the lower and upper houses of the Italian parliament.

Prodi, 66, who is the former president of the European Commission, seemed confident when interviewed by reporters.

"I slept very well last night, and today it's sunny and people are voting calmly," he said on Sunday at a polling place in Bologna. "I hope everything goes as steadily and as serenely as possible."

Pollsters blamed the apparent defeat on Berlusconi himself.

"Berlusconi is the big loser in this election," said Maurizio Pessato, chief executive officer of polling company SWG Srl. "He pitted himself and his party against the entire opposition. He'll be isolated."

Berlusconi's bombastic, off-the-cuff remarks may have also worked against him, as evident by his statements last month that the Chinese government "boiled babies."

Rapid Rhetoric: CASUISTRY

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word I came across that I have never previously used.

casuistry - n. The resolution of moral questions by comparing specific cases against general (religious or philosophical) principles; specious reasoning; that is to say, reasoning that sounds logical but is false.

Here is an example of the usage of "casuistry" from Word of the Day:

"Leland, to argue that bigamy is good, on the one hand, because it allows more freedom of choice and, on the other, because it allows more women the security of a home with the good men in the world, is not only casuistry but baldly contradictory casuistry."

500,000 March in Dallas for Immigrant Rights

(Dallas, TX) Hundreds of thousands of people marched through downtown Dallas on Sunday to rally for the rights of illegal immigrants, and police reported few disturbances in the orderly crowd.

The Dallas rally helped kick off what is being called the National Day of Action on Immigrant Rights. Millions of people are expected to take to the streets in over 120 cities on Monday, largely to protest House Bill 4437.

This legislation calls for the construction of 700 miles of fencing along the Mexican border, and does not address issues regarding undocumented workers already in the country.

"We don't have a leader like Martin Luther King or Cesar Chavez, but this is now a national immigrant rights movement," said Joshua Hoyt, director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, which helped organize rallies in Illinois.

Millions to March Across America Monday in Immigration Rallies

Left: March 26 immigration rights rally in Columbus, OH

(Los Angeles, CA) Monday's National Day of Action on Immigrant Rights is expected to involve millions of people in at least 120 US cities.

The rise in national demonstrations, which began in March, have brought immigration reform to the attention of the American public.

Organizers believe that the rallies will achieve unprecedented turnout and coverage.

"We`re not asking for amnesty. It`s about respect," said Hector Flores, national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC. "And taking to the streets is a way to make a statement."

Rally participants will be from a wide variety of ethnic groups.

"This is America's civil rights battle for the 21st century," said Chung-Wha Hong of the New York Immigration Coalition, adding that Monday's actions are actually about "whether or not America will continue to be what it has always been - a nation of immigrants."

Others, however, are less enthusiastic about the prospect of millions of protesters taking to the streets tomorrow.

"Each time immigrants have these giant rallies, the more they infuriate the rest of the American population with the idea that those who break the law get to march and somehow be rewarded," said Ira Mehlman, LA spokesman for Federation for American Immigration Reform. "We have seen in France what happens when you try to bring in millions of people - in many cases who are hostile. We saw there that it didn't work, and it won't work here."

"We just want to show our power," said Juan Carlos Ruiz, general coordinator for the National Capital Immigration Coalition. "Latinos are known for being late and they say we cannot work together. We needed to show Congress we could organize ourselves."

The coalition, which represents a wide variety of immigrant, labor, civil rights, religious, and business interests, opposes House Bill 4437. This proposed legislation calls for the construction of 700 miles of border fencing, and does not address issues regarding undocumented workers already in the country.

Mario Question Cube Teens Avoid Charges

Left: Mario cubes frightened residents of Ravenna

(Ravenna, OH) Criminal charges will not be filed against six teen girls who placed gold-wrapped boxes at locations throughout the city of Ravenna on March 31, according to authorities.

"The girls were imitating an art project which they found on the Internet, said Portage County Prosecutor Victor V. Vigluicci. "None of the girls had any prior contacts with the police or juvenile court and are all good students."

Residents and safety officials in this Ohio town of 12,000 were fearful of the "suspicious" packages when they appeared on April Fool's Day. The Portage County HAZMAT Unit and bomb squad were called to investigate after the packages were discovered.

For those unfamiliar with the Nintendo game Super Mario, the Question Mark cubes give the Mario character special powers, such as invincibility or extra lives.

The girls will be required to write letters of apology to safety agencies that responded to the threat.

There has been no word if the HAZMAT or bomb squads derived any benefit from grabbing the gold cubes.

Attack Plans Against Iran May Include Nukes

Left: Iranian facility at Natanz, a site of much US consternation

(Washington, DC) An article by the New Yorker's Seymour Hersh claims that the Bush administration, which publicly advocates diplomacy as a means to end Iran's nuclear program, is developing military plans for attacks against Iran and has not ruled out using tactical nuclear weapons in its campaign.

Hersh quoted a government consultant with connections to the civilian leadership in the Pentagon who said that Bush was “absolutely convinced that Iran is going to get the bomb” if the US does not intervene.

An intelligence official was quoted as saying that Bush and others in the White House view Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as a potential Adolf Hitler. "That’s the name they’re using. They say, ‘Will Iran get a strategic weapon and threaten another world war?’"

Members of the Bush administration are concerned about Ahmadinejad's statement that Iran will "wipe Israel off the map," as well as recent statements by the Iranian president that the Holocaust was largely a myth.

The Pentagon source also claimed that the President believes that he must do “what no Democrat or Republican, if elected in the future, would have the courage to do,” and “that saving Iran is going to be his legacy.”

On March 29 the UN Security Council insisted that Iran suspend uranium enrichment and asked the IAEA to present its findings in 30 days.

To date Iran has not complied with the demand, and maintains that its nuclear programs are geared toward civilian uses.

Seeking Opinions on Blog Advertising

(Toledo, OH) I am curious as to what readers of this site think about my entry into semi-commercial status. I recently have been toying with the Google AdSense program in the hopes that I might generate income from my passion for blogging.

The AdSense terms of agreement supposedly forbid me from disclosing specifics about the program, in which site publishers get paid when visitors click on ads. However, I will say that it is a good thing I have not decided to quit any of my four jobs, but then again I have only been in the program a few weeks.

Note: the previous statement should not be construed as an inducement to click on ads. Ahem.

Anyways, do you find the ads distracting? Are you more likely, less likely, or unchanged in your willingness to visit this site now that it has ads?

For the purists: are Google ads a blemish on blogs, a sort of breach of the unwritten traditions of the blogosphere?

Thanks for any input you might want to leave.

On Insomnia

(Toledo, OH) Those who know me, or who have followed my writing for some period of time, are aware of my occasional difficulty in falling asleep or staying asleep.

Tonight is one of those nights.

My last caffeine consumption occurred ten hours ago, so I can rule that out as a contributing factor. My stress levels are fairly low, as I enjoyed a day of putzing around the house and working on a variety of writing projects.

One of my old stand-by techniques - eating an item high in sugar - failed to give me the expected rush-crash cycle for which I hoped.

I am also avoiding the easy temptation of the bottle of NyQuil in my cupboard. While momentarily effective, I tend to be groggy for hours after I wake up from my Green Coma.

No, not even cranking out a thousand words on my thesis worked tonight.

There is a dog barking outside tonight, the only nearby citizen joining me in fitful rest. He seems half-hearted in his canine commentary, as if going through the motions of earning his keep; his is definitely not the bark associated with strangers walking outside or wayward opossums.

The sound of a muffler-less motorist keeps rumbling through my neighborhood now. He is not close enough for me to look at out the window, even if I were motivated enough to be curious.

Besides, it is not as if my sleep is being disturbed.

There is a moment each night when insomniacs realize that sleep cannot be coerced by any means to arrive, and that they may as well do something more constructive than toss in bed.

So I shall surf the Net, looking for some unusual story to read, and try again about 3:30 am to see if the gods of sleep have finished toying with me.

Blog Plug

Left: Artist's rendition of historymike if: a) he still smoked; and b) he lived in the 1930s

(Toledo, OH) A quick shout out for a blog to which I contribute, An Experiment In Collaborative Fiction.

Blog members pick up the story from the most recent post and carry it forward. The comments section is used to critique the poster's writing, debate the latest plot turns, and advocate for the direction in which the story will travel.

To join, contact historymike (my email address is on my profile page, or click click here if you are Outlook-enabled).

On Jared Paul Stern and Journalistic Extortion

(New York) The New York Post is cooperating with federal authorities in an investigation of a longtime contributor for its "Page Six" gossip column, who allegedly tried to extort money from a California billionaire.

Jared Paul Stern, who contributed to the Post column, has been accused of demanding $100,000 and a monthly $10,000 stipend from Ron Burkle in exchange for not making Burkle the focus of negative stories.

"It's a little like the mafia: a friend of mine is a friend of yours," Stern allegedly said to Burkle at a March meeting in the businessman's Manhattan loft.

The Post suspended Stern yesterday amid news of the federal investigation into the extortion allegations. Stern has reportedly been recorded - on camera - discussing the financial arrangements necessary to "buy" better coverage.

Stern began writing about Burkle earlier this year, calling him a "party-boy billionaire" who dated a supermodel. Another Stern story claimed that actor Tobey Maguire flew on Burkle's private jet to Aspen for a New Year's weekend.

If true, the alleged extortion scheme is, to me, nauseating. There have been some high-profile cases in the past year of journalists failing to live up to integrity standards, but the brazen, criminal attempt to extort money from the subject of articles is so completely beyond the bounds of accepted behavior as to seem otherworldly.

Maybe I'm just a Midwestern rube who does not understand how things work in the big city (setting aside my years spent in places like Detroit and Dallas). Maybe still I am a moralistic pontificator whose penchant for climbing up to his virtual pulpit will make me destined to be a journalistic minor-leaguer.

But maybe the Stern case is just the tip of the iceberg, and the resultant fallout will have long-term repercussions for an American mainstream media already reeling from credibiltiy problems.

Pinch Me: The Detroit Tigers Are 4-0

(Toledo, OH) As a long-suffering Tigers fan, it pleases me no end to see that my team has commencd the 2006 season by winning all four of its first games.

The Tigers have strung together 12 consecutive losing seasons, and in that span have fielded some of the worst teams in baseball history. Only by winning 5 of their last 6 games in 2003 did they avoid the ignominy of a 120-loss season, finishing at 43-119.

The past two seasons have witnessed a return to, well, mediocre status. The Tigers hovered around the .500 mark halfway through each season, faltering in the second halves of 2004 and 2005. For a few months of the the previous seasons, at least, the team offered fans fleeting hopes that they might sneak into a wild-card berth.

2006 brings the beginning of the Jim Leyland era at the helm, plus the addition of Kenny Rogers as a legitimate pitching ace. And, lo and behold, the Tigers lead the major leagues in home runs this morning, swatting 17 round-trippers in the first four games.

Of course, the sheer fact that I write this hopeful missive probably dooms the team to an 8-game losing streak, but for the first time in many, many years I have real hope that my team is a legitimate playoff contender.

Can you say 35-5, anyone?

Gospel of Judas: Another View of Christ's Betrayal

Photo courtesy of National Geographic Musuem

(Washington, DC) A document known as the Gospel of Judas, attacked as heretical by early church leaders and lost to Christendom for the past 17 centuries, was displayed Thursday by scholars at the National Geographic Museum.

The document, written in Coptic, was originally written in Greek about 140 years after the death of Christ. Although references to the text survived, scholars have long assumed thought that all copies were destroyed.

The gospel contains conversations between Christ and Judas Iscariot in the Pascal , at which time week Jesus told Judas "secrets no other person has ever seen."

Christ asked Judas to help Him return to the kingdom of God, but to do so, Judas needed to help Him abandon His mortal flesh.

"You will sacrifice the man that clothes me," Jesus told Judas, and said that Judas "will be cursed by the other generations."

Scholars have long argued that the Greek word paradidomi in the original texts of the gospels, normally translated as "betray, could also be interpreted to mean "to hand over," implying that Judas was following the will of God by his actions.

Left: Bishop Irenaeus of Lugdunum

A "Gospel of Judas" was first mentioned around 180 CE by Bishop Irenaeus of Lugdunum, in modern-day Lyons, France. The bishop denounced the manuscript as heresy because it differed from mainstream Christianity.

The 26-page, leather-bound copy of the gospel was written on both sides of 13 sheets of papyrus. The text sat for the past 1,700 years hidden in a tomb in the Egyptian desert, according to the National Geographic Society.

The Judas text is considered to be a gnostic gospel. Gnosticism, broadly defined, was a mystical movement within Christianity in the first few centuries after the life of Christ.

The term is derived from the Greek word for knolwedge - "gnosis." Gnostics believed that the material realm was the province of evil forces, and that the spiritual realm was governed by God.

Gnostic traditions are briefly discussed, albeit poorly, in the wildly popular novel The Da Vinci Code.

Scholars are not in agreement as to the importance of the text. Princeton University professor Elaine Pagels said that the Judas gospel will alert contemporary believers to the presence of a wide variety of Christian beliefs in the earliest years of the faith.

"In the ancient world, Christianity was even more diverse than now," she said. "Some thought there were two Gods, a good and a bad one; some thought there were even more."

Left: Image of Nag Hammadi document

James Robinson, a retired professor of Coptic studies at Claremont Graduate University said the new manuscript did not contain anything likely to change or undermine traditional understanding of the Bible. Robinson was the general editor of the Nag Hammadi collection, a group of 52 Gnostic gospels discovered in a jar in 1945.

"Correctly understood, there's nothing undermining about the Gospel of Judas," Robinson said.

Mary Winkler's Attorneys Suggest She is "Protecting Someone"

Left: Mary Winkler at her arraignment

(Selmer, TN) Attorneys for Mary Winkler, the woman accused of shooting her preacher husband in the back, are floating possible motives for her actions.

Lead attorney Steve Farese, part of the "Memphis Dream Team" that is defending Winkler, suggested that she may be taking the fall for unknown reasons.

"She may be trying to protect someone or something," said Farese Wednesday, adding that Winkler has only her lawyers "10 percent of the story."

Defense attorney Leslie Ballin discussed Winkler's psychiatric evalutations.

"We have begun the evaluation process she has seen a psychiatrist on Friday," he said. "It's my understanding the evaluation is not being close to being completed."

The first-degree murder case against Mary Winkler is scheduled to be presented to the grand jury in June.

On FOX News and Unemployment

(Toledo, OH) I am intrigued by FOX News and their use of the term "employment rate" when reporting economic news.

One of the correspondent standing outside the White House noted today that the "employment rate stands at 95.3%, meaning that almost everyone who wants a job has a job right now."

This, as opposed to just reporting that the unemployment rate for March was 4.7%.

Setting aside for a moment the fact that unemployment figures do not count the number of workers who have given up looking for a job and other "persons not in the labor force," the glass-half-full approach of FOX reminds me of government efforts during the Great Depression to instill optimism in the public as a means to use public emotion as a tool to fuel the economy.

If more people would just be optimistic, the theory goes, the economy would turn around. However, the Depression did not end until the industrial production for the Second World War kicked into high gear, despite the the efforts of Hoover and Roosevelt to encourage positive thinking among Americans.

Were it that simple, I would join in on the Prozac party, don the rose-tinted glasses, and drink the Kool-Aid.

Cheerleading, however, will not create prosperity, and FOX would be better served by reporting the news instead of spinning it.

Addendum, 12:16 pm: I may as well dish out a few props to FOX. Anchor Brigitte Quinn has consistently impressed me as one of the stronger news personalities, and I heard her use the terms "avuncular" and "ingenue" during an interview with analysts discussing Katie Couric's move to CBS.

No, she was not reading from a teleprompter, and yes, she used the words in an appropriate context, ye cynical readers.

Quinn is simply one of the smartest television journalists on the air, and a refreshing change from those who would dumb down the news. Make 'em grab a dictionary, Brigitte.

Ohio Chiropractor Claims Ability to Time Travel

(Columbus, OH) An Ohio chiropractor who claims he can treat patients by traveling back in time has appeared on the radar screen of state regulators.

The Ohio State Chiropractic Board notified James Burda this week that he must appear at a hearing on his healing techniques. The state complaint says that Burda is unable to provide services to his patients "according to acceptable and prevailing standards of care due to mental illness, specifically, Delusional Disorder, Grandiose Type."

Burda's website refers to his special abilities as "Bahlaqeem," a word that he described came to him "during a period of inspiration. It is a madeup word and, to my knowledge, has no known meaning except for this intended purpose. It does, however, have a soothing vibrational influence and contains the very special number of nine letters."

Burda recounted the moment in which his gift made its presence known.

"I learned about my gift three years ago. While driving to a nearby city in order to do shopping my left foot started to hurt,"said the Athens chiropractor. "Just for amusement, I made a guess as to the exact bone involved with the pain, told the bone to realign, and the pain went away almost instantly. What a happy surprise I had."

The state considers Burda's treatments "willful and gross malpractice," and could seek penalties up to license revocation.

No bad jokes about "BACK to the Future" allowed (nor "Quack to the Future," for that matter). Violators subject to severe beatings.

Onward and Upward: Oil Nears $68 per Barrel

(London) Oil prices continued to surge higher, and analysts fear that supplies may not be able to meet the peak in demand this summer.

In London US light crude futures were up 43 cents to $67.50 per barrel.

"The failure to rebuild gasoline stocks in the month of April could result in drastic regional supply shortages in the coming months, and that concern is certainly being expressed in rising prices," said Fimat analyst John Kilduff. "The $70.85 high of last August 30 seemed like an anomaly after last year's storms. Now the confluence of events that constitutes the wall of worries that the market is climbing will shortly make that price a natural progression."

Gasoline inventories have dropped by 6.2 percent in the last five weeks, as reported in an Energy Department report released yesterday. Refineries are operating at 85.9 percent of capacity, down 1.1 percentage points from the previous week.

There is a lot of nervousness about gasoline after the huge decline in supplies after the last five weeks," said Rick Mueller, an analyst with Energy Security Analysis Inc. "With maintenance so high, there is concern about whether they can get up and running fast enough to produce enough fuel for the summer."

Some industry analysts believe that oil may hit $85 per barrel during the peak summer demand, which could send gasoline prices skyrocketing to $3.50 a gallon or more in the US.

McKinney Changes Her Tune

Left: Cynthia McKinney, courtesy of Associated Press

(Washington, DC) Embattled representative Cynthia McKinney just finished addressing the House moments ago.

McKinney apologized for the "misunderstanding," and praised the members of the Capitol Police department. The Georgia congresswoman had previously suggested that the department engages in racial profiling.

McKinney has been accused of striking an officer after he tried to stop her from entering a House office building without going through a security checkpoint last week.

The lawmaker also added that she wil sign a House resolution praising the work of Capitol Hill police.

Meanwhile, a grand jury is investigating the incident, and McKinney could be indicted as early as today on charges of assault. Two aides to the congresswoman have been subpoenaed.

Mournful Music

(Toledo, OH) I have always been a sucker for sad songs; even as a child my favorite songs always tended toward the gloomy dirge instead of the uplifting ditty.

Death, broken hearts, and gloomy people are the focus of the despondent songs I love so well. While there have been some downhearted songs that missed the creative mark, there is something universal in suffering that makes these songs so memorable.

And chilling.

I just heard one of my all-time favorite depressing songs, "Alone Again, Naturally" by Gilbert O'Sullivan. Eight years old, and there I was in 1973 singing along with one of the darkest songs ever recorded:

In a little while from now,
If I'm not feeling any less sour.
I promised myself, to treat myself,
And visit a nearby tower.
And climbing to the top,
Would throw myself off,
In an effort to, make clear to whoever,
What it's like when your shattered,
Left standing in a lurch,
In a church with people saying:
'My God, that's tough, she stood him up,
No point in us remaining.'
I may as well go home,
As I did on my own,
Alone again, naturally.

Then there was "Seasons in the Sun" by Terry Jacks; I will always praise this song inspite of the slagging it gets by the perennially happy people of the world:

Goodbye Papa its hard to die
When all the birds are singing in the sky
Now that the spring is in the air
Little children everywhere
When you see them I'll be there.

The stark teen drama of J. Frank Wilson's "Last Kiss" stands up there as a monument to the morose. Kudos to Pearl Jam for a yeomanlike version of this song:

Oh, where oh where can my baby be?
The Lord took her away from me
She's gone to heaven, so I got to be good
So I can see my baby when I leave this world.

More recently the song "Lovefool" by the Cardigans tapped into the same people-on-the-edge theme that I have so often enjoyed. The song is deceptive, though, as the upbeat tempo and sugary production mask a singer desperate to hold on to a love:

So I cry and I beg for you to
Love me, love me, say that you love me,
Lead me, lead me, just say that you need me,
I can't care about anything but you.

I am not sure what this fascination and appreciation for music that expresses heartbreak says about me, but a well-written song of anguish beats almost any other music in my mind.

Traveler Detained After Playing Zeppelin, Clash

Left: Cover of Clash album "London Calling"

(London) A salesman was hauled off a plane and questioned for three hours as a terror suspect after listening to "suspicious" songs.

Harraj Mann, of Hartlepool, Teesside, was on board his plane at Durham Tees Valley Airport when the Heathrow-bound flight was stopped and he was arrested.

Mann had played the Clash song "London Calling" and the Led Zeppelin tune "Immigrant Song" in a taxi before his flight.

The lyrics of the song apparently unnerved the taxi driver who had driven Mann to the airport.

"The taxi had one of those tape deck things that plugs into your digital music player. I played Procol Harum's "Whiter Shade Of Pale" first, which the taxi man liked," said Mann. "I figured he liked the classics so put on a bit of Led Zeppelin - Immigrant Song - which he didn't like. Then, since I was going to London, I played the song by The Clash and finished up with "Nowhere Man" by The Beatles."

Mann, who said that he was "frog-marched" to an interrogation room by police, said that he had his bags searched and was subjected to hours of questioning.

"It turned out the taxi driver alerted someone when I arrived at the airport and had spoken about my music," he said. "He didn't like Led Zep or The Clash but there was no need to tell the police."

A spokeswoman for the Durham Police said that it was not just the music that Mann requested, but the "overall impression" he gave the taxi driver.

"By the time it was established the man did not pose a security risk, the plane had taken off," she said. "Safety is paramount and we respond to concerns from members of the public in the way they would expect us to."

Mann, who is of Indian ancestry, questioned the hyper-vigilance of the security personnel.

"I mean where does it stop? What if I was wearing a Che Guevara t-shirt, what if I was wearing odd socks, you know," he said. "I mean obviously the political climate these days is like walking on egg shells, but I mean there's caution and then there's taking it to the point where it's absurd and ludicrous."

Rapid Rhetoric: AZERTY

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word I came across that I have never previously used.

azerty or AZERTY adj. - Having a European typewriter keyboard layout: using the commonest type of computer or typewriter keyboard layout in continental Europe, where the top row of letters, beginning from the left, are A, Z, E, R, T, Y. See also qwerty.

French keyboards swap the "Q" and "W" with "A" and "Z", and move "M" to the right of "L." Italian typewriter keyboards sometimes use a QZERTY layout where "Z" is swapped with "W" and "M" is at the right of "L". German keyboards add the umlaut symbol to the right of "P" and "L", and switch the "Z" and "Y" keys both because "Z" is a more common letter than "Y" in Germanic languages.

Police: "1 Million," Unions: "3 million" Protest Labor Law

Left: Protests turned violent in Paris

(Paris) Between one and the million French protesters took to the streets today in opposition to a new hire-and-fire youth job contract on Tuesday in rallies across France.

The students and union members rejected concessions by President Jacques Chirac aimed at pacifying protesters, and the scale of the protests suggests that the Chirac-Villepin government might have even less support than believed by pundits as recently as last week.

The nationwide general strike closed the Eiffel Tower and delayed air and rail traffic for the second time in a week. Tens of thousands of workers reportedly walked off their jobs in support of the protesters.


The "First Job Contract" (CPE) was designed to create over 80,000 jobs for young workers in a country where youth unemployment averages 22 percent across the nation and approaches 50 percent in some areas.

Students and union activists, however, view the law as regressive legislation that whittles away at job security.

French Protests Turn Violent

Left: Paris protest photo courtesy of Reuters.

(Paris) Hundreds of thousands of students and union activists marched through French cities today in new protests aimed at rescinding a controversial employment law.

Rail workers, bus drivers,and teachers also staged one-day sympathy strikes in support of the students.

At this writing there is escalating violence in the streets of Paris. FOX News is carrying live video of the Paris protest, and dozens of people have been carried off after sustaining injuries.

Protesters are throwing rocks, bottles, and chunks of concrete at the outnumbered police. Photographers have also been targeted by some of the protesters.

Correspondents on the scene estimate the Paris crowd alone to be over 100,000.

The law in question is known as the First Job Contract (CPE), and it gives firms the right to summarily lay off employees under the age of 26 at any time in a two-year period.

CPE is also seen as a test of political will between the moderate Chirac/ Villepin government and a more conservative faction led by Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy.

One-third of intercity trains have been cancelled, and French airports are reporting delays of up to 90 minutes on most flights.

Ryanair has cancelled all service to and from France, while the British budget airline Jet2 used its website to attack the strikers as "lazy frogs" who need to "get back to work".

Unemployment in France, estimated at 9.2%, is among the highest in the European Union. Some experts put the unemployment rate at 40% for young French workers.

Congressman John Conyers to Speak at UT

(Toledo, OH) John Conyers, Jr., a leader in the civil rights movement and the second most senior member of the US House of Representatives, will lecture on Monday, April 10 at noon in the College of Law auditorium.

Rep. Conyers became a member of the House in 1964, and is the only member of the Judiciary CommitteeCongress to sit in on the impeachment hearings of both President Nixon and President Clinton. Conyers also posts on his own blog.

The lecture series, sponsored by the UT College of Law and the Black Law Students Association, is dedicated to addressing issues of race and diversity in the legal system.

Following the free public lecture, a luncheon will be held at 1 p.m. in the Horton International House. All funds from tickets sold to the luncheon will go toward scholarships for outstanding law students committed to BLSA and to service in general.

There is a special student rate of $20. Tickets to the luncheon are normally $40 per person and $300 for a table of 8. Sponsorships are also available at the $50, $100, and $200 levels. Sponsors are entitled to a lunch and will be listed in the luncheon program.

To purchase a ticket and support this important cause, contact Kathleen Amerkhanian, Director of Law Communications, at 419.530.2712.

Whoops - Blackwell Invests in Diebold

(Columbus, OH) Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, who is running for governor, said he discovered he owns shares in voting machine manufacturer Diebold while preparing a required filing for the Ohio Ethics Commission.

"While I was unaware of this stock in my portfolio, its mere presence may be viewed as a conflict and is therefore not acceptable," Blackwell said in his filing.

Ohio Democratic Party spokesman Brian Rothenberg wasted little time in blasting Blackwell with both rhetorical barrels.

"If Ken Blackwell didn't know how his own money was being spent, why would the people of Ohio think he would be a good steward of their checkbook?" he said

The candidate will not profit from his 178 shares, which Blackwell purchased at $53.67 per share in January 2005.

That did not stop Blackwell's Republican opponent from piling on. Bob Paduchik, a spokesman for Attorney General Jim Petro, called for additional investigation "considering Ken Blackwell's history with Diebold."

Tuesday is OTA Link Day

(Toledo, OH) On Tuesdays, I perform my duties as a member of the Open Trackback Alliance and highlight some articles that I found noteworthy on the sites of other members.

Follow this link to learn more about the project, which was developed by Samantha Burns.

Peakah's Provocations has some humorous retorts to stale pickup lines that used in bars.

Chad at Pirates Man Your Women asks what the numbers 1, 2, and 42 have in common. It turns out that they are all "moments of the Riemann zeta function." Click the link to learn more.

Other interesting OTA blogs I visited this week: TMH's Bacon Bits, the unusual Quietly Making Noise, the wacky Mental Rhinorrhea, the wretched hive of scum and Villainy at Pirate's Cove, tales and observations from the Beatnik Samurai known as Stray Dog, and the irrepressible Imagine Kitty Magazine.

Useless but Cool Fact

(Toledo, OH) The following piece of information was forwarded to me by a person who is much better at remebering what the current day of the week is than I will ever be.

This Wednesday, at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 in the morning, the time and date will be 01:02:03 04/05/06. Arguably, the same phenomena will occur later in that afternoon as long as you do not follow military time.

There! Don't you feel that you are better prepared for water cooler conversations tomorrow? If nothing else you will also have something to tell the grandchildren about someday.

Attorneys for Mary Winkler Weigh Options

Left: Mary Winkler with attorney Steve Farese last Thursday

(Selmer, TN) The defense team representing Mary Winkler is investigating stategies for their client, including the possibility that the shooting was an accident.

Attorneys are also considering a claim of insanity by Mrs. Winkler in the shooting death of her minister husband Matthew Winkler.

"Anytime you have a gunshot fatality, it's not always, 'Did something happen?' " said Mississippi attorney Steve Farese Sr. "There are the three questions: Did it happen? Why did it happen, and how did it happen? … Was it an intentional act or an unintentional act or an accidental act, and there's a difference."

Another defense attorney admitted that Mary Winkler has been seen by a psychologist, and that her reasons for killing her husband remain a mystery.

"[The confession]certainly assumes a fact and that is that she is responsible," said attorney Leslie Ballin. "I don't know what the [examination]results are. If it's something that produces a professional opinion that is pertinent to this case, you will see this person at the trial."

Defense attorneys choise to waive the right to a preliminary hearing in order to prevent prosecutors from reading Mrs. Winkler's alleged confession into the reoord. This was ostensibly done to shelter the Winkler children.

"We don't feel that it does anyone any good to hear gruesome things about their late father," said Farese.

Mary Winkler's case goes before the McNairy County grand jury in June.

Rapid Rhetoric: SUBLINGUAL

This is an irregular feature - both in frequency and oddness - dedicated to a word I came across that I have never previously used.

adj. Situated beneath or on the underside of the tongue.

n. A sublingual part, such as a gland, artery, or duct.

Sublingual, from the Latin words for 'under the tongue', refers to a pharmacological method of medcinal delivery in which certain drugs enter the bloodstream via absorption under the tongue.

Sublingual absorption has certain advantages over swallowing medicine. This route is often faster, and a drug that enters the body sublingually will only come into contact with saliva enzymes prior to entry into the bloodstream. Swallowed medications face the hostile environment of the gastrointestinal tract, especially the corrosive properties of the hydrochloric acid produced by the stomach.