US Troops Shoot Pregnant Iraqi Woman

Left: Iraqi woman mourning her dead relatives; photo courtesy of AP

(Samarra, Iraq) In what will likely become another embarassing moment for the US military, American troops shot at a car that failed to stop at an observation post in a city north of Baghdad, killing two Iraqi women.

One of the women was reportedly pregnant and on her way to a Baghdad hospital.

Shots were fired to disable the vehicle," said military officials in a statement to The Associated Press. "Coalition forces later received reports from Iraqi police that two women had died from gunshot wounds ... and one of the females may have been pregnant."

The US military said that the car had entered a "clearly marked prohibited area" near an observation post.

Khalid Nisaif Jassim, brother of the pregnant woman, said American troops had blocked off the side road just two weeks ago, and that news about the checkpoint had been slow to reach rural areas.

The shooting incident comes on the heels of news reports about an alleged massacre in the town of Haditha last November, in which US Marines may have killed 23 unarmed civilians in retaliation for the death of a fellow soldier, Lance Corporal Miguel Terrazas.

Developing...

Violence Flares Again in France

Left: Burning police car in Montfermeil; photo courtesy of BBC

(Paris) Several hundred youths clashed with police Tuesday night after setting fire to cars, trash bins, and brush piles in a Paris suburb that was the scene of violent riots last year.

At least four police officers were injured in the violence, and as many as 18 youths were arrested. The rioting took place in the suburbs of Montfermeil and Clichy-sous-Bois.

Interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy reiterated that the government will not tolerate further trouble.

"I will not allow more disorderliness neither in Clichy-sous-Bois, nor in Montfermeil, nor anywhere else in the Republic," he said.

The violence appears to be a response of discontent against the mayor of Montfermeil, who imposed a curfew forbidding youths from 15 to 18 years of age from gathering in groups of more than three and requiring anyone under 16 to be accompanied by an adult on city streets after 8 pm.

The November riots, in which immigrant groups were among the majority of protesters, revolved around anger at racial discrimination, police harassment, and a lack of educational and employment prospects. French officials remain optimistic that a repeat of the widespread violence will not recur.

In all more than 10,000 vehicles and 200 public buildings were set on fire, 127 police officers were injured, and 4,500 people arrested; damage was estimated at $250 million by insurers.

New Family Member

(Toledo, OH) To your left is Jimmy, a 6-year old Sheltie that we adopted today from the Toledo Humane Society. He stands only about 18" tall, and weighs about 20 pounds.

He is very friendly and seems to fit right in at our busy house.

The kids are not enamored with the name "Jimmy," so we may end up calling him something else in the future.

The good news is that he is already housebroken, and knows quite a few commands. His previous owners had to move and could not bring him with them.

Everyone seems to love him, although my youngest son seemed to think this was too soon after the death of our old Labrador, Hershey. I am sure he will come around in the next few days.

The Quote Shelf

A daily feature on this site; feel free to comment on the quote or to supply a competing quote.

There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.

--Douglas Adams

Marmots Menace Senior Community

Photo by Ross Courtney, Yakima Herald Republic

(Prosser, WA) Residents in a senior housing community are perturbed with the influx of a particularly aggressive group of marmots. The rodents are related to groundhogs and prairie dogs.

People in the Wine Country Villa senior subdivision are complaining about large burrows and rodent droppings, and even claim that the marmots have attacked some residents.

"Can you imagine what they'd do to cats?" asked Dick Bain, a resident who killed two marmots with a shovel Friday morning. "My neighbor got tackled (by marmots) two years ago and got chewed up pretty bad."

The animals, which can grow up to 30 pounds, are not considered a risk to transmit infectious disease. City ordinances prohibit the shooting of the marmots, and residents find their options of dealing with the animals are limited.

State officials say that the residents must first lodge complaints with the state, and wait for referrals of certified exterminators.

"It's not an animal you'd want to tangle with," said spokeswoman Madonna Luers of the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The Quote Shelf

A daily feature on this site; feel free to comment on the quote or to supply a competing quote.

Moving away from the literary and historical quotes today; if you are unfamiliar with the song it is on the Born to Run LP.


Remember all the movies, Terry, we'd go see
Trying to learn how to walk like the heroes we thought we had to be
Well after all this time to find we're just like all the rest
Stranded in the park and forced to confess to
Hiding on the backstreets.

-- Bruce Springsteen, "Backstreets"

Der Spiegel Interviews Ahmadinejad

There is an intriguing interview with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Der Spiegel today. I urge everyone to read it for greater insight into the mindset of the Iranian government, as well as for edification against the beating of war drums by those who would prod the US into war against Iran.

I am going to withhold comment on it for the moment; I want to re-read it and also get some java flowing in my veins.

That being said, it appears that Ahmadinejad is trying to put his earlier coments about the Holocaust into a different context (assuming that he was correctly translated when he made statements denying the existence of the Holocaust).

He also has some blistering words about the support that Sadaam Hussein received from the West during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, and the hypocrisy of nuclear states demanding that Iran end its uranium enrichment program.

On Memorial Day and American Freedom

Left: Arlington National Cemetery

(Toledo, OH) While sitting in my backyard with family and friends today, I realized how lucky I am to live in the United States. I also know that the relative freedom and prosperity I enjoy is owed in part to the sacrifices of millions of American military personnel.

I do not write these thoughts as a sort of insipid Hallmark bit of fluff, the obligatory holiday pat on the back to the military that spring up on patriotic days like today.

I am lucky, for I could have been one of the one billion people in the world who go to bed hungry every night, or one of the nearly three billion people who exist on less than $2 a day.

The sacrifices made by millions of American military personnel have secured for the United States its preeminent position as the dominant world superpower. Many people use the term "American Empire" to describe the United States in the 21st century, but today is not the day to debate the merits of American imperialism.

And yet, it matters not whether the causes for which American soldiers fought and died have always had moral justification. The fact that citizens believed they fought a noble cause - and willingly gave their lives - is reason enough to give them our thanks.

We can direct any ire - if deserved - at the federal politicians who make the decisions about sending our troops to war.

Today we should pause and remember the contributions of Americans past and present who were willing to die for their country.

Tomorrow we can argue about whether they have ever been deceived.

The Quote Shelf

A daily feature on this site; feel free to comment on the quote or to supply a competing quote.

Before we set our hearts too much upon anything, let us examine how happy those are who already possess it. --Francois de La Rochefoucauld

On Coingate, Fritzgate, and Tanbergate

(Toledo OH) I read with interest the Toledo Blade article detailing what the editors of the paper claim they knew about Fritz Wenzel, the Blade reporter that GOP and Blade sources claim knew about the shady dealings of Tom Noe.

I worked on this story for two weeks last year for the Toledo Free Press, but given the fact that no sources would go on the record, we spiked it. There is no point in running a story with 8 off-the-record sources.

At the risk of sounding like an arrogant fortune teller, the piece was about what I expected. The Blade is sticking to the same story that they have been telling: namely, that Fritz Wenzel never approached Blade editors about GOP money laundering, Coingate, or any other Noe-related scandals.

While the sidebar claimed that the Blade's purpose "is not to bash any individual, including the author of the letter," they did take a few swipes at George Tanber, the Blade writer who sent the anonymous letter to the Pultizer Prize committee charging that the paper attempted to coverup alleged ethical lapses by Wenzel. Tanber was fired by the Blade for his role in the letter to the Pulitzer committee.

Also getting some implied shots was Editor and Publisher magazine, which discussed the Blade's use of emails and outing of sources.

What it all boils down to is this: Wenzel said he told Blade editors everything he knew about GOP money laundering schemes and Coingate, and the Blade editors say that he never approached them. Wenzel says that he kept Blade editors apprised of his roles as a Zogby freelancer and as a GOP strategist, and the Blade editors say that he did not. Readers can decide for themselves who they believe.

I have never met or spoken with George Tanber, and in 16 years in Toledo I have exchanged two emails with the man (both unrelated to Wenzel). Nor have I read the Pulitzer letter, so I am unable to even comment on it. Copies are flying around, so if I get one I will post it.

The Blade piece provided readers with most of the facts in the matter, put just a little spin on the affair, and readers leave the article knowing only a few more details than were available in the previously published articles in Salon, E&P, Cincinnati City Beat, and Toledo City Paper.

Here's my take, for what it is worth. I think Wenzel was told about the scandals by GOP sources, sat on them, and never told anyone what he knew. I find it hard to believe that the Blade editors knew about Coingate and Laundrygate before the 2004 election, as these stories were too hot to shelve. I think the Blade editors later found out about the alleged ethical lapses of Wenzel, and tried to keep them internal personnel matters.

The purported crowing in the Blade newsroom by Wenzel to some of the Coingate reporters ("I knew about this months before you") and the going away party at the Belmont Club for Wenzel turned this into a very public scandal, as pissed off Blade employees began to talk about Wenzel's alleged ethical lapses.

That's what I believe; what do YOU think?...

The Quote Shelf

A daily feature on this site; feel free to comment on the quote or to supply a competing quote.

Perseverance is more prevailing than violence; and many things which cannot be overcome when they are together, yield themselves up when taken little by little. --Plutarch

On Haditha, Rage, and the Fiction of an Iraqi Nation

Photo of dead Haditha civilians courtesy of Reuters and Hammurabi Organisation via Reuters TV


I have known pure rage, that primal emotion that can overwhelm the most rational of people. I have lusted for vengeance against a person who hurt someone close to me, and - if I had ever known that person's identity - I cannot guarantee that my desire to seek the proverbial eye for an eye would not have overridden my normal peaceful personality.

Many were the nights I railed against God and tortured myself with visions of hunting down another human being to exact my Louisville slugger vengeance, which - thankfully - passed after a period of time.

It was with deep sadness that I began to read the news accounts of the purported massacre in Haditha, in which a Marine unit killed as many as 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians. The dead included women and six children; some were shot in the head and some in the back, and the ugly words "execution-style killings" have been used by investigators to describe the November 19, 2005 incident.

The killings were reportedly a violent payback for the killing of Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas, 20, of El Paso, Texas.

I feel sadness for the dead civilians, sadness for the American troops who face the impossible task of fighting a seemingly endless, miserable war, and most of all sadness for an America that is losing whatever moral justification it once tried to claim for the Iraq war.

The atrocities, however, in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib are only symptoms of a larger problem. The US finds itself in the middle of an unwinnable civil war, and is on the verge of widening that war into a major regional conflict by fanning the flames of hostility with Iran.


The very concept of a sovereign Iraq is a historical anomaly, as the country was created by the British after World War I. The Ottoman vilayets of Baghdad, Mosul, and Basra were lumped together for the benefit of British puppet King Faisal, and the nation has only been held together by a series of strong-armed rulers. American war planners who believed that they could maintain the fiction of a national Iraq either did not know Middle Eastern history, or were deluded by the hallucination that a few years of imported American political structures could somehow undo thousands of years of religious and ethnic traditions.

Without a dictatorial strongman to hold it together the nation of Iraq will implode. An international peace conference that creates separate states from the war-torn remnants of the Iraqi state is the only solution to what appears to be an inevitable Middle East war that will likely widen into a worldwide conflict over energy.

American troops in Iraq are undermanned, underfunded, and unwanted. It is time for them to come home, before horror stories like those in Haditha become everyday occurrences, and before the region devolves into an even bloodier contest for petroleum dominance.

The Quote Shelf

A daily feature on this site; feel free to comment on the quote or to supply a competing quote.

I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.

--Groucho Marx

Very Cool Website on Historical World Rulers

Left: St. Edward's crown, worn by British monarchs

True, I am a history geek, and I am working toward my PhD in European Expansion.

But how cool is a website that lists every known ruler and head of state, plus other figures like popes, patriarchs, and archbishops?

Way cool, in my opinion. Check out Rulers.org for all of those useless bits of trivia that win bar bets and keep doctoral students on their toes.

The site also provides month-by-month summaries of important world events.

A hat tip to Miland at World History Blog for this reference source. He adds that he has found a few missing pieces of information, such as the monarchs of the 19th-century Hawaiian Kingdom, but I was unable to find any factual errors in my hour of perusal.

Pat Robertson: 2000-Pound Leg Press Savant

I thought celebrity leg pressing stories were strange when I read that Madeleine Albright claims the ability to leg press 400 pounds.

According to the Christian Broadcast Network web site, however, televangelist Pat Robertson of the 700 Club can bench press 2,000 pounds.

For comparison, the leg-press record for football players at Florida State University is 1335 pounds.

CBN spokeswoman Angell Vasko said today that Robertson was not available for comment, but she was enthusiastic about his lifestyle.

"Pat is so healthy," she said. "This is something he trained for over an extended period of time. He lives a very healthy, regimented life."

Addendum, 7:25 pm: CBS Sportsline has a video of Pat Robertson purportedly leg pressing the one ton of weights. If all of the 45.4 kg weights are indeed real, then Robertson is one superbad 76-year-old (he mentions in the video that is 74, so the video is a bit dated).

Review: The Children's Blizzard

Laskin, David. Harper Collins, 2004, 320 pages.

On January 12, 1888 an immense blizzard suddenly roared across the Great Plains, killing hundreds of people. Many of the victims were children on their way home from school or helping on family farms.

Laskin's book culls information from newspaper accounts, diaries, and government documents to piece together a troubling vignette of life on the prairie in the late 19th century. The book is equal parts historical nonfiction, detective novel, and weather drama.

Laskin does take liberties with the thoughts of victims as they lay huddled in the bitter cold, lost in a blinding storm of epic proportions. However, as this is written for a general audience, one can forgive the author's desire to more fully develop the characters.

As a weather geek I found the book informative and compelling. Despite the advances in meteorology, though, we yet remain at the mercies of an indifferent, unpredictable Mother Nature.

There some interesting themes that Laskin explores that bear worth further exploration by other historians. The author's descriptions of the political battles in the Signal Service bureacracy are a fascinating reminder of the everpresence of organizational subterfuge, and the attention that Laskin gave to the nascent US Weather Service suggests another area for more work.

While not footnoted, Laskin provided chapter-by-chapter references on his sources, and the text has a thorough index for those seeking to mine it for specific information.

I recommend the book for both historians and general readers, and found it to be an agreeable way to pass the time during the thunderstorms of the past two days.

The Quote Shelf

A daily feature on this site; feel free to comment on the quote or to supply a competing quote.

I have learnt silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers. --Kahlil Gibran

Demolition Begins at Westgate Shopping Center

Left: Little remains of the Westgate Rite Aid; pictures by historymike

(Toledo, OH) While on my way to run errands I drove past the Westgate Village Shopping Center, which is being renovated to accommodate a new Costco store.

Demolition on the old southern wing of the center commenced this week, and crews are wasting little time removing the old structure.

I was able to snap a dozen photos before a patrolling security vehicle approached. I was politely told to vacate the area; I suppose my thick skull was not an adequate substitute for a hard hat.


I am normally a bit saddened by the demolition of an urban landmark, but truth be told this shopping center has seen better days in the past. I miss Boogie Records and Thackeray's Books, but these cherished local institutions were already victims of the growth of - and retail cannibalism by - national chains.

I have a few favorite Westgate businesses that still remian, such as the Coney Island and the Radio Shack. These are open in the west wing of the complex, which can only be reached by the Central Avenue entrance.

If nothing else the reborn Westgate should act as a magnet for commercial development in the Central-Secor area. I just hope that the city and the developers have a plan that will justify the millions given out in tax abatements.

Letter From Attorneys for Hastert to ABC: "Libel"

This is the text of a letter To ABC News President David Westin from attorneys representing House Speaker Dennis Hastert. Thanks to Raw Story

David Westin
George Stephanopoulos
Brian Ross
ABC News
7 West 66th St.
New York, NY 10023

RE: False Story Regarding Justice Department Investigation



Dear Mr. Westin, Stephanopoulos, and Mr. Ross:

At 7:25 p.m., the Statement of the Department of Justice confirmed:

“Speaker Hastert is not under investigation by the Justice Department.”

At 10:21 p.m., you wrote:

“Whether they like it or not, members of Congress, including Hastert, are under investigation,” one federal official said tonight.”

This statement is false, and your republication of it after actual knowledge of its falsity constitutes libel and defamation. ABC News’ continued publication of this false information, after having actual knowledge of its falsity, evidences a specific and malicious intent to injure and damage Speaker Hastert’s reputation by continued repetition of a known falsehood.

We will take any and all actions necessary to rectify the harm ABC has caused and to hold those at ABC responsible for their conduct.

Please advise regarding who will accept service of process to remedy this intentional falsehood.

Very truly yours,
J. Randolph Evans
Stefan C. Passantino
Counsel to Speaker J. Dennis Hastert

Verdict on Enron's Lay and Skilling: GUILTY

Left: Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling in happier times

(Houston, TX) The jury in the fraud and conspiracy trial of former Enron chief executives Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling has reached a verdict. Skilling was found guilty oon 19 counts of conspiracy, fraud, bank fraud, and wire fraud charges, and Lay was found guilty on all six counts with which he was charged.

In a separate trial Lay was found guilty guilty of four bank fraud charges for illegally using money from $75 million in personal loans to buy stock.

Lay, 64, faces up to 45 years in prison, while the convictions against Skilling carry maximum sentences of 185 years.

The panel of eight women and four men reached their decision one day after making their a request for additional materials from US District Judge Sim Lake, notifying him that they needed trial transcripts and a list of exhibits.

Skilling is free on a $5 million bond, while Lake said Lay must post a $5 million bond and give up his passport to stay out of jail until sentencing, which is set for September 11.

Developing...

Hastert, DOJ Deny Investigation; ABC Stands Pat

(Washington, DC) ABC News appears to be sticking by its story that House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) is "in the mix" of politicians being investigated by the Justice Department in the bribery scandal related to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Ron Bonjean, spokesman for Hastert, issued the following statement regarding the ABC Nightly News story that aired last night:

"The ABC News report is absolutely untrue. As confirmed by the Justice Department, 'Speaker Hastert is not under investigation by the Justice Department.' We are demanding a full retraction of the ABC News story. The Speaker’s earlier statement issued today to ABC News accurately reflects the facts regarding this matter."

ABC has now posted a link to a second DOJ statement by Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty:

"With regard to reports suggesting that the Speaker of the House is under investigation or 'in the mix,' as stated by ABC News, I reconfirm, as stated by the Department earlier this evening, that these reports are untrue."

As I see it, several possibilities exist:

1. ABC News flat out got the story wrong;
2. The Justice Department plans to investigate Hastert, but has not started yet;
3. The statement by ABC and the DOJ may contain some rhetorical spin that needs further dissection to get at the truth of the matter.

ABC’s sources said that the denial by the Justice Department was meant only to deny that Hastert was a formal "target" or "subject" of the investigation.

"Whether they like it or not, members of Congress, including Hastert, are under investigation," one federal official told ABC.

Developing...

Transcript of ABC News Investigation of Hastert

Left: Brian Ross of ABC News

Transcript of the ABC News report claiming that House Speaker Dennis Hastert is "in the mix" of politicians being investigated in the Jack Abramoff bribery scandal.

VARGAS: Good evening. We begin with a major development in a Washington bribery scandal.

Tonight, sources tell ABC NEWS the case involving convicted lobbyist, Jack Abramoff, has led FBI investigators to some of the most powerful members of congress, namely the man, second in line for the presidency, after the vice president.

This is a story with potentially major political implications. And our chief investigative correspondent, Brian Ross, joins us with his exclusive report. Brian...

ROSS: Elizabeth, federal officials tell us the bribery investigation now includes the Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, based on the testimony from convicted lobbyists.

Justice Department officials describe the 64-year-old Illinois Republican as very much in the mix of the corruption investigation.

Part of the investigation is said to involve a letter Hastert wrote three years ago, urging the secretary of the interior, to block a casino on an indian reservation that would have competed wit the other tribes.

The other tribes were represented by Jack Abramoff, who has reportedly disclosed his deals with Hastert. The letter was written shortly after a fund-raiser for hastert, at a restaurant owned by Abramoff. Abramoff and his clients contributed more than $26,000 at the time.

Hastert denied any unlawful connection, and said he would donate to charity, any campaign contributions he received from Abramoff or his clients. This week, following the FBI raid of another congressman under investigation, testimony William Jefferson of Louisiana, Hastert was outspoken in his criticism of the FBI.

HASTERT: We are not trying to protect any individual. But we want to protect the house, as far as a constitution.

ROSS: A spokesman for Hastert said the speaker was unaware he was the subject of any investigation. And there had been no requests for documents. The spokesman said Hastert had a long line of opposing casinos. This is at the very beginning. The allegations could prove unfounded. But what's clear from all this, is the FBI intends to take this case as far as it goes.

VARGAS: George Stephanopoulos joins us now. The political implications if Speaker Hastert is now a target of the FBI investigation.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Potentially seismic, Elizabeth. And it is going to depend on the facts and whether prosecutors can demonstrate a quid pro quo, that Hastert took that official action, in return for the campaign contribution. As Brian said, he has denied that. But if he can prove that, they can get an indictment, this would be a political earthquake.

VARGAS: That's a big 'if'. This is the find of charge that's exceedingly difficult to prove.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Exactly right. And it's been, frankly, common practice in Washington. There's 33 members of congress who wrote letters to the interior secretary and got campaign contributions from Jack Abramoff. If Hastert is facing that kind of scrutiny, they may, too. A lot of heads could roll.

End of tanscript

The Quote Shelf

I have been in the habit of printing quotes in the header of my blog, but I think it would be less time consuming just to make the quotes a separate post. This will also give readers an opportunity to comment on my choice of quoted material.

Here, then, is the first installment of this new daily feature:

I can win an argument on any topic, against any opponent. People know this, and steer clear of me at parties. Often, as a sign of their great respect, they don't even invite me. -- Dave Barry

Blade Writer George Tanber Admits Pulitzer Letter

(Toledo, OH) Editor and Publisher broke a story this afternoon about longtime Toledo Blade reporter George Tanber, who apparently admitted writing the infamous eight-page letter to the Pulitzer committee detailing the reasons why the Blade series on Coingate was "tainted."

The Blade reporter told E&P that he was suspended without pay today after informing editors of his involvement in the letter.

Tanber, who provided a copy of his two-page statement to E&P, said that he "did not sign the letter because I wanted the focus to be on the message, not on me. But I did provide an e-mail address to the Pulitzer board to contact me for further information or questions. No one did."

Tanber said that his decision to come forward was based on his desire to prevent innocent employees from being falsely accused.

"I have chosen to come forward because I don't want this investigation to continue at the expense of others," he said. "Already, some colleagues and others have been unfairly blamed and targeted. The responsibility is mine alone."

The Coingate series exposed corruption in Toledo and Ohio state politics involving coin dealer and political fund raiser Tom Noe. Noe is currently on trial for crimes related to millions of dollars in Bureau of Worker's Compensation funds that are missing, as well as federal campaign finance violations.

The state of Ohio alleges that many thousands of dollars of BWC monies wound up in campaign accounts of dozens of elected officials, including the 2004 campaign of President Bush and that of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In a probe that was related to Coingate outgoing Ohio Governor Bob Taft was convicted of misdemeanor ethics charges in 2005.

The Pulitzer letter involved charges that a former Toledo Blade writer, Fritz Wenzl, knew about the Coingate story and deliberately sat on the explosive material out of loyalty to the Noes. Given the close outcome of the 2004 election, some pundits have speculated that Ohio - and thus the 2004 presidential election - might have gone to John Kerry had the story broken earlier.

Toledo Blade editor Ron Royhab has publicly denied that the paper ever knew about details of the Coingate scandal prior to 2005, and credits its Columbus bureau with initially breaking the story.

For those who wish to understand the chronology of the complicated Wenzl-Coingate link, I suggest the excellent Salon.com article by Bill Frogameni.

Developing...

Ohio Releases New Data on Deadly C-diff Bacterium

Left: Clostridium difficile

(Columbus, OH) Beginning in January, the Ohio Department of Health began requiring health care providers and long-term residential facilities to report cases of Clostridium difficile, commonly known as C-diff.

The bacterium can cause severe diarrhea, colitis and in some cases, death. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported a new, more aggressive strain of the bacterium has evolved that is resistant to many of the traditional antibiotic treatments.

There were 3,246 new cases of C-diff reported to the ODH in the first three months of this year, and 1,715 recurrent cases in the same period.

In Lucas County, 114 new cases of C-diff were reported by area hospitals and nursing homes from January through March, with 62 recurrent cases reported.

C-diff was the source of as many as 21 deaths in Cleveland-area hospitals in 2005 and was identified as the cause of more than 100 deaths at a hospital in Quebec, Canada.

The results of the first quarter reporting will help the state better monitor C-diff outbreaks in the future, according to Jay Carey of the Ohio Department of Health.

"Mandatory reporting of C-diff cases helps establish a baseline for future reference," he said. "In the past we would hear anecdotal evidence of outbreaks, but we did not have a gauge with which to measure what typical levels of C-diff should be."

Carey said the department is considering whether to continue the mandatory reporting past the original six-month trial.

Summit County had the highest rate of infection in the first quarter of 2006, with 4.29 new cases of C-diff per 1,000 people. Lucas County had a rate of 2.53 cases per 1,000 people.

Carey cautioned against reading too much into these statistics.

"Some counties will report higher rates simply because more hospital and nursing home facilities exist there," he said. Wood County, with only seven reported cases and just one hospital, has an artificially low rate when compared with the eight hospitals in Lucas County."

In addition, county statistics can be skewed by results from one facility, he said. An outbreak in one Mahoning County nursing home in late January in which 19 patients contracted C-diff accounted for almost 23 percent of the county's cases.

Carey said the spread of the antibiotic-resistant strain of C-diff has forced the state of Ohio to remain on guard.

This article is also available on the Toledo Free Press website.

Rapid Rhetoric - TELAESTHESIA

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

telaesthesia - n. the perception of events, objects, or people not actually present or nearby. Persons claiming this ability often make such declarations through the interpretation of physical changes in the body - such as throbbing, twitching, itching or whistling in the ears - or through external phenomena, such as blowing winds, ripples in water, or unexplained sounds.

This site describes Punka-Punkara, a form of telaesthesia practiced by aboriginal peoples of Western Australia.

Human-to-Human Bird Flu in Indonesia?

Left: Avia flu H5N1

(North Sumatra, Indonesia) All seven confirmed cases of avian flu - six of whom have died - appear to be part of a cluster of human-to-human transmission of the virus, according to World Health Orgnization (WHO) officials.

WHO continues to search for a "possible alternative source" for the infection. Given the fact that at leat three of the victims spent the night of April 29 in a room with the index case, a 10-yeqr old boy, and the other victims lived nearby, the likelihood is strong that the H5N1 virus is developing more efficient means of spreading to humans.

218 cass of bird flu have been recorded by WHO since 2003, most of which can be traced to direct contact with infected or dead birds. A WHO official admitted that the agency may raise the pandemic alert level.

"Considering the evidence and the size of the cluster, it's a possibility," said Maria Cheng in a telephone interview with Bloomberg. "It depends on what we're dealing with in Indonesia. It's an evolving situation."

Developing...

On William Jefferson and Office Searches

Left: Rep. William Jefferson speaking to reporters

(Washington, DC) The disclosure that Louisiana congressman William Jefferson was videotaped accepting a purported $100,000 bribe was another disheartening moment for Americans already distrustful of their leaders. Still more damning to Jefferson was the alleged recovery of $90,000 in cash from his freezer.

I find it difficult to envision a scenario in which Jefferson can satisfactorily explain this in either a court of law or that of public opinion, but perhaps one does indeed exist.

"There are two sides to every story; there are certainly two sides to this story," he said at a recent news conference. "There will be an appropriate time and forum when that can be explained."

A new issue, however, arose on Sunday as FBI investigators raided Jefferson's space in the Rayburn House Office Building. This move appears to be without precedent, and raises troubling issues about the separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches of government.

On the surface it appears that little could be gained from searching Jefferson's office; surely a videotape and seized cash are strong pieces of evidence if and when this case goes to trial. Some Beltway speculation argues that the office raid was merely an attempt to put more pressure on Jefferson to accept a plea and avoid a costly, embarassing trial.

Leaders on both sides of the aisle were quick to question the unprecedented raid. House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) called the move an "overreaching and abuse of power by the Executive Branch," while Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said that "Justice Department investigations must be conducted in accordance with Constitutional protections and historical precedent."

Both politicians are correct.

This raid should be interpreted as a metaphor of the Bush administration's arrogant lack of regard for legal precedent and constitutional law. The thinking in the White House and the Justice Department seems to be that whenever a law or precedent gets in the way of a larger goal, it can be bypassed.

If Jefferson is guilty of corruption, he should be tried in a court of law and sentenced to the appropriate punishment. Those who trade the public good for thirty pieces of silver deserve our scorn.

The Justice Department, though, should be the one government agency most dedicated to upholding the laws it is supposed to be enforcing, as it is a very symbol of the rule of law.

Historymike Hits MSNBC

(Toledo, OH) A big tip of the hat to Jake at Phillies 2008, the website for Libertarian presidential candidate George Phillies, who forwarded me the link to an MSNBC clip featuring my blog.

Click here for the video.
The segment briefly discusses an essay I wrote about Loretta Nall, the Libertarian Party candidate for governor in Alabama.

Links and More Links

(Toledo, OH) On Tuesdays, I perform my duties as a member of the Open Trackback Alliance and highlight some sites and posts 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.

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 good fun at 7 Deadly Sins.

Latin American Stocks, Currency Take Beating in Capital Flight

(Sao Paulo and Mexico City) Most Latin American stock markets and currencies weakened sharply today as international investors fled emerging markets over worries about rising US interest rates and fears of a global recession.

By midday the Brazilian real was down 4.3 percent to 2.3 to the US dollar, as compared with 2.2 to the dollar at Friday's close.

The stock markets in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Colombia fell over 4 percent. Chile's IPSA stock index fell about 1.2 percent, while the Chilean peso weakened 1.5 percent against the dollar.

"It's part of a global movement away from emerging markets," said Solange Srour, who is the chief economist for Mellon Global Investments Brazil. "There's a general aversion to risk, but Brazil is in better position to weather it than many other countries."

The Latin American sell-off followed large losses in Asian and European markets earlier today.

"Emerging markets assets have had three years of exuberance, so it wouldn't be a surprise that in a period of uncertainty Brazilian assets would give back some gains," said Luiz Fernando Figueiredo, manager of the Sao Paulo-based hedge fund Maua Investimentos. "There's more uncertainty in global financial markets now due to inflation concerns, on the back of high commodities prices, and tightening cycle of interest rates in the US."

Email Scam - Work From Home

(Toledo, OH) In my email today was an invitation from an Olga Orlova to join a company called Logikpost.com. The company is allegedly hiring people for "Correspondence manager," "Shipping manager," and "Regional agent/money manager" positions.

Aside from the fact that the site is rife with grammatical errors, and that the website was privately registered exactly 12 hours ago, the opportunity sounds intriguing. One need only work "8-10 hours week" to earn $38,000 per year, with "pay oyts every 2 weeks."

From the email:

Logikpost company is looking for new candidates for the shipping manager position. We are the world's largest global transportation company, operating in more than 18 countries and territories and employing 200 people worldwide. Many Internet auctions and stores in the US do not ship the products overseas. As the result thousands of customers in Europe and Asia are not able to access the large market and purchase high-quality merchandise at so low prices. Our service is in the ever-growing demand. Today we have more then 80 merchandise managers on the territory of the United States and Canada but quantity of our customers increases and we plan to expand.

Olgo Orlova, by the way, is the name of a singer who was in the popular Russian girl group Blestyashchie (Блестящие, or "The Brilliants") before she became pregnant. So this is perhaps the equivalent of getting an email from Ginger Spice about a job opportunity.

There is also an aristocratic historical figure named Olga Orlova, who was the daughter of Prince & Princess Konstantin Belosselsky-Belozersky. She was related to the Romanovs and also Queen Victoria of England.

The company provides only P.O. boxes and fax numbers, plus Yahoo.email addresses. They also are very desirous to work with people who have PayPal accounts, which most likely means that they will try to scam you out of your password or account number.

They might even be designing a scam in which you must first "secure" your payment with a "deposit" that, of course, will rapidly vanish.

"Olga" has the following email addresses for willing dupes: olga_orlova78@yahoo.com and o.orlova@leehom.net.

If you get taken by Logikpost.com, you will at least have the satisfaction of knowing that either a pop star or Russian nobility stole your money.

Jittery Investors Nervous About Markets

(New York) US stock futures are down sharply coming into Monday, suggesting the possibility of a sell-off. The Dow is down 4.5 percent from its record high two weeks ago, losing 300 points and 2.1 percent just last week.

Overseas markets took a hit today. Japan's Nikkei index fell 297.58 points today, or 1.84 percent, to 15,857.87, while India's BSE Sensex closed with a loss of 457 points, or 4.34 percnt.

At one point trading on the Sensex had to be temporarily shut down because the index hit an automtic tigger when losses exceeded 10 percent.

In Europe London's FTSE is 0.7 percent lower, while Paris and Frankfurt are down about 1% in mid-day trading.

If English Was a Requirement for Immigrants...

Left: China One Buffet promotional banner on Sylvania Avenue

(Toledo, OH) President Bush has expressed approval of two competing bills that have passed in the Senate. The more controversial of the two calls English the "national language," while the second calls it a "common and unifying language."

If perfect English was spoken by all residents, though, we might miss out on beauties like this.

I have eaten at the China One Buffet. Twice. The food quality was everything one would expect from a buffet, the restaurant was clean, and English appears to be the second- or third-most spoken language in the restaurant.

If people feel better believing that English is the law, so be it. The reality, however, is that immigrants (whether legal or illegal) will continue to speak whatever language with which they are most comfortable.

And they - just like we sometimes do when traveling abroad - will occasionally mangle the "official" language, much to the amusement of the locals.

Drudge Keeps Trying to Fan "Iran Badges" Story

(New York) The Drudge Report continues to try to breathe life into a debunked story about the Republic of Iran passing legislation forcing Jews, Christians, and other religious minorities to wear colored clothing badges, reminscent of Nazi Germany.

Drudge is now running a link with the headline "Canadian Prime Minister says Iran 'capable' of introducing Nazi-like clothing labels..."

The problem with this is that this statement is taken out of context. Prime Minister Stephen Harper was ambushed by reporters on Friday with a loaded question about the false story, and he gave a conditional statement, adding that he had not been able to verify the story.

Today, then, Drudge is running as "news" a two-day-old, discredited story with a quote from the Canadian PM that is misleading and non-contextual.

Numerous websites - including the Drudge Report - ran this piece of disinformation about the government of Iran on Friday that was likely hatched by Iranian exiles in Canada.

Matt Drudge's site blared the headline "IRAN EYES BADGES FOR JEWS, CHRISTIANS" from about 11:00 am until 5:00 pm EST on Friday May 19. The site removed the link to the original article, but did not provide an acknoledgement of its error.

My requests for a statement from the Drudge Report have not been answered.

Continuing...

Addendum, 4:32 pm: The Drudge Report no longer has the link to the discredited "Iran Badges story." Still no response to my requests for a comment, and I am not holding my breath .

Fear Not the Explosions, Toledo

(Toledo, OH) Residents of West Toledo, Sylvania, and anyone outside that area with good hearing might be alarmed by loud explosions.

An infantry night fire demonstration by Civil War reenactors started about 9:00 pm. Battle reenactments will take place at 11:00 am and 2:00 pm Sunday as part of a Civil War reenactment at Wildwood Metropark.

Thanks to WUPW for the heads up. I am sure that Toledo Police and 911 are getting a high number of calls wondering if terrorists are attacking Toledo.

Rapid Rhetoric: LAMBREQUIN

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

lambrequin - n. an ornamental hanging over the upper part of a window or along the edge of a shelf. A lambrequin can also be a border pattern with draped effect in ceramic objects, or a helmet decoration.

Click the links for photos of lambrequin uses; it is easier to show a lambrequin than to describe one with words.

Showcasing His Art

Left: Keeping shop

(Toledo, OH) Bill Sturm displays his wares in the grass along South Avenue, hoping that the rain that has drenched the area will not return.

"I lost probably eight of the last ten days to the rain," said the craftsman. "It's pretty hard to make a sale in the rain."

Strum is a cane maker, and each of his finely-crafted canes are unique works of art.

"I use oak, birch and hickory for my canes," he said. "Every one of them is like one of my children."
Left: A few of Bill's canes

This particular location, near Detroit Avenue on the edge of Highland Park, has been particularly successful for him.

"I have been here about three years, and I am very happy with the site," said Sturm. "I have been able to sell as many as seven or eight a day."

That might not sound like much of a living until one considers the price of his canes, which start "around $35."

"Every one has a different price, and I have sold them for as much as $150," he said, adding that purchasers have traveled from as far away as Columbus, OH for his sturdy canes.

The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well on this stretch of South Avenue, and Bill Sturm is the sort of throwback artisan in rare supply these days.

Drudge Report Duped by "Iran Badges" Story

(Toledo, OH) Numerous websites - including the Drudge Report - fell victim to a piece of disinformation about the government of Iran today that was likely hatched by Iranian exiles in Canada.

Matt Drudge's site blared the headline "IRAN EYES BADGES FOR JEWS, CHRISTIANS" from about 11:00 am until 5:00 pm EST. The site has since removed the link to the original article.

The Canadian paper National Post began the rumor-mongering this morning with a report that a new law has been passed by the Iranian parliament that would require the country's Jews, Christians, and other religious minorities to wear colored badges to identify them as non-Muslims.

The paper quoted Iranian expatriates living in Canada who said that that the Iranian parliament - the Islamic Majlis - passed a law this week that also set a dress code for all Iranians, requiring them to wear nearly identical "standard Islamic garments" instead of Western-style clothing.

The paper has since taken down the story and issued a new article with the headline: "Experts say report of badges for Jews in Iran is untrue." The Drudge Report simply made the link evaporate without any explanation, and its many thousands of daily visitors have been misinformed.

Numerous Iranian sources have denounced the misleading story in the past few hours.

My calls seeking an official statement from the Iranian embassy and state news agency IRNA have been forwarded, and responses to emails I sent have yet to be answered. I have not yet received a response from Matt Drudge, either.

Michelle Malkin, who initially plunged into the story, acted in an honorable and responsible fashion by providing updates that kept readers informed of news reports debunking the story. Her 12:20 pm update noted that the "Report may not be true."

Developing...

Addendum, 7:56 pm: I just received the following statement from Fariborz Jahansoozan, director of the Iranian Embassy in Washington, DC:

Dear Mr. Brooks: It is nonsense and categorically denied. Are you inquiring about the so-called article that has apparently appeared in a Canadian tabloid? Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Regards,

Jahansoozan

Iranian MP Strongly Denies Reported Iran Badge Plan

Left: Iranian MP Maurice Motammed

(Tehran) A member of the Iranian Parliament, who happens to be Jewish, denied reports in a Canadian newspaper that Iran plans to force non-Muslims to wear colored badges in public so they can be identified.

"This report is a complete fabrication and is totally false," said Maurice Motammed in Tehran. "It is a lie, and the people who invented it wanted to make political gain" by doing so.

Motammed said he had been present in parliament when a bill to promote "an Iranian and Islamic style of dress for women" was debated.

"In the law, there is no mention of religious minorities," he added. "This is an insult to the Iranian people and to religious minorities in Iran."

The Canadian paper National Post reported this morning that a new law has been passed by the Iranian parliament that would require the country's Jews, Christians, and other religious minorities to wear colored badges to identify them as non-Muslims.

The paper quoted Iranian expatriates living in Canada who said that that the Iranian parliament - the Islamic Majlis - passed a law this week that also set a dress code for all Iranians, requiring them to wear nearly identical "standard Islamic garments" instead of Western-style clothing.

My calls seeking a statement from the Iranian embassy and state news agency IRNA have been forwarded, and responses to emails I sent have yet to be answered.

Developing...

Addendum, 4:34 pm: This now posted on DEBKAfile:

The Iranian draft law which raised a world uproar was obtained Friday night, May 19, by DEBKAfile, and proved to contain no clause on a Yellow Star for Jews or special dress for non-Muslim minorities in its 13-clause text.

The outcry was sparked when Iranian exiles in Toronto reported to the Canadian National Post that Tehran had passed a law ordering Jews to wear the Yellow Star, Christians a red ribbon, and Zoroastrians a blue article of clothing.

Haroun Yeshaya, until recently head of Iran’s Jewish Committee, denied knowledge of such a clause.

However, the law has not been finally enacted, and speakers in the majlis debate proposed that non-Muslim minorities be made to wear distinctive clothes, yellow being the preferred color for Jews.

Other Jewish community leaders, lawmaker Moris Mo’tamed and the new community chairman, Rahmat Rafi, were unavailable for comment because of the Sabbath.

DEBKAfile’s Iranian expert says the report and the ensuing uproar against the clerical regime of Tehran may put the Iran’s 20,000 Jews at risk by giving President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad fresh ammunition against the Jews and the Jewish state.

The bill in question aims primarily at countering the revolt against black Muslim dress” as the hot summer approaches and Iranians – especially women - take to light clothing. At the end of the majlis debate, the final draft will be put to the vote; with or without the proposed discriminatory clauses remains to be seen.

Dispute Over Report of Iran Requiring Clothing Badges

(Tehran) The Canadian paper National Post reported today that a new law has been passed by the Iranian parliament that would require the country's Jews, Christians, and other religious minorities to wear colored badges to identify them as non-Muslims.

The paper quoted Iranian expatriates living in Canada who said that that the Iranian parliament - the Islamic Majlis - passed a law this week that also set a dress code for all Iranians, requiring them to wear nearly identical "standard Islamic garments" instead of Western-style clothing.

According to the report, Iranian Jews would be required to sew a yellow strip of cloth on the front of their clothes, while Christians would wear red badges and Zoroastrians would be forced to wear blue cloth. The report also suggests that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad personally pushed to get the bill, which has been stalled for two years, passed by Parliament.

Independent reporter Meir Javdanfar, who was born and raised in Tehran, says the report is untrue.

"It's absolutely factually incorrect," he said. "Nowhere in the law is there any talk of Jews and Christians having to wear different colours. I've checked it with sources both inside Iran and outside."

Javdanfar said that the idea itself is absurd.

"The Iranian people would never stand for it," he said. "The Iranian government wouldn't be stupid enough to do it."

If this report is true, there seems to be a significant disconnect between Iran's theocratic rulers and world opinion. The idea that religious minorities would be singled out and stigmatized has obvious parallels to Nazi Germany.

However, if the report is not factual, this suggests the possibility of a concentrated disinformation campaign against the Republic of Iran.

Developing...

Montenegro Considers Independence From Serbia

(Podgorica) A massive pro-independence rally was held today in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, in advance of Sunday's referendum on whether to secede from Serbia.

Montenegro is the last of the former republics of Yugoslavia to remain attached to its Serbian core (excluding the posibility of the Kosovo province seceding). The country was last an indepedent state 87 years ago.

Pro-independence supporters believe that ending the union with Serbia will bring economic development and a faster path to the European Union. The EU suspended talks on closer ties with Serbia over Belgrade's failure to arrest war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic.

Montenegro has fewer than 700,000 people and is noted for its thickly forested mountains and pisturesque Adriatic beaches.

The director of Montenegro's Center for Democracy and Human Rights believes that polls indicate a voter preference for independence.

"I think we will have a pretty clear result where independence will go beyond 55 percent," said Srdjan Darmanovic. "All polls that are conducted here indicate that the Bloc for Independent Montenegro might win about 55 percent of the votes."

Chantal Chamandy: Ethereal Desire, Timeless Soul

This is an excerpt of an interview for a forthcoming article

(Montreal) Attempting to find a label to attach to the music of Chantal Chamandy is no easy matter. Throwing out a catch-all phrase such as "world music" is meaningless, because Chantal's music defies such a simplistic categorization.

Her evocative voice is unlike mainstream Western singers, as she draws on traditional Middle Eastern and Mediterranean styles and blends these influences in pop music forms ranging from upbeat dance to heartbreaking ballads. Her music, however, is very accessible to Western ears, and the passion that flows from deep in her soul seems to strike a universal chord.

Chantal was born in Alexandria, Egypt to parents of Greek and Lebanese descent, and has lived in Montreal since she was a child. She is fluent in five languages, and her lyrics frequently display this multilingual ability.

Chantal Chamandy's first single, "You Want Me," was a Top 5 track on the UK dance charts for the much of 2005, and in early 2006 the song was a Top 4 “breakout” on Billboard’s US dance chart.

Chantal and I discussed her upcoming album release Love Needs You, slated for release this summer, as well as life, love, and Toledo.

Chantal believes that new artists can achieve fame while maintaining independence by utilizing non-traditional media such as the Internet.

"I was in the music business a few years ago on a major label, and I really prefer working with an independent label," she said. "I can control my own destiny, and I am able to write and develop my music in the way that I envision it."

The key to success using the emerging medium of the Internet, said Chantal, is developing a solid grass-roots group of volunteers.

"I only want to work with people who enjoy the music – I don’t want to work with people who have just been hired as promoters," she said. "I am so lucky to have people backing me who believe in the same things that I do."

Chantal agrees that her music is difficult to categorize.

"Some people like to group me with Shakira, but I don't think I sound much like her," she said. "I like to think of my style as "pop music meets the neighbors," because you might have all sorts of different types of people living in your neighborhood."


The music has been well-received in the areas that Chantal and her organization have targeted.

"We of course did quite well in London last year, but I have been surprised at how people in places like Texas and Ohio have responded," she said. "The Internet has allowed us to reach people in very unexpected places."

Among the unique ways that Chantal has reached out to fans is a relationship advice feature on her website, as well as an interactive MySpace blog.

"I am a true believer in love, and the idea that there is someone for everyone if you wait long enough," she said. "I answer my own mail, and offering advice on matters of the heart has allowed me to connect with fans in a way that I could not do if I was employing publicists."

Chantal's advice to aspiring musicians and singers is direct.

"Find people who believe in what you do and make it happen," she said. "Go out there and just find ways to get heard, and most of all - stick to it!"

Music samples, videos, and much more are available at Chantal Chamandy's website, as well as links to ordering her album.

Rapid Rhetoric: HOLOPHOTE

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

holophote - n. a device used to direct most or all of available light in one direction. The word is most frequently used to describe a lamp with lenses or reflectors that collects rays of light and focuses them in a given direction, such as the apparatus used in lighthouses.

Pat Robertson Says God Told Him of Storms, Tsunami

Left: God: "Listen up, Pat..."

(Virgnia Beach, VA) Televangelist and onetime presidential candidate Pat Robertson claims that God has spoken to him, and that bad things are in store for the United States.

"If I heard the Lord right about 2006, the coasts of America will be lashed by storms," Robertson said May 8, while yesterday he added that "there well may be something as bad as a tsunami in the Pacific Northwest."

Robertson's West Coast tsunami claims are not without scientific merit, as seismologists have warned that an underwater fault known as the Cascadia subduction zone has generated at least four massive earthquakes in the past 1600 years.

Robertson used to strike me as just another socially conservative televangelical (I love this word), but in the past few years he seems to be veering toward lunacy. His well-documented recent controversial statements - such as advocating the assassination of a Hugo Chavez, or that Ariel Sharon's stroke was God's vengeance - have become increasingly strident and bizarre.

Or maybe he is just using the power of the media to make outrageous statements as a way of generating publicity for his 700 Club and affiliated business interests. At any rate the feisty preacher keeps us entertained.

Unless, of course, Robertson is indeed getting an earful from God, in which case maybe I should change my vacation plans from something coastal to something far, far inland.

Return of the Bearded Iris

(Toledo, OH) I would love to take credit for the many beautiful perennials that show up at our house, but my wife has been the one who had the vision to plant so many different bulbs over the years.

Scarcely a week goes by without some colorful blossom brightening our house, and this is the week of the bearded irises.

Bearded irises, I have learned, are easy to cultivate, and grow in almost any garden soil. They need little beyond water and the occasional addition of turfy ingredients, such as peat or loam.

The Latest on Mary Winkler: Mother, Inmate, Enigma

(Selmer, TN) The case of Mary Winkler, the woman who is accused of shooting and killing her husband Matthew on March 21, continues to perplex those involved with the case as well as average citizens.

Winkler spent Mother's Day in the McNairy County, and her children have not seen their mother since her arrest on March 23.

"She didn't want them to see her here,"said McNairy County Sheriff Ricky Roten.

The media continue to seek out Winkler for interviews, said Roten, adding that one reporter attempted to pose as a minister.

"I told him that male ministers can't see female prisoners," said Roten. "He didn't seem to know that."

The lead attorney of the so-called "Memphis Dream Team," Steve Farese, Sr., was cagey during an interview with Bill Hemmer of FOX News today. Hemmer posed a few theoretical defenses to Farese, including the idea that the shooting was accidental.

"That may or may not be accurate. What our defense will be will be exposed at the time of trial," he told Hemmer. "I really don't want to get into those issues, but that's not farfetched."

Hemmer also raised the possibility that Winkler's defense team will pursue post-parttum depression as a defense.

"I think that there will not be a singular-type defense," he said. "I think it may be a culmination of many collateral issues that came into the Winklers' lives, so I would not rule out anything."

Farese told Hemmer that Mary Winkler is cooperating with authorities and her defense team.

"Yes, she is cooperating. I met with her again yesterday, Bill, and each time I meet with her more trust is gained and I'm learning and having new insights into the case," he said. "She is much more responsive, but you would have to understand that yesterday - immediately following Mother's Day - she has not been allowed to see or talk to her children at this point."

Farese suggested that relations with Matthew Winker's parents, who have temporary custody of the three Winkler girls, may be starting to strain.

"We've been trying to cooperate with the paternal grandparents in this matter...it may be getting a little tenuous at this time," he said. "The children are seeing psychologists as far as we know - that's what we have been told - and we're waiting to see what the psychologists say before we attempt to arrange any visits."

The Mary Winkler case goes before the grand Jury June 12, and Farese believes that the case will begin on June 14.

Once-Thriving Area Blighted by Abandoned Property

Left: View from backyard

(Toledo, OH) Sheets over open windows at 1244 Vance billow in the spring breeze, bringing fresh air into the house.

Those same windows, however, have also been open for many months, letting in animals and vagrants.

“No one has lived in that house for over a year and a half,” said neighbor Antoine Davis. “I haven’t seen the owner or anyone from the city over there in a long time.”

The city has foreclosed on the property for back taxes, which currently total $1783.94.


The back door of the house has been ripped from the frame, and passersby have easy access to the house. Litter and clothing suggest that the house may have had recent unauthorized inhabitants.

“A place like that attracts rats, stray dogs, and crackheads,” said Davis. “It also brings down the property values around here.”

Davis, who has lived on Vance Street for 23 years, can remember when it was a thriving neighborhood. He pointed out the locations of a former church, a small glove factory, and the houses of relatives.

In most of those lots, though, all that remains is grass. Approximately half of the buildings that once stood on Vance between Junction and Hoag have been demolished over the past 20 years.

Also of concern to Davis is the proximity of a local elementary school to the house.

“Kids walk down this street to go to Pickett School on Blum. When a building is unsecured kids might go in and get hurt or start a fire,” he said, adding that another nearby abandoned house suffered a similar fate several months ago.

Davis said that it has been hard to watch his neighborhood struggle.

“I grew up on this street, and my family lives right around here,” he said. “This is a neighborhood where everyone knows everybody else, and people look out for each other.”

This article is part of a regular feature I write for the Toledo Free Press called the ABLE Squad - "Abandoned Buildings Looking for Entrepreneurs."

Story of an Oak Tree

(Toledo, OH) In my yard is one of the largest oak trees in my neighborhood. To be completely accurate the tree straddles my property line, so two homeowners can lay claim to "possessing" the tree.

This oak is is over 100 feet tall, and has a circumference of over 12 feet. The canopy that the tree creates extends at least 120 feet, and it provides a great deal of shade in the muggy Toledo summers.

Quercus shumardii is its scientific name, but it also goes by the moniker of Shumard oak. The tree is about 150 years old, based on statistical tables that use circumference as a rough gauge to determining tree age.


Left: The sun trying to cut through the brilliant green of the oak leaves

The leaves on the tree are just beginning to fill out, but the full effect of their dense sun-blocking abilities will not be felt until June.

In addition the tree has been a source of recreation for my children (and extreme angst to me), providing them with massive branches that could support a small elephant. They must climb a neighboring pine tree to access the lowest branches, which are at least 20 feet off the ground.

I do not condone the climbing of this tree, but several of my children exhibit an almost reckless disregard for heights. I, personally, get dizzy climbing anything higher than a stepladder.

The tree produces copious amounts of leaves in the fall, and neighborhood squirrels make it a go-to destination to collect its acorns. They make sure to also raid my bird feeders year round, but I take a live-and-let-live attitude toward the furry rodents.

Among my favorite daily routines is sitting on a bench that I have parked under the tree, and watching the fish in the small pond I installed a few years ago. Even on the hottest days a brief respite can be reached under this tree.

Guy Goma: Update on BBC Snafu

Left: Guy Goma, BBC star and would-be employee

(London) In a previous post, I described a BBC news segment on the court case between Apple and the Beatles' record company of the same name that took a strange twist. A hurried producer inadvertantly grabbed a a person described as a "cabbie" instead of the intended guest expert.

The "cabbie" was actually a man named Guy Goma, who was in the process of applying for a job in the BBC's IT department.

To his credit Goma managed to play along with the interviewer, although his thick French accent probably helped obscure his lack of knowledge on patent law. The real expert was Guy Kewney, editor of Newswireless.net. Guy, meet Guy.

Follow this link to see the interview.

The best part occurs at the beginning of the interview; the momentary look of surprise on the face of Guy Goma is priceless.

The BBC apologized for the incident, and admitted that "unfortunately we did make a mistake and the wrong guy was briefly interviewed on air before we cut to our reporter."

There is no word yet on whether Goma received the IT position with the BBC.

On The President's Immigration Plan

Left: Illegal immigrants walking across the Arizona border

President Bush addressed the nation last night about the issue of illegal immigration, and in some aspects of the plan I am in agreement with him. He recognizes that rounding up and deporting many millions of illegal immigrants is not a practical idea, and that any legislative solutions must include a path to citizenship.

I question the cost effectiveness of hiring another 6,000 full-time Border Patrol agents, and the creation of the high-tech virtual and physical fences that President Bush believes will secure the border.

I am sure that these ambitious plans will make it more difficult for people to illegally cross the border, but these defensive measures do not address the true source of the problem: the vast economic inequities between the lives of people living on opposite sides of the US-Mexican border.

Irrespective of the amount spent on border security, people will continue to come to this country seeking better opportunities for themselves and their families. Build a fence, and people will climb it. Install a camera, and people will disable it. Erect a wall, and people will tunnel under it. Create new ID cards, and they will be forged.

So long as there is such a glaring difference in opportunity between the two countries, there will be people who will not be deterred by obstacles, bureaucratic or physical.

Left: Immigrants scaling a wall on the Texas-Mexico border

The NAFTA crowd tried to convince Americans that outsourcing US jobs to Mexico would help improve the problem of illegal immigration, as new opportunities in Mexican factories would reduce the number of people seeking a better life in this country.

The "giant sucking sound" predicted by Ross Perot did indeed occur, and not just in the United States. Many of the outsourced production facilities found cheaper labor in places like China and Malaysia, and the promised benefits to Mexico as a result of NAFTA turned out to be short-lived in quite a few cases.

We are living in an era that I like to call "hypercapitalism," in which capital flight can occur with breathtaking speed. Entire national currencies can be wiped out in a matter of days if currency speculators get panicky, and corporations can move complete production facilities in a blink of the proverbial eye.

Mexico has suffered both massive currency runs and production emigration in the past 12 years since NAFTA was passed. Instead of curing Mexican economic woes, the agreement simply made it easier for corporations and speculators to extract profits, and to quickly flee the country if better opportunities arise elsewhere.

Until stable national currencies, greater permanency in production, and human beings become the primary focus of world leaders - instead of rubber-stamping the multinational corporate agenda - we will continue to be faced with the prospect of millions of illegal immigrants arriving in America.

That is, until such a point when the standard of living for Americans has fallen to match that of people living south of the border. The real agenda of global elites is to reduce all of us to a common level of poverty and servitude, with wealth and power concentrated in the hands of a global aristocracy.

OTA Links

(Toledo, OH) On Tuesdays, I perform my duties as a member of the Open Trackback Alliance and highlight some sites and posts 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.

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 good fun at 7 Deadly Sins.

Brazilian Violence Escalates; Death Toll Over 70

Left: Members of PCC crime gang on top of Junqueiropolis prison(Alex Silva/AP)

(Sao Paulo, Brazil) Members of criminal gangs set buses on fire and attacked banks in the Brazilian capital of Sao Paulo last night. The death toll in the current campaign of violence has now reached 70 people in the past three days.

Most of those dead are police officers, who have been targeted by the criminal organization First Capital Command (PCC) in protest of the prison transfer of some of its leaders.

The attacks and prison rebellions "were the most vicious and deadliest attacks on public security forces that have ever taken place in Brazil," said Enio Lucciola, spokesman for the Sao Paulo State Public Safety Department.

The attacks on the metropolitan transportaion system have crippled many businesses, according to London Times correspondent Tom Hennigan.

"It was absolute transport chaos in parts of the city, as it was the first back-to-work day since the attacks started," he said. "Sao Paulo is a city that suffers from transport chaos even on a good day. I think the PCC hope to coerce ordinary people to put pressure on the state government. But it is not working, as so many people are so disgusted by the sheer level of violence involved in the attacks that there has been an outpouring of sympathy for the victims."

Since Friday gunmen in Sao Paulo have targeted security forces in the city, using grenades, shotguns, homemade bombs, and automatic weapons to attack police in stations and on the street.

Sao Paulo, the world's third-largest city, has long been in the grip of violent crime and organized syndicates. The city has the reputation of being the "command and control center" for Brazilian drug trafficking, as well as a staging zone for cocaine destined for Africa and Europe.

One observer believes that the coordinated attacks are part of a larger strategy by the PCC to increase the group's influence.

"It's a power struggle," said Renato Simoes, a Sao Paulo congressman and member of the state's Human Rights Commission. "The PCC feels emboldened because it senses the government is weak."

The PCC was founded in 1993 by inmates at the Taubate Penitentiary in Sao Paulo. The group criminal activities include drugs, arms trafficking, kidnappings, bank robberies and extortion.

The PCC staged a notorious prison uprising in 2001 in which 19 inmates died, and the PCC attacked more than 50 police stations in November 2003. São Paulo

Merapi Erupts; Thousands Flee Volcano

(Mount Merapi, Indonesia) Mount Merapi volcano, located on the Indonesian island of Java, exploded with plumes of gas, ash, and rock today. Merapi, or "Fire Mountain", has been threatening to blast for weeks, as lava and gas clouds began flowing from its crater in the past three days.

One eruption sent debris four kilometers down the mountain's western flank, said volcanologist Ratdomo Purbo.

Purbo said that the lava dome, created by multiple individual lava flows, still remains intact. The collapse of the lava dome could set off pyroclastic flows, or the superheated flow of molten rock, ash and gases.

Thousands of people living in nearby villages have already been moved to emergency shelters, and many more are waiting for trucks to take them to safety. About 30,000 people live in the immediate vicinity of the volcano.

The gas clouds, which can reach temperatures of nearly 900 degrees, are fatal to anyone they envelop, presenting a greater threat than the volcano's lava flow. 66 people were killed by deadly volcanic gas in a 1984 eruption of Merapi, while 1300 people died in a 1930 eruption.

Cabbie Mistaken for Patent Expert on BBC

Left: Unknown cabbie gave his best

(London) A BBC news segment on the court case between Apple and the Beatles' record company of the same name took a strange twist when a hurried producer inadvertantly grabbed a nearby cabbie instead of the intended guest expert.

To his credit the cabbie managed to play along with the interviewer, although his thick French accent probably helped obscure his lack of knowledge on patent law. The real expert was Guy Kewney, editor of Newswireless.net.

Follow this link to see the interview.

The best part occurs at the beginning of the interview; the momentary look of surprise on the unknown cabbie is priceless.

The BBC apologized for the incident, and admitted that "unfortunately we did make a mistake and the wrong guy was briefly interviewed on air before we cut to our reporter."

Brazilian Site Compared to Stonehenge

(Amapa, Brazil) Archaeologists in Brazil found a stone structure that predates European colonization in the Amazonian state of Amapa. The site is believed to be an observatory or place of worship, and archaeologists say that the designers of the site displayed a sophisticated knowledge of astronomy.

The traditional views of the history of the Amazon region emphasize that advanced civilizations did not evolve there. Pottery fragments on the site are about 2,000 years old.

"Only a society with a complex culture could have built such a monument," said archaeologist Mariana Petry Cabral, of the Amapa Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (IEPA).

The 127 stones, each weighing several tons, were placed upright and evenly spaced around the site.

The Amapas discovery was announced just days after another ancient observatory was discovered in the Peruvian Andes.

The Andean site includes an observatory that was built on top of a 33-foot-tall pyramid, and it contained precise alignments and sightlines consistent with an astronomical calendar.

"It's really quite a shock to everyone...to see sculptures of that sophistication coming out of a building of that time period," said archeologist Richard L. Burger of Yale University.

Rapid Rhetoric: FESTSCHRIFT

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

Festschrift - n. a collection of essays, articles, or verse published in honor of a distinguished scholar. A Festschrift is usually coordinated with a significant event, such as the honoree's birthday.

The term, derived from German, can be translated as "celebration publication;" it is formed from the German words Fest ("festival") and Schrift ("writing").

On Our State of Fear

Left: National Guard troops in formation

The revelation that the National Security Agency (NSA) has engaged in an information gathering operation affecting millions of Americans should have been shocking. This appears to be a blatant case of the federal government trampling on established rule of law in its quest to fight terrorism.

And yet most people with whom I speak seem unconcerned about the fact that the government has coerced some of the largest telephone service providers to turn over call records.

"Well, at least they are not connecting the collected data with individual citizens," is the usual sort of response to my queries.

The President insists that the domestic surveillance program is legal, necessary, and harmless.

"The privacy of all Americans is fiercely protected in all our activities," he said today in his weekly radio address. "The government does not listen to domestic phone calls without court approval. We are not trawling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans."

The President may indeed be telling the truth, and this program really might be designed to develop a database of typical telephone traffic.

The datamining efforts by the NSA, however, are just a portion of the gradual erosion of privacy in this country, which began long before President Bush took office. Once the door is opened to illegal acts by the government the precedent is set for future assaults on liberty, and members of both major parties seem all too willing to allow our liberties to be usurped.

An overzealous federal government, however, is only a part of the equation. The more important consideration is an American citizenry cowed into a state of fear.

Domestic terrorism. Avian flu. Rogue nuclear states. Moral decay. Illegal immigration.

These are but a few of the dread-provoking scenarios that have caused many Americans to retreat into their homes and meekly accept the latest news of the excesses of an increasingly authoritarian government.

The mantra of fear is repeated in every pronouncement made by President Bush and members of his administration. The vertical integration of fear into the administration's messages would make an fascinating study in mass marketing were the stakes not so high. From today's radio address:

The enemies who struck our Nation on September the 11th, 2001, intend to attack us again, and to defeat them, we must have the best possible intelligence.

Fear of terrorism. Fear of avian flu. And most of all, fear of our own government. We live in a state of fear, and under a state of fear.

May God bless the United States of America, for the nation has never needed such blessing so much as it does today.

Teen Arsonists Busted After MySpace Posts

Left: Fire personnel extinguishing blaze on March 12 attributed to teen arsonists; photo by Allison Finn

(Rockville, MD) Two Maryland teenagers were charged with setting 17 fires in suburban Washington, DC after they bragged about the blazes on MySpace.com sites.

The young firebugs face a total of 22 charges, including two counts each of first-degree arson and four counts of second-degree arson.

The two boys, whose names have not yet been released, are accused of setting fire to school busses, a bowling alley, retail stores, and numerous vehicles. An anonymous tip led investigators to MySpace, where they found photos and text that linked the teens to the fires.

"The significant thing is they posted on the Internet, and bragged about the fires, and that certainly allowed us to break the case," said Montgomery County Fire Chief Thomas W. Carr Jr. "They posted photos of these fires."

Carr said that the wave of fires frightened residents in the area.

"Whatever their motive is, they took the opportunity to set numerous fires," he said of the spree that lasted from January 20 to April 16. "The neighbors were very much concerned about the terror in their neighborhood. They were freaked out."

Carr added that, while the MySpace tip helped break the case, he had grave concerns about parental oversight.

"There's two things about that. One, it definitely helped us," he said. "But two, the ability to communicate in real time and brag in real time is obviously a concern. It illustrates that the parents need to be involved. Where were the parents when this was going on?"

Rapid Rhetoric: VULNERARY

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

vulnerary - adj., n. As an adjective the word "vulnerary" refers to a treatment that can heal wounds. The noun version is the wound-healing treatment itself.

"Vulnerary" is derived from the Latin word "vulnus," which means "wound." Most of you by now have figured out that "vulnus" is related to the English word "vulnerable," which has a literal meaning of "woundable."

From the 6 May 1935 edition of Time magazine:

The urine of unborn babies is an excellent vulnerary [emphasis added]. Wounds and ulcers promptly heal under the bland influence of a remarkable chemical, allantoin, which such urine contains. Allantoin also occurs in beets and bruisewort, favorite folk remedies for cuts and ulcers.

Hey - I only report what I read - no one is forcing you to collect infant urine.

Slavery Fan Winston McCuen Stirring the Pot Again

Left: All McCuen wants is a little more slavery

(Cayce, SC) Winston McCuen is a Latin teacher who currently works at Brookland-Cayce High School in South Carolina. He has incurred the wrath of school officials for allegedly making racist remarks in his classrooms at the school.

McCuen was fired from his job at St. Joseph's Catholic High School in Greenville, SC in January 1999 for a variety of behaviors, including his refusal to take down a Confederate flag, refusing to acknowledge the US flag, and sitting during the Pledge of Allegiance.

McCuen has been placed on administrative leave for allegedly discussing in class his views that slavery was a positive institution and that blacks are inferior to whites.

In an interview with WLTX News, McCuen discussed one of his favorite political heroes.

"John C. Calhoun: the greatest South Carolinian in terms of political understanding and wisdom," said McCuen. "And he argued that the institution of slavery was a positive good, and he called it a great good and it was good."

McCuen explained his beliefs in the importance of maintaining slavery in America.

"In America there was a rational assessment saying listen, if we give these people freedom right as they are and you have to go back to see how they were, you can't assume they were like us," he said. "They [blacks] were coming out of the jungles. They had been enslaving each other for centuries in Africa, and in terms of being used to rule of law, they knew none of that."

Left: McCuen with wife in 1999

On the website of American Renaissance, a pro-white advocacy organization, McCuen recently posted the following assessment of slavery:

As the great Calhoun taught: true freedom or liberty is a [Providential] reward for moral and intellectual virtue; while slavery, in most cases historically, is the just [Providential] punishment of the slave himself for his ignorance, sloth and depravity. Certainly, this was the case with black slavery in America — since it unquestionably involved the just and proper subordination of an inferior and uncivilized [black] race by a superior and civilized [white] race.
That being the case, Vesey, Nat Turner, and the rest were at best only little more than a murderous, barbarous rebels against just authority and civilization.

This is why there is no apology to be made for black slavery in America. Indeed, why should today’s whites apologize for the WISDOM of their ancestors?

Of course, by even linking these articles I am just fueling the media frenzy and adding to the attention that this avowed racist draws. However, given the recent "fair and balanced" witchhunts against left-leaning educators like Ward Churchill and Jay Bennish, McCuen deserves a little time of his own.

The Great Lakes Hurricane of 2006

(Toledo, OH) A low pressure system currently parked over Lake Michigan is the center of a cyclonic weather system that is dumping large amounts of rain, sprinkling some snow, and driving wind gusts up to 60 MPH.

The slow-moving weather phenomena is expected to remain in the Great Lakes through the weekend before drifting to the Northeast.

OK, so "hurricane" is a stretch; if this were a hurricane it would be about a Category 0.5, or more like a tropical depression. We do not get many systems like this in the Midwest, so we weather geeks in the Great Lakes have to find entertainment when and where we can.

While on the subject of unusual weather patterns, a funnel cloud was just spotted near Washington, DC. No jokes about hopes that the tornado will visit Capitol Hill, please.

On American Idol and American Idiocy

(Toledo, OH) I have never watched an episode of "American Idol," nor do I ever care to watch this program.

There. My bias is out front and center.

I abhor almost everything that this show stands for: the corporatization of music, the glorification of using sex as a tool, the promotion of self-exploitation, and the relentless consumerism inherent in a concept that preaches people are worthless unless they are stars.

I do not begrudge the contestants and the fact that they have bought into the lie of stardom, even the sort of manufactured stardom that "American Idol" offers. There was a time when I, too, believed that I could achieve happiness and satisfaction in the music industry; the dream of fame and fortune is a pleasant, though destructive, narcotic.

Nor do I lay the blame for this culture of decay solely at the feet of the producers of "American Idol," as the widespread fascination with "reality" television predates this program. The show, however, is by far the most popular of the surreality genre, and thus is the focus of my ire.

We are becoming a nation of mind-numbed imbeciles who spend countless hours drooling in front of the 50" plasma screen seeking to feed our addiction to the meaningless pap that "American Idol" doles out. When the show is not being broadcast, or when we have watched the TiVo recordings ad nauseum, it is time to visit one of the millions of websites dedicated to the blatherings of the hosts and contestants.

Television news shows devote more time to "Idol" controversies than many pressing social, political, and economic issues. The "drama" of Chris Daughtry being voted off yesterday's broadcast was one of the top four news items on the networks this morning. Over half of Americans cannot find New York or Israel on a map, but I would wager that those same people would have no problem naming the remaining 10 contestants on "American Idol."

I am an admitted curmudgeon and iconoclast, and I recognize that my distaste for what passes for most "entertainment" on television, in movies, and in music puts me in a distinct minority.

But do we really want to live in a world where the main goals of our children are to one day compete - or be able to compete - in unreality shows such as "American Idol," or where this fabricated universe is the focus of so much of our energies?

Attorneys for Father Gerald Robinson Plan to Appeal

Left: Father Gerald Robinson awaiting the verdict

(Toledo, OH) Defense attorneys for Father Gerald Robinson, convicted today of murder in the 1980 slaying of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl, announced that they will appeal the jury's verdict.

"We certainly respectfully disagree with the jury’s verdict and intend to appeal," said lead defense attorney Alan Konop. "It’s been a very difficult verdict. We felt there was reasonable doubt. Obviously the jury disagreed...That’s the way the system works."

Konop declined to specify the grounds upon which the appeal would be based.

The jury in the case took 6-1/2 hours to reach its verdict, surprising most observers. Judge Thomas Osowik immediately pronounced a sentence of 15 years to life on Robinson, who could become eligible for parole in as few as 10-1/2 years.

Father Robinson Verdict - "GUILTY"

Left: Father Gerald Robinson, courtesy of realnews247.com

(Toledo, OH) The jury has announced that it has reached a verdict in the trial of Father Gerald Robinson, who is accused of murdering Sister Margaret Ann Pahl in 1980.

Guilty.

Judge Thomas Osowik immediately imposed a sentence of 15 years to life on the priest.

Court TV reported that Claudia Vercellotti, a leader in SNAP (Survivor's Network of those Abused by Priests), told Father Gerald Robinson as he was led away: "I hope you rot in Hell."

Jurors in the case deliberated for about four hours Wednesday after nine days of testimony, and returned for another two hours of deliberation today. They informed Judge Osowik that they preferred not to talk with the media.

For those looking for good coverage and analysis of the tial, I 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.

Addendum, 5:23 pm: Bill Frogameni, a local freelance writer covering the story for Reuters, has a different version of the "rot in Hell" comment than what was quoted on Court TV:

After the verdict was read, one of Robinson's supporters left the court in tears. She turned to Claudia Vercellotti, a local leader of the Survivors Network for Those Abused by Priests, who had helped reopen the case, and told her, "I hope you rot in hell!"

Bill has been covering this case for years, and was in the courtroom today, so I trust what he writes far more than the comments of the Court TV pundits in New York.

Rapid Rhetoric: MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC

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

magnetohydrodynamic - adj.. pertaining to a method of directly generating electricity by passing an ionized gas through a magnetic field at extremely high temperatures.

A magnetohydrodynamic drive (also known as an "MHD propulsor"), is an experimental method for propelling seagoing vessels. Electric currents are passed through seawater in the presence of a massive magnetic field.

The primary drawback with MHD technologies in seagoing vessels is that they are more expensive than a conventional propeller driven by an engine. Some suggest that fuel cell technology may make MHD systems competitive with conventional means of propelling watercraft.

MHD systems are also being considered for the propulsion of spacecraft, using plasma or a thin cloud of ionic gasses. One of the most revolutionary of these systems is the variable specific impulse magnetoplasma rocket, the physics of which are far beyond my capabilities to explain; I'm just a word guy.

Review: Admiral of the Ocean Sea: A Life of Christopher Columbus

Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1942. Vol. I – 448 pages, Vol. 2 – 444 pages

Left: Samuel Eliot Morison (seated)

Samuel Eliot Morison was an American historian, graduating with his doctorate from Harvard in 1912. He began teaching at the same university in 1915, becoming full professor in 1925 and the Jonathan Trumbull professor of American history in 1941. He also had a short stint at Oxford (1922-25), where he was the Harmsworth professor of American history. Morison was appointed Harvard’s official historian in 1926, and was commissioned by FDR to write a history of US naval operations in 1942. He received the rank of Lieutenant Commander for this work, and retired from the Navy in 1951 as a rear admiral. Both this two-volume text, as well as his biography John Paul Jones (1959), received the Pulitzer Prize.

Morison completed what might be the ultimate in gonzo historical research: he assembled a team of historians and navigators to attempt to use the ship logs of Columbus and recreate the transatlantic voyages of the Genoese captain. In the summers of 1939 and 1940, Morison and his assistants painstakingly mapped the Four Voyages as they sailed across the Atlantic and through the Caribbean. He oversaw the drafting of these sailing charts by members of the Harvard Institute of Geographical Exploration, and thus added a dimension of scientific evidence to the debates regarding the true routes that Columbus sailed.

Traditional historiographical views of Columbus and the era of European expansion are in abundance in this text. Morison uses broad, sweeping rhetoric to describe what he argued were the gloomy state of affairs in Europe in 1492, claiming that “[a]t the end of the year 1492 most men in Western Europe felt exceedingly gloomy about the future.” Europe, according to Morison, was a picture of “degeneracy and decay,” and Columbus arrived on the scene to “become the sign and symbol of this new age of hope, glory, and accomplishment.” Columbus was thus a quasi-Messiah for early modern Europe, in the view of Morison, and his voyages ushered in an era of economic wealth, scientific discovery, and religious revitalization. Morison’s penchant for Eurocentric sycophancy and bombastic rhetoric is never more evident than in the following passage:

Never again may mortal men hope to recapture the amazement, the wonder, the delight of those October days in 1492 when the New World gracefully yielded her virginity to the conquering Castilians.

Left: Columbus - maritime Messiah?

Morison devoted a great deal of this monograph to an examination of Columbus as a man of the sea. Entire chapters are dedicated to essays on such topics as ships and shipbuilding, navigation techniques, and the logistics of transatlantic voyages. Columbus, according to Morison, was a natural sailor:

Columbus must have had a born navigator’s innate sense of direction, as well as a practiced seaman’s knowledge of what to expect from cloud formations, the look of the water, and the behavior of the wind.

Morison argued that it was Columbus’s skill with dead reckoning that made him such a superlative sailor, noting that the Admiral was “unable to use the astrolabe on his First Voyage, and there is no evidence of his taking such an instrument on any other.” Morison also lauded the coastal piloting ability of Columbus, making the following claim:

Seldom in history, perhaps never again except in Captain James Cook, have the top two grades of these two qualities [deep-sea and shallow-water navigational skills] been united in the same mariner.

Like all explorers, Columbus undoubtedly had his reasons for leaving shore and departing for parts unknown. Morison argued that religion was the primary motivator for the Genoese captain, and that the faith of Columbus was “genuine and sincere.” Morison continued:

[his faith] gave him confidence in his destiny, assurance that his performance would be equal to the promise of his name. This conviction that God destined him to be an instrument for spreading the faith was far more potent than the desire to win glory, wealth, and worldly honors…

The strengths of this book are to be found in the exhaustive technical details, highlighted by the aforementioned Harvard maps. There are diagrams that illustrate, for example, the processes of “beating to windward” and “clawing off a lee shore.” Spanish coinage from the Columbian era is displayed with conversion charts, and Morison even offered a short essay on the controversy surrounding the remains of Columbus; the author argued that “Columbus belongs to America, the New World of his discovery.” Of course, the indigenous peoples of the Americas might have other ideas about what to do with the bones of the Genoese captain, but that is the subject of an altogether different essay. Despite its fawning adulation for Columbus and heavy-handed Eurocentrism, Morrison's book remains valuable for its nautical insights and practical approach to understanding the Columbus voyages.

Union Members Blast Toledo Blade Television Ads

Left: Union members gather in front of Toledo Blade building on April 10; photo by historymike

(Toledo, OH) The Toledo Blade, currently in contract negotiations with its eight unions, has launched a series of television ads designed to highlight the paper’s image toward unions.

The ads feature former WTOL anchor Jeff Heitz, who narrates a script that places the Blade at the forefront of positive union-management relationships in the city. In most of the ads Heitz is positioned in front of the Toledo Blade building.

One ad begins with a young girl looking through a family album with her grandmother. The two discuss all of the relatives who have moved away from Toledo due to its former reputation as a town unfriendly to business.

“Will I have to move away to get a job, Grandma?” asks the young girl.

Heitz explains that, given such high-profile successes as the Jeep and Powertrain expansions, unions and corporations have learned how to work together for common goals.

The ad campaign angers the members of the Blade’s unions, said union council spokesman Larry Vellequette.

“With Jeep and Hydromatic they didn’t come to their employees with a gun in their hand and make outrageous demands,” he said. “We have not gotten a single changed offer in the past three months from the Blade’s negotiators. The Blade is hypocritical in running such ads, since they have done almost nothing to work with the unions during these negotiations.”

Luann Sharp, assistant managing editor for the Blade, took issue with Vellequette’s assessment.

“The ads are informational in nature, and designed to get out our side of the story,” she said. “There seems to have been quite a bit of media attention devoted to the unions’ side of the issues.”

The ads are also designed to promote Toledo’s achievements in the recent past, said Sharp.

“The ads are part of a campaign to demonstrate the successes that can happen when labor and management work together,” she said. “The UAW and the auto companies have accomplished some tremendous things in Toledo over the last few years by working together.”

Vellequette said that some of the Blade’s tactics during the period of negotiations belie the paper’s claims that it is interested in cooperative solutions.

“The paper has stopped withholding union dues from many union members,” he said. “This tactic has only one purpose – they try to weaken the union by making the union collect dues by hand.”

The firm of King and Ballow – hired by the Blade to lead contract negotiations – is also a sore spot for union members, said Vellequette.

“This is a national union-busting firm that is notorious for reprehensible tactics,” he said. “At a recent session they told us: ‘The unions have run this company for 70 years and now it’s our turn.’ How can the Blade claim it is working with us when they hire union busters?”

An email obtained by the Toledo Free Press addressed to union employees, written by human resource director David Warders, provided advice to union members. The letter reminded union employees that they may choose to stop paying dues, leave the union, or cross picket lines.

“We also want to remind you that the choice is yours – you are free to join a union – or not to join a union,” Warders said in the letter.

To Vellequette and many union members, such correspondence was disheartening.

“They also sent these to our homes, and this is an ugly tactic designed to try and divide us,” he said. “Does this sound like a company that really wants to ‘work together?’”

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

Georgia Student Suspended for Singing Parody

Left: Peachtree Ridge HS

(Suwanee, GA) A high school junior was suspended for five days after singing a spoof of the song "On Top of Ol' Smokey."

The version of the song that Beth Ann Cox, 16, sang includes the lyrics: "On top of Ol' Smokey, all covered with blood, I shot my poor teacher with a .44 slug."

Cox, a student at Peachtree Ridge High School, admitted that she had been humming the song during German class, but claimed that she was not singing loudly or directing the lyrics at the teacher, Phil Carroll.

"I'd had a song stuck in my head all day, like the tune of it," she said. "This kid in front of me asked me about the song. So I told him the words. I didn't say them loudly."

Sloan Roach, a spokesperson for Gwinnett County schools, disagreed with the version of events as presented by Cox. She said the student was discussing a grade with Carroll when she began singing the song out loud in class. Roach also said that the five-day suspension was "appropriate disciplinary action" for disrupting class.

Cox was pulled out of class later on Friday and accused of threatening a teacher. She began serving her suspension on Monday of this week.

School administrators told the student that they would also revoke her permissive transfer, which means she will not be able to return to Peachtree Ridge for her senior year.

Beth Ann has had previous difficulties with the teacher in the past, according to her mother.

"We feel that Dr. Carroll has some kind of a vendetta out for our daughter. And he used this to take a stand against her," said Suzanne Cox.

The family plans to meet with their attorney today to discuss possible legal action, arguing that the suspension and forced transfer were unfair.

I am the parent of teenagers, and they do some goofy things from time to time. If my children got suspended every time they did something as foolish as singing "On Top of Ol' Smokey," they would be out of school more than they would be in it.

Heck, one of my daughters only got three days for being in a fight with another student, although she did get a trip to the Lucas County juvenile detention facility for violating the Safe Schools ordinance.

As a child I sang a similar version of the song:

On top of ol' Smokey all covered with sand,
I shot my poor teacher with a green rubber band.

I went to her funeral, I went to her grave,
Everyone threw flowers, BUT I THREW GRENADES!

(The last portion of this version must be sung at the top of the lungs for maximum effect).

In my mind a five-day suspension to Beth Ann Cox for "threatening" a teacher is ludicrous. For school officials to call this a "threat" - with a straight face - is the height of absurdity. One would hope that a sensible district administrator will step in to avoid dragging this out into a protracted legal battle.

Rapid Rhetoric: SAMPHIRE

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

samphire - n. an edible wild plant found in coastal regions of Britain. The plant has fleshy, aromatic leaves that have long been regarded as a delicacy, and it is sometimes used as a garnish in London restaurants.

A variant, called golden samphire, is found throughout coastal areas of Eurasia.

The plant is sometimes referred to as "sea asparagus." Here is a tasty-sounding recipe for blanched samphire.

OTA Link Love

(Toledo, OH) On Tuesdays, I perform my duties as a member of the Open Trackback Alliance and highlight some sites and posts 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.

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 good fun at 7 Deadly Sins.

Peres: "Iran Can Also Be Wiped Off the Map"

(Tel Aviv) Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres took a shot at Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today, saying that "the president of Iran should remember that Iran can also be wiped off the map."

The comment was a reference to a similar statement made by Ahmadinejad that has been translated by some as a direct threat to obliterate Israel. Other scholars, such as Juan Cole, believe that a more correct translation would be something along the lines of "the occupation regime over Jerusalem must be erased from the page of time."

Peres blasted the Iranian government for its position on its uranium enrighment program and its hard-line stance.

"Tehran is making a mockery of the international community's efforts to solve the crisis surrounding Iran's nuclear program," said Peres. "Iran presents a danger to the entire world, not just to us."

The timing of the remarks by Peres is puzzling, as it comes on the day that an Iranian official announced that Ahmadinejad had written to US President George W. Bush in an attempt to reduce tensions between the two countries.

Peres warned that a nuclear arms race will escalate if Iran produces nuclear weapons.

"If Iran becomes nuclear many other countries will follow suit," he said. "Whoever will have a conflict will produce a bomb, and finally some bombs will reach the hands of terror."

Peres, however, did not mention his own country's clandestine nuclear program, nor of its own refusal to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. By some estimates Israel may have as many as 100 nuclear warheads in its arsenal.

On Loretta Nall, Drug Laws, and Politics

(Toledo, OH) Our nation has been on a crusade against intoxicating substances since the nineteenth century. Etched into our national character seems to be a Prohibitionist itch that cannot be satisfied, no matter how often we scratch it.

Before progressing further, let me make a confession - I do not drink, smoke, or use drugs, save those prescribed by my physician. I say this not out of pride but rather for people who might make judgments about me being some sort of caricature of a pot-smoking hippie.

I did, in my wilder days, travel down the road of inebriation, but that is altogether another story.

Loretta Nall is a Libertarian candidate for governor in Alabama. Her campaign itself is intriguing, and her website details many of her proposals; some I wholeheartedly support, and there are others with which I disagree.

This is not an essay about Nall's "Vote Nall Y'all ... It's Just Common Sense" campaign.

Nall's decision to run for governor is based upon a series of life-changing events in which she became ensnared in the American jihad against intoxicants. Read her bio on her Nall for Governor website for a more detailed chronology of her bizarre ordeal.

The drama began when she saw a helicopter flying over her Alabama house looking for marijuana plants. Nall says that she never grew any plants, and did not think much of the flyover at first, although she videotaped the chopper when it began to circle her house.

Things got a little strange, though, when in her words, "7 local, state and federal law enforcement agencies roared up the driveway in big black trucks with tinted windows and loaded ATV trailers." The entourage left when Nall demanded to see a search warrant.

Gripped with a sense of righteous indignation, Nall fired off a letter to the editor of the Birmingham News. She believed that she had performed her civic duty, and thought that she was merely standing up for the constitutional rights of American citizens.

However, Nall inadvertantly marked herself with the dangerous label of "activist" when her letter was printed.

Police returned with a search warrant based upon her letter to the editor, and thus a 3-year odyssey of judicial horror began. The police claim to have found a letter addressed to Nall in her home that contained .87 grams of marijuana in the form of a couple of seeds and a charred piece of rolling paper.

Nall was arrested, had her children temporarily removed from her home by children's services, and ultimately paid a $250 fine after being convicted of a misdemeanor.

The state of Alabama spent several hundred thousand dollars investigating, prosecuting, and adjudicating this case.

In Loretta's words: "Thus began my counter-attack, what has become a life consuming, all out frontal assault on U.S. drug policy."

There exists in this country a prison-industrial complex that is dependent upon the steady influx of drug offenders to maintain both its existence and continued profitability. Millions of Americans have been herded through the nation's prisons in a failing effort to eliminate drug abuse and addiction-related crime.

It is time to change what we are doing.

Over 80 percent of property crimes are committed by drug users seeking to support an expensive, illegal habit. The War on Drugs has accomplished little, except to drive the price of illegal intoxicants to stratospheric levels.

Our efforts to outlaw alcohol in the 1920s and 1930s were a complete failure. Alcohol use actually increased during Prohibition, and the trade in illegal alcohol fueled the rise of organized crime.

There are people who will habitually seek a state of intoxication irrespective of the laws. My father, a retired police officer, told me that the poorest panhandlers would steal products like mouthwash or shoe polish for their alcohol content when booze was not available.

The most sensible direction that we could embark on would be to decriminalize drugs, tax them, and focus our energies on educating people about the dangers of the hazardous intoxicants. Rather than a criminal issue, drug abuse should be a health care issue.

Of course, the times that we as a nation opted first for common sense are far fewer than those in which we became swept up with the mania of Prohibitionist zeal.

Chavez: Venezuela to Impose New Extraction Tax

Left: Chavez with Bolivian President Morales

(Caracas, Venezuela) Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Sunday night that the country would impose a new tax on corporations that extract oil to increase revenues from its petroleum industry. The move is expected to raise at elast $1 billion in new revenues for Venezuela.

"We are going to create a new oil tax, called the tax on extraction," said Chavez. "The companies that are pumping oil in Venezuela are making a lot of money."

Chavez said that Venezuela also plans to raise income taxes to 50 percent from 34 percent for the largest oil companies operating along the Orinoco River, while raising taxes on natural gas firms that operate in the country.

The companies operating in the country's Faja ("heavy- oil") region- Exxon-Mobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Total BP, and Statoil ASA - produce about 600,000 barrels of synthetic crude oil a day. This is transported to the coast where it is refined before being exported.

Chavez also praised the decision by Bolivian President Evo Morales to nationalize his country's natural gas and oil industries.

"Hopefully, all Bolivians will understand that this is vital for Bolivia's future, just like what we are doing is vital for the future of Venezuela," Chavez said.

It appears that nations in the Western Hemisphere are calculating that the United States possesses neither the will nor the means to back up its traditional hemispheric hegemony with military force. This lack of a credible military threat, coupled with increasing global demand for ever more scarce oil reserves, will continue to prompt more nations to test the patience limits of US leaders.

Chavez knows that he can turn off the spigots and cause a significant disruption to the US economy, as Venezuela is the world's fifth-largest oil producer. He also likely believes that Venezuela could ride out a temporary cessation of production better than could the US.

Iran Threatens to Pull Out of Nuclear Treaty

Left: Iranian President Ahmadinejad

(Tehran, Iran) President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran said today that any resolutions passed by the UN Security Council that were contrary to Iran's interests would have "no value" to the country.

"If international bodies acted contrary to international laws and if their resolutions threatened our national interests, then such resolutions would have no value for us," Ahmadinejad said.

The Iranian parliament today also threatened to force the government to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty if the US and its allies kept pressuring Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment program.

In a letter to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, the Iranian legislators warned that the dispute over Iran's nuclear program must be resolved "peacefully, (or) there will be no option for the parliament but to ask the government to withdraw its signature" from treaty provisions.

US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton, in predictable Boltonian fashion, downplayed the significance of the Iranian statements.

"This is a typical Iranian threat. It shows they remain desperate to conceal that their nuclear program is in fact a weapons program," he said. "I'm confident that these statements from Iran will not deter the sponsors of the draft resolution from proceeding in the Security Council."

The sponsors of the resolution - the US, France, and Britain - may proceed, but they must still convince Russia and China of the worthiness of the action. Both countries have repeatedly expressed reluctance to confront Iran at this stage.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi urged the UN Security Council to vote down any attempts to impose sanctions on Iran.

"Intervention by the UN Security Council would change the path of cooperation to confrontation. We recommend they do not do this," he said. "The UN Security Council should not take any action that it cannot later undo. We won't give up our rights and the issue of suspension (of uranium enrichment) is not on our agenda."

It is clear that Iran recognizes the difficulty in which the US finds itself. With troops tied down in Afghanistan and Iran, the US has no credible military threat beyond air strikes; the balloon that was floated last month of nuking Iran was met with widespread condemnation by the international community, and President Bush was forced to disavow the plan.

While "all options remain on the table," as President Bush said last month, the US must now attempt to save face since it appears that the American military bluff has been called by Iran.

Unless, of course, the military option has been the preferred path all along, in which case I may begin to invest in gold, canned goods, and a .30-06 Springfield.

Sorry. It's a cynical Sunday.

The Passing of a Legend

(Toledo, OH) It is with sincere regret that I must inform readers of the passing of a truly unique dog, Daisy.

For those of you outside the Toledo area, or who never venture in the Westgate area, Daisy was a mainstay along busy Secor Road for many years. She sat, Sphinx-like, in front of Sweeper World, where her owner Dennis Gillen runs Toledo's best vacuum cleaner sales and service emporium.

"Daisy developed bad hips and a pinched nerve in her back," said Gillen. "We had to put her to sleep three weeks ago."

I posted a story about Daisy last year, and the response was so positive here and at Toledo Talk that I ran the post again several months later.

I stopped by Sweeper World today to get some vacuum cleaner bags (special deal if you purchase two packs) and chatted with Gillen about dogs. My good friend Hershey, a chocolate Labrador retriever, also suffered from severe hip problems and had to be put asleep this year.

Two grown men keeping tears in check over a couple of dogs; it never ceases to amaze me how pets can become such a part of a person's life.

Daisy, if you see my old friend up in Dog Heaven, tell him I said "Hello."

Gillen has a new friend who accompanies him to Sweeper World these days, a tan-colored chow named Lilly. Perhaps she will one day become as recognizable as the friendly black chow who was once known as the First Lady of Secor Road.

South American Leaders Back Bolivian Gas Nationalization

(Puerto Iguazu, Argentina) Leaders of four South American countries reached an agreement to negotiate prices of Bolivian gas, and also that gas supplies will keep flowing after the Bolivian reclamation of its energy industry.

After a four-hour emergency summit in this Argentine tourist city the leaders of Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela and Bolivia came up with a joint statement that pledged to avoid a regional dispute sparked by Bolivia's nationalization decision.

"In terms of price, the document is absolutely clear," said Argentine president Nestor Kirchner. "It says ... that bilateral meetings will be the means to resolve price discussion between countries."

Most importnatly for Evo Morales, Bolivia's new president, is that the document provides unequivocable support for Bolivia's right to nationalize its natural resources. Foreign companies have six months to sign new contracts with YPFB, the state energy company, giving the state 82% of production profits.

Foreign companies failing to reach agreements face the risk of expulsuion from Bolivia.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said that his own country's nationalization efforts helped pave the way for Bolivia.

"We have recovered the control of our natural resources and our mineral riches in a very long and difficult process that even cost us an attempted coup," said Chavez. "I can tell you that the process in Bolivia will in no way be traumatic."

Left: Bolivian troops are now guarding oil and gas facilities

One of the chief goals of the summit - maintaining gas supplies to Bolivia's neighbors - was also achieved.

"The important thing is that gas supplies for the countries needing them have been guaranteed and that prices will be discussed in the most democratic form possible between all parties involved," said Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva after the meeting.

Brazil's state-owned oil company Petrobras said after the meeting that it will seek international arbitration if it cannot reach a deal with Bolivia on the price of natural gas imports within 45 days.

"The contract between Petrobras and YPFB establishes the mechanisms that should govern the negotiation and we are going to follow these procedures," said Petrobras President Jose Sergio Gabrielli.

Petrobras warned earlier in the week that it would halt all investment in Bolivia after the nationalization announcement by Morales on May Day.

Death Toll Passes 1,100 in Angolan Cholera Epidemic

Left: Angolan medical personnel transport a cholera victim

(Luanda, Angola) The death toll from a cholera outbreak in Angola has reached 1,109, according to government officials.

More than 26,000 people have become ill with cholera since the outbreak was reported in mid-February. This particular epidemic seems to have an unusually high mortality rate, and some experts predict that a quarter-million or more people may ultimately be infected with Vibrio cholerae, the bacterium responsible for the disease.

Overcrowding and poor sanitation in the country's urban slums - which are inhabited in large part by people who were displaced during the country's 27-year civil war - have helped the disease to quickly spread.

Ten out of 18 provinces are fighting the epidemic that has left 26,176 people ill and claimed 1,069 lives, according to figures from the WHO released on Thursday.

The NGO Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), calls the situation a "national emergency," and confirms much of the WHO data.

Cholera causes massive, watery diarrhea that can quickly lead to severe dehydration and death if treatment is not given promptly. The most important considerations in treating cholera are rehydration and replenishment of electrolytes.

WHO statistics demonstrate that between 25 and 50 percent of cholera cases are fatal if not treated properly, but that adequate medical care can reduce the mortality rate to between one and two percent.

The mortality rate of the Angolan epidemic is 5.1 percent, several times higher than most other regions prone to cholera outbreaks.

Rapid Rhetoric: HEPHAESTIAN

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

Hephaestian adj. of or related to Hephaestus, the Greek god of fire and iron-working.

This word is generally used in describing the work of blacksmiths. The alternate adjectival form of "Hephaestic" is also found in most dictionaries.

Also worth noting: Prometheus stole the fire he gave to man from the forge of Hephaestus, and Hephaestus is also credited with creating the evil gift that the gods gave man: Pandora and her box.

The End of Finals Week

(Toledo, OH) This history class at the University of Toledo was hard at work taking a final exam today when I interrupted them with a quick bit of flash photography.

For most students our final exam was their last activity before the semester ended, and for a few students, the last step before graduation and what they hope will be an exciting career in their respective fields.

For me the end of a class is always a bittersweet moment, whether as a student or as an instructor. Each class develops its own personality over the months, and the particular events over the course of a given semester will never again be repeated.

Simultaneously, there is always a sense of relief when a long semester ends.

This particular semester was somewhat less satisfying to me, as the large class of 200 met for lectures two days a week, and broke up into 15 online discussion groups for the third portion of the class. I consequently got to know fewer of the students by name, and only learned a few things about them in the online rooms.

I much prefer traditional face-to-face instruction, although the trend is toward more distance learning and Web-assisted courses.

Thank you, though, History-1200 students for an enjoyable semester. I learned as much from you as I hope that you did from me.

On the Juan Cole - Christopher Hitchens Feud

Left: Professor Juan Cole; photo by historymike

A vicious virtual debate is raging between Juan Cole, the Richard Hudson Research Professor of History at the University of Michigan, and Christopher Hitchens, author, journalist, and socialist-turned neoconservative.

The source of the feud is an article Hitchens penned for Slate. Hitchens accused Cole of being an "apologist" for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad. His smoking gun: an excerpt from a private email sent by Cole to a private online forum in which Cole debated the accuracy of a translation of one line of an Ahmedinejad speech.

The email in question - which Cole considers to be "theft" - details Cole's reading of the infamous statement of Ahmadinejad in which the Iranian leader supposedly called for Israel to be wiped off the map. Here are Cole's remarks:

Ahmadinejad was not making a threat, he was quoting a saying of Khomeini and urging that pro-Palestinian activists in Iran not give up hope-- that the occupation of Jerusalem was no more a continued inevitability than had been the hegemony of the Shah's government.

Whatever this quotation from a decades-old speech of Khomeini may have meant, Ahmadinejad did not say that "Israel must be wiped off the map" with the implication that phrase has of Nazi-style extermination of a people. He said that the occupation regime over Jerusalem must be erased from the page of time.

Again, Ariel Sharon erased the occupation regime over Gaza from the page of time...I personally despise everything Ahmadinejad stands for, not to mention the odious Khomeini, who had personal friends of mine killed so thoroughly that we have never recovered their bodies.

Left: Christopher Hitchens

Hitchens referred to Cole in his attack piece as a "a minor nuisance on the fringes of the academic Muslim apologist community."

In response, Cole made the following statement in a rebuttal on his excellent blog Informed Comment:

Well, I don't think it is any secret that Hitchens has for some time had a very serious and debilitating drinking problem. He once showed up drunk to a talk I gave and heckled me. I can only imagine that he was deep in his cups when he wrote, or had some far Rightwing think tank write, his current piece of yellow journalism. I am sorry to witness the ruin of a once-fine journalistic mind.

Cole has since apologized for the assumption that Hitchens's well-documented propensity to remain inebriated for most of the day somehow interfered with his ability to critique the argument, but reiterated that he considers Hitchens an "Asinine Thief."

I will set aside the question of any merits in the article by Hitchens for the moment. I think that Cole's rebuttals destroy any pretense that Hitchens could claim toward bringing intellectual force to the debate on the true meaning of Ahmadinejad's comment, at least far better than I could.

What most disturbs me is the McCarthy-esque character assasination that Hitchens attempts to commit on Juan Cole. Admittedly, the historian has been against the war in Iraq, but he is far from being a radical leftist.

In addition, Hitchens makes the ridiculous claim that Cole somehow is not qualified to be an expert on the modern Middle East, since his traditional area of specialization is nineteenth-century Middle Eastern history.

Sorry, Hitchens - historians cover a lot of territory in their work, and Dr. Cole knows more about all periods of Middle Eastern history than you will ever master. That statement is akin to me, a lowly Midwestern writer and graduate history student, calling into question Hitchens's renowned expertise on triple malt scotch (sorry, I could not resist the temptation - off to the woodshed).

I have had the pleasure of attending two lectures given by Dr. Cole, and also had the opportunity to speak with him when he visited Toledo last October. I briefly toyed with the notion of working with him at the University of Michigan when I applied to the school's PhD program, although the UM graduate committee's decision to not offer me an graduate assitantship made that a moot point.

Cole is a voice of reason and intellect in a debate that is littered with the inflammatory rhetoric of radical elements on the right and left. I listened to him politely chastise audience members at a lecture who wrongly assumed that, since he was against the war, he must be a radical leftist.

Cole is now being targeted by forces on the right in an effort to sabotage his opportunity to teach at the Yale Center for International and Area Studies and in the Yale History Department as a tenured professor.

Despite the proclamations by some on the right, it is indeed possible to oppose the war and yet be a loyal, patriotic American. Dr. Cole, despite his anti-war views, is no radical extremist; he is simply one of America's most knowledgeable sources on the Middle East, and it is a sad commentary on our times when a voice of reason is slagged as an apologist for terrorists and repressive regimes.

Patrick Kennedy Now Says Prescription Drugs to Blame

Left: Dazed and confused?

(Washington, DC) Rep. Patrick Kennedy, who was involved in a 2:45 am crash Thursday morning, now indicates that prescription drugs may have been involved in the accident.

Kennedy originally issued a statement denying that he had been drinking. Late Thursday evening, though, his chief of staff issued a statement that claimed the congressman was on a prescribed combination of Ambien - a sleep medication - and Phenergan, an anti-nausea drug.

The Rhode Island congressman was driving a green Ford Mustang when it crashed into a security barrier at 1st and "C" streets in Southeast DC. Police say that the car nearly struck a Capitol police cruiser and that it had been swerving.

Earlier reports indicated that police officers observed Kennedy staggering.

In a written statement, Kennedy claimed that he returned home after a long session on Capitol Hill Wednesday, taking "the prescribed amount" of Phenergan and Ambien.

Around 2:45 am, according to Kennedy, he drove back to the Capitol building believing he still needed to vote.

"Apparently, I was disoriented from the medication," he said.

Both drugs have contraindications against operating machinery while using the medications. Both are noted for causing drowsiness as a side effect, and the synergism of the two must have been a potent combination.

That is, IF the current version of the story is the accurate one.

Why, though, would someone that doped up be thinking about anything other than sleeping? I have taken Ambien, and it works well as a sleep inducer, but I never thought about driving a car while under its effects.

At any rate, Kennedy's public admission will likely net him a DUI or DWI in the DC justice system. Prosecutors will be hard pressed not to arrest him with this announcement.

Patrick Kennedy Confirms Accident, Denies Booze

Left: Kennedy (right) at a Washington fundraiser

(Washington, DC) Rep. Patrick Kennedy confirmed through staffers that he was involved in an accident, but said that he had no been drinking.

"I was involved in a traffic accident last night at First and C Street SE near the U.S. Capitol," Kennedy said in a statement released by his office. "I consumed no alcohol prior to the incident. I will fully cooperate with the Capitol Police in whatever investigation they choose to undertake."

A letter composed by a Capitol Police officer to acting Chief Christopher McGaffin said that Kennedy appeared to be staggering when he left his vehicle after the crash about 3 am.

Kennedy has spent time in a rehab clinic, and has also publicly discussed his need to take medications for bipolar disorder.

Patrick Kennedy in Suspicious Wreck

(Washington, DC) Wonkette and Roll Call are both reporting that Rep. Patrick Kennedy, son of Senator Ted Kennedy, was involved in a 2:45 am crash that was suspicious in nature.

Alcohol may have been involved in the incident.

From Roll Call:

According to a letter sent by Officer Greg Baird, acting chairman of the USCP FOP, the wreck took place at approximately 2:45 a.m. Thursday when Kennedy’s car, operating with its running lights turned off, narrowly missed colliding with a Capitol Police cruiser and smashed into a security barricade at First and C streets Southeast.

“The driver exited the vehicle and he was observed to be staggering,” Baird’s letter states. Officers approached the driver, who “declared to them he was a Congressman and was late to a vote. The House had adjourned nearly three hours before this incident. It was Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy from Rhode Island.”

Baird wrote that Capitol Police Patrol Division units, who are trained in driving under the influence cases, were not allowed to perform basic field sobriety tests on the Congressman. Instead, two sergeants, who also responded to the accident, proceeded to confer with the Capitol Police watch commander on duty and then “ordered all of the Patrol Division Units to leave the scene and that they were taking over.”

Baird said he had been advised that after the officers departed, Capitol Police “House Division officials” gave Kennedy a ride home.

There is a certain sad irony here, but I will leave it to readers to put their own spin on this.

More as it develops...

Toledo-Area Tutoring Available

(Toledo, OH) A post on Toledo Talk reminded me that it is time to hang my shingle out and look for gainful summer employment.

My wife is an experienced mathematics teacher at both the high school and college level, and has tutored students for many summers.

I cannot solve any equations beyond geometry any longer, but I tutor in writing and history.

If you have any interest, feel free to contact me at my email address.

"Popetown" to Air in Germany

(Cologne, Germany) The Catholic Church has been unable to block MTV Germany from airing the controversial cartoon series "Popetown." The British-made TV cartoon makes fun of the pope and the Vatican.

A Munich court dismissed calls to ban the cartoon, arguing that the Vatican parody is “too dumb to be insulting".

Bishops from Pope Benedict XVI's home state of Bavaria filed an injunction against the broadcaster, which plannend to show the first episode of the series on last evening.

Many German Christians were upset when MTV ran a magazine ad promoting the cartoon, which featured Jesus coming down from the cross to watch television.

The cartoon features a cast of parodies of Catholic characters including a pope who bounces around the Vatican on a cross-shaped pogo stick. It was originally produced by the BBC , but never aired in Britain.

A 10-episode run in New Zealand sparked outcry over the offensiveness of the cartoon.

Rapid Rhetoric: PALIMPSEST

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

palimpsest n. Writing material, such as parchment, which has been written on more than once; the earlier writing has been incompletely erased and is often still legible.

The word "palimpsest" is also used in a metaphorical fashion to descibe the act of covering, cloaking, or the creation of a facade. Here is an example of the term's usage from Marie Huber, of McKinsey and Company: ""Rome is a palimpsest; everywhere modern chic overlays a bygone barbarism."

The word is derived from the Latin palimpsestus, and from the Greek palimpsestos "scraped again" (palin "again" + psen "to rub or scrape").

Geography Inverted

Inverted maps © 2008 www.ODTmaps.com

(Toledo, OH) While on the subject of maps and geography - a topic very close to the heart of Tim over at Traveling Through Life Without a Map - I decided to post a map that I sometimes use to jar students out of their comfort zones.

Unlike typical northern-oriented or Euro-centered maps, this projection is based upon a southern orientation.

One of the typical repsonses I get goes something like this: "The letters and words are upside down."

This type of student understands that the map has been inverted, but assumes that the mistake lies in the fact that the text is incorrect. After all, when they turn the map "right" side up, the letters are "wrong."

Inverted maps © 2008 www.ODTmaps.com

By the way - many schools in the Southern Hemisphere prefer this type of map.

Even more intriguing is this Hobo-Dyer equal area projection map, which also features the Pacific as the center of orientation.

Some students struggle to understand the point of the exercise, or assume that I have some radical agenda I am trying to foist upon them. The idea that there is only one "correct" map is firmly etched into their brains, and they have difficulty breaking free from many years of repetition.

My only purposes in presenting such maps are to reinforce the idea that historical problems can be approached from a wide variety of perspectives, and that we need to be aware of our own biases when trying to understand history.

The exercise, though, could have many more applications in in a wide variety of fields. Anyways, have fun looking at the world in a different fashion.

On Joseph Lewis Clark and Executions

(Toledo, OH) Let me say this up front: I am not a fan of the death penalty. I would rather see a criminal remain behind bars for life than risk the killing of a wrongly convicted person.

That being said, I found it hard to object to the execution of Joseph Lewis Clark, the Toledo man convicted of killing a gas station clerk during a series of robberies.

Clark admitted his crime, and blamed it on the drug habit he was supporting. His actions, he said, were the direct result of the destructive influences of drugs on his mental state. Clark also seemed to blame one of his victims for the killing.

"He started coming toward me with something like a metal like a metal rod or something in his hand," he said. "I sort of somehow squeezed the trigger off and shot him."

I was disturbed that there were technical problems in the execution, especially the part where Clark sat up and told the technicians performing the lethal injection: "It don't work."

And yet his death was still less painful than those of his victims.

Clark admitted his guilt, was convicted by due process, and received his punishment; governor Bob Taft saw no compelling reason to offer clemency. There appears to be no reason why this sentence should not have been carried out, and it is worth noting that very few capital punishment opponents protested this execution.

No one really cared much about this cold-blooded killer.

I have personally been mugged, and the aside from a bruise or two, my assailant did choose not to kill me to support his obvious need for drug money. As a business owner my retail establishments suffered no less than two dozen robberies and burglaries in ten years, and not once did one of these criminals decide to shoot me or my employees.

In fact, there were no injuries during any of these crimes, most of which could probably be tied to the support of drug habits. While I deplore these criminal acts, I am begrudged to be appreciative that none of the perpetrators felt the need to injure or kill anyone.

The modus operandi was typical: thug walks in, thug waves a weapon, clerk empties till, thug walks out. Just another cost of doing business.

For Joseph Lewis Clark the repeated decision to kill the innocent clerks in his robberies suggests that he derived some pleasure from seeing people die.

For that - I hope you spend eternity in a toasty place in Hell, Clark, or that a merciful God one day explains to me why you did not fry. I have no qualms about allowing the state to carry out this death sentence.

True Love? Man, 33, Marries Woman, 104

(Malyasia) A 33-year-old Malaysian man and a 104-year-old woman who married several months ago believe that it was "God's will" that they met.

"It may seem strange to those who don't understand us but I have found peace since we got married two months ago," said groom Muhammad Noor Che Musa in the Malay-language Harian Metro.

Muhammad was once a lodger in the house of Wook Kundor. He said that his motives were pure in the marriage.

"I know society is cynical but I didn't marry Wook for her money. She is poor," he said. "Her only asset is her deep religious knowledge. Through her, I can deepen my knowledge of the religion."

Despite the 71-year age difference and her own advancing years, Wook remains optimistic toward the future of the relationship.

"I hope this marriage will last," she said. "I ask that people view our marriage in a positive light as we have not done anything that is forbidden by God."

There is no word if the couple maintained a gift registry, or where they honeymooned.

Study Finds Young Americans Ignorant of Geography

(Washington, DC) A poll conducted by Roper for National Geographic finds that Americans 18-24 demonstrate an appalling lack of geographical knowledge.

Some of the most disturbing findings: 6 in 10 Americans between 18 and 24 cannot find Iraq on a map, while almost one-third could not find Louisiana. Nearly one-half or respondents could not identify Mississippi on the map.

Some other findings:

* Less than 30% of those polled believe that it is necessary to be able to locate countries in the news on a map.

* 20% of young Americans think Sudan is in Asia (It is actually the largest country on the Africa continent).

* 75% could not locate Israel on a map of the Middle East.

* Half of young Americans cannot find the state of New York on a map.

* 40 %of young Americans believe the religious affiliation of the majority of citizens in India is Muslim ("Hindu" would be the correct answer, Alex).

* 47% of respondents could not find India on a map.

And yet the same uninformed individuals bear the responsibility of making choices in the voting booth. At the risk of sounding like a smug elitist, I find these statistics alarming.

As a historian, I should be promoting my discipline, but I think that basic geography skills are at least as imperative to understanding the world as historical knowledge.

But hey - at least we know who the remaining contestants on "American Idol" are, right?

Three Convicted in Heist of Munch Works

Left: "The Scream," by Edvard Munch

(Oslo, Norway) A Norwegian court ordered two men to pay $122 million in damages today after convicting them of the 2004 theft of the Edvard Munch masterpieces "The Scream" and "Madonna." The men were sentenced to jail terms of 7-1/2 years, while another man was convicted for driving the getaway car; three other men were acquitted.

The works by the Norwegian artist - which are still missing - were stolen by masked gunmen from Oslo's Munch Museum in August 2004.

Despite international efforts by police, plus a $328,000 reward, the paintings have never been recovered.

The Scream (Skrik, 1893) is regarded by many people as the most important work of Edvard Munch. The most common interpretation of the painting is that it is a symbolization of modern man in a moment of existential angst.

Munch, who died in 1944 at age 80, was a major influence on the 20th-century expressionist movement.

Left: Culkin's take on "The Scream"

As a side note, "The Scream" also served as the inspiration for one of the most famous movie stills in American cinematography: a young Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister in "Home Alone."

Astronomers in 2003 claimed to have identified the time that the painting depicted. The volcanic eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 created brilliant sunsets throughout Europe in the winter of 1883-4 due to the tremendous amount of volcanic dust in the atmosphere.

The Krakatoa eruption produced erratic weather and spectacular sunsets throughout the world for many months afterwards. This planetary volcanic dust layer reduced the amount of sunlight reaching the earth's surface. In the year after the eruption global temperatures fell an average of 1.2 degrees Celsius.

Tuesdays - OTA Link Days

(Toledo, OH) On Tuesdays, I perform my duties as a member of the Open Trackback Alliance and highlight some sites and posts 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.

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.

Bolivia Nationalizes Gas and Oil Fields

Left: Bolivian President Evo Morales, courtesy of BBC News

(La Paz, Bolivia) Bolivia's President Evo Morales announced that he is placing his country's energy industries under state control.

Morales said on Monday he ordered the military to occupy Bolivia's natural gas fields, while threatening to expel foreign firms that do not recognize state authority.

The decision is the start of a process to nationalize all of Bolivia's natural resources. Morales said that the next industries will be the mining and forestry sectors.

"The time has come, the awaited day, a historic day in which Bolivia retakes absolute control of our natural resources," said Morales. "The looting by the foreign companies has ended."

Brazil and Aregntina are Bolivia's largest natural gas customers. Analysts are divided on the effects that the move will have on world energy prices.

Bolivia has the second-highest natural gas reserves in Latin America, behind Venezuela. The landlocked nation has an estimated 54 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, but is not a major exporter of crude oil.

Attorney for Mary Winkler Hints at Motive

Left: Mary Winkler at her March 27 arraignment

(Selmer, TN) The attorney for accused murderer Mary Winkler suggested a possible direction for her legal defense in an interview with WREG-TV in Memphis.

"The public's consciousness is important in this case especially on how women are treated in this country and in some sections of this country," said Steve Farese, lead attorney in the "Memphis Dream Team" representing Mary Winkler.

When asked to clarify that statement, Farese suggested that there exists a culture of "men being physically bigger than women."

Farese's comments suggest some form of battered spouse defense.

The investigators in Alabama and Tennessee agree that Mary Winkler shared with them a motive for the killing, but they are not yet communicating her reasons for shooting Matthew Winkler. In press conferences, though, they have consistently denied that infidelity on the part of either spouse was a factor.

The Winkler case goes before the grand jury in June.

Un Día Sin Inmigrantes

(Los Angeles, CA; Washington, DC) Millions of immigrants are prepared to stay away from work, school and stores in the US today as part of a nationwide boycott against immigration laws.

"We've unequivocally called on all families to participate in the Great American Boycott and the marches - and that translates into not going to work, not going to school, not shopping and not selling," said Nativo Lopez, president of the Mexican-American Political Association.

The successes of rallies in March and April led to the massive boycott, collectively called Un Día Sin Inmigrantes ("A Day Without Immigrants").

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops urged protesters to attend Mass instead of boycotting, and also suggested that churches toll their bells in memory of immigrants who died trying to come to America. The bishops also called for students to stay in school.

The immigration protests began in March in opposition to a Congressional bill that would make felons of illegal immigrants, while walling off a large section of the 2,000-mile US-Mexican border. Despite passing in the House of Representatives, the bill has stalled in the Senate.

No one is quite sure how the varied protests will turn out, or exactly how many people will participate in el paro.

"It's highly unpredictable what's going to happen," said Harley Shaiken, director of the Center for Latin American studies at the University of California, Berkeley. "What unites everyone that's going to do something on May 1 is they are making visible their strong feelings."

Maumee Valley Chefs Rock the French Quarter

Left: Chef Rick Whitehead slices Carved Tuscan Roasted Stuffed Veal Leg

(Toledo, OH) I have been to many a black-tie gala in the past, but none could match the quality and variety of food that the Maumee Valley Chef Association prepared last night at its annual scholarship and award dinner.

Better still - my son scored some free passes (he received a scholarship to pursue his goal of becoming a chef). Even if I had to shell out the $45 per person ticket price, though, it would have been money well spent.

The crowd of 400 or so was treated to some of the most delicious dishes one could imagine. Of particular note were the Baked Seafood en Coquille and the Rattlesnake Empanadas.

Left: One of several intricate ice carvings at the dinner

I have not been one to gravitate toward pâté, but the Wild Turkey Roulette Pâté had an interesting blend of spices. Also intriguing was the roast buffalo, billed as the "leanest meat you will ever eat."

The chefs know how to party, and - unlike many social events - this event is free from the stuffed shirt crowd. If you get a chance to go next year, I heartily recommend both purchasing a ticket and leaving plenty of room to sample dozens of palate-pleasing preparations.