Americans Rally to Save Darfur

From today's American Progress Report:

DARFUR
Americans Rally to Save Darfur

"It is in the realm of domestic politics that the battle to stop genocide is lost," Harvard University's Samantha Power wrote in her Pulitzer Prize-winning examination of why the post-Holocaust pledge of "Never Again" is so rarely kept. "American political leaders interpret society-wide silence as an indicator of public indifference. They reason that they will incur no costs if the United States remains uninvolved but will face steep risks if they engage." It is therefore of great significance that "public outrage, sporadic before, is growing over the continuing bloodshed in Darfur," as the New York Times reports today. This Sunday, tens of thousands of Americans -- including actor George Clooney, U.S. Olympic gold medal winner Joey Cheek, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) -- will join rallies around the country urging the Bush administration to step up its efforts to end the genocidal violence in Darfur. (Watch an excellent new short video on Darfur featuring Pelosi and others.) The rallies are backed by an "unusually broad coalition of 164 humanitarian and religious groups, including Amnesty International and the National Association of Evangelicals," and its message is clear: "What we cannot do is turn our heads and look away and hope that this will somehow disappear," as Clooney put it yesterday. "It's the first genocide of the 21st century." Take a moment to sign up with SaveDarfur.org and the Genocide Intervention Network, and attend a rally in your area.

NOT JUST SYMBOLISM: "What we do about Darfur says a lot about us and the conscience of our generation. We don't have that excuse anymore, saying we didn't know about it, there's nothing we can do," says Adam Zuckerman, 18, a senior at Deering High School in Portland, Maine, who "raised $6,000 to bring a busload of Reform Jews and Sudanese immigrants from Maine" to one of the rallies on Sunday. High school and college students have been among the most active in organizing grassroots efforts around Darfur. Universities nationwide are waging a successful effort to divest their financial holdings in oil firms and other corporations doing business with Sudan's government. (Sudan gets 43 percent of its revenue from oil-related sales and pours 60 percent of all oil revenue into military expenditures.) The campaign "also aims at states and municipalities. Illinois, New Jersey and Oregon have approved divestment, and legislation is pending in several other states." And there are signs that the efforts are working. "Seeking to counter the divestment campaign," the New York Times reports, "Sudan's ambassador to the United States issued a statement on April 5, calling on American companies and universities to increase investments in Sudan."

VIOLENCE GETTING WORSE: By now, the scope of the atrocities in Darfur is well known; in this "slow motion genocide," which the United Nation calls the "world's greatest humanitarian crisis," 2.5 million have been driven from their homes and up to 400,000 have died. But after a relative downtick in violence in 2005, the situation has drastically deteriorated. "I don't think the world has understood how bad it has become of late," U.N. humanitarian chief Jan Egeland said last week, claiming the violence is "as bad as ever." He warned that many U.N. humanitarian operations are "in danger of collapsing within the next few weeks or months." Already, U.N. officials say the international community is "keeping people alive with our humanitarian assistance until they are massacred." Just yesterday, analysts warned of a "new military offensive by the Sudanese government" -- one that included the use of "an Antonov plane and two helicopter gunships" -- that has put "the lives of tens of thousands of people at risk."

PRESIDENT BUSH MUST SHOW LEADERSHIP: In her book, Power writes, "No U.S. president has ever made genocide prevention a priority, and no U.S. president has ever suffered politically for his indifference to its occurrence. It is thus no coincidence that genocide rages on." Under pressure from religious and student groups, Bush has at least been prodded to speak publicly about the issue on occasion. Unfortunately, his words have not been followed by decisive action, which fuels a dangerous dynamic: the Sudanese government believes that there is no price to pay for inaction, that there is "no connection between the U.S. bark and its bite." Even the U.N. Security Council sanctions imposed this week on four Sudanese individuals show the inconsistency of U.S. policy. On the one hand, the United States pushed harder for the sanctions than any other country. On the other hand, U.N. Ambassador John Bolton successfully managed "to keep top Sudanese commanders" from being targeted. Thanks to Bolton, the sanction list was whittled down to four from eight, only one of whom “is a Sudanese government official, and a mid-level official at that.”

A REAL SECURITY THREAT: Increasingly, Darfur is having a direct impact on U.S. national interests. An executive order signed by Bush just this week states that the "persistence of violence in Sudan's Darfur region" poses "an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States." Sudan is the "single most unstable country in the entire world" according to Foreign Policy magazine's latest Failed States Index. The ongoing violence there is not only fueling regional instability in states like Chad and the Central African Republic, but creating "exactly the kind of place al-Qaeda has successfully exploited in the past and might again," according to experts. Helping curb the violence would also demonstrate to the Arab and Muslim worlds that U.S. foreign policy does not have the anti-Muslim bent that Osama bin Laden and others claim, since "nearly all of the victims of the genocide are Muslim." With strong action on Darfur, the U.S. could improve its own security, "literally save tens of thousands of lives and...enable, over time, literally two and a half million people to go home again." But urgent action is needed now.

KATRINA: Remember Last September

From today's American Progress Report:

KATRINA:
Remember Last September

Today, President Bush will make a quick visit to the Gulf Coast for yet another post-Hurricane Katrina photo-op. Last September, Bush made this pledge to Katrina's victims: "We will do what it takes, we will stay as long as it takes, to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives." Over half a year later, 59 percent of Americans disapprove of the way Bush is handling the recovery and not enough is being done to provide for the storm's victims. "This government will learn the lessons of Hurricane Katrina," Bush promised. Yet, the nation remains unprepared for another natural disaster of Katrina's scale. Even former House Speaker Newt Gingrich acknowledged recently: "It's going to be really bad by September when we go back and have a one-year review and we realize how much of New Orleans is not fixed as of this coming September."

NATION STILL UNPREPARED: After 22 hearings, 320 interviews, and 830,000 pages of documents, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has completed its 800-page report entitled "Hurricane Katrina: A Nation Still Unprepared." Not surprisingly, the bipartisan report found that the "United States was, and is, ill-prepared to respond to a catastrophic event of the magnitude of Hurricane Katrina." Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Joe Lieberman (D-CT) blasted FEMA, saying it is "in shambles and beyond repair," showed "weak and ineffective leadership" during the storm, and has problems that are "too substantial to mend." In a departure from the House and White House reports on the storm, the Senate report recommends completely abolishing FEMA and replacing it with a National Preparedness and Response Authority. The Bush administration is "faulted for bungling the storm response by neglecting warnings, failing to grasp Katrina's destructiveness," and "doing too little or taking the wrong steps before the Aug. 29 landfall." In a "withering addendum" to the report, Lieberman says Bush did not "provide critical leadership when it was most needed." "Before landfall," Lieberman added, "the President should have returned to Washington, D.C., convened the cabinet, taken stock of the federal government's readiness for Katrina, made sure key White House staff were at their posts before landfall, and directly addressed the people of the Gulf Coast." He also slammed the White House for "not cooperating with Senate investigators."

LEVEES STILL FLAWED: Among its conclusions, the Senate report "found design flaws in New Orleans' levees." The debate over who is at fault for the levee breaches has heated up in recent weeks, as more than 750 New Orleans residents filed suit in U.S. District Court, accusing the Corps of Engineers of "negligence, malfeasance and failure to ensure competent design, construction, inspection, maintenance and operation of a navigable waterway system." Whether or not the court finds it at fault, the Army Corps admits that even when the holes in the levees are fixed, "the entire 350-mile protection system remains flawed," "flood walls are too weak in some places," and "earthen levees are too short in others." Bush previously promised to rebuild the levees "higher and better" than before, but officials said last month there "may not be enough money to fully protect the entire region." The administration's reluctance to fully fund levee repairs has forced some to take drastic maneuvers. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) threated to place holds on all of Bush's executive nominees unless more funding became available. In response, Bush offered $2.2 billion in funding, but said the spending should come out of FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund. (Meanwhile, the Senate's emergency spending bill still contains $700 million for a railroad to nowhere.)

HOUSING STILL SCARCE: The effort to provide housing for displaced Katrina victims has been "a failure with many causes, including institutional neglect, lack of funding, and poor planning, decision making and execution." FEMA has alerted tens of thousands of people that they will no longer receive housing benefits even though "evacuees had been told, without contradiction from FEMA, that they would last a year." The program, which is "helping more people and is far less expensive than other housing solutions like trailers," will end for some as soon as April 30th. In Memphis, FEMA had the gall to ask evacuees to return furniture and kitchen items before "backing down after strenuous objections." For those trying to rebuild their homes, FEMA's constant delays in providing construction guidelines has hampered efforts to restore neighborhoods in New Orleans. And the $6.4 billion trailer program - the "government's costliest initiative" - "has ground to a halt around New Orleans...in part because of widespread racial and class tensions." Tensions were not likely soothed when Housing Secretary Alphonso Jackson said this week that "only the best residents" from destroyed public housing should return to their homes, implying to some that "many of the people in public housing are in fact criminals who don’t work." "That simply is not true," said Lucia Blacksher of the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Center. "It is an unnecessary stereotype and an alarming stereotype to be voiced by the secretary of HUD.”"

SPENDING STILL WASTEFUL: A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report due out next month will find "FEMA is destined to repeat million-dollar mistakes of disaster aid waste and fraud unless it can quickly establish controls for verifying names and addresses." GAO managing director Gregory Kutz was not confident FEMA could deliver aid effectively when another natural disaster strikes. Another GAO found the "government overpaid by 20 percent on a $39.5 million, no-bid Hurricane Katrina contract for portable classrooms because the Army Corps of Engineers passed up chances to negotiate a lower price." Several other studies have found enormous waste and fraud in housing programs, and "the toll of false starts and missed opportunities appears likely to top $1 billion and perhaps much more."

Perfectly Good Blog Material

At lunch this past Sunday, my father gave me this cartoon.

Dreaming of Being a Travel Writer?

I know plenty of people (myself included) who, as youngsters, had the fleeting thought, "I want to be a travel writer when I grow up!" The life seemed so romantic (in a struggling-artist kind of way, of course), and - in theory - seemed to offer the best possible schedule and job perks. I realized soon after I had that initial thought that I wasn't cut out for it... But if I'd had a resource like Written Road at the time, I might have harbored that pipe dream a few years longer.

Written Road is a blog maintained primarily by travel writer Jen Leo, who is incredibly generous with her travel writing tips. I've been subscribing to this blog for awhile now on Bloglines, and I've got nearly a dozen posts saved to possibly take advantage of travel writing opportunities later. Will I do anything with any of them? I have no idea - but at least I know about them. If you've got even the slightest interest in travel writing, or writing in general, Written Road is a great resource for leads and tips.

Full disclosure: Written Road is part of the BootsnAll Travel Network, my employer. As I learn more about the various resources in the Network, I'll post information about them here.

Signs of Something

Sometimes the stars just align in a certain way so that the world is trying desperately to tell you something, and then fate makes decisions for you. It doesn't usually happen like that for me, so it's particularly weird that it happened twice in one day on Monday.

First of all, in three completely separate conversations I was either participating in directly or hearing secondhand the movie The Godfather was brought up. Apparently I need to watch that movie again.

The other one is a bit more interesting to me, as it's changed the way I think about something. On Monday, two different blogs I read posted on precisely the same topic - collecting. Record Store Geek posted a link to an article about how the downloading of music has changed the nature of music collections, and James Tata posted an excerpt from a book he's reading in which the main character is a collector. When I first glanced at the passage he posted, I thought, "Yeah, but the word 'collection' really only applies to things you don't use, like state spoons or action figures, right?" Upon further inspection, however, this line caught my eye:

Someone who hesitates, who asks, Do I need this? Is this really necessary? is not a collector. A collection is always more than is necessary.

This, my friends, is how I am with shoes. It's never about need.

I suppose, then, that what I have is not a closet full of shoes but rather a collection of shoes. It just happens to be a collection I can wear.

A New Way of Thinking About South Africa

When I was growing up, the words "South Africa" conjured up unpleasant images and (at least from what I saw) were almost always associated with negative news stories. Even though that all changed quite awhile ago, South Africa is still a place that - until recently, anyway - wasn't really on my travel radar. That was before I knew about South Africa Logue.

South Africa Logue is one of the newer websites in the BootsnAll empire, and it's already the place to go on the web for information about traveling to and in South Africa. South Africa blogger Ben Williams is an American who's lived in South Africa for nearly ten years, so he knows from what he speaks. (I also just learned he wrote a cookbook, which I'll have to point out to the chef in my house.) Ben posts travel tips about where to stay, where/what to eat and what to see when you're outside your hotel room. He's also got a tab for study abroad information, which is great - it's written largely by guest student bloggers who are studying in South Africa.

All in all, South Africa Logue is not only providing a useful resource for travelers wanting to check out the local scene, it's also helping to dispel all previously held negative images of what appears to be a truly beautiful country.

I can tell that this new job of mine is going to be a hazard to my "places to go" list - it's long enough already, dammit, but I'm happily adding South Africa to that list now.

Full disclosure: South Africa Logue is part of the BootsnAll Travel Network, my employer. As I learn more about the various resources in the Network, I'll post information about them here.

Standing Sections on Planes?!?

You know, because airplane travel isn't uncomfortable enough as it is.

Le Frase Idiomatiche

Here are a couple more Italian phrases from our calendar...

Qui casca l'asino!
- has the meaning of, "Therein lies the rub!"
- literally means, "Here the donkey falls!"

Fatti furbo!
- has the meaning of, "Get real!"
- literally means, "Make yourself sly!"

New Orleans: Levees Still Flawed

From today's American Progress Report:

With little more than a month left until hurricane season begins, the levees in New Orleans remain "flawed." "Flood walls are too weak in some places; earthen levees are too short in others. Locals say the only thing that will save the low-lying region from more flooding this summer is not getting hit with a strong storm."

Three Years Ago Today

Three years ago today, a small island off the western coast of Scotland was in the midst of an unseasonable dry and warm spell. The weather had been beautiful for days, and people were starting to ration water. That morning, there was a downpour that lasted nearly half an hour, but that did nothing to dampen the spirits of one couple who'd come all the way from Oregon to be married in that town, on that day.



The ceremony was simple and perfect, and the photographer then whisked the couple all over town (it wasn't far) to get just the right shots. Despite the sun, there was a breeze, which sent the bride's veil flying as they stood on the bluff overlooking the merrily painted buildings on the harbor below.



And, as the ceremony had taken place at high noon, just after the photographs were complete the couple felt those familiar pangs of hunger. Thank goodness for the fish & chip shop that had just opened on the pier!



The couple waited in line with everyone else, having their picture taken by strangers as if they were a tourist attraction, and then the nice ladies gave them their lunch for free - as a wedding gift.



The couple stood on the pier with everyone else, happily munching fresh - and hot! - fish & chips, their first meal as husband and wife.



They both thought it was a wonderful way to start a day, let alone a marriage.

Tour de Georgia

I've been too busy to pay any attention to the Tour de Georgia, the week-long bike race in (ahem) Georgia taking place at the moment, but I'll note here that there are some American riders doing quite well. Floyd Landis (Team Phonak), who won this year's inaugural Tour of California in February, is currently in the lead after winning yesterday's time trial. Americans are in the top three places (Discovery Channel's Tom Danielson, who won last year's race, and CSC's David Zabriskie are in 2nd and 3rd place respectively).

The race goes through Sunday, at which point we'll finally get race coverage on television. I can obviously read the coverage online - we used to have no choice in the matter, as that was the only way to get cycling coverage in real-time - but now I'm spoiled with television coverage, so I find that hitting the "refresh" button to see the latest news tidbit just doesn't cut it anymore. And frankly, while I'm excited to have two week-long tours on U.S. soil now, I still get way more excited about the European grand tours.

Speaking of which, the Giro d'Italia begins on May 6th, and I'm looking forward to cheering my guy on to victory:

Hopefully Ivan Basso will be spraying prosecco from the victor's podium this year.
picture from here

Bunnyocalypse

As seen on Frytopia, and completely not in time for Easter (well, the site probably was, but I was late in seeing it) is Bunnyocalypse. My favorite is #4, "Bunny vs. Water Torture." The bunny's eyes and nose migrate south and end up looking like nipples and a bellybutton. Brilliant.

Teabag Tags

I've had a few of these tags sitting around for awhile, so here they are all at once:

"Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility."
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life."
- Immanuel Kant

"Nothing can bring you peace but yourself."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Doing Europe by Train

I didn't do the whole "buy a Eurail pass and sleep on a train every night between cities" routine in college. Hell, I never did it (nor do I plan to). Many of my classmates did, though, on the break between classes during our term in the UK. I spent time with family, only getting to three cities in the same time most of my friends went to 20. Many of them came back with stories of mishaps and unintentional adventures along the way - most of those having to do with the trains.

It's not that train travel in Europe is confusing. Far from it, it's usually quite orderly and logical. The two problems Americans have the potential of running into are that most of us don't take trains at home (the rail network here is laughable), and we're also generally not used to dealing with anything but English. (There are several politically charged comments I could make about that fact, but I'll refrain. For now.)

Well, these days there's no reason for Americans to be confused about train travel in Europe anymore. Among other reasons, there's the fabulous Eurail Blog. It's informative and interesting, varying between tips about train travel (both Eurail-specific and otherwise) in Europe and travel tidbits about the places one stops between train trips. For instance, recently there was this great tip - make Mondays your big travel days. Why? Many museums are closed on Mondays. Clever, no?

At any rate, it's a great site for anyone who's coming up on their first European train trip, or anyone who hasn't done Europe by train in awhile. The only downside is that it's making even this beautiful sunny day in Portland pale in comparison to being on a train in Europe somewhere...

Full disclosure: Eurail Blog is part of the BootsnAll Travel Network, my new employer. As I learn more about the various resources in the Network, I'll post information about them here.

Ignore Bloggers At Your Peril!

From today's American Progress Report:

And finally, the Guardian headline says it all: "Ignore bloggers at your peril, say researchers." "Bloggers and internet pundits are exerting a 'disproportionately large influence' on society, according to a report by a technology research company."

My Mom is So Cool

My mom's last day at her job - a job she's held for nearly 19 years - was yesterday. (She begins her new job in a couple of weeks.) Last week, her co-workers had a goodbye celebration for her, and my brothers and I were there to witness it.


Some of the gang at the going-away party.

After the socializing, people gathered in a circle and select folk came up one by one to talk about how great my mom is, and what wonderful and amazing things she's done for the arts and local artists over the years. One person came up and said, "You know, I honestly don't think we'll miss you as much as I originally thought we would, because you've created a legacy that will last forever." That nearly made her tear up.


Mom being the social butterfly she is.

It was pretty incredible, I'm glad I made the trip down to Salem to be there. I was 15 when she first started working there, and though it was an hour or so away from home I remember going in a zillion times over the years. I'm sure I typed more than a few high school and college papers on the computer at her desk. I took my driving test not far from her office because there were no appointments left at the DMV in my hometown. I've met all of her co-workers over the years, and yet every time I would walk in the door she would do that motherly thing and parade me around the office, proudly showing me off as if I were still her newborn baby girl. She'll be amazing in her new job, and they don't know yet quite how lucky they'll be to have her. I'll have to tell them one of the times she's introducing me to all her new colleagues.


Mom finally taking the stage to say a few words.

Well done, Mom.


Cherry blossoms in Lake Oswego in early April.

Taste of the Nation

Okay, Portland foodies - if you're anything like me, you agonize over the decision of what new restaurant to try every time you go out to eat. If you pick a dud, you won't know until you've gotten there and spent time and money you won't get back. How can you know ahead of time - first hand - what a place is like?

You can go to Taste of the Nation on Monday, April 24.

Chris and I went to Taste of the Nation two years ago, I think, and we really loved it. There are 70 restaurants and 50 beverage purveyors present, all putting their best feet forward. You can meander from table to table, sampling a bit here and a bit there, and plot your next full-on dinner outing.

But perhaps the best part of the whole thing is that 100% of the ticket sales and auction proceeds benetif the fight to end hunger. It's a "Share Our Strength" event, and the beneficiaries include Oregon Food Bank, Sisters of the Road Cafe, The Oregon Hunger Relief Task Force, Klamath-Lake Counties Food bank and St. Vincent de Paul Food Bank/Food Train. It's the "largest nationwide culinary benefit supporting anti-hunger and anti-poverty efforts."

For more details about the event, check out the website; but the basics are as follows:

Monday, April 24, 2006
Oregon Convention Center
6-9pm (VIPs get in an hour early to sample special foods)
Call 503.222.4644
Tickets are:
VIP $95 - Advance Sales Only ($65 tax deductible)
General Admission $70 ($45 tax deductible)
At the Door $80 ($55 tax deductible)

Easter, Shmeester!

(Apologies in advance to my observant readers; we're heathens, but we're nice heathens.)

We didn't have grand plans for the day, but we had plans. We got up at 6am - yes, for another bike race - and then at midday we thought, "Hey, let's go run some errands." Thankfully, I thought ahead and called the places we were thinking of going before we left the house... My ever-skeptical husband, when told why I was calling the stores in advance (um, it's Easter, dummy), scoffed. And, of course, everything was closed. We did end up doing some grocery shopping, so it wasn't a total loss, but still...

A Saturday Collection of Links

The Bloglines queue is already full again, and though I usually list the collection in alphabetical order by blog, there are a couple from this batch that are so damned wonderful that I’m saving them until the end of the list. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.

• Food Dude posted this awhile ago, and while the restaurant review is fine it’s the introduction to the review that I like best. The story of who he chose for his dining companions that night is pretty cool. He also found this fabulous video, which had me giggling last night.
  

• Over at Damn Interesting, there’s this tidbit about Germany’s “Pleasure Dome.” (I have a feeling I know where the boys from the World Cup Blog are going to be spending their time in Germany.) Additionally, there’s this about potential alternatives to the gas tax right here in Oregon.
  

• Victoria at Europe on an Alphabet got poked in Portugal – and not in a good way! She also posted this tale about vegemite that reminded me of a story. When I was in Australia in January 1992 with my college choir, I recall one breakfast buffet where there was a bowlful of a dark brown substance beside the bread, toaster and jams. A soprano I didn’t particularly care for who had just spent a semester in Vienna arrived late to breakfast and enthusiastically began heaping giant spoonfuls of the brown gunk on a slice of toast, exclaiming, “Oh, goodie! Nutella!” I dearly wish I’d been more vindictive back then and kept my mouth shut, but instead I said, “Um, I don’t think that’s Nutella.” She stuck a tentative pinky-finger into the oozing pile on her toast and tasted it. Sure enough, it was vegemite. She dumped the contents of that plate into the trash and started over. And I kicked myself under the table.
  

• From Grey Duck comes this Wikipedia meme – type your birthday (minus the year) into the search box, and then list three events, two births and one death that happened on that day. So, for February 25th we have the following:
  Events:
  1793 – George Washington holds the first Cabinet meeting as President of the United States
  1837 – First U.S. electric printing press patented by Thomas Davenport
  1919 – Oregon places a 1 cent per U.S. gallon tax on gasoline, becoming the first U.S. state to levy a gasoline tax (interesting coincidence, given the Damn Interesting post above)
  Births:
  1841 – Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French painter, graphic artist and sculptor
  1888 – John Foster Dulles, U.S. Secretary of State
  (But I can’t stop at two, though – there are some pretty interesting names on this list, including George Harrison, Sally Jessy Raphaël, Zeppo Marx, John Doe [the musician, not the unknown dead guy at the morgue] and José Maria Aznar [the former Prime Minister of Spain]. What an interesting birthday party that would be!)
  Death:
  1983 – Tennessee Williams, American playwright
  And even though this wasn’t asked for in the meme, I notice that February 25th is also Kuwait’s National Day. Apparently I should be there for my birthday some year so I could pretend the whole country was celebrating my birthday.
  

• Conor is back from his second stint at the orphanage in Nepal, but he’s still writing about the kids. This post made me cry, no joke. In a good way.
  

• James Tata links to an article which introduces the idea (at least to me, as I hadn’t heard it before) of rebuilding New Orleans as a water city like Venice.
  

• The Record Store Geek quotes from a Rolling Stone article about how the proverbial generation gap isn’t so much anymore. I have, on occasion, wondered when I was going to start thinking the music that “kids today” listen to is too loud, too annoying, or too something. And sure, I don’t like everything that’s current, but I didn’t when I was 17, either. I guess there’s hope that my niece and nephews will think their Aunt Jessie is cool even when she’s in her 50s. I can hope, anyway.
  

• William Bragg (ever-present in my Bloglines posts) links to a couple interesting things here – in particular, I really liked the first one (the “wicked, but creepy” one) and the love/hate shirt.
  

• Bob at World Cup Blog has posted a couple stories about streakers (whether that’s because they’re a pretty typical part of soccer/football worldwide or because Bob has a secret desire to emulate them I refuse to speculate), but this video takes the cake as far as I’m concerned.
  

• Finally, the abso-frickin-lutely great things you’ve been waiting for – the ones you’ve read through all this other mumbo-jumbo for. (Well, not really – it’s all good stuff – oh, hell, you know what I mean.) These finger-lickin’ good clips are all from Frytopia. First there’s this juggling video, which apparently has been around for awhile (I hadn’t seen it), and which I think is pretty damned cool. Then today there’s this, I guess you’d call it a rebuttal of sorts. Even more amazing, and funny to boot. Everyone loves a parody. (Except the person being parodied, I imagine, though Al Franken is quick to point out that parody is protected even if the person being parodied doesn’t get the joke.)
  
  But even better than the dueling jugglers, my friends, is this gem that has me crying I’m laughing so hard every time I watch it (and I’ve watched it about six times today). I have no idea how many times I’ll have to see it before it’s no longer funny… I don’t think it’ll ever not be funny. If it is, I don’t want to be alive anymore, because that’ll just be a sad, sad day. I have now also decided that I absolutely must teach my cats to do some kind of trick. It’s imperative that they become Internet superstars.

A New Teacher, A New Challenge

Last night we had our first Italian class with our new teacher. The first class of the term was supposed to be a week ago, but wires got crossed between the teacher and the school, so we were delayed a week. After meeting our new teacher, I think we'll wish we had a few extra weeks for this class...

She's a native of Venezia (that's Venice to you non-Italian speakers out there), and speaks a million miles an hour. Or at least that's what it felt like last night. She's also forbidden the use of English in the classroom. In principle, I think that's great - immersion at this point will be helpful - but what if we have a particularly challenging grammar question for which we just don't know the Italian words? I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

For now, we just know we'll be utterly exhuasted when we walk out of class each week, having just spent the previous two hours staring intently at our teacher's face as she speaks Italian like an auctioneer. It will be a good challenge, but it'll be a tiring one.

Wired to Win

Last weekend we went to see the movie "Wired to Win" at OMSI with a gaggle of our friends. It's a cycling movie, and we're all at least somewhat interested in cycling - it was the group that went to France in 1999 to chase the Tour, plus my friend Toni. When Toni lived with us for part of a summer a couple years ago we infected her with the cycling virus - so much so that she still gets up early on weekends in July to come over and watch live coverage of the Tour de France with us. She's crazy. I mean, I get up early, but I just have to walk downstairs in my PJs, not get in my car and drive somewhere...

Anyway, the seven of us met first at Carafe, a lovely Parisian bistro near Keller Auditorium, for a light dinner before heading over to OMSI and the movie. I can't remember the last time I went to a movie in that theater, but as soon as I walked in I remembered the sensation - the stairs are so steep I feel compelled to lean forward so as not to feel like I'm falling backward, and the seating is so steeply inclined that I feel compelled to lean backward in my seat during the entire time I'm sitting so as not to feel like I'm going to go careening over the edge. Several of us got a little dizzy during the movie, and a couple even walked out feeling queasy. A movie experience there isn't for the faint of stomach.

"Wired to Win" is about how the brain functions, and to illustrate various aspects of the brain the filmmakers chose to follow a few cyclists in the Tour de France - arguably the world's most difficult sporting event. The problem is that the cyclist the filmmakers originally planned to focus on, Tyler Hamilton, was later sidelined by a cheating scandal, so the filmmakers decided that they should probably focus on someone else instead. Tyler is still in quite a bit of the coverage, the filmmakers had to fill in what would have been blank spots with scenes they clearly filmed long after the Tour, and it's still barely over an hour long. I imagine there's a ton of Tyler footage that just got left on the cutting room floor.

(Digression Alert: I am still a fan of Tyler Hamilton, however disappointed I am that it appears he cheated. I still want to believe he didn't do it, that the tests were bad. He'll be able to come back to racing - after serving out his suspension - in September of this year, and I look forward to his return. Seeing all that footage of him was, to say the least, sad.)

As a movie, "Wired to Win" isn't particularly fabulous. It's not going to convert anyone to being a fan of cycling who wasn't already leaning that way. But to a cycling fan like this one, it was exceptionally cool. Everyone in my group agreed that if OMSI were to show every stage of the Tour de France in the evenings, we'd go often. To see such a majestic and grand race on such a huge screen was breath-taking. And to say that it made me want to go chase the Tour around again is a massive understatement.

From the Sublime to the Ridiculous

From today's American Progress Report:

Devastated by Hurricane Katrina, St. Bernard Parish is turning to the man who provided them no help during the hurricane: former FEMA director Michael Brown. "I'll talk to the devil himself if I thought he could help us," said parish president Henry "Junior" Rodriguez, who may hire Brown as a consultant.

And finally: "Italy's most famous porn star" Cicciolina has "offered herself" to Osama Bin Laden. "I am ready to make a deal, he can have me in exchange for an end to his tyranny," she said at an "erotic fair." "My breasts have only ever helped people while Bin Laden has killed thousands of innocent victims."

The Fightin' Fifth!

We're behind on our "Colbert Report" viewings, and just got to last Thursday's episode last night. So imagine our delight when we were treated to a profile of our Congressional district and our representative, Congresswoman Darlene Hooley!

We think Hooley did pretty well with Colbert, even calling the district "the fightin' fifth" in the opening of their conversation. She was clearly prepped well... Most of the jokes were about Oregon's medical marijuana law. In the introduction, Colbert said, "Medical marijuana can be used to treat conditions such as glaucoma. In an interesting development, all the residents of the state of Oregon have been diagnosed with glaucoma."

Paris-Roubaix Update: Hincapie's Shoulder

According to Team Discovery's Directeur Sportif, Johan Bruyneel, George Hincapie suffered a separated shoulder in yesterday's crash at Paris-Roubaix. He'll be flying soon to the US to undergo surgery.

Grieving Onscreen

Last night was the first episode of "The West Wing" that dealt with the death of actor John Spencer, who had played Leo McGarry on the show. Leo was the vice presidential candidate on the Democratic ticket, and when Spencer died suddenly in December we all mourned his loss and wondered how the writers would handle it. Last night we got our answer.

Leo had a massive heart attack on election night and died at the hospital. Matt Santos (played by Jimmy Smits), the Democratic presidential candidate, ended up winning the election by a razor-thin margin. But what was most striking about the show was that it was the first time they'd addressed Spencer's death as part of the show, and as the characters dealt with the grief of losing their friend and colleage Leo McGarry, the actors looked to be dealing with the grief of losing their friend and colleage John Spencer. The tears seemed genuine, the grief seemed real. And I cried right along with them.

Next week the episode will be about McGarry's funeral, so I expect to be crying once again for an hour or so. The show itself is also in its final days, as this is its final season, which is another thing for me to be sad about. "The West Wing" has been my favorite show on television since it first aired, and I'll miss it dearly when it's gone. After all, without President Bartlet, all I'm left with is... Well, the real President. And who wants that?

UPDATE: Chris pointed me to a great article in the New York Times about the show, which includes the revelation about who would have won had Spencer not died.

Katrina Voting Begins

From the American Progress Report today:

Katrina voting begins: “Hundreds of Hurricane Katrina evacuees from as far away as Texas and Georgia have signed up to board buses and return to Louisiana in order to vote on the future of New Orleans.”

Paris-Roubaix: All Kinds of Luck

American George Hincapie (Team Discovery) has had a long-standing love affair with the Paris-Roubaix one-day classic bike race, called alternately The Queen of the Classics and The Hell of the North, despite not having had the best of luck in the race. He’s been competitive over the years, however, going from 8th (2004) to 6th (2002 and 2000) to 4th (2001 and 1999) to – finally – a podium position last year with a 2nd place finish. This looked to be Hincapie’s year.


George Hincapie early in this year's Paris-Roubaix, looking confident.

We got up at 5:45am to tune into the live coverage, thinking we’d catch the race just before what tends to be a critical point. They were a bit ahead of schedule, though, so we just missed that point – which did turn out to be critical. It’s a particularly difficult cobbled section through the Forest of Arenberg, and it’s where the definitive break happened this year.


Fabian Cancellara leads the group through the fans lining the cobbled road of the Arenberg.

As they entered the 2.4k pavé section of the Arenberg, Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland, Team CSC) led a small group, including last year’s winner and current world champ Tom Boonen (Belgium, Team Quick.Step) away from the peloton. Boonen looked good, but had no teammates in the break to help him. Hincapie had two teammates, and several other potential winners had one teammate apiece. The Quick.Step riders quickly realized their mistake, and worked like dogs at the front of the peloton to bridge the increasing gap. It wasn’t to be, however, and it became evident that if Boonen was going to win this one, he wasn’t going to have any help.


(L) Tom Boonen on the front of the lead group; (R) The lead group makes its way over a cobbled section of the course.

Quick.Step’s mistake was Discovery’s gain – things were looking picture perfect for Hincapie. Until, that is, a section of pavé with approximately 45k to go. The steerer fork on Hincapie’s bike snapped, leaving his handlebars dangling off the front of the bicycle, and leaving Hincapie with no way to steer or brake. Luckily, he seems to have noticed the break was happening before it did, because he sat up just before the handlebars snapped off (and he therefore spared his chin an unhappy meeting with the bike frame). He then tried to put his feet down in an attempt to slow or steady himself, but ended up falling over the front of the bike, landing hard on his right arm and shoulder.


George Hincapie after his fall.

In what can only be described as the very picture of heartbreak, Hincapie sat in a crumpled heap at the side of the road, his right arm dangling at his side as if he’d broken his collarbone (the after-race reports are that he didn’t break anything, but his shoulder sustained an injury which may require surgery), his broken bike lying beside him, as he watched the lead group ride away. He was in tears, probably just as much from the lost shot at victory as from the pain of the fall.



George grimaced after he fell, probably in equal parts grief, shock and pain. You can see in the bottom picture that the handlebars aren't where they're supposed to be.

Eventually, Cancellara pulled away from what was left of the lead group. Only one rider was able to go with him, but even he was dropped rather quickly. Boonen couldn’t match any of the breaks, having worked so hard on his own all day long, and it became quickly apparent that it was Cancellara’s race to lose. An accomplished time triallist, Cancellara rode the last 15k like the time trial of his life – he never looked back. He entered the Roubaix velodrome alone, giving him time to celebrate as he crossed the finish line.


Cancellara took off like a bolt of lightening, and didn't even look back to see who might come with him.



Cancellara rode solo around the velodrome before crossing the finish line in a victory salute. He broke down afterwards, tears running down his dust-covered face. This is Switzerland's first victory in Paris-Roubaix since 1923.


Cancellara hoists the coveted - and heavy - Paris-Roubaix trophy, featuring one of those dreaded cobbles.

Back on the road, there was still a bit of drama unfolding, as the riders were stopped by a train crossing. The group of three riders closest to Cancellara (but still 40 seconds back) slipped through the crossing gates just before the train zipped through, but Boonen’s group (10 seconds behind them) was stopped. In the end, the three who went through the closed gates were disqualified – it’s against the rules to go through those gates, even if the train hasn’t yet arrived. Their disqualification meant that Boonen, who finished 5th, was moved up to 2nd place overall.


Boonen (in the rainbow-striped jersey) and his compatriots wait for the train, and then continue on once it's passed.

Luck plays an important role in any sporting event, including cycling, and it’s especially important in a race like Paris-Roubaix. Hincapie said yesterday that, barring any bad luck, he was going to be racing for the win. Well, he got hit with good, bad and completely crazy luck this year. It’s always possible that the cards could fall differently for him next year and he could finally get his chance at the top spot on the podium, but it’s unlikely.

All photographs are from here or here.

Emptying the Bloglines Queue

That’s right, folks, it’s time for yet another episode of, “What’s Jess been saving in her Bloglines account?” I know you’re just as excited as I am, so settle in and enjoy!

• BootsnAll has announced its class of 2006 “Rogue Travelers“ - I’ve already mentioned one of them here (Victoria Shepherd’s Europe on an Alphabet), but the other two look interesting as well. I’m thoroughly enjoying Victoria’s journey so far (she’s on the road to the letter “D” town now), so I might have to check out the other two Rogues.
  

• Damn Interesting has two things I saved recently - and they’re oddly related in my head, in that they’re both about taking control of the situation. One is about making your own luck, the other about making your own cola, but how different are those two concepts, really? (Honestly, the making your own cola article freaks me out a bit, but the making your own luck one is fascinating.)
  

• James Tata has posted several things I really liked. One is this bit of excerpts from an essay about artistic inspiration (perhaps my favorite line: “As in sex, we may long to lose our composure and self-control but there is one thing we desire even more, and that is not to.”); another is this quote by Tim O’Brien, the last line of which is lovely; a third is excerpts from an article about New Orleans which I simply must find time to read; and fourth is this collection of snippets, the third of which, the bit about “difficult” poetry, is the one I really like.
  

• Sean Keener at BootsnAll announced the “Last Minute Hotels” items on the BnA website. I haven’t looked at them, but I like the idea. You know, for that next life when I’m no longer a Type-A hyper-planner and I actually do things on the spur of the moment.
  

• William Bragg has, once again, posted a few things worth linking to. For one thing, who knew Bill Nye the Science Guy would be provocative? And for another, who knew there was a Gospel of Judas?

Le Frase Idiomatiche

More Italian idioms from our lovely calendar:

Non vale la pena. = It's not worth your while;
literally = It's not worth your pain.

Non capisco un'acca. = I don't understand a thing;
literally = I don't understand an H.

Sono fuori fase oggi. = I'm out of sorts today;
literally = I'm out of phase today.

Sick

Of course, just as the sun comes out around here, I get a head cold, dammit. I'm overdosing on vitamin C, using Zicam, and crossing my fingers that this goes away soon. My throat is killing me, which will not be good if I have to talk for two hours in class on Monday. As it is, I'm skipping the first session of the Italian class I'm taking tonight so I can go to bed early... As in right now...

Are Women Just Domesticated Animals?

This article seems to think that's possible.

I have to wonder... Have these people ever met a woman?!?

It's Not a Whisper Anymore

I remember, as a child, the word "cancer" being something that people only spoke of in hushed and fearful tones, as if the word itself were somehow contagious. We've come a long way since then, and if my four years at the American Cancer Society taught me anything, it's that a cancer diagnosis isn't necessarily the end of the road. Having said that, it's still nothing to sneeze at. So when my father came over to see me on Saturday and announed that he has a four-inch cancerous tumor in his lower esophagus, I was mostly just stunned.

Cancer doesn't run in my family. Plenty of other ailments do, just not cancer. So when he said "cancer," I thought, "How is that possible?" It turns out that the type of cancer he has is caused by years of damage from acid reflux, which would seem to be a pretty common thing these days. Perhaps it always was common, and we just didn't have a name for it (or the drug companies hadn't come up with the "miracle cure" to plaster all over our airwaves yet).

Whatever the case may be, it looks like he's now going to have to undergo a major operation (similar to open-heart surgery, they actually open the chest to get at this part of the lower esophagus - they remove the entire affected section of the esophagus, replacing it with intestine or a plastic tube). He's doing some testing right now - partly to see if the cancer is still localized and to confirm that it hasn't spread, and partly to see if he can handle the operation. At this point, there are more questions than answers (which is maddening), so we just have to wait for the tests to be completed - at which point I assume he'll get a surgery date.

My dad is a little freaked out (would anyone expect anything else?), and he's also handling it really well, taking care of himself and talking to his family about all of it. I'm encouraging him to continue to ask for help, as this isn't something that anyone should be expected to go through alone - that's why we have family, for chrissake...

So - anyone out there who has acid reflux problems, please don't just treat it at home with antacids for years and think you're going to be fine. Talk to your doctor. I'd never heard of cancer being caused by acid reflux, and yet when I started poking around online I found the following on the OncologyChannel:

"Barrett's esophagus is the primary risk factor for adenocarcinoma of the esophagus. In this condition, tissue damage in the lining of the esophagus occurs as a result of chronic gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). About 10% of patients with GERD develop Barrett's esophagus and about 1% of these patients develop esophageal cancer."

If you've got positive thoughts to spare for my dad, I'm sure he'd appreciate them.

Viva Las Vegas

You may already know that Las Vegas is not my kind of town. I've been a few times in my life, and it's never captured my heart or imagination. Sure, I've had fun on occasion, but more often than not I'm really ready to come home after only two days there.

Be that as it may, I know Vegas is a popular destination for many a-traveler, American and foreign, and I find that I actually like the Viva Las Vegas Blog even though I don't like the city it's about. Maybe it's because I'm not actually there, so I'm not inundated with all the things I don't like about the place... Who knows?

Seriously, though, the Viva Las Vegas Blog is a great resource for folks traveling to Vegas for business or pleasure (but really, when you're in Vegas, is there a difference between the two?). In addition to the requisite travel information on the site (hotel info, info about shows, restaurant info, and - of course - wedding chapels), there's also a bit about gambling for "Vegas Virgins" (as well as those who are a bit more, shall we say, experienced), articles about various luxury spas, and even what to do with the kids in Vegas! (You mean there's family entertainment in Sin City?!?)

Perhaps the most handy part of the site, however, is the "FREE Vegas" section, which lists all the stuff you can do in Vegas without losing your shirt. (Unless, of course, that's your goal). In a city as dripping in money as Vegas, it's nice to know there are still some bargains to be found.

Finally, while I might not be a fan of the city, it's clear that the primary author of the blog, Jen Leo, is. And as everyone knows, it's much easier to talk glowingly about a place if you like it already. Heck, if I keep reading this damned blog I might become a fan of Vegas myself.

(Yeah, probably not.)

Full disclosure: Viva Las Vegas Blog is part of the BootsnAll Travel Network, my new employer. As I learn more about the various resources in the Network, I’ll post information about them here.

First Raspberry of the Season

Chris returned from his race on Saturday with the season's first wound - a large rash on one hip - which he acquired from a minor crash. He apparently narrowly avoided hitting a tree (as did his bike). I'm glad he's fine, and I'm also hoping this doesn't mean we're in for another Season of Crashes - a few years ago it seemed like he crashed every frickin' weekend. I learned way more about bandaging cycling injuries than I ever wanted to know. So - for the remainder of the season, Christopher, please stay upright on the bicycle. Your nurse thanks you.

The Wisdom of William Bragg

William Bragg has posted so many things lately that I've saved, I'm dedicating an entire post to them:

• For some reason I find these two stories (here and here) oddly related (though the second one is distinctly more hysterical than the first)...
• Pandas are a trick?
• This made me want to get a hybrid car even more.
• I find this story really outrageous, and wish I could say it was hard to believe.
• This was a whopper of an expensive burger. (Yes, pun intended.)
• When I was in high school, a "Bible as Literature" course was offered for seniors by the English department - and I took it. I actually really enjoyed it, because we just talked about the stories as stories. As a result, I know quite a bit more about Biblical references in popular culture than one would expect a lifelong atheist to know. This, however, is another thing entirely.
• I hadn't seen this before - but even if it's been widely referenced, it warrants being referenced again.
• I think my British friend Matt might take issue with this.
• I'll end with this one, which seems to embody the idea of a "slow news day."