HELIOLITH

Dear Hu Jintao and Zhang Qingli,
I am writing to respectfully share my opinion with you on the situation in the Tibet Autonomous Region. While I understand that the official view is that no external persons or countries should meddle with the internal affairs of China, I request that you listen, for I speak not […]

Is burning property violence? Did Tibetan monks actually do it? Should the short term events of the last week, and possible crimes committed shape the dialogue around the movement to free Tibet? Did the Chinese use infiltrators to foment violence? There may currently be no proof, but there it seems very […]

A fellow in Canada just came up with the sweetest idea that dovetails two different websites I love: Found and Post Secret.  Matt collects and posts photographs from lost cameras that the finders send in to connect the orphaned pictures with their long lost owners.  Just a lovely idea.  Wedding photos, teenagers plastered at Lollapalooza, […]

It has always been interesting to me that the German word for ‘monument’ is ‘denkmal’, which simply means ‘Think!” in the imperative form.
In today’s New York Times online, Nicholas Kulish has written an article about modern Germany’s promotion of Holocaust memorials. Though this topic could easily be the work of a […]

Schwarzenegger wants to slice $4.8 Billion from CA Schools Mid-year.
So the governor wants to take away money that we had planned to receive - and in some cases have already spent… this while EdVoice.org reports that California (”CA”) was ranked 46th in per-pupil funding!
When I search the publication they referenced (Education Week), all I […]

I stumbled on this while reading last Thursday’s headlines from the Deutsche-Welle “Langsam Gesprochene Nachrichten” The article mentioned that, “Eine Sprecherin bezeichnete den Akt als eklatante Einmischung in die inneren Angelegenheiten des Landes.” or that, “a spokeswoman signaled that the act was blatant meddling in the internal affairs of their country.” Pretty pathetic […]

Josh Marshall sums up my own thoughts quite well on Gore’s winning of the Nobel Peace Prize.

There are several layers of irony and poetic justice wrapped into this honor. The first is that the greatest step for world peace would simply have been for Gore not to have had the presidency stolen from him in […]

Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff, in a clever retort, asserted that “illegal migrants really degrade the environment” yesterday when his border fence was criticized by environmentalists who are concerned that a fence will disrupt wildlife habitat in southwest U.S. & northern Mexico. I struggle to see how our leaders can support the idea of a fence. […]

Listening to yesterday’s podcast of Democracy Now (transcript here), some serious issues in the trial come to light. I have not been closely following this trial at all, but it seems that an appeal is clearly warranted, on several grounds, and anyone even scanning the headlines can realize how politicized this trial has become, […]

For a couple of years now I’ve been thinking about what next vehicle I might get if our (2) cars run into the ground. I hardly use my car lately, riding most everywhere, including the 12 miles to work, but still, I appreciate the flexiblity and the for transporting kids, it’s pretty key, especially […]