feeling better

after a divine nyquil induced love affair

still needing a bit more rest
which I will see to shortly
but I figured I might as well get to work
on sorting some of the photos I took
till that overslept feeling wears off

in the mean time
I thought I would share this

( the day the king caught his first fish )

yes

that is what was once a cubs hat I am wearing there
although the red C had long fallen off
the rest of the cap didnt last the summer I'm afraid
it was a major childhood trauma I assure you

BWAhahahahahahaha

in keeping with long standing tradition

the king has once again
made buffy his bitch
[whose league leading team]
[choked in the playoffs]

( who's your daddy )

yes I know it is only fantasy football
but the truly amusing part
is that I don't know jack about the NFL
and didn't watch a single game this season

perhaps a cheap and insignificant victory for the king
but
a terrible shame for the buffster

poor thing

everyone go give him a hug

For Buffy

A seven year old boy was at the center of a courtroom drama this morning when he challenged a court ruling over who should have custody of the boy. The boy has a history of being beaten by his parents and the judge awarded custody to his aunt.

The boy confirmed that his aunt beat him more than his parents and refused to live there. When the judge suggested that he live with his grandparents the boy cried out that they beat him more than anyone.

The judge dramatically allowed the boy to choose who should have custody of him.

Custody was granted to the New Orleans Saints this morning as the boy firmly believes that they are not capable
of beating anyone

Travels and Photos

Part One

First stop on my glorious (albeit brief) return to civilization
was a trip down to D.C.

I was generously hosted by the ever delightful buddhaboy and his charming wife
despite violating seven levels of quarantine by allowing me into their home
as all of them were to some degree horribly ill
it was a quite enjoyable visit

We took Mister Oliver (B's oldest son) to Port Discovery in Baltimore
which was quite a blast

( Mister Oliver at Port Discovery )

and definitely better than the trip to hospital
which followed shortly thereafter for the poor fellow

somehow I managed to withstand whatever
affliction was plaguing his dear family
and managed to get some needed business done in D.C.
even snuck in a day to take photos around the city as well.

during which having been clued in by my host
I managed to finesse my way on to an accident scene
[claiming to be a photographer for the NTSB]
where a tanker truck had failed to navigate an exit ramp
rolled over and gone boom
rumor has it that a photograph of me
wandering around the crash site
was circulating on the Washington Post web site

( what not to do with a tanker trunk carrying 8,000 gallons of fuel )

Then I headed down to the National Mall
and snapped some pictures of various touristy stuff
where I was most unceremoniously raped by the meter maid
who gave me a parking ticket 4 minutes after
I parked the car and put twenty minutes worth of time on the meter
[according to my cell and her ticket]

bah anyway
I snapped some shots on the National Mall
the Vietnam memorial and a few other things

( the best of which you can see here )

You can browse the rest of my DC photos here

and then I jumped on a jet plane
and headed to Seattle
where I managed to get food poisoning
from the very first thing I ate in that fair city
[some welcome home eh?]
but you'll have to wait for part two to hear all about that

and since I found out classes don't start till Monday
back to bed for my sniffling wheezing and coughing heiny

Say what you want about Bush, but calling us stingy as a nation is a bit much

Tue, January 4, 2005

America's first, again

Whenever and wherever disaster strikes on the globe, the U.S. responds immediately with relief and medical supplies as they have in Asia, writes Peter Worthington

By PETER WORTHINGTON -- For the Toronto Sun

Thank goodness for the Americans. What would this world would be like without the U.S.? Especially in times of natural disasters like the Boxing Day tsunami that killed so many and shocked the world into unprecedented humanitarian generosity. Such generosity often seems muted. Not this time. The world's people have responded more ardently than their governments, and in case after case governments have taken a cue from their citizens, and increased their initial aid response.

Canada is just one example, but typical of the world. Prime Minister Paul Martin started by pledging $1 million, then $4 million, then $40 million and now $80 million -- not because our government now realizes as it didn't before that the catastrophe was so severe, but because Canadians from every strata of society have opened their hearts and wallets. The U.S. initial pledge of $35 million, later upped to $350 million is just the start. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell anticipates $1 billion from the U.S. -- double the $500 million pledged by Japan, which will likely also up its giving.

U.S. President George Bush has recruited two former presidents -- his dad and Bill Clinton -- to head U.S. fundraising for the tsunami victims. It is one of those moments in history where the world is united -- and America is leading. As well as being the world's wealthiest nation, Americans are the world's most generous -- $249 billion given annually to various corporate and private charities. So a world that failed to anticipate or respond to the genocide of 800,000 in Rwanda, or 2.5 million displaced in Congo, and is still lukewarm in all except rhetoric about Sudan and Darfur, has reacted with humane fervor to the tsunami disaster, which is Hollywood animation come to life.

Pledging money is vital, but it doesn't save lives immediately. Again, that's where the Americans shine. The first large-scale international relief to the victims was from a U.S. warship, the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln which sent relays of a dozen helicopters loaded with relief and medical supplies into the stricken area. The U.S. military has field hospitals, and soldiers, Marines, sailors who turn instantly into social workers and bleeding-heart aid workers.

Every time

And it's not just for this tsunami in the South Pacific. It happens every time there's a horrendous natural disaster -- an earthquake in Turkey, Iran, or the Balkans, mud slides, floods, whatever -- the Americans are invariably first with direct, on-the-spot aid, no questions asked. Some see the tsunami disaster as a chance for the U.S. to mend fences with the Islamic world with its aid -- showing the people of Indonesia (the world's largest Muslim country) that America is not the devil incarnate. Maybe this will happen, but not likely. Ordinary people in the under-developed world rarely view Americans as anything except what's desirable. The supposed unpopularity of the U.S. is often propaganda and rhetoric, and not shared by the people of the world who, even after 9/11, Iraq, Afghanistan and the war against terror, seek to come to America to live in freedom and prosperity.

Those anxious to get in have no doubts about what America is -- the most desirable country on Earth. Canada views itself as compassionate, and we are. To a point. Not so rapid. But we don't react with the speed and passion of Americans. Out vaunted Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) is supposed to react quickly, to "bridge the gap" until formal aid arrives at a disaster scene. The tsunami underlines that ours is a not-so-rapid response team, partly because it exists mostly in theory and partly because we have no way of getting it to a disaster zone -- insufficient transport aircraft.

The announcement yesterday was that DART would begin leaving tomorrow -- 13 days late. Better luck next disaster.

A world without the U.S. would be a sorrier world indeed, especially when leadership in humanitarian causes is needed.