I'm an animal freak. Specifically, I'm a bear freak. I'm not the type of freak that will go live in the woods with them, claiming some sort of affinity that may or may not keep me from being eaten. I like their lumbering, their shaggy fur, and their large, open faces. So, occasionally, I will post bear stories.
Like this:
Berlin bear's break-out bid fails
A bold amphibious escape bid by a bear at Berlin zoo has been foiled in a dramatic shoot-out.
Juan the Andean spectacled bear first paddled across a moat using a log for a raft, then scaled a wall. Finally he appeared to commandeer a bicycle, before zookeepers with brooms cornered him, and a colleague picked him off with a tranquiliser gun.
"Just think what could have happened," said a mother who saw the bear escape and head for the children's carousel.
"It went straight for the playground", said Liane Hertrampf to the Berliner Kurier newspaper. Parents grabbed their children and fled as they realised what was happening.
But the zoo's deputy director Heiner Kloes was not so concerned.
"Spectacled bears eat both vegetables and meat but children tend not to be on their menu," he said.
"I'd have been a lot more worried if one of our polar bears had escaped," he added.
He did say, however, that he was "alarmed at how some fathers were too busy filming the bear to check where their children were".
The picture that accompanies this article, by the way, is priceless. Go Juan, go!
8.31.2004
8.27.2004
Worthless
So the two Russian airline disasters that killed 89 people were the work of terrorists. That's really not surprising. And now, an Islamic group associated with al-Qaeda (and with the slippery, slimy al-Zarqawi) is claiming responsibility. That, too, fails to surprise me.
And I shouldn't have been surprised at all when one of the clues that led investigators to conclude this was the work of terrorists was this: two Chechen women, their bodies still unclaimed by relatives.
No, I shouldn't have been surprised, knowing that suicide bombing (and flying) is standard operating procedure for the Islamo-fascists. It shouldn't surprise me that human life means nothing to them. And I know I shouldn't feel bad at all for these unclaimed women who killed themselves and dozens others.
I shouldn't, but - God help me - I do.
I have to wonder what they were promised. After all, a male 'martyr' is promised virgins and exaltation in paradise. But what would a Muslim female want with 72 virgins? The families that give up sons are promised reflected glory and monetary compensation. But what about a Muslim family that loses a daughter, especially when women mean so little in Muslim societies. Women have been described as being worth 'half a man.' Does that mean families get half the money? Half the glory?
And now, not a single relative will claim their burned and broken bodies. They were sent to kill. Human missiles - once spent, their casings left to rot. As I said before, I shouldn't feel bad. I should wish that they had died and not taken a single innocent with them. I should be angry, and I am. Just not for all the regular reasons.
As I try to wrap this up, I realize that every suicide bomber, man or woman, is a hopeless creature - full of hatred for the enemy, and hated in return - and to their comrades, their worth is only measured by the murders they commit.
Which in the end, when they've decided to be a weapon instead of a human, makes them worthless.
At least I'll keep telling myself that.
And I shouldn't have been surprised at all when one of the clues that led investigators to conclude this was the work of terrorists was this: two Chechen women, their bodies still unclaimed by relatives.
No, I shouldn't have been surprised, knowing that suicide bombing (and flying) is standard operating procedure for the Islamo-fascists. It shouldn't surprise me that human life means nothing to them. And I know I shouldn't feel bad at all for these unclaimed women who killed themselves and dozens others.
I shouldn't, but - God help me - I do.
I have to wonder what they were promised. After all, a male 'martyr' is promised virgins and exaltation in paradise. But what would a Muslim female want with 72 virgins? The families that give up sons are promised reflected glory and monetary compensation. But what about a Muslim family that loses a daughter, especially when women mean so little in Muslim societies. Women have been described as being worth 'half a man.' Does that mean families get half the money? Half the glory?
And now, not a single relative will claim their burned and broken bodies. They were sent to kill. Human missiles - once spent, their casings left to rot. As I said before, I shouldn't feel bad. I should wish that they had died and not taken a single innocent with them. I should be angry, and I am. Just not for all the regular reasons.
As I try to wrap this up, I realize that every suicide bomber, man or woman, is a hopeless creature - full of hatred for the enemy, and hated in return - and to their comrades, their worth is only measured by the murders they commit.
Which in the end, when they've decided to be a weapon instead of a human, makes them worthless.
At least I'll keep telling myself that.
8.25.2004
Beauty
Today, I came across a gorgeous and heartbreaking collection of photographs, posted online here.
Go look. You don't have to go through all of them to get the point. And if you're not in the mood to jump to that link and come back, I'll tell you what the pictures show.
Every last one is taken by a man with a camera on the streets of Tehran, and every last one shows an Iranian woman in body-covering robes or jackets and headscarves. But rather than submit to plain black hejabs, these women let a lock of hair escape, or paint their nails, or dare to wear a headscarf of bright color. These women look so resolute, and immeasurably beautiful.
Here, where skin is in and the fashion for females of all ages is to show bellies between low-slung pants and short-cropped shirts, I wonder about the nature of beauty. I've stood in line at the store and seen scowling teenage girls with pudgy midriffs, bulging over the sides of their rolled-down sweatpants. I've gone to the mall and seen racks full of little girls' clothing following the adult fashion - the smaller, the better. And I think every time, this is not beautiful. It's cheap and trashy.
I have a motto: just because it comes in your size, that doesn't mean you should be wearing it. Myself, I'm a stocky girl that's had a child and I don't feel the need to show any part of my body in an unflattering way (which makes shopping a little difficult). I do feel, like every woman in every part of the world, the need to be pretty. We're just wired that way. Even so, I reject most fads. I don't show my gut, or the top third of my ass. I think that's just being considerate to the general population.
To the Iranian women, freedom means a splash of color or a stray lock of hair. And to think - in Iranian culture, these women could easily be branded as whores. A flash of ankle or elbow could have them dragged in front of a court by any man on the street, where they would be flogged.
I'm happy to live in a free country where I don't have to wear a burka. It's too damn hot here anyway. But for God's sake, being free doesn't have to mean rejecting simple good taste, does it? I wish these girls would have more pride in their appearance, and pride in themselves. And most of all I wish they would appreciate their freedom, instead of crudely flaunting it.
Go look. You don't have to go through all of them to get the point. And if you're not in the mood to jump to that link and come back, I'll tell you what the pictures show.
Every last one is taken by a man with a camera on the streets of Tehran, and every last one shows an Iranian woman in body-covering robes or jackets and headscarves. But rather than submit to plain black hejabs, these women let a lock of hair escape, or paint their nails, or dare to wear a headscarf of bright color. These women look so resolute, and immeasurably beautiful.
Here, where skin is in and the fashion for females of all ages is to show bellies between low-slung pants and short-cropped shirts, I wonder about the nature of beauty. I've stood in line at the store and seen scowling teenage girls with pudgy midriffs, bulging over the sides of their rolled-down sweatpants. I've gone to the mall and seen racks full of little girls' clothing following the adult fashion - the smaller, the better. And I think every time, this is not beautiful. It's cheap and trashy.
I have a motto: just because it comes in your size, that doesn't mean you should be wearing it. Myself, I'm a stocky girl that's had a child and I don't feel the need to show any part of my body in an unflattering way (which makes shopping a little difficult). I do feel, like every woman in every part of the world, the need to be pretty. We're just wired that way. Even so, I reject most fads. I don't show my gut, or the top third of my ass. I think that's just being considerate to the general population.
To the Iranian women, freedom means a splash of color or a stray lock of hair. And to think - in Iranian culture, these women could easily be branded as whores. A flash of ankle or elbow could have them dragged in front of a court by any man on the street, where they would be flogged.
I'm happy to live in a free country where I don't have to wear a burka. It's too damn hot here anyway. But for God's sake, being free doesn't have to mean rejecting simple good taste, does it? I wish these girls would have more pride in their appearance, and pride in themselves. And most of all I wish they would appreciate their freedom, instead of crudely flaunting it.
8.19.2004
One day at a time, my furry friends
Bear Passes Out After Only 36 Beers
Only 36?
"It turns out the bear was a bit of a beer sophisticate. He tried a mass-market Busch beer, but switched to Rainier Beer, a local ale, and stuck with it for his drinking binge."
Oh, that explains it: he was mixing.
Only 36?
"It turns out the bear was a bit of a beer sophisticate. He tried a mass-market Busch beer, but switched to Rainier Beer, a local ale, and stuck with it for his drinking binge."
Oh, that explains it: he was mixing.
8.17.2004
Kill her. I mean it.
Seven Texas children found in Nigeria orphanage
I'm not a hate-filled person, really I'm not. But when I see shit like this, I want the offender turned into a red smear on the wall.
The woman, whose name was not released, took all the [foster] children in October to Nigeria, where a relative of her fiance lived. The children were enrolled in school and the mother returned to Houston about 30 days later. She went to work in Iraq in April.
But the children were later removed from school because payment for their tuition stopped and lived in a wooden shack. Nigerian child-protection authorities found the children malnourished and sick and moved them to an orphanage in late July.
She left seven foster kids to die, like some backwards assclown would put unwanted puppies in a trash bag and throw them from the window of a pickup truck, then went to Iraq? Why couldn't some of those hooded assholes have taken HER?
State officials will determine whether criminal charges will be filed against the adoptive mother, or if she should just be taken out back and shot, when she returns to court August 26.
Okay, so I added the bit about her being taken out and shot. Can't blame a girl for trying.
I'm not a hate-filled person, really I'm not. But when I see shit like this, I want the offender turned into a red smear on the wall.
The woman, whose name was not released, took all the [foster] children in October to Nigeria, where a relative of her fiance lived. The children were enrolled in school and the mother returned to Houston about 30 days later. She went to work in Iraq in April.
But the children were later removed from school because payment for their tuition stopped and lived in a wooden shack. Nigerian child-protection authorities found the children malnourished and sick and moved them to an orphanage in late July.
She left seven foster kids to die, like some backwards assclown would put unwanted puppies in a trash bag and throw them from the window of a pickup truck, then went to Iraq? Why couldn't some of those hooded assholes have taken HER?
State officials will determine whether criminal charges will be filed against the adoptive mother, or if she should just be taken out back and shot, when she returns to court August 26.
Okay, so I added the bit about her being taken out and shot. Can't blame a girl for trying.
8.16.2004
"My pilgrimage ends here"
How long can a man go on, traveling and bringing words of hope to his faithful, when he is riddled by disease?
Yesterday, Pope John Paul II made a pilgrimage to Lourdes, and spoke to the crowds who gathered to hear and see the man they believe to be God's representative on earth. There, visibly ill and weak, he said "my pilgrimage ends here." So today, I read another story with a headline "Pope Near End of His Life." And he very well may be. Based on his words at Lourdes, he may feel his body finally giving out, after years of hard schedules, an attempt on his life, and a struggle with Parkinson's Disease.
But every time Pope John Paul II is mentioned as 'frail,' I disagree. His physical health may be waning, but his will and his spirit are as strong now as ever.
I haven't always agreed with the Vatican, but I can take a moment to appreciate the essential goodness of this man. Whether his end is today or (if he surprises us again) next year, I can say a prayer of thanks that God gave this Polish priest as an example to the world.
Yesterday, Pope John Paul II made a pilgrimage to Lourdes, and spoke to the crowds who gathered to hear and see the man they believe to be God's representative on earth. There, visibly ill and weak, he said "my pilgrimage ends here." So today, I read another story with a headline "Pope Near End of His Life." And he very well may be. Based on his words at Lourdes, he may feel his body finally giving out, after years of hard schedules, an attempt on his life, and a struggle with Parkinson's Disease.
But every time Pope John Paul II is mentioned as 'frail,' I disagree. His physical health may be waning, but his will and his spirit are as strong now as ever.
I haven't always agreed with the Vatican, but I can take a moment to appreciate the essential goodness of this man. Whether his end is today or (if he surprises us again) next year, I can say a prayer of thanks that God gave this Polish priest as an example to the world.
8.12.2004
Does a bear puke in the woods?
Bear gourges on fermented fruit at brewery
I don't know what's funnier: the story, or the headline's butchered spelling of 'gorges.'
I also have to wonder - would a bear get a hangover?
I don't know what's funnier: the story, or the headline's butchered spelling of 'gorges.'
I also have to wonder - would a bear get a hangover?
8.11.2004
I'm done.
ABC News can take their Breaking News e-mail service and stuff it.
I thought Breaking News qualified as "Osama Promises to Kill Someone Really Important," or "Another 100,000 Christians Killed in Darfur Since Breakfast," or "Iran Hits Broad Side of Barn."
Nope. Instead, I get this:
The prosecution in the Kobe Bryant case has asked for an unspecified continuance to delay the trial.
The only thing I need to round out my day is a Scott Peterson update.
. . .
Okay. I just went to grab the ABC News link, and here's the top damn story:
Listening In
Jurors in Scott Peterson's murder trial heard taped phone calls between Peterson and his ex-mistress.
I'm going straight to BBC from now on.
I thought Breaking News qualified as "Osama Promises to Kill Someone Really Important," or "Another 100,000 Christians Killed in Darfur Since Breakfast," or "Iran Hits Broad Side of Barn."
Nope. Instead, I get this:
The prosecution in the Kobe Bryant case has asked for an unspecified continuance to delay the trial.
The only thing I need to round out my day is a Scott Peterson update.
. . .
Okay. I just went to grab the ABC News link, and here's the top damn story:
Listening In
Jurors in Scott Peterson's murder trial heard taped phone calls between Peterson and his ex-mistress.
I'm going straight to BBC from now on.
8.10.2004
With a cooler head . . .
. . . I address the previous post.
The denials are still flying (with the appropriate amount of prevaricating), but it all still breaks down to this: there was a tape in the possession of al-Qaeda. Footage of Las Vegas was on it. FBI experts deemed it was a surveillance tape, rather than a vacation footage tape to hide "real" target information, based on shots of entrances, valet parking, and certain interiors. A warning from the FBI in Detroit can be traced to our local FBI, and two Metro officers viewed the tape. A warning was not given to the public, though this tape proved Las Vegas to be an al-Qaeda target.
Still, the mayor claims this information never got to his office at City Hall. Goodman said he would like to confront the prosecutor. "I'd like to call him a liar," the mayor said. "They're making it up. If there were danger, you can bet I'd be screaming it all over the media."
Gee, Oscar. In your own subtle way, you did just call the guy a liar. I think you're protesting a wee bit too much. The FBI thinks you did know the tape existed and brushed it off as having a "deleterious effect on tourism." And isn't "deleterious" a nice, lawyerly word? But go ahead. Saying "they're making it up" is much better than having to admit you 1) knew and chose to remain ignorant; 2) knew, weren't ignorant, but put financial concerns over public safety; or 3) never knew because you're deemed unfit to be in the loop.
Aside from that, if you took this knowledge (I know - if you had it) and screamed it all over the media, that would seem like a panicky and unmeasured response. I would hope, as the number one public official in Las Vegas, you would consult with others. Perhaps you'd work with the FBI to decide whether the threat was general or acute, try to discover the nature of the threat (car bomb? suicide bomber? hijacked small plane or helicopter?) and make an appropriate warning after you had more to go on.
Maybe I'm being a bit unfair: I can understand that the nature of the threat is rarely clear. Just as I've understood since September 12th that I live in a targeted city - the very nature of Las Vegas is an abomination to Islamo-fascists. But if the words "surveillance tape" were even whispered in my general direction, I'd want to know more. Damn tourism or civil liability.
If something here really does "go boom," regardless of the scale, our economy will be crushed. We live and die by tourism. If the tourists don't think we're safe, they won't come.
Now comes the interesting part, and I'd love to see research on this one. Let's get a focus group together and ask: "Knowing Las Vegas officials ignored or refused to view evidence that the city was under credible terror threat, would you be more likely or less likely to visit?"
I wonder.
The denials are still flying (with the appropriate amount of prevaricating), but it all still breaks down to this: there was a tape in the possession of al-Qaeda. Footage of Las Vegas was on it. FBI experts deemed it was a surveillance tape, rather than a vacation footage tape to hide "real" target information, based on shots of entrances, valet parking, and certain interiors. A warning from the FBI in Detroit can be traced to our local FBI, and two Metro officers viewed the tape. A warning was not given to the public, though this tape proved Las Vegas to be an al-Qaeda target.
Still, the mayor claims this information never got to his office at City Hall. Goodman said he would like to confront the prosecutor. "I'd like to call him a liar," the mayor said. "They're making it up. If there were danger, you can bet I'd be screaming it all over the media."
Gee, Oscar. In your own subtle way, you did just call the guy a liar. I think you're protesting a wee bit too much. The FBI thinks you did know the tape existed and brushed it off as having a "deleterious effect on tourism." And isn't "deleterious" a nice, lawyerly word? But go ahead. Saying "they're making it up" is much better than having to admit you 1) knew and chose to remain ignorant; 2) knew, weren't ignorant, but put financial concerns over public safety; or 3) never knew because you're deemed unfit to be in the loop.
Aside from that, if you took this knowledge (I know - if you had it) and screamed it all over the media, that would seem like a panicky and unmeasured response. I would hope, as the number one public official in Las Vegas, you would consult with others. Perhaps you'd work with the FBI to decide whether the threat was general or acute, try to discover the nature of the threat (car bomb? suicide bomber? hijacked small plane or helicopter?) and make an appropriate warning after you had more to go on.
Maybe I'm being a bit unfair: I can understand that the nature of the threat is rarely clear. Just as I've understood since September 12th that I live in a targeted city - the very nature of Las Vegas is an abomination to Islamo-fascists. But if the words "surveillance tape" were even whispered in my general direction, I'd want to know more. Damn tourism or civil liability.
If something here really does "go boom," regardless of the scale, our economy will be crushed. We live and die by tourism. If the tourists don't think we're safe, they won't come.
Now comes the interesting part, and I'd love to see research on this one. Let's get a focus group together and ask: "Knowing Las Vegas officials ignored or refused to view evidence that the city was under credible terror threat, would you be more likely or less likely to visit?"
I wonder.
8.09.2004
Homeland Insecurity
AP: U.S. Didn't Warn Las Vegas of Threat
Imagine my surprise when I read the first paragraph of this horrifying article:
A year after the Sept. 11 attacks, the Justice Department obtained video surveillance tapes suggesting terrorists were targeting Las Vegas casinos but authorities never alerted the public as they discussed whether a warning might hurt tourism or increase the casinos' legal liability, internal memos show.
Authorities didn't warn the public for WHAT REASONS?
The mayor of Las Vegas said Monday he was never told about the tapes uncovered in Detroit and Spain in 2002, and had been assured by the FBI there were no credible threats against his city. "If I were told, I would certainly tell the public," Mayor Oscar Goodman said.
Well of course you would. You're the mayor of Las Vegas, and it's your job to make sure residents and visitors remain safe. That's your priority, right? I feel so much better.
Or maybe not: One document quotes a federal prosecutor in Las Vegas as saying the mayor was concerned about the "deleterious effect on the Las Vegas tourism industry" if the Detroit evidence became public.
How about the "deleterious effect" on your elected position, you gin-swilling ass? You worried about that at all?
Never mind. At least you can count on the casinos to stay informed. After all, why would casino management invite disaster by sticking their heads in the sand?
Another memo states the casinos didn't want to see the footage for fear it would make them more likely to be held liable in civil court if an attack occurred.
WTF?
The [FBI] prosecutor said he later asked a Las Vegas police officer, who had seen the tape and flown to Detroit to help, why more wasn't done. "This officer told me that the amount of money that travels through Las Vegas on a daily, weekly and monthly basis - if something doesn't go boom, nothing is going to be done," he said.
"Go boom." What a cute way to talk about the death and injury of hundreds - maybe thousands - of people.
Of course, the mayor and spokespeople for the casinos in question (Excalibur, MGM and New York-New York) are denying all this. But the agent who found the tapes and brought them to my fair city's attention begged they be taken seriously, documented by e-mails to our local FBI office.
"While I understand your previously stated concerns that the mayor of Las Vegas, the local sheriff and others believe our indictment may temporarily have a deleterious effect on the Las Vegas tourism industry, it is unconscionable that any reasonable person would assert that anyone here possessed a cavalier attitude toward the tape," Convertino wrote.
So let me try to get this straight: The headline stated that the U.S. didn't warn Vegas. But the article really says that Mayor Goodman and the casinos were warned (though they deny this) and didn't pass the info along for fear of a financial impact on the city?
Personally, I believe the FBI account. I live here, and the action (or inaction) of the mayor and the casinos just rings far too true for me. Yes, we have a lot of money going through this city. Mandalay Resort Group and MGM-Mirage have performed quite nicely for their shareholders. And the mayor is nothing more than a cheerleader in expensive suits. Why expect the truth - when the truth would darken their rosy picture?
In the next few days, if anything more is written about this, I hope Goodman & Co. prove me wrong. I, who have a life here, and a son, and people I love very much, want to be proven wrong.
UPDATE: Here's something else: shame on AP for the misleading headline.
Imagine my surprise when I read the first paragraph of this horrifying article:
A year after the Sept. 11 attacks, the Justice Department obtained video surveillance tapes suggesting terrorists were targeting Las Vegas casinos but authorities never alerted the public as they discussed whether a warning might hurt tourism or increase the casinos' legal liability, internal memos show.
Authorities didn't warn the public for WHAT REASONS?
The mayor of Las Vegas said Monday he was never told about the tapes uncovered in Detroit and Spain in 2002, and had been assured by the FBI there were no credible threats against his city. "If I were told, I would certainly tell the public," Mayor Oscar Goodman said.
Well of course you would. You're the mayor of Las Vegas, and it's your job to make sure residents and visitors remain safe. That's your priority, right? I feel so much better.
Or maybe not: One document quotes a federal prosecutor in Las Vegas as saying the mayor was concerned about the "deleterious effect on the Las Vegas tourism industry" if the Detroit evidence became public.
How about the "deleterious effect" on your elected position, you gin-swilling ass? You worried about that at all?
Never mind. At least you can count on the casinos to stay informed. After all, why would casino management invite disaster by sticking their heads in the sand?
Another memo states the casinos didn't want to see the footage for fear it would make them more likely to be held liable in civil court if an attack occurred.
WTF?
The [FBI] prosecutor said he later asked a Las Vegas police officer, who had seen the tape and flown to Detroit to help, why more wasn't done. "This officer told me that the amount of money that travels through Las Vegas on a daily, weekly and monthly basis - if something doesn't go boom, nothing is going to be done," he said.
"Go boom." What a cute way to talk about the death and injury of hundreds - maybe thousands - of people.
Of course, the mayor and spokespeople for the casinos in question (Excalibur, MGM and New York-New York) are denying all this. But the agent who found the tapes and brought them to my fair city's attention begged they be taken seriously, documented by e-mails to our local FBI office.
"While I understand your previously stated concerns that the mayor of Las Vegas, the local sheriff and others believe our indictment may temporarily have a deleterious effect on the Las Vegas tourism industry, it is unconscionable that any reasonable person would assert that anyone here possessed a cavalier attitude toward the tape," Convertino wrote.
So let me try to get this straight: The headline stated that the U.S. didn't warn Vegas. But the article really says that Mayor Goodman and the casinos were warned (though they deny this) and didn't pass the info along for fear of a financial impact on the city?
Personally, I believe the FBI account. I live here, and the action (or inaction) of the mayor and the casinos just rings far too true for me. Yes, we have a lot of money going through this city. Mandalay Resort Group and MGM-Mirage have performed quite nicely for their shareholders. And the mayor is nothing more than a cheerleader in expensive suits. Why expect the truth - when the truth would darken their rosy picture?
In the next few days, if anything more is written about this, I hope Goodman & Co. prove me wrong. I, who have a life here, and a son, and people I love very much, want to be proven wrong.
UPDATE: Here's something else: shame on AP for the misleading headline.
Play nice, everyone.
We get the daily (no, hourly) reports from the shitstorm that is Iraq. I can barely imagine the frustration of those who live there, who want nothing more than to live in safety, in that promised democratic society.
Unfortunately for those Iraqis, democracy is a participatory system of government and there are many who refuse to play along. There are also those who wanted to turn events to their own gain.
Without security, there can't be democracy. As long as al-Sadr and all those groups of hooded assholes with video cameras are allowed to run rampant, this mutation of martial law will have to continue -- along with all the airstrikes and car bombs and refugees and civilian casualties.
In order for Iraq to move forward, some people will have to be tossed out of the game.
Unfortunately for those Iraqis, democracy is a participatory system of government and there are many who refuse to play along. There are also those who wanted to turn events to their own gain.
Without security, there can't be democracy. As long as al-Sadr and all those groups of hooded assholes with video cameras are allowed to run rampant, this mutation of martial law will have to continue -- along with all the airstrikes and car bombs and refugees and civilian casualties.
In order for Iraq to move forward, some people will have to be tossed out of the game.
8.05.2004
8.04.2004
Disaster, indeed
Because of the Western drought, Nevada will most likely be designated a disaster area for the second year in a row.
If you want to really want me to get torqued, then just get me thinking about water in Nevada.
"We're in the worst drought on record." That's the message on every billboard and ad placed by the Southern Nevada Water Authority. Turf all over Las Vegas is either being torn out or left to slowly die - and rightly so, considering the shortage. Lake Mead's level is dropping quickly, and we're begging for more water from the Colorado River (most of which is taken for Southern California).
And then you look to the Strip, where Steve Wynn's "Wynn Las Vegas" and Sheldon Adelson's humongous addition to the Venetian are only blocks away from each other, jockeying for skyline space. We've been told that the casino water features (fountains, canals, spitting cherubs) use reclaimed water. Fine. But explain this: thousands of rooms will be opening soon, and each one of those rooms will have toilets, sinks and showers. Each guest will require clean sheets (this is Vegas, after all), clean towels and clean dishes. Plus, every casino worth a damn needs a small ocean out back for all those sunbathers.
And then you look around the perimeter of this valley, where thousands of new homes, office buildings, and malls are replacing every square inch of available desert.
Considering we're in the worst drought on record, logic would mandate that development be slowed or restricted somehow. But our County Commission is rarely guided by logic. Instead, they're guided by zoning attorneys representing powerful developers and casino owners. An acquaintance of mine (a zoning attorney, and a rather good one) once summed it up nicely: "why be a politician when you can own one?"
This year, again, we're officially disasters. I only hope someday our officials will actually do something about it.
If you want to really want me to get torqued, then just get me thinking about water in Nevada.
"We're in the worst drought on record." That's the message on every billboard and ad placed by the Southern Nevada Water Authority. Turf all over Las Vegas is either being torn out or left to slowly die - and rightly so, considering the shortage. Lake Mead's level is dropping quickly, and we're begging for more water from the Colorado River (most of which is taken for Southern California).
And then you look to the Strip, where Steve Wynn's "Wynn Las Vegas" and Sheldon Adelson's humongous addition to the Venetian are only blocks away from each other, jockeying for skyline space. We've been told that the casino water features (fountains, canals, spitting cherubs) use reclaimed water. Fine. But explain this: thousands of rooms will be opening soon, and each one of those rooms will have toilets, sinks and showers. Each guest will require clean sheets (this is Vegas, after all), clean towels and clean dishes. Plus, every casino worth a damn needs a small ocean out back for all those sunbathers.
And then you look around the perimeter of this valley, where thousands of new homes, office buildings, and malls are replacing every square inch of available desert.
Considering we're in the worst drought on record, logic would mandate that development be slowed or restricted somehow. But our County Commission is rarely guided by logic. Instead, they're guided by zoning attorneys representing powerful developers and casino owners. An acquaintance of mine (a zoning attorney, and a rather good one) once summed it up nicely: "why be a politician when you can own one?"
This year, again, we're officially disasters. I only hope someday our officials will actually do something about it.
8.02.2004
I'm here
I spent the last week on vacation, so now I'm trying to catch up with the world again. I must also work through the piles on my desk, so it'll take me a couple of days to get back into this page.
It was a short, happy, but strange trip. Highlights include 1) the look of joy on my son's face when 9,000 pounds of Shamu launched his body out of the water at Sea World, 2) seeing a submarine plow through San Diego Harbor on its way to sea, 3) climbing a ladder to the top of a 150-year-old lighthouse in Point Loma, 4) seeing my extended California family, 5) wandering around the Reagan Library and Museum in Simi Valley.
About that last thing. I'd never been to a presidential library before, so I expected a certain amount of bombast. What I got was completely unexpected - the place was so amazingly honest. Iran Contra got coverage with "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." There was a full and affectionate acknowledgement of his movie career, and a wild variety of mementos of his journey through politics: like his cabinet room chair, a model of his Star Wars defense satellite, and the bulletproof vest and red "Mr. Rogers" cardigan he wore after the assassination attempt. Nancy got some good floor and exhibit space, and a lovely portion was devoted to their life at the Santa Barbara ranch.
Chilling and sad, though, were the letter he wrote announcing his Alzheimer's, and the many pieces central to the memorials: the catafalque where his coffin lay, the boots that were placed backwards in the stirrups, the bugle that played "Taps" over his coffin, and photos of the services everywhere.
And outside, in front of the curved wall where we said our last goodbyes, is a very simple stone with only this: Ronald Wilson Reagan 1911 - 2004. There's room on that stone for Nancy when she joins him.
I'm very glad I went.
It was a short, happy, but strange trip. Highlights include 1) the look of joy on my son's face when 9,000 pounds of Shamu launched his body out of the water at Sea World, 2) seeing a submarine plow through San Diego Harbor on its way to sea, 3) climbing a ladder to the top of a 150-year-old lighthouse in Point Loma, 4) seeing my extended California family, 5) wandering around the Reagan Library and Museum in Simi Valley.
About that last thing. I'd never been to a presidential library before, so I expected a certain amount of bombast. What I got was completely unexpected - the place was so amazingly honest. Iran Contra got coverage with "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." There was a full and affectionate acknowledgement of his movie career, and a wild variety of mementos of his journey through politics: like his cabinet room chair, a model of his Star Wars defense satellite, and the bulletproof vest and red "Mr. Rogers" cardigan he wore after the assassination attempt. Nancy got some good floor and exhibit space, and a lovely portion was devoted to their life at the Santa Barbara ranch.
Chilling and sad, though, were the letter he wrote announcing his Alzheimer's, and the many pieces central to the memorials: the catafalque where his coffin lay, the boots that were placed backwards in the stirrups, the bugle that played "Taps" over his coffin, and photos of the services everywhere.
And outside, in front of the curved wall where we said our last goodbyes, is a very simple stone with only this: Ronald Wilson Reagan 1911 - 2004. There's room on that stone for Nancy when she joins him.
I'm very glad I went.
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