Arsonists burned two cars in Ramallah on Saturday belonging to the Arab satellite TV station Al-Jazeera.
The cars, one belonging to Al-Jazeera's Jerusalem bureau chief, Walid Omari, were parked in a lot outside the TV station's office in Ramallah. Thick smoke billowed from the parking lot, covering the eight-story high-rise. "The fire is definitely arson," Omari told The Associated Press, but stopped short of accusing anyone.
In their growing battle, Fatah and Hamas have both accused Al-Jazeera of bias.
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Holy Krivsky!
LHP Eric Milton today was reinstated from the 15-day disabled list...he will start tonight's game at Detroit.....since 4/24 Milton had been on the DL following arthroscopic surgery to clean out the meniscus in his left knee.
In the corresponding roster move, LHP Dave Williams was designated for assignment.
Man, the pitcher we traded Sean Casey for is already out. Wayne doesn't mess around...you either play well or you're gone.
In the corresponding roster move, LHP Dave Williams was designated for assignment.
Man, the pitcher we traded Sean Casey for is already out. Wayne doesn't mess around...you either play well or you're gone.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Headline of the Day
Giants in no-win situation with Bonds
Fading slugger hurting team by playing, but S.F. even worse without him
Huh?
Fading slugger hurting team by playing, but S.F. even worse without him
Huh?
I Love Movie Critics
Ross Douthat on the Da Vinci Code:
The reviews keep trickling in, and though they're nearly all negative, they're still irritating the sacred feminine out of me. Here's Richard Corliss, for instance:
Beneath the chases and crashes, the chalices and cilices, [the movie] denies Jesus’ divinity. As Teabing (perhaps not the most trustworthy authority) says in the movie, “The Greatest Story Ever Told is a lie!” And further still: the film challenges the belligerence that too often adheres to religious believers, the wars and atrocities perpetrated in His name. “Who is God, who is man?” asks Sophie. “How many have been murdered over this question?” I’m not taking sides on that issue. But for a mainstream, $125 million summer movie to raise it, let alone suggest a negative answer, in a cultural environment already politicized and polarized by religious debate, takes big steel balls. I didn’t know Opie had ’em.
Ah, yes - because there are so few Hollywood films that dare to suggest that faith isn't that important, that Christians got Christ all wrong, that people shouldn't ever dream of fighting over religion. Why, there hasn't been a mainstream, $125 million summer movie that took that position since way back in . . . 2005.
The reviews keep trickling in, and though they're nearly all negative, they're still irritating the sacred feminine out of me. Here's Richard Corliss, for instance:
Beneath the chases and crashes, the chalices and cilices, [the movie] denies Jesus’ divinity. As Teabing (perhaps not the most trustworthy authority) says in the movie, “The Greatest Story Ever Told is a lie!” And further still: the film challenges the belligerence that too often adheres to religious believers, the wars and atrocities perpetrated in His name. “Who is God, who is man?” asks Sophie. “How many have been murdered over this question?” I’m not taking sides on that issue. But for a mainstream, $125 million summer movie to raise it, let alone suggest a negative answer, in a cultural environment already politicized and polarized by religious debate, takes big steel balls. I didn’t know Opie had ’em.
Ah, yes - because there are so few Hollywood films that dare to suggest that faith isn't that important, that Christians got Christ all wrong, that people shouldn't ever dream of fighting over religion. Why, there hasn't been a mainstream, $125 million summer movie that took that position since way back in . . . 2005.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
I Feel A Lawsuit
The notion of Christ as a family man is not the only raw nerve "The Da Vinci Code" has touched. Albinos are bothered that one of their own has yet again been depicted as a villain.
Dan Brown's best seller begins its worldwide debut Wednesday with Tom Hanks as the cryptologist pursuing a 2,000-year-old mystery that could reveal Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and that the Vatican covered it up.
Among his co-stars is Paul Bettany, the British actor playing monk- assassin Silas, an albino with red eyes who carries out a series of bloody murders to secure the secret of the Holy Grail, a trove of lost Christian documents that could prove Jesus had wed.
Critics cite a long list of albinos cast as heavies by Hollywood: The dreadlocked twins in "The Matrix Reloaded," a powder-haired hit man in the Chevy Chase-Goldie Hawn crime romp "Foul Play," the pasty zombies in "The Omega Man," a sadistic killer in "Cold Mountain," even the wicked executioner in the fairy-tale comedy "The Princess Bride."
Michael McGowan, an albino who heads the National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation, said "The Da Vinci Code" will be the 68th movie since 1960 to feature an evil albino.
"Silas is just the latest in a long string," McGowan said. "The problem is there has been no balance. There are no realistic, sympathetic or heroic characters with albinism that you can find in movies or popular culture."
Dan Brown's best seller begins its worldwide debut Wednesday with Tom Hanks as the cryptologist pursuing a 2,000-year-old mystery that could reveal Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and that the Vatican covered it up.
Among his co-stars is Paul Bettany, the British actor playing monk- assassin Silas, an albino with red eyes who carries out a series of bloody murders to secure the secret of the Holy Grail, a trove of lost Christian documents that could prove Jesus had wed.
Critics cite a long list of albinos cast as heavies by Hollywood: The dreadlocked twins in "The Matrix Reloaded," a powder-haired hit man in the Chevy Chase-Goldie Hawn crime romp "Foul Play," the pasty zombies in "The Omega Man," a sadistic killer in "Cold Mountain," even the wicked executioner in the fairy-tale comedy "The Princess Bride."
Michael McGowan, an albino who heads the National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation, said "The Da Vinci Code" will be the 68th movie since 1960 to feature an evil albino.
"Silas is just the latest in a long string," McGowan said. "The problem is there has been no balance. There are no realistic, sympathetic or heroic characters with albinism that you can find in movies or popular culture."
Now Who Would Believe This Nonsense
NEW YORK (AP) -- Humans and chimps diverged from a single ancestral population through a complex process that took 4 million years, according to a new study comparing DNA from the two species.
By analyzing about 800 times more DNA than previous studies of the human-chimp split, researchers from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard were able to learn not just when, but a little bit about how the sister species arose.
"For the first time we're able to see the details written out in the DNA," said Eric Lander, founding director of the Broad Institute. "What they tell us at the least is that the human-chimp speciation was very unusual."
The researchers hypothesize that an ancestral ape species split into two isolated populations about 10 million years ago, then got back together after a few thousand millennia. At that time the two groups, though somewhat genetically different, would have mated to form a third, hybrid population. That population could have interbred with one or both of its parent populations. Then, at some point after 6.3 million years ago, two distinct lines arose.
This sounds like something you would hear at a Scientology convention. Whoah, wait a minute. Scientology....scientist...I'm beginning to see the connection.
By analyzing about 800 times more DNA than previous studies of the human-chimp split, researchers from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard were able to learn not just when, but a little bit about how the sister species arose.
"For the first time we're able to see the details written out in the DNA," said Eric Lander, founding director of the Broad Institute. "What they tell us at the least is that the human-chimp speciation was very unusual."
The researchers hypothesize that an ancestral ape species split into two isolated populations about 10 million years ago, then got back together after a few thousand millennia. At that time the two groups, though somewhat genetically different, would have mated to form a third, hybrid population. That population could have interbred with one or both of its parent populations. Then, at some point after 6.3 million years ago, two distinct lines arose.
This sounds like something you would hear at a Scientology convention. Whoah, wait a minute. Scientology....scientist...I'm beginning to see the connection.
ABC Is Doomed
This is all you need to know about their new show lineup:
Ted Danson, Taye Diggs, Calista Flockhart, Anne Heche, David Arquette and Rachel Griffiths are among the stars who will appear in new series, the network announced Tuesday.
That's like an all-star team of bad actors and has-beens.
Ted Danson, Taye Diggs, Calista Flockhart, Anne Heche, David Arquette and Rachel Griffiths are among the stars who will appear in new series, the network announced Tuesday.
That's like an all-star team of bad actors and has-beens.
Quote of the Day
"Knowing God without knowing our own wretchedness makes for pride. Knowing our own wretchedness without knowing God makes for despair. Knowing Jesus Christ strikes the balance, because he shows us both God and our own wretchedness." -- Blaise Pascal, Pensees
My Love For The Coz Grows
Entertainer Bill Cosby yesterday chastised churchgoers who preach religion but fail to confront problems that plague their communities.
Speaking at the University of the District of Columbia, Cosby emphasized the importance of social responsibility and urged his audience to keep a vigilant eye on their children. The District is one stop on a nationwide speaking tour that has taken the controversial comedian to 18 cities over the past year and a half.
His appearance in Washington came almost two years to the day after he took the stage of Constitution Hall and triggered a contentious national debate when he criticized poor African Americans for speaking ungrammatically and failing to raise children properly.
Cosby made no mention of those remarks yesterday. But he continued his message that salvation lies within communities, rather than outside.
"I have no problem with Jesus or God," he said in the afternoon as he addressed an audience that included many foster parents and grandparents and social service providers. "I have a problem with people sitting there and saying that Jesus and God will find the way. I have a problem with Christian men who won't dress up and go down and confront the drug dealers.:
"I got a problem," Cosby added, "with people not knowing where the gun is hid and that the child has one."
The two-hour afternoon appearance was largely subdued, except for the end, when a self-described community activist accused the comedian of hosting a "watered-down dialogue" and invoked the name of Michael Eric Dyson, an author who has derided Cosby's critique of low-income blacks.
"You don't deserve an audience with me," Cosby said, climbing down from the stage, walking over to the man, Chris Crowder, who was seated in a wheelchair, and looming over him.
"I'm not afraid of any Mr. Dyson," Cosby told Crowder before turning and returning to the stage. "Mr. Dyson is not a truthful man."
...During a second session last night, the panel included D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey, who warned of rising juvenile crime, and the District's chief coroner, who said that from 1982 to 2005, nearly 1,000 homicide victims were ages 16 to 19.
The coroner, Marie-Lydie Y. Pierre-Louis, issued a warning to teenagers who don't get their diploma: "There's one waiting for you at the office of the medical examiner. It's a death certificate."
Taking the microphone, Cosby told audience members that he encouraged Pierre-Louis to deliver the grim numbers so they "would understand that it has to be stopped."
To those who ignore their children, Cosby said: "I'm calling you out, and I'm holding you accountable. If you're having a problem, visit the Jesus in your heart."
Speaking at the University of the District of Columbia, Cosby emphasized the importance of social responsibility and urged his audience to keep a vigilant eye on their children. The District is one stop on a nationwide speaking tour that has taken the controversial comedian to 18 cities over the past year and a half.
His appearance in Washington came almost two years to the day after he took the stage of Constitution Hall and triggered a contentious national debate when he criticized poor African Americans for speaking ungrammatically and failing to raise children properly.
Cosby made no mention of those remarks yesterday. But he continued his message that salvation lies within communities, rather than outside.
"I have no problem with Jesus or God," he said in the afternoon as he addressed an audience that included many foster parents and grandparents and social service providers. "I have a problem with people sitting there and saying that Jesus and God will find the way. I have a problem with Christian men who won't dress up and go down and confront the drug dealers.:
"I got a problem," Cosby added, "with people not knowing where the gun is hid and that the child has one."
The two-hour afternoon appearance was largely subdued, except for the end, when a self-described community activist accused the comedian of hosting a "watered-down dialogue" and invoked the name of Michael Eric Dyson, an author who has derided Cosby's critique of low-income blacks.
"You don't deserve an audience with me," Cosby said, climbing down from the stage, walking over to the man, Chris Crowder, who was seated in a wheelchair, and looming over him.
"I'm not afraid of any Mr. Dyson," Cosby told Crowder before turning and returning to the stage. "Mr. Dyson is not a truthful man."
...During a second session last night, the panel included D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey, who warned of rising juvenile crime, and the District's chief coroner, who said that from 1982 to 2005, nearly 1,000 homicide victims were ages 16 to 19.
The coroner, Marie-Lydie Y. Pierre-Louis, issued a warning to teenagers who don't get their diploma: "There's one waiting for you at the office of the medical examiner. It's a death certificate."
Taking the microphone, Cosby told audience members that he encouraged Pierre-Louis to deliver the grim numbers so they "would understand that it has to be stopped."
To those who ignore their children, Cosby said: "I'm calling you out, and I'm holding you accountable. If you're having a problem, visit the Jesus in your heart."
So That's Where He's Been
This was a rather uninteresting story, until I read the last sentence:
You can add rapping to the list of Jodie Foster's talents. The Oscar-winning actress spoke Monday at the University of Pennsylvania's commencement ceremonies, ending her address with the chorus of Eminem's "Lose Yourself" from "8 Mile," the semi-autobiographical 2002 film in which he starred.
Foster, who graduated from Ivy League rival Yale University in 1985, received an honorary doctor of arts degree.
She earned laughs from the graduates by taking pictures of them from the podium and then by recalling her own years at Yale. But she struck a serious note later, saying the country and world are worse off than they were four years ago, and challenging graduates to change that.
The U.S. "squandered" the goodwill and sympathy other nations offered after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, Foster said. She also criticized officials for the "disastrous and shameful" handling of Hurricane Katrina.
Penn seniors had expressed skepticism and seemed underwhelmed by her selection as commencement speaker when it was announced earlier this year, but she received a standing ovation after her speech.
Foster, 43, won Oscars for 1988's "The Accused" and 1991's "The Silence of the Lambs." She received nominations for her roles in 1976's "Taxi Driver" and 1994's "Nell."
Aimee Masters, 22, who received her bachelor's degree in sociology and women's studies, said Foster was "really inspiring."
"Everyone around me was really happy with what she said," Masters said, adding that quoting Eminem "was surprising, but I liked it."
Comedian Yakov Smirnoff, who earned a master's degree in positive psychology, was among the approximately 6,000 graduates.
You can add rapping to the list of Jodie Foster's talents. The Oscar-winning actress spoke Monday at the University of Pennsylvania's commencement ceremonies, ending her address with the chorus of Eminem's "Lose Yourself" from "8 Mile," the semi-autobiographical 2002 film in which he starred.
Foster, who graduated from Ivy League rival Yale University in 1985, received an honorary doctor of arts degree.
She earned laughs from the graduates by taking pictures of them from the podium and then by recalling her own years at Yale. But she struck a serious note later, saying the country and world are worse off than they were four years ago, and challenging graduates to change that.
The U.S. "squandered" the goodwill and sympathy other nations offered after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, Foster said. She also criticized officials for the "disastrous and shameful" handling of Hurricane Katrina.
Penn seniors had expressed skepticism and seemed underwhelmed by her selection as commencement speaker when it was announced earlier this year, but she received a standing ovation after her speech.
Foster, 43, won Oscars for 1988's "The Accused" and 1991's "The Silence of the Lambs." She received nominations for her roles in 1976's "Taxi Driver" and 1994's "Nell."
Aimee Masters, 22, who received her bachelor's degree in sociology and women's studies, said Foster was "really inspiring."
"Everyone around me was really happy with what she said," Masters said, adding that quoting Eminem "was surprising, but I liked it."
Comedian Yakov Smirnoff, who earned a master's degree in positive psychology, was among the approximately 6,000 graduates.
Monday, May 15, 2006
In Our Twisted World, I Guess This Guy Has A Claim
A Los Angeles psychologist who was denied a tote bag during a Mother's Day giveaway at an Angel game is suing the baseball team, alleging sex and age discrimination.
Michael Cohn's class-action claim in Orange County Superior Court alleges that thousands of males and fans under 18 were "treated unequally" at a "Family Sunday" promotion last May and are entitled to $4,000 each in damages.
Michael Cohn's class-action claim in Orange County Superior Court alleges that thousands of males and fans under 18 were "treated unequally" at a "Family Sunday" promotion last May and are entitled to $4,000 each in damages.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Oh How They Must Dislike Stossel
On journalists being clueless about science and hostile to capitalism:
JOHN STOSSEL: Most journalists are clueless when it comes to science...I'd say journalists are hostile to capitalism and clueless about science and economics.
HOWARD KURTZ: Hostile to capitalism. What do you base that on?
STOSSEL: I base it on the people I work with. People just don't like business. We hate our employers who pay us but love the government, which takes a third of our money and squanders it. There's a bias against business.
On reporters being in favor of government and opposed to business:
STOSSEL: Reporters look at business with great suspicions. And hype Enron and WorldCom as if that's the norm…I think reporters cheer on the ignorant politicians...
On bias in the "liberal media":
STOSSEL: I don't think journalists are trying to push the agenda. I think most of you think you're right down the middle. But the people you hang around with all think as you do here in New York and Washington. And that leads to a bias…Not everyone, but most.
KURTZ: So you think it is to some degree subconscious or, at least because -- in other words, you think that journalists are out of touch with ordinary people, who perhaps are and ought to be more skeptical of government regulations?
STOSSEL: Yes. I think we are steeped like tea bags in "The Washington Post" and "The New York Times", and it affects the way we view the world.
KURTZ: Are there people who, at ABC News who don't like what you do or don't like your point of view on all this?
STOSSEL: Yes. But God bless ABC News, they still feel I deserve a place at the table.
JOHN STOSSEL: Most journalists are clueless when it comes to science...I'd say journalists are hostile to capitalism and clueless about science and economics.
HOWARD KURTZ: Hostile to capitalism. What do you base that on?
STOSSEL: I base it on the people I work with. People just don't like business. We hate our employers who pay us but love the government, which takes a third of our money and squanders it. There's a bias against business.
On reporters being in favor of government and opposed to business:
STOSSEL: Reporters look at business with great suspicions. And hype Enron and WorldCom as if that's the norm…I think reporters cheer on the ignorant politicians...
On bias in the "liberal media":
STOSSEL: I don't think journalists are trying to push the agenda. I think most of you think you're right down the middle. But the people you hang around with all think as you do here in New York and Washington. And that leads to a bias…Not everyone, but most.
KURTZ: So you think it is to some degree subconscious or, at least because -- in other words, you think that journalists are out of touch with ordinary people, who perhaps are and ought to be more skeptical of government regulations?
STOSSEL: Yes. I think we are steeped like tea bags in "The Washington Post" and "The New York Times", and it affects the way we view the world.
KURTZ: Are there people who, at ABC News who don't like what you do or don't like your point of view on all this?
STOSSEL: Yes. But God bless ABC News, they still feel I deserve a place at the table.
Mark Steyn Is Dead On...As Usual
So there are now two basic templates in terrorism media coverage:
Template A (note to editors: to be used after every terrorist atrocity): "Angry family members, experts and opposition politicians demand to know why complacent government didn't connect the dots."
Template B (note to editors: to be used in the run-up to the next terrorist atrocity): "Shocking new report leaked to New York Times for Pulitzer Prize Leak Of The Year Award nomination reveals that paranoid government officials are trying to connect the dots! See pages 3,4,6,7,8, 13-37."
How do you connect the dots? To take one example of what we're up against, two days before 9/11, a very brave man, the anti-Taliban resistance leader Ahmed Shah Massoud, was assassinated in Afghanistan by killers posing as journalists. His murderers were Algerians traveling on Belgian passports who'd arrived in that part of the world on visas issued by the Pakistani High Commission in the United Kingdom. That's three more countries than many Americans have visited. The jihadists are not "primitives". They're part of a sophisticated network: They travel the world, see interesting places, meet interesting people -- and kill them. They're as globalized as McDonald's -- but, on the whole, they fill in less paperwork. They're very good at compartmentalizing operations: They don't leave footprints, just a toeprint in Country A in Time Zone B and another toe in Country E in Time Zone K. You have to sift through millions of dots to discern two that might be worth connecting.
I'm a strong believer in privacy rights. I don't see why Americans are obligated to give the government their bank account details and the holdings therein. Other revenue agencies in other free societies don't require that level of disclosure. But, given that the people of the United States are apparently entirely cool with that, it's hard to see why lists of phone numbers (i.e., your monthly statement) with no identifying information attached to them is of such a vastly different order of magnitude. By definition, "connecting the dots" involves getting to see the dots in the first place.
Template A (note to editors: to be used after every terrorist atrocity): "Angry family members, experts and opposition politicians demand to know why complacent government didn't connect the dots."
Template B (note to editors: to be used in the run-up to the next terrorist atrocity): "Shocking new report leaked to New York Times for Pulitzer Prize Leak Of The Year Award nomination reveals that paranoid government officials are trying to connect the dots! See pages 3,4,6,7,8, 13-37."
How do you connect the dots? To take one example of what we're up against, two days before 9/11, a very brave man, the anti-Taliban resistance leader Ahmed Shah Massoud, was assassinated in Afghanistan by killers posing as journalists. His murderers were Algerians traveling on Belgian passports who'd arrived in that part of the world on visas issued by the Pakistani High Commission in the United Kingdom. That's three more countries than many Americans have visited. The jihadists are not "primitives". They're part of a sophisticated network: They travel the world, see interesting places, meet interesting people -- and kill them. They're as globalized as McDonald's -- but, on the whole, they fill in less paperwork. They're very good at compartmentalizing operations: They don't leave footprints, just a toeprint in Country A in Time Zone B and another toe in Country E in Time Zone K. You have to sift through millions of dots to discern two that might be worth connecting.
I'm a strong believer in privacy rights. I don't see why Americans are obligated to give the government their bank account details and the holdings therein. Other revenue agencies in other free societies don't require that level of disclosure. But, given that the people of the United States are apparently entirely cool with that, it's hard to see why lists of phone numbers (i.e., your monthly statement) with no identifying information attached to them is of such a vastly different order of magnitude. By definition, "connecting the dots" involves getting to see the dots in the first place.
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