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HOME > JOURNAL
> SEPTEMBER 2002
Journal (The Ember Update)
Wednesday, September 25
Freedom
If you're reading this, you might also want to read about Freedom
of Speech, Press, and Association on the Internet.
On another note, yesterday I wrote my three representatives
to say that I'm opposed to war on Iraq. So far I seem to be represented
well (if you don't count our arrogant President). Yes Saddam Hussein is
a bad guy, but war is not the first option, it's a last resort.
Finally published
Now available: Information
Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing Large-Scale Web Sites.
The last chapter is about evolt.org. I
haven't seen it yet, since the two stores I checked had it on order.
Moon Cake
 One
of Rash's co-workers gave him a lovely Moon Cake (yueh ping),
a little Chinese confection somewhat larger than a filled chocolate candy
(that's a 50¢ piece in the linked photos). The sweet filling traditionally
consists of red bean and lotus seed paste (or maybe a
variation), and we wished we had more than one. You can read more
about the associated
festival. By the way, the Chinese see a rabbit
in the moon.
Here's an interesting story by a Chinese woman recounting her youthful
experience as the child of a banished Chinese "anti-revolutionary,"
Reminiscences
on Moon Cake Festival.
Tuesday, September 24
Is It Not True?
If you're for attacking Iraq or on the fence, please read this list of
questions by Rep. Ron Paul, an M.D. and a Republican Congressman from
Texas (I was lucky enough to hear it live):
Is It Not True?
Questions On Iraq From A GOP Congressman
[Rep. Ron Paul read the following to the House of Representatives,
September 10, 2002.]
Soon we hope to have hearings on the pending war with Iraq. Here are
some questions I would like answered by those who are urging us to start
this war:
-
Is it not true that the reason we did not bomb the Soviet Union
at the height of the Cold War was because we knew they could retaliate?
-
Is it not also true that we are willing to bomb Iraq now because
we know it cannot retaliate—which just confirms that there
is no real threat?
-
Is it not true that there are those who argue that even with inspections
we cannot be sure that Hussein might be hiding weapons, and at the
same time imply that we can be more sure that weapons exist in the
absence of inspections?
-
Is it not true that the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency
was able to complete its yearly verification mission to Iraq just
this year with Iraqi cooperation?
-
Is it not true that the intelligence community has been unable
to develop a case tying Iraq to global terrorism at all, much less
the attacks on the United States last year? Does anyone remember
that 15 of the 19 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia and that none
came from Iraq?
-
Was former CIA counter-terrorism chief Vincent Cannistraro wrong
when he recently said there is no confirmed evidence of Iraq's links
to terrorism?
-
Is it not true that the CIA has concluded there is no evidence
that a Prague meeting between 9/11 hijacker Atta and Iraqi intelligence
took place?
-
Is it not true that northern Iraq, where the administration claimed
Al Qaeda were hiding out, is in the control of our "allies,"
the Kurds?
-
Is it not true that the vast majority of Al Qaeda leaders who
escaped appear to have safely made their way to Pakistan, another
of our so-called allies?
-
Has anyone noticed that Afghanistan is rapidly sinking into total
chaos, with bombings and assassinations becoming daily occurrences;
and that according to a recent U.N. report the Al Qaeda "is,
by all accounts, alive and well and poised to strike again, how,
when, and where it chooses?"
-
Why are we taking precious military and intelligence resources
away from tracking down those who did attack the United States—and
who may again attack the United States—and using them to invade
countries that have not attacked the United States?
-
Would an attack on Iraq not just confirm the Arab world's worst
suspicions about the United States? And isn't this what bin Laden
wanted?
-
How can Hussein be compared to Hitler when he has no navy or air
force, and now has an army one-fifth the size of 12 years ago, which
even then proved totally inept at defending the country?
-
Is it not true that the constitutional power to declare war is
exclusively that of the Congress? Should presidents, contrary to
the Constitution, allow Congress to concur only when pressured by
public opinion? Are presidents permitted to rely on the United Nations
for permission to go to war?
-
Are you aware of a Pentagon report studying charges that thousands
of Kurds in one village were gassed by the Iraqis, which found no
conclusive evidence that Iraq was responsible, that Iran occupied
the very city involved, and that evidence indicated the type of
gas used was more likely controlled by Iran not Iraq?
-
Is it not true that anywhere between 100,000 and 300,000 U.S. soldiers
have suffered from Persian Gulf War syndrome from the first Gulf
War, and that thousands may have died?
-
Are we prepared for possibly thousands of American casualties in
a war against a country that does not have the capacity to attack
the United States?
-
Are we willing to bear the economic burden of a 100 billion dollar
war against Iraq, with oil prices expected to skyrocket and further
rattle an already shaky American economy? How about an estimated
30 years occupation of Iraq that some have deemed necessary to "build
democracy" there?
-
Iraq's alleged violations of U.N. resolutions are given as reason
to initiate an attack, yet is it not true that hundreds of U.N.
resolutions have been ignored by various countries without penalty?
-
Did former President Bush not cite the U.N. resolution of 1990
as the reason he could not march into Baghdad, while supporters
of a new attack assert that it is the very reason we can march into
Baghdad?
-
Is it not true that, contrary to current claims, the no-fly zones
were set up by Britain and the United States without specific approval
from the United Nations?
-
If we claim membership in the international community and conform
to its rules only when it pleases us, does this not serve to undermine
our position, directing animosity toward us by both friend and foe?
-
How can our declared goal of bringing democracy to Iraq be believable
when we prop up dictators throughout the Middle East and support
military tyrants like Musharaf in Pakistan, who overthrew a democratically
elected president?
-
Are you familiar with the 1994 Senate Hearings that revealed the
United States. knowingly supplied chemical and biological materials
to Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war and as late as 1992 — including
after the alleged Iraqi gas attack on a Kurdish village?
-
Did we not assist Saddam Hussein's rise to power by supporting
and encouraging his invasion of Iran? Is it honest to criticize
Saddam now for his invasion of Iran, which at the time we actively
supported?
-
Is it not true that preventive war is synonymous with an act of
aggression, and has never been considered a moral or legitimate
U.S. policy?
-
Why do the oil company executives strongly support this war if
oil is not the real reason we plan to take over Iraq?
-
Why is it that those who never wore a uniform and are confident
that they won't have to personally fight this war are more anxious
for this war than our generals?
-
What is the moral argument for attacking a nation that has not
initiated aggression against us, and could not if it wanted?
-
Where does the Constitution grant us permission to wage war for
any reason other than self-defense?
-
Is it not true that a war against Iraq rejects the sentiments of
the time-honored Treaty of Westphalia, nearly 400 years ago, that
countries should never go into another for the purpose of regime
change?
-
Is it not true that the more civilized a society is, the less likely
disagreements will be settled by war?
-
Is it not true that since World War II, Congress has not declared
war and—not coincidentally—we have not since then had
a clear-cut victory?
-
Is it not true that Pakistan, especially through its intelligence
services, was an active supporter and key organizer of the Taliban?
- Why don't those who want war bring a formal declaration of war
resolution to the floor of Congress?
Wednesday, September 18
Glow Sticks
I had a great weekend visiting the Wunderhof,
although it was too short. I did a bit of work with Kristin, Andy and
Liam (I *think* it was Good Liam ;o), but we played and visited more than
anything else (I won't dwell on staying up 'til 5AM playing Crash Bandicoot...).
At one point we were clowning around with some cyalumes, and here are
a few snapshots. Isn't Alison just too cute?:
 The
photo at right is of a magazine clipping found on a wall at Wunderland.
If you wear perfume or cologne you might be interested in what it says:
"YOU in an aura of Poison."
Anyway, I got to see my brother a bit, and I packed up a box and suitcase
with items I'd been longing to have in California (my weekend's needs
fitted into a backpack). Another bit of pleasant news: I may see the greater
Looney clan in November, as I've been invited to a family retreat. It
overlaps one day with a work-related conference, but I'm hoping to figure
something out with Rob so I can do both, even if it means arriving a day
late for the Looney gathering.
Tuesday, September 17
Grand Lake Theatre
California being the home of Hollywood, it's not surprising to find that
so many fine old movie houses reside here as well (though not all exactly
in their original state). I've mentioned the Stanford Theatre in Palo
Alto, which shows only classics. A month or so ago I finally made it inside
the Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland, which is even more spectacular in ornamentation.
Below are three epics of the Grand Lake's marquee and lobby/hall areas.
There are even
better photos here, including views inside the theatres (yes, this
is a multiplex) We were in an auditorium with a beautiful purple/blue
starry ceiling. If I go again I'll try to get a photo of the egyptian
paintings inside the auditorium door, and the marquee in all its stages
of neon lighting (only two stages captured in the animation below).
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(click thumbnails to view full image)
Thursday, September 5
Sister Mary VW Beetle
Back in May—when my brother and
mom were here—we were driving past Golden Gate Park and saw a Beetle
with the oddest decorations. Rash and I happened across the car again
last weekend on our way up to Mendocino. This time as I was photographing
the car in more detail the artist saw me and opened his garage door, giving
me an opening for conversation. The Sister Mary VW Beetle is an ongoing
creative project by Robert Ramos, one of the Red
Dot Boys. (He and another artist travel the country and paint 53"
red dots on buildings—sometimes in
the nude—with the goal of stimulating discussion about art nationwide.)
The SMVWB ornamentation is made up of toys painted red and adhered to
the existing mass. Sometimes people leave Ramos toys to add. Click these
pictures for details:
Ramos' Beetle continues the tradition of art cars which had
heretofore eluded me as a formal concept (and the Art
Car Fest is happening in the Bay Area in three weeks!). Since I bought
my green New Beetle 2 1/2 years ago I've wanted to doing something unusual
to it. For some time my foremost idea has been to paint it carefully like
one of the exotic beetle species I have pictured in a National Geographic.
While many beetles seem to be black, brown, red or yellow, some beetles
have intense iridescent
green hues which I would love to replicate, and the metallic tone
of my car's green paint would be the perfect base.
My attraction to the color qualities of beetle wings actually goes back
to a painting of Ellen
Terry as Lady Macbeth (detailed info
here). I saw it at the National Portrait
Gallery a few years back and though I can't find a single mention
of the fact on the web, I recall the caption indicated the garment was
covered with hundreds of green/blue beetle wings carefully sewn onto the
fabric. Along with Lady Macbeth's long red braids and strong countenance,
the costume must have been a wondrous sight; I wish I could have seen
it. (BTW, if you're interested in textiles here are one
and two articles
on the use of beetle wings as clothing ornamentation and jewelry.)
Anyway, I don't know if I'll ever get around to realizing my car-painting
aspirations, but I plan to attend the Art Car Fest and maybe I'll think
seriously about the idea once I've gathered more data.
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