JarJar Nixon's Blues Kitchen

Check page 9 to see where your closest available spaceport will be located:

http://www.faa.gov/airports_airtraffic/air_traffic/satms/media/conops_addendum_1.pdf

http://www.amanset.com/home.htm

Just got a used copy of The Fun of Watching Fireworks by the AAS. If you like Yo La Tengo or, say, the Twin Peaks tv show theme, you will definitely like this band. Slow rock. Very, very slow rock. So slow it puts you in a different dimension.

from ABC News web site...

Cheney's iPod Takes Top Priority on Extended Flight
Reporters Wait to File Stories as VP's MP3 Player Charges
By KAREN TRAVERS
WASHINGTON, Dec. 22, 2005 — - After a four-day overseas trip that took him to four countries in the Middle East, Vice President Dick Cheney really wanted to get his iPod charged for that long return flight to Washington.

Since it is his plane, the vice president's iPod took priority and was plugged into one of the only working power outlets on Air Force Two, frustrating reporters who were trying to file stories.

What's on that iPod that Cheney was so eager to charge it up and put on the headphones?
The vice president's iPod library ranges from country to classical, according to an administration official.

He has a good amount of music from the 1940s and 1950s (oldies but goodies) and apparently is fond of Johnny Cash.

An iPod White House

Last week, in an interview with Fox News, President Bush revealed that he has an iPod Shuffle -- the stripped-down version of the music player that's barely bigger than a stick of chewing gum.

"Lightweight and crank it on, and you shuffle the Shuffle," he said. The president said his library includes the Beach Boys, the Beatles, country music and Aretha Franklin.

Bush's daughters gave him a standard iPod for his birthday earlier this year. His media adviser, Mark McKinnon, said the commander in chief used it to play "heart-thumping" music while he rode his mountain bike. The player featured plenty of country music but also Joni Mitchell and the Knack's "My Sharona."

McKinnon cautioned against reading too much into the selections, though.
"No one should psychoanalyze the playlist," he said. "It's really just great songs designed for a great workout. And if there any songs in there with controversial lyrics, I'll take the heat for that."

Copyright © 2005 ABC News Internet Ventures

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/25/science/25clone.html

Good analysis of how he got so far, link to full text is above

When Dr. Hwang Woo Suk's recent reports of advances in cloning research were declared to have been fabricated on Friday, his disgrace left scientists wondering how he had risen so fast, deceived so many and fallen so hard....

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/24/politics/24spy.html?th&emc=th

WASHINGTON, Dec. 23 - The National Security Agency has traced and analyzed large volumes of telephone and Internet communications flowing into and out of the United States as part of the eavesdropping program that President Bush approved after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to hunt for evidence of terrorist activity, according to current and former government officials.

More at the NYT link above

Deutsche Presse-Agentur December 24, 2005, Saturday 07:30:21 Central European Time

Military hunts down rogue buffalo that killed two in Vietnam

DATELINE: Hanoi. Water buffalo crazed from a fight with another bull went on a deadly rampage in northern Vietnam, killing its handler and an onlooker and injuring at least four others, officials said Saturday.

Local officials called in the military to hunt down the rogue beast. Army units shot down the buffalo that evening, according to Nguyen Cong Hung, deputy chairman of the local commune. Farmer Vu Van Nam, 22, and four friends were herding eight buffaloes to a slaughterhouse in Hai Duong province, 50 kilometres east of Hanoi, when two of the bulls started fighting, "The losing buffalo ran away and the winner could not catch it. So the winning beast turned back with angry eyes and chased the men.

It gored Vu Van Nam in the stomach and threw him to the ground," Hung said. A local resident, Pham Van Doan, 55, came out of his home to see what had happened. When the buffalo saw Doan, it chased him and gored him too. Both men were rushed to a local hospital on Thursday afternoon but died the same day.

The buffalo escaped by swimming across a nearby river, injuring at least four more people on the far banks, Hung said. Local army units were asked to hunt the beast down and they shot it to death Thursday night.

Deutsche Presse-Agentur December 24, 2005, Saturday 09:06:17 Central European Time

Canon completes world's largest printer factory in Vietnam

DATELINE: Bac Ninh, Vietnam BODY: Electronics giant Canon completed construction Saturday in northern Vietnam of what will be the world's largest laser printer factory, churning out a projected 4 million printers per year by 2007. The vast, 60,000-square-metre factory in Bac Ninh province, just north of Hanoi, cost 50 million dollars and will employ some 3,500 people.

"We plan to make this the biggest laser printer factory in the world," said Yasuo Mitsuhashi, Canon's chief executive for printer products, who flew in from Tokyo for Saturday's ceremony. Canon is one of Vietnam's leading foreign investors, pouring some 236 million dollars into operations here.

Executives said Saturday they hope the investment will pay off with a combined 1 billion dollars in yearly revenue by 2007.

Went to Macau yesterday for the day, saw temples, facade of St. Paul's, drove over to Taipa Island. We liked it a bit more than HK, actually, seemed a bit more residential and forgotten, neighborhoods a bit more like in VN.

At HK airport now; will be leaving for Soeul shortly.

Indian trade minister is claiming to reporters that a deal has been reached...

EU spokesman just issued a denial, saying "the goalposts have moved"

http://www.nk-news.net/extras/insult_generator.php

Here are a few choice items I retrieved:


--You anti-socialist philistine!

--You psychopathological running dog!

--You despicable flunky!

http://www.pandora.com/

Try 'NRBQ' and go from there!

I guess it looked pretty chaotic on television early this morning. I left the conference center about 7 last night after a brief lock-down delay, came by this morn. Apparently several hundred were arrested last night, still about 200 farmers a block away, sitting and talking, singing.

As I was walking back to the hotel last night two anti-gloablization protesters, one hurt, asked where they could get medicine, I suggested they go to the 7-11 since it was the closest and they thanked me&walked toward it.

From the Door's website...


New Yorkers stand Christmas on its head! The United Kingdom's NewsTelegraph.com brings us tales of the latest craze in holiday decorating: upside-down Christmas trees. The plastic, inverted spruces, which come fully wired with lights and tinsel, are selling out in New York City where floor space is always at a premium. The wholesaler of the Chinese-made trees has run out of stock. A web site announcement claims the upside down trees "evoke a 12th century Central European tradition of hanging a tree from the ceiling" and that it "is inverted to ensure a smaller footprint" allowing more room for the "accumulation of presents" underneath. Oh, now we see why they're so popular!

http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB113472191544724547.html


WTO Pact Reached on PlanTo Help Poor Countries
Associated PressDecember 16, 2005 3:36 p.m.
HONG KONG – Negotiators at a World Trade Organization meeting reached an agreement on a draft text Friday that would grant duty-free and quota-free access to imports from so-called least developing countries, Indian and Indonesian officials said.

In talks that began late Thursday and spilled over to Friday morning, key negotiators were able to agree on a text that addressed both the demands of the poor countries and also the concerns raised by the U.S. and Japan, an Indian official said, requesting anonymity because an official announcement was due later.

According to the draft, rich countries as well as leading developing countries like Brazil, India and China would provide duty-free access on "a lasting basis," he said.

The oldest company in the world, which was founded in 578 in Japan by a group of people from the ancient Korean kingdom of Baekje, will go into liquidation in January. Kongo Gumi dates its foundation from the year when carpenter Shigemitsu Kongo built Shitennoji. Kongo had been invited to the island country by Prince Shotoku. His descendants continuously maintained the family business, and the construction firm was named the world’s oldest company by the Economist monthly.

The operation of Kongo Gumi will be handed over to a subsidiary of the Takamatsu Corporation of the same name that was established last month. But with the retirement of Masakazu Kongo, the firm’s 40th president, its 1,400 years of history as a family firm are effectively at an end. Besides the Shitennoji Temple in Osaka, Kongo Gumi is also famous for building the Horyuji Temple in Nara, both leading examples of old Japanese architecture. The firm has also been a symbol of Japan’s “shinise,” or family-run business culture. After the price of land Kongo Gumi had purchased in 1980s nosedived, the firm decided to liquidate due to heavy debts. It nonetheless recorded sales of 7.5 billion yen in April last year and is hiring about 100 employees.
url: http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200512/200512150009.html

From today's electronic WSJ...


Mona Lisa 83% Happy

For some 500 years, the face of the woman in Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa has been a mystery. Was she happy? Angry? Afraid? Actually, she was all of the above, and more, according to a new study by scientists at the University of Amsterdam, who used new emotion-recognition software to determine that the woman in the painting, believed to be the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, was 83% happy, 9% disgusted, 6% fearful, 2% angry, 1% neutral. And she was not surprised at all. The researchers admitted that, since their software can't detect more subtle emotions, the test was not quite scientific. But they said the technology was still in its infancy. "Who knows -- in 30, 40, 50 years, maybe they'll be able to tell what was on her mind," one researcher told the Associated Press.

As I am recording all of these interviews and briefings, I think it would be a great idea if a company like Apple, Pal, Sony or Olympus could create a voice recorder that has built-in automatic transcription software, so that you cold get the original voice recording as well as a written version in Word format.

Wildlife dealers caught smuggling one tonne of protected animals14/Dec/2005 Cong An Nhan Dan Online

Narcotics police coordinated with police of central Quang Tri province and provincial forest management to discover and seize two buses transporting nearly 1,000 kilogram of wild animals on December 9 on the way to Trieu Phong and Hai Lang district.
In particular, the bus under registration number of BKS 53N-2817 was found to carry 472 kilogram of wild pig tails, snakes and porcupines while another with registration of BKS 60N-6650 carrying illegally of 420 kilogram of snakes and pangolin

--I am trying to eat at McDonald's once a day, in honor of Simon Patkin (and no disrespect to Mr. Bove).

--Peter Mandelson, the EU Commissioner, lamented this morning that the truly substantive negotiating sessions don't get started till 10:30 each night. He was wondering if it was a plan to force the countries into an agreement through sheer physical exhaustion. All it results for him, though, is "getting crabby."

--A couple of vivid images of protesters on TV, but being inside the event I have not seen anything. Did see a protest-style press conference by some anti-GMO, anti-Monsanto people.

--Saw some Falun Gong protesters on the street in front of the convention center. They were acting out some of the interrogation/torture techniques the police use in the mainland.

--APEC and BEXCO seemed much more high-tech.

Reporters have a WTO jargon buster included in their press kits, so a lay person can figure out terms like 'green box' and 'Swiss formula.'

The chief EU negotiator this morning lamented that the really serious meetings don't kick off until 10:30 each night. He said he wasn't sure if the organizers were intentionaly trying to reach agreement through exhaustion, but he said the only for him was feeling very crabby.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2005/12/11/lone_pro_capitalist_kicks_off_week_of_wto_demos/

Lone pro-capitalist kicks off week of WTO demos
By Dominic Whiting December 11, 2005
HONG KONG (Reuters) - A lone pro-capitalist demonstrator put up placards and harangued passersby at dawn on Sunday, kicking off a week of protests in Hong Kong where mostly critics of free trade will protest against a world trade meeting.

Accountant Simon Patkin staged a peaceful hour-long protest from 5:30 a.m, posting signs reading "We love free trade" and "rationality not rioting," interrupted only by a phone call from his concerned wife.

"I was trying to catch the anti-globalisation protesters napping," the Australian told Reuters. "If you want to win, you have to get up earlier than the other side. I feel really strongly about capitalism and free trade."

Police also told Patkin to choose a time that would avoid confrontation with an expected 10,000 opponents of freer trade, including environmentalists, unions and anarchists, who will demonstrate against the WTO meeting this week.

Patkin said his pro-free trade message was also aimed at the 149 trade ministers gathering in Hong Kong's harbourside convention center from December 13-18 to discuss cutting tariffs and subsidies and opening world markets.

"When there are 10,000 people marching against free trade, someone has to stand up and say, no, we want more of it," Patkin said, adding that he has set up a "think-tank" called Capitalist Solutions (www.capitalist-solutions.com) to further his cause.

"Hong Kong has gone from a fishing village to a world-class economy because of a lack of tariffs and the strong rule of law."

Patkin, who has lived in Hong Kong for 15 years and runs business courses, advocates expelling France from the WTO if the country prevents the European Union from cutting aid to farmers.
He was undeterred by the low turnout at the demonstration, held in Hong Kong's main financial district, where many businesses plan to board up windows and entrances this week.

Some firms are even asking staff to sleep overnight in their offices to protect equipment, believing thousands of protesting South Korean farmers might go on the rampage.

"You're not going to get many people out at 5.30," Patkin said after having breakfast at McDonalds, often a target of anti-globalisation protesters.

"There were a few bemused security guards though."

Feel like I have a skybox seat as I type this and look out onto the harbor. Dark green water, ferries and tugboats criss-crossing between HK ISland and Kowloon, the WTO-ready convention center in my lower right corner.

http://www.ustr.gov/WTO/Doha_Development_Agenda/Section_Index.html

http://careers.state.gov/careers/abroad2.html

Wide view of the harbor from where I'm writing this right now. Looking down to the street I see a huge phalanx of protesters coming down the street. Filing past a buiding with a 20-story high painting of a Vivienne Tam fashion ad, people are walking slowly and carrying banners. Looks peaceful.

Supposedly there is one lone pro-WTO guy protesting the protesters. I looked for the news story but couldn't find it.

Jogged this morning from the hotel, up through HK Park to Yale Lodge, back down past the Consulate General, and then over to the harbor and around the convention center, the site of the WTo talks.

Not nearly as crowded a place as I thought it would be. Want to try the packed Fortune-style* restaurants I see everywhere: white tablecloths, Cantonese cuisines, bustling waiters.

*a popular restaruant in 7 Corners, Virginia

Wow, everyone speaks Chinese here!

Hi, I am here in the fabulous Singapore Air business class lounge at Incheon Airport. Nice smooth trip to get here. Now I know how to go via the Dongjak bridge.

Only thing odd is that the chair I am sitting in keeps clumping down to the bottom setting.

I am probably one of the world's worst travellers. Ever see those guys wandering through airports or walking downtown with vacant, lost looks even though they appear to be ordinary office workers? That's me. Thank God Incheon Airport is designed for accidental and even bumbling tourists/travellers like me.

Saw a photo on the front page of the Intl Herald tribue, somebody shimmying down a rope tied to a tall building. Big security preps for the WTO in HK, the caption reads. Just hope they have good signage for nearsighted press officers who will end up in the janitors closet without formal direction.

Hi, going to Hong Kong tomorrow to prep for the WTO.

Rec'd this item...

The University of California Press announces a new peer-reviewed scholarly journal, The Journal of Vietnamese Studies, beginning publication in September 2006. The journal aims to publish original humanities and social science research about Vietnamese history, politics, culture and society. It will also publish research on important Vietnam-related topics that have traditionally been segregated from area-studies scholarship such as the Vietnamese diaspora and the "Vietnam War."

Scholars working within the fields of pre-modern or modern history, politics, anthropology, archeology, literary studies, cultural studies, religion, art history, geography, sociology and environmental studies are especially encouraged to submit their work. In addition to research articles, the journal will publish book reviews and review articles and, on occasion, interviews, primary sources and literary texts. The journal will normally publish in English but it may commission translations of submissions of foreign-language scholarship.Articles should generally not exceed 12,000 words. Each submission should be accompanied by a cover letter with the author's name, address, phone number and e-mail address, as well as a brief biographical statement, a 100-word abstract, and a word count. Material submitted for publication should be submitted in 3 hard copies, plus as an e-mail attachment, preferably in MS word. Since submissions are refereed anonymously, the author's name should appear only on the cover sheet.

Manuscripts must be prepared according to the Chicago Manual of Style. Notes should be endnotes not footnotes. Maps should be prepared where the topography is important for an understanding of the text. Photographs should specifically enhance the text and carry full captions and attributions. Maps, photographs and art-work may be submitted in clear photocopy form. Vietnamese words should include the appropriate diacritics. Submissions will be returned only if accompanied by a self addressed stamped envelope.

Address all editorial correspondence and submissions to one of the editors at the following addresses: Peter ZinomanCenter for Southeast Asia StudiesUC Berkeley2223 Fulton St., No. 617Berkeley CA 94720-2318 Mariam B. Lam Comparative Literature and Southeast Asian Studies2401 HMNSSUniversity of California Riverside, CA 92521-0321 Alternatively, submissions can be sent electronically to jvs@berkeley.edu Books for review should fall within the general orientation of the journal and be sent to: George DuttonUCLA Dept. of Asian Languages and Cultures290 Royce HallBox 951540Los Angeles, CA 90095-1540

U.S. Embassy spokesman Robert Ogburn said Vershbow recently saw on TV a concert that took place at "Blue Moon" and expressed an interest in wanting to perform in a natural setting.

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2005/12/05/200512050039.asp

Songs ranged from the Stones' 'I've Got the Blues' to James Brown's 'I Feel Good'...


2005/12/02 23:08 KST U.S. Ambassador bridges cultural divide with weekend gig
By Moon Hae-wonSEOUL, Dec. 2 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Ambassador to Seoul Alexander Vershbow traded his negotiating skills for a pair of drum sticks Friday to stage a rock and roll performance that some Korean guests said helped soften the image of the United States.Cries of "Bravo" punctuated the festive mood at a jazz club in Seoul on Friday night as Vershbow let loose with his solo drumming skills while playing with South Korea's "Han sang-won Band."

"It is fun to perform and if it helps soften images of America, that's a bonus, an extra," Vershbow told Yonhap News Agency after performing five songs with the band.

Big Al Anderson & The Crumbs Performing at the Iron Horse Music Hall Northampton, MA Saturday, December 31 at 7 pm Saturday, December 31 at 10 pm

Legendary guitarist and songwriter Al Anderson is probably still best known for his 22-year stint with roots rock renegades NRBQ, although he's also distinguished himself as a gifted songwriter and solo artist since striking out on his own. He has put together an all-star band for a very rare concert appearance on New Year’s Eve at the Horse!

http://www.bigalanderson.com/bigalanderson/index.asp