Burma

I blogged about Aung San Suu Kyi on my old blog and she has remained one of my heroes. She is the rightful prime minister of Burma and I unquestionably support her eventual reinstatement as head of the Burmese government.

I have the utmost repect for the incredible Buddhist monks who have led demonstrations unprecedented since the 1988 crackdown in response to the 8888 democratic uprising mobilized up to 100 000 citizens, primarily in Yangon, the former Burmese capital (recently relocated to a practically fabricated city, originally a small village, Nay Pyi Taw), for the last several days.


Finally, after a reported 20 people have been killed, China has called on all sides in Burma to exercise restraint.


http://www.cbc.ca/photogallery/world/733/

It's been ages since I've updated...

Hi all. It's been quite a while since I've updated so I think I should.
Summer's almost officially done, which kinda sucks and is kinda exciting. I start my university career in two days, Monday, September 10 at 1pm with a fifty-minute long linguistics course.
What's new since last post? I'm cutting back to a shift a week at Sears now, I have Alfred, my lovely blue 4GB iPod, and Zeke, my lovely red cellular telephone, who is a more recent acquisition. Zeke is, by the way, my first cell phone that I've paid for completely myself and that I actually own, rather than the two I've taken out when I've gone out with friends in the past and left at Caitlin's house two weeks ago for a few nights after forgetting it there. That phone isn't special enough to have a name.
I'm in love with Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion, which has been the book I've read fair consistently during my breaks for the last two weeks or so. It's refreshing to have my religious views supported and the omnipresent Judeo-Christian tradition picked apart and shown as flawed and impossible and validating the confusion I'd had for ages.
I also had a flash back to earlier times today when I found there are Old Time Radio podcasts available on iTunes today while I was poking around that venerable database/shop. I've downloaded shows I haven't heard in months and, while it might seem strange to some, I'm really happy to hear those familiar voices again and the familiar theme music from The Jack Benny Show and Suspense and Inner Sanctum. This probably means nothing to most of you but I love them so yay for me!

I have my first Sundays-only shift tomorrow at 10h15 and I still have some organizing to do in my room, so I should be toddling off.

Until later, sometime this month, don't worry,
Me.

Defying Gravity Lyrics
GLINDA
(spoken) Elphaba - why couldn't you have stayed calm for
once, instead of flying off the handle!
(sung) I hope you're happy!
I hope you're happy now
I hope you're happy how you
Hurt your cause forever
I hope you think you're clever!

ELPHABA
I hope you're happy
I hope you're happy, too
I hope you're proud how you
Would grovel in submission
To feed your own ambition

BOTH
So though I can't imagine how
I hope you're happy right now

GLINDA
(spoken) Elphie, listen to me. Just say you're sorry:
(sung) You can still be with the Wizard
What you've worked and waited for
You can have all you ever wanted:

ELPHABA
(spoken) I know:
(sung) But I don't want it -
No - I can't want it
Anymore:

Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I'm through with playing by the rules
Of someone else's game
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It's time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes: and leap!

It's time to try
Defying gravity
I think I'll try
Defying gravity
And you can't pull me down!

GLINDA
Can't I make you understand?
You're having delusions of grandeur:

ELPHABA
I'm through accepting limits
'Cuz someone says they're so
Some things I cannot change
But till I try, I'll never know!
Too long I've been afraid of
Losing love I guess I've lost
Well, if that's love
It comes at much too high a cost!
I'd sooner buy
Defying gravity
Kiss me goodbye
I'm defying gravity
And you can't pull me down:
(spoken) Glinda - come with me. Think of what we could
do: together.

(sung) Unlimited
Together we're unlimited
Together we'll be the greatest team
There's ever been
Glinda -
Dreams, the way we planned 'em

GLINDA
If we work in tandem:

BOTH
There's no fight we cannot win
Just you and I
Defying gravity
With you and I
Defying gravity

ELPHABA
They'll never bring us down!
(spoken) Well? Are you coming?

GLINDA
I hope you're happy
Now that you're choosing this

ELPHABA
(spoken) You too
(sung) I hope it brings you bliss

BOTH
I really hope you get it
And you don't live to regret it
I hope you're happy in the end
I hope you're happy, my friend:

ELPHABA
So if you care to find me
Look to the western sky!
As someone told me lately:
"Ev'ryone deserves the chance to fly!"
And if I'm flying solo
At least I'm flying free
To those who'd ground me
Take a message back from me
Tell them how I am
Defying gravity
I'm flying high
Defying gravity
And soon I'll match them in renown
And nobody in all of Oz
No Wizard that there is or was
Is ever gonna bring me down!

GLINDA
I hope you're happy!

CITIZENS OF OZ
Look at her, she's wicked!
Get her!

ELPHABA
:Bring me down!

CITIZENS OF OZ
No one mourns the wicked
So we've got to bring her

ELPHABA
Ahhh!

CITIZENS OF OZ
Down!

New Stars album?????????

Apparently Stars released a new album on the 10th and I hadn't noticed until just now when I was on iTunes. Sweet!

Seriously disturbing.

The BBC
Saturday, 30 June 2007, 18:02 GMT 19:02 UK

Hamas 'Mickey Mouse' killed off



Farfur is making way for new programmes, al-Aqsa said

A Palestinian TV station has killed off a controversial Mickey Mouse lookalike that critics said was spreading anti-US and anti-Israeli messages to children.

The Hamas-affiliated al-Aqsa channel aired the last episode on Friday, showing the character, Farfur, being beaten to death by an "Israeli agent".

"Farfur was martyred defending his land," said the show's presenter Saraa.

Israeli critics had said the show was outrageous and some Palestinian ministers tried to get it shelved.

In the final broadcast an actor said to be an Israeli agent tries to buy the land of the squeaky-voiced Mickey Mouse lookalike.

Farfur brands the Israeli a "terrorist" and is beaten to death.

He was killed "by the killers of children", Saraa says.

Al-Aqsa television told the Associated Press news agency the show, Tomorrow's Pioneers, was making way for new programmes.

'Indoctrination'

The channel had ignored demands from Information Minister Mustafa Barghouti for the show to be stopped.

Mr Barghouti said it "was wrong to use a programme directed at children to convey political messages".

In an earlier show, Farfur had said: "You and I are laying the foundation for a world led by Islamists.

"We will return the Islamic community to its former greatness, and liberate Jerusalem, God willing, liberate Iraq, God willing, and liberate all the countries of the Muslims invaded by the murderers."

The Israeli organisation, Palestinian Media Watch, said Farfur took "every opportunity to indoctrinate young viewers with teachings of Islamic supremacy".

Your Score: Cary Grant

You scored 9% Tough, 9% Roguish, 19% Friendly, and 61% Charming!

You are the epitome of charm and style, the smooth operator who steals the show with your sophisticated wit and quiet confidence. You are able to catch any woman you want just by flashing that disarming smile. When you walk into a room, the women are instantly intrigued and even the men are impressed. When you find yourself in trouble, you are easily able to charm your way out of it, or convince others to help you. You're seen as dashing, suave and romantic. Your co-stars include Katharine Hepburn, Irene Dunne, and Joan Fontaine, stylish women who know a class act when they see it.

Find out what kind of classic dame you'd make by taking the
Classic Dames Test.

Link: The Classic Leading Man Test written by gidgetgoes on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Alberta Tories lose Klein's old riding in byelection
Last Updated: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 | 10:17 PM MT
CBC News

Alberta's Progressive Conservatives suffered a political blow Tuesday night, losing a byelection in the affluent Calgary riding once held by former premier Ralph Klein.

In one of two byelections, Liberal candidate Craig Cheffins defeated Progressive Conservative rival Brian Heninger in the central Calgary seat that has been in Tory hands since it was created in 1971. Klein was first elected in the riding in 1989.

Tory Jack Hayden was able to win the rural riding of Drumheller-Stettler in another byelection, as voters picked a new MLA to replace former deputy premier Shirley McClellan.

Observers said the contest in Calgary-Elbow was the first real test of the popularity of Premier Ed Stelmach's government since critics accused it of not taking care of the city's needs.

Stelmach was chosen as party leader in December after Klein retired, taking the premier's title without a provincial election.

In the 2004 election, Klein held on to the riding by just over 2,000 votes from the nearest candidate, a Liberal.

Cheffins had said residents in Calgary-Elbow were telling him their needs aren't being heard by Stelmach's government.

In a flyer that hit city mailboxes last week, the premier countered that $5 billion was set aside for Calgary in this year's budget. And on Friday, Stelmach re-announced his government's commitment to building a new hospital in south Calgary.

With files from the Canadian Press

Today marks my last day in the public education system. My last day of school for grade 12, 13 years have come to an end.
Wow. I'll have to be an adult with something like responsibilities in just over a month, but not being a high school student makes me sad and unsure. It's a big future out there.

Until later,
Me.

I don't know if this is a revelation for anyone else, but I'm just hanging out on iTunes and found that Stars has released a disc that has other artists covering their songs from Your Ex-Lover Is Dead and Final Fantasy is covering the title track. I'm listening to it now and it's awesome. I bought myself and iTunes card and I'm enjoying spending money.

I have walked across the stage and worn the robes and graduated. YAY GRAD!

Until later,
Me.

I'm graduating from high school tomorrow. Weird. I have to be an adult almost, with responsibilities and no obligatory school and university in front of me and people moving away and no more public school with my friends from yesterday and forever ago, relatively speaking. It'll be so indescribably great, the singing at the ceremony, the ceremony, the dressing up (one of my favourite parts), the anticipation, the photos, the toasts, the food, the dancing, the overall celebration. So excited.

Until later,
Me.

I love the Philippines.

BBC NEWS
Coin toss decides Philippine poll
Two candidates in the Philippines who got the same number of votes in a local election have settled the issue of who won by tossing a coin.

Bryan Byrd Bellang and Benjamin Ngeteg tied for the last of eight council seats in Bontoc, a resort town some 280km (175 miles) north of Manila.

They agreed to the coin toss, set down in local election rules. Mr Bellang called heads and won the seat.

Crowds in the town hall clapped as the two men shook hands after the result.

"I asked them if they wanted to break the tie by tossing a coin or drawing lots, and somebody in the crowd wondered if I was cracking a joke," election supervisor Mary Umaming told the Associated Press news agency.

"I said those options were in the rules, and they agreed to flip a coin."

Provincial elections supervisor Dennis Dimalnat said that the two candidates had set a refreshing example.

"I hope others would see the beauty of this kind of peaceful resolution," he told AP.

Nationwide, Monday's local polls were marred by violence. In total, about 87,000 candidates were contesting nearly 18,000 positions.

Police said that dozens of people died over the three-month election period and at least three people were killed on polling day itself. Observers in some areas spoke of voter intimidation and electoral fraud.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/6674373.stm

Published: 2007/05/20 14:46:24 GMT

© BBC MMVII

Well that sucks.

I just got this email. I <3 Pandora.com and have told loads of friends about it. Now I am sad.

Dear Pandora listener,

Today we have some extremely disappointing news to share with you. Due to international licensing constraints, we are deeply, deeply sorry to say that we must begin proactively preventing access to Pandora's streaming service from Canada. We began blocking access from almost all countries outside the U.S. last week and had originally hoped to maintain access to Canada. However, it has become clear in the last week that we just haven't been able to make enough progress to continue streaming.

It is difficult to convey just how disappointing this is for us. Our vision remains to eventually make Pandora a truly global service, but for the time being, we can no longer continue as we have been. As a small company, the best chance we have of realizing our dream of Pandora all around the world is to grow as the licensing landscape allows.

We show your IP address is '137.186.200.18', which indicates you are listening from Canada. If you believe you are seeing this by mistake, we offer our sincere apologies and ask that you please reply to this email.

Delivery of Pandora is based on proper licensing from the people who created the music - we have always believed in honoring the guidelines as determined by legislators and regulators, artists and songwriters, and the labels and publishers they work with. In the U.S. there is a federal statute that provides this license for all the music streamed on Pandora. Unfortunately, there is no equivalent license outside the U.S. and there is no global licensing organization to enable any webcaster to legitimately offer its service around the world. The volume of listening on Pandora makes it a very expensive service to run. Streaming costs are very high, and since our inception, we have been making publishing and performance royalty payments for every song we play.

Until last week, we have not been able to tell where a listener is based, relying only on zip code information provided upon registration. We are now able to recognize a listener's country of origin based on the IP address from which they are accessing the service. Consequently, on May 16th, we will begin blocking access to Pandora to listeners from Canada. We are very sad to have to do this, but there is no other alternative.

We will be posting updates on our blog regarding our ongoing effort to launch in other countries, so please stay in touch. We will keep a record of your existing stations and bookmarked artists and songs, so that when we are able to launch in your country, they will be waiting for you. We deeply share your sense of disappointment and greatly appreciate your understanding.

-Tim Westergren
(Pandora founder)

This is a one time account message

Excerpts from fun Wiki articles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Barbon

Nicholas Barbon (c. 1640-1698) was an English economist, physician and financial speculator. He is counted among the critics of mercantilism and was one of the first proponents of the free market.

He was born in London in 1640, probably the son of Praise-God Barbon, studied medicine at Leiden, graduated M.D. at Utrecht in 1661, and was admitted an honorary fellow of the College of Physicians in 1664. He took a considerable part in the rebuilding of London after the great fire of 1666, and has a claim to be considered the institutor of fire-insurance in England, which he started one year after the Great Fire in 1667. In 1680 his fire office formed the First London fire brigade. He was M.P. for Bramber in 1690 and 1695.^[1]

He founded a land bank with John Asgill which, according to contemporaries, was fairly successful and was united with that of John Briscoe in 1696. His writings on political economy are interesting for expressing views much in advance of his time. The more important were Apology for the Builder; or a Discourse showing the Cause and Effects of the Increase of Building (1685); A Discourse of Trade (1690); and A Discourse Concerning Coining the New Money Lighter (1696).

In these books, he demanded wider economic freedom and supported fashion which, he believed, inclined people towards continuous purchasing of goods and therefore created constant demand. Being influenced by populationism, he identified country's wealth with its population. He also advocated paper and credit money and postulated the reduction of interest rates which he thought impeded the growth in manufacturing and trade. His works influenced the other critics of mercantilism and hence indirectly contributed to the development of the foundations of classical economics.

Barbon, like his father, had an unusual full name: Nicholas Unless-Jesus-Christ-Had-Died-For-Thee-Thou-Hadst-Been-Damned Barbon^[2]. By all accounts, though, he went by Nicholas throughout his life.

I love life.

I have not so thoroughly enjoyed a day in its almost entirety as I did today.
JHWICS, hanging out with Kelci and Gee in Kensington and in Riley Park and talking to canvassers and random passers-by and eating pita and dip on a bench, then going to Blockbuster with Gee and renting a hilarious movie, "Imagine You & Me" after having supper and having fun discussions with my mother and brother.
Life is grand.

Until later,
Me.

Ironic much?

Zimbabwe to chair major UN body

Zimbabwe has been elected to head the UN's commission on Sustainable Economic Development (CSD) despite strong objections from Western diplomats.

They had said Zimbabwe was unsuitable because of its human rights record and economic problems. It is suffering food shortages and rampant inflation.

But Zimbabwe has dismissed such criticism, calling it an insult.

The country was chosen by other African nations. The CSD post rotates every year between the world's regions.

Travel ban

Zimbabwe was elected to lead the commission by a 26-21 secret ballot among CSD members at the UN headquarters in New York. There were also three abstentions.

There was a brief round of applause as the result was announced.

When they tell the African group to change, it's an insult to our intelligence Boniface Chidyausiku Zimbabwe's UN ambassador

Developing nations appear to have voted for Zimbabwe, the BBC's Laura Trevelyan in New York says.

They respected the decision of the African group to nominate the country for the post in the first place, and they have shown they cannot be pushed around, our correspondent says.

Zimbabwe's Environment Minister Francis Nheme will now become chairman of the CSD.

Mr Nheme is the subject of European Union travel ban because he is a member of President Robert Mugabe's government.

That means he cannot travel to the EU to meet ministers on commission business.

Land issues

Zimbabwe's Ambassador to the UN, Boniface Chidyausiku, said before the vote that his country was entitled to hold the chairmanship.

"It's our right. We're members of the United Nations and we're members of CSD, and the Africa group did make a decision and endorsed Zimbabwe," he told the BBC's Network Africa programme.

"They're making a storm out of a teacup."

He said the real objection came down to Britain's criticism of Zimbabwe's controversial land reform programme.

Zimbabwe was once a prosperous food exporter, but production has plummeted since land reforms in 2000 that saw thousands of white-owned farms seized.

"We see it as a translation of a bilateral quarrel between London and Harare on the land reform programme," Mr Chidyausiku said.

He said the European countries should respect the decision of the African block.

"When they tell the African group to change, it's an insult to our intelligence - that we Africans can't think," he said.

Electricity woes

Meanwhile, Mozambique has threatened to cut electricity to its neighbour for failing to pay its debts.

Mozambique's Cahora Bassa dam supplies Zimbabwe with 500 megawatts of power.

The BBC's Jose Tembe in Maputo says Zimbabwe has accumulated debt to the tune of $9m.

A spokesman for Mozambique's electricity firm EDM said the government acknowledged Zimbabwe's current economic crisis but said that debt is debt and must be paid.

On Wednesday, it was announced that households in Zimbabwe were to be limited to four hours' electricity a day, between 1700 and 2100 local time.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/6645715.stm

Published: 2007/05/12 04:35:22 GMT

© BBC MMVII

Why I am against lethal injection.

Florida keeps drug cocktail for executions

By Michael Peltier

TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - Florida will change some execution procedures because of the slow death of a condemned killer last year but will continue to use lethal injection, the state's top prison official said on Wednesday.

Florida halted executions in December after Angel Diaz, who was sentenced to death for the 1979 murder of a Miami strip club manager, took 34 minutes to die.

Among the changes: Death chamber personnel will undergo more intensive training on how to insert needles and how to recognize when a prisoner is unconscious, said James McDonough, secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections.

An investigation into Diaz's execution found that both needles used in the execution had been improperly placed or punctured veins. Instead of coursing through the circulatory system, the drugs largely ended up just beneath the skin, slowing their effect.

The Diaz case underscored a long-standing debate in the United States over how to execute criminals. Death penalty opponents have argued that lethal injection, which is used in 37 U.S. states, is cruel and unusual punishment barred by the U.S. Constitution.

Florida would not scrap lethal injection, said McDonough. "The three-drug cocktail that currently is being used here and virtually every other state, is the protocol that we are going to stick with," he said.

McDonough said his department would be ready to resume executions within 14 days of implementing changes recommended by a panel appointed to prevent a repeat of the Diaz execution. No executions are currently scheduled in Florida.

Florida executed prisoners with an electric chair for 76 years but state lawmakers approved lethal injections in January 2000 after a series of troubled executions, including one in 1997 when flames shot from the head of the condemned prisoner.

The first drug used in lethal injection, sodium pentothal, should render the inmate unconscious while the remaining injections paralyze the lungs and stop the heart.

Execution team members said Diaz suffered no pain. But witnesses said Diaz appeared to grimace, gasp for breath and contort as he lay strapped to a gurney. An execution usually takes just a few minutes.

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0933241720070509

One AP exam done, one to go.
Poli Sci went pretty well and I'm pleased that smart people I know put the same things down that I did, so I'm counting on us all being right and doing well.
English on Thursday morning should be pretty good too, hopefully.
I'm off to do some Math and review some literature for English so I can properly express my feelings and views on the selections presented to me.

Until later,
Me.

¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

Back from Nat Sems. It was so much fun. Can I go back? I think a reunion as soon as possible with as many people as possible is in order. All in favour?

Until later,
Me.