Wednesday, August 27, 2008
I didn't skip Biden
Biden was amazing. I ended up going in the wrong door and this was my view. It was awesome. Biden did a great job. His son who is being deployed next month introduced him. If he spoke too long, I didn't notice. He was passionate and honest, and just political enough to remind you that you were at a convention. He touched upon the importance of a deep knowledge of foreign policy, which he has. I carried around a BIDEN sign for a while, but then, figured it wouldn't fit in my luggage... drat.
Why I heart the Speaker of the House
Because at her lunch, she had little chocolate donkeys carrying raspberries... that has to be a metaphor for something...
Denver
I was going to blog an update from the field...HRC speech, war protesters, DCCC etc blah, blah, blah.... but I'm off to have tea with the Speaker.
Rock on.
Details later I promise.
I think I'm going to skip Biden tonight.
And seeing as I shook Bill Clinton's hand last night as he walked down the hall in the Pepsi center, I can skip that too.
Saving all my energy for tomorrow night and Obama with 70 thousand of my best friends.
Rock on.
Details later I promise.
I think I'm going to skip Biden tonight.
And seeing as I shook Bill Clinton's hand last night as he walked down the hall in the Pepsi center, I can skip that too.
Saving all my energy for tomorrow night and Obama with 70 thousand of my best friends.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Veep
My college political science professor used to quote someone who said something like, 'you can list the responsibilities of the Vice President on the back of a postage stamp'.
So why is it so important?
Ok, give me your predictions...winner gets a guest post on the Snowbunny blog.
I say it's Hillary.
So why is it so important?
Ok, give me your predictions...winner gets a guest post on the Snowbunny blog.
I say it's Hillary.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Alaska Pics...
From the helio
Kodiak - really lovely and green.
Morning fishing
Holy big truck batman - goldmine (no really, it was a gold mine)
Eskimoes... 
C17 - I heart military airlift
Alaskan Pipeline. (or the sign at least)
Our ride (Sherpa with the AK Army National Guard). 14 seats folks...
I heart Alaska.
Not to make my blog into a clipping service, but DUDE!?
NY Times
August 21, 2008
Two Women Sentenced to ‘Re-education’ in China
By ANDREW JACOBS
BEIJING — Two elderly Chinese women have been sentenced to a year of “re-education through labor” after they repeatedly sought a permit to demonstrate in one of the official Olympic protest areas, according to family members and human rights advocates.
The women, Wu Dianyuan, 79, and Wang Xiuying, 77, had made five visits to the police this month in an effort to get permission to protest what they contended was inadequate compensation for the demolition of their homes in Beijing.
During their final visit on Monday, public security officials informed them that they had been given administrative sentences for “disturbing the public order,” according to Li Xuehui, Ms. Wu’s son.
Mr. Li said his mother and Ms. Wang, who used to be neighbors before their homes were demolished to make way for a redevelopment project, were allowed to return home but were told they could be sent to a detention center at any moment. “Can you imagine two old ladies in their 70s being re-educated through labor?” he asked. He said Ms. Wang was nearly blind.
A man who answered the phone at the Public Security Bureau declined to give out information about the case.
At least a half dozen people have been detained by the authorities after they responded to a government announcement late last month designating venues in three city parks as “protest zones” during the Olympics. So far, no demonstrations have taken place.
According to Xinhua, the state news agency, 77 people submitted protest applications, none of which were approved. Xinhua, quoting a public security spokesperson, said that apart from those detained all but three applicants had dropped their requests after their complaints were “properly addressed by relevant authorities or departments through consultations.” The remaining three applications were rejected for incomplete information or for violating Chinese law.
The authorities, however, have refused to explain what happened to applicants who disappeared after they submitted their paperwork. Among these, Gao Chuancai, a farmer from northeast China who was hoping to publicize government corruption, was forcibly escorted back to his hometown last week and remains in custody.
Relatives of another person who was detained, Zhang Wei, a Beijing resident who was also seeking to protest the demolition of her home, were told she would be kept at a detention center for a month. Two rights advocates from southern China have not been heard from since they were seized last week at the Public Security Bureau’s protest application office in Beijing.
Ms. Wu and Ms. Wang were well known to the authorities for their persistent campaign for greater compensation for the demolition of their homes. Mr. Li said his family had given up their home in 2001 with the expectation that they would get a new one in the development that replaced it. Instead, he said, the family has been forced to live in a ramshackle apartment on the capital’s outskirts.
“I feel very sad and angry because we’re only asking for the basic right of living and it’s been six years, but nobody will do anything to help them,” Mr. Li said.
He said that he and Ms. Wang’s daughter tried to apply for their own protest permit on Tuesday but that the police would not even give them the necessary forms.
The two elderly women were given administrative sentences to re-education through labor, known as laojiao, which seeks to reform political and religious dissenters and those charged with minor crimes like prostitution and petty theft. Government officials say that 290,000 people are detained in re-education centers for terms ranging from one to three years, although detentions can be extended for those whose rehabilitation is deemed inadequate.
Human rights advocates have long criticized the system because punishment is handed down by officials without trials or means of appeal. Last year, the government briefly grappled with revamping the system but backed off in the face of opposition from public security officials.
Although it is unlikely that women as old as Ms. Wu and Ms. Wang would be forced into hard labor, many of those sentenced to laojiao often toil in agricultural or factory work and are forced to confess their transgressions.
Tang Xuemei contributed research.
August 21, 2008
Two Women Sentenced to ‘Re-education’ in China
By ANDREW JACOBS
BEIJING — Two elderly Chinese women have been sentenced to a year of “re-education through labor” after they repeatedly sought a permit to demonstrate in one of the official Olympic protest areas, according to family members and human rights advocates.
The women, Wu Dianyuan, 79, and Wang Xiuying, 77, had made five visits to the police this month in an effort to get permission to protest what they contended was inadequate compensation for the demolition of their homes in Beijing.
During their final visit on Monday, public security officials informed them that they had been given administrative sentences for “disturbing the public order,” according to Li Xuehui, Ms. Wu’s son.
Mr. Li said his mother and Ms. Wang, who used to be neighbors before their homes were demolished to make way for a redevelopment project, were allowed to return home but were told they could be sent to a detention center at any moment. “Can you imagine two old ladies in their 70s being re-educated through labor?” he asked. He said Ms. Wang was nearly blind.
A man who answered the phone at the Public Security Bureau declined to give out information about the case.
At least a half dozen people have been detained by the authorities after they responded to a government announcement late last month designating venues in three city parks as “protest zones” during the Olympics. So far, no demonstrations have taken place.
According to Xinhua, the state news agency, 77 people submitted protest applications, none of which were approved. Xinhua, quoting a public security spokesperson, said that apart from those detained all but three applicants had dropped their requests after their complaints were “properly addressed by relevant authorities or departments through consultations.” The remaining three applications were rejected for incomplete information or for violating Chinese law.
The authorities, however, have refused to explain what happened to applicants who disappeared after they submitted their paperwork. Among these, Gao Chuancai, a farmer from northeast China who was hoping to publicize government corruption, was forcibly escorted back to his hometown last week and remains in custody.
Relatives of another person who was detained, Zhang Wei, a Beijing resident who was also seeking to protest the demolition of her home, were told she would be kept at a detention center for a month. Two rights advocates from southern China have not been heard from since they were seized last week at the Public Security Bureau’s protest application office in Beijing.
Ms. Wu and Ms. Wang were well known to the authorities for their persistent campaign for greater compensation for the demolition of their homes. Mr. Li said his family had given up their home in 2001 with the expectation that they would get a new one in the development that replaced it. Instead, he said, the family has been forced to live in a ramshackle apartment on the capital’s outskirts.
“I feel very sad and angry because we’re only asking for the basic right of living and it’s been six years, but nobody will do anything to help them,” Mr. Li said.
He said that he and Ms. Wang’s daughter tried to apply for their own protest permit on Tuesday but that the police would not even give them the necessary forms.
The two elderly women were given administrative sentences to re-education through labor, known as laojiao, which seeks to reform political and religious dissenters and those charged with minor crimes like prostitution and petty theft. Government officials say that 290,000 people are detained in re-education centers for terms ranging from one to three years, although detentions can be extended for those whose rehabilitation is deemed inadequate.
Human rights advocates have long criticized the system because punishment is handed down by officials without trials or means of appeal. Last year, the government briefly grappled with revamping the system but backed off in the face of opposition from public security officials.
Although it is unlikely that women as old as Ms. Wu and Ms. Wang would be forced into hard labor, many of those sentenced to laojiao often toil in agricultural or factory work and are forced to confess their transgressions.
Tang Xuemei contributed research.
Really, really?
Yesterday I ran 4 miles and had fruit for breakfast... today I slept in and had a doughnut with frosting and sprinkles.
I am hopeless.
I am hopeless.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Run much?
So I've been running in the mornings with a group of runners training for the Marine Corps Marathon. These folks run twice a week and a long run on Saturdays. I generally just do the two weekday runs as the weekend runs are like 16 miles.
So this morning the run was 4 miles. Not such a big thing, but the runners (about a dozen of them) took off like their hair was on fire. I kept up for like a minute. And then I spent the rest of the run getting farther and farther away from them. Although, to my defense, the stop lights on the Mall didn't help.
So I got to giving myself a pep talk about mile 2.5.... In life, you can either be the fastest of the slow people, or the slowest of the fast people.
Take your pick.
Men...are masters of their fates;
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves...
So this morning the run was 4 miles. Not such a big thing, but the runners (about a dozen of them) took off like their hair was on fire. I kept up for like a minute. And then I spent the rest of the run getting farther and farther away from them. Although, to my defense, the stop lights on the Mall didn't help.
So I got to giving myself a pep talk about mile 2.5.... In life, you can either be the fastest of the slow people, or the slowest of the fast people.
Take your pick.
Men...are masters of their fates;
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves...
Well it's about damn time... what a mess.
August 19, 2008
Russian Military Unit Leaves Georgian City
By REUTERS
Filed at 8:02 a.m. ET
GORI, Georgia (Reuters) - A column of Russian tanks and armoured vehicles left the Georgian city of Gori on Tuesday in what Russian officials said was the start of the pull-back demanded by the West.
A Reuters reporter saw four armoured personnel carriers and up to three tanks start up their engines and move out of Gori, which Russian forces had occupied this month in a conflict over Georgia's breakaway South Ossetia region.
The move followed a NATO call for Russia to respect a peace deal with Georgia and pull out its troops, although alliance members were cool on a U.S. demand that NATO consider scaling back ties with Moscow.
"This is one of the first units to be pulled out," said an official from Russia's foreign ministry, which arranged for reporters to watch the column leave. The unit's commander said they were heading for the Russian city of Vladikavkaz.
It was not immediately clear if other Russian units were also pulling out of their positions inside Georgia.
Russia agreed to pull its forces back under a ceasefire deal brokered last week by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Russian troops went in after crushing a Georgian attack on Moscow-backed South Ossetia.
Until Tuesday there had been no evidence of the ground that Russian forces were on the move, and Western pressure to observe the ceasefire had been mounting.
"What is at issue today is making a lasting ceasefire out of the still very fragile situation, the very delicate situation in Georgia," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said as he arrived in Brussels for a NATO ministers' emergency meeting. "We therefore urge Russia to pull out of core Georgia."
The NATO meeting was to discuss a U.S. suggestion to punish Russia by suspending alliance ministerial meetings with Moscow. It was also expected to restate a commitment to eventual NATO membership for Georgia, angering Moscow but pleasing Tbilisi.
Russian Military Unit Leaves Georgian City
By REUTERS
Filed at 8:02 a.m. ET
GORI, Georgia (Reuters) - A column of Russian tanks and armoured vehicles left the Georgian city of Gori on Tuesday in what Russian officials said was the start of the pull-back demanded by the West.
A Reuters reporter saw four armoured personnel carriers and up to three tanks start up their engines and move out of Gori, which Russian forces had occupied this month in a conflict over Georgia's breakaway South Ossetia region.
The move followed a NATO call for Russia to respect a peace deal with Georgia and pull out its troops, although alliance members were cool on a U.S. demand that NATO consider scaling back ties with Moscow.
"This is one of the first units to be pulled out," said an official from Russia's foreign ministry, which arranged for reporters to watch the column leave. The unit's commander said they were heading for the Russian city of Vladikavkaz.
It was not immediately clear if other Russian units were also pulling out of their positions inside Georgia.
Russia agreed to pull its forces back under a ceasefire deal brokered last week by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Russian troops went in after crushing a Georgian attack on Moscow-backed South Ossetia.
Until Tuesday there had been no evidence of the ground that Russian forces were on the move, and Western pressure to observe the ceasefire had been mounting.
"What is at issue today is making a lasting ceasefire out of the still very fragile situation, the very delicate situation in Georgia," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said as he arrived in Brussels for a NATO ministers' emergency meeting. "We therefore urge Russia to pull out of core Georgia."
The NATO meeting was to discuss a U.S. suggestion to punish Russia by suspending alliance ministerial meetings with Moscow. It was also expected to restate a commitment to eventual NATO membership for Georgia, angering Moscow but pleasing Tbilisi.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Tattoo...
Ok. I'm back on the tattoo kick. It started as sort of a funny thing, a joke. Then it was a bonding thing with my brother, but turns out he isn't to masochism (anymore). We even tried to get my mom to join the family fun - but she was less than enthusiastic. I've almost convinced Mr. Snowbuuny to get my name tattooed on his back...
But as for my tattoo... if I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it in December when I am home for Christmas. So time is running out for the final decision. I'm on the fence, or I was until I was a brunch the other day with some girlfriends when I looked over and saw a woman with a star tattoo on her foot in the exact place where I want my snowflake...
oh decisions...
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Making cookies in the hood
So, I was making cookies this evening and somewhere between the eggs and the chocolate chips, I realized that I didn't have enough brown sugar!!! (Oh the horror.) I was already mid-cookie creation, so I had sort of a problem on my hands.
I decided to do what any good cookie-making maven would do: beg from the neighbors.
Now, we live in a busy society and you can go years and not know your neighbors. Especially, and not to cast dispersions, but you folks in the burbs with garages... you go into your garage and skip the sidewalk and the front walk and the porch. (Wiskey, Tango, Foxtrot) We city folk lack the luxury of garages. We find parking spaces sometimes in front of our houses, but often not. This means that we must park halfway down the street and walk past all the neighbors to get to our houses. Yes, it's annoying at times. But it provides a lovely opportunity to socialize with your block comrades.
So back to the cookies. I went to my neighbor to the left and he was elated at the sheer thought that I was asking to borrow a baking accoutrement. "Oh my gosh, I love this neighborhood!" (I am not embellishing - those were his actual words.) Sadly, he failed the good neighbor test and did not have brown sugar, but he gets points for answering the door and pillaging through his cupboards. He has also committed to go to the store and to stock up on cookie supplies so he will be ready next time.
I ended up going 3 doors to my right to a neighbor who I thought was a different neighbor. I actually didn't really know this dude or his wife, or his child, or his dog.... but I do now. He gave me a cup of brown sugar and all was right with the world. I actually think they may be new to the block. (See what a bad neighbor I am!?)
Grandma Snowbunny was in town last weekend. We borrowed a walking cane from the neighbor 4 doors down for her. And not only did he give her a cane - he gave her HIS cane for the day. I was very touched and so happy to know them as they are two very fabulous people.
So the cookies were made (and eaten) and that's the name of that tune. So get to know the people in your neighborhood - you never know when you will need some brown sugar.
I decided to do what any good cookie-making maven would do: beg from the neighbors.
Now, we live in a busy society and you can go years and not know your neighbors. Especially, and not to cast dispersions, but you folks in the burbs with garages... you go into your garage and skip the sidewalk and the front walk and the porch. (Wiskey, Tango, Foxtrot) We city folk lack the luxury of garages. We find parking spaces sometimes in front of our houses, but often not. This means that we must park halfway down the street and walk past all the neighbors to get to our houses. Yes, it's annoying at times. But it provides a lovely opportunity to socialize with your block comrades.
So back to the cookies. I went to my neighbor to the left and he was elated at the sheer thought that I was asking to borrow a baking accoutrement. "Oh my gosh, I love this neighborhood!" (I am not embellishing - those were his actual words.) Sadly, he failed the good neighbor test and did not have brown sugar, but he gets points for answering the door and pillaging through his cupboards. He has also committed to go to the store and to stock up on cookie supplies so he will be ready next time.
I ended up going 3 doors to my right to a neighbor who I thought was a different neighbor. I actually didn't really know this dude or his wife, or his child, or his dog.... but I do now. He gave me a cup of brown sugar and all was right with the world. I actually think they may be new to the block. (See what a bad neighbor I am!?)
Grandma Snowbunny was in town last weekend. We borrowed a walking cane from the neighbor 4 doors down for her. And not only did he give her a cane - he gave her HIS cane for the day. I was very touched and so happy to know them as they are two very fabulous people.
So the cookies were made (and eaten) and that's the name of that tune. So get to know the people in your neighborhood - you never know when you will need some brown sugar.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
into the wild...
I went to Alaska last week for work.
The mountains were amazing - and I know mountains.
We took a helio ride over a glacier with the AK National Guard - awesome.
More pictures forthcoming... but for now....
The mountains were amazing - and I know mountains.
We took a helio ride over a glacier with the AK National Guard - awesome.
More pictures forthcoming... but for now....
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