Day 344

Disney buys out Marvel Comics/Entertainment for $4 billion.  Match made in heaven or deal with the devil?

Day 343

Democratic Party of Japan

The Democratic Party of Japan gain power after nearly 50 years of a single party dominated system lead by the Liberal Democratic Party.  The DPJ, lead by Yukio Hatoyama, gained 306 seats out of a possible 480 in what is being called a "bloodless revolution".  This shift in power is a result of a growing frustration with the state of Japan's economy- a common theme that rings true for the world at large.  

Day 342

Fighting in Myanmar

Thousands flee Kokang, Myanmar after a deployment of government troops to take over facilities run by the Kokang Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA).  Fighting began in the morning and continues.  Over 30,000 refugees have crossed the boarder into China's Yunnan province.  

Day 341

Jaycee Lee Dugard.  

Kidnapped: June 10, 1991

Found : August 27, 2009

Day 340

Day 339

Persistence of Memory

On a visit to Berlin, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received the blueprints of the Auschwitz concentration camp from German officials.  This gesture was called a "gift of truth" by Netanyahu.  I think the Holocaust will always be a stain on the collective German psyche, but I'm glad to see an attempt at making amends with the past.  Please excuse me if my tone comes off as nonchalant, but I guess it's something for which the country will always be apologizing.  Such is life.  I think it is also important to remember and honor the other side of that dark period in history as well.  For that, I offer this link: The White Rose- an organization that gave their lives in resistance to the Nazi Regime..... 

Ted Kennedy

Senator Edward M. Kennedy passed away last night at the age of 77. 

Ben S. Bernanke

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has ben nominated by President Obama to serve a second term.  

Day 337

EU's Election Complaints Commission in Afghanistan

The citizens of Afghanistan are still awaiting the results of the recent Presidential election.  The ECC are in the process of investigating 225 complaints including voter intimidation, violence, ballot box tampering, and interference from election officials. As it goes, this will be a slow count. Election results are officially due on September 3rd. 

Day 336

Co-ops in Health Care Debate

Senator Kent Conrad, D-N.D., is predicting that health care reform will NOT pass if the government run option is included in the bill.  This declaration comes several days after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi fervently asserted she could not pass a bill that excluded a public option.  The compromise that seems to be taking the forefront is the co-op option. I didn't even know this was even a possibility.  When I think of co-op, my mind immediately goes to the local Harvest Market or tenant run housing. "Co-op" and "health care": two words I never imagined in the same sentence, let alone the same public policy. 

So, what exactly is the co-op option?  Here is a link to an article in the New York Times that explains a little bit about the history of co-op health care in the US and what will be needed to make the option work. Warning: this article is a bit biased on the government run option.  

Day 335

The Evangelical Lutheran Church are allowing the appointment of non-celibate gays in committed, long-term relationships into the clergy.  They are the second group, after the Episcopal Church, to do so this month.  The ELC have over 4.6 million members.  

Day 334

Day 333

Is the release of Abdel Basset al-Megrahi connected with British interests in Libyan oil? Verrrrrry interesting.

Tom Ridge

An excerpt from The Washington Post:

"Former Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge, the first director of the Department of Homeland Security, says that he was pressured by other Bush administration department heads to raise the national security-threat level on the eve of the 2004 presidential election -- a move he rejected as having such uncomfortable political undertones that it could destroy the administration's credibility.

The disclosure comes in Ridge's new book, "The Test of Our Times: America Under Siege . . . and How We Can Be Safe Again," written with Larry Bloom and published by Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martin's Press. It will not hit bookstores until Sept. 1, but a copy of the book was obtained Friday by The Washington Post."

Abdel Basset al-Megrahi

Abdel Bassett al-Megrahi, the only person convicted in the Lockerbie plan bombing in 1988 was released by Scottish authorities.  Al-Megrahi has terminal cancer and has been allowed to spend his remaining days in his home country, Libya.  American government officials including, President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Attorney General Eric Holder have condemned the actions of the Scottish government and have implored Libyan authorities not to extend a "hero's welcome" to al-Megrahi.  The bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 killed 270 people, 189 of them American.  

Day 332

Presidential Elections in Afghanistan.

Day 330

Day 331

Russian Hydroelectric Plant Disaster

An engine room of the Sanyo-Sushenskaya hydroelelectric plant was destroyed by a blast from a faulty turbine.  64 people are feared dead from the incident.  The plant is one of the biggest hydroelectric plants in the world. 

Currency, Zim Style

At 4am, I stumbled across this article about the "zimdollar" in my insomnia induced stupor.  The Zimbabwean currency is now dead, the inflation rate so astronomical that one trillion zim is worth only a meager 50 U.S. cents.   I actually have a few old bills and coins from my Peace Corps days. 10 years ago they weren't worth much and now, it is worth less than a few sheets of toilet paper.  

Day 329

Day 328

Death Panels!- "Obama lies, Grandma dies."

The news has been rife with GOP claims (mostly lead by my favorite Republican and former Governor of Alaska by resignation before even finishing her first term, Sarah Palin) that the proposed Health Care Plan includes provisions for "death panels" where terminally ill Americans would be euthanized because the cost of care would be too expensive.  The "Death Panel" claims have been misinterpreted from clauses in the reform that allow for doctors to counsel on critical end of life options.  

Controversy has been so heated that at a New Hampshire rally for President Obama, people held up signs saying, "Obama lies, Grandma dies."  Intense, no?

Health Care Debate Continues

President Barack Obama is currently on a 4 state tour to promote health care reform and visit National Parks.  In a town hall meeting in Big Sky, Montana, he called for the American people to "lower your voices".  He is of course referring to the recent outbursts against the proposed policy in similar meetings headed by members of congress- Nancy Pelosi comes to mind with her "un-American" comment.  It is an interesting choice of words for both of them. 

Day 327

Santa Cruz Fire

There's a big fire raging in Santa Cruz.  Over 4,100 acres are burning and approximately 2,400 people have been evacuated.  From the reports only 5% has been contained.

Day 326

Slick Dick Tells All

Former Vice President Dick Cheney is slated to write a memoir about his days in the White House. According to informal conversations and interviews regarding the new publication, Cheney is expected to be VERY critical of former Commander-in-Chief Bush and provide a very personal account on the Lewis "Scooter" Libby scandal.  Perez Hilton, eat your heart out- your Hollywood banter got nothing on 20500.  

Day 325

Day 324

Facebook Lite Launch

Facebook launched a "cut-down" version of its popular social networking site.  FBL is aimed at areas with limited broadband capabilities.  At the rate the facebook brand is going, I predict it will reach Disney status.  

Democratic Republic of Congo

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, currently on a 7 nation tour of Africa, is in the DRC calling for the cessation of sexual crimes against civilians.  The estimates from the UN report that over 3,500 people have been victims of assault and is helping to spread HIV.  

Day 323

Day 322

Health Care Critics

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer are calling disruptions at a series of town hall meetings regarding health care reform "simply un-American".  Personally, having had experience trying to getting health insurance as an individual with a pre-existing condition, I know how difficult and monetarily inaccessible corporate insurance companies can be.  The amount of uncovered individuals in this FIRST world country is unacceptable.  Universal health care is long overdue and while I am a proponent of the new health care reform, I also believe that citizens have a right to speak out against our government.  I'm surprised at the Democratic party leadership for using such language.  Dissent is a VERY "American" trait- sometimes I think there is not enough dissent. 

Visual Flight Rules Corridor

Searchers sift through the waters of the Hudson after a fatal crash between a small plane and helicopter.  The area over the Hudson River is a VFR Corridor where pilots rely solely on their own visuals and not an air traffic controller to avoid other aircraft.  There were 9 fatalities in the collision.  

Day 321

Baitullah Mehsud

The suspected killing of Pakistani Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, has caused a feud over who will be the successor.  Pakistani intelligence officials claim that Hakimullah Mehsud was shot in a fight between another Taliban commander.  Earlier today, Hakimullah Mehsud released a statement that Baitullah Mehsud went into hiding after the US drone attacks as a "strategy" and had not been killed.  

Day 320

Day 319

Too Many to Choose

There is lots going on in the world today. 

• Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed by the senate yesterday afternoon and will be the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice.  
  
• Pakistan's Taliban chief, Baitullah Mehsud, is thought to be killed in an attack which also claimed his wife.
• Filmmaker John Hughes dies at the age of 59. He is a sentimental favorite of mine- Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, and Sixteen Candles will always bring me back to my childhood. 
• More attacks targeting Shiites in Iraq.  Over 36 people reported dead.
• The Cash for Clunkers program gets $2 billion in new funding from Congress.  

Hiroshima Anniversary

Today marks the 64th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima.  50,000 people gathered at the A-bomb Dome to mark the tragic day.  At the event, the mayor of Hiroshima called for the eradication of nuclear arms by 2020.  

Day 318

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad  was sworn in as President of Iran today.  Opposition leaders boycotted the swearing in ceremony and street protests continue.  

Day 317

Suspected Terror Plot in Australia Foiled

From the New York Times:  

Four men suspected of having links to a radical Islamic group from Somalia were arrested Tuesday for what authorities said was a plot to storm a military base in the Sydney suburbs and shoot as many soldiers as possible.

The men, all Australian citizens of Somali and Lebanese descent, were detained when hundreds of police officers swept through 19 houses in Melbourne early Tuesday. The raids were the culmination of a seven-month investigation involving state and federal officials and the Australian Security and Intelligence Organization, the government’s spy agency.

The police said the men, whose ages ranged from 22 to 26, planned to arm themselves with automatic weapons and stage an attack on Holsworthy Barracks, a sprawling military complex set in the scrub lands southwest of Sydney. No date was given for the alleged attack.

The men are thought to be members of Somali terrorist organization Al Shabaab.

Day 316

Health Insurance Reform

Day 315

Corazon Aquino- The People Power President

Day 314

La Guardia

Day 313

Cash For Clunkers

Corazon Aquino

Thousands of Filipinos line up for the viewing of former President Corazon Aquino in Manila.

From the New York Times:
The same reverence for Mrs. Aquino — who served as president for six years after leading the movement to oust Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 — had been evident across the archipelago since Saturday morning, when it was announced that she had died of colon cancer at 76. Yellow ribbons, Mrs. Aquino’s symbol of defiance against Mr. Marcos’s rule 23 years ago, were everywhere Sunday — on arms, trees, lampposts, car antennas and Web sites. Prayers and Masses for the former president were scheduled across the country.

La Guardia Airport Evacuated

La Guardia Airport was evacuated for this morning at approximately 5: 00am after an intoxicated man approached a United Airlines ticket counter in concourse C with what appeared to be a bomb. The man, Scott McGann, 32, had a boarding pass for a flight traveling to O'Hare. The airport was reopened by 11:00am but the incident caused huge delays in weekend travel plans.

I'm in New York for the weekend visiting family. Luckily Boston is only a 4 hour bus ride away. No airports involved.