John Thompson III’s quick reaction to a melee on the court probably saved the day. His staff sprang in to action and removed the Hoyas from the court. As they left, they were pelted with water bottles and water. There is no excuse for this kind of behavior. It is uncertain if the Georgetown Hoyas will move on to the next round of games in Shanghai or not.
The Royals
Its time. I resisted. Now I have caved. Time to start the Royal Wedding hype. I hate myself for it also.
The Royal Wedding will take place Friday, April 29, 2011 at some ungodly hour like 4 am est. Meanwhile the press is going absolutely nuts. And as we all know, the Brit press is far worse than hours. Every detail about the royals will be scrutinized.
Since Sarah Fergie Ferguson and I neither one got an invitation I checked out an article of Who’s Who with the Royals. The Brit royals now have all sorts of glamor designer names for their children. Apparently they are no longer content naming their children, Charles, Elizabeth, Margaret, Andrew, Phillip or those other old fashioned names. Now we find Camilla, Savannah, Zara, Autumn (in-law and untitled), Serena, Margarita, Columbus and Cassius. 🙄 The bride -to-be is a commoner. When she marries Prince William, she becomes royalty. According to Time:
Though the only title Middleton will be legally entitled to is that of her husband, it will be for the Queen to decide who gets what. Upon marriage, Middleton would become Her Royal Highness Princess William of Wales, though the media would shorten her title to Princess Catherine, a title legally reserved for princesses of birth.
8.9 Earthquake Hits Japan
An 8.9 earthquake hit Japan near Tokyo during the night. It was around 2 in the afternoon in Japan when the earthquake hit. The epicenter was right off the coast. Tsunamis have hit Japan. Hawaii and the entire Pacific Basin are under tsunami warning meaning imminent danger. Our entire west coast line, Canada and Alaska are under this warning.
Pictures coming in of the tsunamis already hitting Japan have been in TV all night. This earthquake is the largest in Japan since such data has been recorded.
We will use this thread for updates.
Egyptian Revolt: Not so Peaceful
Much has been said about peaceful demonstration and the Egyptian people just wanting to be free. Perhaps we need to re-examine how peaceful the revolt really was. The Cairo Museum was broken in to and artifacts from antiquity were damaged or stolen. There were hundreds of deaths. Supposedly nice people were hurling stones. Anderson Cooper and Fox News crew Greg Palkot and Olaf Wiig were beaten up pretty badly. And on Friday, as it was all supposedly coming to an end, the Huffington Post reported:
On Friday February 11, the day Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak stepped down, CBS correspondent Lara Logan was covering the jubilation in Tahrir Square for a 60 MINUTES story when she and her team and their security were surrounded by a dangerous element amidst the celebration. It was a mob of more than 200 people whipped into frenzy.
Anderson Cooper reports from undisclosed location in Egypt
Anderson Cooper reports from an undisclosed location in Egypt. He and his crew were attacked by an angry mob. Katie Couric and Christiana Amanpour have also been jostled about. Frankly, it is not safe. No American should be in Egypt right now.
These folks are luck to have survived. Is any American safe?
Jon Stewart interviews Admiral Mike Mullen; discusses Egypt
On a serious note, Jon Stewart interviews Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to discuss the middle east situation. It was an informative interview.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Exclusive – Mike Mullen Extended Interview Pt. 1 | ||||
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Its hard to sort out the Egypt politics. What should the US do? What position should we take? Is there any reason we would send our military into Egypt?
Protecting King Tut and other antiquities
From the Daily Beast:
Many of the world’s great archaeologists and art scholars fear they are about to relive a nightmare.
Eight years ago, they watched in horror as looters raided Iraq’s National Museum in Baghdad and carted off thousand of artifacts representing much of the archaeological heritage of the Arab world.
Now looters and vandals are threatening a museum that holds treasures that are among the most iconic on earth—the Egyptian Antiquities Museum in Cairo, home to the golden death mask and gem-encrusted jewelry found in the tomb of King Tutankhamen, among tens of thousands of other priceless items that capture 4,000 years of Egyptian history.
Bust of Stalin to Return to D-Day Memorial in 2011
From the News & Messenger:
BEDFORD, Va. (AP) — The National D-Day Memorial plans to reinstall a bust of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin that drew opposition from veterans groups, local officials and some lawmakers.
Memorial President Robin Reed told The News & Advance that the bust will be included in a new Allied leaders section. The new exhibit also will include busts of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Harry S. Truman, Charles de Gaulle, Clement Attlee and Chiang Kai-shek.
The exhibit is expected to open in 2011. Reed says memorial officials are still working on the design.
The Stalin bust was originally installed at the memorial in June. The bust was removed in September after veterans groups and others protested its display.
I dislike Stalin as much as the next guy. My father, a WWII vet, also hated Stalin. The family joke around the house was always if only people had listened to Churchill, Patton and my father, we would not have the problems we are having (cold war). However, to deny his existence in WWII is a little much. There is also the point of view that we might not have won had Stalin not been in the picture.
Countries are often morally compromised in wartime. They often find themselves in alliance with dubious characters. In times of war, most countries aren’t in the position to take the high road.
This new area of the D-Day Memorial sounds like a good plan and a compromise. Donations were down significantly because of the Stalin bust. It was removed after much controversy. We can’t ignore the fact that the dictator was an ally((well, sort of) and we also don’t want to allow his wretched presence to stand over a memorial to our heroes and our war dead.
Stalin was a killer. Historians make a good case for him being worse than Hitler in sheer number of people killed under his orders. No glory or honor for him is deserved. Let there be a ‘leaders’ section.’ That will just have to do. Perhaps the controversy has been good for the country. We need to not forget the evil that some men do.
(The removal of the bust of Stalin was in 2010.)
Remembering the past…1900-2010
As we bid adieu to 2010 and welcome 2011, perhaps it is appropriate to review the last decade and our last century, since most of us were born in the 20th century. It’s difficult to believe we are fully into the second decade of the 21st century.
Kenny G will take care of 1900-1999. We will have to fill in some remembrances from 2000-2010. As I listened for an appropriate Auld Lang Syne, I wondered if those who want to go back in time really want to relive the past 110 years and the turbulence.
The preceding century was none too easy either, with the American Civil War piercing the very soul of our nation. No one who lived here free or enslaved escaped the ravages of those times. More men were killed in the Civil War than in all our other wars combined. Yet we prepare to commemorate that war this summer, in 2011–the Sesquicentennial.
We have had an election crisis in 2000. We have suffered an attack on our homeland, 2 wars that still go on, and a financial crash that is only surpassed by the Great Depression in the last decade. Yet we are Americans and we have survived. Let’s look at some of the most significant accomplishments of the past 110 yearsm with emphasis on the past 10.
First question…should you chose to voice an opinion–what inventions or events most affected mankind in the past 110 years? What would the top 3 be?
Observing the Winter Solstice
The Winter Solstice has been observed in most cultures since time began. It signaled the shortest day of the year. The growing season had stopped in the northern latitudes. Early people looked on winter as a time of dread. In ancient times, many people didn’t make it through the winter. They died or their loved ones died. They battled the elements, faced starvation, ran out of fuel, and were often ravaged by disease. Winter was deadly to early people. Even as late as last century, winter could spell destruction for people. Depending on where you live and your circumstances, winter can be deadly even in our modern culture.
Today we know that the solstice is caused by the tilt of the earth’s axis. For the unscientific, we say that solstice is the shortest day and the longest night of the year. The ancients celebrated. They knew something was up celestially. They knew that the days had been getting shorter since what we know think of as June 21. And they knew that now they had hard months ahead but that the days were going to get longer and there would be more sunlight.
Non-pagan peoples also have their roots in this seasonal event. Jews, Christians and Muslims all have festival days associated with the Winter Solstice. Hanukkah and Christmas nearly always occur around the same time. Perhaps early Christians used this time to convert pagans to Christianity. After all, they were celebrating hope.
It was critical to early man to renew. That fear that the sun might never reappear gave way to great joy near the Solstice that the sun would come back and life would begin anew. Meanwhile, the ancients prayed to their gods to make it happen.
The ancients underwent Herculean efforts to mark and observe the Solstices. Stonehenge, Maeshowe in Scotland and Newgrange in Ireland all align special light during the equinoxes and solstices. Each structure highlights an important aspect of astronomical light. The fairly new field of archaeo-astronomy has thousands of examples of ancient man observing these celestial turning points. North America has its own sites, the most famous being the Sun Dagger of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico.
Generally we think of solar and lunar architecture as being druid or celtic. However, there are examples all over the world and on every continent except Antarctica. In America many people incorporate the ancient symbols of the Winter Solstice in Christmas or Hanakah. Observers of pagan based religions practice the old ways.
While most cultures celebrated the Winter Solstice, one might ask, why celebrate? Good question. All sorts of superstitions and rituals were performed for good luck and to ward off bad things and evil that could happen. Of all early people, the Celts are probably the group many of us are most familiar with who celebrated Winter Solstice.
In Celtic myth, the Holly king and the Oak king, twins, were in a continual struggle for domination. At the Winter Solstice, the Holly King is overpowered and the Oak King rules until he is overthrown at the Summer Solstice. Winter Solstice is a time for celebration because it marks the beginning of the days getting longer. The cycle of the year is represented by this turmoil of continual struggle. Neither can exist without the other.
Many of our Christmas traditions include pagan ritual involving Winter Solstice. Yule logs, Christmas trees, Santa Claus, Mistletoe, the date of Christmas, holly, the colors red and green, wreaths, and ivy all have roots in pagan culture or in other religions. Religions do not just spring up in isolation. They merge and infuse and often take the old beliefs and remodel them into newer ones.
So regardless of your religion or culture, you are sure to find a fit somewhere in the winter holiday season around the Winter Solstice. Most of us are fortunate enough to be able to throw another log on the fire and sit back and let the winds howl outside.
Music Tributes under the fold
The Solstice Treat: Full Eclipse of the Full Moon
This Tuesday brings a special treat for Winter Solstice. Not only is it Solstice but also there will be a full moon. And it just gets better. There will be a full eclipse of the full moon. The eclipse starts on Tuesday morning, Dec. 21st, at 1:33 am. As it begins, the earth’s shadow will appear as a dark-red bite at the edge of the moon. It takes about an hour for the “bite” to swallow the entire Moon. Total eclipse is at 02:41 am and lasts for 72 minutes.
If you aren’t planning to enjoy the entire eclipse in the dead of winter in the middle of the night, choose this moment: 03:17 am. That’s when the moon will be displaying the most vivid shades of coppery red. The next full eclipse of a full moon on Solstice will be December 21, 2094. I expect to miss that one. This Solstice is a very special celestial treat, if the weather holds out.
69th Anniversary of the Attack on Pearl Harbor
If some of this looks familiar…it is. That’s the neat thing about anniversaries. You can recycle them.
The Greatest Generation spent their childhood in the roaring 20′s. As teenagers they weathered the Great Depression of the 30′s. Reaching adulthood in the 40′s looked bright until that fateful Sunday afternoon in early December. Every one from the Greatest Generation remembers where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news, much like those who followed now can tell you where they were and what they were doing when they heard of the Kennedy assassination or 9/11.
Many people had no idea where Pearl Harbor was or that our Naval Fleet was berthed there. Yet upon hearing of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, most Americans were filled with rage and a sense of betrayal because of the sneak attack. The Greatest Generation would have their lives unalterably changed forever.
On December 8, 1941 they listened to their president, Franklin Roosevelt, make the following address to Congress:
To the Congress of the United States of America
Yesterday, Dec. 7, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with the government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific.
Over 3,000 lives, both civilian and non-civilian were lost in the attack on Pearl Harbor. America had a decimated navy. The politics of war had kept FDR’s hand off the trigger and had kept us out of the war raging in Europe. All but one member of Congress voted to declare war on Japan and within a week war had been declared on Germany and Italy. The United States was fully at war, from the youngest child to the oldest citizen.
On this day, please give a second of your time to remember those who perished and a second to pay homage to that generation who gave so much. Where would we be today without the Greatest Generation? Soon they will be lost to the ages and the annals of time. Those boys who went off to war are now staring down 90 if they are even still with us. That is a sobering thought.
WHAT are we thinking? The Fox Guards the Hen House in Afghanistan
Totally insane! WHAT are we thinking? The New York Times exposé of Afghan contractors guarding our military bases is beyond anything stupid. We are wasting billions of dollars a year in a war that has no goals and we have given the fox the keys to the hen house.
According to the New York Times:
Afghan private security forces with ties to the Taliban, criminal networks and Iranian intelligence have been hired to guard American military bases in Afghanistan, exposing United States soldiers to surprise attack and confounding the fight against insurgents, according to a Senate investigation.
The Pentagon’s oversight of the Afghan guards is virtually nonexistent, allowing local security deals among American military commanders, Western contracting companies and Afghan warlords who are closely connected to the violent insurgency, according to the report by investigators on the staff of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The United States military has almost no independent information on the Afghans guarding the bases, who are employees of Afghan groups hired as subcontractors by Western firms awarded security contracts by the Pentagon. At one large American airbase in western Afghanistan, military personnel did not even know the names of the leaders of the Afghan groups providing base security, the investigators found. So they used the nicknames that the contractor was using — Mr. White and Mr. Pink from “Reservoir Dogs,” the 1992 gangster movie by Quentin Tarantino. Mr. Pink was later determined to be a “known Taliban” figure, they reported.
In another incident, the United States military bombed a house where it was believed that a Taliban leader was holding a meeting, only to discover later that the house was owned by an Afghan security contractor to the American military, who was meeting with his nephew — the Taliban leader.
Florida Minister Endangers the Troops
Several weeks ago we put up a thread about a minister in Florida who planned to burn copies of the Quran on 9/11. To date, there seems to be mo change in his misguided plans.
CNN reports:
CNN) — The U.S. commander in Afghanistan on Monday criticized a Florida church’s plan to burn copies of the Quran on September 11, warning the demonstration “could cause significant problems” for American troops overseas.
“It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort in Afghanistan,” Gen. David Petraeus said in a statement issued Monday.
The Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, plans to mark the anniversary of al Qaeda’s September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington by burning copies of the Muslim holy book. The church insists the event is “neither an act of love nor of hate,” but a warning against what it calls the threats posed by Islam.
Good for General Petraeus. Its time someone called out this arrogant man. Who better than the commander of all US troops in Afghanistan.
More from CNN:
With about 120,000 U.S. and NATO-led troops still battling al Qaeda and its allies in the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban movement, Petraeus warned that burning Qurans “is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems — not just here, but everywhere in the world we are engaged with the Islamic community.”
And one of his deputies, Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, told CNN’s “The Situation Room” that event “has already stirred up a lot of discussion and concern” among Afghans.
“We very much feel that this can jeopardize the safety of our men and women that are serving over here in the country,” said Caldwell, the head of NATO efforts to train Afghan security forces.
Caldwell said American troops “are over here to defend the rights of American citizens, and we’re not debating the First Amendment rights that people have.” But he added, “What I will tell you is that their very actions will in fact jeopardize the safety of the young men and women who are serving in uniform over here and also undermine the very mission that we’re trying to accomplish.”
“I would hope they would understand that there are second- and third-order effects that will occur that will affect that young man and woman who’s out there on point for America, serving their nation today, because of their actions back in the United States,” he said
The stupidity and arrogance of this minister is almost unspeakable. When the U.S. Commander tells you that you are endangering the troops, you should listen. If even one of our men or women is killed because of this ignoramous, his entire ministry should be held responsible. How sad that Americans would involve themselves with book burning. Sounds Third Reich to me. I would have no problem with the press being ordered to stay away and the minister barred from his bonfire on 9/11, as a matter of national security. The first amendment is not without some limitations.
Meanwhile, we can only hope that our troops will be safe.
Mission Accomplished?
Supposedly the combat troops stationed in Iraq have left. Supposedly we won. Will there be ticker tape parades? Will there be kissing and wild excitement in Times Square? Hell no. The story is barely a blip on the radar. 50,000 troops remain in a non-combat role. Does that mean they are sitting ducks? Do they have rubber bullets?
Also of importance is how we will honor those who died in this misguided war. Will we have a special memorial for gulf wars dead? Will Iraq and Afghanistan and Persian Gulf 1 be treated separately or will they be treated at all?
It seems so odd to have just posted a thread about the end of WWII and to have mentioned My Lai from the Vietnam era, and really to have nothing to say about Iraq of than the use of the word ‘misguided.’ An evil dictator was removed. However, there are 100’s more left around the world, still inflicting their terror and evil influence on others. Shock and Awe seems to be leaving with ….out being noticed.
A big salute to those who served and to those who gave all. I hope that we, as a nation, will give our military the glorious homecoming they so richly deserve. And I hope those 50,000 who remain will be safe.
