Is the answer to "Life, the Universe, and Everything" according to the Douglas Adams book, "Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy."
In a totally non-related coincidence, it also happens to be the age I am today.
2000
2,000 American military have died in Iraq.
How many more must die?
Why does the media ignore this?
If the media showed an average of 3 funerals a day, would Americans finally care?
Would Bush?
My sad condolences to their friends and families.
Calladus' Law
Calladus’ Law:
In any online discussion between political or religious opposites, a reference will eventually be made to “tilting at windmills” or “The Emperor’s new clothes.”
Vampire Author finds God
Anne Rice has converted to Christianity.
That's right, the author of all those spooky Victorian Vampire novels is born again.
Anne Rice as you know invented "The Vampire Lestat." If you've read the "Vampire" novels you'll remember that Anne Rice loves to use homoerotic images.
If you're a real fan, you may know she also wrote the best Bondage & Sado-masochism trilogy since "The Story of O". For extra points, you might also know that she wrote a "Lolita" style almost-but-not-quite child porn novel.
And now she's written the first book of a religious trilogy about the life of Jesus Christ, told in 'his' own words. She admits in taking liberties with the gospel story.
Anne Rice says she loved "The Passion of Christ" - and no wonder, the flogging and homoerotic images have made it an underground hit in the Gay Leather crowd.
I can't wait to see what she has in store for the son of God.
If he were real, he'd be upset about this, I'm sure.
The only question I have is, should I put the Christ trilogy between the Vampire books and the Beauty series on my bookshelf? Or between the Beauty series and Belinda? Decisions, decisions.
That's right, the author of all those spooky Victorian Vampire novels is born again.
Anne Rice as you know invented "The Vampire Lestat." If you've read the "Vampire" novels you'll remember that Anne Rice loves to use homoerotic images.
If you're a real fan, you may know she also wrote the best Bondage & Sado-masochism trilogy since "The Story of O". For extra points, you might also know that she wrote a "Lolita" style almost-but-not-quite child porn novel.
And now she's written the first book of a religious trilogy about the life of Jesus Christ, told in 'his' own words. She admits in taking liberties with the gospel story.
Anne Rice says she loved "The Passion of Christ" - and no wonder, the flogging and homoerotic images have made it an underground hit in the Gay Leather crowd.
I can't wait to see what she has in store for the son of God.
If he were real, he'd be upset about this, I'm sure.
The only question I have is, should I put the Christ trilogy between the Vampire books and the Beauty series on my bookshelf? Or between the Beauty series and Belinda? Decisions, decisions.
Repugnacant idiot
Okay, I told myself to calm down, but then this conservative whacko blogger opens her mouth and sticks her foot in.
Of course, like any true conservative whacko, she goes in guns blazing without bothering to check the facts first.
I've got a question for Ms. Malkin - and I can't ask her directly because unlike myself, SHE doesn't allow comments on her blog. (No wonder, really. If she's a Dubya clone, she, like Dubya, won't listen to bad news.)
Okay, here's the question... Ms. Malkin, to show my support for this country I completed a very easy document, sort of a questionnaire. Could you do the same?
If you REALLY support our troops, I don't see how you could do less. 1,996 dead American military have completed this form, along with over 15,000 wounded.
Yes, it's the Military Enlistment Form, DD Form 4/1.
I've said it before - if you are a right wing chickenhawk, then perhaps you don't have the right to squawk about 'staying the course' in a war situation that was started by a lie, and has no clear plan of action, nor of exit.
Ms. Malkin, you should show some integrity and intelligence - instead of what you are currently doing.
Just a little advice from a Veteran.
Of course, like any true conservative whacko, she goes in guns blazing without bothering to check the facts first.
I've got a question for Ms. Malkin - and I can't ask her directly because unlike myself, SHE doesn't allow comments on her blog. (No wonder, really. If she's a Dubya clone, she, like Dubya, won't listen to bad news.)
Okay, here's the question... Ms. Malkin, to show my support for this country I completed a very easy document, sort of a questionnaire. Could you do the same?
If you REALLY support our troops, I don't see how you could do less. 1,996 dead American military have completed this form, along with over 15,000 wounded.
Yes, it's the Military Enlistment Form, DD Form 4/1.
I've said it before - if you are a right wing chickenhawk, then perhaps you don't have the right to squawk about 'staying the course' in a war situation that was started by a lie, and has no clear plan of action, nor of exit.
Ms. Malkin, you should show some integrity and intelligence - instead of what you are currently doing.
Just a little advice from a Veteran.
Mission Accomplished? Really?
I was taking a look at the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count just to see what we've actually accomplished since the 1 May 2003 Bush proclamation of "Mission Accomplished"
You've probably heard that we're up to 1,996 American deaths so far (and looking to hit 2,005 before the end of '05).
Perhaps you've even heard that 1,857 of our troops died since the "Mission Accomplished" proclamation. That's old news, right?
The media isn't very good at getting this across to us all, for some reason.
We're so jaded about this all. No one gets to see the deaths, the flag draped coffins, the grieving widows.
Perhaps a live action map will bring it all home to you? I'm warning you - this is gut-wrenching.
The media, our soldiers, and their families have rightfully complained about their (lack of) armor. We have the technology to better protect them, but we just can't seem to get our act together. Still, our troops are better off than in wars past, the lack of armor and medical techniques in the Korean War allowed many more of our troops to die. Instead of casualties, we get a lot more wounded.
So it's instructive to check on the number of wounded, which currently stands at 15,220. And these aren't just minor wounds - these people have lost limbs and eyes. Many have permanent brain damage. You can read their stories.
I've yet to find a coherent explanation of why we went to war when we did.
And no one seems to know when we'll be done, when we will leave.
What's the PLAN, Dubya?
You've probably heard that we're up to 1,996 American deaths so far (and looking to hit 2,005 before the end of '05).
Perhaps you've even heard that 1,857 of our troops died since the "Mission Accomplished" proclamation. That's old news, right?
The media isn't very good at getting this across to us all, for some reason.
We're so jaded about this all. No one gets to see the deaths, the flag draped coffins, the grieving widows.
Perhaps a live action map will bring it all home to you? I'm warning you - this is gut-wrenching.
The media, our soldiers, and their families have rightfully complained about their (lack of) armor. We have the technology to better protect them, but we just can't seem to get our act together. Still, our troops are better off than in wars past, the lack of armor and medical techniques in the Korean War allowed many more of our troops to die. Instead of casualties, we get a lot more wounded.
So it's instructive to check on the number of wounded, which currently stands at 15,220. And these aren't just minor wounds - these people have lost limbs and eyes. Many have permanent brain damage. You can read their stories.
I've yet to find a coherent explanation of why we went to war when we did.
And no one seems to know when we'll be done, when we will leave.
What's the PLAN, Dubya?
Atheist Meetup
If you are an Atheist, or some other flavor of non-believer or skeptic, you should check out the Fresno Atheists Meetup Group.
Just a shameless plug.
Just a shameless plug.
Godspam vs. Atheist Bible Study
This little ditty arrived in my email inbox on Friday - I've reformatted it and added some line numbers to make my comments easier.
Ms. Graham's answer wasn't actually very profound, but Clayson's question was. How can an omnipotent, omniscient being ignore evil in the world and still be called benevolent? As Epicurus said:
What? You don't believe in Zeus? Well, when you figure out why, you'll know why I don't believe in any other mythic beings.
Paragraph 4 says God is a gentleman. Is this the same gentleman God spoken of in Numbers 31:14-18? (Here, you can borrow my Bible to look this up.)
What about when Moses and his people were crossing the Kedemoth desert and asked King Sihon of Heshbon for safe passage through his realm? Deuteronomy 2:26-35 says that God "Hardened Sihon's heart" to refuse Moses, and in 'retaliation' Moses and his people not only killed Sihon, but also took his cities, and killed every living man, woman and child in them, keeping only the livestock alive.
Where is the 'gentleman' God here? Perhaps King Sihon would have granted safe passage without God's meddling and hardening of his heart.
God hardening the hearts of those he wanted destroyed is a common theme in the Old Testament. When Moses was bringing his people out of Egypt, God 'hardened' the Pharaoh's heart many times, starting in Exodus 4:21. This shows that the God described in the Old Testament does not like compromise - and the refusal of compromise is definitely NOT the trait of a gentleman!!
Ms. Graham says that God had calmly backed out of our lives? Let us do what we want? What about the Second Commandment mentioned in Exodus 20:5 where God says that he's a jealous God? Would a god who jealously guards his spot in the lives of humankind so easily back away?
If God of the Bible existed, and if he wanted to punish New Orleans in a biblical manner, there would be no thing and no one left in New Orleans. The same could be said of Las Vegas and perhaps even Salt Lake City. The Bible makes it clear that God is no gentleman.
In paragraph 6 the famous old Christian lie is again trotted out and told as true. Horrors! God has been banned from school! Show me any American public school that forbids students from bringing a Bible to school and from reading it while on campus. You can't do it! There is no such school. The worst that may happen is that the teacher may ask the student to close his Bible during class, when he should be paying attention anyway.
Show me a public school that forbids a student from praying. You can't do it - there is no such school! Students are allowed to pray in the halls, the classrooms, and the lunchroom - anywhere on campus. The only thing that is forbidden in a public school is indoctrination of the students into any one religion.
If a public school sanctioned praying to Allah over the loudspeakers, or to any of the Hindu gods, the Christian community would be the first up in arms to stop it. If a schoolteacher were to lead his or her class in a prayer to Zeus, you could be sure that teacher would be disciplined or fired. So why do Christians complain when Christian prayers are kept off the school intercom?
Public schools also offer special forums for students to pray and worship, in after school clubs. These clubs are student lead, just like the history club or the chess club. They have a faculty advisor just like any other school club.
It's time for Christians to quit lying to themselves about the Christian religion in schools. The truth is that Christians are not upset over a non-existent ban - they are upset because they are not allowed to proselytize to the students in public schools. And that is what public Christian prayer is - proselytizing.
Christians have always known that if you force enough kids to follow along during a teacher-led prayer, either overtly or through peer pressure, then perhaps you can 'get through' to the Atheist, the Hindu, or the Jewish kids and convert them to Christianity.
For this gain, Christians are willing to lie, either knowingly or just to themselves, about so called 'banned' Bibles and prayer in school. They willingly forget Matthew 6:5 and pray loudly and proudly - in order to gain converts.
Paragraph 7 is a laugh. The Christian 'spare the rod, spoil the child' has produced plenty of 'warped' personalities. And yes, I know that quote isn't Biblical - it's from Samuel Butler's "Hudibras" - but HE got it from Proverbs 23: 13-14.
Take a look at Christian ministers Fred Phelps, or Paul Hill. What about Michael Griffin of "Rescue America"? How many 'Christian' websites are there that have a hateful world view? What about Christian pedophile priests? Being raised Christian obviously isn't enough to make you a moral person. James Dobson's take on how to raise your kids using corporal punishment is revealing.
I'm not advocating withholding corporal punishment - what I AM saying is that Christians have this false view of the world, that it is all black or white, and if you just follow simple (i.e. biblical as they see it) rules, then all will be fine.
If you are wondering why (some) kids can't tell right from wrong, then perhaps you should examine their parents.
Christian fundies believe that people will reap what they sow (Galatians 6:7) and point out that Madeleine Murray O'Hair was murdered (paragraph 5) along with all the other disasters that have been visited on a country that has supposedly turned away from God. This is a perfect example of Christian illogic.
The writer here practices an all too common Christian hypocrisy, "If it happens to you, it is due to your unbelief. But if it happens to us, it can't be Christianity's fault." There are plenty of ministers who have been murdered. How many of them are blamed for their own murders?
There is a favorite game that Christians play - the 'poor persecuted minority' game. They act as if they are the underdog, fighting against an overwhelming oppressor. Almost 77% of America identifies itself as Christian. How can anyone say that America has told God to "...get out of our lives?"
We should, as in paragraph 10, question what the bible says. The bible isn't moral - people are moral in spite of the bible. The Bible is full of bad, even evil.
American Christians at one time used the bible to support slavery. Jesus didn't speak against slavery, and even seemed to condone it, as in Luke 17:7, or Luke 12:43. And don't give me that old tale that the bible was actually talking about servants - the word "dou'lo" doesn't mean servant - it means someone who has sold himself into slavery to another. Typically such a person's children and wife would also become the property of the Master.
The American south had a sufficiency of good Christians who believed that Northerners were heretics for supporting the end of slavery. If the bible had Jesus saying even one thing against the practice of slavery, what are the chances that the Civil War would have never happened?
As paragraph 14 says, it's funny that a Christian may be unsure of what another person believes. I find it hilarious that so many Christian sects believe that other sects are not really 'true' Christians just because they worship differently. How many Christians have gone to war with each other because of differing beliefs?
And why are there so many differing Christian beliefs? In part it is due to Christian authorities interpreting the Bible to their own liking. And it is due in part to so many 'good Christians' practicing 'buffet Christianity' - picking and choosing the soft, fuzzy bits of religion out of the whole buffet. There is no one who can say which denomination is truly Christian.
This supercilious email is a perfect example of the inherit arrogance and condescending mindset of Christians toward everyone who dares to believe other than they. This email is nothing more than Godspam and Glurge, fuzzy thinking wrapped in illogic created for evil purposes. The only reason why I've displayed it is to point out its flaws, and the dangers that can result from thinking in a fundamentalist manner.
AND WE SAID OKAYLovely huh? Can't you just hear the violins in the background?
- In light of the many perversions and jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke, it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.
- Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this happen?" (regarding the attacks on Sept. 11).
- Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, "I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives.
- And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?"
- In light of recent events...terrorists attacks, school shootings, Hurricanes, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.
- Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school . the Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.
- Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.
- Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.
- Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."
- Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.
- Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.
- Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.
- Are you laughing?
- Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they WILL think of you for sending it. Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.
- Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in!!
Ms. Graham's answer wasn't actually very profound, but Clayson's question was. How can an omnipotent, omniscient being ignore evil in the world and still be called benevolent? As Epicurus said:
"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is impotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil?"Ms. Graham fails to realize that not only for years, but also for centuries we've been telling Zeus, Apollo, Mithra and a host of other Gods to get out of our lives. Perhaps they are the ones who withdrew their support? Perhaps they got ticked off and have been hurling lightning bolts at us?
[Epicurus]
What? You don't believe in Zeus? Well, when you figure out why, you'll know why I don't believe in any other mythic beings.
Paragraph 4 says God is a gentleman. Is this the same gentleman God spoken of in Numbers 31:14-18? (Here, you can borrow my Bible to look this up.)
What about when Moses and his people were crossing the Kedemoth desert and asked King Sihon of Heshbon for safe passage through his realm? Deuteronomy 2:26-35 says that God "Hardened Sihon's heart" to refuse Moses, and in 'retaliation' Moses and his people not only killed Sihon, but also took his cities, and killed every living man, woman and child in them, keeping only the livestock alive.
Where is the 'gentleman' God here? Perhaps King Sihon would have granted safe passage without God's meddling and hardening of his heart.
God hardening the hearts of those he wanted destroyed is a common theme in the Old Testament. When Moses was bringing his people out of Egypt, God 'hardened' the Pharaoh's heart many times, starting in Exodus 4:21. This shows that the God described in the Old Testament does not like compromise - and the refusal of compromise is definitely NOT the trait of a gentleman!!
Ms. Graham says that God had calmly backed out of our lives? Let us do what we want? What about the Second Commandment mentioned in Exodus 20:5 where God says that he's a jealous God? Would a god who jealously guards his spot in the lives of humankind so easily back away?
If God of the Bible existed, and if he wanted to punish New Orleans in a biblical manner, there would be no thing and no one left in New Orleans. The same could be said of Las Vegas and perhaps even Salt Lake City. The Bible makes it clear that God is no gentleman.
In paragraph 6 the famous old Christian lie is again trotted out and told as true. Horrors! God has been banned from school! Show me any American public school that forbids students from bringing a Bible to school and from reading it while on campus. You can't do it! There is no such school. The worst that may happen is that the teacher may ask the student to close his Bible during class, when he should be paying attention anyway.
Show me a public school that forbids a student from praying. You can't do it - there is no such school! Students are allowed to pray in the halls, the classrooms, and the lunchroom - anywhere on campus. The only thing that is forbidden in a public school is indoctrination of the students into any one religion.
If a public school sanctioned praying to Allah over the loudspeakers, or to any of the Hindu gods, the Christian community would be the first up in arms to stop it. If a schoolteacher were to lead his or her class in a prayer to Zeus, you could be sure that teacher would be disciplined or fired. So why do Christians complain when Christian prayers are kept off the school intercom?
Public schools also offer special forums for students to pray and worship, in after school clubs. These clubs are student lead, just like the history club or the chess club. They have a faculty advisor just like any other school club.
It's time for Christians to quit lying to themselves about the Christian religion in schools. The truth is that Christians are not upset over a non-existent ban - they are upset because they are not allowed to proselytize to the students in public schools. And that is what public Christian prayer is - proselytizing.
Christians have always known that if you force enough kids to follow along during a teacher-led prayer, either overtly or through peer pressure, then perhaps you can 'get through' to the Atheist, the Hindu, or the Jewish kids and convert them to Christianity.
For this gain, Christians are willing to lie, either knowingly or just to themselves, about so called 'banned' Bibles and prayer in school. They willingly forget Matthew 6:5 and pray loudly and proudly - in order to gain converts.
Paragraph 7 is a laugh. The Christian 'spare the rod, spoil the child' has produced plenty of 'warped' personalities. And yes, I know that quote isn't Biblical - it's from Samuel Butler's "Hudibras" - but HE got it from Proverbs 23: 13-14.
Take a look at Christian ministers Fred Phelps, or Paul Hill. What about Michael Griffin of "Rescue America"? How many 'Christian' websites are there that have a hateful world view? What about Christian pedophile priests? Being raised Christian obviously isn't enough to make you a moral person. James Dobson's take on how to raise your kids using corporal punishment is revealing.
I'm not advocating withholding corporal punishment - what I AM saying is that Christians have this false view of the world, that it is all black or white, and if you just follow simple (i.e. biblical as they see it) rules, then all will be fine.
If you are wondering why (some) kids can't tell right from wrong, then perhaps you should examine their parents.
Christian fundies believe that people will reap what they sow (Galatians 6:7) and point out that Madeleine Murray O'Hair was murdered (paragraph 5) along with all the other disasters that have been visited on a country that has supposedly turned away from God. This is a perfect example of Christian illogic.
The writer here practices an all too common Christian hypocrisy, "If it happens to you, it is due to your unbelief. But if it happens to us, it can't be Christianity's fault." There are plenty of ministers who have been murdered. How many of them are blamed for their own murders?
There is a favorite game that Christians play - the 'poor persecuted minority' game. They act as if they are the underdog, fighting against an overwhelming oppressor. Almost 77% of America identifies itself as Christian. How can anyone say that America has told God to "...get out of our lives?"
We should, as in paragraph 10, question what the bible says. The bible isn't moral - people are moral in spite of the bible. The Bible is full of bad, even evil.
American Christians at one time used the bible to support slavery. Jesus didn't speak against slavery, and even seemed to condone it, as in Luke 17:7, or Luke 12:43. And don't give me that old tale that the bible was actually talking about servants - the word "dou'lo" doesn't mean servant - it means someone who has sold himself into slavery to another. Typically such a person's children and wife would also become the property of the Master.
The American south had a sufficiency of good Christians who believed that Northerners were heretics for supporting the end of slavery. If the bible had Jesus saying even one thing against the practice of slavery, what are the chances that the Civil War would have never happened?
As paragraph 14 says, it's funny that a Christian may be unsure of what another person believes. I find it hilarious that so many Christian sects believe that other sects are not really 'true' Christians just because they worship differently. How many Christians have gone to war with each other because of differing beliefs?
And why are there so many differing Christian beliefs? In part it is due to Christian authorities interpreting the Bible to their own liking. And it is due in part to so many 'good Christians' practicing 'buffet Christianity' - picking and choosing the soft, fuzzy bits of religion out of the whole buffet. There is no one who can say which denomination is truly Christian.
This supercilious email is a perfect example of the inherit arrogance and condescending mindset of Christians toward everyone who dares to believe other than they. This email is nothing more than Godspam and Glurge, fuzzy thinking wrapped in illogic created for evil purposes. The only reason why I've displayed it is to point out its flaws, and the dangers that can result from thinking in a fundamentalist manner.
It's the end of the world as we know it
Unlike the REM song, I don't 'feel fine' about this.
Look, religious cults have predicted the end of the world for forever. So much so that it has become a popular theme in our fiction.
But if you want to be scared, read about Christian Zionism. These bozos are actively working to hasten the End Times.
Bush openly supports Israel and will often ignore Palestine. This of course makes things much more tense. His policy seems based on Christian Zionist attempts to influence the GOP.
I've been reading about the middle east for a couple of months now, (starting with a 'Dummies' book) and I'm just starting to understand the magnitude of how important the middle east is to us in the USA. (I'm also just beginning to understand how little I know about it.)
The middle east could be close to destabilizing - and we have our finger right in the middle of this. I think I need to understand what's going on here. At a bare minimum, it should be understood that America used to support Saddam against Iran - because Iraq was a counter to the spread of Islamic fundamentalism from Iran. Remember how chummy Rumsfeld was with Saddam?
Iraq used to be a secular state. That won't be true in the future! Hello Islamic state! Most of the American media is pretty optimistic about the Iraqi constitution, but the fact is that as it is currently written it's pretty darn vague. Iraq's new constitution is religious, and it leaves large holes to be determined later, but it already seems that Iraqi leaders are becoming very dictator-like in making it into law. (The media calls it an 'unusually high' yes vote. I call it a banana republic!)
A lot of stuff is being swept under the rug here.
(Anyone want to guess why Saddam is only being charged with the deaths of 148 Shiites? No mention of the Kurds that he gassed, or the many in Iraq that he killed in retaliation for a failed uprising after operation Desert Storm. If found guilty of the current charges, he will be immediately executed and no further trial - or investigation - will happen.)
So my worries are - rising Islamic extremism, mixed with rising Christian extremism, in an already volitile mideast. The religious fruitcakes won't get their Armageddon or Rapture - but the resulting explosion (if it happens) could seriously damage everything.
Look, religious cults have predicted the end of the world for forever. So much so that it has become a popular theme in our fiction.
But if you want to be scared, read about Christian Zionism. These bozos are actively working to hasten the End Times.
Bush openly supports Israel and will often ignore Palestine. This of course makes things much more tense. His policy seems based on Christian Zionist attempts to influence the GOP.
I've been reading about the middle east for a couple of months now, (starting with a 'Dummies' book) and I'm just starting to understand the magnitude of how important the middle east is to us in the USA. (I'm also just beginning to understand how little I know about it.)
The middle east could be close to destabilizing - and we have our finger right in the middle of this. I think I need to understand what's going on here. At a bare minimum, it should be understood that America used to support Saddam against Iran - because Iraq was a counter to the spread of Islamic fundamentalism from Iran. Remember how chummy Rumsfeld was with Saddam?
Iraq used to be a secular state. That won't be true in the future! Hello Islamic state! Most of the American media is pretty optimistic about the Iraqi constitution, but the fact is that as it is currently written it's pretty darn vague. Iraq's new constitution is religious, and it leaves large holes to be determined later, but it already seems that Iraqi leaders are becoming very dictator-like in making it into law. (The media calls it an 'unusually high' yes vote. I call it a banana republic!)
A lot of stuff is being swept under the rug here.
(Anyone want to guess why Saddam is only being charged with the deaths of 148 Shiites? No mention of the Kurds that he gassed, or the many in Iraq that he killed in retaliation for a failed uprising after operation Desert Storm. If found guilty of the current charges, he will be immediately executed and no further trial - or investigation - will happen.)
So my worries are - rising Islamic extremism, mixed with rising Christian extremism, in an already volitile mideast. The religious fruitcakes won't get their Armageddon or Rapture - but the resulting explosion (if it happens) could seriously damage everything.
Won's surgery
Won's surgery went well - there seems to be some immediate benefit - she's not in as much pain as she was before. Of course, now she's very stiff. I'm again playing gofer until she's over the stiffness.
The next thing is to see how this goes, and to plan for further back surgery as needed.
The Surgery was on Tuesday, and we spent Wednesday at home. Thursday I took her shopping and paid some bills - and tomorrow (Friday) I'll be back at work.
The next thing is to see how this goes, and to plan for further back surgery as needed.
The Surgery was on Tuesday, and we spent Wednesday at home. Thursday I took her shopping and paid some bills - and tomorrow (Friday) I'll be back at work.
Trip to Korea blog - 2
After we landed in Korea and processed through Customs at Incheon (customs there was surprisingly easy – not like in America!) we walked out into the air terminal and were found by the representative of the electronics manufacturer we were there to visit.
I’ve said that I won't talk about my trip - but I've decided that I will talk about it, but I'll leave my company out of it. I won't talk about the company that I work for, and I won’t say the name of this manufacturer either, except to say the odds are very good that if you own any electronics, then you own either consumer electronics made by them, or you own electronics that contain parts made by them. Call them VBKC – for Very Big Korean Company.
The VBKC representative couldn’t speak a word of English. As far as I could tell he was only a driver. He had us bring our bags to the curb outside the airport, and then made a call to his colleague and handed the cell phone to one of us. The person on the other end was one of the people we were to see, and he told us that we were to wait there while the driver ran to get our ride.
And what a ride! I’m not sure of how true this is, but apparently the Vice President of VBKC loaned his company van for us to travel in. It was VERY plush – leather seats, soft interior. A wide screen HDTV screen with 7.1 surround sound and a built in satellite dish. Nice sound system and a backup monitor for the driver too. Oh, and it was an American van – a GM I think, converted to suit the company’s VP.
The trip into Seoul from Incheon took over an hour (about an hour and a half? I’m not sure) and I started getting VERY impressed with South Korea very quickly.
When I was last in Korea, back in the mid 80’s, I was struck with how ‘advanced’ Korea was. But at the same time Korea then was not long out of its third-world country status. Well, any doubts about Korean advancement are long gone! The highway, the cars, Incheon, Seoul, they all very much reminded me of San Francisco – but much cleaner! Walking around in downtown Seoul at midnight (yes, I did that while I was there) felt safe – protected. There were a LOT of people on the street at that hour – the city did not sleep.
I got into the hotel room by 5:40 PM, and made a quick phone call to Eun Baer. Eun Baer is a college student who we hosted for a year at our apartment while she studied English. Her parents are friends with Won’s mother too. I had a bag of gifts for her, and for Won’s mother that Won had saved for the next time she went to Korea, but since I was going anyway…
Eun Baer met me at the hotel and took me on the Seoul subway to meet up with Won’s mother. It was about an hour trip, with a connection somewhere – and I was thoroughly lost by the time we arrived. Won’s mom doesn’t speak English, and I only speak a small subset of Korean, so Eun Baer acted as our translator. We had a nice dinner and then went to Won’s Mother’s home where I dropped off the gifts – and then it was time to take me back to the hotel.
It was 10:30 PM by the time we got back onto the subway. During the trip back I people-watched as usual. There were a lot of high school aged kids going home from study academy at that hour. There were three high school or perhaps college aged girls sitting across from us.
One big difference I noticed about Korea is that as a mee-kuk I got very little attention. This was different from when I was stationed in Korea. Back then I’d attract stares, and Koreans would often come up to speak to me too. But now, I was just another person in Seoul – and the citizens seemed jaded about different nationalities.
But they were not quite that jaded – the 3 girls opposite to Eun Baer and I on the subway kept stealing glances my way, and whispering to each other. I didn’t stare back – I’m pretty good at people watching without getting caught at doing it. One of the girls had her cell phone out, and when they got to their stop she pointed it at me and then sort of ‘fled’ the subway car. She’d taken my picture!
Now I wonder if there is a Korean blog out there with my picture in it? If anyone finds it, let me know, okay?
We got back to my hotel by 11:30 PM, and I felt so sorry for Eun Baer – she had an hour trip to get back home, and had to be up at 5 AM the next day to attend her own study academy. But she was happy to see me, and I think it was okay. Besides – she’s young. She’s still at the age where she can stay up all night and work all day and still be effective.
I was up at 5:30 AM the next morning – not feeling quite as effective, but still very functional thanks to a coffee infusion.
The two days that we worked at VBKC were pretty much the same. Up at 5:30 AM, breakfast at the hotel, then picked up in VBKC’s luxury van for the long trip to Pyeongtaek. Meet in a conference room just off one of the engineering labs at VBKC until noon or 1 PM, and then off to lunch at the VBKC executive dining facility, then back to work until 6:30 PM. Afterwards we all went out to dinner together, treated by VBKC.
I was impressed with the facilities at VBKC – it was all very Engineering Geek decorated, and I felt right at home. The dress code was more lax than I was expecting, with flip-flops everywhere. Some workers even wore shorts – but not the engineers that I could tell.
I was surprised to see some non-Korean faces working there too. A Russian programmer worked in the engineering group I was visiting. I also saw a lot of people from India.
I think if I ever went to work in Korea, I’d apply for a job at VBKC.
Dinner the first night was at Chow-wu Jung – a high class Korean BBQ. For those of you unfamiliar with such a thing, you sit on the floor with a low table. The BBQ is installed right in the table, and is fed by hardwood coals that the restaurant carries in a hotbox to your table when you’re seated. The food was excellent – typically Korean. Marinated ribs and pork cooked on the grill with fresh onions and mushrooms. Several types of hot soup, lots of shared dishes filled with veggies, fish, bean curd, tofu, and of course several types of Kimchee. The meal was finished out with a bowl of summer noodles (served cold) and a glass of sweetened rice and lemon tea. Beer and Korean schnapps was also served. (I passed on the beer and got a coke instead – the schnapps was lovely, but I’m not much of a drinker.)
This is all very familiar to me, and I kept surprising our guests by not being shy about eating. Especially the garlic clove slices dipped in hot pepper paste. Yum! Me and another from my company loved ‘em, but the heat was too much for one of us. I’m also really good with chopsticks, but that isn’t just due to Korea – I first learned how to use them as a kid when my father taught me. Of course, my skills have vastly improved!
Dinner the second night was at Pulhyanggi. Pulhyanggi is a very old-time traditional Korean restaurant just off the highway that runs into Seoul from Pyeongtaek. The food was very traditional, but the seating was pure Euro/American, with real tables and chairs. Still, I think these chairs may have all been older than I.
Old-time traditional Korean food, to me at least, means diet. Although the food was wonderfully tasty, there was very little meat, and the veggies were just not plentiful enough to fill me up. I left feeling like I needed to go have dinner! It didn’t help that I was plied with a lot of very lovely strawberry and raspberry liqueur! Oh my that was goooood! It was very much like the raspberry liqueur I purchase here in California for use as a topping on vanilla ice cream. I drank way more of that than I should have, and when the room began to spin I realized my mistake. I then upended my glass on the table to keep it empty and to serve as a reminder to myself.
At the end of dinner, VBKC presented me with a gift! They gave me a 512MB thumb drive on a silver chain to wear around my neck. The drive itself is very small, the smallest I’ve seen, and all silver too. It doesn’t look like a thumb drive, it looks very chic. Geek jewelry!
It was 9PM by the end of dinner, and our hosts had further plans for us. They wanted to take us out to a Karaoke bar for a night of bad singing. There was also hinting that further entertainment could be provided to us, of a female variety. Having had too much alcohol already (but not enough to make a fool of myself) I managed to beg off and had my hosts take me home. My compatriots gamely went on to uphold our company’s honor, but they too came home (relatively) early. Everyone on this trip was too smart to travel with a hang over, and none of us wanted to chance the female ‘entertainment’. All of us were either married or committed back home. But that didn’t stop at least one employee of the VBKC – he called his wife and told her he was being ‘forced’ to entertain clients and to not expect him home until 8 AM.
So VBKC dropped me at the hotel at 10 PM, and they were off for Karaoke until midnight, when the rest from my company were then dropped off at the hotel, only slightly worse for wear. (I’m told that their group was the quietest at the Karaoke bar!) On getting back to the hotel, I went for a walk through the COEX underground shopping mall. Unfortunately, most of the shops were closed, but I did find an open 7-11 where I purchased an international phone card.
I then came up to street level in downtown Seoul, about two blocks away from my hotel, and walked back. By the time I was back I’d burned off the last of the alcohol and was feeling a lot more clear-headed, but very very tired. I spotted a Kinkos on my way back and made my 13 October entry into my blog then.
I got back, cleaned up, packed, and was in bed by 2 AM for my 4:30 AM wake up. The VBKC van arrived at 6 AM to take us back to Incheon International air terminal and we caught our flight out to Hong Kong.
On the flight to Hong Kong, I wasn’t especially tired, so I had breakfast onboard the plane. Then since I was too futzed to read, I watched a couple of movies from the Cathay air lines onboard movie on demand service.
We had a short stop in Taipei Taiwan, where we picked up passengers and food. From my little window, Taipei is beautiful. Green and lush. I’d love to visit there.
In Hong Kong, we had a 3 hour layover – I explored the air terminal shopping center (waaaay too expensive!) had some more food, and did some reading.
By the time we boarded our airplane, I was very tired. I’d calculated that I’d need to sleep soon after takeoff to put me back onto Fresno time – and was looking forward to the fold-out bed in executive class. But once we were all seated, the captain came on the intercom to tell us all that we would be stuck there while maintenance changed our tires and, “fixed some other bits.” Bits? What other bits? Did something fall off? I was quite happy to stay put there for the next hour and a half as the maintenance crew did their job. No, no rush! Just get it all right please!
As soon as the wheels left the ground, I had put on the mask that Cathay gave me, along with the ear plugs. I then folded my seat out and burrowed under my blanket – out like a light for 7 hours.
Did I mention how great Cathay air lines is? How great it is to fly executive class? Get this – the whole time I slept they didn’t bother me! They left me alone! Even when serving dinner to the other passengers! If I’d flown some economy class plane the stewardess would have woken me to give me the chance to eat. The attitude is usually, “Get it now, or lose your chance bub.”
But when I finally came out of the depths of sleep, and groggily sat up, an attendant was RIGHT THERE at my elbow asking me if I’d like to eat now, and if I’d like dinner or breakfast! They had coffee ready to pour for me!
Oh my. Economy class is so… uncivilized!
The pilot had worked very hard to make up for the time we lost in Hong Kong – when I looked at the in flight display I could see he’d found a good spot in the jet stream. We had a 190 MPH tailwind! So even though our airspeed was 560 MPH, our groundspeed was almost 760 MPH. Almost Mach One!
We still landed 45 minutes late in LAX, but we made it through customs fast enough to make it to our connecting flight.
Only to find out that we were no longer booked on that flight! Cathay was being nice – they’d figured we would miss our connecting flight to Fresno, and re-booked it for the next flight out.
American Airlines was still great – they managed to dig up two spots on the original flight. So since my travel companions seemed a little put out, I urged them to go ahead without me. Besides, the counter agent was getting very stressed – not just by my companions, but by another passenger that was flying standby and who was raising a huge fuss. I don’t like fuss – and I’m usually very easygoing, so it was no problem for me to take the next fight out.
My travel companions got on board. I stood at the counter waiting for a little attention and watching the antics of this Russian woman who by this time was accusing the counter agent of lying to her about seat availability. The counter agent was VERY ticked at this woman – she was doing her best to get her a seat, but standby is low priority and the Russian woman kept getting bumped. She had to threaten the Russian woman with security to get her to back off. When she finally was able to pay attention to me, I made sure I was charming and kind, and asked her that since I had to wait for the next flight was there a place to eat that she could recommend. She was so happy to see a smiling face that she not only directed me to Chili’s, but also gave me a coupon for a free dinner – courtesy of American Airlines!
I had dinner, then came back and boarded for my flight back. The Russian woman had finally lucked out too, and a seat was found for her on this flight. The rest of the trip was very uneventful, with me reading, or watching the lights outside the window. I landed at 7:20 PM and was home by 7:40 PM that night.
I’ve said that I won't talk about my trip - but I've decided that I will talk about it, but I'll leave my company out of it. I won't talk about the company that I work for, and I won’t say the name of this manufacturer either, except to say the odds are very good that if you own any electronics, then you own either consumer electronics made by them, or you own electronics that contain parts made by them. Call them VBKC – for Very Big Korean Company.
The VBKC representative couldn’t speak a word of English. As far as I could tell he was only a driver. He had us bring our bags to the curb outside the airport, and then made a call to his colleague and handed the cell phone to one of us. The person on the other end was one of the people we were to see, and he told us that we were to wait there while the driver ran to get our ride.
And what a ride! I’m not sure of how true this is, but apparently the Vice President of VBKC loaned his company van for us to travel in. It was VERY plush – leather seats, soft interior. A wide screen HDTV screen with 7.1 surround sound and a built in satellite dish. Nice sound system and a backup monitor for the driver too. Oh, and it was an American van – a GM I think, converted to suit the company’s VP.
The trip into Seoul from Incheon took over an hour (about an hour and a half? I’m not sure) and I started getting VERY impressed with South Korea very quickly.
When I was last in Korea, back in the mid 80’s, I was struck with how ‘advanced’ Korea was. But at the same time Korea then was not long out of its third-world country status. Well, any doubts about Korean advancement are long gone! The highway, the cars, Incheon, Seoul, they all very much reminded me of San Francisco – but much cleaner! Walking around in downtown Seoul at midnight (yes, I did that while I was there) felt safe – protected. There were a LOT of people on the street at that hour – the city did not sleep.
I got into the hotel room by 5:40 PM, and made a quick phone call to Eun Baer. Eun Baer is a college student who we hosted for a year at our apartment while she studied English. Her parents are friends with Won’s mother too. I had a bag of gifts for her, and for Won’s mother that Won had saved for the next time she went to Korea, but since I was going anyway…
Eun Baer met me at the hotel and took me on the Seoul subway to meet up with Won’s mother. It was about an hour trip, with a connection somewhere – and I was thoroughly lost by the time we arrived. Won’s mom doesn’t speak English, and I only speak a small subset of Korean, so Eun Baer acted as our translator. We had a nice dinner and then went to Won’s Mother’s home where I dropped off the gifts – and then it was time to take me back to the hotel.
It was 10:30 PM by the time we got back onto the subway. During the trip back I people-watched as usual. There were a lot of high school aged kids going home from study academy at that hour. There were three high school or perhaps college aged girls sitting across from us.
One big difference I noticed about Korea is that as a mee-kuk I got very little attention. This was different from when I was stationed in Korea. Back then I’d attract stares, and Koreans would often come up to speak to me too. But now, I was just another person in Seoul – and the citizens seemed jaded about different nationalities.
But they were not quite that jaded – the 3 girls opposite to Eun Baer and I on the subway kept stealing glances my way, and whispering to each other. I didn’t stare back – I’m pretty good at people watching without getting caught at doing it. One of the girls had her cell phone out, and when they got to their stop she pointed it at me and then sort of ‘fled’ the subway car. She’d taken my picture!
Now I wonder if there is a Korean blog out there with my picture in it? If anyone finds it, let me know, okay?
We got back to my hotel by 11:30 PM, and I felt so sorry for Eun Baer – she had an hour trip to get back home, and had to be up at 5 AM the next day to attend her own study academy. But she was happy to see me, and I think it was okay. Besides – she’s young. She’s still at the age where she can stay up all night and work all day and still be effective.
I was up at 5:30 AM the next morning – not feeling quite as effective, but still very functional thanks to a coffee infusion.
The two days that we worked at VBKC were pretty much the same. Up at 5:30 AM, breakfast at the hotel, then picked up in VBKC’s luxury van for the long trip to Pyeongtaek. Meet in a conference room just off one of the engineering labs at VBKC until noon or 1 PM, and then off to lunch at the VBKC executive dining facility, then back to work until 6:30 PM. Afterwards we all went out to dinner together, treated by VBKC.
I was impressed with the facilities at VBKC – it was all very Engineering Geek decorated, and I felt right at home. The dress code was more lax than I was expecting, with flip-flops everywhere. Some workers even wore shorts – but not the engineers that I could tell.
I was surprised to see some non-Korean faces working there too. A Russian programmer worked in the engineering group I was visiting. I also saw a lot of people from India.
I think if I ever went to work in Korea, I’d apply for a job at VBKC.
Dinner the first night was at Chow-wu Jung – a high class Korean BBQ. For those of you unfamiliar with such a thing, you sit on the floor with a low table. The BBQ is installed right in the table, and is fed by hardwood coals that the restaurant carries in a hotbox to your table when you’re seated. The food was excellent – typically Korean. Marinated ribs and pork cooked on the grill with fresh onions and mushrooms. Several types of hot soup, lots of shared dishes filled with veggies, fish, bean curd, tofu, and of course several types of Kimchee. The meal was finished out with a bowl of summer noodles (served cold) and a glass of sweetened rice and lemon tea. Beer and Korean schnapps was also served. (I passed on the beer and got a coke instead – the schnapps was lovely, but I’m not much of a drinker.)
This is all very familiar to me, and I kept surprising our guests by not being shy about eating. Especially the garlic clove slices dipped in hot pepper paste. Yum! Me and another from my company loved ‘em, but the heat was too much for one of us. I’m also really good with chopsticks, but that isn’t just due to Korea – I first learned how to use them as a kid when my father taught me. Of course, my skills have vastly improved!
Dinner the second night was at Pulhyanggi. Pulhyanggi is a very old-time traditional Korean restaurant just off the highway that runs into Seoul from Pyeongtaek. The food was very traditional, but the seating was pure Euro/American, with real tables and chairs. Still, I think these chairs may have all been older than I.
Old-time traditional Korean food, to me at least, means diet. Although the food was wonderfully tasty, there was very little meat, and the veggies were just not plentiful enough to fill me up. I left feeling like I needed to go have dinner! It didn’t help that I was plied with a lot of very lovely strawberry and raspberry liqueur! Oh my that was goooood! It was very much like the raspberry liqueur I purchase here in California for use as a topping on vanilla ice cream. I drank way more of that than I should have, and when the room began to spin I realized my mistake. I then upended my glass on the table to keep it empty and to serve as a reminder to myself.
At the end of dinner, VBKC presented me with a gift! They gave me a 512MB thumb drive on a silver chain to wear around my neck. The drive itself is very small, the smallest I’ve seen, and all silver too. It doesn’t look like a thumb drive, it looks very chic. Geek jewelry!
It was 9PM by the end of dinner, and our hosts had further plans for us. They wanted to take us out to a Karaoke bar for a night of bad singing. There was also hinting that further entertainment could be provided to us, of a female variety. Having had too much alcohol already (but not enough to make a fool of myself) I managed to beg off and had my hosts take me home. My compatriots gamely went on to uphold our company’s honor, but they too came home (relatively) early. Everyone on this trip was too smart to travel with a hang over, and none of us wanted to chance the female ‘entertainment’. All of us were either married or committed back home. But that didn’t stop at least one employee of the VBKC – he called his wife and told her he was being ‘forced’ to entertain clients and to not expect him home until 8 AM.
So VBKC dropped me at the hotel at 10 PM, and they were off for Karaoke until midnight, when the rest from my company were then dropped off at the hotel, only slightly worse for wear. (I’m told that their group was the quietest at the Karaoke bar!) On getting back to the hotel, I went for a walk through the COEX underground shopping mall. Unfortunately, most of the shops were closed, but I did find an open 7-11 where I purchased an international phone card.
I then came up to street level in downtown Seoul, about two blocks away from my hotel, and walked back. By the time I was back I’d burned off the last of the alcohol and was feeling a lot more clear-headed, but very very tired. I spotted a Kinkos on my way back and made my 13 October entry into my blog then.
I got back, cleaned up, packed, and was in bed by 2 AM for my 4:30 AM wake up. The VBKC van arrived at 6 AM to take us back to Incheon International air terminal and we caught our flight out to Hong Kong.
On the flight to Hong Kong, I wasn’t especially tired, so I had breakfast onboard the plane. Then since I was too futzed to read, I watched a couple of movies from the Cathay air lines onboard movie on demand service.
We had a short stop in Taipei Taiwan, where we picked up passengers and food. From my little window, Taipei is beautiful. Green and lush. I’d love to visit there.
In Hong Kong, we had a 3 hour layover – I explored the air terminal shopping center (waaaay too expensive!) had some more food, and did some reading.
By the time we boarded our airplane, I was very tired. I’d calculated that I’d need to sleep soon after takeoff to put me back onto Fresno time – and was looking forward to the fold-out bed in executive class. But once we were all seated, the captain came on the intercom to tell us all that we would be stuck there while maintenance changed our tires and, “fixed some other bits.” Bits? What other bits? Did something fall off? I was quite happy to stay put there for the next hour and a half as the maintenance crew did their job. No, no rush! Just get it all right please!
As soon as the wheels left the ground, I had put on the mask that Cathay gave me, along with the ear plugs. I then folded my seat out and burrowed under my blanket – out like a light for 7 hours.
Did I mention how great Cathay air lines is? How great it is to fly executive class? Get this – the whole time I slept they didn’t bother me! They left me alone! Even when serving dinner to the other passengers! If I’d flown some economy class plane the stewardess would have woken me to give me the chance to eat. The attitude is usually, “Get it now, or lose your chance bub.”
But when I finally came out of the depths of sleep, and groggily sat up, an attendant was RIGHT THERE at my elbow asking me if I’d like to eat now, and if I’d like dinner or breakfast! They had coffee ready to pour for me!
Oh my. Economy class is so… uncivilized!
The pilot had worked very hard to make up for the time we lost in Hong Kong – when I looked at the in flight display I could see he’d found a good spot in the jet stream. We had a 190 MPH tailwind! So even though our airspeed was 560 MPH, our groundspeed was almost 760 MPH. Almost Mach One!
We still landed 45 minutes late in LAX, but we made it through customs fast enough to make it to our connecting flight.
Only to find out that we were no longer booked on that flight! Cathay was being nice – they’d figured we would miss our connecting flight to Fresno, and re-booked it for the next flight out.
American Airlines was still great – they managed to dig up two spots on the original flight. So since my travel companions seemed a little put out, I urged them to go ahead without me. Besides, the counter agent was getting very stressed – not just by my companions, but by another passenger that was flying standby and who was raising a huge fuss. I don’t like fuss – and I’m usually very easygoing, so it was no problem for me to take the next fight out.
My travel companions got on board. I stood at the counter waiting for a little attention and watching the antics of this Russian woman who by this time was accusing the counter agent of lying to her about seat availability. The counter agent was VERY ticked at this woman – she was doing her best to get her a seat, but standby is low priority and the Russian woman kept getting bumped. She had to threaten the Russian woman with security to get her to back off. When she finally was able to pay attention to me, I made sure I was charming and kind, and asked her that since I had to wait for the next flight was there a place to eat that she could recommend. She was so happy to see a smiling face that she not only directed me to Chili’s, but also gave me a coupon for a free dinner – courtesy of American Airlines!
I had dinner, then came back and boarded for my flight back. The Russian woman had finally lucked out too, and a seat was found for her on this flight. The rest of the trip was very uneventful, with me reading, or watching the lights outside the window. I landed at 7:20 PM and was home by 7:40 PM that night.
Trip to Korea blog - 1
Okay, I’m home again – and as promised, here are the details of my trip.
I left home at 18:40 on October 9th and checked into Fresno Air Terminal (FAT) at 19:00 for my 20:00 flight. FAT’s security was pretty tight – I had NO idea that my dress shoes had metal shanks in them! Fresno’s security was nice enough to teach me something I didn’t know!
I originally wrote this (and the following) entries on paper. I wish I’d hauled my company’s laptop along with me – even if it DOES weigh over 10lbs all on it’s own! I regretted not taking it with me for the entire trip. I was always looking for computer access.
I flew out of FAT on some sort of dinky duel prop airplane – 25 passengers maximum I’m sure. I sat in the next to the rear seat in a plane that was jam-packed with seats. I got the isle seat, which disappointed me – I much prefer window seats! (Note to self – update my personal preferences with the travel department!) But I lucked out – my seatmate was aviophobic – he did NOT want the window seat! So I swapped with him and made us both happy. I spent the flight gazing out the window, and he spent the flight quietly reciting the rosary to himself – ending with a grateful sign of the cross when we landed. He was young – I’m thinking he was an exchange student ‘cause he came onboard with a lot of other Spanish students.
At Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) I boarded a HUGE jet! I know – I’m ex Air Force – you’d think I’d know more about jets huh? But I’m really fairly clueless about them. I figured it was a 747, but I didn’t know for sure until I had a chance to look it up later. I’ve ridden the 747 while in the Air Force, but never in Executive or First class.
I was seated in luxury on the upper deck, Executive class. My chair folded out all the way flat into a bed, so I was very comfortable. Travel has always lulled me to sleep – even as a kid I used to sleep on the trips from Midland to the city where I was born – Roswell. Trips from Houston to Roswell took a 14-hour drive, and I could sleep 80 percent of the way there. So as soon as we got off the ground, I was out like a light, and slept most of the way to Hong Kong.
Yea, Hong Kong. We had a business trip to South Korea, so why was I flying into Hong Kong? It was because I was taking Cathay Pacific Airlines – and all Cathay flights are routed through Hong Kong. My company uses American Airlines, and AA contracts through Cathay – It’s inexpensive, and offers extremely high quality flying.
And Cathay was high quality – high class. They ushered in the Executive class first, made sure we were comfortably seated, and then kept plying us with drinks and snacks until the plane was loaded and ready for takeoff. While in the air, any time my glass was empty, someone was there trying to fill it. When I slept – they left me alone, and when I woke they were ready to feed me or serve me anything from Coffee to hard whisky to Champaign.
I don’t know what I was expecting at Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) – but all I got to see was the inside of the airport – the secured part of the airport. We never left the secure half of the terminal. Hong Kong terminal is still impressive, but very American seeming. It was absolutely huge – jam-packed with high quality stores of all sorts. It was a lot like a mega-mall, and it reminded me a lot of the malls incorporated into the big casinos in Las Vegas – like at Caesar’s Palace or The Venetian. There was a wide mix of nationalities there, so it didn’t seem particularly Asian in flavor – no more than does Los Angeles.
The difference was that signs were subtitled in Cantonese and all prices were in Hong Kong Dollars (HKD). Even at 7.8 HKD to a US dollar the prices were high. I soon figured out how expensive the air terminal was. I quickly fled to the airport lounge set aside for Executive and other VIP travelers.
That’s another nice thing about Executive class flights – you get a free pass into the air terminal lounges! In the lounge you can arrange your flight details, change seating arrangements, book new flights. The lounge area is usually comfortable, with free food, drinks, and (usually) free Internet access. The Hong Kong lounge had showers available too, so I cleaned up there – then had a half-way decent bowl of Asian noodles. (I’ve had better – but these were okay.)
The shower was necessary after such a long flight – plus Hong Kong was hot and humid. 79 degrees F at 6:30 in the morning! It was as muggy as Houston or Okinawa – easily in the 70-80% range.
I got to see Hong Kong harbor on my flight out – I had a window seat again. The water from my altitude looked beautiful, but the harbor was amazingly crowded! I could actually SEE the shipping lane by looking at where the container ships were traveling and leaving their foamy wakes.
Next to the harbor was Hong Kong city – tight bunches of skyscrapers packed onto the available flat land. Hong Kong reminded me of Korea and Okinawa – small mountains surrounded by flat lands. It is as if a giant with a bowl full of lumpy, green-colored mashed potatoes created the mountains a scoop at a time on top of his flat kitchen table. Hong Kong’s skyscrapers were nestled between these mountains – and no mountain looked higher than 3,000 feet.
I got into Korea, and arrived at my hotel at 17:40 on 11 October local Korean time. That’s a travel time of 31 hours, if you’re counting. Of course, that includes layovers in LAX and HKG. Plus an hour and a half drive from Incheon Air Port (ICN) to my hotel in Seoul. I stayed at the Grand Intercontinental Hotel in Seoul.
More of my trip in my next blog installment.
I left home at 18:40 on October 9th and checked into Fresno Air Terminal (FAT) at 19:00 for my 20:00 flight. FAT’s security was pretty tight – I had NO idea that my dress shoes had metal shanks in them! Fresno’s security was nice enough to teach me something I didn’t know!
I originally wrote this (and the following) entries on paper. I wish I’d hauled my company’s laptop along with me – even if it DOES weigh over 10lbs all on it’s own! I regretted not taking it with me for the entire trip. I was always looking for computer access.
I flew out of FAT on some sort of dinky duel prop airplane – 25 passengers maximum I’m sure. I sat in the next to the rear seat in a plane that was jam-packed with seats. I got the isle seat, which disappointed me – I much prefer window seats! (Note to self – update my personal preferences with the travel department!) But I lucked out – my seatmate was aviophobic – he did NOT want the window seat! So I swapped with him and made us both happy. I spent the flight gazing out the window, and he spent the flight quietly reciting the rosary to himself – ending with a grateful sign of the cross when we landed. He was young – I’m thinking he was an exchange student ‘cause he came onboard with a lot of other Spanish students.
At Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) I boarded a HUGE jet! I know – I’m ex Air Force – you’d think I’d know more about jets huh? But I’m really fairly clueless about them. I figured it was a 747, but I didn’t know for sure until I had a chance to look it up later. I’ve ridden the 747 while in the Air Force, but never in Executive or First class.
I was seated in luxury on the upper deck, Executive class. My chair folded out all the way flat into a bed, so I was very comfortable. Travel has always lulled me to sleep – even as a kid I used to sleep on the trips from Midland to the city where I was born – Roswell. Trips from Houston to Roswell took a 14-hour drive, and I could sleep 80 percent of the way there. So as soon as we got off the ground, I was out like a light, and slept most of the way to Hong Kong.
Yea, Hong Kong. We had a business trip to South Korea, so why was I flying into Hong Kong? It was because I was taking Cathay Pacific Airlines – and all Cathay flights are routed through Hong Kong. My company uses American Airlines, and AA contracts through Cathay – It’s inexpensive, and offers extremely high quality flying.
And Cathay was high quality – high class. They ushered in the Executive class first, made sure we were comfortably seated, and then kept plying us with drinks and snacks until the plane was loaded and ready for takeoff. While in the air, any time my glass was empty, someone was there trying to fill it. When I slept – they left me alone, and when I woke they were ready to feed me or serve me anything from Coffee to hard whisky to Champaign.
I don’t know what I was expecting at Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) – but all I got to see was the inside of the airport – the secured part of the airport. We never left the secure half of the terminal. Hong Kong terminal is still impressive, but very American seeming. It was absolutely huge – jam-packed with high quality stores of all sorts. It was a lot like a mega-mall, and it reminded me a lot of the malls incorporated into the big casinos in Las Vegas – like at Caesar’s Palace or The Venetian. There was a wide mix of nationalities there, so it didn’t seem particularly Asian in flavor – no more than does Los Angeles.
The difference was that signs were subtitled in Cantonese and all prices were in Hong Kong Dollars (HKD). Even at 7.8 HKD to a US dollar the prices were high. I soon figured out how expensive the air terminal was. I quickly fled to the airport lounge set aside for Executive and other VIP travelers.
That’s another nice thing about Executive class flights – you get a free pass into the air terminal lounges! In the lounge you can arrange your flight details, change seating arrangements, book new flights. The lounge area is usually comfortable, with free food, drinks, and (usually) free Internet access. The Hong Kong lounge had showers available too, so I cleaned up there – then had a half-way decent bowl of Asian noodles. (I’ve had better – but these were okay.)
The shower was necessary after such a long flight – plus Hong Kong was hot and humid. 79 degrees F at 6:30 in the morning! It was as muggy as Houston or Okinawa – easily in the 70-80% range.
I got to see Hong Kong harbor on my flight out – I had a window seat again. The water from my altitude looked beautiful, but the harbor was amazingly crowded! I could actually SEE the shipping lane by looking at where the container ships were traveling and leaving their foamy wakes.
Next to the harbor was Hong Kong city – tight bunches of skyscrapers packed onto the available flat land. Hong Kong reminded me of Korea and Okinawa – small mountains surrounded by flat lands. It is as if a giant with a bowl full of lumpy, green-colored mashed potatoes created the mountains a scoop at a time on top of his flat kitchen table. Hong Kong’s skyscrapers were nestled between these mountains – and no mountain looked higher than 3,000 feet.
I got into Korea, and arrived at my hotel at 17:40 on 11 October local Korean time. That’s a travel time of 31 hours, if you’re counting. Of course, that includes layovers in LAX and HKG. Plus an hour and a half drive from Incheon Air Port (ICN) to my hotel in Seoul. I stayed at the Grand Intercontinental Hotel in Seoul.
More of my trip in my next blog installment.
In Korea, and too tired to type...
It's midnight Korea time, and I've been up since 5 AM. This is the second day in a row I've done this, and I'm really needing sleep!
Tomorrow I get up early again, and take a 1.5 hour trip back to Inchon Airport to catch my flight back to Fresno.
I was afraid I'd be useless on this trip, just sort of a 'placeholder' for my boss - but to my delight, I was able to be of real benefit to my company. The fact that it was also fascinating to me, and that I'm in Korea too was just the icing on the cake. My only disappointment is not having time to shop.
You see, I spent 10 hours in a meeting, and then my hosts took me and the others from my company out to eat, and even to party. I managed to beg off tonight - alcohol and I don't play well together!
I"ve been keeping my blog on paper until I could get onto the 'net. (A blog on paper? What a neat idea! Hey, I could use blank paper bound into a book, and write in that! I could even name it! I'll call it... uhm.... A Journal? Hmmm... I know, A Diary! Nahhh... second thought ... it'll never catch on.)
When I get back to Fresno and settle in, I'll transfer my 'paper blog' (yea, THAT's a good name for it) into my online blog.
I've been going through 'Net withdrawel here - next time I'll bring my laptop - I don't care that it weighs friggen 20 lbs! But I did finally find a place to get onto the 'net for relatively cheap.
Where? Kinko's of course. In downtown Seoul. Right across from KFC and Pizza Hut.
Tomorrow I get up early again, and take a 1.5 hour trip back to Inchon Airport to catch my flight back to Fresno.
I was afraid I'd be useless on this trip, just sort of a 'placeholder' for my boss - but to my delight, I was able to be of real benefit to my company. The fact that it was also fascinating to me, and that I'm in Korea too was just the icing on the cake. My only disappointment is not having time to shop.
You see, I spent 10 hours in a meeting, and then my hosts took me and the others from my company out to eat, and even to party. I managed to beg off tonight - alcohol and I don't play well together!
I"ve been keeping my blog on paper until I could get onto the 'net. (A blog on paper? What a neat idea! Hey, I could use blank paper bound into a book, and write in that! I could even name it! I'll call it... uhm.... A Journal? Hmmm... I know, A Diary! Nahhh... second thought ... it'll never catch on.)
When I get back to Fresno and settle in, I'll transfer my 'paper blog' (yea, THAT's a good name for it) into my online blog.
I've been going through 'Net withdrawel here - next time I'll bring my laptop - I don't care that it weighs friggen 20 lbs! But I did finally find a place to get onto the 'net for relatively cheap.
Where? Kinko's of course. In downtown Seoul. Right across from KFC and Pizza Hut.
On my way tonight
I fly to Korea TONIGHT. It was looking really close for a while there. But if you are a big company, and have enough money, then it IS possible to get a passport in 2 days! My passport was sent to me via Fedex on Saturday - I still can't believe my company pulled it off!
And it couldn't have cost them more than a grand to do it!
PLUS! Woot! No 'Coach' or 'Economy' for this boy. I'm going 'Execuitive Class'. Wow - what a step up! In the military 'Executive' mean a sleeping bag on the floor of the cargo plain, with ear plugs and a box of juice.
I come back late Friday night - (14 Oct) So perhaps that weekend I'll post another blog entry.
And it couldn't have cost them more than a grand to do it!
PLUS! Woot! No 'Coach' or 'Economy' for this boy. I'm going 'Execuitive Class'. Wow - what a step up! In the military 'Executive' mean a sleeping bag on the floor of the cargo plain, with ear plugs and a box of juice.
I come back late Friday night - (14 Oct) So perhaps that weekend I'll post another blog entry.
Atheist Bible Study
I love the concept of "Atheist Bible Study." I have several Bibles left over from when I was a believer, and have purchased several others since my deconversion. I also have a Gideon Bible taken from some random hotel room.
(Actually, I consider myself a member of the Abimelech Society. I’ve taken several hotel bibles. Sometimes I leave a copy of Thomas Paine’s "The Age of Reason." I highly recommend that you read this!)
Now, the Bible(s) I refer to most often are electronic Bibles. It could be argued that they promote laziness in Bible study - you just ‘search’ to the verse you want. A paper Bible requires that you at least browse the pages on the way to your target verse. But I think that finding text in an electronic Bible would actually be harder without a general knowledge of the Bible in the first place.
My favorite electronic Bible is the ironically named NET Bible. No, it’s not an apostrophized ‘net. It’s an acronym for New English Translation. According to Bible.org, the NET Bible is made by, "...more than twenty biblical scholars who are working directly from the best currently available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts."
What I love about the NET Bible is that it is jam-packed with translator’s notes, explaining WHY they took a word to mean one thing instead of something else. This is extremely important, especially since Hebrew words depended on context to reveal their meaning.
The NET Bible also explains other traditional translation controversies. For example, take the quote about how it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter Heaven. (Matt 19:24). The scholars of the NET Bible mention the origins of the camel / camel hair rope controversy by saying:
I like that the NET Bible’s scholars talk about the various interpretations that have been posed for difficult (for Christians!) passages in the Bible.
For example, Exodus 20:5 says (about graven images), "You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, who visits the iniquity of fathers on children, even to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me." (Similar wording is used in Deuteronomy. 5:9.) The NET Bible’s translators admit that this verse may imply that God punishes children for the sins of their fathers - which is held as a heresy by modern Christians. But it was a frequent belief of primitive people.
The NET Bible goes on to offer possible alternative explanations - perhaps the children will be affected by the punishment meted out to a sinning Father; perhaps the pattern of sin is repeated - a sinful father raises sinful kids. This sort of ‘softens’ the message a little - but it still paints God as Scrooge who, by punishing Bob Cratchit also punishes his son, Tim. Scrooge was painted as ‘unChristian’ by Charles Dickens for his pettiness.
Oh, and as long as I’m talking about the 10 Commandments, as always I must ask, WHICH 10 Commandments?! (uh, you DID know that was what Exodus 20 is about, right? Don’t let an Atheist know more about your Bible than you do!)
And that concludes today's Atheist Bible Study lesson.
(Actually, I consider myself a member of the Abimelech Society. I’ve taken several hotel bibles. Sometimes I leave a copy of Thomas Paine’s "The Age of Reason." I highly recommend that you read this!)
Now, the Bible(s) I refer to most often are electronic Bibles. It could be argued that they promote laziness in Bible study - you just ‘search’ to the verse you want. A paper Bible requires that you at least browse the pages on the way to your target verse. But I think that finding text in an electronic Bible would actually be harder without a general knowledge of the Bible in the first place.
My favorite electronic Bible is the ironically named NET Bible. No, it’s not an apostrophized ‘net. It’s an acronym for New English Translation. According to Bible.org, the NET Bible is made by, "...more than twenty biblical scholars who are working directly from the best currently available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts."
What I love about the NET Bible is that it is jam-packed with translator’s notes, explaining WHY they took a word to mean one thing instead of something else. This is extremely important, especially since Hebrew words depended on context to reveal their meaning.
The NET Bible also explains other traditional translation controversies. For example, take the quote about how it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter Heaven. (Matt 19:24). The scholars of the NET Bible mention the origins of the camel / camel hair rope controversy by saying:
tc A few late witnesses (579 1424 pc) read kavmilon (kamilon, 'rope') for kavmhlon (kamhlon, 'camel'), either through accidental misreading of the text or intentionally so as to soften Jesus’ words.This points out that earlier texts did use the word ‘camel’ and that texts written in 579 and 1424 used the word ‘rope’ instead. (The scholars don’t address the likelihood of a supposedly perfect person making a ridiculous analogy that had no discernible precedent in Biblical culture.)
I like that the NET Bible’s scholars talk about the various interpretations that have been posed for difficult (for Christians!) passages in the Bible.
For example, Exodus 20:5 says (about graven images), "You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, who visits the iniquity of fathers on children, even to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me." (Similar wording is used in Deuteronomy. 5:9.) The NET Bible’s translators admit that this verse may imply that God punishes children for the sins of their fathers - which is held as a heresy by modern Christians. But it was a frequent belief of primitive people.
The NET Bible goes on to offer possible alternative explanations - perhaps the children will be affected by the punishment meted out to a sinning Father; perhaps the pattern of sin is repeated - a sinful father raises sinful kids. This sort of ‘softens’ the message a little - but it still paints God as Scrooge who, by punishing Bob Cratchit also punishes his son, Tim. Scrooge was painted as ‘unChristian’ by Charles Dickens for his pettiness.
Oh, and as long as I’m talking about the 10 Commandments, as always I must ask, WHICH 10 Commandments?! (uh, you DID know that was what Exodus 20 is about, right? Don’t let an Atheist know more about your Bible than you do!)
And that concludes today's Atheist Bible Study lesson.
Dr. Thomas S. Szasz (M.D. Psychiatry)
Dr. Szasz was supposed to have said it first - "If you talk to God, you are praying; if God talks to you, you have schizophrenia."
It explains a lot about our Commander in Chief.
It explains a lot about our Commander in Chief.
Waiting to exhale...
The skeptical community has been holding it's collective breath while waiting to see if Derek Colanduno's condition improves. As you may recall, Derek is the creator, and one of the hosts of the Skepticality podcast.
His condition continues to improve, and the prognosis looks good. Perhaps his multitude of never-met friends can all cautiously take a breath now.
To his wife, Susan, and his co-host, Swoopy. I have nothing but respect and admiration for the both of you, and wish you the best during this ordeal.
Go Derek!
His condition continues to improve, and the prognosis looks good. Perhaps his multitude of never-met friends can all cautiously take a breath now.
To his wife, Susan, and his co-host, Swoopy. I have nothing but respect and admiration for the both of you, and wish you the best during this ordeal.
Go Derek!
Leaving - on a Jet Plane
Well it’s official - I’m going back to Korea. If everything works out I’ll be on a business trip to South Korea on Monday the 10th. It’ll be short; I’ll be back by Friday night. Of course I’ll chase or be chased by the dateline during the trip, so I’ll lose a day going there, and gain it coming back.
It will be the first time that I’ve been to Korea in over 10 years. I’m told there are a lot of changes, and that I shouldn’t expect a dollar to have the buying power that I remember from long ago. Still, I’m looking forward to the food, and to seeing a few of my old memories.
Hmmm... I think I’ll need to bring a camera.
The trip is a working trip for my employer - I’d love to tell you all about it, but I won’t. I can learn that lesson by reading about what happened to other people. I think I’ll only talk about topics that won’t get me into too much trouble, like my life, politics and religion.
It will be the first time that I’ve been to Korea in over 10 years. I’m told there are a lot of changes, and that I shouldn’t expect a dollar to have the buying power that I remember from long ago. Still, I’m looking forward to the food, and to seeing a few of my old memories.
Hmmm... I think I’ll need to bring a camera.
The trip is a working trip for my employer - I’d love to tell you all about it, but I won’t. I can learn that lesson by reading about what happened to other people. I think I’ll only talk about topics that won’t get me into too much trouble, like my life, politics and religion.
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