2. first and foremost a huge congratulations to sa-hore! (i know i am spelling it wrong, but otherwise some strange searches end up on this site) yay! she got into michigan law school. i know you buckeyes hate that school up north, but i don't care. she rocks and now can have fame and fortune. or at least many years of law school debt. now get to reading grutter v. bollinger. i am on call for that case in 14th amendment. so sorry affirmative action doesn't work for you- too many asians in professional schools.
(in your best desi uncle voice): "beta, wery, wery good, now you can become a top-class solicitor." but those of us who love you know that you were already into solicitation.
3. for all you turkophiles (okay lala): there is a great exhibit touring europe about turkish history and civilization. i want to see it in london! a great pr move to warm up eu nations. read about it in the nyt: Turkey Knocks on Europe's Door With a Thousand Years of Culture. Check out the cool helmet!
4. i am using crest vivid white toothpaste (this is for you azher). i like it a lot! it has a very refreshing taste and feel to it. it probably doesn't really whiten any better than the rest, but the placebo effect is great. nothing like paying more money for toothpaste just to make you think it works. ;)
5. as the title alludes to, i really like this new tegan and sara song: walking with a ghost. it gets in your head and just will not get out. I said please please don't insist, I was walking with a ghost. Listen and watch the vid here. Oh they are canadian and have a very folk band look.
6. the iraqi elections went on as scheduled. bushie was excited that the violence wasn't higher. the news kept doing human interest pieces like one where a humvee drove a man half a mile so that he could vote. obviously they had nothing better to do. but if you want the real story get it from robert fisk. he highlights the low sunni turnout all the while acknowledging the courageous turnout by shiias. read it, you will like it. One Iraqi stated it quite politely in the nyt coverage: "We thank the Americans for destroying the regime of Saddam," he said. "But often, they were not careful for the people; they did many wrong things. Now, we know what they are looking for. They are looking for oil, and military bases, and domination of the new regime. They will have their military headquarters for the region in Iraq, and when they will leave, nobody knows."
7. while at a groundhog day party (complete with groundhog hand towels and burrow shaped cupcakes) in madison county (yes in the middle of no where), we were listening to a lot of the smiths and the best of morrissey. i love the smiths, i came right home and bought the best of the smiths 2 cd set off amazon- i can't wait to get it in the mail. everyone should listen to the smiths.
8. the nepali saga continues. and just when you thought it could not get worse than the prince massacring the royal family. well last summer the state dept put out its warning, such that i was diverted to sri lanka- the rebels were getting very active. and now the king has fired the entire government. he calls it a "national emergency". this is just part of the whole semantic game. the US calls the rebels "maoists" (who by the way want democratic elections); in this way we can all be against the commies and really support the king! by the way these rebels are some of the most organized that i have heard of- a bunch of my friends who did the whole thamel/backpacking thing were stopped while on a trek. they paid the 30 US dollar fee and in turn the 'rebels' gave them a receipt. Thus the next time they were stopped by rebels on the road, they showed them the receipt and were allowed to go freely on their way. how sweet.
9. mohamed zakariya is among the best living calligraphers of the arabic language, definitely the foremost american in the field. he designed the famous eid stamp. there is a cool bunch of videos where he explains his work and calligraphy in general.
10.
as davos (world economic forum) wraps up in switzerland with all its rich and flashy participants, the anti-davos also ended in porto alegre, brazil. at davos there was the sharon stone stand-up for africa (she got a million dollars in five minutes). but the world social forum (often called the anti-davos) was a meeting of activists, downtrodden groups, and other people on the left. zmag offers an insight into the conference and also coverage of its final manifesto (which this year was a move away from the past horizontal structure of the meeting).
okay kids have a fun weekend, i will be in new york and philly. bundle up, it is too cold out there. and please figure out the comment button, once you push it the comment will appear. ;)
