Why Dogs Would Never Blog

Sarah Boxer writes in today's NY Times Sunday Arts section about dogs, cats and blogs.

"This is her story. Last month a woman let her dog relieve itself on the subway in Seoul. She was caught, by a cellphone camera, doing nothing about it. Within days, her picture, her identity, her family's identity and her past were revealed to the world on the Web. She quit her university in shame. The Washington Post and The Columbia Journalism Review weighed in. On Wikipedia there's already a "dog poop girl" entry logged, and a movement to delete it.

Interesting, yes, but not funny. Maybe the difference is that dogs are public, everyone's business. They go on subways and they go in parks. They are always caught in flagrante defecato. Cats stay home. They are private, nobody's business. To watch them in their homes is a privilege. They are perfect for the Web, the medium of voyeurs.

Remind you of anything? Those cats are like so many bloggers sitting at home staring into their computer screens and watching other bloggers blog other bloggers. Cats, who live indoors and love to prowl, are the soul of the blogosphere. Dogs would never blog."

Screen 'Em All--or Just the Suspicious Ones?

Friday's Wall Street Journal included a story about the difference between how Hong Kong and US port authorities screen containers for bombs. The Chinese have developed a screening method that takes every single container through the detector, leaving nothing to chance. The technology is expensive but there is no doubt they saw everything...and they keep the images on file.

Contrast this with the US method. They only screen about 5-6% of the containers, relying on intelligence and anomalies in the bills of lading, or other warning signs to determine what to scan. There are people in the US who say we should follow the Chinese, and develop the mass screening for every container. But the US Customs, ATF and other organizations, insist that their method, using signs and intelligence, is far better and screening every container is a waste of money and time. I think we will be hearing a drumbeat to copy the HOng Kong method if anything terrible like a bomb makes its way past our port screeners.

Weak Ass Drinks and Lavender's Lure

Last night I joined two old pals at an upscale restaurant bar in South Deerfield. It was Chandler's and the walls were lined floor to ceiling with bottles of American wines. The light came through the glass and created a warm atmosphere. The place was empty as we took our seats. The bartender was mixing drinks, busy, and took a while to notice us. He was about 25, tall, with curly blond hair.

We asked for dry martinis, straight up. Eventually he brought us our drinks, in tiny wedge-shaped martini glasses, filled up about two thirds. We were shocked. Outraged. These expensive cocktails were just too small!

We complained to the curly headed 'tender. "These drinks are not filled up," we lamented. he said, 'I am only allowed to put in two ounces, that's the rule."

We got our check for $33 and left him $33 on the nose.


My mother Valerie Hartshorne found this item in her local paper in Blawenburg New Jersey. "What happens if you release the odor of lavender into a restaurant? In the case of a small shop in France, at least, it led to customers staying longer and spending more, researchers say. In the past, studies have suggested that peppermint oil may help athletic performance and that pleasant smells make people more cooperative and even induce them to gamble more at casinos.

Some smell scientists put lavender into a restarant, and saw the average customer stay 15 minutes longer...and spend $5 more as well. Sounds like a plan.

We're Sweatshop Free, Here's the Vibrator

NY Times Style section includes this nugget about a rich apparel company owner.

"Even under the murkiest of he-said, she-said circumstances, Mr. Dov Charney's management style runs counter to American cultural and business norms and has left him vulnerable to the kind of claims he faces now, workplace experts and some of Mr. Charney's supporters said. He runs American Apparel, selling 'sweatshop free' clothing.

In an article in Jane magazine last summer, Mr. Charney was described as engaging in oral sex with a female employee and masturbating in front of the writer several times with the writer's acquiescence.

Mr. Charney, in a telephone interview, said that citing the article, as well as referring to his nudity in ads and his provocative photo displays in stores are "not journalism but sensationalism" when used in the context of the lawsuits.

Mr. Charney added that "any sexual activities described in the Jane article were, A, consensual; B, enjoyable for both parties; and C, occurred in a private setting and therefore are not relevant to the sexual harassment charges."

Finally, he said, he does not believe consensual relationships between adults should be restrained in the workplace.

The women suing Mr. Charney and American Apparel are not alleging that he pressured them for sex. What they say in their lawsuits is that they faced a "wholly intolerable" and "intimidating" work atmosphere that subjected them to "egregious" sexual comments and behavior.

Alexandra Spunt, a writer in the company's art department, said crude language comes from all quarters. "We all use it," she said. "We're working in a creative department in the fashion business."

But there is little sympathy for the plaintiffs among at least some in the apparel industry. "If you're seasick, don't join the Navy," said Ilse Metchek, the executive director of the California Fashion Association, a trade group Mr. Charney belongs to. "Yes, he's a bizarre person, but that's no secret," she said. "It's there for you to see when you sign on for this opportunity."

You're Going to Lose This Car

"The 1999 Acura Integra coupe was the most-stolen vehicle last year and Integras from other model years weren't far behind, likely the targets of street racers who want their fast engines, according to a report released July 19, 2005. One out of every 200 registered 1999 Acura Integras was stolen last year, said Chicago-based CCC Information Services Inc., an insurance industry tracker of theft and vehicle damage.

The list compares loss claims to the total number of registered vehicles. The 2002 BMW M Roadster was No. 2 on the list and the 1998 Acura Integra was third. Other vehicles in the top 10 include the 1991 GMC V2500, the 2002 Audi S4 and the 2004 Mercury Marauder."

Pronghorn Accuracy...and the Color of the Sea

Erik Gauger puts out an online email travel publication and website called Notes from the Road. I admire his balls-on, descriptive and reverant approach to travel.

"I tried pitching my stories to an online magazine called GORP, which I admired for their lack of annoying advertising, commercialization or pop-under ads or marketing associations.

Because the article was more or less a guidebook entry, I thought it appropriate to move our account of the pronghorn antelope to evening rather than morning. This would adjust the continuity and put the focus on travel tips, not our subjective experience. I then asked my brother to review the piece before I submitted it to GORP. He told me: This article is inaccurate. He said we saw the pronghorn antelope in the morning.

So I corrected it and realized there is never an excuse to fabricate or exaggerate, even in a travel tips story. If you stay consistent, credibility will be earned.

GORP accepted other articles and edited heavily. The editor said I should try to describe the water of Mexico's Pacific Ocean. I told him the water was unremarkable and it was unnecessary to thestory, which was about people.

He edited the ocean himself. He used the word 'aqua'. Then, 'undulating.'

'Undulating' is the one word that if you ever use as a travel writer, you should be shot. That's when I realized I could never write for somebody else. Travel writing is only travel writing if it is purely independent. Anything else, anything propped up by advertising has an agenda, and the travel industry's agenda is anathema to the genre of travel writing. If the travel writer is not independent, he is not
writing travel.

Big Fish Gets Even

Rob Sheppe writes in Sportfishing Magazine included this scary tale today. "The Schultz family - Bob, his son Stephen, and 20-year old daugher Allison - were on a fishing trip off the coast of Panama. Bob had taken his children to Panama for some quality time away from the demands of telephones and every day life before his son went away to college.

Stephen had hooked a Black Marlin when the boat was about 30 miles off shore. Estimated at 600 pounds, the fish leapt out of the water and crashed into the stern of the boat, landing right on the young angler.

Mates quickly cut the thrashing fish loose and all attention turned to Stephen, now lying on the deck and bleeding profusely from the nose and mouth. The boat immediately raced to shore -- a 2 hour journey -- and a waiting plane flew Stephen to the National Hospital in Panama City. X-Rays revealed broken sinus walls and several internal lacerations.

Since the incident, Stephen has been in and out of doctor's offices. Chances are good that no oral surgery will be needed to correct the sinus damage because the bones are so small." Amazingly, the whole incident was caught on video that appeared on the Drudge Report.

Meeting Big Bill on Nantucket

I met a big man named Bill at a tavern on Nantucket. Broadcasting loudly across the bar, he was hard to ignore. He had acres of tattoo ink up and down both of his beefy forearms, and wore lots of gold jewelry. When he laughed, he pushed you at the elbow, making contact to ensure you got the joke.

Bill said he had rented a house near the beach on Nantucket for a month. "It cost me ten grand," he said. He rushed the waitress to bring him his check, then it turned out he had a tab from a few days back he had forgotten to pay. "No problem," he said, chugging down the remains of his Heinekin. He always seemed like he was restless, wanting to leave to hit the next bar. I was fascinated by him.

Bill seemed rich and drove a $70,000 black Escalade, but he said more than once that he was not. "You know those ads that show the guy driving off a bridge, since he has so many credit cards? My friends joke and say that's me." Bill wanted to get a date with a striking blond bartender who worked at the Summer House, an expensive place in exclusive Siasconset, on the far east of the island. "She likes me," he said, but when we showed up for some of their high priced drinks, she talked about 'the man I am seeing' who docks his boat right next to Bill Belicheck's. "His boat is called Five Rings," she told us. Bill asked her if he could take her to dinner, but she politely demurred...'my mother is coming to visit,' she said. "I'll take her too," said Bill, to no avail.

Bill happily paid the $79 check, the cost of just one round of drinks. His cognac cost him $50. Later that night I asked Bill what he wanted out of his life. "Don't get Dr. Phil on me," he said.

Life as a 'Trustafarian'

The Village Voice's Anya Kamenetz recently wrote a piece on the experience of being a rich 'trustafarian' in today's world.

"Some people do treat me differently when they learn I have money. Doesn't really matter, I guess. It's not like I'll be buying drinks for everyone!" He shares a $1,400-a-month apartment in the Columbia Waterfront district in Brooklyn with a girlfriend who has a pile of student loans and no gilded background. "She refuses my help—I doubt my parents would let me pay off her college debts anyway."

Tyler says he, too, doesn't flash his cash around. He says that some unrestrained spending back in boarding school "took a toll on his friendships," when he was "unempathetic" and "unthinking" about the material differences between him and friends on scholarship.

Thomas allows that people have made derogatory comments about his family money over the years. Today, he says, a relatively modest lifestyle helps deflect criticism. "I can't really remember the last time I got angry or nervous or embarrassed. It's not as if I'm going to Suede and getting a banquette with three bottles of Crissy. I hang out on Smith Street and drink Red Stripes."

When these kids talk about class, they generally refer not to social divisions like family names but to material status markers like restaurant meals, clothes, cars, exotic vacations. Young people at various levels of relative affluence—those lucky enough to pay for private universities by check, for example, or live in the city without worrying about the rent—learn to navigate this world of luxe so smoothly that class distinctions seem to disappear. Yet bring up the topic of money directly, and the hidden boundaries are soon revealed.

In the end, though, the silver-spoon set is not so different from the rest of us. While they may not have to worry about basic needs, they eventually learn that the real challenge in life is making something of yourself no matter what you start out with. Thomas calls this attitude "a sense of luck of the draw, and hard work somewhere down the line." Andrew agrees. "I have many friends in the U.S. and abroad who are living off inheritances and aren't working, and some are very miserable," he says. "I tell them all that the remedy is to get a job and fend for yourself; it helps you find direction in life."

Toyota Chooses Canada, for Good Reasons

Paul Krugman argues in the NY Times that national health care has become a big factor in where Toyota decides to build auto plants...and they recently chose Ontario, Canada over the US because of this and the level of education of the workers.

"There has been fierce competition among states hoping to attract a new Toyota assembly plant. Several Southern states reportedly offered financial incentives worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

But last month Toyota decided to put the new plant, which will produce RAV4 mini-S.U.V.'s, in Ontario. Explaining why it passed up financial incentives to choose a U.S. location, the company cited the quality of Ontario's work force.

There's some bitter irony here for Alabama's governor. Just two years ago voters overwhelmingly rejected his plea for an increase in the state's rock-bottom taxes on the affluent, so that he could afford to improve the state's low-quality education system. Opponents of the tax hike convinced voters that it would cost the state jobs.

But education is only one reason Toyota chose Ontario. Canada's other big selling point is its national health insurance system, which saves auto manufacturers large sums in benefit payments compared with their costs in the United States.

So what's the impact on taxpayers? In Canada, there's no impact at all: since all Canadians get government-provided health insurance in any case, the additional auto jobs won't increase government spending.

But U.S. taxpayers will suffer, because the general public ends up picking up much of the cost of health care for workers who don't get insurance through their jobs. Some uninsured workers and their families end up on Medicaid. Others end up depending on emergency rooms, which are heavily subsidized by taxpayers.

For now, let me just point out that treating people decently is sometimes a competitive advantage. In America, basic health insurance is a privilege; in Canada, it's a right. And in the auto industry, at least, the good jobs are heading north."

Suzanne and Alex's Evil Plan

Suzanne D'Amour once had it all. She married her boss, dentist Robert D'Amour, after meeting him on her job as a dental hygenist in Springfield, MA. After years of marriage to the man 22 years her senior, she got bored and met Alex Rankins, a beefy, black Springfield bar bouncer. Rankins became her lover, and they conspired to kill the older man to get at the inheritance money from his family, the founders of the Big Y Supermarket chain.

Rankins killed dentist D'Amour in 1993, but their secret plan unravelled and was exposed. After a lurid trial, both were sent to prison. Suzanne was in the news today, three years after she got out of jail, since she's suing her son and brothers in law trying to get back money she said they stole from her. The sordid tale would make a great TV movie, said a friend, and young Paul jr said he never wants to see his mom again. At one point Suzanne even hired a "soldier of fortune" to break her out of prison with a helicopter. But the pilot took the money and never showed up with the 'copter. A tale you might see on TV, right here in Western Massachusetts.

Sleepless Summer Nights

Summer nights can be brutal for those of us who live in un-airconditioned houses. Covers wet with sweat, tossing and turning; no wonder Lunestra is the new drug of choice. Last night, again, racked with an inability to stay asleep, I woke up at 2 and headed downstairs to the cooler confines of the basement. There I clicked on the TV and began flipping.

Did you know that the Tonight Show is on at 3 am? Or that on BET TV you can watch an "uncut" version of racy videos, complete with black women undulating and jiggling each ass cheek independently?

More channels, more flipping...Infomercials for "The Internet Kit," where happy buyers confess that though they didn't know much about computers they started their own internet business and now their wives don't have to work.

Another channel, way up the dial, showing old gameshows. Dreadfully true, so many channels but so little to watch. Finally staggered back to bed and the dreams were much better than the shows on TV.

Google's Orkut, a Great Way to Score

Reuters reports that Brazilian police arrested 10 people on Thursday accused of selling drugs using Google's international social networking site Orkut, which is hugely popular in the Latin American country.

"We've nabbed 10 so far, but there may be more," he added. The ring distributed mainly ecstasy and marijuana.

Orkut allows members to join and set up online communities to discuss everything from doughnuts to quantum physics and schedule events such as community meetings.

Narcotics are also discussed, with some groups advocating their legalization. However, most popular Portuguese-language communities touching on the issue are anti-drug groups.

Several million Brazilians have become devotees of Orkut since Web search leader Google Inc. launched the popular social-networking site in January 2004. They make up more than half of Orkut's 7 million plus members.

Part of Orkut's allure is its exclusivity -- one can only join at the invitation of another member. The site is named after Google software engineer Orkut Buyukkokten.

Are Comedians Better Lovers?

Rachel Kramer Bussel writes the Lusty Lady column in the Village voice and included this recent look at the sex lives of comedians.

"Eric de Picciotto's had his share of groupies, even though he makes sure to mention his longtime girlfriend during shows. "One night, a woman from the audience was enjoying my set so much, she flashed me from her table," Eric confesses. "You'd think that I wouldn't have wanted my girlfriend there, but the best part was having her there and laughing about it together when we got home."

Gilad Foss relays his dating woes during his sets. "You know the show Sex and the City? I'm working on a spin-off called Involuntarily Celibate in Brooklyn," goes one of his openers. Foss proclaims comedy and dating "rife with rejection" and sees bringing chicks to shows as a mixed bag. "When I first meet a girl, she'll often want to see one of my shows," he says. "I try and avoid it because it makes the performance even more nerve-racking, not to mention that it's an egotistical first-date activity."

Chelsea Peretti, who's shared some wacky sexual fantasies onstage, ventures that female comics "probably flirt slightly differently than the average female," since they're around guys more often. Does dating fuel her humor? Sometimes. "I used to mess with this guy who completely loved that I would constantly mock him in my act," she says. "Seeing him was like withdrawing from a joke bank filled with solid gold."

Semper Fidelis for the Few

Today's The Onion had this news.

"Marine Corps Shortens Slogan To 'The Few'
WASHINGTON, DC—In light of recruiting shortfalls, a near standstill in re-enlistment, and rock-bottom troop morale, U.S. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Michael Hagee announced Monday that the Marines will alter their unofficial slogan, abbreviating it to the more accurate "The Few." Hagee said, "We are still the Marines, the premier combat arm of the U.S. military." The Marines will also change their motto to Semper Fidelis, Sic Non Sapienti, or "Always Faithful, But This Is Just Ridiculous."

My Kid Started an Airline. What Did Yours Do?

Steve Jones in writes on the Travelmole July 20, 2005 about an industrious teen from England.

"A teenager awaiting his A level results has become the latest entrant into the low cost airline arena. Daniel Reilly, 18, has leased a Boeing 737 with money from venture capitalists to set up Nexus Airlines.

Flights from Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport to Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura are due to begin on November 1 with seats on sale from Friday.

Prices are from £50 one-way.

"I’ve always been interested in aviation so I decided to do my A level business studies project on setting up an airline," the BBC reported Reilly saying. "I called round a few airlines and asked how they had done it and I slowly realised it was quite achievable."

The Year of Living Biblically

Bethanne Patrick, AOL's book editor, writes a clever blog. Here is part of today's entry.

"Last Friday I received a call from my pal A.J. Jacobs, editor-at-large to Esquire magazine and author of 2004's delightful 'The Know-It-All: One Man's Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World,' which covered his Herculean (some might say "Geekian") effort to read the Encyclopedia Britannica from A to Z.

Be afraid, America; be very afraid. For A.J. has secured his second book contract with Simon & Schuster. 'The Year of Living Biblically' will be just that: the chronicle of one man's eccentric attempt to live according to the laws of Scripture for 365 days.

"interesting" to A.J., so it's no surprise that the hardest part of taking on this project was getting his long-suffering wife Julie on board. She's going to have a lot to handle (Julie, I know you already do, but. . .) "I'll be growing a beard," says A.J. "I won't be taking the Lord's name in vain or gossiping and there's no lying, not even when someone asks me if like his book." (Note to self: perhaps this living biblically thing has its wisdom?) "I'll be keeping the Sabbath, so you can call me any time, but I won't be answering the phone on Saturdays." He'll also be living by many of the Old Testament's very old-fashioned rules about love, sex and romance.

So, no birth control?

"No birth control!" A.J. says. Well, one-year-old Jasper Jacobs will probably enjoy a sibling -- as long as his dad doesn't decide on the Decade of Living Biblically as his next project, sort of a "Chicken Soup for the Hebrew Soul" series.

Mazel tov, A.J. May you be fruitful and multiply."

Emailing the Spammers

Here is one way to attack spam, found on New Media Report, written by Elizabeth G. Hines. Anti-spam/spyware company, Blue Security, has developed a method of actively deterring spam—by hitting the spammers before they hit you. When you sign up for their Do Not Intrude Registry, Blue Security will set up multiple email addresses in your name, designed specifically to attract spam.

Spammers found emailing one of those accounts will be sent a warning to remove both the fake Blue Security addresses and your actual addresses from their list. If the spammers don't comply, Blue Security's Blue Frog client software, which resides on your system, follows the links in the spam to their various web sites, seeks out any submission forms, and posts complaints there. The idea is to post so many complaints on a spammer's web site that it drives up their bandwidth costs and eventually shuts them down.

It's an aggressive strategy, one that bares a stark resemblance to Denial of Service (DoS) attacks—which are illegal in America and most of Europe. However, Blue Security's Marketing Director, Eran Aloni brushed off that comparison. "We are confident that our solution is ethical and legal, we have invested a lot of thought and effort in making sure we comply to strict ethical standards," Aloni said. And then they beat them with a stick.

'Glitzy-wonky Summer Camp' in Aspen

Kurt Andersen wrote in New York recently about the Aspen Institute's 'glitzy-wonky summer camp,' which some day I hope to observe.

"And just like at school or camp, there was buzz about the hotties and fresh faces. The week’s “It” boy was Noah Feldman, a good-looking, silver-tongued, terrifyingly self-confident 35-year-old NYU law professor with an Oxford degree in Islamic studies, a timely new book (Divided by God), and a recent posting in Baghdad advising the Iraqis on their constitution. He seemed more like a character on The West Wing than a real person. When a president of Harvard (Summers) and a former CIA director (James Woolsey) both stood to ask him respectful questions about Islamic fanatics, you could practically feel the envious admiration in the room. After Feldman mentioned that a key part of the Saudis’ geopolitical strategy is “buying off potential enemies,” I looked for Walter, intending to tease him about his institute’s new Prince Bandar restaurant, underwritten by the Saudi ambassador.

During another discussion, when one panelist used the phrase “let the chips fall,” Bill Bennett cracked, “Don’t say ‘chips’ around me.” And when the week’s surprise guest and ultimate BMOC, Bill Clinton, showed up on Friday for a one-on-one with Walter, he paused halfway through a story about a Pentecostal-minister friend’s “confessing” his vote for Bush last fall. “The world’s most famous sinner,” Clinton said, “and I got a preacher confessing to me.

Remaking the "Starbucks Experience"

Kristen Millares Bolt writes in the Seattle Post Intelligencer about the difference between the Chinese and the American Starbucks Experience.

"At 7:45 in the morning in a downtown Seattle Starbucks, customers want their coffee to go, and now. Hands clutching cell phones and briefcases fumble to toss the latest Beck CD onto the counter or maybe tuck a pound of beans under the elbow for later.

The Chinese, though, are remaking the "Starbucks Experience."

Mostly eschewing to-go coffees and foods -- and certainly music purchases -- they're opting for in-situ dining on curry puffs and moon cakes during the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival.

They can sit for hours.

"In Hong Kong and China, coffee is still more of a social event than a daily necessity," said a spokesman, "People come to meet their friends and talk."
It is a testament to the "Third Place" concept, often used by Chairman Howard Schultz to describe Starbucks -- that home away from home where, for a premium, the host serves you coffee and offers up CDs and candy, too.

Filling Out Forms, Sending the Checks

Today's mail included a huge packet of forms from our accountant. Being relatively new to the world of paid employees, this daunting assemblage of forms for payroll taxes, unemployment insurance, proof of employment, and federal taxes was a bit intimidating.

As I kept signing forms, following the instructions written on post-it notes by our accountant, and adding checks to the envelopes that needed them, I was struck by a thought: What if I were a businessman who spoke only Spanish or Mandarin? How would I have assembled these forms if I didn't hire my savvy accounting firm in Chicopee? And mostly, I thought about how many businesses just skip all of these forms and pay their workers cold hard cash. Indeed, it would be a lot easier. But I am comforted by the fact that all of these forms make GoNOMAD's place in the business world official and sanctioned, and there is nothing to fear.

Ohh la la! Hot Nannies

Helaine Olen writes a provocative piece in today's NY Times Style section, about reading her nannie's blog and finding out what a wild life she was living...while taking care of her kids. quite tittilating reading...

"She hadn't been with us long when we found out about her online diary. All she'd revealed previously about her private life were the bare-bones details of the occasional date or argument with her landlord and her hopes of attending graduate school in the fall.

Yet within two months of my starting to read her entries our entire relationship unraveled. Not only were there things I didn't want to know about the person who was watching my children, it turned out her online revelations brought feelings of mine to the surface I'd just as soon not have to face as well. I read the poem, then I scrolled down to the next entry. And the next. Amid the musings on poetry and fanatical analysis of the "Gilmore Girls" was a sweet scene of sex with a new boyfriend, accounts of semi-promiscuous couplings and tales of too much drinking for my comfort.

My husband thought her writing precociously talented but wanted to fire her nonetheless. "This is inappropriate," he said. "We don't need to know that Jennifer Ehle makes her hot."

I defended her - at first. Didn't she have a right to free expression? It wasn't as though she was quaffing Scotch or bedding guys, or the occasional girl, while on the job. Besides, weren't all recent college graduates keeping Web logs?

The Trail of Butch and Sundance in Bolivia

What makes a good travel article? What does it take to get your writing published about your trip? We have had a run of very well written stories appearing on GoNOMAD in recent weeks, and I think I have the answer.

One story that surely ranks up there is a piece we published by David Atkinson, a British writer based in Bolivia. He queried us about a story idea--to follow the trail of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, seeing how much of the myth is actually true and what else is false. Atkinson's story just went up on GoNOMAD, and it is fast-paced, full of evocative photos, and has nice flow to it. So that's the secret...write lively, don't bore the reader, and most of all, choose a subject that is bound to interest people. Classic old movies, the lure of an obscure place like Bolivia, and a historic story line. That's a recipe for success!

"Don't Shoot Him!"

Robert Young Pelton is fascinated with danger. He has created a cottage industry defining travel on the edge and getting close to risks. In the most recent National Geographic Adventure, Pelton dispenses advice for those about to be mugged.

"My goal is to get out of the situation before an even more dastardly idea occurs to my assailant. How? Even the most focused thieves can be distracted. A quick wave of the hand to a bystander, or, even better, a loud "Don't shoot him!" to an imaginary friend with an invisible 9-mm may befuddle your perp long enough to employ Pelton's first principal of self-defense: Run Like Hell!

Al Franken, Still Not Funny

John Motavalli commented on Poynter about another Unfunny Al Franken moment.

"On his July 12 radio program, the same day British police were saying that 4 suicide bombers may have acted in the previous week’s bombings in London, Al Franken, who it must be said has never verbally supported the insurgents that I am aware of, nonetheless contributed a bizarre, unfunny skit to his radio show on Air America, making light of the suicide bomber phenomenon, personally portraying a fumbling terrorist who had tried 16 times to blow himself up but kept getting distracted.

Next, he played host to a producer of his, whom he introduced as a Palestinian, lamenting to her that if he ran for the Senate, he would have to take "Jew money" to win. He then asked his co-host, Katherine Lanpher, if he had gone too far and if he would get into "trouble."

This guy is so bad for those of us who feel banded together against the GOP, these insulting, arrogant and just plain unfunny jokes from this show. Is this really the best the left can do? So far Air America, with the exception of Rachael Maddow, is a terrific disappointment.

Starbuck's Unofficial Spokes-blog

Jim Romenesko is a famous newspaper website columnist. Everyone in our business reads this guy's famous Media column. But he also has another gig...His Starbucks Gossip Blog. At first I thought he had cashed out and was doing one of these hot new corporate blogs, for generous sums. But then I read this piece in the Milwaukee Sentinel, about how unofficial and thus, how worthy, Jim's Starbucks blog really is.

"Reminded of a "Reservoir Dogs" scene in which tipping at McDonald's was debated, "Deeznuttz" wrote: "You've got to be out of your (expletive) mind to tip at Starbucks. . . . Lord forbid if I'm buying for my girlfriend. Maybe add a pastry. Now I'm at $11 for 2 coffee's and a donut??"

Or this, from "John": "Even in a hash house, the waitress has to lug your food from the kitchen."

"Brave Sir Robbin" who visits a Starbucks in Alexandria, Va., wrote: "there used to be a chick working behind the counter that looked a LOT like Sandra Bullock. She was really cute . . . if she's still there, I'd just like to say that I'd gladly tip her . . . "

Where will it all end, asked one person, who didn't include a name: "Eventually, under your logic, all tasks performed will require tips. Perhaps I'll attach a jar in some way to my belt and when I vacuum the floor at home, or clean off the counter top, my wife can throw some change in there for me."

The Levis in the Firetruck

William Langewiesche is a name I couldn't forget. The other day I bought two books while I was in Mitchell's Book Corner on Nantucket. One was his new book "The Outlaw Sea," a 'world of freedom, chaos and crime.' The book got my attention since I always gravitate to books relating to my favorite words. Voyage. Marine. Aircraft. So Langewiesche's book was a natural. But this author's claim to fame is another story. I first heard about him when a book he wrote was criticized by the press. He reported just after the 9/11 attacks that he had located a fire truck, deep below the rubble of the towers, that was full of new Levis. And this author maintained that NY's bravest, the sainted firefighters who attacked the blaze, had stockpiled these jeans in the truck and hoped to sell them. They had looted the stores below the trade center, and discovering this truck was proof that these fireman had other plans than just to save lives.

He was at the center of the firestorm after his expose...people didn't believe the story. That name rang a bell, I knew it.

You Probably Missed this on the TV News

Citizens of the southern city of Qayarrah, of the northern province of Ninewah, gather to demonstrate their defiance against terrorism during the March Against Terror. Over 1,000 Iraqi citizens, including several influential political and religious leaders, marched alongside Iraqi Army and police officers in this first of several such demonstrations planned for the northern region of Iraq.

Iraqi protesters against terror. (From Little Green Footballs.com). 

Some Fried Tomatoes with your Bacon Fat, Sir?

Bill Buckley writes in the National Review online about the second bomb attack absorbed by the Brits last week. "The casus belli was what [Jacques] Chirac confided to his fellow world leaders about British cuisine. “You can’t trust people who cook as badly as [the British],” he told them. “After Finland, it’s the country with the worst food.” M. Chirac was quite obviously carried away with his mission to educate Germans and Russians, advising their leaders that the “only contribution” the British have made to agriculture has been “mad cow disease.”

That really did it. The Daily Mail began with a grand overview of Franco-British relations. “With the exception of two world wars in which, oddly, we found ourselves on the same side, we have loathed the French since 1066.” The Mail’s Simon Heffer went on to excoriate French agricultural policies, which have the effect of bringing undernourishment and even starvation to thousands.

The paper’s food editor is not to be trifled with. Clarissa Dickson Wright not only defended British cooking, she contrasted it to the dangers of eating in France, where, she said, she had even lost a family member. “Some years ago great uncle Bertram dined in one of those charming little provincial restaurants the French love to bang on about. He ate a classic French regional dish, tripe à la mode de Caen. Afterwards he died of acute food poisoning.” She left her readers wondering that there were so many Frenchmen still alive."

Sabrina's 'Wandalust' and Other Hot Blogs

Sabrina Dent publishes a cheeky and fun travel blog called "Wandalust," and she was kind enough to include some comments on GoNOMAD in today's edition. The fascinating thing is how some blogs, such as hers and others in the 'Mink Media' group are making money, publishing ads and taking serious stabs at grabbing the ad dollars being spent on line. Unlike TV news ad revenue, growing at about 1% a year, online the growth for 2005 is a whopping 21%!

These slick blogs and their offshoots, including "Honorable Fiend' (recently voted one of Britain's top blogs), are how many of the mainstream advertisers are reaching down into the blogosphere to capture those elusive eyeballs. CBS News has just announced a new website, where they will be able to post streaming video and try to reach those under age 60, who have realized that the network news isn't the best way to find out what's going on, and prefer reading on the web.

The Siren and the Drug Offender

Carly Simon gets a phone call most days that begins, 'this call is from a federal prison.' Simon's godson is named John Forte, and he's serving 14 years in prison for drug trafficking. He calls his good buddy "Mamma C" every day to check in and catch up. "He's become practically my best friend," said Simon.

Today's Boston Globe includes a long feature by Bella English about this unusual relationship between the iconic singer and the convict. Simon got to know Forte after her son Ben Taylor brought him to the Vineyard in 1997 for a visit. Musically, they clicked, and she has made his case her own, trying to reach Senators, congressmen, and anyone else who will listen to her point: drug laws are keeping too many blacks and hispanics behind bars at too high a cost.

It is a touching story of a deep and lasting relationship between the two...based on their mutual love of music and books and their interwoven families. Simon makes a good point, these Rockefeller era laws are crushing the system and choking it down with too many prisoners...for two few good reasons.

"Dome Headed Experts" -- or Bono?

Tina Brown opines about Sunday talking head fests in today's Washington Post.

"Bono looked very much at home on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday talking about Third World debt. So much so that the future path for Sunday morning talk shows became blindingly obvious: Dispense with politicians altogether. They have passed their sell-by date. They don't smell so good.

There's no need anymore for TV news to suffer the ratings death guaranteed by triple-booked administration officials and wearisome, dome-headed "experts." Sean Penn is already out there as a foreign correspondent. Brad Pitt can be booked as an old Africa hand. Tom Cruise can be tapped for pharmacology updates. It's the solution Viacom co-president Les Moonves has been looking for as he retools CBS News. If you look hard enough, there's a celebrity for every issue that someone needs three minutes of talking-headery about.

It wouldn't take long for an old pro like Clint Eastwood to get himself a backswept hairlift and do a creditable Joe Biden. And there's a lot to be said for putting Halle Berry in to pinch-hit for Condi Rice and letting the secretary of state get on with playing the piano.

Don't Breathe on the Gorillas

Poaching is the biggest killer of mountain gorillas, says New Scientist News, but respiratory diseases come a close second, accounting for about a quarter of deaths, according to a major survey.

Around 700 mountain gorillas live in two separate populations, one in Uganda and the other in a region that straddles Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. The animals are classed as critically endangered on the IUCN's red list, although they are the only great ape species whose numbers are increasing.

The Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project, based in Ruhengeri, Rwanda, investigated 100 gorilla deaths dating back to 1968. The team found that 40 were due to trauma, for which poaching is almost always the cause in adults. More surprising was the detrimental effect of respiratory diseases, including influenza A and parainfluenza viruses, which killed 24 of the animals.

In a bid to cut the risk of people passing these diseases on, eco-tourists who trek to see the gorillas in the wild already have to stay at least 7 metres away, and keep their visits to no more than an hour.

What You Don't Want Phil from Marketing to Hear

Corina Zappia writes hilariously in the Village Voice about a new crop of scented panties for women.

"Ladies, are we moving forward? Looking at those TV commercials for Kotex Ultra Thin from a while back, the answer is: No. If you remember the ad, their "quieter pouch" allows for a less-loud rip upon opening the plastic wrap surrounding each individually-wrapped napkin. It's not enough that Phil from Marketing doesn't know you're ragging out at the office. The chick in the stall next to you, fumbling with her more elegant tampon, must also be none the wiser. Kimberly-Clark, the makers of the Kotex brand, claims the use of a more discreet, "nonwoven, clothlike material" for the pouch is in response to consumer interests. "They did not like the crinkly sounds," said a KC spokesperson.

Perhaps these new non-crinkly pads are best used in conjunction with SweetSpot Labs' balancing mist for your lady parts. No, not a liquid soap, more like a pH-balanced perfume with skin nourishers and hair conditioners(?!) for your vag. Quoth their website, which includes the spray in a "Hormone Harmony" supervalue pack of wipettes and cleansers: "All very good for the self-esteem, and we can't think of a better place to start, can you?"

Unwelcome Ursa

Holyoke now has the same bear problem that Westhampton, Northampton and so many other towns have. Spotted last night in Cindy's backyard, a bigger bear than this one. 

You Could Leave a Message...But Why Bother?

Brett Arends writes in today's Boston Herald about the pathetic state of American PR offices.

"Media offices where everyone has left by 4:51 pm on a big news day.

This sort of stuff would be a disciplinary offense in any decent public relations office in the U.K. But it's amazingly common over here. And it isn't just Boston. It's true in New York and elsewhere.

The odd thing is that in most areas professional standards over here, I have found, are much higher than over there. But not in PR. Of course this isn't universal. There are many good public relations people around, people who are professional, hard-working, competent, helpful and friendly.

But plenty of other press officers actually seem affronted if they ever have to talk to the press. There are people in this town paid $100,000 a year or more to say ``no comment.''

That's $50,000 a word.

Some companies employ whole teams of apparent mutes.

I call them ``Radio Shack PRs'' because they could be replaced, without any loss of functionality, by a recorded message on a Radio Shack answering machine.

``Hi, you've reached the company's media relations department,'' the message would say. ``We're never in our office, we don't know anything, and even if we did we wouldn't tell your readers. You could leave a message, but why bother? We won't return your call anyway.

Have a nice day!' What do these people do with their time?"

Robbed and Redeemed in Guatemala

Joel Silverstein wrote in Ack's Inquirer-Mirror last week, an inspiring tale.

"A near catastrophe resulted in a triumph of humanity last week for the 15 Nantucket students and five adult chaperones volunteering for the God’s Child Project, a nonprofit relief organization for impoverished children in Antigua, Guatemala.

The group had just spent their first day in South America, and as a Guatemalan God’s Child employee walked down a crowded Antiguan street, the cash bag that held all of the money changed to Guatemalan currency by the Nantucket group – $2,930 – was snatched from her hands by a passing car.

That night, Atkinson attended a dinner party in Antigua with a mix of native Guatemalans and foreign expatriates that have retired there. During dinner, Atkinson mentioned the Nantucket group’s misfortune. Around the table, there was an outcry, he said. The Antiguans were mortified that the northern volunteers who’d come to their country to do public service had had their money literally snatched from their finger tips.

One by one, the group of party-goers reached for their pockets.

“They replaced the money on the spot,” Atkinson said. The next morning, he called the Nantucket group together to tell them their money would be replaced. According to Atkinson, many of them had tears in their eyes.

“It was a really nice ending to an unfortunate loss,” Atkinson said.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! I'm Backing Up

Across the street at 7 am, BEEP BEEP BEEP! the men arrived again with their big machines. A flatbed groaning with the weight of a small paving machine, and an enormous roller all on our 12 foot wide little street...barely any room for another car to pass by. Seven men emerged from a flotilla of full sized pickups and dump trucks, all converging on my neighbor's small driveway. They were there to pave it.

I watched the seven men with shovels, they were watching and sort of working while a loader spread the dirt evenly where the new little stetch of asphalt would go. They looked like they were busy, but many of them were leaning on those shovels watching the loader. The glistening black asphalt was laid down as more men watched.

I thought about the old black Nissan that has been parked in that driveway, never moved, for more than three years. Maybe they will be getting rid of it when their new driveway is done.

Tags, The Way People Find Out About Your Blog

Tagging is a buzzword among bloggers and the technorati crowd. I am trying desperately to grasp what this is, but it has something to do with subjects that people are blogging about, and identifying ones blog with these tags so that people know that the subject they care about is being talked about.

At any rate here is the gonomad.com">">code that I am supposed to place on my blog as a tag.

Be Afraid of the Red

The red areas are where you should be afraid in Colombia. 

Shopping Bag Annie's Last Stand at Fulton

Today's NY Times includes a story about the relocation of the Fulton Fish Market to the Bronx, and includes this description of some of the people who work there by Dan Barry.

"Some lights of the market stand before the silvery truck of a man who calls himself Steve the Coffee Guy. Beansie, the union official, is there, smoking a cigar, and Richie Klein, a burly fish salesman, savoring a cigarette, and Joe Tuna, on his forklift, drinking tea. When Joe Tuna glides over curb and cobblestone, his meaty biceps jiggle so much that the tattoos move like cartoons.

They wear rubber boots and soiled sneakers that never cross the thresholds of their homes; clean jeans and fish-bloodied shorts; polo shirts and T-shirts, some torn in the back by the tips of the hooks slung over their shoulders.

In winter, the East River winds blow through you no matter what you wear, so Steve the Coffee Guy will warm himself with a propped-up propane heater, in homage to barrels of flames that once flickered wickedly along South Street. On this summer's night, though, the muggy air clings like lotion to the skin, and coolness is found at the coffee truck's icy bed of soda, over which hangs a dated photograph of a beautiful young woman in shorts, briskly walking. The rumor, or the hope, is that it's South Street Annie, also known as Shopping Bag Annie, that shrunken woman with wild gray hair who strolls the market calling "Yoohoo!" Selling cigarettes and newspapers from her red-wire cart, she is coarse, ribald, ubiquitous: the flawed mother of fish town."

What? You Don't Wanna Renew? We'll See About That!

Wired magazine, the bible of the tech set, may have its finger on the pulse of all that's cool. But the San Francisco publication has been using decidedly uncool tactics when it comes to getting some people to renew their subscriptions. Here is one former subscriber's story, from sfgate.com

First came the usual letters warning McMillan, 36, that his subscription was up and that he wouldn't get any more copies of Wired unless he ponied up some cash.

Then Wired's correspondence took a different turn.

In May, McMillan received a letter from North Shore Agency, a leading debt-collection firm. The letter, headed "Please Respond," said he owed $12 for his Wired subscription.

"Our objective is to clear your bill quickly and fairly," it said. "Your payment will reinstate your subscription."

A more assertive letter from North Shore, headed "Request for Payment," arrived last month. "You must realize that we want you to resolve your account in the amount of $12," it said.

"It's probably something we shouldn't have done," Timko said of using the collection agency to pressure readers. "It's not something we want to continue. "

I arranged for McMillan and Timko to speak with one another. McMillan told me afterward that Timko apologized for the North Shore letters. McMillan said he was also offered a free subscription to Wired.

"I turned it down," he said. "I still don't have time to read it. But in the back of my mind, I have to wonder what might happen the next time it runs out."

I May Not Use It...But It's My Right to Have It

Nicholas Kristof writes in today's NY Times about the legality of assisted suicide.

"Mr. Newbold has started the process of obtaining the barbiturates; two doctors must confirm that the patient has less than six months to live, and the patient must make three requests over at least 15 days. Typically, the drug is secobarbital - the powder is removed from the capsules and mixed into water or applesauce - or pentobarbital, which comes as a liquid. Patients typically slip into a coma five minutes after taking the medication and die within two hours.

Like many patients, Mr. Newbold says that his biggest concern isn't pain so much as the loss of autonomy and dignity. That's partly why he wants the medication on hand -if he feels himself losing the self-control he has prized all his life, he can hasten the process.

"I may never use the medication," he said, "but the knowledge that you have the ability to end it gives you so much relief."

That's common - many patients who get the barbiturates do not in fact use them, but derive comfort from having the choice. Over all, 208 patients over seven years have used the law to hasten death, according to the Compassion in Dying Federation of Oregon, which helps patients work their way through the legal requirements.

When patients use the law, they typically set a date and gather family and friends around them. Those who have witnessed such a parting say it's not as morbid as it may sound.

"It's pretty weird knowing what day you're going to die, but we could plan for it," said Julie McMurchie, whose mother used the barbiturates about a week before she was expected to die naturally of lung cancer. "Two of my siblings lived out of state, and they were able to come, so we were all present. ... We were all there to hug and kiss her and tell her we loved her, and she had some poetry she wanted read to her, and it was all loving and peaceful.

"I can't imagine why anybody would begrudge us that opportunity to say goodbye, and her that opportunity to have peace." The same applies to Jack Newbold and everyone in his position. Mr. Newbold faces an excruciating choice in the coming weeks, and he's got enough on his mind without the White House second-guessing him.

Back off, Mr. Bush."

TV Show Dreams Never Die

Everyman's typical summer Saturday: Errands, dump run, and acres of lawn to be mowed. Glad to have that behind me, now back to the really important stuff. GoNOMAD's nascent foray into television is back. We had some exciting ideas back in February and they have been percolating, laying dormant waiting for the right combination of contacts, meetings and people. There is new interest from a seasoned production company who think that our concept is strong, and they want to pitch it. We're aiming high, of course, not local cable or obscure unwatched channels we want a national audience. Like PBS.

It takes a combination of a source for content (us), an experienced sales and marketing team (them) and of course, most important, some star power for a host. (We're working on that) TV people these days want personality, and if we can get that, what we do with them is up to us. Of course this is a longshot, but hey, that's what we aim for. We truly believe that our brand will be at the top in just a few short years; every day we add stories to our site, making it better and bigger. Some day, we will get there.

Can We Get the 'Net from The Outlet?

Ryan Block blogs about a new buzzword; delivering broadband over power lines.

Listen up, Google’s sick of you slowing up their operations with your dialup service, making their servers wait around to send the results of the 800 searches you each perform every day. So they’re stepping it up by dropping $100 million into Current Communications Group, LLC (along with The Hearst Corporation, and Goldman Sachs), who are apparently England’s biggest broadband over powerline company. Take that, NetZero.


But 'Doctord' disputed this on engadget.com

"BPL is a proven failure, and wherever it has been tested around the nation it has been shut down or severely restricted within a short time. The reason: first, power companies are in the power business, not the communications business, and don't have the ifrastructure to keep the equipment maintained and operating properly. So, they outsource that job, which places another layer of bureaucracy (read cost and time) between them and the customer. Second, and most important, the multiplexed data signals are carried over the powerlines by RF signals which interferes with any nearby police, fire, ambulance, aircraft, ham, and other radio services, and try as they might, the BPL folks can't get the interference to clear up so that reasonable radio communications can take place near powerlines.

Can you think of where you might drive in a city and NOT be close to a powerline? The Bush administration is pushing it, so the FCC keeps on flogging it as viable, but even they have begun to lose heart. If Google knows something all the scientists don't, then more power to them -- otherwise, they are going to lose their shirts.

Like Swimming in a Giant Hot Bath

Swimming inside the thermal cave baths in Hungary....89 warm degrees....nice! This photo is by Alberto Paredes, he has a photo gallery of more images on GoNOMAD. 

A Stepstool for the "Flat World Train."

Thomas Friedman's book "The World is Flat," merits many more excerpts. Toward the end of the book, he ponders how to include the more than three billion people who have never used a computer, dialed a cellphone, nor reaped any of the benefits of this flat new world, and subsist on less than $1 a day. "The half flat are all those other hundreds of millions of people, particularly in rural India, rural China, and rural Eastern Europe, who are close enough to see, touch and occasionally benefit from the flat world but who are not really living inside it themselves.

We saw how big and angry this group can be in the Spring of 2004 Indian national elections, in which the ruling BJP was surprisingly turned out office--despite having overseen a surge in India's growth rate--largely because of the discontent of rural Indian voters with the slow pace of globalization outside the giant cities.

These voters were not saying "Stop the globalization train, we want to get off." They were saying 'we want to get on, but someone needs to help us by building a better stepstool"

Cellphone Chatting How Annoying

John Leland writes in the NY Times this week about cellphone etiquette, or lack of it. "In the great American debate about cellphone etiquette, some of the early turf battles seem to be settled, with winners and losers falling into camps familiar from Western Civ classes. Movie theaters, funerals and libraries appear to have been carried by the cell Rousseauists, who believe the social contract forbids such things as shouting intimate details into a piece of plastic in a room full of strangers.

Most public transportation systems, on the other hand, appear to belong to the cell Hobbesians, who believe that since life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short, there's no need to give the rider engrossed in her newspaper in the seat next to you a quiet commute. Restaurants constitute a middle ground, in a state of détente. Everyone knows it's rude to use a cellphone at dinner, but civilized people do it anyway.

The workplace, though, remains unsettled territory. "This is the next area," said Peggy Post, director of the Emily Post Institute and an author of "The Etiquette Advantage in Business." Ms. Post, who often lectures business groups about cell use, spoke over a land line from her home office on the Florida Gulf Coast.

Unlike many new technologies which are beloved by users but resented by everybody else, cellphones are considered a nuisance even by the people who embrace them. In what must be comforting news to the cell Hobbesians, a recent University of Michigan poll of 752 adults found that 6 of 10 users found public cell use "a major irritation."

The Lure of Chile

Pablo Retamal and I have been talking about Chile. He is the director of Tourism, based out of Washington, and he sent me a CD with Chilean music, and many images of the country showing vast expanses of desert, steep ski slopes, vineyards, bikini-clad gals, more mountains, flyfishermen and glasses of fine wine. I am traveling to Chile in the fall, and this neat CD has whetted my appetite for the exotic lure of South America.

Most of us seasoned travelers are always itching for a new place...a place where you might find something really different. Really new. Not sure if Chile will be this place, but that's the fun, finding out just what is there. Here is the website, visitchile.org.

Watch Out, Warden!

Jim Shea writes in the Harford Courant: "Here are just a few of the reasons why it's not a good idea to be sending reporters to the Big House:

Order: Reporters would not set a good example when it comes to following directions. You can't just tell them what to do.

To get a reporter to do anything, a guard would have to: ask nicely; explain the order in detail; debate at length whether the reporter has a better approach; and then begin the process anew after the reporter failed to do what had been agreed upon.

Accommodations: In general, reporters are not the type of people to become overly concerned with things like clutter, organization, sanitation or the possibility of an epidemic. Confining a reporter to an 8-by-10 cell is the equivalent of institutionalizing a landfill.

Attire: The prison dress code would be compromised to such an extent that the orange jump suit, the muscle T-shirts and the do rag would seem like high fashion when faced with a newsroom style that features khaki, knockoffs, comfortable sizing and a lack of commitment to the iron.

Grousing: As a group, reporters are among the finest, most accomplished complainers in the world. In fact, I don't believe there is a documented case in which a reporter has ever been even remotely happy with anything.

Schmoozing: If jailed, a reporter will take only a few days to get to know all the other prisoners, and the guards, and their families, and the warden's secretary, and the parole board, and many, many new anonymous sources. Can you say five-part series?

Gossip: Nothing can destroy morale faster than idle gossip, and gossip is what reporters do for a living - and fun.

Assimilation: Reporters such as Judith Miller and Matthew Cooper, if they are sent to prison for failing to reveal sources, will be protected by an inmate population that respects the concept of confidentiality.

Their experience would, of course, be in contrast to that of someone like, say, Novak or Braveheart, who would almost assuredly become part of the dating scene.

At $48K Per Week, He's Just Average

Eric Dash writes in today's NY Times about a new hire at MSDW

"John J. Mack, who was named Morgan Stanley's chairman and chief executive last Thursday, has agreed to a five-year contract that will pay him as much as $25 million a year for the next year and a half - or in the me-too meritocracy of Wall Street, at least as much as the average of his high-paid peers.

But Mr. Mack may have to be content accepting the average. Over the last three years, this handsomely paid group of executives has earned an average of $22.8 million a year, according to an analysis of company proxies by Equilar, a compensation research firm based in San Mateo, Calif.

"It guarantees he is going to be treated as well as his peers, up to a point," Mr. Delves said. "He is walking into a tough situation, and he is saying, 'I don't want to lose.' "

Of course on Wall Street, even the losers can win. According to company filings, Mr. Purcell, who announced on June 13 that he would retire after a revolt against his leadership, leaves Morgan Stanley with retirement benefits and stock awards worth more than $62.3 million."

Wind Power Means Death to Eagles

Found on Drudge report today, news about windfarm hazards.

"A California Energy Commission study estimated wind turbines in the Altamont kill 881 to 1,300 birds of prey a year, including as many as 116 federally protected golden eagles.

Miller said the county could impose conditions that would cut bird deaths in half almost immediately. To accomplish that goal, he said, all of the wind turbines in the Altamont would need to be idled from mid-November through February.

Another 350 machines that kill a disproportionate number of birds would have to be permanently scrapped, the center maintains, citing similar conclusions by biologists studying the issue for the Energy Commission.

In addition to taking wind turbines out of service, the center wants the companies that operate them to pay $6.5 million to preserve bird habitats in the Altamont.

Wind farm operators are willing to shut down only half their turbines each winter and permanently shut down or relocate about 100 turbines that pose the greatest risk to birds. The plan they have put forward to county officials commits to a 35 percent reduction in bird deaths within three years.

If the county places too many conditions on their operations, wind farm operators say they won't be profitable. "We've gone as far as we can go," said a spokesman.

The Bodacious Babes of Latvia

'Becca Blond in Latvia' is the name of a blog by a Lonely Planet guidebook editor who is traveling in Latvia. Below is an excerpt from her trip journal from the first days of their trip.

"I give up on sleep, decide instead to pick out an outfit to wear for the day. I was so good about my packing, I left all my cute shoes behind, opting to only take my flip flops and hiking sandals. Totally backpacker shabby chic, and totally wrong for this glamorous to the max city.

If there was one place where my spiky heels would have looked fabulous, it's in Riga. Why didn't I give into my craving and bring them along? Why did I have to be sensible for once? At least with heels I would have had a chance of looking less than invisible in a town filled with more beautiful women in one mile than in the entire United States. The women here are enough to make me want to run away and hide. I feel short. I feel fat. I feel overwhelmed.

Aaron can't stop staring. Every woman seems to be at least 6 feet tall, with legs longer than me, toned thighs, perfectly flat stomachs. It's like being trapped inside a Vogue cover shoot. Aaron says none of the women compare to me, but he also can't stop looking. Not that I can blame him, if the men were as hot as the women I'd be staring too. If I were a talent scout, I'd head to Latvia to discover the next movie star. Aaron says he should start organizing tours for single men, not that most men would have a chance next to these beauties. Not only are they tall, but they also have no problem flaunting their perfect bodies by wearing the tiniest of skirts and the highest, most gorgeous pairs of shoes. It's all rather discouraging. I try to remind myself at least I'm not here alone.

Who Will Take Our Place?

Nathaniel Cosme. 

Sultry Summer View

Sugarloaf Mountain, MA July 4, 2005 

Praising NORK in Song

Found this on a blog called 'lost nomad' that is about Korea.

"A ranking South Korean official taking part in a celebratory event in the North Korean capital Pyongyang generated strong criticism at home Thursday by singing a North Korean song that praises the communist state's military.

The main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) stopped short of accusing Yoo Hong-joon, head of South Korea's Cultural Heritage Administration, of treason and demanded the government dismiss the 57-year-old for what it called "inappropriate" behavior from a government official representing the country.

"Does it make any sense that a ranking government official gets swayed by his mood and sings a song praising the (North Korean) people's army," Rep. Maeng Hyung-kyu, head of the GNP's policy committee, said.

According to earlier reports from the North Korean capital, the head of South Korea's cultural administration was asked by North Korean Minister of Public Health Kim Su-hak at a dinner to sing a North Korean song when the latter learned that Yoo was very knowledgeable about North Korean culture.

Yoo began singing a song from a North Korean movie, "The Nameless Heroes," and was soon followed by North Korean officials at the dinner on Tuesday, the reports said.

The New Millionaire's Search for Higher Truth

This morning's NY Post included this information.
"Eight months after hitting the $149 million Mega Millions lottery jackpot, and with his divorce settlement behind him, Juan Rodriguez, 50, is just starting to feel at ease on easy street.

So the once-bankrupt parking attendant from Queens, who had 78 cents to his name when he bought the winning ticket, can now focus on enriching his soul, said gal pal Christine de la Garza, who manages all his affairs — including their own.

"He needs to do this," she said of his search for higher truth. "The two of us have a real connection, but I want Juan to have his head on straight first. He was so freaked out by the whole situation. His world was turned upside down."

After enrolling in a California "mind-, body- and spirit-wellness program," Rodriguez left Ozone Park and pursued his passions for horseback riding, fly fishing and flashy couture.

A large percentage of lottery winners end up losing it all, but Rodriguez is determined not to become a statistic. He speaks regularly with a support group for lottery winners.

"They all told him that people were going to come out of the woodwork and you just have to say no," she said. "That's not always easy for Juan. But he found that he'd give someone $10,000 and they'd want $100,000. Or he'd give them $100,000 and they'd want a million."

It Costs Even More to Drive Into London

Reuters reports that London's congestion charge on vehicles entering the city centre rises by two thirds to eight pounds on Monday. The increase from the current five pounds is expected to raise up to 45 million pounds a year to reinvest in transport.

But opposition parties say the move will be bad for businesses.

The charge, introduced in February 2003 on weekday traffic, has been credited with reducing congestion in central London by 30 percent. "The increase will maintain the benefits currently witnessed ... and build upon its success, cutting congestion even further, and raising more revenue to be invested in London's transport system," London Mayor Ken Livingstone said.

But an Conservative member of the London Assembly, Angie Bray, protested.

"This is bad news for businesses, bad news for residents and bad news for Londoners," she said. "It is a blow for businesses who are already in pain with the current five pound charge level."

The charging scheme, which is operated by support services company Capita Group, is the biggest in the world, extending from Hyde Park in the West to Tower Bridge in the East.

Blogs All Around Us

Reading all of my friends blogs today. Sony wrote about a museum in Guadalajara, Mexico, styled after the Guggenheim, speculating that it will take forever and a day to finally complete it. Then I turned to Kent St. John, who remarked about Quebec and graffito he had spotted at Medill University. Then clicked over to Jessi, who was discussing Venice California, where canals and nice weather are found.

If you spin yourself a little further ahead in the world, think now about how blogs will be treated. Unique. Part of the fabric. What did we do before we had blogs to read? I mean this kind of personal recording, this low-level continuous connection that blogs build, this is the kind of thing that people want. Look back, and I guarantee that blogs will never be looked back on like 8-track tapes or Pet Rocks.

The Greenest Mall Ever Built

Amanda Griscom Little writes in today's NY Times magazine about a huge 'eco-mall' being built in Syracuse, NY. Robert Congel, a commercial real-estate developer has a plan to ''change the world.'' Convinced that it will ''produce more benefit for humanity than any one thing that private enterprise has ever done,'' he is raising $20 billion to make it happen. That's 12 times the yearly budget of the United Nations and more than 25 times Congel's own net worth.

While environmentalists are often regarded as doomsayers, Congel is without question an optimist: he is certain that America and its great commercial endeavors can thrive in a post-fossil-fuel era. A similar conviction is represented in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign to put solar installations on a million California rooftops and in the agreement by the mayors of more than 165 American cities to honor the Kyoto Protocol and help develop renewable energy. Although the mall called 'Destiny' is still years away from opening, Congel's executives have already held talks with Schwarzenegger about exporting the franchise and have excited interest from developers in England and China.

Of course, Destiny's success could be bittersweet to some: if Congel has his way, the road to eco-paradise will not only be paved; it will be glassed-in, climate-controlled and lined with shops.

Portland's Green Success

Nicholas Kristoff writes in Today's NY Times about a Green Success story, that Bush should read about and adopt for the country.

"In 1993, Portland became the first local government in the United States to adopt a strategy to deal with climate change. The latest data, released a few weeks ago, show the results: Greenhouse gas emissions last year in Multnomah County, which includes Portland, dropped below the level of 1990, and per capita emissions were down 13 percent.

This was achieved partly by a major increase in public transit, including two light rail lines and a streetcar system. The city has also built 750 miles of bicycle paths, and the number of people commuting by foot or on bicycle has increased 10 percent.

Portland offers all city employees either a $25-per-month bus pass or car pool parking. Private businesses are told that if they provide employees with subsidized parking, they should also subsidize bus commutes.

The city has also offered financial incentives and technical assistance to anyone constructing a "green building" with built-in energy efficiency.

Then there are innumerable little steps, such as encouraging people to weatherize their homes. Portland also replaced the bulbs in the city's traffic lights with light-emitting diodes, which reduce electricity use by 80 percent and save the city almost $500,000 a year.

"Portland's efforts refute the thesis that you can't make progress without huge economic harm," says Erik Sten, a city commissioner. "It actually goes all the other way - to the extent Portland has been successful, the things that we were doing that happened to reduce emissions were the things that made our city livable and hence desirable."

Tanglewood Summer Eve

Last night we drove out to Tanglewood and on that quiet sultry summer night picnicked on the manicured lawn, then enjoyed a concert in the shed. Tanglewood is like no other place, greener, cleaner, and that certain summer ingredient was there. It was the the stillness, the clarity, the company of old and new friends, and the gourmet picnic we packed that made the night perfect.

Garrison Keilor was the headliner, this the last stop on his summer tour for Prairie Home companion. We've made this trip and enjoyed this concert for the past two years, here we were again under the shed while the bright sun still shone out over those on the lawn.

Keilor began that trademark ditty, 'It's Saturday, the band is playin', honey could we ask for more,' and all was right with the world.

Tantoos--for the Truly Sun Worshipful

Tantoos are a new rage down in Texas. Today's Wall Street Journal included this information, beginning with a story of how some Team Texas traveling high school wrestlers, on the eve of a match with rival Oklahoma, created Texas-shaped white spots by covering their hips and entering a tanning booth.

"I have a palm tree on my ankle and I get lots of, 'that's really cute,' says one posting on a website, www.iamtan.com, a home of serious sun worshippers. The adhesive backing, often left in the booths, annoy tanning shop employees. Said one: "I certainly don't want to pull off stupid Playboy Bunnies on my $5000 tanning bed."

Michelle Bryant, 23, has spent more than $700 on lotion and spent more than 960 minutes beneath a UV lamp. But her proudest achievement is her heart tantoo, below her pants in stark relief to her otherwise bronzed body. The tantoo, she said, "is like saying yeah I'm dark."

Da Big Kahuna

This big one did not get away. Thai fishermen netted a 646-pound catfish believed to have been the world's largest freshwater fish ever caught in Thailand, a researcher said Thursday. The AP reports:

The nearly 9-foot-long Mekong giant catfish was landed May 1 by villagers in Chiang Khong, a remote district in northern Thailand, and weighed by Thai fisheries department officials, said Zeb Hogan, who leads an international project to locate and study the world's largest freshwater fish species.

He confirmed it was the heaviest fish on record since Thailand started keeping such statistics in 1981.

The fishermen had hoped to sell the fish to environmental groups, which planned to release it to spawn upriver, but it died before it could be handed over and then was chopped up and sold in pieces to villagers as food.

"Loosen Up, Sandy Baby!"

This found on Yahoo News.

"Sandra Day O'Connor, retiring justice, played tennis and golf well, danced expertly with her husband, John, and made frequent appearances on the Washington party circuit.

O'Connor was embarrassed in 1989 after conservative Republicans in Arizona used a letter she had sent to support their claim that the United States is a "Christian nation."

The 1988 letter, which prompted some harsh criticism of O'Connor by legal scholars, cited three Supreme Court rulings in which the nation's Christian heritage was discussed.

O'Connor said she regretted the letter's use in a political debate. "It was not my intention to express a personal view on the subject of the inquiry," she said.

O'Connor's name was linked in 1985 with that of Washington Redskins football star John Riggins when at a formal dinner he was heard to tell the justice sharing his table, "Loosen up, Sandy baby."

Shortly thereafter, the women who participated with O'Connor at an 8 a.m. daily exercise class presented her with a tee-shirt that proclaimed: "Loosen up at the Supreme Court."

Story broken online wins Pulitzer

This from today's Cyberjournalist.net, a great site for the insider's view of the web. "A story first broken on the Internet won a Pulitzer Prize this week -- the first time this site believes this has ever happened.

The Willamette Week's Nigel Jaquiss won the Pulitzer Prize this week for investigative reporting for his work exposing a sexual relationship between former Gov. Neil Goldschmidt and a 14-year-old girl.

After a two-month investigation, the Week sent Goldschmidt a letter summarizing the story the paper had prepared and asked for comment. The next day, Goldschmidt resigned from the state's board of higher education and the Oregon Electric Utility Co. Fearing the weekly paper would be scooped by the local daily, The Willamette Week published the allegations online.

"Given our weekly production cycle, had we not posted, we might have had a harder time convincing people we broke the story," Jaquiss says.