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Blogmanac founded April 26, 2003.  I killed my TV before my TV killed me   |
*Ø* Blogmanac | The ugly truth of America's Camp Cropper Robert Fisk is a well known international journalist, and his report from Iraq is very disturbing. "Qais al-Salman ... hated Saddam, fled Iraq in 1976, then returned after the "liberation" with a briefcase literally full of plans to help in the restoration of his country's infrastructure and water purification system ..." Read Fisk's report on how this man was beaten up by the "liberators", and the camp the US won't let Amnesty International inspect.
*Ø* Blogmanac | You saw it here first  Well, the minimized, optimized version anwyay. The original is about half a megabyte and thus big for display in websites and emails; this one weighs in at a (still rather hefty) 49kb. To the artist who made the original, whoever you might be: more power to your (stick-like) arm, and I hope I've done it justice.
*Ø* Blogmanac | The Memory Hole Carries the Tale Officials admit 9/11 was avoidable; FBI research reports: High-Ranking Officials Admit 9/11 Could've Been Prevented Appearing one at a time, usually deep within articles, these quotations are now gathered in one place. Selected Titles of FBI Research Reports, 1953-60 Michael Ravnitzky reveals the existence of dozens of publicly unreleased FBI reports, mostly concerning communism, here.
*Ø* Blogmanac | 24 "Deceptions" In 704 words A Buzzflash Reader Commentary by Pete Goodwin "It took a lot of Prozac and Norvasc but I finally finished parsing the POTUS' "Denial and Deception" (their words, not mine) SOTU address. So, without further adieu, in order of their appearance, here are 24 "deceptions" in 704 words from the President's 2003 State of the Union Address"  1. "We will not deny, we will not ignore, we will not pass along our problems to other Congresses, to other presidents, and other generations." How about the nearly $7 trillion national debt that's increasing by $475 billion or more this year and every year that Bush remains in office. 2. "Our first goal is clear: We must have an economy that grows fast enough to employ every man and woman who seeks a job." Highest unemployment in a decade, climbing higher every month. 3. "…the best and fairest way to make sure Americans have that money is not to tax it away in the first place." Unless you're poor or middle class. 4. "92 million Americans will keep, this year, an average of almost $1,000 more of their own money." Bill Gates goes into a bar where nine unemployed workers are nursing their beers. "Whoopee we're rich!" shouts one of them. "The average net worth of every one in this room is 3 billion dollars." 5. "I ask you to end the unfair double taxation of dividends…" The federal government levies an income tax on the pay of every wage earner. That pay is then taxed again for Social Security, Medicare, State income tax, unemployment benefits, workers comp… That's sextuple taxation. Why not end that! 6. "…we continue to work together to keep Social Security sound and reliable…" Looted $150 billion from the "lockbox" this year alone.  7. "I have sent you Clear Skies legislation that mandates a 70-percent cut in air pollution from power plants over the next 15 years." Actually it allows increased air pollution from coal fired power plants. 8. "I have sent you a Healthy Forests Initiative, to help prevent the catastrophic fires that devastate communities, kill wildlife, and burn away millions of acres of treasured forest…" Allows logging of previously protected national forests. 9. "I urge you to pass both my faith-based initiative and the Citizen Service Act…" Which violates the Constitutional guarantee of separation of church and state. 10. "In Afghanistan, we helped liberate an oppressed people. And we will continue helping them secure their country, rebuild their society…" Still not liberated outside of Kabul, not secure and not even remotely rebuilt two years after we "won" the war.  11. "We have the terrorists on the run. We're keeping them on the run." Osama and Saddam don't seem out of breath to me. 12. "And this year, for the first time, we are beginning to field a defense to protect this nation against ballistic missiles." The experts agree, it won't work and will cost billions more than projected. 13. "Our government must have the very best [mis]information possible…" 14. "Today, the gravest danger in the war on terror, the gravest danger facing America and the world, is outlaw regimes that seek and possess nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons." I agree, but the regime is in Korea, not Iraq. 15. "Once again, we are called to defend the safety of our people, and the hopes of all mankind." Our people are now less safe and mankind is mainly hoping for the removal of GW and his gang. 16. "Our nation and the world must learn the lessons of the Korean Peninsula and not allow an even greater threat to rise up in Iraq…" How about we learn the lessons of the Korean Peninsula and deal with Korea, an actual bona fide threat unlike Iraq. 17. "The United Nations concluded in 1999 that Saddam Hussein had biological weapons sufficient to produce over 25,000 liters of anthrax ... 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin…materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent …upwards of 30,000 munitions capable of delivering chemical agents."  Hmmm, still haven't found any WMD, not even a little one. 18. "Saddam Hussein had an advanced nuclear weapons development program…The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa. Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production." Wow, a trifecta of deception in one paragraph. 19. "Evidence from intelligence sources, secret communications, and statements by people now in custody reveal that Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists, including members of al Qaeda." Intelligence sources like Karl Rove and Paul Wolfowitz? 20. "…for the safety of our people and for the peace of the world, we will lead a coalition to disarm him." Where would we be if it weren't for those brave fighting troops of Palau, Tongo and the Solomon Islands? 21. "We seek peace. We strive for peace." So we wage an unproved war? 22. "…if war is forced upon us, we will fight with the full force and might of the United States military -- and we will prevail." Forced on us? Prevail? 23. "And as we and our coalition partners are doing in Afghanistan, we will bring to the Iraqi people food and medicines and supplies -- and freedom." Not enough food, medicine, supplies or freedom to go around in either Afghanistan or Iraq. 24. "Americans are a free people, who know that freedom is the right of every person and the future of every nation." Unless your government enacts a "Patriot Act." Source
*Ø* Blogmanac July 24, 1725 | John Newton, clergyman, writer of Amazing Grace Amazing grace, how sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me, I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see. Full text (including the true original) I suppose you know that Gilligan's Island can also be sung to this tune.
*Ø* Blogmanac | The vagina monoliths Was Stonehenge an ancient sex symbol?  "Stonehenge has dominated the Wiltshire landscape for more than 4,000 years and is one of the world's most important heritage sites, but its purpose has remained a mystery. "Some researchers have claimed the stone circles were used as a giant computer; others that Stonehenge was an observatory for studying stars and predicting the seasons; and a few have even argued that its rings acted as a docking pad for alien spaceships. "Now a University of British Columbia researcher who has investigated the great prehistoric monument for several years has announced he has uncovered its true meaning: it is a giant fertility symbol, constructed in the shape of the female sexual organ." Source
*Ø* Blogmanac July 24 | Feast of St Christina the Astonishing (Mirabilis) Any reader who has incurred the wrath of a father will relate to this saint, as will anyone who has been thrown into a furnace for five days, had their tongue cut out and been rescued by angels. Christina’s father, Urban, a devout pagan, had a number of golden idols. Oddly defying the Fifth Commandment, eleven-year-old Christina broke them, then distributed the pieces among the poor. Infuriated by this pre-adolescent petulance, father became the persecutor of his own daughter, having her beaten with sticks and thrown into a dungeon – reasonable enough so far, I hear you say. Christina remained unshaken in her Christian faith, so Urban had her body torn by iron hooks, then fastened to a rack above a fire. In case any dad reading should try this at home, one notes that the flames shot back toward the onlookers, and several of them died. I myself have only ever done this when my daughter broke some of my best idols, and she was fully 17 at the time. Christina was thrown into the lake of Bolsena in Tuscany, Italy, but was rescued by an angel and seen wearing a stole and walking on the water, accompanied by several angels. Hearing she was still alive, wicked Urban died in a painful paroxysm, making my point about being discerning with punishments.  Oh no, not another torment guy! Urban was succeeded by another judge, Dyon, who persecuted her even more (then miraculously died), following which there was another persecutor, named Julian, who cried “Magician! Adore the gods, or I will put you to death!” Apparently deciding to stick with the strength, Christina was thrown in a raging furnace, and survived five days of burning. Serpents and vipers were thrown into her prison but did not touch her, instead killing the magician who had brought them there, but she restored him to life after first converting him. Finally, her tongue was cut out. Had her father lived I’m certain he would never have done this, though parents of 11-year-olds will understand the tempation. At Tyro, a city which formerly stood on an island in the lake of Bolsena, but has since been drowned by the waters, Christina was eventually killed with arrows, and in art she may be portrayed with arrows, with a millstone, or her other symbol, a knife. The legend of St Christina is actually that of St Christine of Tyre (cf Tyro), imported from the Eastern Church and adapted to local traditions in Tuscany. Both legends are tales of physical ordeals and miraculous happenings. The legend dates to the late-4th Century at Bolsena where recent archaeological evidence has shown that the patron of St Christina’s Church was indeed venerated there in medieval times. A miracle occurred in her church in 1263 when the sacrament turned to blood, and the stains are still to be seen on the floor. Or, so it is said. Pip Wilson's articles are available for your publication, on application. Further details Receive similar items free each day with a free subscription to Wilson's Almanac ezine. Send a blank email Wednesday, July 23, 2003
*Ø* Blogmanac July 23 | Festival of the Neptunalia and Salacia, ancient Rome Tethys bore to Okeanos the swirling Potamoi ... She brought forth also a race apart of daughters. Theogony 337-346 A day for the Roman Sea God, Neptune, and his wife Salacia, goddess of the open sea. Inland, she rules over springs of highly mineralized waters. The goddess Sulis, worshipped at the sacred hot springs at Bath, England, appears to be an aspect of Salacia. In the northern tradition, Neptune and Salacia are equivalent to the Norse god, Aegir, and his consort, Ran. The Romans celebrated mostly with al fresco events today, although the poet Horace (Odes 3.28) preferred to stay home with a girlfriend and superior wine. To the Greeks, the sea god was Okeanos, the great fresh water river encircling the earth, and his wife was Tethys, goddess of the nursing the young and of the underground flow of fresh water. She was called Tethys the loveley, and lovely haired Tethys. *Ø* Blogmanac July 23 | Sun enters Leo  Leo: Lion's Head Fountains We often see in fountains the water flowing from a lion’s mouth. This ancient custom originates with the Egyptians who used this device to symbolize the inundation of the Nile, which happens when the Sun is in Leo (23 July to 22 August). The Greeks and Romans adopted the style for their fountains, and it was passed through the European nations. How many zodiac signs are there? The Real Constellations of the Zodiac John Mosley of the Griffith Observatory and the Belgian astronomer Jean Meeus investigated this question in 1999 and found that the planets (minus Pluto) actually pass through 24 constellations. Pip Wilson's articles are available for your publication, on application. Further details Receive similar items free each day with a free subscription to Wilson's Almanac ezine. Send a blank email
*Ø* Blogmanac July 23, 1987 | Poindexter says "Ummmmm" Convicted gunrunner and liar to the American people, US Admiral John Poindexter, was reported to have used the phrase "I can't recall”, or some variation thereof, 184 times during his five days of testimony in the Iran-Contra scandal hearings. Poindexter lost his job as National Security Adviser under Ronald Reagan, and was convicted of conspiracy, lying to Congress, defrauding the government, and destroying evidence. In 1990, the convictions were overturned as Congress had given him immunity in exchange for his testimony, despite the fact that his evidence to Congress turned out to be untrue.  On February 13, 2002, President George W Bush found the admiral admirable, and appointed him Big Brother – Director of the Pentagon's Terrorism Information Awareness Office. Beset by international ridicule, and with an eye to public relations, the US government has changed the name from Total Information Awareness Office to convey more convincingly the impression that its purpose is related to terrorism. Online pranksters have published John Poindexter's home phone number, photos of his house and other personal information to protest the TIA program. Scandal? What Scandal? Bush's Iran-Contra appointees are barely a story An Interesting Day President Bush’s movements and actions on September 11, 2001  New from Cafe Diem! Visit Café Diem for your toddler’s Total Awareness Information logo T-shirt. Also mugs available. “On February 13, 2002, Americans were warned that our nation was facing the threat of danger to homeland security. Three hours later it happened, but nobody told America.That day, John M. Poindexter was appointed Director of the Pentagon's Information Awareness Office.” Source
*Ø* Blogmanac | Blair Denies Leaking Scientist's Name HONG KONG/LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair angrily denied suggestions on Tuesday that he allowed David Kelly's name to be leaked to media in a row over the Iraq war which apparently drove the scientist to suicide. As opinion polls showed his personal rating being hammered, Blair told reporters during a flight to Hong Kong he believed he had done nothing wrong. "Emphatically not. I did not authorize the leaking of the name of David Kelly," he replied sharply in response to reporters' questions. An ICM poll in the Guardian newspaper on Tuesday showed public trust in Blair -- once one of the most popular premiers in British history -- slumped by 12 points in the past month to 39 percent. It also showed Blair's personal approval rating had dropped to minus 17, down from plus seven on the so-called "Baghdad Bounce" immediately after the war. Blair's denial of any involvement in the naming of Kelly appeared to conflict with comments on Monday by his official spokesman, who said the prime minister's office had been consulted about the process which led to Kelly being named, but that the Ministry of Defense had made the decision. "We were consulted but the Ministry of Defense were the lead department and remained the lead department," he said in London. British newspapers interpreted that as an attempt by Blair's team to place responsibility for the name leak at Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon's door. Source
*Ø* Blogmanac | Time for legal limbo to end The possibility of the US administration suspending legal proceedings against UK nationals held in Guantánamo Bay raises more questions than it answers, Amnesty International has said, while reiterating its absolute opposition to the USA's proposals for trials by military commissions. On 3 July, the Pentagon announced that President Bush had named six foreign nationals -- currently in US custody -- as the first people to be subject to the Military Order he signed in November 2001 providing for indefinite detention without charge or trial of people suspected of involvement in "international terrorism" or trial by military commissions. These executive bodies will have the power to hand down death sentences against which there would be no right of appeal to any court. It emerged that two of the named prisoners were UK nationals, Moazzam Begg and Feroz Abbasi, causing huge concern in the United Kingdom. No charges have yet been levelled against any of the six detainees, and no military commissions appointed. "We call on the US government not just to suspend its plans for military commissions, but to rule out such unfair trials altogether, once and for all," Amnesty International said. "We stress that such proceedings should not just be ruled out in the case of UK nationals, but for any of the hundreds of foreign nationals held in US custody in Guantánamo Bay, in Bagram Air Base, and in undisclosed locations around the world." Amnesty International repeated its call for all those held in US custody to be given access to legal counsel and to be able to challenge the lawfulness of their detention in a court of law. If suspected of crimes, they should be charged with recognizably criminal offences and brought to trial within a reasonable time, in proceedings which fully meet international standards for fair trial and without recourse to the death penalty, or else they should be released. Only a few days ago, President Bush said of the Guantánamo detainees that "the only thing I know for certain is that these are bad people". "By once again showing utter disregard for the presumption of innocence, President Bush has shown why justice will neither be done nor be seen to be done if the trials by military commissions go ahead," Amnesty International stressed, pointing out that the executive, led by President Bush, completely controls the commissions and takes the final decision on any verdicts handed down, including on whether a condemned defendant lives or dies. "It is time for this legal limbo to end, and for the USA to admit it took a wrong turning with the November 2001 Military Order," Amnesty International continued. "International security is best served by full adherence to international law and respect for fundamental human rights standards". Guantánamo Bay: Urge the USA to guarantee fair trials for all! Take action here Tuesday, July 22, 2003
*Ø* Blogmanac | Shrub's 2003 Africa safari  "THE PRESIDENT: Good morning, and thank you for tuning in. I especially want to thank the tens of fives of you listening on America's two remaining black-owned radio stations. They'll be returning to their regular hippity-rap-hop lineup just as soon as this carefully targeted stump speech is over. "Earlier today, Mrs. Bush and I returned from our week-long trip to the nation of Africa" I got it here
*Ø* Blogmanac July 22, 1376 | The Pied Piper came to Hamelin (Dates vary widely) The Pied Piper came to Hamelin (Hamlin), Brunswick, Germany, and led the children out of town. The story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin was popularised in English by the poet Robert Browning in his narrative poem of that name.  It comes from an old German legend translated into English in 1605 by Richard Verstegan, who gave this as the date. (A 14th-century account gives the date as June 26, 1284.) The oldest remaining source is a note in Latin prose, made one and a half centuries later (1430-1450) as an addition to a 14th-century manuscript from Lüneburg. We do know that something remarkable happened in medieval Hamelin that changed the town forever. Somehow, 130 of the town's children were taken away, and the grief imprinted itself on the village's soul such that even the town church had a stained-glass window installed that showed the children being led away by this stranger. The stranger, dressed in pied, or multicoloured, clothing, offered to rid the town of Hamelin of its plague of rats, for an agreed price. He played his pipe and the rats followed his beguiling tune down to the WeserRiver, all drowning. The burghers of Hamelin refused to pay the piper, so he began piping his charming song and the town’s children, entranced, followed him to a mountain cave, which as if by magic sealed itself shut. Many people have proposed explanations for the famous legend. Perhaps the most likely is that the Bishop Bruno of Olmütz (now Olomouc) went on a Crusade recruitment drive for his diocese. Many family names in Olomouc bear a strikingly similarity to those in Hamelin. According to one writer, early editions of Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ascribed the origin of the expression ‘to pay the piper’ (to be made accountable) to the Hamelin legend, but in the centenary edition did not. (It does appear in the online Dictionary, here.)It is probably more likely that the expression derives from the practice of paying itinerant pipe musicians for a song, as in the fuller expression, ‘He who pays the piper calls the tune”. More on this by Prof. Wolfgang Mieder. More
*Ø* Blogmanac July 22 | Global Day of Action Against Killer Coke  "This Tuesday, July 22, sees the launch of a global campaign to boycott Coca Cola products in solidarity with Colombian trade unionists. Last year, 184 Colombia unionists were assassinated by paramilitaries just for being trade unionists. Over 4000 have been murdered since 1986. The boycott has been called by SINALTRAINAL, a Colombian foodworkers union currently suing two Colombian-based Coca-Cola bottlers - Bebidas y Alimentos and Panamerican Beverages - in US courts over their alleged role in the murder of trade unionists by right-wing paramilitaries." Read on
*Ø* Blogmanac | The world's top microbiologists are dying More on Dr David Kelly following Nora's report on the British scandal that is embroiling Tony Bland and his war machine (below)  "Mr Mangold also revealed Dr Kelly had been taken to a safe house but "he hadn't liked that, he wanted to come home."" Source Why was David Kelly in a safe house? More on Kelly The world's top microbiologists are dying Defence Secretary ordered outing of Kelly What the papers say about the row over David Kelly's death Even Voice of America is reporting this story! Balochistan Post in Pakistan reports it as murder 10 Downing Street media release At time of posting, Indymedia UK has nothing at all on the subject Neither does Indymedia Central, USA nor Yellow Times
*Ø* Blogmanac | Impeach? Did someone say impeach? Bush deserves to be impeached By ERIC MARGOLIS -- Contributing Foreign Editor 07/20/03: "Worse than a crime, it was a blunder," was how the cynical Talleyrand famously described Napoleon's murder of the Duke d'Enghien. The same may be said of President George Bush's attempts to murder the leader of a sovereign nation, Saddam Hussein, and his foolhardy eagerness to invade Iraq. Thanks to Bush's blundering, nearly 50% of U.S. Army combat units are now stuck in a spreading guerrilla war in Iraq , costing $4 billion US monthly, that is becoming the biggest, most expensive, and bloodiest foreign mess since Vietnam. This when the U.S. is threatening military action against North Korea. As the furor in Washington grows over Bush's admission of now-discredited claims about Iraqi uranium imports from Africa in his keynote state of the union address, administration officials are viciously blaming one another. George Tenet, the CIA's meek director, became the fall guy for the uranium fiasco, though he repeatedly warned the White House its claims were unsubstantiated. Blame rightly belongs to Bush himself, and to his woefully inadequate national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice. Either they knew the uranium story was false, or they were unfit for high office. For one thing, uranium ore is no more threatening than cake mix. To weaponize it, ore must be laboriously transformed into uranium hexafluoride gas, then separated and enriched in huge, highly visible plants, equipped with "cascades" of thousands of high-speed centrifuges. The U.S. knew there were no such nuclear plants in Iraq. French intelligence warned it the Niger story was bogus. Nor had Iraq any means of delivering nuclear or biowarfare weapons. In short, Iraq had zero offensive capability, and posed zero threat. At the time, Bush's critics, including this column, dismissed as hogwash his claims Iraq was an "imminent threat" to the U.S. We were denounced as "unpatriotic" and "friends of Saddam" in the pro-war press. Former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter, who challenged White House lies, was vilified and smeared with loathsome personal attacks by the neo-con U.S. media. The Niger uranium story may have come from Vice President Dick Cheney's office. Three days before the invasion of Iraq, Cheney actually claimed Iraq "has reconstituted nuclear weapons." As the Niger uranium scandal grows, it is increasingly clear the White House's campaign to drive Americans into an unjustified, unnecessary war had nothing to do with Iraq's alleged weapons, nor its internal repression. Whipping boy Bush's crusade against Iraq was designed to assuage Americans' fury and fear over 9/11 by making Saddam Hussein a whipping boy for the attack in which he had no part. The jolly little wars against Afghanistan and Iraq were also designed to make Americans forget the Bush White House had been caught with its pants down by 9/11, and was asleep at the switch in the Enron financial disaster. Who now remembers that Attorney General John Ashcroft actually cut spending on anti-terrorism before 9/11, or that Washington was giving millions to the Taliban until four months before 9/11? How better to get Americans to support a war than by insinuating, as did Bush, that Iraq was responsible for 9/11, and claiming Saddam was about to attack the U.S. with weapons of mass destruction? A pre-emptive attack on Iraq was urgent to save America, insisted Bush. A weak-kneed Congress and credulous public went along with White House warmongering, while the spineless UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, and UN arms inspector Hans Blix wriggled like jellyfish. Most Democrats, including some presidential candidates, joined Bush's lynch mob. It was not just the Niger canard. A torrent of lies poured from the administration, all aimed at justifying a war of aggression, thwarting the UN Security Council, ending UN inspections in Iraq and grabbing Iraq's oil riches. Virtually all administration claims about Iraq's weapons had been disproved by UN inspectors before Bush went to war. Exposed as fakery are the "drones of death;" aluminum tubes for centrifuges; chemical munitions bunkers; mobile germ labs; hidden Scuds; links to al-Qaida and "poison camps;" Saddam's smallpox; Saddam's secret nuclear program. And the biggest canard of all: Bush's absurd claims there was "no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised," and that it "threatened all mankind." Thanks to the shameful complicity of the U.S. media, which amplified White House propaganda, Americans were led to believe Iraq attacked the U.S. on 9/11, and was in league with al-Qaida. Bush's faux war on terrorism was redirected, by clever White House spin, into a hugely popular campaign against Iraq. The failure to kill terrorist leader Osama bin Laden was covered up by the rush to kill Saddam. The litany of lies produced by the White House and its neo-con allies would be farcical were it not for the deaths of so many Americans and Iraqis. Of course, all politicians lie. But lying to get one's country into an unnecessary war is an outrage, and ought to be an impeachable offence. Source [My two cents: "Of course, all politicians lie." It's interesting to go back to the archives and compare speeches and news items from the past to what we're hearing today--interesting and shocking and frightening! Take, for example, the following remarks made by Bush at a ceremony honoring economist Dr. Milton Friedman on May 2, 2002: "Milton Friedman has used a brilliant mind to advance a moral vision: the vision of a society where men and women are free, free to choose, but where government is not as free to override their decisions. That vision has changed America, and it is changing the world." Hmmmm........... What a difference a year makes. Now, just a little over one year later, we are very aware of all the surveillance and police state tactics in place which allow the government to override the decisions of the people at every turn; where any freedoms to choose are determined by the Patriot Act. Many of these tactics have been implemented in Britain and Australia, as well. Moral vision? The White House has no moral vision! As Dwight Eisenhower tried to warn us decades ago, the military industrial complex has taken the place of we, the people. IT does whatever it wants for its own greedy purposes with little, if any, thought to the welfare of the people--except when it comes to taking away jobs, raising taxes and spending our money and our "cannon fodder" on military means of creating projects for their friends' corrupt companies to earn obscene amounts of money while not paying taxes. That's the "big picture" that all the little issues that fill the mainstream media are designed to distract us from understanding. As my favorite 20th Century philosopher used to say, "I don't want to get on a rant, here. It's just my opinion. I could be wrong." -- Dennis Miller -v]
*Ø* Blogmanac | Blair says he won't resign over suicide  LONDON (AP) -- Prime Minister Tony Blair said he would take full responsibility if an inquiry finds the government contributed to the suicide of scientist David Kelly -- identified Sunday by the BBC as its main source in accusing the government of hyping weapons evidence to justify war in Iraq. Blair, dogged on his trip through east Asia by angry charges about the Ministry of Defense adviser's death, said he has no intention of resigning over the dispute, as some critics at home have demanded. He welcomed the BBC's announcement, which temporarily shifted the angriest public criticism from his administration to the broadcaster, whose credibility came under attack. "In the end, the government is my responsibility and I can assure you the judge (heading the inquiry) will be able to get to what facts, what people, what papers he wants," Blair told Sky News. The prime minister also said at a joint news conference with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun in Seoul that he would testify in the investigation. Kelly's suicide has visibly shaken Blair, who learned of it at the start of an exhausting Asian trip after flying first across the Atlantic to give a speech to the U.S. Congress. He appeared tense and preoccupied during appearances Saturday in Japan, and his characteristic wide grins were replaced by a withering glare when a reporter shouted: "Have you got blood on your hands, prime minister?" Blair's government and the state-funded BBC have been embroiled in a bitter, drawn-out battle over a May 29 radio report by journalist Andrew Gilligan. The report quoted an anonymous source as saying officials had "sexed up" evidence about Iraqi weapons to justify war and insisted on publishing a claim that Saddam Hussein could deploy some chemical and biological weapons within 45 minutes -- despite intelligence experts' doubts.  After Kelly, a quiet, bearded microbiologist with a sterling international reputation, told his Ministry of Defense bosses he'd spoken to Gilligan, the ministry identified him as a possible source for the report. Kelly was questioned by a parliamentary committee, and just days later, on Friday, police found his body in the woods near his Oxfordshire home. They said he bled to death from a slashed left wrist. Source "How can an inquiry into Dr Kelly's death fail to examine the reasons for war? The Government has not quite crossed the Rubicon but is wading about in midstream in its efforts to confine the inquiry. Lord Hutton has been asked to do the impossible. He has been handed the job of inquiring into the events that led to the tragic death of Dr David Kelly, and in the same breath has been warned off looking into the events that led up to the war on Iraq. It would take a combination of the judgement of Solomon and the skills of precision engineering to keep these two lines of inquiry in separate compartments." quoting Robin Cook at Independent.co.uk Monday, July 21, 2003
*Ø* Blogmanac | Understanding Chechnya  Almost always when the mainstream media report on Chechnya, it seems to me that they ignore the historical background. This brief chronology is useful as an introduction to understanding the war, and this list of links is very good as well.
*Ø* Blogmanac July 21 | Mayan New Year*  In Central America lived the Mayan people, whose sophisticated calendar was central not only to their timekeeping, but indeed to their entire culture. For the Maya, each day, year, decade and millennium was controlled by its own deity. To calculate which deity presided over a particular unit of time, a calendar was maintained. This calendar, which, like our was a solar, or sun-based calendar (unlike lunar or soli-lunar calendars of some other cultures), was of 365 days. Every 52nd solar new year, which might fall in any season, was considered dangerous, for it was a time that the gods might disengage form their other pursuits, and bring time to an end. Apparently, the fears of the Maya were without foundation we are still here. Or, so it is said. * Variable Great Mayan calendar site The Planet Directory has a section on almanacs and calendars Celebratory day of Damo Born on Museum Street in Crotona, Italy, Damo of Croton was the daughter of Greek philosopher and mathematician, Pythagoras of Samos, and his wife Theano. All of his secrets were entrusted to her at his death. Damo wrote treatises on the construction of a regular tetrahedron and the construction of a cube, and a book on advanced geometry, An Account of Pythagoras. Pip Wilson's articles are available for your publication, on application. Further details Receive similar items free each day with a free subscription to Wilson's Almanac ezine. Send a blank email Don't let the awkward squad fire over my grave. Robert Burns's last words; he died on this day in 1796 Any breakdown is a breakthrough. Marshall McLuhan, Canadian media analyst, born on July 21, 1911 Cocaine is God's way of telling you you are making too much money. Robin Williams, Scottish-born American comic actor, born on July 21, 1952
*Ø* Blogmanac | Recent googles that found the Blogmanac 15 Jul, Tue, 08:21:10 Google: hulk sun news manhood spain "united kingdom" 15 Jul, Tue, 05:00:26 Google: Guilin Latex Co 15 Jul, Tue, 19:46:31 Google: 2003 emails and links of medical doctors in Solomon Islands 15 Jul, Tue, 23:54:59 Google: guestbook of past president hong kong bowling congress 2003 16 Jul, Wed, 11:53:21 Google: 2003 email address and guestbook of businessmen in poland
*Ø* Blogmanac July 21,1969 | What did Armstrong really say?  These are some of the most famous, and most eloquent, words ever uttered, indelibly engraved on the global consciousness by Neil Armstrong on that day in July 1969. And yet, if he said “… one small step for man”, leaving out the indefinite article, the sentence doesn’t make much sense. What did he really say, and were his words scripted for him by PR suits at NASA? In an article in the December 1983 Esquire, author George Plimpton revealed all. The words were all of Armstrong's own composition, according to the publicity-shy astronaut himself, as well as his colleagues and NASA officials. Armstrong didn't even consider what he might say until after he and Buzz Aldrin landed on the lunar surface, because, he wasn't sure he would get a chance to speak on the moon at all. “I thought the chances of a successful touchdown on the moon's surface were about even money - fifty-fifty,” Armstrong told Plimpton, “An awful lot of the puzzle had not been filled in; so much had not even been tried. Most people don’t realise how difficult the mission was. So it didn’t seem to me there was much point in thinking up something to say if we’d have to abort the landing.” As for the words: it sounded like he said “That's one small step for man”, rather than “for a man”, which would have made more sense. In fact, Armstrong claims that he did say “That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind” (the way it appears in every book of quotable quotes issued since 1969). He told Esquire that the ‘a’ went missing in the transmission, which was through a voice-activated system called VOX. “Vox can lose you a syllable every so often,” Armstrong explained – thus ending another of life’s little mysteries. Do you think Armstrong’s version is true? Listen and let us know what you think. Neil Armstrong walked on the moon at 0256 hours Universal Time on Monday, July 21, (but in the USA it was Sunday July 20) 1969, or Julian Day 2,440,423. Together with Universal Time (formerly Greenwich Mean Time), astronomers use this time scale (which has nothing to do with the calendar of Julius Caesar) to obviate the dating problems that exist from the perspective of Planet Earth with its dateline and different timezones. It was developed by Joseph Scaliger (1554-1609); no one knows why he chose to start his system from January 1, 4713 BC, nor why he named it after his father, Julius. Who was that other guy? It's said that at the 25th anniversary celebration of the first moon walk, at the White House, in July 1994, Armstrong and Aldrin went in to meet Bill Clinton, while the other guy just circled the block in the car. Armstrong in the news today Pip Wilson's articles are available for your publication, on application. Further details Receive similar items free each day with a free subscription to Wilson's Almanac ezine. Send a blank email Sunday, July 20, 2003
*Ø* Blogmanac | Loch Ness discovery  "London: Traces of a 150-million-year-old water-dwelling dinosaur - believed to have been a 10.5 metre-long plesiosaur - have been found on the banks of Scotland's Loch Ness. "The Jurassic-era fossil of four perfectly-preserved vertebrae was found by a man who plucked it from shallow water on the bank of the loch. "Gerald McSorley, 67, turned it over to the National Museum of Scotland, who are conducting tests on the rare find, the first of its kind in Scotland for more than a century. "However, scientists say the bones are definitely not those of Nessie, the lake's legendary monster." Read more *Ø* Blogmanac | China's 'Loch Ness Monster' resurfaces "China's legendary 'Lake Tianchi Monster' has surfaced anew, with local officials reporting sightings of as many as 20 of the mysterious and unidentified creatures in a lake near North Korea. "Sightings of the strange beast - China's version of the 'Loch Ness Monster' - date back more than a century, but like Scotland's famed "Nessie" reports vary and remain unconfirmed. "On the morning of July 11, several local government cadres caught sight of a school of mysterious creatures swimming through the lake in the Changbai mountains, in northeastern Jilin province, the Beijing Youth Daily said." Source
*Ø* Blogmanac July 20 | Feast day of St Margaret  Margaret was a virgin martyr of the third century, known to Greeks as St Marina. Olybrius, governor of Antioch, loved her beauty; being rejected, he put her in a dungeon where the Devil came to her in the form of a dragon. She held up the cross and the dragon fled. Her flower, according to the folklorist Hone, is the Virginian dragon's head; Dracocephalus virginianum.Folklorist Waverly Fitzgerald writes that the plant, wheatfield poppy, supposedly sprang from the blood of the dragon she slew. Long before, it was dedicated to Diana and Demeter as the source of healing sleep and death. Her other flower, the daisy, is also called in France La belle Marguerite. Margaret is the matron saint of childbirth. Picture: Saints Michael and Margaret killing the 'Devil as Dragon' in Lindfield Church Feast day of St Wilgefortis, or Uncumber Wilgefortis, daughter of the King of Portugal, made a vow of chastity. When her father tried to make her marry she prayed for deliverance and immediately grew a copious beard. Her suitors fled and her father had her crucified. Known in England as Uncumber or Liberata, she was invoked by women who wanted to ‘uncumber’ themselves of suitors or troublesome husbands. The story and feast day of St Uncumber might derive from the stories of the Corinthian Aphrodite who grew a beard and impregnated women. Osorezan Taisai, Bodai-ji Temple, Mutsu-shi, Aomori, Japan, July 20-24 Mt Osorezan is believed to be a gathering-place for dead souls – a gateway to the dead. Women mediators called Itako help visitors hear the voice of the dead relatives. The pathway to the summit is studded with pinwheels placed by parents praying for deceased children. During the Grand Festival several dozen blind female shamans (itako) act as the mediums of communication, clicking their strings of beads as they enter a trancelike state and convey messages from the spirits to grieving relatives. More
*Ø* Blogmanac July 20 | Fiesta at Monastery of Profitis Ilias, Cycladic island of Thera or Santorini A great annual religious fiesta when all visitors are invited to join the islanders in a meal of a traditional dried pea and onion soup, followed by dancing of the traditional Syrto and Repati folk dances. In 1628 BC there was a huge volcanic eruption on Santorini that was estimated to have had three times the force of the 1883 Krakatoa explosion. (Krakatoa was heard over 7.5 per cent of the world’s surface.) Some authorities believe the Santorini explosion might have given rise to the Atlantis legend.
*Ø* Blogmanac July 20, 1549 | The Norfolk Rising (or Commotion), aka Ket’s Rebellion Kings are wont to pardon wicked persons, not innocent men. We have done nothing to deserve such a pardon. We have been guilty of no crime.Robert Ket, whose Norfolk rebellion was at a high point on July 20, 1549 1549 The Norfolk Rising (or Commotion), aka Ket’s Rebellion  At Mousehold, England, a herald of the king was turned away, his message of conciliation from the monarch to some 16-20,000 rural insurrectionists rejected. The herald had promised the king's pardon to all who would depart quietly to their homes. The rebellion of farmers and farm workers was aimed at bringing attention to the economic problems faced by agricultural workers in East Anglia. Like the Diggers (founded exactly one century later, in 1649 by Gerard Winstanley) and even the rather more conservative Levellers, the rebels demanded the abolition of land enclosures, the end of private ownership of land, and the dismissal of counsellors. A commonwealth was established on Mousehold Heath. The ‘commotion’ was led by Robert Ket (or Kett), a fairly prosperous landowner (he held the manor of Wymondham in Norfolk) and tanner, and he and his followers occupied the city of Norwich, but were defeated on August 25 by the overwhelming military power of the Earl of Warwick. They had met daily under ‘the Oak of Reformation’, upon which many of them were later hanged. Robert Kett was executed at Norwich, and his body was hanged on the top of the castle on December 7, 1549. More Land and Freedom Pages Wikipedia on the Diggers Wikipedia on the Levellers Modern Diggers Pip Wilson's articles are available for your publication, on application. Further details Receive similar items free each day with a free subscription to Wilson's Almanac ezine. Send a blank email Would you like to help? If you think the Blogmanac ain't too bad, will you take five minutes and write a brief review at Blogarama please? We feel there are a lot of people who would enjoy visiting us but, of course, there is no money for promotion. Your Blogarama review will probably help us crank up the ol' word of mouth. Also, it helps us know what you love or hate there (don't hate anything). Thanks heaps.
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