Wandering Whale Scrapbook

Well Arts Fundraiser in November

2009-12-21T15:25:00.000-08:00

Seaside 4th of July

2009-07-04T23:23:00.000-07:00

vids of the ocean

2009-07-04T17:58:00.000-07:00

move to seaside

2009-07-02T00:52:00.000-07:00

Cut Off The DNC's Money! - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

2009-06-29T12:39:00.001-07:00

Cut Off The DNC's Money! - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

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Feliciana Basset

2009-06-29T00:03:00.000-07:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/81127501@N00/sets/72157620569101427/

I miss her sooooooo much. Its now been a little over a year since she went to live with another family.......

dragon park

2009-06-27T19:36:00.000-07:00

Super diver

2009-06-27T13:40:00.000-07:00

Making Pizza with my aunt, niece and nephew

2009-06-26T22:08:00.000-07:00

BBQ with Neen and Tim at the Cabbin

2009-06-23T19:34:00.000-07:00

Neen and Tim drove down to our Devil's lake cabbin for some R&R. We cooked up a storm

neen and tim on the lake

What up Yahoo? This stinks! The case of Shi Tao and how Yahoo gave China what it needed to jail him

2009-06-18T01:18:00.000-07:00

Shi Tao

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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For other uses, see Shitao.

Shi Tao (simplified Chinese: 师涛; traditional Chinese: 師濤; pinyin: Shī Tāo; born 25 July 1968) is a mainland Chinese journalist, writer and poet, who in 2005 was sentenced to imprisonment for 10 years for releasing a document of the Communist Party to an overseas Chinese democracy site after Yahoo! China provided his personal details to the Chinese government.

[hide]

[edit] Brief history

Shi Tao was born in Yanchi County (盐池县), Wuzhong, Ningxia province in 1968. He studied at East China Normal University in Shanghai. He graduated in July 1991, and was married in 1994.

Shi Tao works in Fushun Institute of Technology during 1997-99 but moved to Canada with family for personal reasons.

On October 18, 2005, the Committee to Protect Journalists announced that Shi was one of four winners of the 2005 CPJ International Press Freedom Awards.^[1] The Committee's website states he will be officially presented with the award when he is released from prison.^[2]

In March 2006, he was given the Vasyl Stus Award. On November 28, 2006, he was given the Golden Pen of Freedom Award by the World Association of Newspapers.

[edit] Arrest and imprisonment

In 2004 at the age of 37, Shi Tao was working for the Contemporary Business News in the Hunan province of China.

On April 20, 2004, the Chinese government released the Number 11 document "A notice concerning the work for maintaining stability" (关于当前稳定工作的通知). In the document, it warned journalists that overseas pro-democracy Chinese dissidents may come back to mainland China during the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989 on June 4, which would affect the politico-social order's stability. It asked all news media to not report anything regarding the so-called "June 4th event", Falun Gong or people calling for politico-social change. Shi used his private Yahoo! email account and sent a brief of the document to an overseas web site called Asia Democracy Foundation.

When the Chinese government found out, it demanded the sender's personal information from Yahoo!'s Hong Kong office. Yahoo! turned the information over without asking what it was for. Shortly thereafter, Shi Tao was detained on November 24, 2004. The Chinese authorities confiscated his computer and documents without showing any proper permit or document, and warned his family members not to talk about it with others. He was formally arrested on December 14.

His lawyer, Guo Guoting (郭国汀), famous for taking human rights cases, stated that the search and seizure and subsequent arrest were illegal. As a result, his license to practice law was suspended for one year by Shanghai's Department of Law. He was later put under house arrest, and one of his co-workers had to take over the case.

On March 11, 2005, Hunan Changsha Intermediate People's Court held its first hearing secretly. It lasted for two hours. Shi Tao's mother and brothers came all the way from Ningxia to Changsha, but they were not permitted to go inside and observe. After the hearing was over, Shi was permitted ten minutes of private time with his family members. Fifteen days later, he was sentenced to prison for ten years, and will lose his political rights for two years on the charge of leaking state secrets.^[3]

On June 2, 2005, the Hunan High People's Court rejected his lawyer's arguments and denied his appeal, keeping the original sentencing. Shi's mother, Gao Qinsheng, alleged "serious procedural defects" in her son's case, but his appeal was rejected without a hearing.

[edit] Reactions

The incident sparked a controversy about the business practices of Yahoo!, whose Hong Kong arm provided technical information connecting the message and email account with Shi Tao's computer. Yahoo! was criticized by Reporters Without Borders for acting as a "police informant". The United States Congress held a hearing about this and other similar incidents with representatives from Yahoo!, Google, and MSN, etc. In August 2007, Congress began an investigation into Yahoo!'s handling of the case,^[4] with Yahoo! founder Jerry Yang testifing in a hearing before Congress. ^[5]

On August 28, 2007, the World Organization for Human Rights USA sued Yahoo! for allegedly providing information (email and IP address) to the Chinese government that caused the arrests of writers and dissidents. The suit was filed in San Francisco for journalists Shi Tao and Wang Xiaoning.^[6]

On November 6, 2007, the U.S. congressional panel criticized Yahoo! for not giving full details to the House Foreign Affairs Committee the previous year, stating it had been "at best inexcusably negligent" and at worst "deceptive".^[7] In a February 2006 hearing, Yahoo! swore that they had no information about the nature of the investigation. Some months later, it was found out that the document provided to Yahoo! China on April 22, 2004 by the Beijing State Security Bureau actually stated, “Your office is in possession of the following items relating to a case of suspected illegal provision of state secrets to foreign entities…”(emphasis added)^[8].

On November 13, 2007, Yahoo settled with Shi for an undisclosed sum. Shi remains in prison.[1]

Shi is married and has a son born in Fushun, Liaoning.

According to the International Herald Tribune, while visiting China United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on 27 February 2008 that she had raised the issue of a journalist and a writer jailed by China for expressing their views over the Internet during meetings with the Chinese foreign minister, Yang Jiechi. The Yahoo chief executive, Jerry Yang, asked Rice in a letter sent during the previous week to help secure the release of the journalist, Shi Tao, and the writer, Wang Xiaoning, who were imprisoned for sending pro-democracy information using e-mail messages or Yahoo groups

Adam's Birthday 2009

2009-06-17T21:46:00.001-07:00

adam's bday 2009

Mom, Dad and I drove up to Camas for my brother Adam's birthday. We cooked a pork roast and some creamed potatoes. The kids each decorated a cake...

Hang'n with Robbie on the roof of the Oregon Hotel

2009-06-15T23:28:00.000-07:00

family and friends over for dinner

2009-06-14T16:02:00.000-07:00

sat june 13 dinner

I have to cook in an interview and needed to try out a few recipes so mom, dad, Jason, Susie and Dick all willingly allowed themselves to be guinea pigs. Lots of fun and lots of foood.

video also on youtube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpYJf4pxmLY

Fault Lines - California: Failed State - 11 June 09 - Part 1

2009-06-13T09:52:00.000-07:00

Gossip, Heavy Cross

2009-06-13T00:40:00.000-07:00

KBR Got Bonuses for Work that Killed Soldiers

2009-06-11T23:26:00.000-07:00

KBR Got Bonuses for Work that Killed Soldiers

By Jeremy Scahill

May 20, 2009

The Department of Defense paid former Halliburton subsidiary KBR more than $80 million in bonuses for contracts to install electrical wiring in Iraq. The award payments were for the very work that resulted in the electrocution deaths of US soldiers, according to Department of Defense documents revealed today in a Senate hearing. More than $30 million in bonuses were paid months after the death of Sgt. Ryan Maseth, a highly decorated, 24-year-old Green Beret, who was electrocuted while taking a shower at a US base in January 2008. His death, the result of improper grounding for a water pump, has been classified by the US Army Criminal Investigations Division (CID) as a "negligent homicide." Maseth's death had originally been labeled an accident. Bonuses were paid to KBR in 2007 and 2008, after CID investigato

rs had officially expressed concerns about the quality of KBR's electrical work. For its part, KBR denies any culpability for the electrocution deaths.

This information was revealed at a hearing of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee. According to the committee's chair, Sen. Byron Dorgan, the rewards KBR received under its LOGCAP contracts were supposed to be for work of the "highest quality" with "no deficiencies" or problems. Dorgan said KBR's work was "shoddy" and "u nprofessional." Some eighteen US soldiers have died since 2003 as a result of KBR's "shoddy work," according to Sen. Frank Lautenberg. KBR/Halliburton, of which Dick Cheney was chairman and CEO from 1995 to 2000, has been the single largest corporate beneficiary of the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It continues to operate globally on US government contracts.

Charles Smith, the former Army official who managed the contracts under which KBR performed electrical work in Iraq, testified that it was "highly inappropriate" that KBR received these bonuses for what he called "dangerously substandard" work. He said that the Army was well aware of KBR's "poor performance" since the beginning of the Iraq invasion, and yet continued to reward KBR because the military was "afraid" KBR would cease work. He said there was "a culture that decided KBR was too big to fail and too important to be held to account." The "perverse incentive is that there was no incentive" for KBR to do quality work because they received bonuses for poor work.

Senator Dorgan said there are "tens of thousands of examples" of unnecessary risks to US soldiers, including deaths that have arisen as a result of KBR's work. "Why should [KBR] be getting more contracts now that we know all this information?" asked Sen. Bob Casey. "The Defense Department has not answered these questions."

James Childs, a master electrician hired by the Army to review electrical

work in Iraq during 2008, testified that KBR's work in Iraq was the "most hazardous, worst quality work" he'd ever seen. He said his investigation found improper wiring in "every" building KBR wired in Iraq (of which there are thousands) and that KBR's rewiring work in buildings that were previously safely wired resulted in the electrical system becoming unsafe. Childs said that KBR did not do any work "according to code." He also testified that the same risks exist in Afghanistan, which he recently visited. "While doing inspections in Afghanistan, I found the exact same code violations," Childs said.

Eric Peters, a master electrician who worked for KBR in Iraq as recently as 2009, said that 50 percent of the KBR-managed buildings he saw were not properly wired. "I worried every day people would be injured or killed as a result of this work," Peters testified. He estimated that at least half the electricians hired by KBR--many of them cheaper-costing Third Country Nationals (TCNs)--to service the US military in Iraq would not have been hired to work in the United States, saying they were not trained in US or UK electrical standards. TCNs--from places like India, Bangladesh and Bosnia--are estimated to have done some 60 percent of the electrical work for KBR in Iraq. Peters charged that KBR allowed tr

ainees to take notes in to certification tests, making it very easy to be cleared for work.

Peters also charged that KBR "frowned upon" any refusal to sign off on work that Peters deemed incomplete or unsafe. Peters and others who testified said that "all over theater," meaning everywhere in Iraq, KBR would effectively double-bill US taxpayers by leaving electrical work half-done or incorrectly done and then billing taxpayers again to repair its own shoddy work.

Peters characterized KBR managers as "completely unqualified" and said he is not a "disgruntled former employee" but rather a "disgusted former employee."

About Jeremy Scahill

Jeremy Scahill, a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute, is the author of the bestselling Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army, published by Nation Books. He is an award-winning investigative journalist and correspondent for the national radio and TV program Democracy Now!. more.

Daily Notes June 6 - 9

2009-06-11T01:04:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, June 9th 2009

Drove up the Columbia Gorge to the View Point Inn with mom and had lunch. Increadible property... loved it. Then hopped over the river to Camas, WA to see my brother and his kids.

Went to a wine party in honor of my dad who is retiring from the board of directors for the local Habbitat for Humanity chapter (he served 6 years).

Discovered at the event a blue cheese called "Caveman" that rocked my sock... great stuff and chatted with a high school classmate, Eric Wolf. Eric has turned into a really nice guy. He runs a roofing company that donates to Habbitat. File under cool... And he's got a wife and several kids. Always fun to see what people make of themselves.... boy's done well.

Monday, June 8th 2009

Got several call backs on very good jobs....
Cooked balsamic and pepper spiced pecans and topped a sudo waldorf with them. Waldorf had a mint and yogurt dressing with honey, grapes, purple cabbage, apple and celery. took the salad to a BBQ (even on a Monday these people BBQ! its over the top). -- overheard an older lady there say the salad was "nothing to write home about.... she brough baked beans that were pretty much straight out of the can... Whatever!

Guy there smoked a brilliant soy and ginger marinated pork loing (and some tofu for a few vegetarians in the group - no one drinking.... ?????? except me, I brought beer... a BBQ with no libations? Not possible in my book - tofu on the BBQ and no alcohol to numb the obsurdity of it???? No way). Kidding aside the group was a lot of fun. A bit uncomfortable for me as they talked about stuff I've not heard people talk about in a very long time. My crowd in HK and Shanghai weren't very adept at subjects like tree pruning and the delicate art of the perfectly roasted marshmallow..... Fun for me but left me feeling very much the outsider.

Hooked up with long time buddy Robbi Lazano (or Roberto as he calls himself now that he's all grown up..... he'll aways be Robbi to me..). Chatted like teen girlfriends who haven't seen each other all summer long. So wonderful to have people you know so well you can just pick up where you last left off after not seeing them for so long!

Went to see Star Trek again with Robbi..... damn busy day.

Sunday, June 7th 2009

Made left over curry rice into a brilliant soup and folded the remaining smoked tomatoes into a nice pesto bow tie pasta. Mom is complaining that she's 5# heavier due to my presence..... I'm feeling it as well, but that didn't stop us from finishing off the rest of Kaila's pies.

Watched the Tony Awards.... Very fun actually. More interesting than the Oscars.

Saturday, June 6 2009

Cooked my version of Char Siu Pork for Ross, Katlin, mom, dad and a couple of Ross's friends. The marinade and smoke was the best I've done yet. Brown sugar, Dark soy, Garlic, Chinese 5 spice, sichuan pepper, kosher salt, powdered cardimon, powdered ginger and beat juice (rather thank red dye).Thursday, June 4th 2009. Marrinated the pork loins for several hours then slow cooked them in the bbq with wood chips.

Rest of the meal.: Fresh beets cooked in cranberry vinegar, raw sugar and salt with served and steamed beet greens. Oven roasted potatoes with parsnips and carrots. Spinach salad with warm bacon dressing.

Katlin made a chocolate pudding pie and a strawberry rubarb pie that were out standing.

Taiwan gay MV-谢曜仲《爱情进行曲》（Love march）

2009-06-11T00:49:00.000-07:00

Stolen Renoir Recovered

2009-06-10T12:02:00.001-07:00

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

To turn off the blog background music go to the bottom of the page

BBQ is a serious sport in Oregon

2009-06-08T23:51:00.000-07:00

Hanging with buddy Robbi Lazano.... super fun.

Betty Boo: Take off.....

2009-06-08T02:59:00.000-07:00

Not new but I can't get enough of it.... Luv it

Daily Notes May 31 - June 7

2009-06-07T13:59:00.000-07:00

Saturday, June 6 2009

Cooked my version of Char Siu Pork for Ross, Katlin, mom, dad and a couple of Ross's friends. The marinade and smoke was the best I've done yet. Brown sugar, Dark soy, Garlic, Chinese 5 spice, sichuan pepper, kosher salt, powdered cardimon, powdered ginger and beat juice (rather thank red dye).Thursday, June 4th 2009. Marrinated the pork loins for several hours then slow cooked them in the bbq with wood chips.

Rest of the meal.: Fresh beets cooked in cranberry vinegar, raw sugar and salt with served and steamed beet greens. Oven roasted potatoes with parsnips and carrots. Spinach salad with warm bacon dressing.

Katlin made a chocolate pudding pie and a strawberry rubarb pie that were out standing.

Thursday, June 4th 2009

Up to Salem to visit with Dick and Susie Francois. Storm knocks out power in McMinnville. Working on second painting: Baloon Faces.

Tuesday, June 2nd 2009

Finished first painting: Wooden Houses.

Friday, May 29th

Had a great day on the Oregon Coast yesterday and an excellent interview at the Ocean View. Getting myself prepared to work again after so many months of not working.

Monday, May 18th 2009

The whale had a brilliant Sunday with an old friend from Hawaii. Now to the task of packing. When it comes to shipping things across an ocean what is really necessary? Its amazinghow much of what we used to carry physically now fits into a hard drive (photos, books, journals)

Vaginas with teeth — and other sexual myths A romp through history reveals a host of absurd beliefs once held as truth

2009-06-07T13:20:00.000-07:00

By Brian Alexander

msnbc.com contributor

updated 5:59 a.m. PT, Thurs., April 23, 2009

Brian Alexander

• E-mail

Your genitals are connected to your nose. Women are infertile males. Orgasm is necessary to make a baby. Masturbation leads to insanity. Menstrual blood is actually sperm gone bad. At one time or another, medical science believed all these statements. What is it about sex that allows the imagination of doctors and the scientifically-minded to run free?

A walk down the memory lane of misbegotten sex theories reveals that such fanciful “truths” often grow from the fertile soil of bias and prejudice.

for the rest of the article go to: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30332998/

new gay pride anthem from Hong Kong's DJ Stonedog

2009-06-07T12:19:00.001-07:00

Love this dj who works out of HK and AUS. Everything he does is brilliant. To turn off the background music scroll to the bottom of the page.

http://www.volume.com.hk

Family pics from 1972 - 1975

2009-06-04T17:53:00.001-07:00

72-75

Family pics from 1966 - 1970

2009-06-03T21:17:00.000-07:00

66-70

First Painting in Oregon: Wooden Houses

2009-06-02T13:06:00.000-07:00

18 by 48 inches. Acryllic on canas. Stretched on pine. painting is for sale. email bids to dinerbosschina@gmail.com

wooden houses

Starlight Parade Portland Oregon 2009

2009-05-31T01:31:00.000-07:00

starlight Parade 2009

impressions of west lake 张靓颖印象西湖

2009-05-29T14:50:00.000-07:00

To turn off the blog background music scroll to the bottom of the page!!

Impressions of the West Lake is a modern day opera show in Hangzhou, China. This show is conceived and directed by internationally acclaimed Zhang Yimou, director of 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony. Musics are composed by the Grammy and Golden Globe Award winning artist Kitaro. Jane Zhang provides stunning vocals to the title song "Impressions of the West Lake".

Official Website: http://www.hzyxxh.com

Sound track released in Apr 2009 by DOMO music:
http://www.domocart.com/domo-store/in...

Queen of the Day

2009-05-29T13:17:00.000-07:00

family photos, low rez.

2009-05-27T21:07:00.000-07:00

2009-05-27

painting videos

2009-05-27T11:09:00.000-07:00

shots of Mac houses and property

2009-05-26T21:51:00.000-07:00

mac houses

Returning home after all these years I'm finding the shape and color of houses in McMinnville inspiring. Most of these homes were build pre-1940. I'm posting the pics because I think many people in Asia might be interested to see how people here live.

I'm sorry, so sorry

2009-05-26T09:23:00.000-07:00

dad's cabbin at Devil's lake

2009-05-25T09:33:00.000-07:00

devil's Lake Cabbin

Susan Boyle, memories

2009-05-25T07:53:00.000-07:00

to turn off blog background music scroll to the bottom of the page

tiga shoes

2009-05-24T23:30:00.000-07:00

Tiga "Shoes" from AlexandLiane on Vimeo.

sun, hot rods and flowers

2009-05-24T13:01:00.000-07:00

a day with the family

2009-05-23T22:51:00.000-07:00

Chinese Andy Rooney on the onion

2009-05-18T22:07:00.000-07:00

Very funny, just a joke people.

China’s Andy Rooney Has Some Funny Opinions About How Great The Chinese Government Is

Alexander Rybak

2009-05-18T01:44:00.000-07:00

Euro vision has chosen its winner. Its a fun song but certainly doesn't pack the pop punch Eurovision winners normally do. Does this mean Euros are feeling a bit sentimental?

Note: to turn off the blog music go to the player at the bottom of the page

7 pounds

2009-05-17T23:25:00.000-07:00

Death is a delightful hiding-place for weary men.

-Herodotus

7 Pounds is an excessively dark and sentimental movie that presents a very mixed message about redemption.

The acting is superb. Will Smith manages to communicate a deeply disturbed character in a quiet almost non-expressive way. His faces seems different than in any other movie with dark lines around the mouth and deep circles under his eyes. The trade mark Smith smile is flashed only a few times. Raw anger and deep self loathing that his character feels is sharp and biting.

The movie shows us locations and situations that we've not seen in films prior. The diner and the beach house are visually interesting. The color and texture of the suicide scene is jarring. The viewer knows he's going to commit suicide the entire movie but the scene is unique and the method of death unexpected.

Plausibility is an issue in the movie. The hospital would certainly have questioned his actions. The friend under most state laws would have faced prosecution for not trying to stop the suicide. There is also the issue of patient rights. These people might have wanted to know that someone was going to commit suicide to help them. On a very simple level one must ask why it's legal or possible for a person to have such a dangerous pet! A box jellyfish? Beautiful, I want one. Beauty and Beast rolled into one.

The irony of seeking redemption through death is the irony of Christianity essentially. The murder of Jesus Christ (when as the Son of God he presumably had the power to stop it) and Will Smith's character murdering himself are reflections of each other. They embody the notion that the greatest sacrifice is your life.

Both deaths are in the name of forgiveness and presumably done so others might live. Both seem bizarre to me. Jesus could have done more good staying a live and healing more people. God can forgive at will, there was no need for Jesus to die unless God demands it. A God that would make such a demand is not the God of love I feel I know. Will Smith's character could have saved many more lives than seven by devoting his engineering skills to safety design or something else like that.

The message is that both were weighed down with a sadness they could not live with. Respite came through death and the idea of it as redemption and salvation for others is disturbing. Disturbing in both cases.

IDAHO 2009: One Voice, One Message, Heard Around the World.

2009-05-17T07:37:00.000-07:00

please go to the youtube link bellow and give this video 5 stars!
Related links
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2Rp8ep_ezE
www.gays.com

food and friends (what more can ask for in a good bye?)

2009-05-16T12:59:00.000-07:00

a bbq good bye (for now)

A letter to Wen Jiabao

2009-05-15T11:19:00.000-07:00

Dear Honorable Premier of the Great People's Republic of China: Wen Jiabao, In writing this letter to you I intend no disrespect to the respectable General Secretary Hu Jin Tao. Simply, I feel as if I know you by your very public image better.

I remember well my introduction to China. I was an assistant on promotional tour from the state of Hawaii. We flew into Shanghai late in the evening and crossed the bridge at an hour when the visage was at it's most brilliant. I fell deeply in love with Shanghai the moment I saw her lights. To me, it was like looking at the future.

I returned to spend a further 8 years working in China. Some of Shanghai's darkest realities are carved deeply into the back of my right hand. I both prospered and struggled. Success and failure on so many levels were to be my burden and gift to bare witness to. I can tell you a thing or two about bad people in China. I can tell some dynamic stories. For every horror story I can also tell you about people who are working so hard. People who are so bright and so gifted. People who humbled me.

This time last year my company was in a terrible state. I had been cheated by my business partners (who were Chinese but not from China). As it were I ended up stranded in Hong Kong trying to get my visa sorted out. Anger pulsed through my veins. I regretted the day I met China. It was such a dark time. My company was going to the toilet, I couldn't get back there, immigration couldn't give me an honest answer.

Then it happened. I was in a Hong Kong diner steaming mad when I happened to see a video. The video showed you desperately trying to save a child after the earthquake. You said something like "Hold on, Grandpa Wen hears you." There wasn't a dry eye in that diner, no sound of eating, no talking, everyone, including me was watching in awe as the Premier of China showed such raw compassion. It was the moment of change for me. We, everyone in that Hong Kong diner were completely entranced by your example.

That moment made me want to know more about you. I started reading about you on the net. China, with its size will inevitably lead the world in the future. I felt so happy that for the first time I had a leader who I could relate to. In your actions I saw hope and I saw a just government.

Of course in my reading I learned that you were there during the student uprising. Under Zhao Ziyang you tried hard to iron out a peaceful settlement. So, now that you have a top job and you have the world's confidence I implore you to set the record straight. Let the world heal. Admit that the killing of these students was a mistake. Be an example to Japan, who year in and year out refuse to admit their wrongs. Lead. Trust that the world will applaud you.

We want to believe in you.

Gregory David Duerfledt.

Daily Notes: May 14 2009

2009-05-15T10:37:00.000-07:00

Was up most of the night with a spliting headache, need to look into sulphites as a subject for an article. Felt very dehydrated

Expected Andre to want all the furniture in the house and all he wants is his old leather bag and the two octopus cards....

Went to the Hong Kong Art Fair. Spent an hour afterwards feeling so sad. I never knew what a gift it was to be in a city that offeres so much. I least I can say that I've taken full advantage of my time here. Only museum I've not been to is the history museum..... on my list for next week.

Was going to take the ferry across the harbor and decided against it. Too romantic to do alone.

ISHIDA TETSUYA DARK SELF PORTRAITS

2009-05-15T09:57:00.000-07:00

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetsuya_Ishida

Tetsuya Ishida (石田徹也 Ishida Tetsuya, born in June 1973, Shizuoka) was a Japanese painter who died in 2005 after being hit by a train. (Possibly Suicide)

Tetsuya Ishida painted scenes of ordinary Japanese life, but with the protagonist (a self portrait) always trapped in a machine-like body, or treated as part of a production line.

On November 26, 2006, one of Ishida's paintings, "Untitled" 2001, sold at a Christie's Hong Kong "Asian Contemporary Art" auction for 780,000HKD (over USD$100,000). The Christie's pre-auction estimate on the sale price of the painting was only 60,000-80,000HKD.

ANYONE KNOW MORE ABOUT THIS ARTIST? LOVE THE WORK!!!!!

Hong Kong Art Fair 2009

2009-05-15T08:28:00.000-07:00

hong kong art fair 2009

walking art: Hong Kong Art Fair

2009-05-15T08:20:00.001-07:00

Marley and Me: A good Man Tale

2009-05-14T22:56:00.000-07:00

Marley and Me. The movie is based on John Grogin's best selling book. It's what we call a "Man Tale," a movie that looks like a chick flick but hits men hard in the beer belly.

While the production is sloppy and not brilliant, the story and the acting carry through a brilliant message about accepting life's gifts and challenges. Every 35 - 45 year old man who watches it is going to both cringe and cry. Cringe because we don't like to take a look at the complexity of our bull shit and cry because the things use to process life become so much a part of us. In this case the dog was more than a pet, he was a reflection of the angst in his master's life.

Good story, I can't wait to read the book.

The second source for medieval number symbolism is Babylonian astrology

2009-05-13T18:31:00.000-07:00

Numbers
"...thou hast ordered all thing in measure, number, and weight" (Wisdom 11:21).

So writes the author of the Apocryphal Old Testament book Wisdom--a text which captures so well the meaning and mystery behind number symbolism in the Middle Ages. Augustine himself suggests that numbers are like the thoughts of God, giving authority and approval to a system of thought that was to permeate medieval culture. Although on the surface number symbolism might appear to be on a par with symbolism from the natural world, there is a difference: both are based on God's signs in nature, but the significance of numbers involves a greater mystery and requires more education to unravel--at least in the more complicated forms prevalent in the Middle Ages.

In the history of medieval number symbolism there appear to be four distinct sources or influences. The first of these is probably the hardest to define and delineate because it is so fundamental: man's preoccupation with numbers from the beginning of time. Certain numbers were discovered early to be significant in nature: 2, a pair, 3, a family, 5, the hand. There are certain fundamental meanings drawn from human tradition itself that pass on into the more sophisticated number systems.

The second source for medieval number symbolism is Babylonian astrology. Here the focus is on the heavens--the movement and relation of the planets and constellations--on numbers derived from their study which had a sacred and mysterious significance. In this tradition 7 becomes a number of great significance--7 gods, 7 devils, 7 planets, 7 days-- and 12 becomes associated with the signs of the zodiac and astrological predictions. From the astrology and magic of Babylonia come sacred numbers shrouded in mystery and awe that are then passed on to the Middle Ages.

Paralleling some of the developments in Babylonian astrology, the numbers found in the Old and New Testaments comprise the third source of number symbolism. Seven, eight, and twelve were significant numbers in the Old Testament which were also repeated in the new. What particularly fascinated some of the early Christian thinkers was that the numbers in Sacred Scripture were the same numbers they saw in Babylonian astrology. Such a parallel between pagan and Christian not only encouraged study of the biblical numbers but gave a credibility to the findings of the pagan astrologers.

Independently in Greece there developed another system of numbers known as Pythagoreanism, which is the fourth important influence on medieval number symbolism. Unique to this system are two principles which greatly influenced subsequent thought. The first is that all numbers and, as a corollary, all things are contained in the decad. From this principle grew the idea of the cosmic universe as being comprised of the 9 spheres plus a "counter earth" which bring the total to the desired 10. The second principle, what of viewing mathematics geometrically, helped to create a link between tangible reality and number theory. Even a cursory look at Pythagorean theory is enough to see the rich complexity of the relations and meanings of numbers. For them 6 becomes the first perfect number because it is the sum of 1+2+3, and other numbers gained similar significance as they sought in numbers the key to the mysteries of the universe.

With the pervasiveness and power of these four sources, it is small wonder that number symbolism becomes so significant in the Middle Ages. Although the interest in numbers can be seen in Early Christian thinkers such as Philo Judaeus (1st century A.D.), who discovered Pythagorean numbers in Genesis, and the Gnostics (1st century B.C. to 5th century A.D.), who developed elaborate and mystical systems, the most important proponent for Christian number symbolism was St. Augustine. It was Augustine who fused the pagan and Christian to suggest that number was a principle of God's created order. By studying numbers, therefore, as one studied animals, plants, and stones, one could learn something of the Divine Wisdom. Especially could one hope to learn truth by studying the sacred numbers of the Bible, and through Augustine's stamp of approval and encouragement, later Church thinkers began to search out the meanings of such numbers as the 12 disciples, the 70 palm trees of Elim, the 318 servants of Abraham, and the 144,000 of the Apocalypse. In time these interpretations became standardized, and other writers such as Isidore of Seville, Liber numerorum (Book of Numbers), Hugh of St. Victor, Hrabanus Maurus, and Odo of Morimond's Analytica numerorum in theographiam (An Anatomy of Numbers for Divine Writings) passed on this Christian numerical symbolism to succeeding generations.

It should be obvious that the interpretation of numbers--and especially numbers in Scripture--was a fine art, requiring much education, but traces and results of these interpretations filter into every area of medieval thought. "Number," Bonaventure says, "is the supreme exemplar of God," and therefore man, if he wishes to learn about God, must understand the significance of numbers. Numbers came to be a part of man's life in the Middle Ages--in the mass, in cathedral architecture, in the works of vernacular literature, and although common man could not hope to understand the intricacies of number symbolism or to work out elaborate interpretations, enough of the basic significance of numbers filtered down through medieval culture to let him see something of God's sacred numbers. There were 10 commandments, 7 deadly sins, 3 persons of the Trinity, and 5 joys of Mary.

Numbers did matter--and for that reason they are significant in the art and literature of the period. It is certainly true that not every number in a work of art is significant symbolically any more than every animal, or color, or plant has a deep meaning. Sometimes an author will use a figure such as 100 or 1,000 to suggest a large number. But when an author uses a specific number in a conspicuous way, the reader needs to consider the symbolic possibilities. Chaucer, for example, specifically tells us that there are 29 pilgrims going to Canterbury. Critics have added and re-added and re-figured the number of pilgrims, but they have missed the point. As Edmund Reiss points out, 29 is a number just short of 30. Since 30 is a number of perfection because it is a product of 3 (the number of the Trinity) and 10, 29 becomes a number approaching perfection--an ideal number to suggest the idea of pilgrimage.
Many critics have analyzed the numbers in Dante's Commedia as well as considered the numerical structure of the entire work. The whole Commedia is comprised of 100 cantos with 33 for the Inferno, 33 for the Purgatorio, and 33 for the Paradiso, plus one canto of introduction, giving a total of 100. Such an ordering based on the numbers of the Trinity (3), the unity of the Trinity (1), plus the perfection of 10 and factors thereof could not have been an accident. Other critics have analyzed the number of lines in the whole work and have found important significance in the middle line of the middle canto in the whole work. Also the terza rima, the three line interlocking stanza form Dante uses, proclaims the mystery of the Trinity in yet another way. Clearly Dante understood number symbolism and used it to good advantage. Surely not every work of medieval literature will have the complicated numerical structure of this great work, but an awareness and understanding of medieval number symbolism will help to appreciate the deeper significance of a work.

BibliographyBullinger, Ethelbert W. Number in Scripture. 1894. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publishers, 1971. 220.851 B874n 1967 This work does not do as much with the theory of number symbolism as some of the other works listed here, but it does do a good job of discussing the scriptural meanings for all the basic numbers. He also includes long lists of the times a specific number occurs in the Bible.

Hopper, Vincent Foster. Medieval Number Symbolism. New York: Columbia University Press, 1938. 133.335 H778m While this work is not set up as a dictionary of number symbolism, it is clearly the standard work on the subject. In addition to providing a detailed discussion of the development of medieval number symbolism, he includes a good index which helps to locate the meaning of specific numbers. There is also a good bibliography, although dated.
Kinney, LeBaron W. The Greatest Thing in the Universe. New York: Loizeaux Brothers, 1939. 220.6 K623g Although this work does tend to preach a little, it goes through the major numbers and gives their significance according to the Bible. He also gives good listings of the numbers and their locations in the Bible.
Meyer, Heinz. Die Zahlenallegorese in Mittelalter. München: Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 1975. Although this work is in German, a student who reads a little German will find this work helpful. It focuses on the patristic and exegetical philosophy of numbers and also gives the principles of number symbolism. Most important it gives a detailed listing of symbolism for the major numbers between 1 and 1000 and even a few over 1000.

See AlsoChild, Heather and Dorothy Colles. Christian Symbols Ancient and Modern.
Cirlot, J. E. A Dictionary of Symbols.
Cooper, J. C. Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols.
Ferguson, George. Signs and Symbols in Christian Art.
Forstner, Dorothea. Die Welt der Symbole.
Hulme, F. Edward. The History Principles and Practice of Symbolism in Christian Art.
Metford, J. C. J. Dictionary of Christian Lore and Legend.
Reau, Louis. Iconographie de L'Art Chretien.
Sill, Gertrude Grace. A Handbook of Symbols in Christian Art.
Vries, Ad de. Dictionary of Symbols and Imagery.
Selected Secondary SourcesMasi, Michael. Boethian Number Theory: A Translation of the De Institutione Arithmetica in Studies in Classical Antiquity, vol. 6. Amsterdam: Rodopi B. V., 1983.
Most. William G. "The Scriptural Basis of St. Augustine's Arithmology" Catholic Biblical Quarterly 13 (1951): 284-95.
Reiss, Edmund. "Number Symbolism and Medieval Literature." Medievalia et Humanistica n.s.1 (1970): 161-71

I hate your guts but I'm not bitter

2009-05-12T21:42:00.000-07:00

I was turned on to this commic country singer from a list of "Done Wrong Songs" by Shelby Knox. Check out her blog
http://shelbyknox.blogspot.com/2009/05/done-wrong-songs.html

http://www.kaceyjones.com/]

If anyone has the lyrics to this song please mail post the link!

clay pot in mong kok

2009-05-12T21:15:00.001-07:00

Graham Norton - Speed dating - Very, Very Funny

2009-05-10T13:03:00.000-07:00

Gaydar Game - The Graham Norton Show - BBC Two

2009-05-10T12:40:00.001-07:00

Night Talk: An Interview With Joan Rivers

2009-05-10T12:12:00.001-07:00

What's Joan Rivers not had done? - The Graham Norton Show - BBC Two

2009-05-10T11:40:00.000-07:00

Mike Pence Pwned On Science By Chris Matthews

2009-05-10T11:23:00.000-07:00

The Latest Anti-Science Republican: Mike Pence

2009-05-10T10:45:00.001-07:00

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/05/06/the-latest-anti-science-republican-mike-pence/

The congressional global warming debate continues to expose the true colors of today’s Republicans, particularly in the House of Representatives. John Boehner, Michelle Bachmann, John Shimkus–all have stood up and said just inconceivable things about a body of science that they don’t even seem to understand.

And now, Mike Pence of Indiana is the latest to follow in this embarrassing tradition. Think Progress caught it first: MSNBC’s Chris Matthews got Pence on the record about global warming, stem cells, and evolution, and it was just outrageous:

PENCE: Well let me tell you. I think the science is very mixed on the subject of global warming, Chris.

Q: Then why should your party believe you’re going to get serious about it, if you say the science is mixed?

PENCE: Yeah, it’s a fair question. But look. I’m all for clean air. I’m all for clean coal technology. I’m sure reducing CO2 emissions would be a positive thing.

And again:

PENCE: Uh, do I believe in evolution? I embrace the view that God created the Heavens and the Earth, the Seas and all that’s in them. The means that he used to do that, I can’t say, but I do believe in that fundamental truth.

This stuff is appalling not only on a factual level, but because of what the country now faces–and just how ill-equipped people like Pence are to deal with it. Will we look back in ten years and see the 2000s as the decade that the Republican Party committed the equivalent of political suicide through its continual denial of reality?

Gaps Appear in G.O.P. Solidarity

2009-05-10T10:19:00.000-07:00

U.S. / Politics

Gaps Appear in G.O.P. Solidarity

By CARL HULSE

Published: May 10, 2009

The Republican willingness to join with Democrats on some legislation has come gradually but does suggest that the notion of bipartisanship is not the mirage some have declared it to be.

click here for full article

White Trash Poker Player..... that's me!!!!! LOL

2009-05-10T00:11:00.000-07:00

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Walking art, the high art of high heels

2009-05-10T00:05:00.000-07:00

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Group asserts that gay marriage will hurt small businesses

2009-05-09T23:55:00.000-07:00

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Citron C4 Transformer doing the ELLE dance

2009-05-09T21:28:00.001-07:00

The Views' Joy Behar Host Gay Marriage Debate On Larry King Live

2009-05-09T21:04:00.000-07:00

what's up with Mr. Baldwin..... "God wrote the bible." Where did he go during the video. Did he storm off the set? I agree that if we change the rules regarding marriage we need to protect church's rights to not preform marriages they don't condone. That said its more and more evident that people just don't want to see one person's life being limited by another person's religious beliefs.

A few moments in China

2009-05-09T09:43:00.000-07:00

moon river diner mike photos of time in china

Great friends. School didn't work out but it was very worth trying....

2009-05-09T09:36:00.000-07:00

Farewell Party Hong Kong School of Art

An afternoon in Stanley

2009-05-09T09:15:00.000-07:00

Stanley

2009-05-09T05:02:00.000-07:00

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Wandering Whale Scrapbook

Well Arts Fundraiser in November

Seaside 4th of July

vids of the ocean

move to seaside

Cut Off The DNC's Money! - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

Feliciana Basset

dragon park

Super diver

Making Pizza with my aunt, niece and nephew

BBQ with Neen and Tim at the Cabbin

What up Yahoo? This stinks! The case of Shi Tao and how Yahoo gave China what it needed to jail him

Shi Tao

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents

[edit] Brief history

[edit] Arrest and imprisonment

[edit] Reactions

Adam's Birthday 2009

Hang'n with Robbie on the roof of the Oregon Hotel

family and friends over for dinner

Fault Lines - California: Failed State - 11 June 09 - Part 1

Gossip, Heavy Cross

KBR Got Bonuses for Work that Killed Soldiers

KBR Got Bonuses for Work that Killed Soldiers

By Jeremy Scahill

May 20, 2009

About Jeremy Scahill

Daily Notes June 6 - 9

Taiwan gay MV-谢曜仲《爱情进行曲》（Love march）

Stolen Renoir Recovered

BBQ is a serious sport in Oregon

Betty Boo: Take off.....

Daily Notes May 31 - June 7

Vaginas with teeth — and other sexual myths A romp through history reveals a host of absurd beliefs once held as truth

new gay pride anthem from Hong Kong's DJ Stonedog

Family pics from 1972 - 1975

Family pics from 1966 - 1970

First Painting in Oregon: Wooden Houses

Starlight Parade Portland Oregon 2009

impressions of west lake 张靓颖 印象西湖

Queen of the Day

family photos, low rez.

painting videos

shots of Mac houses and property

I'm sorry, so sorry

dad's cabbin at Devil's lake

Susan Boyle, memories

tiga shoes

sun, hot rods and flowers

a day with the family

Chinese Andy Rooney on the onion

Alexander Rybak

7 pounds

IDAHO 2009: One Voice, One Message, Heard Around the World.

food and friends (what more can ask for in a good bye?)

A letter to Wen Jiabao

Daily Notes: May 14 2009

ISHIDA TETSUYA DARK SELF PORTRAITS

Hong Kong Art Fair 2009

walking art: Hong Kong Art Fair

Marley and Me: A good Man Tale

The second source for medieval number symbolism is Babylonian astrology

I hate your guts but I'm not bitter

clay pot in mong kok

Graham Norton - Speed dating - Very, Very Funny

Gaydar Game - The Graham Norton Show - BBC Two

Night Talk: An Interview With Joan Rivers

What's Joan Rivers not had done? - The Graham Norton Show - BBC Two

Mike Pence Pwned On Science By Chris Matthews

The Latest Anti-Science Republican: Mike Pence

Gaps Appear in G.O.P. Solidarity

White Trash Poker Player..... that's me!!!!! LOL

Walking art, the high art of high heels

Group asserts that gay marriage will hurt small businesses

Citron C4 Transformer doing the ELLE dance

The Views' Joy Behar Host Gay Marriage Debate On Larry King Live

A few moments in China

Great friends. School didn't work out but it was very worth trying....

An afternoon in Stanley

impressions of west lake 张靓颖印象西湖