Music Notes

Return of the Caped Avenger. Rick Wakeman fans, rejoice! The keyboard guru of progressive rock has unleashed a collection of new recordings, modestly titled The Ultimate Rick Wakeman Experience. It's a 3-CD set including new renditions of classic tracks from Journey to the Centre of the Earth, The Six Wives ..., and King Arthur, as well as Yes tracks like "Starship Trooper". There's also a set of lovely Italian songs with Mario Fasciano. So get to your record store by horse, by rail, by land, or by sea, and check it out.

Another innovative keyboardist, Alice Coltrane, released her first new album in a quarter-century last year; it's called Translinear Light and it shows she's in top form. The widow of the famous saxophonist released several albums in the 1970s before leaving the music world to devote herself full-time to spiritual pursuits a the Vedantic Center ashram, which she founded in 1975. This release features new versions of her classic "Blue Nile" and the traditional "This Train", and lots of strong new music. Her son Ravi Coltrane produced the recording and appears on several of the tracks.

213 Things You Can't Do in the Army

... or, I strongly suspect, any other branch of the Armed Forces. Hat tip: Uncle Jimbo.

1. Not allowed to watch South Park when I'm supposed to be working.

2. My proper military title is 'Specialist Schwarz' not 'Princess Anastasia'.

3. Not allowed to threaten anyone with black magic.

4. Not allowed to challenge anyone's disbelief of black magic by asking for hair.

5. Not allowed to get silicone breast implants.

6. Not allowed to play 'Pulp Fiction' with a suction-cup dart pistol and any officer.

7. Not allowed to add 'In accordance with the prophesy' to the end of answers I give to a question an officer asks me.

8. Not allowed to add pictures of officers I don't like to War Criminal posters.

9. Not allowed to title any product 'Get Over it'.

10. Not allowed to purchase anyone's soul on Government time.

11. Not allowed to join the communist party.

12. Not allowed to join any militia.

13. Not allowed to form any militia.

14. Not allowed out of my office when the president visited Sarajevo.

15. Not allowed to train adopted stray dogs to 'Sic Brass!'

16. Must get a haircut even if it tampers with my 'Sampson like powers'.

17. God may not contradict any of my orders.

18. May no longer perform my now (in)famous 'Barbie Girl Dance' while on duty.

19. May not call any officers immoral, untrustworthy, lying, slime, even if I'm right.

20. Must not taunt the French any more.

21. Must attempt to not antagonize SAS.

22. Must never call an SAS a 'Wanker'.

23. Must never ask anyone who outranks me if they've been smoking crack.

24. Must not tell any officer that I am smarter than they are, especially if it's true.

...

Read the full list here.

First Woman Provincial Governor in Afghanistan

Via Afghan Warrior:

Afghanistan named its first female provincial governor. President Hamid Karzai appointed Ms Habiba Surabi as the governor of Bamian province last month and made a step forward in the slow political progress of women since the fall of Taliban more than three years ago. Surabi, who was selected from an all-female short-list, served as a Minister of Women's Affairs in President Karzai's previous transitional government for almost three years. The previous administration of President Hamid Karzai approved the constitution enshrining equal rights for women last year. Conditions for women in Afghanistan have gradually improved since the overthrow of the Taliban in late 2001, who barred women from education. Ms Surabi, the 48-year old wife and mother of three children, is an ethnic Hazara.

During her 3 years of service as Minister of Women's Affairs, she also learned to speak fluent English. Ms Surabi said "My appointment has opened a way for other women" in her speech. She believes that President Karzai, by choosing her, sent a powerful signal that women were equal to men. ...

Read full post here.

Morning Report: April 12, 2005

Three suspected terrorists indicted. Dhiran Barot, Nadeem Tarmohammed and Qaisar Shaffi were indicted on charges of plotting terrorist actions against the New York Stock Exchange, the Citicorp Building in New York, the Prudential building in New Jersey, and the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in the District of Columbia, according to news reports. The suspects are being held in Britain, where they were arrested last year. The 32-year-old Barot, a Briton of Indian descent who converted to Islam some years ago, was charged with possessing reconnaissance plans for US interests and notebooks containing information on explosives and poisons - material deemed "of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism." Barot is known variously as Abu Eisa al-Hindi, Abu Musa al-Hindi and Issa al-Britani, and is believed to have had close ties with Osama bin Laden. (CNN, MSNBC)

Wretchard: China and the poisoned pawn. Today's Belmont Club looks at the pros and cons, from Communist China's standpoint, of an "out of the blue" (OOTB) attack on Taiwan, versus a phased attack that would begin with a blockade and end with an invasion as a "coup de grace". Neither is a particularly attractive option for the Beijing regime: 'China's strategic choice then is between an OOTB pitting 5 or 6 lightly armed divisions against 12 Taiwanese to take advantage of surprise or to advance with a much larger force against up to 8 USN battlegroups. This is complicated by the fact that one US response to a Chinese blockade of Taiwan might include a counter-blockade of China's fuel imports. The growing Chinese dependence on Middle Eastern oil has a created a vulnerability that did not exist a decade ago.' Read the full analysis at the link. (Belmont Club)

Hezbollah drone penetrates Israeli airspace. Hezbollah flew another drone over Israel on Monday - the second such mission in five months. Debka reports: 'Israel confirms Hizballah drone penetrated Israeli airspace but reports it turned tail in seconds after air force fighters scrambled. According to Hizballah TV, unmanned spy vehicle photographed N. Israeli towns of Acre and Nahariya and returned to Lebanon undetected. DEBKAfile: Lebanese terrorist group timed action for Bush-Sharon talks in Texas Monday.' Ha'Aretz elaborates: 'The IDF said Hezbollah is resorting to gimmicks, because the political situation in the region does not permit it to carry out actual terror attacks. Hezbollah's television station Al-Manar reported last night that a drone had entered Israeli skies at 5:15 P.M. and had flown over the Nahariya, Acre and "18 other settlements in the territory of the Zionist enemy." Citizens in the Nahariya area detected the drone and reported it to police. The Air Force's anti-aircraft systems picked up the drone but did not fire rockets at it, and the F-16 planes did not hit it either. The Air Force admits an operational failure, which will be investigated. After the last incursion, in November 2004, the anti-aircraft systems were upgraded in the north. Yesterday's drone was apparently of the same make - Iranian - as the one flown in November. [Known as 'Mirsad-1' - aa.] Although capable of carrying explosives, Hezbollah has refrained from putting it to this use. IDF sources said the intelligence value of such a brief flight was limited. According to IDF officers, Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah wants to prove capable of action against Israel, yet escalation in the north would not serve the interests of his patron, Syria, which is under international pressure to withdraw from Lebanon. Nasrallah is therefore opting for provocative acts with propaganda value.' (Debka, Ha'Aretz)

We are Unitarian Jihad!

I know these people. (Hat tip: Mythus Mage.)

Greetings to the Imprisoned Citizens of the United States. We are Unitarian Jihad. There is only God, unless there is more than one God. The vote of our God subcommittee is 10-8 in favor of one God, with two abstentions. Brother Flaming Sword of Moderation noted the possibility of there being no God at all, and his objection was noted with love by the secretary.

Greetings to the Imprisoned Citizens of the United States! Too long has your attention been waylaid by the bright baubles of extremist thought. Too long have fundamentalist yahoos of all religions (except Buddhism -- 14-5 vote, no abstentions, fundamentalism subcommittee) made your head hurt. Too long have you been buffeted by angry people who think that God talks to them. You have a right to your moderation! You have the power to be calm! We will use the IED of truth to explode the SUV of dogmatic expression!

People of the United States, why is everyone yelling at you??? Whatever happened to ... you know, everything? ...

Read the whole thing at the link.

You can get your Unitarian Jihad name here.

If you have issues with orthodox Unitarian Jihad doctrine, you can use the First Reformed Unitarian Jihad name generator.

As for how to fit your Unitarian Jihad name on your name tag, there are no easy answers.

Unitarian Jihadism is a questioning faith.

Iranian Doctor Defects

Dr. Shahram Azam gave up everything he owned in Iran, and took enormous personal risks upon himself, so that he could escape the control of the regime and tell the truth about the death of Iranian-Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi.

This thread at Free Iran has a roundup of news releases along with comments.

From Marze Por Gohar:

A doctor employed at Bagheeyehollah Hospital in Tehran (connected with the revolutionary guards) where Zahra Kazemi, deceased Iranian/Canadian photojournalist was transfered before dying, left Iran and for the first time, in an interview with a German publication divulged that the regime's interogators and goons had brutally gang-raped the photojournalist while she was under qustioning and torture.

The German weekly, Die Zeit [in the Thursday, March 31st issue] states that Kazemi was delivered to the hospital directly after undergoing severe torture in prison; she died on July 11th, 2003. Dr. Shahram Azam, who examined Kazemi at the hospital was able to provide a firsthand account. Fifty four year old Kazemi was in a coma when delivered to the hospital in the early hours of June 27th 2003; her body was covered with contusions and as such, she was transfered to the emergency room of Bagheeyehollah Hospital.

Dr. Azam reports that it was quite clear that she had been severely tortured and brutally gang-raped. ...

From the CBC:

Shahram Azam, a former staff physician in Iran's defence ministry, said he examined Kazemi, the 54-year-old Iranian-born Montrealer, early on June 27, 2003, according to reports published in the Globe and Mail and Montreal's La Presse.

Kazemi had been arrested four days earlier while photographing a demonstration outside Tehran's Evin prison. She died in Iranian custody in July 2003. Iran's government admitted she'd been beaten but maintains her death was accidental. An Iranian security agent was charged and acquitted of killing her. ...

From Iran Focus:

Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi was savagely beaten, tortured and raped while in Iranian custody in 2003, according to an emergency-room doctor who examined her before she died.

The doctor has recently received political asylum in Canada.

Shahram Azam, formerly a physician on the staff of the Iranian Ministry of Defence, says he examined Ms. Kazemi, a 54-year-old Iranian-born dual citizen, at Tehran's Baghiattulah hospital early on the morning of June 27, 2003 -- four days after she was arrested while photographing a demonstration outside Tehran's Evin prison.

His account of Ms. Kazemi's condition in the days before her death, the first by a medical eye witness, confirms that she was tortured -- far more brutally than even critics of Iran's hard-line theocratic regime had believed.

"Her entire body carried strange marks of violence," Dr. Azam said. ...

Go to the links for full details. (Warning: very explicit.)

Peacekeeping in Sudan

Austin Bay cites a report from Stragegy Page indicating that the UN Security Council has voted to send a multinational peacekeeping team to enforce the South Sudan peace agreement (this is distinct from the ongoing Darfur violence). The UN invoked Chapter 7 of its charter, a more robust mandate than Chapter 6 and the same clause that was cited in 1990 in demanding that Saddam withdraw from Kuwait. Austin Bay wonders how effective this force will be. Read the whole article at the link.

Michael Totten Blogs from Lebanon

Portland's own Michael J. Totten is deeply involved in Spirit of America's activities, and he is now the voice of SoA's Lebanon blog. Visit the link to see amazing photos from Lebanon, learn about "Freedom Camp" and "Tennis for Peace", read tributes to Rafik Hariri, and get the latest on the upcoming National Unity demonstrations. And don't forget the most important part: make a donation to this noble cause at the link.

April 9: "Eid of Liberty"

I can't close up for today without acknowledging the glorious anniversary of the liberation of Iraq. Without further embellishment from me, let me give you the words of someone who was there:

The Eid of Liberty
I don't think I need to tell you how close is the 9th of April to my heart. And now, after two years happiness is still the same for me; one person among millions who were freed on that great day.
The 9th of April had turned one of the darkest pages in our history and opened the door wide before the people and their dreams, just as when the idol was knocked down, fear and oppression were knocked down as well.

No day matches you, my brightest day. We will keep reaping your fruits while the entire neighborhood follow your light and wait for other days like you to sweep away the remaining rotten idols.

The 9th of April has proven that the free world now has the guts and the required determination to make the change and throw the legacy of the past century behind its back; dictators shall be endorsed no more and the struggle will continue until humanity is freed from its dark nightmare that lasted way longer than it should have.

The winds of change that have blown away the tyrant in Iraq have begun to reach more and more people everyday and the heroic stand of Iraqis is inspiring freedom lovers in Beirut and Cairo, Kuwait and Bahrain, Arabia and Damascus; people are screaming enough is enough; enough for tyranny, enough for repression and enough for slavery.

Some naysayers and losers will say that terror had marked the past two years in Iraq but we the Iraqis believe that terrorism is merely the defeated remnants of evil fed by the other tyrants who got terrified from the fall of their demonic master. They're holding onto a weak thread that will soon be broken no matter how hard they try.

Today we can see the idol of terror shaking and losing balance from the powerful strike Iraqis had given it on the glorious election day; the day when the world stood amazed before the extraordinary bravery of Iraqis defying fear and walking through bullets and bombs to say their word and give terror the purple finger.

The 9th of April paved the way for that historic revolution and I think this is more than enough to make us keep this day in our hearts forever. ...

Read Mohammed's full post at Iraq the Model.

Words of Wisdom

Via e-mail:

The Lotus Touts must leave your hands in 6 MINUTES. Otherwise you will get a very unpleasant surprise. This is true, even if you are not superstitious, agnostic, or otherwise faith impaired.
ONE. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
TWO. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.
THREE. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want
FOUR. When you say, "I love you," mean it.
FIVE. When you say, "I'm sorry," look the person in the eye.
SIX. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.
SEVEN. Believe in love at first sight.
EIGHT. Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much.
NINE. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way
to live life completely.
TEN. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.
ELEVEN. Don't judge people by their relatives.
TWELVE. Talk slowly but think quickly.
THIRTEEN. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"
FOURTEEN. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
FIFTEEN. Say "bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.
SIXTEEN. When you lose, don't lose the lesson
SEVENTEEN. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and responsibility for all your actions.
EIGHTEEN. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
NINETEEN. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
TWENTY. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.
TWENTY-ONE. Spend some time alone.
Now, here's the FUN part!
Send this to at least 5 people and your life will improve. 1-4 people: Your life will improve slightly.
5-9 people: Your life will improve to your liking.
9-14 people: You will have at least 5 surprises in the next 3 weeks
15 and above: Your life will improve drastically and everything you ever dreamed of will begin to take shape.
A true friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your heart. Do not keep this message

Thanks to Connie for the message.

ITM Spotlights Arabic Blogs

Iraq the Model highlights two Arabic-language blogs, and provides synopses of recent posts for English-language readers.

Egyptian blogger Mohammed rejects theocracy as an alternative to secular tyranny, but remains wary of seeking foreign assistance. Read ITM's summary here.

Ahmed al-Baghdadi is a Kuwaiti intellectual who was imprisoned for protesting against the increased emphasis on religious indoctrination, at the expense of music, in his son's education. The case is covered at a Kuwaiti blog called "Free Brain"; the ITM summary is here.

Don't forget to make Iraq the Model part of your daily reading.

Escape Velocity

One of the subjects I've wanted to write about for some time is what Michael Garibaldi might call "my second favorite thing in the universe": science fiction.

Ever since I was a kid I was fascinated by the worlds created by H.G. Wells, Isaac Asimov, Ursula K. LeGuin, the late Andre Norton, Samuel R. Delany, Gene Wolfe, and so many others. You too, dear reader, will soon have the opportunity to share my excitement.

While I was away this week, the good folks at DHL dropped off my copy of Alastair Reynolds' brand-new novel, Century Rain, which I'd ordered from Amazon.co.uk. (It won't be released stateside for a couple more months, and I just couldn't wait.)

The Welsh-born Alastair Reynolds does space science for a day job - he works for the European Space Agency. He's also a damned fine writer. At just 39 years old, he's now giving us the fifth in a series of novels (plus a pair of novellas published as Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days) that began with Revelation Space. I'll be giving Reynolds a well-deserved post or two soon; I know I'll be busy this weekend reading Century Rain.