2006/04/29

The Moon Is An Expensive Mistress


NASA says the moon's gotta pay for its own way.
Shana Dale, NASA's deputy administrator, said one clear goal was to do business.

"The teams recognize the critical importance of space commerce -- having real companies going to the moon and making money," Dale said at a telephone news conference. "The government needs to be a trailblazer and enabler (with) a desire to see commerce take off."

Other essentials for a global space strategy include public involvement and participation by international partners, Dale said.

The strategy workshop was the first of several scheduled for this year that aim to set out specific goals for future space missions to the moon and Mars, as described by President George W. Bush in 2004 in a sweeping "Vision for Space Exploration."

Delivered less than a year after the fatal 2003 shuttle Columbia accident, Bush called for a human return to the moon by 2020 and eventually a human flight to Mars.

Since the Columbia disaster, in which seven astronauts died, only one space shuttle has flown, and the shuttle fleet is to be retired by 2010.

A new Crew Exploration Vehicle meant to return humans to the lunar surface is still on the drawing board, and may not be ready until 2012 or later.

The last time humans went to the moon was aboard NASA's Apollo 17 in 1972. Since then, China has begun its own human space program and also sent representatives to this meeting, though Dale said they apparently did not attend the smaller working sessions.

Aside from the central issues of commerce, international cooperation and public engagement, the working groups also noted the need for lunar law early in the process.

David Beatty of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said an international legal framework would be helpful in the area of property rights, interoperability standards and making hardware from various countries work together.

Such laws could govern more prosaic issues as well, Laurie Lesin of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center said.

"At our group, we did mention once briefly how we're going to decide which side of the road we drive on, on the moon," Lesin said with a laugh.
Just reporting...

From The Pleiadean Mailbag

Following on from last night's thoughts in Iran... Neil Young has an anti-war album out. The lyrics, according to Pleiades are right on for the sign of the times. So here's the link, and here's a taste of the lyrics:

Shock And Awe - BY NEIL YOUNG (Reproduced here without permission)

Back in the days of shock and awe
We came to liberate them all
History was the cruel judge of overconfidence
Back in the days of shock and awe

Back in the days of "mission accomplished"
Our chief was landing on the deck
The sun was setting on a golden photo op
Back in the days of "mission accomplished"

Thousands of bodies in the ground
Brought home in boxes to a trumpet's sound
No one sees them coming home that way
Thousands buried in the ground

Thousands of children scarred for life
Millions of tears for a soldier's wife
Both sides are losing now
Heaven takes them in
Thousands of children scarred for life

We had a chance to change our mind
But somehow wisdom was hard to find
We went with what we knew and now we can't go back
But we had a chance to change our mind.

As you can see it was probably googled down.
Just as an aside, no wonder the google guys get frowned at about copyright infringement.
Anyway, I figure getting thr word out is more important in this instance. If Neil Young's lawyers contact me, I'll take it down.

2006/04/28

Asking For It

"I expect mushroom clouds to go up like this!"

"Asking For It" In Iran
They used to have this expression which is now totally politically incorrect.
As in, a rapist or a woman-beater says in his defense, "she was asking for it".
Well it's probably just as politically incorrect to say this but Iran is"asking for it".

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's president said on Friday his country would pay no attention to international calls to halt its nuclear work, hours before the U.N. atomic watchdog reports on whether Tehran has met U.N. Security Council demands.

"Those who want to prevent Iranians from obtaining their right, should know that we do not give a damn about such resolutions," Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a rally in northwest Iran, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Mohamed ElBaradei, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is expected to tell the council and the agency's board on Friday that Iran has not stopped enriching uranium or fully answered IAEA queries as the U.N. body asked a month ago.

The West accuses Iran of pursuing a civilian nuclear programme as a cover to acquire atomic bombs. Tehran denies it.

"Enemies think that by ... threatening us, launching psychological warfare or ... imposing embargos they can dissuade our nation to obtain nuclear technology," Ahmadinejad said in the town of Khorramdarreh, in Zanjan province.

"Whether enemies like it or not, Iran is a nuclear state. Obtaining nuclear technology is a national demand," he said.

Iran said this month it had for the first time enriched uranium to the level used in power stations and vowed to pursue large-scale enrichment.

Ahmadinejad also said the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme posed no threat to international peace and security, as Western leaders contend.
Yeah, right. They're really going to buy that one Mr. Ahmadinejad.

I've been re-reading the events that led to the war in Pacific again in recent weeks but have come to the conclusion that rightly or wrongly both the Japanese and US leadership were wanting to have that stoush; and they got it. I'm looking at the pattern of events here and the isolation into which Iran has fallen and the only historic precedent I can see is 1930s Japan.

As far as I can advise, Iran can kiss its peace goodbye if they are going down this road. It's going to feel good while they beat their chests, posture and strut like they're big men on the world stage, but boy is it going to hurt when the nightly carpet bombings start and infrastructure gets knocked out in surgical strikes and kids get killed and the tanks roll in and the hospitals get over-loaded with the injured and the shit generally hits the fan. Then there'll be the obligatory Iranian mum crying over her dead kid on the News saying "How can you do this inhuman thing to our people?"
Didn't we see this with Iraq a couple of years ago? You want 'nuclear'? Try depleted core uranium rounds lodged into your water table permanently. These Americans are serious ASSHOLES who care naught about your claims. Iran, your perceived righteousness is peanuts in the scheme of things global. The West doens't give a shit about your righteous claims; you're sitting on too much oil for niceties.
*Ugh*
My advice? Stop dicing with death, Iran. Avoid the war altogether and buckle, kids, buckle. Grow up and eat humble pie. Take the deal offered by the Brits and the French and the Germans. It's going to hurt a lot less without the bloodshed - All else is Pride and Marcellus Wallace will tell you, "Pride is going to fuck with your head".
Go down in the first round like the big man says.

Part of the problem is that Iran isn't going to be allowed to be a nuclear power while a crazy Theocracy established by the late Ayatollah Khomeini is in place. And their Prime Minister is this guy who orchestrated the 1979 Tehran Embassy-jack. Sometimes who you you are is the biggest obstacle in arriving at Peace.
This is a guy who has not yet paid for a crime he committed a long time ago and I can't imagine the US Marhsall types who come up with policy in DC saying "you know what, let's let this guy have his way. Who gives a shit about this oil-producing towel-head nation getting nukes?"
Can you imagine Tommy Lee Jones saying that in his US Marshalls role?
Can you? I didn't think so. :)

Brace yourself for much ugliness and my prediction is still war in June.

Corpsegate


The mortuary in Kuwait City where they mix up corpses.

Finding Private Kovco
For wont of a better expression this fiasco can only be called corpse-gate. Just for the record, here's where we're up to right now:

The body of Private Jacob Kovco, the Australian soldier killed in Iraq, is expected to arrive in Sydney early tomorrow morning.

The body had been scheduled to arrive in Melbourne yesterday morning, but a mix-up in Kuwait caused the wrong coffin to arrive.

His family has flown to Sydney from the East Sale Air Force base in Victoria.

The father of two died last week from a single gun shot wound to the head.

The exact circumstances of his death are unclear but Defence Minister Brendan Nelson says there is no suggestion it was anything other than accidental.

The Opposition Leader Kim Beazley is demanding Dr Nelson put in place rules for the repatriation of bodies of Australian soldiers.

Dr Nelson has delayed an overseas trip so he can meet the body of Private Kovco when it arrives tomorrow.

Mr Beazley has demanded Dr Nelson explain to Parliament why the body was mistakenly left behind in Kuwait.

"A full statement from him as to how the Government is going to ensure this never happens again," he said.

Mr Beazley says the Government needs to ensure a protocol for the handling of Australian military deaths should be in place.

An argument has broken out over a draft document which was never finalised.

Former Defence Force chief Peter Cosgrove says it was delayed by the states and territories.

"It was an ADF (Australian Defence Force) proposal which the coroners collectively could not agree," he said.

Prime Minister John Howard says the Government is reviewing procedures for the return of bodies following the mix-up.

'Cover-up unlikely'
Martin Hamilton Smith is a former lieutenant colonel who is now a South Australian Liberal MP.

He says it is highly unlikely there has been a cover-up of Private Kovco's death.

"Accidents happen frankly, and then you have to ask yourself how do you prevent it from happening again," he said.

"This soldier's platoon commander, his company commander, his battalion commander, they would all be asking themselves now what went wrong, and possibly blaming themselves to some extent."

Coroner's investigation
The New South Wales Coroner says he expects to assume jurisdiction for the body of Private Kovco when it arrives in Sydney.

John Abernathy says he expects to look into the manner and cause of Private Kovco's death.

He says in order to ensure the matter is fully and properly investigated the NSW Police State Crime Command will take charge of the investigation.
That's not exactly enlightening. So who thinks the findings will go public? It wasn't a pretty sight to see both Brendan Nelson and PM John Howard having to apologise furiously on air for the corpse mix up; mixing up corpses is pure black comedy, but it shouldn't have been laid on the Head of State the way those two men who were hung out to dry by the Military. Even allowing for the fact that I don't much like those men, that was a terrible thing the military did to those politicians.
Here's another from the Adelaide Advertiser:

While it seems that the morgue was responsible for the mistake, the Australian Defence Force will today be pondering huge questions about the affair.

How could such a thing happen? What should be done to ensure that it never happens again?

There is also a disturbing question hanging over the official explanation of Pte Kovco's death.

First we were told that he died in a freak accident while cleaning his pistol.

Now, Defence Minister Brendan Nelson says Pte Kovco was actually fiddling with other equipment when the gun discharged.

The ADF has launched an inquiry into how he died.

Pte Kovco's family is reeling from this new twist. They demand the truth and accuse officials of a cover-up.

The inquiry must act swiftly to account for this tragedy so that Pte Kovco's family and indeed all Australians have a satisfactory explanation.
Hands up people who thought the explanation Private Kovco "shot himself accidentally while cleaning a gun" set alarm bells off in their heads? Some years ago it was reported that most men who are brought into hospitals with gunshot wounds in the USA claim they got their wounds while cleaning their guns when in reality, in majority of the cases they had been shot by their spouses.

My immediate response was "What? his wife shot him in Iraq?"
Of course, his wife is in Australia. My next guess was that he must've pulled a Wayne Carey - slept with one of his colleagues' wives, incurring the righteous wrath of a cuckold. Or more than one? Who knows?

So the next quetion that should come to mind is who shot Private Kovco?
The scenario as now accepted by the Media is now that he was at a table with some of his colleagues when a pistol nearby discharged and killed him. Well, you try and make that scenario stick in a movie script. I dare you, I double dare you. It makes no sense unless somebody pulled a gun pointed it at his head and pulled the trigger. Do you still think there's no cover-up?

The other question that springs to mind is who was that other corpse? And what about the people expecting that corpse? It turns out the other dead body was a Bosnian.

Radmila Bjelia, a counsellor at the Bosnian Embassy in Canberra, told smh.com.au that the body is that of a Bosnian citizen.

"We have information that there is a Bosnian private person, not a soldier, [sent to Australia]," she said.

[It is] a contractor with a foreign company. We don't know which company."

Ms Bjelia did not say where or how the contractor died and she did not have details about whether the dead person's family had been told about the casket being sent to the wrong country.
It wouldn't be so funny if it weren't corpses being mixed up. It's kind of a po-mo Memento Mori.

Air Drums
Check out this link. You won't be dissappointed...

Shawn Chacon

Last year Shawn Chacon did a reverse-type routine, turning into a carriage from a Colorado pumpkin as the Yankees rode him all thee way to the post-season. He doesn't have good enough peripherals to be a star accordings to FIPS/DIPS analysis, but some have done further analysis to suggest he's a rare pitcher who can get by by lowering his BABIP.
However, Marc Normandin of Beyond the Boxscore writes in Baseball Prospectus's latest Yankee Notebook that Chacon actually has a history of significantly low BABIPs relative to his home park. Thus, the improvement Chacon showed as a Yankee last year just might be a sustainable result of escaping Coors Field, a park that generally inflates BABIP, because Chacon just might be the rare non-knuckleballer who can consistantly supress his opponents success on balls in play.

The Normandin's credit, this is something he noticed before Chacon threw his first pitch for the Yankees. That is significant not only as a testament to Normandin's skills as an analyst, but because it proves his BABIP analysis isn't simply a case of retrofiting the stats to explain past performance, but the detection of a trend significant enough that he was able to anticipate and extremely surprising improvement in performance.

Here's what Normandin wrote around the time of the trade:

- Shawn Chacon of all people looks like he might have the ability to control hits on balls in play a little bit. Ignoring the .314 BABIP, where he was closing, Chacon's BABIP's for his major league career read .275, .261, .276, and .272. Consider again that Coors raises BABIP by simply existing [the average BABIP at Coors during Chacon's stay there was north of .330 --CJC], and we have ourselves someone lowering the batting average of balls in play against him at an extreme rate consistently.
Do I believe it? Not entirely, but it's a nice piece of analysis of events to date.
He certainly plays as an escape artist, though not quite on the same level of trickiness as Orlando 'El Duque' Hernandez. I don't know what it is about these types of pitchers that interest me; he's certainly fun.

He pitched 6-1/3 innings and won today, lowering his ERA from a transorbital 8.03 to 4.56.
If you don't count his bad relief innings, he's actually at a hair under 4.00. a pretty handy pitcher to have in your 4th starter slot. Amazingly the Yankees are *waiting* on the return of Aaron Small, the other fairy-tale pitcher from last year. Without Aaron Small, they are sending Jaret "Hit by A Bat And Two Balls" Wright to the mound against *gulp* Roy Halladay. I guess you get days like that.

2006/04/27

Cult Of Personality Article Of The Day


'Stalin Land'?
I can't find an English language confirmation of this article. Apparently, they are building a theme park dedicated to Josef Stalin in (where else?) Siberia.
スターリン復権か “独裁者遊園地”建設順調

 【モスクワ=内藤泰朗】ソ連の「赤い神」として君臨した独裁者スターリンの殿堂を今夏、ロシアのシベリアに開く準備が進んでいる。この“独裁者遊園地”とも呼ぶべき「スターリンランド」の建設は、地元の旅行業者が観光の目玉にしようともくろんでいるとされるが、プーチン政権がお墨付きを与えているスターリン復権運動とも重なってみえる。
 ロシアの日刊紙イズベスチヤなどによると、「スターリンランド」構想が持ち上がっているのは、若き革命家スターリンが帝政末期に流刑に処されていたクラスノヤルスク地方トゥルハン地区のクレイカ村。地元で旅行会社を経営するポノマリョフ氏が最近、州都クラスノヤルスクで開かれた旅行博覧会で、州都から約1800キロ離れた同村にソ連時代に建設され、その後放置されてきたスターリン廟(びょう)を復興させると発表したことから明らかになった。

 この廟は、スターリンの偉業を誇示するために、存命中の1940年代後半に着工し、50年代初めに完成したが、スターリンの死後、独裁者の個人崇拝を批判したフルシチョフ元ソ連共産党第一書記によって閉鎖された。高さ10メートル、広さ400平方メートルの廟は、ロシア最大級のスターリン関連施設だという。

 ポノマリョフ氏はすでに、高さ3メートルのスターリン像の建造を発注。8月にはオープンにこぎ着けたい考えだ。さらに、スターリンがエニセイ川沿いで暮らした丸太小屋を復活させ、当時の生活の様子を再現するなど、順次、施設を拡張し、「スターリンランド」とする計画だ。地元政府の承認も得たという。

 計画推進派は「政治的な意図は一切なく、純粋なビジネスである」と強調するが、民主派からは「ドイツでヒトラーランドが建設されるのと同じで、あまりに不道徳な計画だ」と反発の声が上がっている。

 ロシアでは、血の大粛清を主導したスターリンを、大祖国戦争(第2次世界大戦のロシア側呼称)を勝利に導き、超大国を築いた「偉大な指導者」として、その業績を再評価する動きが進んでおり、同計画もスターリン復権への一歩といえそうだ。
Now this is sick. As one of the critics note, it would be as absurd as trying to open "Hitler Land" in Germany.
The Russians are trying to repatriate the reputation of old Joe on the grounds that he was a great war time leader. If the Russians are willing to buy into that kind of nationalist sentiment (and the ironies of that kind of nationalist fervor for an old Communist Dictator is pretty funny). Next thing, they'll make an erotic anime out of "Gulag Archipelago".

Gorby Goes To Bat


Solar Is The Way, He Says...
Mikhail Gorbachev who must be one of the most outstanding figures of late the Twentieth Century is pitching for better energy policy. Specifically, going Solar.

GENEVA (AFP) - Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev urged the world's biggest industrialized nations to set up a 50-billion-dollar (44-billion-euro) fund to support solar power, warning that oil or nuclear energy were not viable energy sources for the future.

Gorbachev -- who chairs an environmental thinktank, Green Cross International -- called on leaders of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations to invest in renewable energy sources, in a statement marking the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

As leader of the Soviet Union in 1986, Gorbachev led the immediate response to the world's worst nuclear disaster, which led to at least 4,000 deaths and sent a radioactive cloud over parts of Europe.

The Green Cross proposals were contained in a letter sent to the leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized nations who are due to meet in Russia in July. Some of the proposals were reported last week in the Financial Times.

"This idea reflects our vision of a way of helping the energy-impoverished in the developing world, while creating concentrations of solar energy in cities that could be used to prevent blackouts," Gorbachev said.

Solar energy would also "lower electricity bills, and would provide a source in the future for generating renewable hydrogen fuels," he added.

"The fund could easily be raised by cutting subsidies for fossil fuels like oil and coal."

Rising oil prices and supply concerns, as well as the growing need to combat global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions, have raised the profile and economic viability of some renewable energy sources.

Those concerns have also sparked renewed interest in nuclear power as a source of climate-friendly energy.

The debate has been amplified by the need for some European countries to plan soon for the replacement of earlier generations of nuclear power stations that are due to come to the end of their lifespan in the next two decades.

But Gorbachev has said that nuclear power "doesn't add up economically, environmentally or socially".

"Nuclear power is neither the answer to modern energy problems nor a panacea for climate change challenges," he claimed.

Green Cross said nuclear technology requires huge amounts of initial capital, while decommissioning plants is hugely expensive and costs continue to be incurred long after a nuclear power station is closed.

Direct subsidies to nuclear energy in the United States totalled 115 billion dollars between 1947 and 1999 with a further 145 billion dollars in indirect subsidies, according to the non-governmental agency.

It said they dwarfed those spent on solar or wind power.
Solar energy is one of those beautiful promises that never seeems to take off. There's way too much invested in combustion aroudn the world. At least Gorbachev is pithing for a better energy regime than continuing carbon combustion.

Sick In Bed

Plays With Tools
All the months of toil have caught up to me today as I lie in bed. Well, I've crawled over to the computer to check out what the headline news stories are, and I found this interestng tidbit.

Costner Named in Former Spa Worker's Case
Wednesday April 26 10:52 AM ET

Kevin Costner was accused of performing an indecent act as he received a massage at a Scottish hotel, in a claim by a former spa worker filed with a British employment tribunal.

The 34-year-old woman claimed the actor exposed himself and carried out a sex act as she gave him the massage at the Old Course Hotel in Fife, Scotland, in October 2004, said papers filed with the tribunal.

Her allegations were not taken seriously by hotel staff, papers said.

Tribunal chairman Nicol Hosie said the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had agreed to settle her claim of unfair dismissal and sexual discrimination out of court.

The tribunal, sitting in Dundee, Scotland, on Tuesday, did not consider whether her allegations were true.

"This was never about Kevin Costner. It is a dispute between a hotel and an ex-employee," the 51-year-old actor-director's spokesman, Paul Bloch, told reporters.

Hosie lifted a restriction that had been imposed to prevent Costner's identity from being revealed, saying there was no reason for it to be withheld from reporting.

An earlier hearing had been told Costner and his wife were staying at the hotel at the time of the alleged incident.

"It is the company's position not to comment on matters of litigation," said an Old Course Hotel spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity, in a written statement. "The parties have settled this matter. The terms are confidential and undisclosed."

Way to go Kev, you seedy little bugga. So the competition of the day is: "What Sex Act Was Kevin Costner Carrying Out As He Received A Massage, Exactly?"

a) Masturbation.
b) Auto-fellation.
c) Insertion of a foreign object into his rear.
d) All of the above.

Millionaires Complaining
Really, it's just not right. Johnny Damon thinks he is going to be mistreated by the fans of the Boston Red Sox because he changed sides.


"What people don't understand is that I still have friends over there. I still care about them," Damon says. "They're not the same team. A lot of guys I played with are gone. They went young. But guys like Big Papi (David Ortiz) and Jason (Varitek) will always be lifelong friends. I have extreme loyalty to them.

"But this is a business. Life moves on. I thought they'd re-sign me. I even bought a home there because they (the Red Sox front office) told me I'd be there a long time."

Damon signed a four-year, $52 million contract with the Yankees during the offseason after rejecting Boston's four-year, $40 million offer.

"Look, it takes two to tango in terms of reasonable expectations and reasonable levels of compensation," Red Sox President/CEO Larry Lucchino says. "We made a determination what we thought was fair and an appropriate contract. It's not like we didn't bid for his services.

"In general, the team has got to do what it feels is right. You want your fans to love your veteran players, but the front office has got to have enough independence and objectivity to know what value seems fair and what the alternatives will be."

The Red Sox chose to go with a younger and more defensive-minded lineup, adding such players as center fielder Coco Crisp, who takes over for Damon, and first baseman J.T. Snow in the offseason.

"They made their choice," Damon says. "I'm not bitter. I'm not angry. I'm just with the team that wanted me the most. I just hope the fans there remember the good times we had together."

Starting May 1, when the Yankees play the Red Sox at Fenway Park in the first of a two-game series, Damon will face Boston's fans for the first time since he signed his contract with the Yankees. "I don't know what's going to happen when I get there, but I know I gave them everything I had."

He pauses, gently brushes his hand through his styled hair and, speaking almost in a whisper, says, "I don't want them to hate me. I don't want them to think I'm a traitor. We have enough hatred in the world without this."

Damon never anticipated the animosity and hostility he faced the first time he played in tranquil Kansas City after the Royals traded him to the Athletics in 2001.

"That was the worst," he says. "It was brutal. It was 'Boo Johnny Day' in Kansas City. There were signs. One radio station had a contest that if I made an error, somebody would win a flat-screen TV. The guy from the station even had the gall to come up to me later and said it was all in good fun. When he introduced me to his son, I told him, 'Nothing personal. But your dad is a piece of crap.'
It's tough being an elite athlete these days. We should count ourselves lucky not to have such issues confronting us in our everyday lives. *roll eyes*

More Millionaires Complaining
It's the theme of the day.
Kenneth Lay thinks he's being mistreated by prosecution.


Hueston also presented quotes from one of Lay's defense lawyers, who told reporters earlier in the trial that former Enron treasurer Ben F. Glisan Jr. was "a performing monkey" who "contradicted the theory of intelligent design." Glisan, who pleaded guilty and is serving a five-year prison sentence, testified that he informed Lay about Enron's dire financial problems, providing some of the most potentially damaging testimony against him.

"Did you engage in character assassination of witnesses?" the prosecutor asked.

Lay replied sharply, "Are you considering yourself? I just want to make sure I understand who's on that list."

Hueston, who has drawn Lay's ire for years as the main investigator in the case against him, shot back: "Mr. Lay, I'm an assistant U.S. attorney. This is my job. You may call me anything you want."

A clutch of Lay's relatives and friends, including his pastor, spilled over into a second bench of the courtroom Wednesday, and spectators vied for a better view of what could be the pivotal moment in a case that launched an era of business scandals. How the eight-women, four-man jury assesses the credibility of Lay and his fellow defendant, Jeffrey K. Skilling, who finished his own testimony last week, could be a decisive factor in its verdict. Both Lay and Skilling, 52, face more than a decade behind bars if they are convicted.

Hueston asserted that Lay had placed several phone calls to friends at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in the course of the trial, seeking to find witnesses who would discredit the account of a Sept. 6, 2001, meeting given by former finance chief Andrew S. Fastow, one of the government's key witnesses. The prosecutor also claimed Lay had tried to reach another witness, risk analyst Vincent J. Kaminski, through an intermediary just days before he began his testimony. Lay said he "did not recall" whether Kaminski was a likely government witness, even though his name appeared on lists provided to the defense.

"You were trying to recruit people to say what you wanted them to say," Hueston charged. Lay retorted that he didn't have a "story" he was trying to get straight, as prosecutors claimed.

The prosecutor noted that Lay, who resumed day-to-day control of Enron after Skilling resigned abruptly in August 2001, received frequent updates on the company's finances. Lay said he did not recall those documents, partly because he said he depended on Skilling to notify him about trouble spots. Lay also said he performed only brief reviews of securities filings and scripts of presentations to investment analysts, an issue the government is likely to revisit.

Hueston also asserted that Lay violated the company's code of ethics by not disclosing to the board of directors his $120,000 personal investment in Photofete Inc., an online photography company that won about $400,000 in contracts from Enron. Lay said he had "forgotten about this investment altogether" until prosecutors used it against Skilling, who also invested in the company, in cross-examination last week. Lay conceded that he did not get board approval for his investment, which he characterized as small.
It's really tough when you get found out for your wrong-doings and have to somehow make it look like normal business practice. I hope they send him to jail until he rots there and then hang his corpse on Wall Street as a warning to future white collar criminals.

2006/04/26

I'm Back

Quick Shots Again...
So while I've been away, the MLB season has been under way as well as the AFL season.
My fantrasy teams are sitting in the middle of the paack as we speak.
In act the Yankees are just 2 games above .500 so I guess it's been that kind of start.
St. Derek of the pinstripes has been on fire and that's a consolation.


Jeter went 3 for 5 to boost his average to .391, and his two-run homer in the first inning off Scott Kazmir gave Mike Mussina all the runs he would need. Mussina improved to 3-1, working into the seventh inning and allowing a run and four hits, without a walk.
...
Meanwhile, Jeter has fashioned an April that could be his best ever.

His best so far was in 1999, when he hit .378 on his way to a career-high .349 average. Jeter drove the ball to right field twice last night, a sure sign the mechanics of his swing are in order. But he offered few insights into why he has started so well.

"I have no idea," he said. "I'm just trying to swing at good pitches. I don't really worry about stats too much. My job is to get on base for the other guys."

While he is doing that, Jeter is also driving in runs. He has 18 runs batted in so far, second on the team to Jason Giambi, who has 20, including 3 last night.
Go Jetes! My life would be empty without your exploits. :)

Because it's been a while I have so many thoughts to jot down so I think I'll go from the smallest things.

Things I Have Discovered About AFL Fantasy Football
I'm playing in a league with Guys who know their footy but don't know fantasy sports. I, of course know nothing significant about AFL but I do have a track record of playing Fanatsy games, so I joined up with a view to learning a few things.

First of all, Star-and-Scrubs doesn't quite work in a tight salary cap situation.
We've played 4 rounds so far and I have to report that stars are a lot less reliable in AFL than they are in baseball. Which means that when ever they miss a game for whatever woosy reason they might have, it impacts on the weekly bottom line heavily. The truth is, you have to spread your cash across players who are much better than scrubs, which means you have to know a bit more about the game as a whole.

Secondly, having only 20 trades for the entire season means that thee roster is a lot more inflexible than in Fantasy baseball, and this is already impacting hard on the Stars-and-Scrubs strategy. Here are some examples:
- Warren Tredrea finally played a game this weekend yet unitl now, he has cost me $300k+ for 3 weeks of zero points.
- Ben Cousins mysteriously did not play this round. Neither did Mark Williams or Fraser Gehrig. If all those guys are out for the rest of the season (hypothetically) then my squad is a lame duck because I've used up 8 of my 20 swaps.
- The scrubs don't play. Most of them have names and never get on the paddock. It's not worth having their names but you have to have somebody filling the rosterspot so you end up grabbing another player who never ever plays.

My team is now coming 8th out of 16 squads. It really is a work in progress.

Things I Have Noticed On My Recent Trip
The situation regarding Takeshima between Japan and South Korea is a worry. I hate to say it but the Koreans aren't saying anything that would stand up to scrutiny under an international court of law, but they're insisting with hand on sword hilt, rattling their sabres as hard as they can. They're nuts - just like the North Koreans, and that ain't so good.
"To Koreans, Dokdo is a symbol of the complete restoration of our sovereignty," the President said in a televised national address. "We will react strongly and sternly against any physical provocation. This is a matter that can never be given up or compromised at any cost or sacrifice."

Mr Roh described as "intolerable" the longstanding Japanese claim to the Dokdos, which the Japanese call Takeshima, but he also complained bitterly of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's "unrepentant and hurtful" visits to Yasukuni shrine war memorial and promised to "deal strongly" with Japanese school textbooks that glossed over the brutal annexation of Korea from 1910 to 1945.

"It is not merely our land," Mr Roh said of the island group South Korea regards as the first part of its territory to be annexed by the Japanese in 1905. "It has a special historical meaning."

Mr Koizumi responded calmly, calling again for Mr Roh to resume the six-monthly summit leadership meetings he halted after the Prime Minister's most recent Yasukuni visit in October.

However, Japanese officials concede there is little chance of a Japan-South Korea summit before Mr Koizumi retires in September. They are more concerned that Mr Roh's fiery speech could provoke outbreaks of anti-Japanese activity in South Korea, where popular feeling has been running high since October. Foreign diplomats in Seoul say antagonism towards Japanese visitors, even at business meetings, is running at a disturbing pitch.

One diplomat suggested the President's hardline speech was compelled by the view pushed by his political opponents that Saturday night's truce negotiated between the two foreign ministries was, in effect, a backdown by the South Koreans.

After Mr Roh's suggestion last week that the time had passed for "quiet diplomacy" with Japan, the next step is likely to be a tough assertion of South Korea's exclusive economic zone claim where it overlaps the Japanese EEZ claim in the Sea of Japan, which Koreans call East Sea.

Administration officials told Korean journalists that South Korea's presence and activities around the Dokdos and in the disputed EEZ waters immediately to the east would be visibly increased. They suggested Seoul could also expand its EEZ claim further into the waters claimed by Japanese.

Mr Roh also hinted during his address that South Korea would press ahead with its bid to win international recognition for Korean names of seabed features in the area, to replace Japanese nomenclature.

South Korean officials had agreed on Saturday night to put the naming issue aside for the time being, in return for Japan cancelling an oceanographic survey of the disputed waters.

South Korean coast guard patrol boats had been stationed to stop the two Japanese survey vessels entering the area, risking a physical confrontation before Saturday night's agreement.

Seoul officials are now suggesting South Korea will go ahead with its nomenclature claim to the International Hydrographic Organisation in June.

The disputed area is a rich fishing ground, but in the past five years, Korean survey work has delineated huge reserves of gas hydrates, semi-frozen natural gas, which the South Koreans estimate at 600 million tonnes.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Tomohiko Taniguchi last night reiterated Japan's claim to the Dokdo group.

"It has been Japan's consistent position that both in light of historical facts and international law, Takeshima is clearly an integral part of Japan," he said.
No offense to Korea, but this is pretty damn crappy. Needlesss to say the US are "concerned" about this situation. They ought to be. Roh's administration has been taking a pretty odd posture for months.

I Bought A Guitar
After 10 years of deliberating on a semi-acousstic electric guitar, I finally bought one on the road in Tokyo. It's a Duesenberg Starplayer TV. It looks just like this one:


So what exactly about this guitar convinced me, after ALL the guitars I've seen? Let me count the ways:

a) The configuration:
- Semi acoustic With Bigsby arm. I've been looking for something like this.
- Humbucker pick up by the bridge, but single coil at the neck. Now that's unique. Mostly it's a pair of one or the other.
- Scale length is 66.7mm which is the same as Fenders. ie, it's longer than the Gibsons.
- jumbo frets.
- The pick up selector switch is near the volume knob, just like with a Telecaster. This increases the operability off the guitar just that much.

b) The tone:
- The humbucker is a solid rock'n'roll pick up. It has grunt. Metallic grunt.
- The single coil is fat. It'ssfatter than the Lace Sensors on my Stratocaster.

c) The build and finish:
Ladies & Gents, It's German Engineering. It looks like it comes off the set of Metropolis. If Freder Fredesen played an Electric Guitar, he'd have played a Duesenberg Starplayer! The tuning heads are rock solid, but smooth as butter. The action is a delight, all the way up to the 22nd fret. The Bigsby arm has a gentle attack and release. The tone sustains like a Nigel Tufnel joke. For AUD$2k, its an excellent buy.
It's a much nicer guitar than a Gibson 335 or a stock standard Gibson Les Paul. Clearly it was designed by someobdy who hated all the things I hated about Gibson guitars but wanted to bring the Gibson tone across to a Fender-player-friendly format. (More of that in a moment)

d) Availability
You just don't see these in Australia.
Even in Japan, they're not a big seller. The guy in the shop said he'd never heard the guitar until I asked to play it. Well, I played it all right and it was very compelling.
"Gee, that's a fat sounding single coil," he said. "and that humbucker is a monster. "
After runnign thru some Stevie Ray Vaughn stuff, he says, "Gee, you should be able to charge for your playing."
The guy in the shop was flattering the hell out of me and my playing so I said "you can stop with the flattery kid. You've made your sale."

"You Say You Hate Gibsons?"
No, I just hate the cult of brand names.
You go to any music shop worth its salt in Japan and you see a barrage of Gibsons and Fenders. Many of the Fenders are made in Japan and the prices aren't prohibitive. All of them are good guitars. The Gibsons on the other hand are another story. They charge like wounded bulls for the glory of the brand name; the shops sell these things with $3.5k - $4k price tags without batting an eye-lid.

The problem is, it's only a bloody electric guitar. We're not talking about a very sophisticated piece of engineering here. They're insisting the craftsmanship invested in each instrument is worth the bundle, but $4k?. In Australia it's worse. A brand new Gibson Les Paul Custom fetches up to $7k.
You have to ask your self, "really?"

Now, I like guitars, but not enough to spend that much on them. The market on the other hand seems to just accept this. Otherwise you wouldn't see so many shops with walls and walls of Gibsons. Like, huh?
They're not exactly perfect. Here's a quick-fire list:
- Most of them only have 3 positions; a Fender Strat has 5 plus the tremolo arm.
- The pick-up selector switch is in an awkward place if you like swapping pick ups mid-song.
- The solid bodies are frickin' heavy pieces of lumber. Robert Fripp sits on a stool to play his Les Paul Custom. And even he retro-fitted a tremolo onto his guitar.
- The scale length is shorter.
- The frets are smaller.
- The necks are glued on.

On the other hand, they do sustain better, it's true, thanks to the glued-on necks.
As a player, I'd never turn down the opportunity to play on a Gibson, because they do have their uses. As good a guitar my Fender Stratocaster is, there are some sounds it simply cannot produce. I'm just not into the blind worship of brand name. Seriously, I'd pit my new Duesenberg against any Gibson - and it was less than half the price.

I feel sorry for people who feel compelled "to get that sound" by paying through their noses. It's immoral, how they market those guitars.

NASA"s New Bird


It Could Be As Early As 2011...
Michael Griffin, the NASA administrator has been talking to Congress about the next program to replace the aging Shuttle fleet.
Currently, the target date for building a new vehicle is 2014.

With his pitch to Congress, Griffin underscored a point he has made previously about completing the spaceship on a faster time frame.

Pressed by Sen. Bill Nelson (news, bio, voting record), D-Fla., Griffin acknowledged an additional $1 billion could accelerate the program's completion.

The shuttle is to be retired in 2010, and lawmakers are concerned about when a replacement will be ready.

"If money were not an issue — going back to Apollo kinds of days — then I think it would be no technical problem to have an operational system available in five to six years," Griffin said after testifying before a subcommittee that oversees NASA spending.
Which is nice to know.
President Bush's budget calls for a 3.2 percent increase in NASA spending over last year. The House and Senate have authorized an additional $1.1 billion, but that is only a guide. The money must be appropriated by both chambers.

A Senate appropriations subcommittee was to scheduled to meet Wednesday to consider the proposed increase.

NASA will be shelving its three aging space shuttles in four years. The next generation of spaceships is supposed to carry astronauts to the moon by 2018 and eventually to Mars.

The so-called "flight gap" between the shuttles and their replacement could affect research and American space competitiveness, lawmakers said.

"We don't want a hiatus because we think that puts us in a security risk position," said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas).
What Hutchison is really saying is he doesn't want a break in the flow of government money into Aerospace industries. Well, we'll see if he has any influence. The old shuttle? That's bad juju.

2006/04/08

Going Again

This Time, To Tokyo
I'm headed to Japan with Mr. Brian A Williams for a bunch of studio meetings.This comes as a logical next step for the project involving us, Producers Brian Burgess, Hideki Ujiie and director Geoff Murphy.
Geoff's short email to Brian was short and to the point: "Break a Leg".

It's going to be interesting making our pitch and then trying to get some interest and some financial commitment out of Japanese movie studios. They're all very different from one another as you'd excpet. Some enthusiastic to make contact, others are are more cautious or disinterested.
Already, I have strains of Soul Coughing's 'Screenwriter Blues' running through my head.
I won't be naming names. Wish us luck.

I'll also meet some contemporary art people who privatly funded a short film of mine back in 2001. We shot it during the week after "9/11". There's going to be a screening for which I am bracing myself. Who knows how the film stands up after 5 years and a war on terror?

Gnosticism


I used to be into the idea of the gnostics. Somewhere along the way I just dropped the interest because it was simply too obscure.

So it's quite interesting to see an article covering the Gnostics.
The Gospel -- literally "good news" -- of Judas was originally written in Greek about 140 years after Jesus and Judas died. The current manuscript is a copy of the original text translated into the Coptic language by a scribe in a group known as the Gnostics.

Extensive analysis of the paper, ink, writing style and text indicate that the copy was made about A.D. 300, according to Terry Garcia of the National Geographic Society.

The Gnostics were a sect "that emphasized knowledge -- gnosis -- but not the kind we think of today," said Bible scholar Gregor Wurst of the University of Augsburg in Germany.

They were interested in the spiritual knowledge of God and "the essential oneness of the inner self with God."

They considered the world a creation of lesser, inferior gods who imprisoned the inner self in a material body, a prison from which they hoped to escape. The Gospel of Judas clearly reflects this belief, which is in stark contrast to the version of Judas presented in the Bible.

"He's the good guy in this portrayal," said Bart Ehrman, a religion professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "He's the only apostle who understands Jesus."

In a key passage, Jesus compares Judas to the other disciples, saying, "You will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me."

By helping Jesus get rid of his flesh, Judas will help liberate the divine being within.

Several times, Jesus indicates the special status of Judas: "Step away from the others and I shall tell you the mysteries of the kingdom. It is possible for you to reach it, but you will grieve a great deal."

Jesus also indicates that Judas will be despised by the other disciples.

The Gospel ends abruptly. No mention is made of the Crucifixion or Resurrection.
As far as I can tell, the Gnostics were really into the notion of 'I deny reality'.
You get that way when you invest a lot into metaphysics. I always think of Diogenes' refutation of such constructions: he hits Zeno with a stick, yelling, "thus I refute!"

I am not good at metaphysics.

2006/04/07

Sun Research Yields Unexpected Results

Oh well, I guess that's what science is all about. You formulate a theory, you test it, find out it's wrong and go back to the drawing board.

That's just what all the research boffins in Astophysics will be doing now, as a result of the latest research that shows the Sun's composition is not what we thought it was.

One theory says that the Sun has similar oxygen composition to the planets, the other says that it has much higher levels of Oxygen-16.

The latest results say they're both wrong!
Check out the link :-)

2006/04/05

Historic Processes

A Big Moment In Transplant Medicine


This is big news.
The world's first organs grown in a laboratory have been successfully implanted in humans, heralding a new era in transplant surgery.

Seven patients given new bladders grown from their own cells have functioning organs that have performed as well as those conventionally repaired but with none of the ill effects, scientists have revealed.

Experts hailed the "stunning" development, which marks a new frontier in the search for replacement body parts. Scientists behind the breakthrough are now trying to grow up to 20 other organs and tissues.

Throughout the Western world, thousands of people die every year waiting for donor organs and thousands more never make it on to the waiting-lists; the potential benefits are enormous.

Instead of relying on organs from other bodies, doctors are investigating replacements grown by farming human tissue.

Anthony Atala, director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, North Carolina, who led the trial, said it was a vital step forward. "We have shown regenerative medicine techniques can be used to generate functional bladders that are durable," he said.

"This suggests regenerative medicine may one day be a solution to the shortage of donor organs in this country for those needing transplants."

Professor Atala is working on growing 20 tissues and organs, including blood vessels and hearts, in the laboratory.

Catherine Kielty, professor of medical biochemistry at the UK Centre for Tissue Engineering at Manchester University, said: "It is an exciting development. To my knowledge, a whole organ grown in the laboratory has not been tested in humans before. It is an engineered organ which has proved functional."
The ramifications are endless. This is the breakthrough medicine has been looking for. It will change our world when we can grow organs in a petri dish and replace our broken parts.

World War I Posters Go Internet Display

Of all places, Tokyo Univeristy's graduate school haas a collection of 661 WWI propaganda posters from the USA, which they've now made available to the public on the internet. It's quite interesting.

The on above is obviously inviting people to buy war bonds. 99 years ago, America entered th war kicking and screaming. most Americans didn't see the point of invloving themselves in confflicts abroad. A century later, it seems it's de rigeur for the American Administrations to go to war.

Penny For Your Thoughts Captain
In yesterday's 17-hit 15-run barrage, A-Rod hit a Grand slam home run.
The pic above is A-Rod, just having crossing the plate. Behind him is Captain Clutch, walking back to the dugout and for some reason he doesn't look too happy. Or is this business as ususal face? I just sort of wondered.

Asterisk Moment
Meanwhile, Barry Bonds is reaping what he has sown.
So this is how the great chase of Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron plays out, wholly without grace. An event to be mocked. A celebration of the absurd rather than of sporting achievement. An embarrassment for baseball and a burden for the Giants. Syringes on the field. Double entendres in the stands. Investigators wading into the muck. The class act Vin Scully telling the Los Angeles Times he hopes he's not unlucky enough to have to call home run number 756.

Consider what happened Monday evening in San Diego. In his first game since being catalogued by the book Game of Shadows as a serial steroid user and effectively being placed under investigation by the office of the commissioner, Barry Bonds was Tonya Harding. A punch line. An object of ridicule. His teammate Omar Vizquel said that Bonds was heckled by children, for goodness sake, during batting practice.

"Today it was kind of bad,'' Vizquel said.

Oh, that was just a start. Fans littered the stands with placards that questioned everything about Bonds, from the legitimacy of his records to the size of his head and genitalia. A reporter asked Bonds quite seriously if the syringe thrown near him on the field had a needle. Giants staffers were in full panic mode trying to tamp down the brush fire of questions to players about all things Bonds, and a weariness had already settled over the clubhouse about this elephant in the room that will dominate their season.

"And this is only Day One," one Giant said, shaking his head.
It's not looking like the way things should have been. When Aaron was chasing Ruth, it was considered bad enough that he was black, but this is different. Barry Bonds has spent his career alienating the press and now he's not going to get any favours from anybody, regardless of and because of what he has achieved with the help of steroids.

Koizumi Is Now All-Time Third
Junichiro Koizumi is now the 3rd longest Post WWII Prime Minister of Japan. The longest was Eisaku Satoh at 2798days; second was Shigeru Yoshida at 2616 days. At 1806 days, Koizumi shares third place with former PM Yasuhiro Nakasone. That's right, the guy who declared he wanted Japan to be the unsinkable Aircraft carrier for the USA and revelled in his 'Ron and Yasu' diplomacy with Ronald Reagan. Compared to Nakasone, Koizumi's tenure has been quite hip and responsive to the needs of the population, with massive reforms put into place. Not only is he a historic PM, he's going to be remembered as one of the greats.

2006/04/04

Quick Shots

Another Season Starts
It sure feels longer each off-season for the MLB season to begin.
The Yankees squared off against the A's and that's a hairy start as any because these A's might be the best A's in a couple of decades; even better than the Jason Giambi-Johnny Damon A's of 2001. By the time I caught the score it was 7-1 and then 11-1 and then 13-1. The Yankees look like they are getting off to a nice sweet start.

iCompositions Report
I'm coming to the end of my 12 track cycle of Beastie Boys re-mixes. I only have one more and then it's "That's it that's all". Check them out by clicking on the link to the right if you already haven't done so.

Going Again
It's a complex business but I'm headed up north to Japan again. This time we're trying to meet some studio honchos to see if they will come on board a coproduction. There is no coproduction treaty in place between Japan and Australia, as they happpen so seldom, but it happens so seldom because the industries are so far away from one another in terms of growth cycle, scale and operations. It's going to be an interesting gap to try and bridge in order to bring about a little bit of success.

Scary thought
A man was once accosted at customs because the cutoms dogs barked at him ferociously. It turned out that the customs dogs were barking at the pheromones of the man's own dog which was on heat, that had found their way onto the luggage. When he explained the situation (I guess he said "my bitch is rutting at home"), he was detained for another 24hours for trying to lie to get out of fooling the custom dogs.

2006/04/02

Unedifying Exchange

Australia And Indonesia Fail At The Emotional Maturity Stakes
I guess the first thing that comes to mind is "you started it" and the second one is, "if you can't handle the heat, don't be starting fires." Which is to say, the sentiment tops out at a sixth grade primary level of discourse. You know, the age where you wonder if Superman can take on Mighty Mouse.

The first pickie is the Indonesian Cartoon portraying John Howard and Alexander Downer as a pair of rutting Dingos on the front page of their newspaper.


Let's face it, it's kind of sad.
Yet, I'm not really put out by it because well, I do think of our PM that way too, so it's not nearly so funny as sad because well, it's true - he IS that unappealing.
Besides, they have a free press, which they didn't used to have. It's good.

The second pic is Bill Leak's response.

Obviously, neither of these cartoons are particularly edifying or worthy of comment in of themselves except that maybe Bill Leak's layer of irony in including his caption 'No Offence Intended' is pretty witty but in a 10-year old way - with which there's nothing wrong I might add, because a cartoonist ought to exercise that kind of wit lest we all become doddering wowser morons. :)
Besides, we allegedly have a free press.

Now the news reports there are fears this exchange might heighten tenstions between Canberra and Jakarta.
AUSTRALIA is bracing for renewed tensions with Indonesia — already inflamed by the decision to grant protection to Papuan asylum seekers — after the publication of a cartoon showing a character resembling the Indonesian President as a copulating dog.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer yesterday sought to pre-empt a wider rift by distancing the Government from the cartoon, published in The Weekend Australian.

He conceded the cartoon was likely to cause "significant offence" in Indonesia, but said it was not up to the Government to apologise, as the newspaper was entitled to publish offensive and distasteful material.

Bill Leak's cartoon responds to one published in a Jakarta daily last week, which parodied Prime Minister John Howard and Mr Downer as copulating dingoes, with the Prime Minister telling the Foreign Minister: "I want Papua!! Alex! Try to make it happen!"

That cartoon reflected widespread suspicion in Indonesia that Australia's decision to grant protection visas to 42 Papuan asylum seekers reflects a secret plan to engineer West Papua's separation from Indonesia.

While Mr Howard has shrugged off the Indonesian cartoon, Leak's cartoon is likely to test Jakarta's tolerance. Leak depicts a character resembling Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as a dog mounting a Papuan while saying: "Don't take this the wrong way …" The caption reads: "No Offence Intended."

Mr Downer yesterday dissociated the Government from Leak's cartoon. "I don't want to see Australia and Indonesia's relationship, which is going through a difficult period as a result of the application of Australian law by the Department of Immigration, descend into an exchange of offensive cartoons," Mr Downer said.

"The Government is aware this cartoon is likely to cause significant offence to people in Indonesia and we wish to dissociate the Government completely."

He said the Australian embassy in Jakarta was concerned at the likely negative reaction within the country because of the cartoon's offensive, crude and potentially racist nature.

Cartoonist Leak last night denied the character in his cartoon was President Yudhoyono, saying it was meant to be a generic Indonesian.

He said he was astonished by Mr Downer's response and that Mr Downer should have followed Mr Howard's example in brushing aside any controversy over the original Indonesian cartoon.

"I think that if Mr Downer had taken his Prime Minister's example and done likewise, then he would have defused this thing in an instant."

An Indonesian presidential spokesman told the ABC that President Yudhoyono had not seen the cartoon but had laughed when told of it. "It's in poor taste. Sometimes the media … resort to poor taste, which actually demonstrates the level of their quality," the spokesman said.
Seems to me from the last paragraph the Indonesians are pretty mature about all this rot.
Anyway, it has nothing on the furore over the Mohammed cartoon of 2 months ago and really, there won't be flag burning over this as far as I can tell. Some days I wish I had shares in flag companies and pray cartoonists lampoon everybody as often as possible.

2006/04/01

Shazza!


She Can be 'Emotionally Cubist'
The woman who once uncrossed her legs without any underwear is reprising that role.
Here's a very funny article on Sharon Stone.
"This is Basic Instinct: The European version, not Basic Instinct 2," Stone announces when she arrives - 40 minutes late - for our interview.

She may be 48, but she's still the diva. She looks impeccably elegant in a Fendi dress, her fingers and neck heavy with Bulgari jewellery and her blonde hair cascading around her shoulders, skirting her heavily made-up face.

"They held me in hair and make-up prison because guess what, I don't look like this when I get up," she quips.

"We looked at Basic Instinct 2 as a psychological investigation," she goes on expansively. Which sounds grand. Yet the critics haven't exactly been resounding in praise of the movie, which most feel is more steamy than it is smart.

In the opening scene, Stone and Collymore are seen racing through the streets of London in a sports car while engaging in a spot of high-speed, Ketamine-fuelled sexplay that leads to them crashing through a safety barrier and into the Thames. There are also plenty of scenes of Stone naked with other women; Stone naked with Morrissey; Stone tightening a belt around Morrissey's neck mid-coitus. "Yes, there are scandalous things in the film," she admits. "Yes, there are evocative sexual moments."

Then, of course, there's the essential Stone full-frontal, which comes about two-thirds of the way through the film, in a Jacuzzi with Morrissey. "I felt we should hold off on the full nudity for a while in the movie and then I thought that, when I ultimately did do the nude scene, it should be done in a startling way that would be disturbing and threatening," she says. "I wanted to do the nudity in a way that was quite brazen. I wanted [Tramell] to be very masculine, like a man in a steam room, and I wanted the audience to have a moment where they realise she's naked and then realise she's a fortysomething woman and naked, because we're not used to seeing that in movies. We're used to seeing Sean Connery and his grand-daughter, you know what I mean? Or Mel Gibson and his daughter."

This is one of Stone's more lucid moments during our interview, in which she sporadically says things I can make no sense of (such as describing the Jacuzzi scene as an "emotionally cubist" moment).

Really, you gotta laugh.

On Brian Cashmaan

Finally In Charge?
One of the most fascinating people in the Yankee Universe for me is GM Brian Cashman. He almost walked away from the Yankees because he found working there intolerable. Miraculously, or perhaps, rationally, George Steinbrenner retained him and so Brian Cashman is back at the desk, working the deals.
Here's an interesting article on Cashman.

"In one of the initial conversations I had with Randy and Steve, I was in tears," Cashman said of his meeting with Randy Levine, the Yankees’ president, and Steve Swindal, the team’s general partner. "I told them I love this organization, but that I couldn’t stay here in this job under these circumstances. We hadn’t even gotten around to the money."

From his home in Connecticut, Cashman labored over the most important document of his career one that would define how the Yankees would do business in the future: The fractured baseball operation, with factions in New York and Tampa, would report to the general manager. And the GM would have supervision over the draft, and sole responsibility for the 40-man roster.

"As I recall, it was the next day, after that conversation, that George called me and convinced me to stay," Cashman says. "I had begun my conversation with him by telling him that, no matter who he hired, this is how I thought it should be with the chain of command from the owner, to the GM, to the manager.

’It’s got to be that way,’ I said, ’or it won’t work. The players, the press and the fans all have to know that.’

But to Cashman’s surprise, Steinbrenner said he was absolutely fine with the plan and, as further incentive to keep Cashman in the family, as he put it, sweetened the financial terms of the three-year contract to $1.6 million, $1.8 million and $2 million, making him the highest paid GM in the game.

In the less-visible business end of the Yankees, Steinbrenner had already fulfilled his vow to give the younger herd more freedom, entrusting Levine and son-in-law Swindal, both 51, along with Trost, 60, as the front men in the intricate, multimillion dollar YES Network deal and new stadium project. But from a baseball standpoint, it remained business as usual with Steinbrenner overseeing a dual front office in New York and Tampa and allowing the two factions to clash bitterly and publicly over player personnel.

It had become a dysfunctional operation that too often made it appear the team’s right hand didn’t know what the left hand was doing. The favoritism shown by Steinbrenner for the Tampa-based minor league/player development operatives with whom he spent most of his time compounded the situation, as did the fact that he publicly held Cashman and manager Joe Torre accountable for the team’s fortunes.

Meanwhile, Torre had issues of his own with Steinbrenner and Levine, and it was into this prickly situation that Swindal, as general partner, asserted himself. For the past two years, the manager had endured the periodic slings and arrows from Steinbrenner, mostly through statements from P.R. mogul Howard Rubenstein, and it was his belief that The Boss, with Levine’s encouragement, was looking for a way to get rid of him.

Publicly, Torre maintained his stoic demeanor for the most part but the years of sniping and second-guessing from The Boss were taking their toll. Not a confrontational man, Torre, too, felt he needed to get his situation resolved.

That is how Cashman attained young elephant status as boss of baseball operations from Steinbrenner and how Torre and Steinbrenner bonded again. Why it happened is a matter of differing theories by Yankee insiders.

Says one: I think George finally came to realize he shouldn’t let his friends in Tampa run the baseball operations; that they hadn’t served him well.

The insider cites the Yankees’ abysmal drafting record over the last 10 years and depleted state of the farm system, noting that Tampa-based VP of scouting Damon Oppenheimer’s decision to pass up St. John’s closer Craig Hansen in favor of a high school shortstop, C.J. Henry, last June may have been the final convincer.

Another Yankee insider was more specific. The fact is, George has gotten older” he says. He’s 75 and most people his age are retired to a life of leisure, not still running a major corporation. But this isn’t the same situation as it was 25 years ago when the Yankees were just a baseball team.

George’s world has changed dramatically, and he’s grudgingly come to accept that. It’s been hard for him to make any concessions to age, simply because of what he’s been. But now that he is, he’s turning to people he feels he can trust.

Steinbrenner acknowledges that Cashman, who has worked in the Yankee front office since he was 19, and Cashman’s mentor, Gene Stick Michael, who has served the Boss throughout most of his 33-year ownership of the team as player, coach, manager, GM and chief scout, are two people he regards as indispensable.

The other day in spring training he even referred to Cashman as the boss.

I wanted Brian with me, Steinbrenner said. He’s one of the young elephants I was talking about. He has my full confidence. And Stick’s been with me forever. I want him involved.

But as much as this restructuring of the New York-Tampa operations might be perceived as a major concession on Steinbrenner’s part, Cashman is quick to point out that the only thing that’s really changed is that everyone in the organization now has a clearly defined role.

Cashman now has the responsibility he’s always wanted, and as Steinbrenner might add, the accountability that goes with it.
The thing one realises about Brian Cashman is that he too has been brought up through the Yankee organisation, much like its homegrown superstars. He's a product of the Yankee system just as much as Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada, and this is perhaps why fans root for the GM.

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