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Tuesday, August 12th, 2008
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11:40 am - On news from Eastern Europe.
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Dear Vladimir Putin's sock-puppet President Medvedev,
Let me make sure I've got this straight:
Your neighbor (and former Soviet state) Georgia had some of it's provinces, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, attempt to break away in the early 1990s. From what I've read, the Ossetians have a distinct culture and want to try and have a go at running things by themselves. Georgia isn't too chuffed about this, but it seems to me to be a (more-or-less) internal matter, from my way of thinking. It would have been nice if Georgia's neighbors (like you and the rest of the former Soviet Bloc) interceded politically to keep your little part of the world from getting even messier, and maybe help make sure that their cease-fire sticks.
Instead, you offer the South Ossetians Russian citizenship, then invade, effectively splitting Georgia in half, and making the rest of the world wonder if they've been living in a Tom Clancy novel for the last week or so.
I speak for most of us here when I say, "wha?" I realize that I'm just a stupid American who barely understands the decisions his own government makes, but could you kindly explain the situation to me in a way that makes sense?
Thanks,
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) arib
(I realize I'm probably missing lots of details, but writing it down has actually helped me make some sense of things...)
current mood:  confused
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(4 comments | comment on this)
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| Friday, August 8th, 2008
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9:08 am - Happy birthdays!
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Happy birthday yesterday to my dad. Happy birthday today to Dr. Sam Beckett.
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(comment on this)
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| Wednesday, August 6th, 2008
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11:38 pm - Oy
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Whoever thought making Starship Troopers 3 was a good idea should be taken out back and hanged.
(Powered suits, shmowered suits, that was bloody awful.)
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(4 comments | comment on this)
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| Monday, August 4th, 2008
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5:23 pm - Dear everybody
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I've lost my cellphone. This sucks.
Fortunately, I was able to suspend my phone via The Death Star's AT&T's website. While this will make it harder for someone who finds the phone to get in touch with me, they won't be able to use my phone to call Kiev or Sydney, either.
e-mail and LJ are probably the best ways to get in touch with me right now. I'll keep folks posted as things develop.
Edited to add: I just got an e-mail from the person who found my phone! I'll be able to pick it up on my way home. Woo!
current mood:  aggravated
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Wednesday, July 30th, 2008
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11:17 pm - Ah, Netflix.
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I'm currently watching the first disc of the Alien Nation TV series. It's dated, but rather enjoyable.
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(5 comments | comment on this)
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| Thursday, July 24th, 2008
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9:10 pm - UPDATE
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Not appendicitis. Not sure what it is, but it's good to know what it isn't. Hopefully things will clear up soon.
current mood:  relieved
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(5 comments | comment on this)
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12:39 pm - Voice Post
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| Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
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5:52 pm - In case anyone wanted to buy me a gift...
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| Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008
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10:50 am - Did anyone else miss...
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I completely missed that Sunday was the 39th anniversary of the first moon landing. Admittedly, I was fasting and dealing with air travel, but still...
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(4 comments | comment on this)
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| Friday, July 18th, 2008
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12:23 am - JibJabby silliness, with a cameo by me!
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| Monday, July 7th, 2008
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10:33 pm - Yay!
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Huge congrats to reporteraliza on her acceptance to the math for educators masters program at Harvard Extension.
Woot!
I'm prouder than I think it's reasonable to be. :-)
current mood:  happy
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(4 comments | comment on this)
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| Sunday, June 15th, 2008
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12:37 am - Ow.
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| Thursday, June 12th, 2008
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8:29 am - Now it's time for some audience participation
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I've been wanting to improve my writing skills for a while now, and I gather that the best way to do that is by sitting down and writing.
Problem: I have no idea what to write about, really.
Solution: I'd like you (generic, blogospheric you) to suggest a topic for me to write about in a future post. I may write on for pages and pages, I may just write a paragraph or two. Feel free to suggest fictional or non-fictional topics/ideas. If I don't think it's doable, I'll let you know.
current mood:  not enough caffeine anywhere
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(5 comments | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, June 10th, 2008
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10:41 pm - coming out of my shell
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Back online after Shavuot. If anything major has happened, feel free to let me know.
How are you? I'm full.
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(11 comments | comment on this)
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| Sunday, June 1st, 2008
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1:42 pm - Agatha Christie
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| Friday, May 30th, 2008
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5:44 pm - Weird world.
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Lots of news sources have been reporting about a recent overflight of a previously uncontacted tribal group in South America, as shown here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7426794.stm
Apparently they were found as part of a study to determine the effects that illegal logging could have on the rainforest. This discovery has made me consider a few things.
-Is this what any hypothetical aliens think when they fly over the Earth? "Look, an isolated planet full of semi-sentients that hasn't contacted other planets yet. How novel!"
-On a related note, is this their equivalent of a UFO sighting? They probably don't have the concepts, it may well be a dragon/giant flying monster sighting from their perspective.
-What happened (or didn't happen) that made this group remain so isolated, while everyone else has more-or-less become interconnected?
-Lots of news sources say that contact with this group should really be avoided, because of the diseases we carry that they just haven't been exposed to (think Isaac Asimov's Spacers). Is that a permanent state of affairs? What if some catastrophe required evacuating them? WHat if they find us someday? Would we need to rush them into cleanrooms?
Just some thoughts, feel free to chime in.
current mood:  thoughtful
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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8:34 am - Kosher Kwestion
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| Thursday, May 29th, 2008
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12:39 pm - Yayboo
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| Wednesday, May 28th, 2008
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9:49 pm
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| Tuesday, May 27th, 2008
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2:26 pm - Home again.
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More-or-less safe and sound.
The wedding was fun. My family's been friendly with the bride's family since before either of us were born, and I've known the groom since high school. This meant that the wedding was full of people that I kinda-sorta know from over a dozen places, and led to conversations that began with the phrase "Hi... you." more often than I'd like to admit. :-)
Sadly, my ipod seems to have been a casualty of the trip, having disappeared out of my laptop bag at some point. I called limoliner, and nobody turned it in. This suggests a few things:
-It fell out somewhere other than the bus, and is gone.
-I never actually packed it, and it's somewhere at home. I need to tidy aggressively and look for it.
-It's packed in our other bag, and I just need to be mindful when I unpack.
If it *is* gone, and I hope it isn't, I'll have to start saving up for a replacement. Should I go touch or classic? I don't need 80 GB of space, and the fancy gizmos inherent in the touch seem fun.
I still want my ipod back. :-(
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(comment on this)
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