Wednesday, April 21, 2004

Headlines from the current issue of Shukan Shincho, a major weekly news/gossip magazine in Japan. The Truths Behind the Hostages Story The DUM (Depleted Uranium Munitions) Teenager from a Communist Family Cigarettes at 12, Marijuana at 15 - Ms. Takato's Outlandish Past Divorced with a Child, Yet Chose to be a War Reporter - Mr. Kooriyama Report on Self Performance Reaches the House of the Prime Minister Arrogance of Hostages' Families Infuriates Prime Minister Koizumi Deviant Statement from Families Addresses Apologies Only to Friends Some Suggest Rescue Expenses Should be Paid by the Families These refer to the three aid workers/reporter who were taken hostages and released. They and their families are being harrased by the whole country. Japan is running at an alarming rate towards the extreme conservatism under the prime minister Koizumi who is buddy-buddy with GWB. Just what you would expect from a model former-imperial-turned-democratic-country-thanks-to-USA. *** On a different note, I finally put something up in the category Suika. She won't put up with any of this nonsense! 2:44:25 PM    comment [] Skunk Cabbage 2 Not all that different from my first reporting on SC, but Phil from Perils of Caffeine in the Evening kindly uploaded a picture of Skunk Cabbage on this page, and I felt compelled to follow up on this. The picture he took was clearly different from what we, the Northeasterners, know as Skunk Cabbage. Further research (well, just one click) revealed that the Westerners and Easterners refer to two completley different genera of plants as Skunk Cabbage! (Ay, there is the Continental divide.) I would not have known this if it weren't for Phil, for none of my Northeastern plant ID books mention it. He might have saved me from a terrible embarrassment at an American Skunk Cabbage Association conference. 1:17:59 PM    comment [] I just found my new favorite website! The British Library.I guess this project, Turning the Pages, has been highly publicized so many of you might already know it. It is a collection of ten books including Leonardo's notebook, Lindisfarne Gospels, Sultan Baybars' Qur'an, and Golden Haggadah. You see the whole book on your desktop and really get the feeling of turning the pages with your hand. Even a scroll (Diamond Sutra) is well done. Complete with a magnifying glass and text with audio, it's like a treasure chest. The broadband version is slow due to heavy usage, but worth the wait. The narrowband version is quite satisfactory when you don't have time. 11:07:34 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2004 Keiko Sono. Last update: 5/1/04; 11:22:45 PM.