In Myanmar

September 28, 2007  |  In this Reuters photo, Kenji Nagai, a Japanese news photographer, lies on the ground holding his camera after an onslaught of gunfire during the protests in Myanmar. He later died.

Military forces cracked down on protesters in the center of the capital city, Yangon (Rangoon). The government response to the mass demonstrations, which began last week led by Buddhist monks, has turned violent in recent days.

The Presence of Non-News

Brilliant non-news item from the Newswires today:

 

Possible World's Largest Diamond Still Not Verified

JOHANNESBURG (I-Net Bridge)--A mystery gem discovered in South Africa's North West province a month ago, believed to be the largest diamond in the world, has still not been verified.

Ernest Blom, chairman of the Diamond Council of South Africa, confirmed Thursday that he would be evaluating the stone but said he had not done so yet.

 

....

"This Phenomenon"

The gay phenomenon, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared today in his controversial yet much-ballyhooed appearance at Columbia University, does not occur in his country. He's not sure why it shows up here, in the United States.

Sounds like wishful thinking to me.

(Link from Andrew Sullivan's blog.)

No Is For Wimps

Something some of you out there might appreciate: Dave Eggers' essay-form response to a Harvard kid's question, "Are you taking any steps to keep shit real?" Not only does he rip into the naive question-asker, but gets off some really darn funny lines too, like "The keeping real of shit matters to some people, but it does not matter to me."

More:

The thing is, I really like saying yes. I like new things, projects, plans, getting people together and doing something, trying something, even when it's corny or stupid. I am not good at saying no. And I do not get along with people who say no. When you die, and it really could be this afternoon, under the same bus wheels I'll stick my head if need be, you will not be happy about having said no. You will be kicking your ass about all the no's you've said. No to that opportunity, or no to that trip to Nova Scotia or no to that night out, or no to that project or no to that person who wants to be naked with you but you worry about what your friends will say.

:: link from Jen Epting ::

The Beauty of Financial News

From Dow Jones Neswires:

21 Sep 2007 14:42 EDT
DJ CME Livestock Review: Cattle Soar, Hogs Fall
CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle closed sharply higher on cash sales, fund buying and elbowing ahead of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's cattle report. Feeder cattle also settled higher. Meanwhile, hogs ended lower and bellies gained significantly.

TimeSelect, We Hardly Knew You

TimeSelect is defunct, or so NY1 says. There was such a fuss kicked up two years ago when that smug, superior name was introduced and readers worldwide lost access to (and subsequently refused to pay for) various parts of the New York Times website. Thank goodness for free information.

And plus, now people will stop calling and emailing me to mooch off of my subscription.

Real Midwestern Conservat(ion)ism

I want to go see all the cute little Priuses driving around Oklahoma and Texas! I wonder how many of them are Bush supporters...

More US Consumers Buy Hybrid Vehicles;
Jan-July Sales Up 49%
Associated Press
Oklahoma led all states with a 143% increase in hybrid sales compared with January-July 2006, said Southfield-based R.L. Polk & Co. Hawaii was the only state to report a decline in hybrid sales.

Hybrid sales were up 57% in the Midwest, the most of any region. Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius and the hybrid version of the Toyota Camry were the most popular models there. Hybrid sales rose 52% in the West, 49% in the Northeast and 42% in the South.

Lonnie Miller, director of industry analysis for R.L. Polk, said hybrids are a bright spot in a U.S. market that is otherwise down. Miller predicted total U.S. hybrid sales will exceed 300,000 this year, or more than 2% of all sales. U.S. consumers bought 254,545 hybrids in 2006.

Miller said hybrid sales are on the rise because of high gasoline prices and environmental concerns.

"The data indicates that hybrids have not hit plateau and that there is room for continued growth within the marketplace in all regions," Miller said in a news release.

"Arsenal of Passion and Rhetoric"

In EW a couple of weeks ago, regular back-page columnist Mark Harris made an inspired plea to readers: Go see No End In Sight, the latest documentary related to the Iraq War to make it to the big screen. Others have included Control Room (on Al Jazeera; good but maybe a little "Rah Rah Jazeerah!" and Why We Fight (not exclusively about Iraq but revealing in its discussion of the so-called military-industrial complex). Sadly, I'm poorly versed on this subject -- among others, I wanted to see The War Tapes and Gunner Palace but never have yet.

Here's the first graph, in which Harris, ironically, really gets you juiced to see it by talking about the persuasive limits of the written word:

For those of us who love movies and write about them for a living, there's almost nothing more frustrating than seeing a film that you admire tremendously, and knowing that whatever your arsenal of passion or rhetoric may contain, it's probably not going to be enough to convince anyone to go. The most powerful and intelligent movie I've seen this summer deserves a much larger audience than it's getting. It's called No End in Sight, and it's a documentary about the war in Iraq ...

Crossword Flashback

Dear reader (and I know you are devout and many):

Tonight I bring to you one of the best crossword puzzles from the past calendar year (here's a PDF printout of it). The theme is superclever and it requires you to be slightly more than just puzzle smart! (If you need Across Lite, download it here.)