Jimmy Carter Finally Speaks Out

Former President Jimmy Carter calls the U.S.-led war in Iraq "unnecessary and unjust" and the detention and treatment of terror suspects at the Guantanamo Bay Naval base an embarrassment.

The Brick Testament

"The Rev. Brendan Powell Smith" has spent an awful lot of time playing with Lego blocks to illustrate the Old Testament and Old Testament Law. He uses actual Biblical quotes which, along with the Lego visuals, often produce hilarious results. Some of the topics in The Law are When To Stone Your Children, Proof of Virginity and When to Marry Your Sister-in-Law.

Begonia acetosa

B. acetosa is a species from Brazil with leaves like plush velvet. This photo doesn't do them justice, but it gives you an idea. The leaves are just as soft and fuzzy as they look.

Chalk It Up

Julian Beever is an English artist who is famous for his chalk art on streets around the world. He does something called anamorphic illusions, which are drawings done with a distortion that creates the impression of three dimensionality when you look at them from the correct angle. The Make Poverty History drawing above was recently done at Edinburgh City Centre for Live8. More pictures here and here.

I've seen pictures of his work on the Web for the last several years, but only recently found an explanation for how the brain makes 3D out of 2D. Here is an example of a drawing from two different angles, only one of which produces the desired effect.




He has some interesting wall murals of musicians too.

Begonia 'Dale Sena'

B. 'Dale Sena' (deliciosa x 'Bob Cochran') is a hybrid by Tim Anderson, owner of Palm Hammock Orchid Estate. It has rex characteristics in the leaf coloration, but in growth habit it's more rhizomatous, jointed at or below the soil. Tim is a grower and hybridizer from Miami who has attempted to create crosses which will withstand our summer heat. Begonias are more comfortable in the same temperatures that humans are comfortable in. This one does seem to stand up better to summer temperatures than other rexes. I love the lavender and seafoam green colors in the leaves, which can reach 6"-7" from top to drip point.

Dale Sena is curator of the Begonia Species Bank at the University of South Florida, in Tampa. There are only two begonia species banks in the US. The other is in Ft. Worth, Texas.

The Daily Kitten

Very cute kitten pictures, posted daily.

Bush Smiles

Well look at that. George Bush is smiling! He really does have teeth. I wonder what made him so hap...

Oh.

Begonia U192

This lovely little species from the Philippines, B. U192, has always been a favorite. A delicate looking begonia with sparkly pink leaves, it's classified as a trailing/scandent; it trails along the rainforest floor and occasionally climbs. In tropical and subtropical climates it makes a beautiful ground cover, but it can also be grown in a hanging basket. The one in the picture is growing in a shallow tray. When the light hits the leaves they sparkle with thousands of tiny built-in reflectors. It blooms almost year-round.

Incorrectly called 'Martin's Mystery' by some growers, this is actually an unidentified species. U numbers are given to species until they can be officially identified. In the past when new species were found and named, it was often later discovered that the same plant had already been found and named in the past. This caused a lot of confusion. Giving new species U numbers avoids that problem. I wish they would hurry up on this one. It deserves a name that suits its almost magical cuteness.

The Wonder Years

Anyone who watched The Wonder Years, one of the best series on television ever, will be shocked by this photo of Winnie Cooper (Danica McKellar) all grown up. I think you would have to have been a Baby Boomer growing up in this country to fully appreciate the nostalgia.

The World Press

I found these yesterday.

Press Display makes it easy to link to 225 newspapers from 55 countries. It has a ten-language translator, easy cut and paste, and other nice features.

The Newseum has a flash map page to give you access to the front pages of 376 newspapers from 46 countries.

For Puzzle Lovers

Don't say I didn't warn you.
Weboggle
Planarity
All Star Puzzles

Those Stupid American Tourists

The hilarious Dave Barry, on vacation in London:

"We are now in our second week of walking around in countries where people drive on the left, so you'd think that by now we'd know how to cross a street. But you would be wrong. At every intersection, it's the same thing: We look nervously in every possible direction for several minutes, and still we're not 100 percent sure which cars we need to be worried about. The locals handle it effortlessly, walking past us and setting off across the street with barely a glance, but we stand rooted to the sidewalk like unusally stupid trees. When we finally decide it's safe, we take a hesitant step forward and YIKES HERE COMES A CAR and we have to scurry back to the sidewalk. At one point we were directly across the street from our hotel -- it was right there, beckoning to us -- and we thought we'd never reach it. We considered looking for a hotel located on our side of the street and checking in there."

It Keeps Getting Worse

Did Bush Administration incompetence, or just plain malevolence, contribute to the bombings in London? Juan Cole elaborates in The Ghost of Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan. This story is so hot that Cole, who rarely posts twice in one day, has added a second installment.

Two Minutes of Silence

In Great Britain and in many places in the world people observed two minutes of silence for the victims of the bombings in London. How many seconds were observed in this country for the victims of an attack in the capital of our biggest ally? Zero.

After 9/11 the Scots Guards played The Star-Spangled Banner at Buckingham Palace. It was a symbolic show of solidarity. They were with us.

George Bush was actually in the United Kingdom when the attacks happened. Why didn't he visit London? Why didn't he make a symbolic show of solidarity with the Brits after their tragedy?

Today in London taxis and buses pulled over, workers left their offices to stand in the street and financial markets paused to remember the dead.

"In Italy, government offices, railway stations and airports paused while television stations cut into normal broadcasting to honor the London dead.

"In Paris, President Jacques Chirac's annual Bastille day television address was put back so the French could mark the moment. Chirac stood silent on the steps of the Elysee Palace."

What did we do here? Nothing. Bush was too busy giving us moments of silence about Rove.

Rovegate

Juan Cole, Professor of History at the University of Michigan, has written an excellent explanation of the Rovegate scandal. It's worse than Watergate.

For Those in Harm's Way...

I'm just sending a prayer for all of those in the path of Hurricane Dennis. I know too well what it means.

Much Ado About Novak

Jay Rosen suggests a boycott of Robert Novak. Don't print his columns, don't go on CNN with him....until he sings. Many links in this piece and some interesting tidbits of information, such as the fact that Karl Rove was fired from the elder Bush's '92 reelection campaign for leaking information to Novak. Hmmmm.

London

I didn't post anything here yesterday about the tragedy in London, because I just didn't know what to say. Of course I feel terrible for the victims and their families and the agony they are suffering. I hate it that there are people in the world who could do such a thing. It should never have happened, and it should never happen again. But it will, and George W. Bush is, in large part, to blame.

I think about the fact that the innocent people in Iraq suffer terrorist acts on a daily basis. When dozens of people are killed at the funeral of another victim of a terrorist attack or assassination does the world "recoil in horror" in the same way? Why not? What's the difference?

Instead of spending an hour showing us grisly videos of the scene and intruding upon the suffering of the survivors, all the while playing sappy violin music in the background, the networks should devote their time to covering the heart of the problem and asking tough questions of the administration.

The Odyssey of Darkalena Large

Her vehicle was missing a tire, and a large chunk of her right front rim was sitting in the second-story bedroom of a nearby home. OMG, you can't make this stuff up!

Shark Attacks

Recent shark attacks in Florida have resulted in the death of a 14 year-old girl, the loss of the leg of a teenaged boy and the injured ankle of a young tourist from Austria. In the wake of these attacks, the state of Florida has issued a few useful tips. The "embellishing remarks" are by Frank Cerabino, of the Palm Beach Post.

Shark tip: "Do not enter the water if bleeding from an open wound."

Embellishing remark: This is generally good advice, even if you happen to be in the community swimming pool.

Shark tip: "Avoid waters with known effluents or sewage."

Embellishing remark: There's only one thing worse than getting attacked by a shark, and that's getting attacked by a shark while swimming in a sewage spill.

Shark tip: "Wearing shiny jewelry is discouraged because the reflected light resembles the sheen of fish scales."

Embellishing remark: You're there to swim, not make a rap music video. You wouldn't show up at a 50 Cent concert in a snorkel. If you insist on wearing bling-bling into the ocean, at least make sure it isn't the shape and size of a mullet.

Worship As Higher Politics

This from Christianity Today Magazine, just to give credit where credit is due.

George W. Bush is not Lord. The Declaration of Independence is not an infallible guide to Christian faith and practice. Nor is the U.S. Constitution, nor the U.N. Universal Declaration on Human Rights. "Original intent" of America's founders is not the hermeneutical key that will guarantee national righteousness. The American flag is not the Cross. The Pledge of Allegiance is not the Creed. "God Bless America" is not the Doxology.

The not-so-subtle equation of America's founding with biblical Christianity has been shown time and again to be historically inaccurate. The founding was a unique combination of biblical teaching and Enlightenment rationalism, and most of the founding fathers, as historian Edwin Gaustad, among many others, has noted, were not orthodox Christians, but instead were primarily products of the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment, we should recall, has never been much of a friend of biblical Christianity.

Related, though not a part of the Christianity Today article, is this list of Ten Myths About the Ten Commandments. And Toad explains Why the 10 Commandments are an Obsolete Document which Had Nothing to do with the Founding of the US.

Junior Wells

December 9, 1934 – January 15, 1998
Click image for larger view.

Junior Wells was one of the legends of Chicago Blues and the first of the Chicago bluesmen to record an album: "Hoodoo Man", with Delmark, in 1965, which immediately became a landmark recording.

This photo was taken at the Musicians' Exchange, in Delray Beach FL, in May of 1997. It was one of his last performances. He was being treated for lymphoma when he went into cardiac arrest in September, 1997, and fell into a coma from which he never awoke. He died on January 15, 1998. I felt devastated when I heard the news.

Wells' "Come on in This House", recorded in 1996, won the W.C. Handy Blues Award for traditional blues album. The record also was nominated for a traditional blues Grammy. For me, it is one of the best blues albums of all time. He is accompanied by some of the best blues guitarists around: Corey Harris, Alvin "Youngblood" Hart, Sonny Landreth, John Mooney, Derek Trucks, Tab Benoit Bob Margolin, and each one is in top form. Sonny blows me away on "Give Me One Reason" and "Why Are People Like That?".

This photo of Junior was taken by Julio Mateus, who has a whole portfolio of blues portraits taken in concert. He has so many killer shots, all in black and white, some of which have appeared on CD covers and in magazine articles. Unfortunately, he doesn't yet have a Web site or blog, but I'm hoping that will happen soon.

Julio is also a master black and white printer and has been for 25 years. He makes his own prints, of course. The photo above is not a digital print, nor is it a copy of another print. It's a custom silver print made from the original negative. Junior's signature at the bottom is a reproduction of the original signature on the print he signed (in May of 1997) and is indistinguishable from the original. The overall size of the paper is 11" x 14". The image size is 6" x 9".

If anyone is interested in buying one of Julio's blues prints, please email me at es45m-julio@yahoo.com for prices and info and a list of other blues artists that he's photographed.

Preparations for Sand World 2005 are in full swing.

Begonia 'Flamingo Queen'

This one is an Australian hybrid by Ross Bolwell, another prolific hybridizer who keeps churning out one beauty after another. Unfortunately, because of import/export restrictions on plants, it's very difficult to get our hands on any of them. This cultivar made it to the US somehow, and I've been growing one for several years now.

B. 'Flamingo Queen' is my favorite cane-like begonia, with a height of 3'-4', prolific pink bloom clusters and enormous, long, curling spotted leaves. I've often thought that Ross really meant 'Flamenco Queen', instead of 'Flamingo Queen', because the leaves remind me of a gypsy dancer's skirt.

The Ugliest Dog

Sam is...well, not really attractive. Fortunately, his owner loves him anyway, and he has just won the Ugliest Dog Contest for the third year in a row.

And now, if your retinas haven't already been burned completely out by Sam's picture, here is quite possibly the cutest dog on the planet. She's Colin's dog, Kaspy, part collie and part coquette. If she weren't living in Scotland, I'd go and dognap her. Well, I'd be tempted to, anyway.

©Colcam.Image

Plantimals

chickweed

Some people are geniuses with PhotoShop.