South Korea Joins China In Attacking Revisionist Japanese Text Books

Elaine Meinel Supkis

 

March 30, 2006
After causing huge riots in China and lots of ill will in both Koreas, Japan shrugged off a revisionist history text last year. Now they are extending it to all their history books. Both China and now, South Korea are very angry about this and protesting. Meanwhile, the USA, still thinking we won WWII, try to negotiate a troop rearrangement with Japan only this collapses into a mess, too.

Big, Expensive War Games To Menace Cuba And Venezuela

Elaine Meinel Supkis

March 30, 2006

Major war games/training exercise by our Navy which will steam back and forth between Cuba and Venezuela, showing off and consuming vast quanties of oil and other things, costing a zillion dollars, this is to impress both countries and shock and awe them or just to see if we can make both laugh to death? Won’t work, either way.

NYT Editorialist Tries To Explain Why Israel Can’t Have Constitution

Elaine Meinel Supkis

March 30, 2006
Just this week, I mentioned that Israel can’t write a Constitution. Today, the NYT thoughtfully has a Jewish person explain why they just can’t seem to be able to do this simple thing, particularily since it means the possibility of civil rights rather than religious privilages, dooms any efforts to imitate America.

Spring Is Dry On My Farm, Fire Alerts!

Elaine Meinel Supkis

March 31, 2006
Since I do farm-related stuff, I am hyper aware of the weather. The drought/flood cycle continues. We had floods last fall, early snowstorms then a long, dry winter. In the news, Antarctica air temperatures is warmer, coral reefs are stressed so badly by warm water, they are rapidly dying, the Atlantic hurricane season will be bad but not as wild as last summer (unless the sun gets more active), global warming is manifesting itself in many ways.

Humans Evolved Gene That Erases Memories

Elaine Meinel Supkis

March 31, 2006
Scientists remove gene for erasing memories in mice, the mice remember everything all the time. This is part of Alzheimer’s research but what is marvelous to me is how and why animals evolved a gene to forget things in the first place.

Al-Sistani, Top Shi’ite Cleric, Shuns Bush Totally

Elaine Meinel Supkis

Bush sent a personal letter to Sistani, ordering him to force the Shi’ite Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari should step down or else. Sistani, to show his anger and distain for Bush’s meddling, refused to look at the letter. This is similar to the Chinese last week, refusing to take calls from Aso, the new Japanese foreign minister.

Germans Use Laser Cutters To Manufacture Glasses For Flies

Elaine Meinel Supkis

German technicians used a laser cutter to make microscopic dark glasses for a fly. It is amazing what laser technology can do, my father founded one of the very first scientific institutes devoted only to laser and optic research, the Meinel Optical Sciences Center at the University of Arizona.