Waiting for a Volcano

My family moved to Alaska in 1990, a year after the last volcanic explosion. I remember the Asian tourists wouldn't go outside for all of 1990 without white face masks and people sold souvenir ash in little jars for months. Alaskans are amazed whenever we see the rest of the country paralyzed by natural disasters or cold weather, canceling school and hunkering down at mere -20F temperatures. We have never experienced runs on bleach and double-A batteries in the face of a hurricane.

Our natural disasters usually are of the Earthquake variety, which you don't know are coming and can't dread while watching them advance. We just keep a few canned goods and our typical "stuck in the ditch" survival kit from the car which we use to survive until help comes when we run off the road in the winter avoiding a moose. The most we prepare for is tsunamis in the coastal areas and where to stand/brace/hide in an earthquake. So, knowing that Mt. Redoubt is going to explode in advance is really freaking them out.

The volcanic ash will probably spew 30-50,000 feet and isn't the silty stuff you find in your fire place, but more of abrasive volcanic rock particles. If it gets into the jet stream it could probably give a few frequent fliers some heart-burn. In Anchorage they are making runs on hardware stores buying dust masks, goggles and tarps to cover their cars so their paint jobs won't be messed up when they wash the abrasive ash off. Its not going to be one of those cool lava volcanoes like they have in Hawaii, *sigh* everything is better/warmer in Hawaii. In Fairbanks we don't have anything to worry about, but a few people who moved up from Florida are buying bleach, just in case.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090130/ap_on_re_us/alaska_volcano

Detoxing from Anderson Cooper

After spending months rushing home and flipping on the tv to veg on the political fodder for hours each night I've found the last month to be a period of almost detoxing. Instead of abstaining from alcohol, smoking, or a toxic relationship I've been cutting back on the amount of hours spent watching a combination of Anderson Cooper 360 and BBC World News and hitting reload on several news sites at work. In fact I had no idea that there was a war going on other than the two obvious ones until I heard it on the radio in between U2 and Enya (I know, what a combination!) It's probably healthier this way, but I should stay a tad better informed. I will still keep Anderson Cooper on my list of people I'd love to meet in real life, despite my psuedo crush on him Colin Firth and Timothy Dalton. Maybe I should subscribe to Time or News Week for my news, the tv and internets can suck up so much time.

See Our Brain Cells Aren't Frozen

Election night was miserable for Republicans: They lost the presidency, at least five seats in the Senate, and around 20 seats in the House. They are officially out of power. But for those of us who considered Obama a shoo-in and a democratic wave inevitable, the Republican showing seems almost impressive.


I'm just glad that Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska didn't retain his seat long enough to get expelled, because we poor Alaskans are having a hard time convincing our Southern friends/fellow bloggers/anybody that our brain cells aren't frozen up here after exporting Gravel (running for Dem presidential nomination), Palin, and having Stevens and his temperamentally challenged porkmate, Don Young in the news so much.

Don't get me wrong, I love Ted Stevens. Uncle Ted has been good for Alaska. But in the same way that I'm ok with Obama winning even though I didn't vote for him, I'm ok with Steven's not winning even though I voted for him. What? How could I vote for a guy convicted on 7 counts in federal court? Well, the election was only 3,000ish votes apart so I wasn't the only one. To explain to our Southern brethren who think our brains are frozen, I voted against his competitor and for a do-over. His conviction didn't matter. I can ignore it in fact. If I don't want his competitor I should vote for Ted because either A) He is innocent and it would be stupid not to vote for a guy who could appeal and win and retain the only semblance of significance Alaska has or B) He is guilty and he'll be expelled and I'll get a do-over on my vote with better options rather than being stuck with the other guy for 6 years. Alaska law was changed after our last retiring Senator Murkowski ran for Governor, won and appointed his daughter Lisa to his seat. Claims of nepotism abounded and Alaskans said, uh uh, not again and changed our laws so that in case of a vacancy a special election would be held to fill the post. So again, didn't like Begich, so I voted for Stevens assuming I'd either keep an innocent Uncle Ted or get a do-over. Yes, you probably have to be an Alaskan to understand how much the man means to us. Well, actually you could be a West Virginian and think about it in terms of Senator Bird. Ultimately we'll have less powerful representation, but hey, maybe we got a little national cred back when we lost Stevens.

Surreal about Palin

We returned home Tuesday after what was essentially a media fast. We got the newspaper only twice during our trip to Europe, didn't bring the laptop with us, and didn't activate our cell phones for data. So it was much to my surprise when I walked into the Chicago airport and saw CNN news anchors blathering about Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol being pregnant. Uh, who cares about Alaska all the sudden? I soon found out and have been caught up in the perfect storm of media coverage ever since. It's like if a tiny country in Africa was suddenly in the running for the World Cup being in Alaska right now.

I wasn't really surprised she was chosen as VP, the Russian bloggers have predicted it for at least 6 months. She ticks off a lot of boxes for McCain: conservative, pro-life, pro-NRA, female, known for being anti-corruption, known for being pro-business, and totally non-oldschool Washington. If you were evaluating the ticket as a total package, rather than a "What happens when he keels over?" approach, you would definitely have filled in the gaps with Palin.

I'm still digesting all of the attacks, the weird media coverage (can't they intelligently ask someone who knows how to pronounce simple things like her name or hometown before making yourself look like an ass?), and the fact that my candidate who everybody wrote off last year is at the top of the ticket and my governor is in the #2 spot. It's very surreal, like watching somebody you went to High School with on the news. (Trust me, she's way older, but the analogy holds.)

Weirder still is that watching the convention turned what was a blah election for me, with the presumed election of Barack Obama to look forward to at the end into something exciting to watch. I have a team to cheer for again. I may not agree with my team on several key issues, but its like a family, we talk bad about each other within the family, but we'd never say a bad word and become very defensive when it comes to outsiders attacking. I still think I'll give my honest opinions and disect the ticket later.

And um yeah, vacation blogging didn't happen. We couldn't find free wi-fi except once so I journaled the vacay and will do some posting later. We were moving around so much that it didn't make sense to pay 10 euros every day for wi-fi for our entire stay at a hotel which we were only staying at one day. I have to drive 10 hours to a family wedding this weekend so I'll use that as a chance to catch up with my blogging and picture processing.

Corey Cogdell Women's Trap Shooting Bronze

An Alaskan took the Bronze medal in Women's Trap Shooting, and I actually know her. Congratulations Corey. She is a really awesome person. Nice, a strong Christian and a strong shooter. Alaskan girls kick ass!

Shooting
Born: Palmer, AK September 02, 1986

Hometown: Eagle River, AK
Residence: Colorado Springs, CO - Olympic Training Center
Ht: 5'7"
Event(s): Trap

Her Olympic Blog

I'll have to catch the medal ceremony on youtube or load it on nbcolympics.com later because its 16 hours time difference between Alaska and Beijing. I'm sure her family and many of my friends in Anchorage won't be getting much sleep tonight, but I've got work tomorrow so I'm off.

Russia Invades Georgia

When I got to work this morning I asked my colleagues what they thought of Russia invading Georgia. Much to my chagrin, they didn't know Georgia was a country and thought I was making a strange joke about Russians in Atlanta. No, its true, Russia did invade Georgia in attempt to back up their peace keeping forces which have been trying to keep Georgia from wiping out separatist South Ossetia. These peace keeping forces have recently come under Georgian attack and this invasion is Russia's response. As someone who has studied the area and history of this conflict for years it hardly surprises me. I do find it interesting that most of the articles discussing this matter are quoting ex-President current Prime Minister Putin rather than President Medvedev. Seems like Putin is retaining a good deal of power. Here is some non-CNN coverage in case you are interested. I have linked to English versions only which limited my choices.

Pravda.ru - Russian newspaper, Pravda is the Russian word for truth, take that as you want.(English version)
BBC - I like their timeline of events, which to those unfamiliar with the area helps set the stage on why things are happening.

1991-92 S Ossetia fights war to break away from newly independent Georgia; Russia enforces truce

2004 Mikhail Saakashvili elected Georgian president, promising to recover lost territories

2006 S Ossetians vote for independence in unofficial referendum

April 2008 Russia steps up ties with Abkhazia and South Ossetia

July 2008 Russia admits flying jets over S Ossetia; Russia and Georgia accuse each other of military build-up

7 August 2008 After escalating Georgian-Ossetian clashes, sides agree to ceasefire (which Georgia violates)

8 August 2008 Heavy fighting erupts overnight, Georgian forces close on town of Tskhinvali

Chic, Green and Won't Kill Me!

BPA is the plastic ingredient and endocrine disruptor that's been in the news lately. Present in everything from baby bottles to Nalgenes, basically any hard plastic bottles, cups, or other products. The New York Times indicates that in Canada BPA is about to be officially labeled as toxic. On top of this, the US Health and Human Services' National Toxicology Program endorsing a claim that there is "some concern" that BPA might be harmful to human life, as it had caused precancer in mice. The National institute of Health ranks the risk from hard plastic bottles as a 3 on a scale of 1-5 on how much they are concerned.

So, beginning today, I am making a change. No more wasting the water bottles. Instead, I am buying a refillable drinking bottle made of aluminum. These bottles are 100% recyclable even at the end of their lives. This means no more wasted water or plastics for me.

This was my soldier

I won't post his name here because I don't want my family finding my blog under these circumstances.

This was my cousin. He was a West Point graduate serving with special forces in Iraq when he was killed on the 6th by an EFP. Last night, about 10 minutes before class my Mom called to tell me that my cousin had been killed on active duty. He was one of my closest cousins growing up and I have tons of West Virginia memories of us doing stupid things like floating along in inner tubes when the "crick" was flooded. I'm feeling like shit right now, not least because hubby is also in the Army and doesn't seem to see why this makes me so upset. I live in a military town in a military state in a BUSH country so it's not like I'm getting a lot of helpful comments. Instead, it's all, "Well, you know he was a hero." I know that he was a strong Christian and that he believed in what he was doing and loved it, and that should make me feel better, but I don't want to be told how I should feel, I just need to grieve a little and deal with personal family stuff.

He has requested burial in Arlington (DC) and depending on the family arrangements I might attend. I have never seen news footage of 9/11. On the day it happened I was at work and refused to turn on the TV when I got home. I didn't want to put myself through that emotionally. When reports come on Iraq that are at all personal I switch the channel. Not only did I have a cousin who was a Captain, I have a brother at West Point right now and a husband who joined ROTC in 2000 for the scholarship money, never imagining what the consequences of that would be. It's really hard to love the soldier and hate the war and not have everybody think you're a bad person in this country. Shouldn't everybody hate that we're at war, regardless of the reason for the war?

Me bursting into apparently random fits of tears isn't the best thing at my new job. I'm going to try not to think about this for awhile.

Well Done - Be Thou at Peace

iPhone Software Unlock

It was only a matter of time before a software unlock for the iPhone was available. I'm just glad that in the spirit of community based application development, they've decided to release the unlock for free.

Rough Day for Prime Ministers

Russia tests 'dad of all bombs' - similar to a nuke without harming the environment...great

Putin, in a surprise dissolves Russian government

Ok, so after seeing these headlines I had to did a bit deeper. U.S. news tends to like sensationalist headlines. This necessitated a forray with my Russian dictionary and a search of non-US/UK sources, but in the end did provide a slightly different spin on things.

Putin didn't just dissolve the Russian government. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov resigned ‘due to upcoming political events,’ he wasn't dismissed. While we cannot know if Putin asked him to resign in order to prevent him from being seen as Putin's choice to succeed him next spring, it's not like Putin just dissolved the government. In Russia, whenever the PM steps down the government is automatically dissolved. The real surprise to me was that Russian President Vladimir Putin nominated the head of the country's financial regulator, Viktor Zubkov, for the post of prime minister. This guy is a political nobody and is not really a clear choice for succession to the presidency. Well, that is unless Putin intends to put a puppet in place for a term and then return to office, effectively becoming a rotational president for life. If that is the intention then this appointment makes total sense. Putin is wildly popular among Russians, having brought stability and relative prosperity after his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin. As a result, many Russian's don't want him to leave office, despite what the constitution says. With former colleagues describing Zubkov with words like, "He did not generate ideas. He was someone who carried out instructions.", if Putin is looking for a yes man to succeed him for a few years, maintain the current status of things, etc. his announcement might not be so surprising after all.

And now the Japanese Prime Minister is gone too? Wow! Rough day for prime minsters world wide. We'll see if Gordon Brown lasts the night.
Japan's prime minister in shock resignation

Read this!

One in four Americans read NO books last year!

That's just plain sad and a real indictment against our society that we aren't challenging our minds. Think of all the literature that you had to read in school. Should this process stop merely because you aren't being forced to read. Sure, you probably didn't like all of it, but now you get to choose what you read.

Plastic Bags are Ugly Anyway

It's fashionable to be green if you have one of these cool bags from Envirosax. Each holds two regular plastic bags worth of groceries and can be used over and over again. Each person on Earth goes through 552 grocery and shopping bags per year. Imagine how many that is if you average it out only considering people that actually have access to those bags (dropping the folks in Djibouti, etc.). I couldn't believe that statistic so I did a little calculation. We grocery shop about every 2 weeks and bring home about 15 bags. That's 390 bags for grocery shopping. We also have another 5 bags a week probably on incidental stuff, "Oh I forgot the cream cheese, etc." That's another 260 bags for a total of 650 for two people or 325 each! Silly grocery store clerks would put 10 items in 8 bags if I let them, plus they double bag anything that includes a can. I always reuse my bags as trash bags in the bathroom or take them back to the grocery store for recycling by the food bank, but probably that means they are used a maximum of twice before they make it to the landfill. Unfortunately the world is now sold out of the iconic "I'm Not a Plastic Bag" bag and I'm not about to pay $60.00+ on Ebay to get one. If only the shipping was cheaper on these Envirosax I'd definitely pick up a set. They are so cute. I especially like the Flora series although the other styles are great too.

Russia to Stop Counter-Terrorism Cooperation with Britain

I know, I know, I'm probably the only one who cares, but why isn't this story on CNN at all? Why am I getting all of my news on this issue from BBC? For those of you who don't regularly troll the web for all stories involving Russian relations you should know that in response to the UK's demand that Russia extradite Alexander Lugovoi, a former KGB intelligence officer accused of murdering Kremlin-critic Alexander Litvinenko last year in London the UK has expelled 4 Russian diplomats. Now Russia has responded by making an in kind demand that says four British diplomats must leave Russia within 10 days. Moscow will also stop issuing visas to British government officials. Now Russia is upping the ante by also suspending their bilateral cooperation in the struggle against terrorism. In what was a in kind response Russia has now upped their response, something sure to damage UK-Russian relations even further. Not less than a month after Putin and Bush were glad handing at the family retreat they have withdrawn from a major arms treaty and now this. *sigh* Does not bode well. Perhaps this is because Putin, like Bush, is a president on the way out of office. Both will be replaced within the next year. Maybe this is his way of making some political and diplomatic points that he feels are important. Oh, oh, I was wrong, CNN Does have the story. Buried in their world section. Instead I get to learn how the Sopranos has 15 Emmy nominations and how a dog ate nearly 1k in cash as top headline news on the main page. *sigh* I hate US news sometimes.

Happy Endings

As I posted here and here back in April and June, BBC reporter Alan Johnston was abducted on March 12th by the Army of Islam, a shadowy militant group dominated by Gaza's powerful Dugmush clan. Today, after 114 days of captivity he was freed. It is so rare in this world for things to turn out well and I can only say that I am happy. Happy for him, his family and all those around the world who have been watching this situation.

Bush commutes Libby's prison sentence

Oh my goodness, if this doesn't assure a democratic president in 2008 I don't know what will. This is going to tick off a lot of people. People said that Paris Hilton received an excessive sentence, but Arnold didn't pardon her or commute her sentence. Scooter Libby gets an "excessive sentence" and the President takes it upon himself to deal with the matter. Hmm...makes me think he was actually doing the administration's bidding as some have thought. Either way, I smell a rat!

Alan Johnston abducted (2)

I posted back on April 20th about Alan Johnston a BBC reporter who had been kidnapped and missing for 39 days at that time. Today a video was released of him, apparently alive and well although there was no date on the video to determine how long ago it was made. It is my hope that this situation is resolved successfully. Prior to this incident journalists from around the world felt safe wandering the strip and reporting on the events going on there. Johnston's kidnapping, who has reported from the area for 3 years, has certainly discouraged this freedom of movement and subsequently the coverage coming from this important area of the world. I hope that for his family's sake he is released soon.

Flak jacket not Flack Jacket

*laugh* Ok, somehow I made it onto Senator McCain's mailing list. I haven't bothered unsubscribing because sometimes I get little e-mails like this which just make me smile:

"U.S. Senator John McCain has issued the following in response to a statement by Sen. Barack Obama: 'While Senator Obama's two years in the U.S. Senate certainly entitle him to vote against funding our troops, my service and experience combined with conversations with military leaders on the ground in Iraq lead me to believe that we must give this new strategy a chance to succeed because the consequences of failure would be catastrophic to our nation's security.

'By the way, Senator Obama, it's a 'flak' jacket, not a 'flack' jacket.'"

They Make a Movie out of Everything!

A documentary about former Russian secret agent Alexander Litvinenko, poisoned in London at the end of last year, will have its premiere screening at the Cannes Film Festival this weekend, the film director said Wednesday.

UK's Russian Spy Poisoning Case

Courtesy of CNN: Story Highlights

• Russian prosecutors say they will refuse to extradite Andrei Lugovoi
• Ex-KGB agent charged with murder of ex-Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko
• Litvinenko died in London after being poisoned with radioactive Polonium-210
• He blamed President Putin for his poisoning -- an allegation the Kremlin denied

"Russian prosecutors say they will refuse to extradite Andrei Lugovoi, charged by Britain in the poisoning death of Alexander Litvinenko, to London because of a constitutional ban.
Earlier Tuesday British officials said they wanted to bring Lugovoi before a British court and charge him with the 'extraordinarily grave crime' of murdering Litvinenko in London last November.

'I have today concluded that the evidence sent to us by the police is sufficient to charge Andrei Lugovoi with the murder of Mr. Litvinenko by deliberate poisoning,' Director of Public Prosecutions Ken Macdonald said in London.

Litvinenko, who was a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin and had been granted political asylum in the UK, died in a London hospital last November, several weeks after he was poisoned with polonium-210."

Having read the Russian constitution for my government and politics in Russia class, I think this is all a show to protect Lugovoi. The Russian constitution grants the executive with large sweeping powers and if Putin approved of the extradiction nobody would be hiding behind the constitution. Also Russia and the UK are both signers of the European convention on mutual legal assistance which should allow the UK to prosecute a Russian citizen who commits a crime on their territory. Interesting, I wonder how this will pan out.

Russian Ambassador held hostage in Costa Rica

For any of you out there who like to keep up with all things related to Russia:
Захват заложников в посольстве России в Коста-Рике
Вооруженный человек захватил, по разным сообщениям, восемь или девять человек в здании российского посольства в Коста-Рике.

Ambassador, others held hostage in Costa Rica
An armed Uzbek man took eight hostages Friday at the Russian Embassy in Costa Rica, but released four hostages amid intense negotiations, the country's security minister said. He still holds the Russian ambassador and several others, including his mother hostage.

For those of you who couldn't care about minor news events that involve Russia or Costa Rica, keep in mind that Russia is seeking membership to the WTO this year. Russia signed a trade agreement with Costa Rica in January, one of series of bilateral deals it had to conclude on its path to membership in the World Trade Organization. Russia is now the only major economy outside the WTO. Currently they only have to reach agreement with their ex-Soviet neighbor Georgia and Moldova to meet requirements for membership in the 150-member group, which sets global trade rules. Any member can demand a bilateral deal with an applicant. Georgia withdrew its signature from an earlier deal after Russia imposed a ban on its wine and mineral water last spring. Relations between Moscow and Georgia worsened in the fall as Moscow slapped a sweeping transport and postal blockade on the country in retaliation for the brief arrest of four Russian officers in Tbilisi accused of spying. Unfortunately Russia can't afford to lose Costa Rica's support and still hope to join the WTO this year so they might have to be a little less heavy handed when dealing with the current matter.

UPDATE: Two men walked out of the Russian Embassy in Costa Rica on Friday under police escort, ending a three-hour standoff with police and the ambassador.

So, no dramatic Russian response will happen after-all.