Daka's New Website

www.HappyMongolia.net

in the great loneliness

"The only true wisdom lives far from mankind, out in the great loneliness."

--Igjugarjuk, as quoted by Joseph Campbell in The Power of Myth, 1988

www.TheSteppe.com

Of all this fiery life

"Of all this fiery life of thine, what will at length remain but one little heap of ashes!"

--Herman Melville, Moby-Dick; or, The Whale

Alfred Korzybski Koan

"From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"One day, Korzybski was giving a lecture to a group of students, and he suddenly interrupted the lesson in order to retrieve a packet of biscuits, wrapped in white paper, from his briefcase. He muttered that he just had to eat something, and he asked the students in the front row if they would also like a biscuit. A few students took a biscuit. 'Nice biscuit, don't you think,' said Korzybski, while he took a second one. The students were chewing vigorously. Then he tore the white paper from the biscuits, in order to reveal the original packaging. On it was a big picture of a dog's head and the words 'Dog Cookies.' The students looked at the package, and were shocked. Two of them wanted to throw up, put their hands in front of their mouths, and ran out of the lecture hall to the toilet. 'You see, ladies and gentlemen,' Korzybski remarked, 'I have just demonstrated that people don't just eat food, but also words, and that the taste of the former is often outdone by the taste of the latter.' Apparently his prank aimed to illustrate how some human suffering originates from the confusion or conflation of linguistic representations of reality and reality itself."

Volunteer Summer School in Buryatia 2010

“You are invited to participate in the Volunteer Summer School in Buryatia 2010!

“The Volunteer Summer School in Buryatia is an independent educational charity project. Volunteers from all over the world are welcome to spend two weeks, July 16 - August 1, in two villages in Buryatia in Russia near Lake Baikal, the deepest lake in the world, to teach local kids and motivate them to study for a better life. It aims to broaden the minds of both kids and volunteers.

“There is one school in Mikhaylovka village and one school in Yengorboy village with about 400 students in total, and some of the children have no further prospects of getting higher education.

“In 2009, the Volunteer Summer School in Buryatia took place for the first time with Kate from Canada (English), Eva from Switzerland (Health), Miguel from Portugal (Internet), Juergen from Austria (Judo), and myself, Ayuna from Russia (Journalism) participating.

“If you are going to travel through Russia this summer, make a stop at the Volunteer Summer School in Buryatia!

“Please spread the word! Tell your friends and people who might be interested in participating, post this announcement in groups or on your website, or print our poster and hang it in your university or place of work: http://buryatiasummerschool.org/wp-content/uploads/poster.pdf

“Thanks!

“Ayuna Shoyzhitova
Organizer of the Volunteer Summer School in Buryatia


“WHAT: Two weeks of teaching kids and exploring Buryat culture, food, and nature
WHERE: Russia, Buryatia, Mikhaylovka and Yengorboy: two Buryat villages in the south of Buryatia, on the border with Mongolia
WHEN: July 2010
WHO: Eight volunteers from different countries of the world who want to go where they've never been, see what they've never seen, live a unique experience, broaden their minds, and help local children get wider exposure to the world and educational opportunities.

“The aims of the Volunteer Summer School in Buryatia are to promote higher education for local children and to become a life-changing experience for you.”

www.BuryatiaSummerSchool.org

“Educate yourself and others.”

Dharma Bums VIIII

"In bed at night, warm and happy in my bag on the good bunk, I'd see my table and my clothes in the moonlight and feel, 'Poor Raymond boy, his day is so sorrowful and worried, his reasons are so ephemeral, it's such a haunted and pitiful thing to have to live' and on this I'd go to sleep like a lamb."

--Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums, 1958

E-Prime

"From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"E-Prime (short for English-Prime) is a form of the English language in which the verb to be in all its forms does not exist. E-Prime therefore uses alternate means to express most statements which use the passive voice, thus encouraging writers and speakers to clearly state an action's agent.

"Some people use E-Prime as a mental discipline to filter speech and translate the speech of others. For example, the sentence 'the movie was good' could translate into E-Prime as 'I liked the movie' or as 'the movie made me laugh'. The E-Prime versions communicate the speaker's experience rather than judgment, making it harder for the writer or reader to confuse opinion with fact."

Happy Australia and New Zealand Army Corps Day

Anzac Cove

1999 June

“Dr Martin Crotty, a New Zealander who lectures Australian students, tells a story of one student who 'thumped the table after I'd given a seminar and complained at having a New Zealander come and tell us about Anzac.'

“'He was genuinely shocked when I told him what the N and the Z stood for.'

“The historian said Australians had a very 'parochial' view of WW1 and were even less aware of France and Britain's involvement than they were of New Zealand's.

“'The push should be not to just understand New Zealand but to see the Gallipoli campaign and the war in general in more internationalist terms,' he said.”

--http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/2355369/Aussies-forget-the-NZ-in-Anzac

World War I and H.P. Lovecraft

"At the beginning of the twentieth century, belief in the rational suffered a massive blow on the charnel fields of the First World War. Here were the rational, modern, capitalist powers, expressing their supposedly rational interests with an eruption of mechanized human butchery unprecedented in history. The scale of the psychic and cultural trauma of the First World War is vast—perhaps even 'undescribable.' The war smashed apart the complacencies of 'rationality' and uncovered the irrationality at the heart of the modern world with a savagery that eclipsed any fantasist's nightmares. How, then, could the genre known as fantasy present anything that could compare with such horror? Certainly, its stock of werewolves and effete vampires were utterly inadequate to the task....

"Traditionally, genre horror is concerned with the irruption of dreadful forces into a comforting status quo—one which the protagonists frantically scrabble to preserve. By contrast, Lovecraft's horror is not one of intrusion but of realization. The world has always been implacably bleak; the horror lies in our acknowledging that fact."


--China Mieville, introduction to At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft, 2005

Prandtl-Glauert Singularity

U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet breaking the sound barrier

1999 July 7

photo by John Gay

adventurers

“Pity those--adventurers, adolescents, authors of young-adult fiction--who make their way in the borderland between worlds.”

--Michael Chabon, “On Daemons & Dust,” Maps and Legends: Reading and Writing Along the Borderlands, 2008

Ways to be Nasty

Use all the hot water.

Free your spider collection.

Pour honey in the mailbox.

Slobber on the couch.

Rake the leaves into your neighbor's yard.

Stick your hand in the clam dip.

Throw a tantrum when you lose.

Hard-boil all the eggs.

Scream in the dentist's office.

Cut the strings off all the tea bags.

Giggle during the eulogy.

Burn the toast.

Cut the clothesline.

Salt the Band-Aids.

Plant ragweed.

Deliver lectures on abstinence and temperance.

Stray into other people's snapshots.

Clog the sink.

Ignore everybody.

Don't train your Doberman.

Paint your house chartreuse with pink trim.

Grab someone's nose and don't let go.

Breed rats.

Take the last cookie.


--Jim Erskine and George Moran, Throw a Tomato and 151 other ways to be mean and nasty, 1979

Sudden Prosperity

“Mongolia’s billions of dollars worth of copper, gold, uranium and coal reserves promise the greatest influx of wealth for the country since Genghis Khan conquered much of the known world in the 13th century.

“They also may spawn a crisis. Sudden prosperity can overwhelm an economy, exposing it to commodity-price swings. Mongolia’s leaders say they are determined to avoid a sudden surge in wealth that ultimately hampers expansion....

“'If you go to most developing countries, they’ll tell you, “We’re saved; we’ve found uranium,”' said Hernando de Soto, a Peruvian free-market economist. Mongolia has 'a president who says, “We are in grave danger because we have discovered we have a lot of natural resources.”' The fact that 'they are forewarned gives you hope.'”


--Michael Forsythe, Bloomberg.com, 2010 February 15

gloomy contemplation

“Many Americans have never seen a corpse, and those who have probably encountered only the travesty of a beautiful death concocted in the mortician's beauty parlor. Nor is the prevailing present-day lifestyle in the United States and large parts of the Western world, set by egotistical, hyperactive people obsessed with amassing money and luxury goods, conducive to gloomy contemplation of death...”

--Jan Bondeson, Buried Alive: The Terrifying History of Our Most Primal Fear, 2001

ye believers in gods

"Lo! ye believers in gods all goodness, and in man all ill, lo you! see the omniscient gods oblivious of suffering man; and man, though idiotic, and knowing not what he does, yet full of the sweet things of love and gratitude."

--Herman Melville, Moby-Dick; or, The Whale

Edurelief Global Giving Challenge

"Dear Edurelief friends and supporters,

"Our goal in 2010 is to start 10 new library projects in rural areas. To kick off this initiative we're taking part in Global Giving's (www.globalgiving.org) Open Challenge. Our challenge is to raise $4,000 from at least 50 individual donors in 30 days. Completing this challenge will not only get us well on our way towards funding 10 new libraries but it will open up the door for us to qualify for Global Giving matching grands, corporate donors, and other sources of funding. We could really use your help completing this challenge! Whether you can give, $10, $25, $50 or more, every little bit counts. Please share this with your friends as well and together I'm confident we can reach our goal.

"We've spent the last two years in Mongolia now, visiting schools, starting new projects, and investigating the situation of education in rural areas. Good school libraries are an urgent need and make a huge difference in their communities. It's proven that access to a school library and textbooks boosts school attendance, improves grades, and motivates new interest in learning.

"This month let's work together to fund our first two school libraries and then we can work towards the other 8 we have planned for the rest of the year.

"Please give via our Global Giving Challenge page found here:
http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/school-libraries-for-mongolia/

"Thank you for your support!

"Sincerely,
Jonathan and Marielle Renich
Edurelief"

===

"Эдүрэлиф-г дэмжигч эрхэм хүндэт найз нараа,

"Бидний 2010 оны зорилго нь хөдөө орон нутагт 10 шинэ номын сан байгуулах юм. Энэхүү зорилгодоо эрчимтэй хүрэхийн үндэсийг тавин бид Глобал Гивинг-н сорилд оролцож байна. Биндний энэ сорил нь 30 өдөрийн дотор 50-с дээш хүмүүсээс нийтдээ $4000-ийн хандив цуглуулах юм. Энэ сорилд тэнцэж чадваас бид 2010 оны зорилгодоо хүрэхэд ойртох бөгөөд бидний өмнө Глобал Гивинг-с тэнцүүлэн хандив өгөх, бусад том том компаниудаас хандив авах, болон бусад сангуудтай харилцах үүдийг нээж өгөх юмаа. Тиймээс яг одоо бидэнд та нарын тусламж маш ихээр хэрэг болж байна. $10, $20, $50... чадахаараа туслаарай. Мөн энэхүү үйл ажиллагааны талаар найз нөхөд таньдаг хүмүүцдээ цааш н дамжуулаарай.

"Бид өнгөрсөн 2 жилийг Монголд сургуулиадаар явж үзэж, шинэ шинэ төсөлүүд эхлүүлэн, хөдөө орон нутагийн боловсролын салбарт судалгаа шинжилгээ хийн өнгөрүүллээ. Чанартай номын сан нэн хэрэгцээтэй байгааг ойлгосоноос гадна цаашлаад нийгэмийн амдралд олон талын тустайг харсан. Сурагчдад хүрч чаддаг номын сан сурагчдын сурах эрмэлзэл, идэвхи, хүсэлийг илүү болгодог гэдэг нь батлагдсан.

"Тиймээс энэ сард бүгдээрээ хамтран ажилцгаая! Доорх линкээр ороод хандиваа өгөөрэй:
http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/school-libraries-for-mongolia/

"Та нарын дэмжлэгт баярлаа! Сайн үйлс дэлгэрэх болтугай!

"Хүндэтгэсэн,
Б. Мөнх-Эрдэнэ"

===

"Chers amis et supporters d'Edurelief,

"Notre objectif en 2010 consiste à lancer 10 nouveaux projets bibliothèque en zone rurale. Pour nous lancer nous prenons part à l'Open Challenge de Global Giving (www.globalgiving.org). Notre challenge consiste à réunir $4000 en provenance d'au moins 50 donneurs et cela dans une limite de 30 jours. En relevant ce challenge non seulement nous aurons déjà réuni assez pour nous rapprocher de notre objectif de 10 nouvelles bibliothèques mais en plus nous serons qualifiés auprès de Global Giving nous donnant accès à des subventions, donations d'entreprises et autres sources de soutient. Nous comptons sur vous pour relever avec nous ce challenge! Que vous donniez $10, $25, $50 ou plus, chaque don compte. Parlez-en aussi autour de vous et ensemble je suis sûr que nous arriverons à atteindre notre but.

"Nous avons passé ces deux dernières années en Mongolie, à visiter les écoles, à lancer de nouveaux projets et à enquêter sur la situation de l'éducation en milieu rural. De bonnes bibliothèques scolaires représentent un besoin urgent et font toute la différence dans les villages. Il est prouvé que l'accès au livres et manuels scolaires augmente la fréquentation des écoles, améliore le niveau scolaire des élèves et les motive à apprendre en stimulant leur intérêt et leur curiosité.

"Ce mois-ci travaillons ensemble à financer deux nouvelles bibliothèques scolaires et nous poursuivrons au cours de l'année pour financer les 8 suivantes.

"S'il-vous-plait, faites votre don via la page Global Giving Challenge que vous trouverez ici:
http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/school-libraries-for-mongolia/

"Merci pour votre soutient!

"Sincèrement,
Jonathan et Marielle Renich
Edurelief"

Earthquake in Ulaanbaatar

"Journalists and the general public rush to any suggestion of earthquake prediction like hogs toward a full trough."

--Charles Richter, creator of the Richter scale for measuring the magnitude of the seismic energy of earthquakes

I received the following message from a Mongolian friend in UB:

"Hello Radigan,
Lately, there are some signs of an earthquake in UB. It will be about an 8-ball and even the president of Mongolia announced a warning to the nation on TV. Looks like it will happen for sure..."

Interestingly, the U.S. Geological Survey has done work in Mongolia studying "earthquakes that occur in the interior of continents far from plate boundaries."

There was earthquake activity in Mongolia in the Twentieth Century, but in western Mongolia, not near UB. The last large earthquake in Mongolia was over 50 years ago, in 1957. If the quakes are cyclical, which they may be, there may not be another large earthquake there for thousands of years:

"The penultimate event on the eastern part of the Bogd strike-slip fault occurred about 2400 years ago, whereas on the western segment only two large earthquakes occurred during the 12,000 years prior to 1957. The Dalan Turuu thrust appears to have slipped every 8000 years on average, the Gurvan Bulag thrust appears to produce earthquakes about every 4000 years, and the Toromhon thrust last moved several tens of thousands of years ago."

--USGS: Earthquake Hazards Program, "1998 USGS Expedition to Mongolia: Previous Work in Mongolia"

Just as there can be earthquakes in San Francisco but not in California's capital city of Sacramento, which is 144 kilometers (90 miles) away, there can be earthquakes in western Mongolia and not in Ulaanbaatar. Charted global earthquake activity shows eastern Mongolia as free of earthquakes as the Amazon and the Sahara:

The multi-organizational Global Seismic Hazard Assessment Program concluded that eastern Mongolia is at relatively low risk of earthquakes, though the Program listed western Mongolia at high risk. Ulaanbaatar sits near the juncture of the risk zones:

Conclusion: It seems unlikely though not impossible that an impending earthquake will strike Ulaanbaatar.


Regarding rumors, it is good to remember that earthquakes cannot be predicted:

http://scec.ess.ucla.edu/~ykagan/perspective.html

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/topics/100_chance.php

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/topics/?topicID=53&topic=Prediction


There was a 5.1-magnitude earthquake in Dundgov aimag in January that was felt in UB. This event probably fanned earthquake rumors:

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/6864349.html


There was also a 4.8 earthquake near Lake Khovsgol two weeks ago:

http://www.gdacs.org/reports.asp?eventType=EQ&ID=83332&system=asgard&alertlevel=Green&glide_no=&location=MNG&country=Mongolia


It is noteworthy that there was a similar earthquake rumor in UB in the spring of 2008:

http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=159165

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1616084


Preparedness:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/faq/?faqID=79

http://www.fema.gov/hazard/earthquake/eq_before.shtm

Happy Easter (Banned in the UK)

The poem that resulted in successful prosecution for "blasphemy" against the publishers in the U.K. (an episode in the history of censorship):

"The Love that Dares to Speak its Name"
James Kirkup
1918-2009 English

As they took him from the cross
I, the centurion, took him in my arms--
the tough lean body
of a man no longer young,
beardless, breathless,
but well hung.

He was still warm.
While they prepared the tomb
I kept guard over him.
His mother and the Magdalen
had gone to fetch clean linen
to shroud his nakedness.

I was alone with him.
For the last time
I kissed his mouth. My tongue
found his, bitter with death.
I licked his wound--
the blood was harsh.
For the last time
I laid my lips around the tip
of that great cock, the instrument
of our salvation, our eternal joy.
The shaft, still throbbed, anointed
with death's final ejaculation.

I knew he'd had it off with other men--
with Herod's guards, with Pontius Pilate,
with John the Baptist, with Paul of Tarsus,
with foxy Judas, a great kisser, with
the rest of the Twelve, together and apart.
He loved all men, body, soul and spirit -- even me.

So now I took off my uniform, and, naked,
lay together with him in his desolation,
caressing every shadow of his cooling flesh,
hugging him and trying to warm him back to life.
Slowly the fire in his thighs went out,
while I grew hotter with unearthly love.
It was the only way I knew to speak our love's proud name,
to tell him of my long devotion, my desire, my dread--
something we had never talked about. My spear, wet with blood,
his dear, broken body all open wounds,
and in each wound his side, his back,
his mouth -- I came and came and came

as if each coming was my last.
And then the miracle possessed us.
I felt him enter into me, and fiercely spend
his spirit's final seed within my hole, my soul,
pulse upon pulse, unto the ends of the earth--
he crucified me with him into kingdom come.

--This is the passionate and blissful crucifixion
same-sex lovers suffer, patiently and gladly.
They inflict these loving injuries of joy and grace
one upon the other, till they die of lust and pain
within the horny paradise of one another's limbs,
with one voice cry to heaven in a last divine release.

Then lie long together, peacefully entwined, with hope
of resurrection, as we did, on that green hill far away.
But before we rose again, they came and took him from me.
They knew not what we had done, but felt
no shame or anger. Rather they were gald for us,
and blessed us, as would he, who loved all men.

And after three long, lonely days, like years,
in which I roamed the gardens of my grief
seeking for him, my one friend who had gone from me,
he rose from sleep, at dawn, and showed himself to me before
all others. And took me to him with
the love that now forever dares to speak its name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitehouse_v_Lemon

Churchill advocating the initiation of gas warfare in World War II

“It is absurd to consider morality on this topic when everybody used it in the last war without a word of complaint from the moralists or the Church. On the other hand, in the last war the bombing of open cities was regarded as forbidden. Now everybody does it as a matter of course. It is simply a question of fashion changing as she does between long and short skirts for women.”

--Winston Churchill, as quoted by Barton J. Bernstein in “Why We Didn’t Use Poison Gas in World War II,” American Heritage, 1985 August/September

Poison gas in World War I

“From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“Mustard gas did not need to be inhaled to be effective — any contact with skin was sufficient. Exposure to 0.1 ppm was enough to cause massive blisters. Higher concentrations could burn flesh to the bone. It was particularly effective against the soft skin of the eyes, nose, armpits and groin, since it dissolved in the natural moisture of those areas.”

Canadian soldier with mustard gas burns

ca. 1917

“Chapter XVI: Practical Hints for Treasure Seekers”

“If one is unable to finance an expedition aboard a swift, black-hulled schooner, it is always possible to dig for the treasure of poor Captain Kidd and it is really a matter of small importance that he left no treasure in his wake. The zest of the game is in seeking. A pick and a shovel are to be obtained in the wood-shed or can be purchased at the nearest hardware store for a modest outlay. A pirate's chart is to be highly esteemed, but if the genuine article cannot be found, there are elderly seafaring men in every port who will furnish one just as good and perjure themselves as to the information thereof with all the cheerfulness in the world.”

--Ralph D. Paine, The Book of Buried Treasure, 1911

Cuba - Fidel, Che, Hemingway

“There’s a strange secular trinity in Cuba: Fidel is the Holy Father, Che is the martyred son, and Hemingway is the mysterious but powerful Holy Ghost.”

--David Lansing, “Papa’s story changes at Finca La Vigía,” 2009 March 19

The Toblerone Line

“Despite the effort put into building the line over several years, the Swiss, lacking sufficient modern weaponry, and having seen the methods used on European battlefields, were under no illusion that they had built an impregnable barrier. The best they could hope for was to make the enemy pay dearly for any victory. It was considerably less obvious in 1940 than it is today that Hitler would not invade, especially after German troops had swept into neutral Belgium and neutral Norway.”

--http://www.toblerones.ch/en/cadre.htm

after you've bought ten swampy acres of cutover forest in Michigan, and the idyllic version we often imagine (yours is not a country background; most people's isn't)

“In our imaginations, as well as in our literature, we often carry an image of life in the country that is a conglomeration of our favorite fantasies. We see a 'little place in the country' as the best reward for a life of city labor in 'commerce,' and as the realization of our deeply-felt hopes for what a pleasant life should be. Somehow we regard country life as more complete than city life, its pleasures more natural and its rhythms more in tune with the seasons and with the earth. Country vs. city has been a standard literary conflict for hundreds of years; and almost always it is country life that wins the tussle....

“Today as we look at our cities we really do find an appalling situation. In older, more established places like Philadelphia we find an inner city area where murder is commonplace and where huge blocks of buildings stand abandoned and condemned. In more 'futuristic' cities such as Los Angeles the inhabitants have escaped the concentration of a central area, but the result is that they move about enclosed in small glass and steel cubicles, isolated from a polluted sky, from the earth and from each other. The great freeways, built to promote speedy transport, developed traffic jams that often return the traveler to something slower than the speed of grandpa's horse and buggy.

“The effect of this urban deterioration is to disenchant us with city life, and to bolster our image of the country as an escape--as an ideal, 'natural' way of life. Removed as most of us are from the realities of rural living, we cling to a fantasy version of 'life on the land,' even embellishing the benefits of the country to the level of poetry. The dirt and dangers of city life take a poor second place to the imagined pleasures of the white farmhouse on a country lane....

“How To Tell If Homesteading Is For You

“Try to look at yourself objectively. If you grew up in Paramus, New Jersey and have had no experience with country living, ask yourself: Why do I want to leave the kind of life I am living? What am I really looking for in the country? Make a list of the rewards you expect. Especially, tote up what talents or interests you have that you think will enable you to live happily in the new and foreign environment.

“Answering difficult questions like these (and others discussed later) is important, and doing so early on in your thinking may save you misery and money later on. Many city people do need a change or move, but they don't necessarily need to move to rural Maine or British Columbia. If, on the one hand, yours is not a country background (and most people's isn't), you will have much to learn, and to give up. You have, in other words, every reason to assume that you would not be happy as a homesteader.

“On the other hand, you may discover you are genuinely frustrated by not being a homesteader (which you probably knew long ago). In any case, take a very long look at your motives. Look at your skills, your ability with tools, your preferences for entertainment, and your opinion on weeding gardens. The best time for having second thoughts is while you're still contemplating the trade-in value of your green Cadillac, not after you've bought ten swampy acres of cutover forest in Michigan....

“This chapter has emphasized not the pleasures and rewards of homesteading, but the hard work and care required in beginning this kind of country life. The reason is this: It is very easy to drive through the country and find the white farmhouse and red barn that seem the epitome of country life. It is far better to realize that this quaint country place likely has no plumbing, no central heating, has sagging floors and rotted sills, poor insulation, and a damp cellar. It is likely to have no adequate water supply. The land around it may be eroded or pocked with rusty farm machinery hidden in the weeds. Out back may be a rotted and sagging barn and the remains of an old fruit orchard. This bleak picture probably is an exaggeration, but it is no more extreme than the idyllic version we often imagine.”


--David E. Robinson, The Complete Homesteading Book: Proven Methods for Self-Sufficient Living, 1974, illustrated by Paula Savastano

the felt tents of his encampment

“In the 1190s a young and somewhat embittered Mongol who had become khan of his people began to seek revenge for slights and injuries to them by the Tatars (another nomadic nation). Within a few years he was accepted by all the Mongol tribes as their 'universal khan,' or, in their own tongue, 'Chinghis Khan.' Mispronounced in Arabic, this name became 'Genghis Khan' to Europeans. He proved to be the greatest conqueror the world has ever seen, terrorizing Europe and Asia alike. But Chinghis also built up something much more like a true empire than any other nomad chief, even though its only capital was the felt tents of his encampment....

“The unity of Chinghis Khan's empire had given way to a loose connexion of khanates ruled independently by Mongol princes, but with much in common. A sort of Mongol federation stretched at its greatest extent over something like a sixth of the old world's land surface. Its communications were good and well policed and the Mongols made intelligent use of their conquered subjects. They enlisted them in their armies, while Chinghis used Chinese civil servants to run his taxation system and borrowed the Turkish script in order to write down the Mongol language.... The Great Khans came to see themselves as somewhat like Chinese emperors. They expected other peoples to pay them tribute, not to negotiate with them as equals, and believed they exercised a universal monarchy on behalf of their own sky god. Yet they were tolerant in religion and the diversity of belief at the Mongol court impressed Christians.”


--J.M. Roberts, A Short History of the World, 1993

if you examine it closely

“The history of ideas is a history of gradually discarding the assumption that it's all about us. No, it turns out, the earth is not the center of the universe—not even the center of the solar system. No, it turns out, humans are not created by God in his own image; they're just one species among many, descended not merely from apes, but from microorganisms. Even the concept of 'me' turns out to be fuzzy around the edges if you examine it closely.”

--Paul Graham, “See Randomness,” 2006 April

American Soldiers Committing Murder, Rape, War Atrocity, and the Rare Heroism of Hugh Thompson

Vietnam, Son Tinh, My Lai

1968 March 16

photo by Ronald L. Haeberle

"From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Warrant Officer One Hugh Thompson, Jr., a helicopter pilot from an aero-scout team, witnessed a large number of dead and dying civilians as he began flying over the village — all of them infants, children, women and old men, with no signs of draft-age men or weapons anywhere. Thompson and his crew witnessed an unarmed passive woman kicked and shot at point-blank range by Captain Medina. The crew made several attempts to radio for help for the wounded. They landed their helicopter by a ditch, which they noted was full of bodies and in which there was movement. Thompson asked a sergeant he encountered there (David Mitchell of the 1st Platoon) if he could help get the people out of the ditch, and the sergeant replied that he would 'help them out of their misery'. Thompson, shocked and confused, then had a conversation with Second Lieutenant Calley, Platoon Leader of 1st Platoon, who claimed to be 'just following orders'. As the helicopter took off, they saw Mitchell firing into the ditch.

"Thompson then saw a group of civilians (again consisting of children, women and old men) at a bunker being approached by ground personnel. Thompson landed and told his crew that if the U.S. soldiers shot at the Vietnamese while he was trying to get them out of the bunker that they were to open fire at these soldiers. Thompson later testified that he spoke with a lieutenant (identified as Stephen Brooks of the 2nd Platoon) and told him there were women and children in the bunker, and asked if the lieutenant would help get them out. According to Thompson, 'he [the lieutenant] said the only way to get them out was with a hand grenade'. Thompson testified that he then told Brooks to 'just hold your men right where they are, and I'll get the kids out'. He found 12 to 16 people in the bunker, coaxed them out and led them to the helicopter, standing with them while they were flown out in two groups.

"Returning to My Lai, Thompson and other air crew members noticed several large groups of bodies. Spotting some survivors in the ditch Thompson landed again and one of the crew members entered the ditch. The crew member returned with a bloodied but apparently unharmed child who was flown to safety. Thompson then reported what he had seen to his company commander, Major Frederic W. Watke, using terms such as 'murder' and 'needless and unnecessary killings'. Thompson's reports were confirmed by other pilots and air crew.

"For their actions Thompson was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and his crew were awarded Bronze Star medals. In 1998, their medals were replaced by the Soldier's Medal, 'the highest the US Army can award for bravery not involving direct conflict with the enemy.' The medal citations said they were being awarded 'for heroism above and beyond the call of duty while saving the lives of at least 10 Vietnamese civilians during the unlawful massacre of non-combatants by American forces at My Lai'. The veterans also made contact with the survivors of My Lai."

how cultural that is

“One morning, while applying bug repellent, I was watched by an older Pirahã man, who asked Everett what I was doing. Eager to communicate with him in sign language, I pressed together the thumb and index finger of my right hand and weaved them through the air while making a buzzing sound with my mouth. Then I brought my fingers to my forearm and slapped the spot where my fingers had alighted. The man looked puzzled and said to Everett, 'He hit himself.' I tried again—this time making a more insistent buzzing. The man said to Everett, 'A plane landed on his arm.' When Everett explained to him what I was doing, the man studied me with a look of pitying contempt, then turned away. Everett laughed. 'You were trying to tell him something about your general state—that bugs bother you,' he said. 'They never talk that way, and they could never understand it. Bugs are a part of life.'

“'O.K.,' I said. 'But I’m surprised he didn’t know I was imitating an insect.'

“'Think of how cultural that is,' Everett said. 'The movement of your hand. The sound. Even the way we represent animals is cultural.'”


--John Colapinto, “The Interpreter: Has a remote Amazonian tribe upended our understanding of language?”, The New Yorker, 2007 April 16

2010 Flood

“Kevin Tobosa sent a message to the members of Fargo - Moorhead Flood Volunteer Network.

“Subject: 2010 Flood Information Channels

“With the spring thaw nearing, FirstLink is preparing to coordinate volunteers to assist with a potential flood fight and response efforts. In addition to our Volunteer Hotline, FirstLink will once again use social and mobile media to help with sharing information, mobilization efforts and engaging volunteers.

“Facebook users, please note that in order to streamline our process this year, flood volunteer information will be distributed through FirstLink’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/myfirstlink

“Residents are encouraged to use the following channels to receive official volunteer and flood related information directly from FirstLink:

“Volunteer Hotline: 701-476-4000
Facebook: www.facebook.com/myfirstlink
Twitter: www.twitter.com/myfirstlink
Text Messages: Simply text 'myfirstlink' to 84074 to subscribe (standard messaging rates may apply)”

http://www.myfirstlink.org/

Dharma Bums VIII

"'Bang! Come on, you girls! gimps! punks! thieves! pimps! hangmen! Run!' Then I suddenly had the most tremendous feeling of the pitifulness of human beings, whatever they were, their faces, pained mouths, personalities, attempts to be gay, little petulances, feelings of loss, their dull and empty witticisms so soon forgotten."

--Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums, 1958

Happy Valentine's Day

"Threesomes Within a Christian Marriage"

Also of note:
"Fisting and God's Will"

Critics

"When most people talk about 'critics' they're talking about professional critics, whose job is to write movie reviews that you disagree with. The function of professional critics is to make us feel good about ourselves for being smarter at evaluating movies than an official critic....

"You can't argue with the numbers. If you were to take a list of movies and rate them either good or bad, you would find at the end that you were 100% correct."


--"Criticism," Cracked.com

Alert From Mongolia

Message from Konchog:

"Hello everyone,

"I'm writing to all my friends who are in some way connected to Mongolia. As I'm sure you're aware, the Mongolian herders and animals are suffering through an unusually terrible dzud this year. Today, Shambhala Sun was kind enough to publish a guest post of mine on the subject and feature it on their front page. I hope you might take a moment to read it, and help spread the word to those who care about our friends in the countryside who are really struggling now. I've been soliciting funds for the Cambridge Mongolian Development Appeal (CAMDA), who are on the ground in Mongolia providing direct relief right now, but you may have another organization you support. In any case, it's urgent, so thank you for listening and telling your friends. There are some more details at my blog (link below) and that's where I'll post CAMDA updates.

"All the best to you,

"Konchog

"Blog: Bitterroot Badger"

Merry Super Bowl

“It's become a de facto national holiday. Super Bowl Sunday and New Year's Eve are the two biggest party days in the United States, and probably in that order.”

--Peter Schwartz, quoted by Eliott C. McLaughlin at CNN.com

North Dakota in black and white

photo from Katie

North Dakota in color

photo from Katie

the majority

“Life for the majority of the population is an unlovely struggle against unfair odds, culminating in a cheap funeral.”

--Siegfried Sassoon, Memoirs of an Infantry Officer, 1930

flung at random

“The greatest mystery is not that we have been flung at random among the profusion of the earth and the galaxies, but that in this prison we can fashion images sufficiently powerful to deny our nothingness.”

--Andre Malraux

go lull yourself

And go lull yourself with what you can understand, and with piano-tunes,
For I lull nobody, and you will never understand me.

--Walt Whitman, “To a Certain Civilian,” Leaves of Grass

Under the Influence: Masters of the Universe Art Show at Gallery 1988, Los Angeles

Battle for the Master of the Universe

Allison Reimold

Fearless Predator

Eric Tan

Master of His Universe

John Rozum

Skeletor was OG

Meggs

I Am the Master of the Universe

Jason Hernandez

Gallery 1988

http://ihavethepowerart.blogspot.com/