Brent Rowell, a native of Bristol, Tenn., currently lives in Yangon (formerly Rangoon), Myanmar. He and others knew Cyclone Nargis would hit the Southeast Asia country on May 3, but no one expected the storm to kill more than 43,000 and leave tens of thousands missing and more than a million residents homeless. 

Head to her house to get the link for the full account of what happened.

H/T: Silence

I used to want to be a doctor when I was a little kid. I still like medical stuff (as long as it isn’t medical SCHOOL….) The night before last I had the realisation that I am a sort of doctor after all. It was a sad realisation but I am the only individual who knows all of my various problems and how they affect one another. More than once I’ve been able to say “you can’t give me that because it’s contraindicated with another treatment I’ve got.”

Having me for a patient must be just soooo special.

But Republicans like Sen. Lamar Alexander and Rep. Marsha Blackburn have chosen to advance their political careers at the expense of the party by embracing and pushing the anti-immigrant agenda of talk show hosts and nativists. The 287(g) deportation program in Nashville has produced some of the most inhumane treatment of people in this nation since the Civil Rights days and the internment of Japanese-American families during World War II.

Alexander and Blackburn were part of a recent press confernece to celebrate the deportation of 3,000 immigrants. (What was Rep. Jim Cooper, a Democrat, doing on that stage for that political farce? It’s time to recruit and finance a tough primary opponent for Cooper in 2010. Cooper is about as dynamic as lint on a sticky roller.)

We Hispanic voters and their advocates will not forget. The only decent person on that stage who spoke was Metro Police Chief Serpas, who criticized the inaction of lawmakers like Alexander, Blackburn and Cooper on resolving immigration issues. It is a federal matter, not something that good Metro police officiers should have to deal with.

There is no joy for me in writing this piece about the GOP. This country needs a strong two party system. Actually, it needs three strong parties. Hispanics should be pursued by both parties so that our issues for a better America will be addressed. The almost blind allegiance African-Americans have paid to the Democratic Party has not served their needs well. They’ve been taken for granted. Yes, this nation is on the cusp of electing its first black — or more accurately “bi-racial” — president. But the steps that have been taken by some Democrats to stop that advancement in favor of Sen. Hillary Clinton have been disillusioning and shocking.

He goes on and talks more about several different issues including a quote from conservative columnist Peggy Noonan who asks the question in the headline.

Twitter and blogs tend to focus on the mystery of the show. Katherine Coble has excellent recaps of the show and has a bittersweet relationship with it. She watches it and I tend to think she likes it, but she is also hard on some of the believability of some of the characters’ actions.

Of course, it is a television show but still, you get sucked in.

Jack Sheppard thinks he’s a leader–nice Christlike positioning of the bleeding wound in his side, don’t you think?–but I think he’s as flawed as leaders get.

I continue to find the mythology of the Island fascinating, while being bored by the cockadoody car action parts. The C4 in the ship was a big ol’ eyeroll for me. I generally hate the sight of C4 in any story outside of James Bond. It’s a visual shorthand for “big action sequence coming” and I am not a lover of big action sequences when they are misplaced.

Barry asked questions earlier this week on the mythology and some of the unsolved mysteries. (Update here: New post from him.) And I even throw in my two cents as does Reba.

One blog that has been following Lost breaks it down and brings on the funny.

And although he doesn’t have a recap up for last night’s episode up yet, Russ McBee, who came into the game late, is really enjoying it. His recaps are extremely intense.

“Lost” is the only TV show I’ve ever seen that required me to take notes in order to keep up.

That’s about right. If you have any observations because you are going to have to wait two weeks to see the finale, leave them in the comments.

Here’s a snippet and what he got back.

I am not sure if you will actually read this or not. This is the first time I have ever taken the time to send anything to a Senator. I realize that you are not from my home state of Tennessee but I felt compelled to write. With all of the important issues facing Americans today including housing, gasoline, the war, and not to mention the economy and upcoming election, why would tax payer money and government time be wasted with continuing an investigation into the NFL’s New England Patriots and the league itself? It is time to move on and focus on things that are truly important to the country. I am a huge sports fan myself and appreciate getting to the bottom of an important issue such as cheating but please it is time to focus on the issues.

I was quite proud of myself. There was nothing fancy in it. I wasn’t rude, just to the point. I waited with baited breath to read the form email that I expected to receive. I didn’t expect this:

I receive a large volume of E-mails, phone calls, faxes and letters every week from concerned citizens like yourself.
Unfortunately, due to the high volume of mail, I can only respond if you’re a resident of Pennsylvania.

LeBlanc isn’t happy with Specter. Not in the least. 

Sometimes, I hate working with teenagers.

Go see what he’s talking about.

From here.

Mango-Jicama and Cucumber Salad
Fish Tacos with Guac
Sweet-Hot Bbq Tater Fries
Spicy Turkey Burgers
Tomatillo-Sauced Enchiladas with Spinach and Mushrooms
Vegetarian Enchiladas
Strawberry Almond Pie
Salmon with Puffed Pastry and Pesto

Hungry yet?

No, I’m serious…go see for yourself!

I perused the article you reference and agree that you need to do more than discuss or agree/disagree. I’d start from the standpoint that the author’s argument is true - that people act more when it’s close to home. If you need more proof, check out this link about recent giving in the wake of tragedy.

More money went to Katrina than the tsunami or Burma, even though there were far (FAR) fewer deaths. Why is that?

In other words, I’d ask the class the question, “If a kid drowns in Burma, and no one’s around to notice, does it matter?”

Of course if does, like Gandhi’s son said in the Post article. But how can it matter TO US? That’s the real question of ethics, whether you’re a utilitarian or not - human behavior mainly operates on the question of what does it matter TO ME.

There’s a whole lot more.

Head here to read the rest. 

Here’s how. 

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h/t: Xark!

A woman accused of “cyber-bullying” a 13-year-old girl into committing suicide was indicted Thursday.

Lori Drew, 49, of O’Fallon, Mo., is accused of setting up an account on MySpace.com, along with others, to pose as a 16-year-old boy, “Josh Evans,” in 2006.

Ashley Grills, a 19-year-old employee of Drew’s, told “Good Morning America” that she created the fake MySpace profile, but said Drew wrote some of the messages.

She said it was Drew’s idea to find Meier on the Internet and see what she was saying about Drew’s daughter, a former friend.

Apparently the courts don’t think highly of this, and nor did we back last year. One of the things in the brought up repeatedly in the comments was we didn’t think that Drew would be punished.

Apparently we were wrong.

From Former Nashvillian Brittney Gilbert. 

Jeffrey at Shadows of Love is trying to find this puppy a home before it goes to the Humane Society on Saturday.

Can you help him out.

H/T Mack Farmer 

So, with all that said, I gathered my resolve and headed to a local dentist today, determined to make it work- get the dental care I needed and not go into debt for it. The way I figure, I could get partial dentures on the bottom until I can eventually afford implants. You know, not get into debt, do it a piece at a time as I can afford it. That sounds fairly reasonable, right?

Apparently not.

It’s been a rough road for Ivy, but there is a dialogue from people wanting to help.

Not the best president, maybe not even the best choice of the three - I would just like to see what people think are the primary reasons or indications they’ve seen that the candidate they support has the qualifications, potential and vision to be the President of the United States.

One major rule. No rebuttals. You don’t get to argue against a previous commenter’s reasonings. I want to hear your personal opinions on why you feel your candidate will make a good president.

Go tell him what you think. 

Social networking Web sites, devoted to hosting interactions among members, were once like metaphorical lakes, each stocked with similar fish. Today, these sites have become virtual oceans, filled with millions of species, small recreational boats and massive supertankers.

The popularity of these sites has increased so quickly and dramatically that it’s impossible to say exactly how many total users they draw. The numbers are bigger than many people would suspect, though, and they grow every day.

It’s a comprehensive breakdown.

Check it out here.

Congratulations!

Former Democratic presidential nominee John Edwards will endorse Sen. Barack Obama Wednesday at a campaign event in Grand Rapids, Michigan, according to Obama’s campaign.

I smell Obama/Edwards ‘08, although if you’ll remember, I predicted Edwards/Obama ‘08…I suppose I was just having a day of dyslexia…

So what do you think?  Will this solidify Obama’s support from the working class?

VATICAN CITY (AP) - “The Vatican’s chief astronomer says that believing in aliens does not contradict faith in God.

The Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, the Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory, says that the vastness of the universe means it is possible there could be other forms of life outside Earth, even intelligent ones.

In an interview published Tuesday by Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, Funes says that such a notion “doesn’t contradict our faith” because aliens would still be God’s creatures.

The interview was headlined “The extraterrestrial is my brother.” Funes said that ruling out the existence of aliens would be like “putting limits” on God’s creative freedom.”

Bigfoot is apparently going to be OK, too, by these standards.

H/T Sharon Cobb