The Whaling Wall

Hooray for awful puns. Anyway, the International Whaling Commission is meeting in Anchorage this summer, and it appears that the Japanese government is going to try to use its considerable sway over that body to try to put a stop to Alaska Native subsistence whaling if it doesn't get similar rights for its coastal villages to hunt minke whales. Which is pretty much a front for resuming commercial whaling.

This may be one of the few things on which Ted Stevens and I see eye to eye.

Oh, and Japan has also threatened to leave the IWC if it doesn't get its way. It's frustrating. But it goes to show you that no country has a monopoly on buying votes in international bodies, or using threats and coercion to get its way diplomatically.

The floggings will continue until morale improves

The U.S. Attorney for Western Michigan got sacked this week, apparently one of eight to be ousted by the Bush administration for not toeing the party line. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but isn't it sad when even federal judges are ascribing bad motives to these clowns?

And, 50 years later, the federal district court in Arkansas released the Little Rock School District from federal supervision in the long-running school desegregation case. Interesting--the problem is far from solved, but I'm sure the odds of the 101st Airborne coming back to town anytime soon are slim.

Alaska's physician shortage

I suppose Sen. Lisa Murkowski deserves some grudging respect for holding a hearing on how Alaskans are underserved, medically speaking. Especially in the Bush. Not having a med school, and having a paltry 10 slots for Alaskans set aside at UW med school doesn't help. It's just like the lawyer shortage--if Alaska had a law school, I probably would have gone there.

Clue-Impaired

OK, when I was not paying attention, another one of my favorite bands, Rage Against the Machine, decided to reunite to play at Coachella. Which should be awesome, y'know, aside from the scorching desert heat and waiting in line to use the Johnny-on-the-Spot. Please tour, ideally sharing a double bill with the Police (see below).

Funny how they broke up because the rest of the band couldn't get along with Zack de la Rocha, so they all formed Audioslave with Chris Cornell. Perhaps they got along even worse with Chris? Who knows, until the "Behind the Music" comes out?

And for the record, this is not a music blog--it's a serious public affairs forum. Harrrumph.

What have I learned since the last post?

1. Three seasons in one day is nothing I can't handle.
2. I run faster with an iPod.
3. Ted Rall makes the "stay the course" crowd's point better than they ever could.
4. I make a mean beef stroganoff.
5. Having an HDTV means an awesome picture, even if you don't get an HD signal.
6. Being TiVo-less makes said HDTV less splendiferous.
   
7. Russia, after surviving Ivan the Terrible, Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin, and countless other disasters, is now (possibly) getting Wal-Mart. When will their suffering end?
8. Apple makes a darn good laptop. Keep an eye on this company--I think it's goin' places.

I'm sure I learned some other things, but that's all that springs to mind at the moment. Oh, and the Police last night? Disappointing--a version of "Roxanne" that sounded pretty much the same as the old studio version. It takes more than that to wow me, and two giant creative forces like Sting and Stewart Copeland surely could have pulled it off.