chì mi bhuam

tha an saoghal mòr 'gur coimhead

2009-06-20T22:25:00.004-04:00

’s urrainn, ’s urrainn dhuinn!

2008-11-03T01:36:00.002-05:00

Tha mi’n dùil gum bi Barack Obama ’na ath cheann-suidhe na Stàitean Aonaichte, agus cha bhi iongantas sam bith air na daoine a tha eòlach orm gum bithinn-fhìn fìor thoilichte air a’ sin. Co-dhiubh, thachair mi air a’ bhideo seo bho Louisiana le còmhlan zydeco a' seinn airson Obama, agus chòrd i rium òran mar seo ann am mion-chànan chluintinn.

Agus fhad ’s a tha mi air cuspair ceòl tradiseanta Ameireaganach, seo bhideo eile bho Charlottesville ann a’ Bhirdinia - far a bheil an teaghlach agam a’ fuireach a nis - le “hootenanny” airson “an t-atharrachadh a dhìth oirnn”.

fèis fhiolmaichean ghàidhlig ann an Ceap Breatainn

2008-09-30T01:24:00.005-04:00

Bidh Féis Fhiolmaichean na Reul-iùil a' dol bho 3-5 an Dàmhair ann an Cladach a Tuath.

a’ seinn ann an “drag”

2008-04-21T23:56:00.003-04:00

O na rudan a chì sibh air YouTube! Seo tè (ahem) a’ “seinn” an òran Ba Ba Mo Leanabh (le guth a tha gu mìorbhaileach coltach ris a’ ghuth aig Màiri Sìne Nic Laomainn). Tha bhideos eile aice a’ gabhail òrain eile ’sa Bheurla ’s ann an Duidsis (’se 'k zag twee beren am fear as fheàrr leam). Ach a rèir na freagairtean air an duilleag seo, bha feadhainn de’n bheachd nach do chuir Gerda am faireachdainn cheart air - beagan tuilleadh is aotrom airson sgeul mu dhuine a chaill a cheann.

Julie Fowlis air YouTube

2008-04-19T13:56:00.001-04:00

a’ seinn "Bothan Àirigh am Bràigh Raithneach"

2 fhilm mhath à Eirinn

2007-11-10T16:34:00.001-05:00

Tha 2 fhilm ghoirid anns a' Ghàidhlig Eireannach ri fhaicinn air an eadar-lìon, an dà chuid le Daniel O'Hara:

Yu Ming Is Ainm Dom [Is Mise Yu Ming] - fear Sìneach, a' sireadh beatha ùr, air siùbhail ann an Eirinn. Tha e air Gaeilge a dh'ionnsachadh o chionn 's gu robh sin anns an atlas fo "Cànan Ofigeil". Ciamar a bhios e faighinn amach gun fhacal Beurla?

Fluent Dysphasia - le Stephen Rea a' cluich athair nach eil math ri bhruidhinn còmhla ris an nighean aige, gu h-àraid nuair a tha i a' sireadh cuideachadh leis a cuid Gaeilge anns an sgoil. Ach an dèidh oidhche cruaidh aig an taigh òsda . . . !

òrain ghàidhlig air myspace

2007-11-08T23:28:00.001-05:00

Tha iomadh òrain Ghàidhlig ri fhaighinn air myspace an drasda. Seo cuid dhiubh:

Mary Jane Lamond
Margaret Stewart
Christine Primrose
Julie Fowlis
Margaret Bennett
Fiona MacKenzie
Meantime
Melody & Derrick Cameron (le Colin & Seumas Watson)
Norman MacKinnon
Mac Talla
MacKenzie
Alyth
Maggie Carchrie
Mill a h-Uile Rud
Oi Polloi
nad Aislingean

air imrich a rithist

2007-11-07T21:29:00.000-05:00

Tha sinn air ais ann an Sasann Nuadh, far an d’fhuair a’ bhean agam obair aig oilthigh bheag air oirthir Chonnecticut. ’Se àite snog gu leor a th’ann, ged a tha e beagan neònach. Tha e glè “Sasann-Nuadhach” ann an dòigh – le seann-bhailtean mar Mystic leis a bàtaichean ’s a “clam shacks” agus le pailteas de ubhlan, pumpkins, agus siucar nan craobh. Ach, ’nam bheachdsa, chan eil coimhearsneachd ceart mun cuairt a seo. Tha a’ mhòr-chuid na bailtean “snog” tuilleadh is beairteach, agus an nuair sin tha bailtean bochd mar Lunnann Nuadh. Chuala mi gu bheil Connecticut an stàit as “stratified” anns na SA, agus cha bhiodh iongantas orm air sin.

Tha dà àite Innseanaich (“reservations”) an seo, baile Mohegan agus baile Pequot. Chan eil mòran daoine ann ach tha iad glè chudthromach o chionn ’s gu bheil casinos mòra aca – tha Foxwoods (aig na Pequots) am fear as motha ’san t-saoghal.

Aon rud eile a tha neònach an seo, sin ’s gu bheil Connecticut sgapte eadar “Dùthaich na Stocannan Dearga” agus an “Evil Empire”. Chan eil àite eile ann an Sasann Nuadh far a bheil mòran daoine a’ dol airson na Yankees. Dìreach mar cogadh catharra, bidh bràthair an aghaidh bràthair. Co-dhiubh, bha mise fìor, fìor thoilichte nuair a bhuannaich na Sox air a’ cho-latha brèith agam. Abair tiodhlac! Tha sinn uile a’ dèanamh an "Dannsa Papelbon" agus an “Okajima Oki-Doki” a nis!

...agus an uair sin rinn mi headbutt air

2007-10-16T01:34:00.000-04:00

Tha mi cinnteach gu bheil an ceann-naidheachd seo (air an taobh chlì) ag ràdh rudeigin dhuinn mu aigne Albannach fireannta. Ach gu dè'n rud? [Sràid na Càisge, Dùn Eideann, 5.7.2007]

riaghailtean an rathaid

2007-01-23T21:02:00.000-05:00

Massachusetts:

dachaidh ùr

2006-09-26T23:50:00.000-04:00

Rinn mi-fhìn 's mo theaghlach imrich bho Massachusetts an Iar gu Columbus, prìomh-bhaile Ohio, far an d'fhuair mo bhean obair-bliadhna aig An Oilthigh Stàit Ohio. Cha robh mi ann a seo riamh, ach tha e a' còrdadh rium math gu leòr. Fhuair sinn àite ri taobh abhainn bheag agus ged a tha sinn ann am meadhan a' bhaile mhòir, tha i glè sàmhach aig an taigh (well, ok, 'se condo a th'ann...).

Bidh mise 'nam "athair fuireach-aig-an-taigh" am bliadhna, agus is mòr mo thoileachas air sin. Tha Dalia Eilidh a' tòiseachadh ri snàig a nis, agus thòiseach i cuideachd, nuair a bha mi a' gabhail biadh dhì, ri ghabhal biadh dhomhsa - a' togail Cheerio an dèidh Cheerio agus 'gan cur 'nam bheul. Toighms math.

Chan eil mi glè eòlach air Columbus fhathast. Seo far an do thogadh Phil Ochs, seinneadar/sgriobhadair poileataigeach bho na 60-an. Air an taobh eile, seo far an do thòisich Wendy's Hamburgers. Ach an rud as motha an seo, 'se gun teagamh an sgioba ball-coise Ameireaganach aig an oilthigh. Chan fhaca mi riamh a leithid - gach Disathairne bidh lèine neo ad dearg air a h-uile duine bho 8 gu 80, agus mun cuairt an oilthigh tha e mar siorcas, le loine fada de charaichean-phoileas. Agus sin amuigh a' stadium - bidh ceud mìle daoine istigh.

Well, feumaidh ri ràdh gu bheil mi coma co-dhiubh. Cha robh mi riamh measail air "college football" mar a chanas iad. 'S fheàrr leam an NFL (ball-coise Ameireaganach profeiseanta), camanachd-dèigh (hocaidh), agus gu h-àraidh ball-stèidhe (ha ha, sin am facal aig an stòr-data air baseball, ach an do chleachd cuideigin riamh e?). Ach chan eil mi airson a bhi bruidhinn air na Stocainnean Dearga an dràsda. Cùmaidh mi m'inntinn air 2004 - "...agus seo Dave Roberts a' ruith airson Millar..." Ahhh, toighms math.

puirt-a-shooby

2006-05-11T01:50:00.000-04:00

Tha Louis Armstrong gu math ainmeil mar trombaidear agus seinneadair - gu h-àiridh an seinn "scat". Tha cuideigin ag ràdh gum b'esan a' chiad duine a chuir scat air a chlàradh, nuair a thuit am paipear far an robh na faclan a bha e a' gabhail. Co-dhiubh, 's toil leam seinn scat le Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, is eile. Ach 'se Uilleam "Shooby" Taylor, "The Human Horn", an seinneadair as fheàrr leam.

Nise, cha robh Shooby 'na sheinneadair math. Cha b'urrainn dha fonn a chumail, agus ghabh e "faclan" scat nach do ghabh duine riamh - "shoo poo plaw", "doo doo shraw", "poopy-poppy poopy-poppy", is mar sin. Agus, airson a' mhor-chuid de'n repertoire, rinn e seorsa de karaoke, a' seinn comhla ri clàraichean air a robh e measail - Johnny Cash, na Harmonicats, Mozart (!), is eile.

Mar sin, cha chuala sibh a leithid. Èisdidh mi ris nuair a bhios mi caran brònach, agus chan urrainn dhomh cuideachadh gun dèanamh gàire.

Seo duilleag leis na h-òrain aige, còmhla ri bhideo agus tuilleadh fiosrachadh.

na h-amadain breacach nan reult

2006-05-03T23:33:00.000-04:00

Dìreach mar a smaointich mi nach b'urrainn mo dhuthaich a' fàs nas amaideach . . .

Tha ùpraid anns na Stàitean an drasda air imrich-a-steach, gu h-àraidh bho dhuthchanan Latino, agus tha an luchd fo amharas àbhaisteach (Republicanaich agus cinneadaich eile) a' feuchainn ri chuir eagal oirnn ro'n Sluagh Donn a Tha Briseadh Isteach bhon Deas.

Nisd tha na daoine leth-ghlic aig ceann an riaghaltais a' gearan air eadar-theangachadh Spàinntis de'n laoidh nàiseanta a rinn luchd-ciùil Latino. Thuirt W gum bu choir an òran air a gabhail anns a' Bheurla a-mhàin - ged a sheinn e-fhèin 'sa Spàinntis e nuair a bha e a' lorg an Taighe Ghil.

Agus an drasda tha Lamar Alexander, Seanair à Tennesse, a' toirt bile dhan Seanaid "ri chuir 'nar cuimhne carson a tha sinn a' seinn an Laoidh Nàiseanta anns a' Bheurla." Tha sin a' cur 'nam chuimhne-fhìn air fealla-dhà math a rinn Robert Klein bho chionn bliadhnaichean:

Carson a tha iad a' cluich an Laoidh Nàiseanta ro geama-spòrs? Nuair a bhios mi aig Madison Square Garden a' coimhead na Knicks a' cluich, chan eil fios a dhìth orm gu dè'n duthaich anns a bheil mi:

"Ca bheil sinn, Uilleam, Latvia?"

[Oh say, can you see...]

"O, seadh, seadh, tha sinn anns na Stàitean Aonaichte - dhiochuimnich mi!"

Co-dhiubh, chuir an amaideas seo 'nam chuimhne gu bheil eadar-theangachadh Gàidhlig ann, a rinn Catrìona Nic Aonghais à Framboise, Ceap Breatainn nuair a bha i 'fuireach ann am Boston:

A' Bhratach Bhreacadh nan Reult

O am faic sibh gu moch an am bristeadh an tràth'
A ni dh'fhàg sinn fo uaill 'n am dol fodha na gréine,
Le chuid rionnagan soills' 'us na sgrìoban breac bàn
Thar an daighnich bho 'n àird troimh gach gàbhadh 'us éiginn?
'S gach ional-càtha 's gach fuaim bh' anns an iarmailt mu'n cuairt
Thug dhuinn dearbhadh troimh 'n oidhch' gu robh bhratach sin suas;
O! am bheil fathast a' bhratach air bheil breacadh nan reult
Os cionn dachaidh sluagh saor 'us àit' còmhnuidh nan treun?

Tha ceanglaichean air an duilleag seo le eadar-theangaichean eile - Spàinntis, Gearmailteas, Iodais, Ladainn, Frangais (Cajun), agus Samoan. Agus seo e ann am Polais. Bhiodh iongantas orm mur an robh tuilleadh ann.

taibhsean sonnenallee

2006-03-08T23:18:00.000-05:00

Seo an naidheachd air an dealbh a tha aig ceann a’ bhluig seo.

Anns a’ bhliadhna 2003, bha mi ’fuireach còmhla ri mo bhean ann am Berlin. Bha sinn a’ fuireach air an t-sràid Sonnenallee ann an Neukölln, coimhearsnachd far bheil luchd-imriche Arabach is Turcach glè phailt. Co-dhiubh, bha mi ’dèanamh bhideo air an t-sràid nuair a thachair mi air “Uncle Sam’s”, bùth bheag a bha ’reic hamburgers ’s a leithid.

Bha e air taobh eile na sràide, agus nuair a bha mi ’ga filmeadh, thàinig bus a’ bhaile seachad.

Cha do smaointich mi air aig an àm, ach ùine beag an dèidh sin bha mi a’ coimhead air a’ bhideo, agus phut mi air “pause” dìreach nuair a bha am bus a’ dol seachad, agus chunnaic mi seo:

Chòrd an dealbh sin rium – bha an duine coltach ri taibhse, le Uncle Sam’s air a chùl, agus fuineadair Gearmailteach ri mo chùl, a’ nochdadh anns an uinneag. (le pretzel neon!) Le bhith stadadh a’ bhideo aig puingean eile, fhuair mi dealbhan math eile: taibhsean Sonnenallee.

caileagan nuas!

2006-02-22T01:02:00.000-05:00

Ha ha. Mhothaich mi gu robh feadhainn à Portugal a’ tighinn gu tric dhan bhlog seo, o chionn ’s gu robh iad a’ googleadh an fhacail “nuas”. Uill fhuair mi amach bho faclair Portugais air an eadar-lìon gu bheil “nuas” a’ ciallachadh “lomnochd”. Obh obh, a chàirdean, tha mi duilich – nach e briseadh-dùil mòr a bh’ann dhuibh a’ tighinn an seo. Ach cumaidh mi orm m’aodach, muito obrigado.

a’ seinn air “a’ chlàrsach naomh”

2006-01-14T00:47:00.001-05:00

Tha mi glè mheasail air òrain “sacred harp”. ’Se seann cheòl Ameireaganach a th’ann, a thainig amach bho na h-eaglaisean Pròsdanach ann an Sassainn Nuaidh. Bhàs e an sin anns an 19mh linn ach aig an aon àm dh’imrich e gu na stàitean a deas, far a bheil e beò fhathast mar beul-aithris diadhaidh. Ach an drasda, tha na h-òrain air an seinn a rithist ’san Tuath ann an ath-bheòthachadh saoghalta. ’Se ceòl dian, fiadhaich a th’ann, oir tha a h-uile duine a’ seinn gu àrd agus coma leotha guthan “bòidheach”. Èisdibh ris na h-òrain seo bho’n còmhlan far a bheil mi a’ fuireach:

Western Massachusetts Sacred Harp Community

Tha bhideo ann cuideachd air an duilleag seo, agus chìthear mar a tha iad suidhichte, le ceàrnag fhalamh – a h-uile duine a’ coimhead air a cheile – agus neach-stiùridh ’sa mheadhan. Anns a’ bhideo seo, ’se Peter King am fear-stiùridh, agus is esan drumair leis a’ chòmhlan Cordelia’s Dad – bidh iad a’ cur seann cheòl mar seo ri cheile le ceòl roc is punc. Tha an seinneadair, Tim Eriksen, ri fhaicinn air an duilleag-dhachaidh – is esan am fear maol air an taobh chlì. Bha guth Thim anns an fhilm Cold Mountain – b’esan guth Bhreandain Gleeson. Bha òrain sacred harp anns an fhilm cuideachd.

Carson a tha an t-ainm “sacred harp” air a’ cheòl seo? ’Se a’ ghuth a th’ann an clàrsach naomh. Tha ainm eile air cuideachd – soin chruith neo “shape note”, oir tha cruth air gach soin – fa sol la agus mi. Leis a’ mhòr-chuid na h-òrain, bidh iad a’ seinn na soinean mus tòisich iad air na faclan. Seallaibh eisempleir an seo. A bheil sibh eòlach air an òran seo, Plenary? Nach eil? Well, èisdibh ris an seo, bho seinneadairean ann am Mississippi (tha Plenary sios faisg air bonn na duilleag). Ach ’s docha gu bheil na faclan aig Raibeart Burns nas fheàrr airson Oidhche Challainn!

'nam athair

2006-01-05T01:41:00.000-05:00

Rugadh nighean againn, Dalia Eilidh, air an 19mh latha dhe'n Dùbhlachd. Tha an saoghal againn bun os cionn, ach tha sinn uabhasach toilichte. Tha i beag ach làidir, agus is toil leatha òrain Ghàidhlig. Ach is fheàrr leatha bainne!

coiseachd na nollaige

2005-12-19T02:01:00.000-05:00

Bha mi an Washington DC aig toiseach na mìos seo agus bha cothrom agam ri coiseachd còmhla ris A' Chomunn Gàidhealach America aig Coiseachd na Nollaige an Alexandria, Virginia. Bha e gu math inntineach. Chan eil cuimhn' 'am cuin a chunnaic mi breacan is pìobairean cho pailt. Agus bha gach seorsa de chù ann cuideachd. Agus Elbheas!

Bha sinn ag eughachd Nollaig Chrìdheil! agus Bliadhna Math Ùr! dha na daoine a bh'air an t-sràid. Agus cha b'urrainn dhomh cuideachadh gun eughachd agus Chanuca Math Dhuibh! as an dèidh. Co-dhiubh seo na daoine aig ACGA:

chì mi’n geamhradh

2005-11-24T17:10:00.000-05:00

Soraidh leis an fhoghar . . .

latha buidheachais agus cànan wôpanâak

2005-11-24T00:35:00.002-05:00

’Se Latha Buidheachais a th’ann an diugh anns na Stàitean. Mar a tha an stòraidh a’ dol, tha sinn a’ cuimhneachadh dinnear mòr a rinn na “Pilgrims” agus na h-Innseanaich ann am Plymouth, Massachusetts ‘sa bhliadhna 1621, agus a’ chàirdeis is deagh dhùrachdan a bha eadorra. Ach, mar am biodh sibh an dùil, ’s iomadh Innseanach nach eil idir taingeil airson na Pilgrimean agus an dìleab. Air an son, ’se Latha Naiseanta fo Bhròn a th’ann an diugh.

’Se na daoine Massachuset (“àit’ a’ chnuic mhòir”) neo Wampanoag (wôpanâak, “daoine beul an latha”) a bha ’fuireach ann am Plymouth (Patuxet) nuair a ràinig na Sassanaich ann an 1620. Tha a’ mhòr-chuid dhiubh an drasd’ ann an dà choimhearsnachd ann am Massachusetts: Mashpee, air Rubha nan Trosg, agus Aquinnah, air eilean Martha’s Vineyard.

Bha cànan Algonquian aca, càirdeach ri cànain mar Mi’kmaq, Abenaki, Mohegan-Pequot, Delaware, agus, beagan nas fhaide air falbh, Cree, Blackfoot agus Cheyenne. Rinn ministear Sassanach eadar-theangachadh a’ Bhìobuill ann an 1663, agus tron 17mh agus 18mh linn bha litearrachd anns a’ chànan gu math cumanta. Chaidh Wampanoag gu bàs mar cànan làitheil mu 100 bliadhna air ais, ach mhair beagan dhi gu meadhan an 20mh linn: èisdibh a’ seo ri mp3 air ùrnaigh dhan Spiorad Mhòr le Chief Wild Horse (am measg clàraichean de chànain eile).

Nis tha na Wampanoagan a’ tòiseachadh air ath-bheòthachadh an cànan. Fhuair tè dhiubh, Jessie Little Doe Fermino, PhD ann an Cànanachas bho MIT, agus tha i air beulaibh an strì. ’Se rud mìorbhaileach a bhiodh ann nam faigheadh Wôpanâak guth ùr – airson na Wampanoagan fhèin, agus airson an t-saoghail mhòir. Bhiodh sin lethsgeul airson buidheachas co-dhiubh.

(Seo duilleag le tuilleadh fiosrachadh)

rubha eagail (counselor!)

2005-11-23T23:58:00.000-05:00

Bha prògram ùidheil air an rèidio ann an Carolina a Tuath an t-seachdain sa chaidh. Bha Mìcheal Newton, deagh sgoilear nan Gàidheal, a' bruidhinn mu dheidhinn a' mheasgachadh culturach eadar na Gàidheal agus na h-Ameireaganaich-Afraigeach anns a' choimhearsnachd Cape Fear. Bha Mìcheal ag ràdh gu robh Gàidhlig air a bruidhinn anns na h-eaglaisean Dubha nas anmoiche na bha i 'sna h-eaglaisean "Gàidhealach". Co-dhiubh tha am prògram ri fhaighinn mar foidhle mp3 aig làrach lìn WUNC.

latha blah

2005-11-22T15:17:00.000-05:00

blog math ùr

2005-11-19T23:01:00.000-05:00

Suas leis a' Ghàidhlig

bha fios 'am gu robh DC làn pod people

2005-11-17T00:53:00.000-05:00

Tha guth ùr, beothail ann an saoghal na Gàidhlig a' tighinn bho Washington, DC - àite nas ainmeil airson guthan aosda, breugach. Seadh, chan ann a DC fhèin a tha Gaelcast, ach pìos goirid air falbh, ann an Alexandria, Virginia. 'Sann le Micheal Mac Aoidh, Eideart Bradshaw agus Liam Ó Caiside a tha am . . . pod? . . . seo. 'S aithne dhomh Liam bhon "circuit" Gàidhlig Cheap Breatainn, agus 'se duine gasda a th'ann gu dearbh. Agus tha Gaelcast fhèin fìor ùidheil.

Tha 6 prògraman ri fhaighinn agus tha deagh mheasgachadh annta: agallamhan, naidheachdan, ceòl is òrain. Bha iongantas math orm ri chluintinn reacòrdadh de Eardsaidh Ailig Sheumais MhicChoinnich, nach maireann, à Eilean na Nollaige, a' gabhail naidheachd agus òran. Cha tig a leithid tuilleadh, agus 'se rud prìseil a th'ann gum faod duine sam bith 'ga chluintinn le clioc putan. Cha d'fhuair mi-fhìn cothrom ri dhol a Cheap Breatainn am bliadhna, agus bha a' phrògram seo a' cur 'nam chuimhne carson a tha mi cho measail air an àite.

Co-dhiubh, tha Gaelcast a' boillsgeadh (neo a' sruthadh) bho gach cearn den Ghàidhealtachd Eadar-Naiseanta. Siuthadaibh 's èisdibh!

nuair bha mi òg

2005-11-14T01:51:00.000-05:00

Bha mi 'cur seann bhideo dhan chomputair an t-seachdain sa chaidh. Seo mise bho chionn faisg air 20 bliadhna:

Càit' an deach na bliadhnaichean?

tha (beagan) foghar ann fhathast

2005-11-11T21:11:00.000-05:00

Is e seo an t-àm as àillidh leam de’n bliadhna – eadar an t-Sultain agus deireadh na bliadhna. Tha Sasann Nuadh gu math ainmeil airson dathan nan craobh as t-foghar, agus bidh na “leaf-peepers” a’ tighinn bhon a h-uile h-àite anns an Damhair, nuair a bhios na duilleagan as bòidhche. Ach tha rudeigin bòidheach cuideachd leis na tha tachairt an dèidh sealladh an Damhair, nuair a bhios na deargan ’s na buidhean a’ tionndadh gu donn, agus gach craobh agus lus a’ fàs ruisgte. Is am blas beag mu dheireadh dhe’n fhoghar am blas as millse.

(air rathad rothair a tha ri'm thaobh ann an Hampton a Tuath)

anmoch ’s mi ’g èirigh

2005-02-17T14:26:00.000-05:00

Mu dheireadh thall, tha mi (faisg air) deiseil ri tilleadh dhan bhlog. Cha robh ùidh agam air rudan poilitigeach an dèidh a’ thaghaidh an uiridh – cha robh mi ag èisdeachd ris a’ rèidio neo a’ leughadh na pàipearean-naidheachd. Nise, ged a tha mi deònach gu leòr ri tilleadh dha na cuspairean seo, feumaidh mi faighinn “up to speed” air na tha dol. Ach seo pìos beag a mhothaich mi an diugh, bhon BBC:

First Minister Rhodri Morgan has echoed Tony Blair's opinion that London mayor Ken Livingstone should say sorry for a 'Nazi' comment to a Jewish reporter.

Mr Livingstone has so far refused to apologise for likening an Evening Standard journalist to a "concentration camp guard" at an event on Friday.
…
As well as the prime minister, Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell and Jewish community leaders have said Mr Livingstone should apologise.

Tory MP Boris Johnson, however, said Mr Livingstone should not say sorry but "stick to his guns".

Tha e math ri fhaicinn gu bheil na Toraidhean a’ dèanamh fhathast na tha iad a’ dèanamh as fheàrr.

some perspective from Phil and Garnet

2004-11-03T21:05:00.000-05:00

I was in Edinburgh, Scotland in April 1992 when the Conservatives were returned to power for their 4th term. Labour, led by Neil Kinnock, had been predicted to win a narrow majority. The day after, there was a surreal hush over the city; everyone looked like they'd been hit on the head with a big hammer.

I thought I knew how they felt at the time, but now I feel how they felt. If only I could be assured that the Republicans will go the way of the Tories, I might be able to bear the next four years.

I don't want to moan (the only thing more depressing than moaning about this election must be coming to a blog to read a stranger's moaning), but I'm not yet ready to rejoin the living. So here, as a placeholder, are the timeless observations of some other folks.

Hannah's in the highway cafe
Her eyes are on the TV screen
She says "Four more years," and shrugs her shoulders
"This country's turning mean."

And an aging actor fills the screen
His hands in triumph in the air
His eyes show sincerity, and emptiness
In the TV camera's glare

She said "I've seen elections come and go,
And there's one thing that's for sure,
There's just one thing this country won't forgive
And that's the sin of being poor."

Garnet Rogers: "Election Night: North Dakota" (1984)

It's not enough to know the world is absurd and restrict yourself merely to pointing out that fact.... It is wrong to expect a reward for your struggles. The reward is the act of struggle itself, not what you win. Even though you can't expect to defeat the absurdity of the world, you must make the attempt. That's morality, that's religion, that's art, that's life.

Phil Ochs, Broadside, 1965

I believe there is still something inherent in the fibre of America worth saving, and that the fortunes of the entire world may well ride on the ability of young Americans to face the responsibilities of an old America gone mad.

Phil Ochs, Village Voice, 1967

Ah but in such an ugly time the true protest is beauty.

Phil Ochs, liner notes, Pleasures of the Harbor (1967)

stàitean mi-aonaichte

2004-11-03T13:02:00.000-05:00

Chan eil mi 'tuigsinn an duthaich seo. Idir.

finally!

2004-10-28T01:48:00.000-04:00

It was worth the wait.

Out with the old

and in with the new

thank you

2004-10-21T13:54:00.000-04:00

Derek Lowe, David Ortiz, Johnny Damon, Curt Schilling and the rest. That was glorious.

state electoral trends: VT, NH, ME

2004-10-21T13:43:00.000-04:00

That's the last one. See the first one for the full explanation.

state electoral trends: MA, RI, CT

2004-10-21T13:42:00.000-04:00

state electoral trends: NJ, NY

2004-10-21T13:41:00.002-04:00

state electoral trends: MI, OH, PA

2004-10-21T13:41:00.001-04:00

state electoral trends: WV, MD, DE

2004-10-21T13:41:00.000-04:00

state electoral trends: SC, NC, VA

2004-10-21T13:40:00.000-04:00

state electoral trends: GA, FL

2004-10-21T13:39:00.001-04:00

state electoral trends: MS, AL

2004-10-21T13:39:00.000-04:00

it's a wonderful vice presidency

2004-10-07T11:05:00.000-04:00

My favorite part of Tuesday's VP debate came when Edwards said that in the whole, vast configuration of things, Cheney was nothing but a scurvy little spider.

state electoral trends: KY, TN

2004-10-03T22:05:00.000-04:00

Kentucky's really gone south the last few elections. Perhaps Tennessee would have too, if not for Gore being on the ballot. Neither of these two are in play this year, but it will be interesting to note the trendlines.

state electoral trends: AR, LA

2004-10-03T22:03:00.000-04:00

Louisiana: interesting how closely it's cleaved to the national average since 1976, compared to prior volatility.

Arkansas: Jimmy Carter had a much bigger impact than Bill Clinton. Odd.

there's a holdup in the Bronx . . .

2004-10-01T18:41:00.001-04:00

Here's a snapshot from the debate last night:

And I always thought Toody and Muldoon were partners. What happened?

And since I'm on the subject, I can't resist reposting this bit of dialogue from one of this classic show's episodes:

Muldoon: What are you going to be doing in New Jersey?
Toody: Well I promised Lucille that I'm going to take her to see her sister.
Muldoon: I thought her sister lived in Westchester.
Toody: She does, but I'm going to take her to see her sister in New Jersey.
Muldoon: But I thought Lucille only had one sister.
Toody: She has.
Muldoon: Than how can she have one in New Jersey and another one in Westchester?
Toody: Can't you figure it out?

state electoral trends: MO, IL, IN

2004-09-30T11:29:00.000-04:00

Next up, Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana. Illinois is the odd one out, trending blue while the other two trend red. Interesting that Indiana and Illinois have a similar track through 1984, and then they split off in opposite directions. It's also interesting that both of these states have relatively smooth trends, without the back-and-forth zig-zagging that most states show, even those with an overall trend. Missouri has been oscillating around the national average, never going more than two election cycles in the same direction. If that pattern holds true this year, it could be good news for Kerry.

state electoral trends: IA, MN, WI

2004-09-30T11:28:00.000-04:00

There's a lot of handwringing on the left side over the polls coming out of these states. Of course, the worry is that any or all of them, which went for Gore in 2000, may go for Bush this year, making Kerry's electoral math that much more difficult. But the angst is compounded by the impression that these are supposed to be "solid blue" states. And the main reason for this impression is the fact that all three have gone Democratic in each election since 1988. So if Dukakis, who got an electoral spanking, could carry them, then they must be Democratic bastions, right?

Well, the graphs show what's going on. Compare them to the other northern tier states diaried below. It's the same Democratic bubble that peaked in 1988 from the Dakotas to the Pacific coast. In most of those other states, the trend made prior Republican blowouts into mere decisive victories. But in these one-time swing states, the 80's phenomenon created the salad days of Democratic dominance. Minnesota is a slight exception in that it started from a more strongly Democratic baseline, but the pattern is still evident.

Since 1992, Iowa and Wisconsin have both hovered around the national average. Minnesota slipped into that range four years ago, though in each case the Nader factor may be exaggerating the reddening of the landscape. In any case, all three states belong in the battleground category now.

state electoral trends: OK, TX

2004-09-29T21:09:00.001-04:00

Parks takes another drink and starts to sing off key
There's not a man around the fire big enough to shut him up
And in the cold morn he's singing, "Hey Okie,
tell Arkie Texas found a job in Californ"
And everybody around the fire cracks up

- Bill Morrissey, "Barstow"

state electoral trends: NE, KS

2004-09-29T21:09:00.000-04:00

Kansas and Nebraska up here. Not much to say except to quote Kate Nelligan from Margaret's Museum: "The world's a bad place and it's getting worse."

state electoral trends: MT, ND, SD

2004-09-29T21:08:00.000-04:00

These three states are good examples of the Democratic trend, mentioned in earlier posts, in the northern tier of the western 2/3rds of the country during the 1980's. In the case of these states (as well as Idaho, Wyoming, etc.), the effect wasn't so visible because they still voted for Republicans during this time. But it's the same pattern that made states like Minnesota and Wisconsin go solid blue (an identity that they are perhaps now trying to shed).

The other interesting point is the spike in South Dakota for native son George McGovern, and the mini-spikes in the neighboring states.

wedding bells ring in Nova Scotia

2004-09-26T01:14:00.000-04:00

Nova Scotia legalized same-sex marriage on Friday. This is the sixth part of Canada to embrace equal marriage rights (following Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, BC and the Yukon), so there were no raucous celebrations like we had here in Massachusetts back in May. But there were a lot of happy, relieved, proud couples whose struggle made this day possible. At the top of that list are the named plaintiffs in the case: Ron and Bryan Garnett-Doucette, Ross Boutilier and Brian Mombourquette, and Kim Vance and Sam Meehan. Mazel tov!

Opposition to the decision was muted. The Tory government balked at the chance to challenge it. Justice Minister Michael Baker said "We certainly did not want to waste taxpayers' money." A few Tory backbenchers and the Archbishop of Halifax voiced their opposition, but with more an air of resignation than defiance. They also managed to stupendously, if unintentionally, destroy the biblical argument against equal marriage rights:

"It's just that I don't agree with it," said Shelburne MLA Cecil O'Donnell, who voted against extending government benefits to same-sex couples back in 2000. "It's my biblical understanding on gay sex marriages."

Fellow backbencher Mark Parent, a Baptist minister who represents Kings North, said he had great concerns over where the ruling might lead.

"In the Old Testament, you know, polygamy was the practice," he said. "So how do you then say that polygamous marriages are not valid and that marriage should be two people to the exclusion of all others? On what basis do you make that argument?"

It would be nice if another result of this decision were another nail in the coffin of the image of the Maritimes as an intolerant and ignorant cultural backwater. It's true enough that intolerant and ignorant folk are easy to find from Halifax to Halfway Cove. But they're just as easy to find in Kitchener and Kamloops. Nova Scotia was the first province to pass a same-sex domestic partnership law, in 2001. More broadly, it was the only province in which the NDP outpolled the CPC in this year's election. Those factoids don't make Nova Scotia, or the Maritimes in general, a progressive paradise. But they do, or should, blunt the popular image of the region as a collection of Petes and Joeys from Goin' Down the Road. Here's how Kim Vance put it:

"I think Nova Scotia is a province of tolerance," she said. "There are bastions of conservatism and people who would oppose this, but for the most part we're a pretty respectful group of people."

I think that's about right.

state electoral trends: AZ, NM, CO

2004-09-25T13:29:00.000-04:00

Here are three states that are more or less in play this year:

Arizona's steady Democratic trend since 1980 is clear; the slight tailing off in 2000 could be the Nader factor. New Mexico has been just a shade more Republican than the national average for the last two elections. Colorado's pattern actually resembles that of the other northern tier states, showing a pro-Dem bubble during the 80's.

state electoral trends: ID, UT, WY

2004-09-25T13:28:00.000-04:00

Well perhaps the one thing you can say about these three states is that they probably can't get any more Republican; there's nowhere to go but up.

Notice too that these states fit the pattern of the northern tier of states that trended Democratic during the Reagan/Bush I dynasty before they shot down to historic low levels of Dem support.

state electoral trends: HI, CA, NV

2004-09-20T20:31:00.000-04:00

Continuing with the state electoral trend analysis in the post below, here are three more states to consider: Hawaii, California and Nevada.

Hawaii and California have become more solidly Democratic over the last quarter century, while Nevada has gone from swing state to Republican bastion back to swing state again.

state electoral trends: AK, WA, OR

2004-09-19T01:52:00.000-04:00

Here's the first in a series of graphs showing the voting patterns of each US state since 1960. I've taken the Democratic/Republican margin of victory (excluding 3rd parties) and charted its deviance from the national margin. Each score represents how much more or less Democratic the state voted than the country as a whole that year. Thus a +5% for East Dakota in 1988 would mean that, had Bush I and Dukakis tied in the national popular vote, The Duke would have taken ED with 55% to Poppy's 45%.

This formula is far from perfect, but it does reveal some interesting patterns here and there that might otherwise be overlooked. Each installment will cover two or three geographically related states; I tried to group them by similar political cultures, but in some cases there are some oddballs thrown together. Today is the Pacific Northwest: Oregon, Washington and Alaska (click for enlarged view).

Alaska, clearly the most partisan of the three states, has been on a general Republicanizing trend since LBJ's landslide in 1964. Washington has been on a more modest track in the opposite direction, albeit with a Republican dip in the Carter years, and Oregon has done some unpredictable zig-zagging.

Notice, though, how all three started trending more Democratic after 1976, peaking with Dukakis. This pattern is repeated across the northern tier of the US from the Pacific to the Great Lakes. I'm not a historian or political scientist, so I can only guess at the causes of these fluctuations, but I'm guessing that the contruction of the Alaskan oil pipeline in the 70's had something to do with that state's sharp Republican turn. And the Democratic trend in the 80's may be related to the collapse of the family farm and the related trickle-down pillaging of the heartland. Farm Aid and that kind of thing. But these are guesses. Supply your own.

What do these pictures tell us about November 2nd? Nothing we don't already know, I suppose. Alaska is solid red, Washington leans blue, and Oregon is the swingin'-est place on the West Coast - though keep in mind the Nader factor.

Next up: Hawaii, California and Nevada.

dè tha “sinn” a’ ciallachadh, Kemo Sabe?

2004-09-19T01:04:00.000-04:00

Bhon Anchorage Daily News, seo pìos de agallamh comhla ri Natalie MacMaster:

Q. How do you distinguish Cape Breton fiddling? What does it mean to you?

A. Cape Breton is Scottish in origin. It's more traditional and rooted in Scottish tradition. The dance style is different (from Irish Celtic dancing). We do speak Gaelic, but Scottish Gaelic dialect is different from Irish Gaelic, and that influences music; music sounds a lot like the language. Gaelic has a lot of throatal, rough sounds -- not a pretty language -- and the music reflects that too. We say it has lots of dirt in it.

Nach neònach gu bheil cànan a tha cho garbh, grànnda aig tè ghrinn, bhòidheach mar Natalaidh.

the dream world of Dion McGregor

2004-09-16T13:23:00.001-04:00

Dion McGregor (1922-1994) was the world's greatest somniloquist. Whereas most sleeptalking consists of a few mumbled words or phrases, McGregor produced full-fledged narrations of his dreams. He not only talked in his sleep: he shouted, laughed, crooned, and screamed (actually the screaming was the wake-up stimulus). We know about him today because his roommate and songwriting partner, Mike Barr, spent several years taping these early-morning outbursts. In 1964 they parlayed these curiousities into a record and a book of transcriptions. More recently, two cds of McGregor's dreams have become available: 1999's Dion McGregor Dreams Again (Tzadik 7404) and the just-released Further Somniloquies of Dion McGregor (Torpor Vigil TVI-CD03). Here's a transcribed sample of a cut from the latter cd, entitled "Food Roulette":

Turn it around, turn it around. Spin that lazy susan and everybody take what they want off it. Hurry! Hurry! Grab it grab it grab it grab it grab it! We're playing food roulette! Food roulette! Yes, there's a poisoned eclair on there. We have a poisoned eclair on there and somebody's gonna get it. Now.... Spin it spin it spin it. We don't know which one is the poisoned eclair! There are a hundred and thirty on there.

. . . .

I'll go first - WHEE! - I've got my eclair. Ha oo hee ha. Okay. Everybo-- next person, get your eclair. Grab it quick before it stops. Before it stops spi-- Oh, don't take two! Greedy thing, what do you want to die? You want to die?

. . . .

No, you can't all play, you can't all pla -- look at that line. It stretches way down the road, way down the road. People are so adventurous. Oh, people are adventurous now, I mean to tell you. Hurry up! Get in and get your poisoned eclair! Poisoned eclair! Take your chances.

As producer Steve Venright says, "If you listen to just one cd this year by an eloquently deranged sleeptalker who's got a thing for mangoes, make sure you listen to The Further Somniloquies of Dion McGregor!"

sociopathic columnists

2004-09-16T13:06:00.000-04:00

Here's how the New York Times' main page summarizes today's op-ed pieces:

EDITORIALS/OP-ED
• Dowd: Pre-emptive Paranoia
• Wolfowitz: A Threat to Freedom
MORE HEADLINES

I've never really thought of Maureen Dowd as paranoid, pre-emptively or otherwise, but I guess sometimes you never really know about these things.

put a medal on the man

2004-09-06T01:59:00.000-04:00

Judging from the Swift Boat Liars for Bush and the speeches from the RNC, it seems the right wing only values military service when it is a) unquestioning, and b) life-threatening. Kerry clearly transgressed a) with his antiwar activities upon returning home, and the GOP is working overtime to undermine his claims to b).

Meanwhile, in Iraq, there are over a hundred thousand soldiers with good claims to b), which would explain why they are so beloved on the right. In these jingoistic times, "support the troops" means putting more of them in greater danger (and with them, of course, many more Iraqi civilians).

I find a little Phil Ochs always helps as an antidote to the warmongering high. This song's dedicated to Zell "I Wish We Lived In The Day Where You Could Challenge A Person To A Duel" Miller.

Is there anybody here who'd like to change his clothes into a uniform
Is there anybody here who thinks they're only serving in a raging storm
Is there anybody here with glory in their eyes
loyal to the end, whose duty is to die
I want to see him, I want to wish him luck
I wanna shake his hand, wanna call his name
Pin a medal on the man

Is there anybody here who'd like to wrap a flag around an early grave
Is there anybody here who thinks they're standing taller on a battle wave.
Is there anybody here like to do his part
soldier to the world and a hero to his heart
I want to see him, I want to wish him luck
I wanna shake his hand, wanna call his name
Pin a medal on the man.

Is there anybody here proud of the parade
who'd like to give a cheer and show they're not afraid
I'd like like to ask him what he's trying to defend
I'd like to ask him what he thinks he's gonna win

Is there anybody here who thinks that following orders takes away the blame
Is there anybody here who'd wouldn't mind a murder by another name
Is there anybody here whose pride is on the line
with the honor of the brave and the courage of the blind
I want to see him, I want to wish him luck
I wanna shake his hand, gonna call his name
Pin a medal on the man
Medal on the man

Berlin Bands 4

2004-08-11T00:59:00.000-04:00

Bands that recently played in Berlin (previous lists: 1 - 2 - 3)

Weirdo Stompers
Tuxedo Horny Horns With Band
My Unsaid Everything
Man In Search Of The Legal Weapon
Lost Leg Found
Los Leopardos del Silenciador
Iron Cow
Gorilla Monsoon
Fuzzy Casino
Funk Yourself
Frogs for Snakes
Dusty Gray & His Rough Ridin' Ramblers
Doctor Confusion
Comedian Pharmacists
Chief Master Sun featuring Ron Spielmann
Mr. Acker Bilk and His Paramount Jazzband

I get searches

2004-08-10T01:17:00.000-04:00

Here are some search strings folks have entered that brought them here; in almost every case they must have left quite disappointed.

stephen harper body language
gaelic word what does sneachd mean
what does agus mean
what does vaughan mean in german
how to cast a chi spell
Birth place of Condoleezza Rice
Brent Scowcroft's son in law
Brent Scowcroft accomplishments
minibus 9-12 seater, london
tim horton mission statement
him hortons drive thru stats
horse tim hortons animal cruelty
anilingual
joel plaskett "good looking"
checkout lane statistics
give me some pictures of a 17 years old guys who an't dating or married
swingers Shelburne county Nova Scotia
ways of torturing teddy bear

In case any of these searches are repeated, here's a tip or two:

sneachd means "snow"
agus means "and"
vaughan is not German but Welsh, from fychan (mutation of bychan), meaning "little"
I do not know Stephen Harper's body language, but it probably isn't French
Condoleezza Rice was born in Avonlea, Prince Edward Island
Tim Horton's mission is to bring Maple Cream donuts to the US (at least it should be)
Yes, Joel Plaskett is indeed good looking

I'm guessing that unattached 17 year-old guys were easier to find than Shelburne County swingers, but then I haven't spent much time in Shelburne County.

score one for Chomsky

2004-08-10T00:40:00.000-04:00

Koko, the 33 year-old gorilla who learned a rudimentary form of sign language, had a tooth removed recently. She was able to communicate this problem, and the level of pain she was feeling, to her guardians - a remarkable feat, to be sure. But some of the finer points of symbolic interaction yet elude Koko and her ilk:

Her teacher, Francine Patterson, was at her side when the anesthesiologist prepared to put her under in the morning, and apparently Koko asked to meet her specialists.

They crowded around her, and Koko, who plays favorites, asked one woman wearing red to come closer. The woman handed her a business card, which Koko promptly ate.

Otherwise, Koko was calm, Liang said.

You can lead a signing gorilla to a cocktail party, but you can't make her shmooze.

Champagne Unit Veterans for Truth

2004-08-06T01:47:00.000-04:00

Following on the success of the new ad by the desperately-named Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, here is another Bush-friendly 527 coming to a swing state near you.

Dick Cheney: If you have any question about what George W. Bush is made of, just spend 3 minutes with the men who served with him.

Al Freedom: I "served" with George W. Bush.

Bob Younger: I "served" with George W. Bush.

George Ellicott: George W. Bush has not been dishonest about what happened in Alabama.

Al Freedom: He is not lying about his record.

Louis Jetson: I know George W. Bush is not lying about his last physical because I gave him my urine sample.

Van O'Doull: George W. Bush did not lie to get a bronze star ... I know, I was there, I saw what happened.

Billy Chenoweth: His account of what happened and what actually happened are the difference between Bud Light and Miller Light.

Admiral Goffman: George W. Bush has been honest.

Adrian Balboa: And he does not lack the capacity to lead.

Larry Thurdlow: When the chips and salsa were down, you could count on George W. Bush.

Bob Younger: George W. Bush is a war hero.

Grant Hubbard: He did not betray all his fellow pilots ... he did not throw his service records and pay stubs over that fence.

Shelton Gray: George W. Bush did not betray the men and women he served with in Texas.

Joe Pounder: He did not dishonor his country ... he most certainly did not.

Bob Hildruth: I "served" with George W. Bush ...

Bob Hildruth (off-camera): George W. Bush cannot be distrusted.

Announcer: Champagne Unit Veterans for Truth is responsible for the content of this advertisement.

(It strikes me after reading this over that the White House years of 2001-2005 will bear a striking historical resemblance to that era of the Crusty the Clown Show that featured Bart Simpson's "I didn't do it" character.)

and neither do we

2004-08-06T01:05:00.000-04:00

Back from a Bush-length vacation from the hard work of blogging. Instead of clearing brush outside my apartment, I spent part of last month in Scotland, attending a Gaelic studies conference in Edinburgh and eating smoked salmon in South Uist. I flew back into Boston on the evening of Kerry's speech at the convention. I had expected a snarling mess at the airport and on the roads, but there was nothing of the sort. The traffic was light, and the office towers were unusually unlit. Not quite eerie, but slightly unsettling.

And speaking of nominees' acceptance speeches, I see the White House is already at work lowering expectations for Bush's performance later this month:

Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.

So apparently all Bush has to do in New York is not say the exact opposite of what he means to say, and the punditocracy will exclaim "home run!"

Tory vote breakdown

2004-07-01T15:09:00.000-04:00

Tory vote by province, 2000 and 2004

This graph compares the combined Progressive Conservative/Canadian Alliance vote in the 2000 election with this week's CPC vote by province. Allowing for shifts in the right-wing vote for all the standard reasons, this snapshot nevertheless gives a rough idea of the resistance to the merger. In the Maritimes and Quebec, assuming that the small Reform/Alliance base stayed put, it appears that a third to a half of the old Tory vote defected to the other parties. As a result, the New Tories got fewer votes than the old ones, even without including the Alliance vote in the mix.

In Ontario and Western Canada, where the Alliance vote was larger than the PC vote, there were similar dropoffs, though only in Saskatchewan and BC did the vote drop below 2000 CA levels.

How much fallout will there be in the Conservative Party? The focus now is on Stephen Harper, who may step down as party leader. But I think the most nervious New Tories right now are John Hamm, Bernard Lord, Pat Binns and Danny Williams - the premiers of the four Atlantic provinces. They have to be wondering whether they can win another election now that they are affiliated with the Cultural Defeatists. Much will depend on the direction the federal party takes from here; will they genuinely embrace a moderate, national platform or will they return to their Western protest base? Four provincial governments hang on that decision. Williams' endorsement of Martin, ostensibly given for the natural gas pipeline revenue arrangement, may be a sign of some hedged bets.

talking the talk

2004-06-29T23:14:00.000-04:00

From one of the faux-titled articles linked in the previous post:

"We were corrected by market forces, that of a new entity that people weren't quite ready to buy en masse yet," said Conservative strategist Tim Powers.

With such an inspiring vision of the civic institutional process, how did the Conservatives ever lose?

news you can use

2004-06-29T22:18:00.000-04:00

From AFP:

A new star was born in Canadian politics. Blonde heiress Belinda Stronach, dubbed one of the world's most powerful business women, was elected to parliament for the Canadian Conservative Party by a waver-thin margin.

At no point in the 300-word article do we learn any of her political views. But we do learn that she has "model good looks" and was linked to Bill Clinton in the gossip pages. And her father was a "self-made man". And as a girl, she received "local schooling". Oh, and she's a blonde - and an heiress!

And the AFP thinks we're all heirheads.

Here are some other headlines:

US congratulates thinning, grey Paul Martin on win in Canada

Boyishly quaffed Harper doesn't answer clearly when asked if he'll stay on as Tory leader

Balding, mustachioed Layton tries to put best face on disappointing election result

minority government

2004-06-28T23:56:00.000-04:00

So it's a minority government for the Liberals, and as of this moment, they and the NDP are just under a majority and will probably get there by morning.

Interesting results in Atlantic Canada, where all the seats have been decided (change from 2000 in parentheses):

Newfoundland & Labrador
Seats:
Lib 5 (4)
Con 2 (3)
NDP 0 (0)

Percent of vote:
Lib 48 (45)
Con 32 (38)
NDP 17 (18)

Prince Edward Island
Seats:
Lib 4 (4)
Con 0 (0)
NDP 0 (0)

Percent of vote:
Lib 52 (47)
Con 31 (43)
NDP 13 (9)

Nova Scotia
Seats:
Lib 6 (5)
Con 3 (3)
NDP 2 (3)

Percent of vote:
Lib 40 (36)
Con 28 (39)
NDP 28 (24)

New Brunswick
Seats:
Lib 7 (6)
Con 2 (3)
NDP 1 (1)

Percent of vote:
Lib 45 (42)
Con 31 (46)
NDP 21 (12)

Atlantic Region (Totals)
Seats:
Lib 22 (19)
Con 7 (9)
NDP 3 (4)

Percent of vote:
Lib 44 (41)
Con 30 (42)
NDP 23 (17)

So the Tories lose 2 seats to the Liberals and drop 12%; the NDP lose 1 seat to the Liberals but jump 6%. In New Brunswick they nearly double their vote, and at this time it looks like Nova Scotia is going to give the NDP its highest provincial share at 28%

On a final note: Scott Brison, MP for Kings-Hants (Nova Scotia), who switched from the Tories to the Liberals in opposition to the merger, was re-elected. Harper campaigned for his opponent and vowed Brison would fall. Brison's reaction tonight:

"There's no culture of defeat in this room," said Brison at his victory celebration, referring to a comment Conservative Leader Stephen Harper made about Altantic Canada in May 2002.

Hah!

tha mi ann fhathast

2004-06-28T12:15:00.000-04:00

Bha mi a’ smaoineachadh gum biodh barrachd ùine agam as t-samhradh airson a’ bhlòg, ach tha e coltach gu robh mi cearr. Ach tha mi ann fhathast – coimhead an sealladh ùr! – agus cuiridh mi postaichean an seo nas trice a nis. Tha mòran a’ tachairt, agus air tachairt – taghadh Eòrpach, taghadh Canadach, agus taghadh beag a’ seo a tha ‘tighinn.

Chunnaic mi Fahrenheit 911 agus ‘se film cumhachdach, cudthromach a th’ann. Nan robh sibh air leughadh na blògaichean air an taobh chlì gu dìleas, cha bhi mòran ùr ann. Ach mur a bheil fiosrachadh ùr ann, tha iomadh seallaidhean nach fhaic sinn air CNN, bho’n cogadh ann an Iraq gu Seòras Preas air laithean-saora. Aig a’ mhulti-plex far a bheil e a’ cluich an seo, bha h-uile ruith air a reiceadh air fad gach latha, agus bha an loidhne a’ dol amach dhan food court.

Sin agaibh an naidheachd bho Massachusetts an Iar co-dhiubh.

Gaelic report from Nova Scotia

2004-06-02T23:49:00.000-04:00

The Gaelic Development Steering Committee, in partnership with the Nova Scotia Department of Tourism and Culture, has published an ambitious 20-year plan entitled Leasachadh agus Glèidheadh na Gàidhlig An Albainn Nuaidh: Plana Airson Iomairt Choimhearsnachd (Developing and Preserving Gaelic in Nova Scotia: Strategy for a community-based initiative). Among the stated goals are increasing the number of Gaelic speakers and achieving "secure status" for Gaelic at the provincial level (something the Scottish Parliament hasn't yet gotten to).

The report is an excellent follow-up to the previously published Gaelic Nova Scotia: an Economic, Cultural, and Social Impact Study, downloadable here (disclaimer: I did some work for this report). The Gaelic community in Nova Scotia has done more than its part in putting together the history, stock-taking, vision, and practical plan for a last-ditch effort to save the language. Now it's up to the province to cur an airgead far a bheil a' bheul (put its money where its mouth is).

The Gaelic and English versions of the new report are available for download as pdf files over here. There's a Halifax Chronicle-Herald piece on the report here.

marriage across Massachusetts

2004-05-18T21:06:00.000-04:00

Cambridge, Boston, Provincetown, Northampton, and a few other places got top billing, and rightfully so. But there are 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts, and unhyped celebrations were happening everywhere. A good place to revel in this diversity is to go to the Mass newspaper link page at Common Dreams.

Here's a sampling:

From my hometown, Haverhill, and neighboring towns in the Merrimack Valley:

Marcia O'Brien and Terri Desaulniers were the first of three couples through the door at Haverhill City Hall. They said 26 years was a long enough wait to be married.

"We can't tell you how happy we are," said DeSaulniers, who met O'Brien 26 years ago at a softball game in Brockton. "It brings tears to our eyes. This is the happiest day of our lives."

In Methuen, four couples waited for their chance, including Mary E. Washburn, 46, and Alice A. Galloway, 47, who first met at summer camp at age 10.

The Worcester Telegram has some good stories and a slide show.

Here's a great bit from the Fitchburg Sentinel:

The Rev. Edward Greene of Maine, a gay Episcopalian priest, said outside Fitchburg City Hall he's not ready to rush into marriage with his partner, George Van Hazinga of Leominster.

Greene got into a brief argument with a man across Main Street who yelled slurs at about a dozen gay marriage supporters and told the supporters to read the Bible.

"I'm a priest, so put that in your Bible and smoke it," Greene hollered back at the man, who later declined to identify himself. "God bless you."

Here's a nice story from my favorite part of the state, the North Shore.

And how about this twist from the Greenfield Recorder:

No gay couples applied for a marriage license in Leyden Monday, but the town clerk wanted one and had to go to Greenfield to get his because he couldn't issue one to himself.

I'll end with this photo and caption from the Salem News:

[photo temporarily disabled]
Robert Murch, left, embraces his father, Michael Sapol, while his mother, Carol, hugs his partner, Gary Halteman, before their wedding ceremony outside Salem City Hall yesterday morning. (Kira Horvath/Staff photo)

Update: some of the links don't work anymore as the days have shifted. I changed them where possible but in some cases you'll have to navigate to Tuesday's editions.

Northampton report

2004-05-17T23:30:00.000-04:00

I wasn't able to be in Northampton for the 8:30 opening of the municipal offices; I had to proctor a final exam at UMass. But as I waited for the 7:15 bus at the downtown stop, I saw a woman with a young child videotaping the as yet empty street. She quizzed a bystander about the day's significance: "Do you know what's special about today?" "Yeah. Everybody can get married today!" "Yay!"

When I got back into town at around 10:30, the first thing I saw as I approached City Hall were some balloons in front. Then I saw two ambulances. Before I could engage in any tragic speculation, I noticed that the balloons were tied to the ambulances. Whew. Ok, I figured, it's a gay-friendly ambulance company and they're there to show support. I get there and they have a big stuffed teddy bear strapped to a gurney, and someone in a giant bear suit playing with kids. It took me a second to figure out that this was entirely unconnected to the marriage celebrations.

Then I head toward the office building in back of City Hall. Before I get there some guy hands me a small leaflet advertizing a revival meeting. There's a picture of Jesus and a US soldier and a US flag in the background. I didn't look at it long enough to decipher the message but there were no references to the day's events. Between this and the bears I'm thinking, this is weird, even for Northampton.

Finally I turn the corner and see the line extending halfway to Main Street. There are a bunch more people milling around, some with signs, balloons, or flower necklaces. People taking pictures and video. Lots of kids running around. Every ten minutes or so, a couple emerges with their shiny new certificates, and they're greeted with big cheers and a bit of rice. The overall atmosphere is festive, but not the festive abandon they had in Cambridge the night before. It's more of a July 4th festive, a relaxed good vibe punctuated by the fireworks of the emerging couples. But at the same time you can almost see the realization of the enormity of the occasion sinking in. Some people have been there all morning and have to return to their daily lives but can't pull themselves away.

I meet a friend who was planning to marry her partner today, but they are in the process of adopting, and some states won't release babies to same-sex couples. Single parents are okay. And they say irony died on 9/11. Once the kid gets to Massachusetts there's no problem, but until then they have to wait. It's a downer and a sign of the difficulties ahead, but she's in a great mood nonetheless; she's confidently sporting a balloon that says "We're Getting Married".

It's a picture perfect day and even the orneriest New Englander couldn't find a flaw. Mid-seventies, low humidity, no clouds. I think of Pat Robertson's prophecy of tornadoes and locusts for Orlando a few years back.

My two favorite signs:

Finally! Now all I need is a date.

And they lived equally ever after

On the local evening news, they attempt a "balanced" report by interviewing a single protester (who apparently couldn't be bothered to do much protesting, since he was gone by the time I got there) who mentioned something about an agenda. But in all the tv coverage I saw, from the local folks to the BBC, there was no way they could balance out the positive images beaming out from city halls across the commonwealth. It was like trying to objectively cover a sporting championship; our local reporter was surrounded by cheering supporters and couldn't supress a faint smile herself.

There is plenty more struggle ahead, but today such thoughts were clearly reserved for May 18th and beyond.

mazel tov!

2004-05-17T01:24:00.000-04:00

My wife and I were married nine years ago in Cambridge City Hall, a place that will now be remembered as a historic first in the cause of equal rights.

Congratulations to all the happy couples in Massachusetts. Gu ma fada beò sibh, is ceò às ur taigh - May you live long, and smoke from your chimney.

Hagerty recap

2004-05-13T23:02:00.000-04:00

Several new developments on the Barbara Bradley Hagerty front since my initial post on the subject. Details below, but here are the main headlines:

1. Hagerty, responding through the NPR ombudsman, denies knowing any of the three right-wingers she quoted in the piece.

2. Biblio at Better Angels uncovers evidence refuting this claim.

After Atrios' posts exposing right-wing connections of the "random" parishioners, a flood of people complained to NPR. The ombudsman, Jeffrey Dvorkin, addressed the complaints in his last column. Actually, he doesn't make any pronouncements himself, but rather gives Hagerty's response. Here it is in full:

You pointed out something that many people have called me on in that story: namely, that I did not identify the weekday Mass-goers as more conservative than, for example, Sunday Mass-goers. I was remiss on that point, and it's a mistake I'll not make again. The reason I interviewed people on a weekday is that I was assigned the story on Monday night and it was due on Thursday afternoon, so I had no other option... I stood outside the church last Wednesday morning, and asked everyone who would stop to talk with me. I did not know who they were; I had never seen any of these people before. They identified themselves as "policy analyst," "professor," "union official," etc. Mr. Flynn, who seems to be the most controversial, stopped so briefly that I could not even get his profession, so I had no idea what he did.

This is a classic non-denial denial, since it doesn't directly address any of the most serious problems with her report. The one error she admits to is not pointing out that "weekday Mass-goers as more conservative than, for example, Sunday Mass-goers." Well, perhaps she didn't do that because she never identified the Mass as a weekday Mass in the first place. Check the transcript:

HAGERTY: Surveys from Georgetown University show that the number one issue for Catholics in 2000 was the economy. Taxing, spending and government programs came in second. Moral issues were a distant third.

(Soundbite from a Mass)

HAGERTY: But tell that to the worshipers at the 8:00 Mass at St. Matthew's Cathedral in Washington. All but one interviewed there on a recent morning said they won't vote for Kerry. They said they knew he personally thought abortion was wrong but that his stand on abortion rights had a larger meaning. Here's Philip Monos(ph), Carrie Gress(ph) and Ted Flynn.

The sequence of these two paragraphs makes it clear that the weekday parishioners at St. Matthew's were used to refute the Georgetown surveys. I mean, what impact would this bit have had if it had read like this:

Surveys from Georgetown University show that the number one issue for Catholics in 2000 was the economy. Taxing, spending and government programs came in second. Moral issues were a distant third. But tell that to the disproportionately devout, conservative weekday worshipers at St. Matthew's Cathedral in an affluent Washington neighborhood convenient to several think tanks and politically connected institutions.

Doesn't pack quite the same punch, does it? So it's not just that Hagerty left out a critical piece of information; the story was constructed in a way that made the piece impossible to put in.

And as the Ginsu folks would say, But Wait, There's More. Is it really true that Hagerty "had never seen any of these people before"? In my original post, I noted that Hagerty had attended a conference last December called "Toward an Understanding of Religion and American Public Life" organized by Carrie Gress' employer, the Ethics and Public Policy Center. I've since discovered that she has attended this annual event at least three times, in addition to three other EPPC events, dating back to 2000 (sources here, here, here, here and here). So Hagerty knows the EPPC well, but that of course doesn't prove she knows Gress, the program director of the EPPC's Catholic Studies Program. Well, look at what Biblio found: the list of participants at the December conference. Of the 39 participants, 37 were neither Hagerty nor Gress. 39 people, 3 days, a Key West hotel, yet Hagerty says, "I had never seen any of these people before."

Next, consider the last part of Hagerty's defense: They identified themselves as "policy analyst," "professor," "union official," etc. Mr. Flynn, who seems to be the most controversial, stopped so briefly that I could not even get his profession, so I had no idea what he did.

Notice she doesn't address the fact that in her report, the only person she identified by occupation was the pro-Kerry "union official". Why didn't she use the other titles? Certainly "policy analyst" should have rung a warning bell or two: what kind of policy?

Flynn may be the most controversial in terms of his own politics - of the three wingnuts, he's the nuttiest - but in terms of the plausibility of Hagerty not knowing them or even who they are, he's the least controversial, as he's the least connected to Hagerty's reporting beat. Gress is clearly the most connected, but Muñoz, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who has written on religion and politics for the National Review, should perhaps also have been a known quantity.

On a smaller point, the claim that her chat with Flynn was brief conflicts with Flynn's own account, wherein he claims that he gave Hagerty some 9 or 10 useable sound bites. Of course, if he is as crazy as he sounds, he may have ranted for a few seconds and run off. It's possible.

Atrios reader Flyroper received an email reply from Hagerty that he graciously forwarded to me. Part of it matches what was printed by Dvorkin, but there was more, including this bit:

Atrios (I don't know his real name) looked these people up on the internet and found he didn't like their credentials. (And I must say that he misrepresented one person who works at the Ethics and Public Policy Center as "right wing" -- the Center is highly respected and follows policy issues from a Catholic, Protestant and Jewish standpoint. I don't know anything about the others he criticized). My point is, I do not select people for their political or religious affiliations; I beg anyone who has time to talk with me!

Okay, let's parse this piece by piece.

[Atrios] found he didn't like their credentials

More to the point, he found they had right-wing credentials. Author of a New World Order conspiracy book? American Enterprise Institute fellow/National Review author? Not exactly "man on the street" stuff.

And I must say that he misrepresented one person who works at the Ethics and Public Policy Center as "right wing" -- the Center is highly respected and follows policy issues from a Catholic, Protestant and Jewish standpoint

It's not clear if she means he misrepresented Gress in particular or the EPPC in general, but either way it's hard to come to any other conclusion. Gress' own comments to Hagerty reveal her ideological biases, and there's also this article in which Gress says "it was through Christianity that women’s equality to men was acknowledged" while dismissing women's stuggles for equality in the Church hierarchy. And others have already highlighted the EPPC's right-wing underwriters and current and former administrators (including that paragon of ethics himself, Elliott Abrams). But the strangest part of this bit of the email is Hagerty's apparent equation of "a Catholic, Protestant and Jewish standpoint" with "not right wing". It's not like right-wing Catholics, Protestants, and Jews are in short supply in the media pundit/think tank circuit.

My point is, I do not select people for their political or religious affiliations; I beg anyone who has time to talk with me!

Well this is of course patently false; she did select these folks for their religious affiliations. I assume she meant only to say "political affiliations". But even if it's true that she doesn't select these people, she can't honestly claim to be ignorant of the likelihood that people with particular political affiliations are going to select her when she's standing in front of a Catholic church after a weekday Mass begging for commentary on John Kerry. And so, even giving Hagerty the benefit of every doubt (including allowing for the possiblity that Carrie Gress skipped the conference and spent the three days hanging out on the beach), it was less than ethical to solicit political opinions from a sample population she knew to be skewed rightward, present them to the public as average Catholic sentiment, and then claim ignorance when found out.

more Berlin bands

2004-05-13T01:01:00.000-04:00

Here is the third installment (here are the first and second). Two sideburns bands - what are the odds? Go to the Wicked Sideburns site and you'll see the original photo of the US soldier with the Iraqi kid holding the cardboard sign. Mystery solved!

The 4 Mens Blow
5 Bugs
Braying Boredom
Chicken Hunters
Columbian Neckties
The Flaming Sideburns
Ghost of the Robot
Grubby Things
Huddle Boys
Kutzkelina & the Devils Harmonica
Rockass
Ruperts Kittchen-Funkorchester
Sin City Circus Ladies
Sour Coincidence
Wicked Sideburns

paipearan-naidheachd na h-Alba: olc-dèanaran!

2004-05-04T01:53:00.000-04:00

Bha mi ag èisdeachd (gu mi-dheònach!) ri Bill O'Reilly fad greiseag an-diugh. 'Se aonar de na h-amadain faramach aig Fox News a th'ann: "right-wing blowhards" mar a their iad. Co-dhiubh, bha e a' gearan an-diugh gu robh paipearan-naidheachd an t-saoghail – gu h-àraid ann an Roinn Eòrpa – a' dèanamh cus sgrùdadh air cràdh nam prìosanach Abu Ghraib, agus a' cur cus coire aig na saighdearan Ameireaganaich. Gu sònraichte, bha e 'gearan mu dheidhinn a' phìos seo le Nìall MacAoidh anns an Sunday Herald, a tha ag ràdh:

Grim images of American and British soldiers torturing Iraqi prisoners have not only caused disgust and revulsion in the West, but could have forever lost Bush and Blair the moral high ground that they claimed to justify the invasion of Iraq.

Bha O’Reilly de’n bheachd gu bheil sin fìor-amaideach, agus bha e 'wonderadh carson nach robh an "Scotland Herald" idir a' sgrìobhadh mu dheidhinn oillteachas Ioslamach. Nise, tha mi cinnteach gu bheil Mghr. O’ Reilly uabhasach trang, a' sàbhaladh na dùthcha bho nàmhaidean an taobh chlì, ach tha e coltach nach robh e cùramach gu leor 'ga leughadh. Bha 10 pìosan ann am mìos 'sa chaidh far an do nochd na faclan "suicide bombers" (mar eisempleir: 68 die as suicide bombers strike in Basra; 'I saw a minibus full of children on fire, my neighbour torn apart'; Cardinal: Muslims not doing enough to condemn terror), agus bho 1998 bha mu 500 pìosan.

Ach ciamar an tèid aig duine cudthromach ùine gu leor ri leughadh 500 artaigilean, bho’n Herald a-mhàin? Neo 's docha nach d’fhuair e iad oir bha e 'sireadh an "Scotland Herald". Ach ’se duine tapaidh a th’ann; bhiodh cuideiginn eile bho Fox a' cantail "Ireland Herald".

NPR works in strange and wondrous ways

2004-05-02T21:42:00.000-04:00

Atrios has a running analysis (Exhibit A, B, and C) of a story on John Kerry and Catholic voters that ran on National Public Radio's Morning Edition last week. The piece was done by religion correspondent Barbara Bradley Hagerty, who believes that "Journalism informed by a Christian worldview will glorify Christ and make an eternal impact."

There are several problems with the report. First, it is part of a wider pattern of reporting on the issue of Catholic politicians who hold views contrary to church doctrine, but which focus only on abortion (and not, for example, the death penalty or the war in Iraq) and which simultaneously ignore Republican pro-choice Catholics (Rudolph Giuliani, Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Pataki, and Tom Ridge, to name a few).

Second, Hagerty left the impression that her interviews were conducted in an average church after an average Mass. But as Atrios and his readers have determined, the church (St. Matthew's) is convenient to all the high-powered think tank-type places in DC, and, more importantly, the Mass in question was not a Sunday Mass, thus attracting the extra-devout (and thus representative of only a small percentage of US Catholics).

Third, of the four "average parishioners" she quoted, the only one who was pro-Kerry was the only one whose occupation she identified: Charles Loveless, an official with the AFSCME union. The obvious implication is that a "true" Catholic could only have an ulterior motive for supporting Kerry.

But now it seems that the other three people interviewed have their own ulterior motives for saying nasty things about Kerry. Atrios reader e matched the names of two of the three: Ted Flynn, author of a Pat Robertson-esque New World Order conspiracy book, and Carrie Gress, program director of Richard Mellon Scafie's (of Clinton witchunt fame) Ethics and Public Policy Center. Later, reader patience matched the phonetically-rendered "Philip Monos" with Vincent Phillip Muñoz of the American Enterprise Institute. Still later, reader Bolo emailed the above three, and all of them have confirmed that they were the ones interviewed.

Finally, doing my own bit of googling, I found that Hagerty has at least a superficial connection to Gress and the EPPC, participating in their annual seminar in Key West (also mentioned here). She also interviewed another EPPC official, Michael Cromartie, for another piece for NPR. This hardly proves that Hagerty and Gress are in cahoots, but it does seem unlikely that they were unacquainted.

In any case, not identifying the right-wing partisan affiliations of the three "random parishioners" is either bad or duplicitous journalism.

leaves, damn leaves, and statistics

2004-05-02T01:12:00.000-04:00

According to an Ipsos-Reid survey for the Tea Association of Canada, caffeinated tea is the most popular form of tea in Canada. Some other fascinating results:

Tea drinkers in B.C. (36%), Ontario (30%) and Atlantic Canada (41%) are more likely mention that they enjoy drinking tea than are tea drinkers in Quebec (21%).

...

Non-tea drinkers’ main reasons for not drinking tea are generally not liking tea (34%) and disliking the taste (25%). Preferring coffee (12%) is also an important factor for non-tea drinkers. There are some who have never tried tea (3%) and others who have no reason for not drinking it (5%).

And yet, the biggest questions went unasked. Round bags or square? Nope. Milk first or tea first? Nuh-uh. Cooking the tea while it steeps? Forget it.

A spokesperson for the North American Horlicks Foundation dismissed the poll, saying, "The real poll takes place at the checkout lane."

the O’Canada Factor

2004-05-01T22:55:00.000-04:00

Explaining the genesis of The Producers, Mel Brooks said: "If you stand on a soapbox and trade rhetoric with a dictator you never win. That's what they do so well; they seduce people. But if you ridicule them, bring them down with laughter–they can't win. You show how crazy they are."

John Doyle and Heather Mallick, two columnists for the Globe and Mail, have taken that approach with Fox News and Bill O'Reilly. prettypolitical has all the goods; here is a tantalizing excerpt from the Doyle column that started it all:

Me, I've seen the Fox News Channel on visits to the United States. It is a splendid thing entirely. You have no idea how funny it is. The Fox News Channel is a kind of live theatre of the airwaves, with right-wing pundits playing journalists in an ongoing soap opera. In this soap opera there are good guys and bad guys. The bad guys are the Democratic Party and a dark force that is sometimes known as The Liberal Media Elite and sometimes known as The Loony Left.

...

I'm telling you, we would adore it up here. Rick Mercer would never need to do another Talking to Americans routine. Watching Fox News would be a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week version of Talking to Americans.

In response, O'Reilly and his henchmen are doing their best to whoop up some Canadophobia, even going so far as to threaten a boycott (which worked so well against France). All Bill has to do now is gain a few pounds and grow a beard, and he'll be just like John Candy's character in Canadian Bacon.

"There it is, men. Toronto."

missing accomplishments

2004-04-30T19:41:00.000-04:00

George W Bush, May 2003:

My fellow Americans, major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.

George W Bush, October 2003:

The 'Mission Accomplished' sign, of course, was put up by the members of the USS Abraham Lincoln saying that their mission was accomplished. I know it was attributed somehow to some ingenious advance man on my staff. They weren't that ingenious, by the way.

George W Bush, April 2004:

A year ago I did give the speech from the carrier saying we had achieved an important objective, accomplished a mission, which was the removal of Saddam Hussein.

I came away good about the session

2004-04-29T23:33:00.000-04:00

Can someone explain what the hell W meant by this?

Q Mr. President, as you know, a lot of critics suggested that you wanted to appear jointly with the Vice President so that you two could keep your stories straight, or something --

THE PRESIDENT: Yes --

Q -- can you tell us what you think of the value of appearing together and how you would answer those critics?

THE PRESIDENT: Yes -- first of all, look, if we had something to hide we wouldn't have met with them in the first place. We answered all their questions. And as I say, I think I -- I came away good about the session, because I wanted them to know how I set strategy, how we run the White House, how we deal with threats. The Vice President answered a lot of their questions -- answered all their questions. And I think it was important for them to see our body language, as well, how we work together.

Body language - the ultimate weapon in the war on terror.

In the same remarks, he also said this:

Really -- probably best that I not go into the details of the conversation; let them incorporate into their report. There was a lot of interest in -- about how to better protect America. In other words, they're very interested in the recommendations that they're going to lay out. And I'm interested in those, as well.

to which my wife responded, "And I thought they were interested in what kind of underwear he wears."

the old grey mare returns

2004-04-27T23:16:00.000-04:00

From The Globe and Mail, via the excellent (and similarly green-tinted) blog pogge, comes news that former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney emerged from his tropical island hideaway (or wherever he's been lurking) to take a swipe at the Liberals. His aim was a little off.

The context: Mulroney was criticizing the government's decision to allow the wife and son of Ahmed Khadr to return to Canada. Khadr, who was killed in the Pakistani-Afghan border region in October, was an associate of Osama bin Laden. The Khadrs are Canadian citizens.

What Mulroney said:

He criticized "the limp and pathetic manner the Liberal government handled the case of the Khadr family, intimates of Osama Bin Laden ... some of whose members have taken up arms in support of terrorism, and yet are welcomed back to Canada with open arms.

"Imagine the signal that these images send to the White House and the civilized world," he told an audience of about 600 people.

When asked to comment, Bush replied, "I've been called better things by worse people."

It seems the old grey mare, in the words of Spirit of the West, is still a few chairs short of perfection. But the Reformatories seem happy to have him aboard; well hey, who wouldn't jump at the chance to embrace the guy who traded in his governing party juggernaut for a rickety two-seater? Stephen Harper, for one. After all, where would Harper be today if Mulroney had stayed on and managed even a moderately poor showing in 1993?

The last word goes to pogge, who nails the former PM in a way all hypocrites deserve to be nailed:

If being wildly unpopular with the Canadian public, merely being suspected of criminal wrong-doing and being regarded by at least a significant portion of the population as being a traitor to this country were sufficient grounds to have one's citizenship stripped, then Brian Mulroney might well be a man without a country today.

a simple question

2004-04-27T14:16:00.000-04:00

For the last couple of days the news has been full of stories on Kerry's actions during and after his service in Vietnam. It's at times like these that the US media is clearly shown for what it is: a pair of underwear at the GOP Laundromat, on extended spin cycle. As for the Bush surrogates doing his dirty work, here's a short, simple question someone should ask them:

Was George W. Bush's service in the National Guard more honorable than John Kerry's service in Vietnam?

Zbigniew tells it like it is

2004-04-15T23:15:00.000-04:00

Political discourse and the timidity of the US media being what they are, it's comes as quite a jolt to hear some ungarnished common sense talk on Iraq. Here's Zbigniew Brzezinski on the News Hour, talking with Jim Lehrer:

JIM LEHRER: To follow up on something you said Zbigniew Brzezinski and move this on to Iraq. The president said last night that our action against Iraq was an action against terror, it's part of the war on terror. Do you agree with him?

ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI: No. No, I don't. It seems to me that we have increased the probability of terrorist attacks in the United States by taking a war into Iraq, a war which is unrelated to what happened on 9/11 and without any serious evidence -- any serious evidence at all of any connection between terrorism directed at us and Saddam's regime which is obviously a malignant regime. It's gone -- but that's not that it is not sufficient for invading a foreign country. I think the excuses we are using are obviously motivated by an effort to justify what has transpired, especially since what has transpired is becoming more and more difficult for us.

But in the meantime, the number of enemies against the United States has maximized and I'm afraid in the Middle East, the United States is increasing of the focal point of generalized hatred. We are being seen as an extension of what the Arabs have been experiencing over the past 40 years. Our occupation is being viewed now a mirror image of the West Bank. The two have conflated in the eyes of the people in the region and what is worse, most of the world views it that way. I think that collectively increases the threat of the United States.

And later he swats down Brent Scowcroft's feeble attempt to praise his former boss's son:

BRENT SCOWCROFT: I think what the president did last night was something I think was vital to do, and that is he presented the picture of a president confident in his policy and determined to make Iraq work. And I think that is vital because I think one of the things people will start saying, it's Vietnam. It's Vietnam. We're going to pull out. We're going to pull out. Well, if we get that impression abroad, especially in Iraq, then we'll never be able to succeed. So I think the president, by showing that kind of determination, has put us on a major step forward.

JIM LEHRER: Do you see it the same way?

ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI: Not quite. I don't think determination is enough. It is good enough to be determined but if you are determined to pursue on a wrongheaded course, it is not going to get you anywhere.

JIM LEHRER: What is the alternative?

ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI: The issue is can we do it well on our own? I doubt it very much. I think to handle Iraq effectively so that these good outcomes that Brent was talking about actually transpire, we have to engage others. We have to engage the U.N. much more actively. And we've delayed this for far too long. We have to make some effort to get our allies engaged. We have in a sense said you can be engaged by sending money and men but we'll do what we want, which is not the way you engage allies. Eventually you have to get the moderate Muslim countries engaged. We were hoping for Pakistani troops and Moroccan troops. We didn't get them.

And last but not least we have to recognize there is no disengagement in Iraq with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict going on because if it is still going on when we disengage, the next Iraqi government will anti-American and anti-Israeli. So determination is not enough. It is a question of the right strategy. And I'm afraid our strategy right now in Iraq is essentially very one sided and rather extremist.

JIM LEHRER: One sided and extremist.

Smile when you say that, Jim.

everything changed, sort of

2004-04-08T00:48:00.000-04:00

And I may seem cheap to you
But I like to eat my cake
And have it too
- Chris Smither

From the Washington Post:

National security adviser Condoleezza Rice plans to testify tomorrow that the Bush administration was acting in a pre-Sept. 11 mindset in its efforts to combat al Qaeda and other terrorist groups and must be judged in that context, administration officials said yesterday.

At the same time, Rice plans to argue that President Bush focused aggressively on terrorism before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The CIA had warned for several months that a massive al Qaeda strike was possible.

car 1600, where are you?

2004-04-03T10:40:00.000-05:00

It would take a full-time job, working overtime, to keep straight all the Administration’s lines of argument they’re using to defend themselves against charges of dropping the Al-Qaeda ball. The charge and countercharge to date has gone something like this:

Q: How could 9/11 have happened?
A: We could never have imagined terrorists flying planes into buildings.
Q: Well, there were intelligence reports warning of exactly that, no?
A: Yes but they were useless because they didn’t give the date or time of the attack.
Q: But they still mentioned using planes as missiles.
A: No, I meant that I could never have imagined terrorists flying planes into buildings.
Q: Why didn’t you implement the plan left to you by the Clinton Administration?
A(1): We were developing a better plan.
A(2): We did! We were totally serious about terrorism.
Q: What about Richard Clarke’s claims?
A: Richard who? He wasn’t in the loop. He wasn’t at those meetings.
Q: Your chief counterterrorism official wasn’t in the loop?
A: Of course he was. We were all making an effective and coordinated response to the terrorists.
Q: He says Bush told him on 9/12 in the Situation Room to look into Iraq as the culprit.
A: Ridiculous! Bush wasn’t in the Situation Room that day, so Clarke is obviously lying.
Q: President Bush wasn’t in the Situation Room on 9/12? Shouldn’t he have been?
A: He was in the Situation Room. But Clarke is still a liar.
Q: So his claims that you ignored the threat prior to 9/11 is also false?
A: Certainly. Who could ever have imagined that terrorists would fly planes into buildings?

Compare with this excerpt from an episode of that late, great sitcom Car 54, Where Are You? Gunther Toody, that loveable dope, has many of the same qualities as this administration. Toody was the guy who convinced Officer Schnauzer (and the entire squad in the process) that it was Friday when it was really Thursday. He convinces them to invest their relief fund in the stock market, with zany consequences. In this exchange, Toody is clumsily trying to deceive Muldoon in decidedly Bushista fashion:

Muldoon: What are you going to be doing in New Jersey?
Toody: Well I promised Lucille that I'm going to take her to see her sister.
Muldoon: I thought her sister lived in Westchester.
Toody: She does, but I'm going to take her to see her sister in New Jersey.
Muldoon: But I thought Lucille only had one sister.
Toody: She has.
Muldoon: Than how can she have one in New Jersey and another one in Westchester?
Toody: Can't you figure it out?

Berlin bands 2.0

2004-04-03T10:36:00.000-05:00

Here's a list of the latest Berlin bands.

Yelena & Schmidt Happens!
Utopiate
The Strong Contenders
Self Conquest
Alexander Robotnick
Oomph!
My Flexible Friends
Maggots
Kenny Martin's Pocket Zone
Kenny Report
Jumpin Juice (Akkordeon-Punk)
JanNotJackson
Interjazzional
The Groove Tubes
Funk Delicious
Fred and the Flying Ladies

the future of gay marriage in Massachusetts

2004-04-03T02:44:00.000-05:00

This week the Massachusetts legislature passed a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would 1) ban gay marriage; and 2) establish civil unions with all state-granted benefits. It must pass again next year in order to be put to the voters in 2006. In the meantime, gay marriage will be legal as of May 17.

Governor Romney is acting like the black knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, gamely boasting that he'll stop May 17 from happening, some way, somehow, even as Attorney General Tom Reilly and the Supreme Judicial Court lop off his arms and legs. He even claims to be interested in a bill that would abolish civil marriage for everyone, replacing it with universal civil unions and leaving the marriage business to the religions. Don't bet on that happening.

After putting Romney in his place, Reilly ruled that out of state gay couples cannot marry in Massachusetts, thanks to a 1913 law that prohibits marriage to people who cannot legally marry in their home state. That law was a sup to the anti-miscegenation laws in other states, an early 20th century equivalent of the Fugitive Slave Law. How fitting that a racist relic of our legal system has come in handy for the Straight Citizens Council types.

There is plenty to be angry about; the vote on Monday put my state one step closer to enshrining discrimination, intolerance and phobia into its founding document, the central proclamation of its ideals. A small but significant proportion of those opposing the amendment did so because they oppose giving any rights (i.e. civil unions) to gay families. The governor and the House and Senate leadership are against us.

But there is also good reason for pride and optimism. Opposition to the amendment (the good kind) grew significantly from the beginning of the debate in February. Fewer than 10 votes need to change to kill it next year. And by then, the reality on the ground will have already undergone seismic shift. Rather than gay marriage as a scary, icky prospect looming on the horizon, it will be a mundane, daily occurrence.

This year, the status quo was heteros only, and taking constitutional action was the only way to keep it that way.

Next year, the status quo will be lots of happy newlyweds, and taking constitutional action will mean state-mandated divorce, humiliation and shame.

turas mao dhuibh!

2004-04-03T02:33:00.000-05:00

As an t-Albannach: Rebels issue receipt after robbing Scots at gunpoint

But the terrifying attack had a comic side when the rebels, wielding AK47s, insisted on issuing their victims with a receipt in case they were attacked by other Maoists along the way.

Leig leis na Himalayas, 'se "turasachd beag-chogach" a tha mi 'sireadh!

In fact, trekking entrepreneur Suman Pandey says that for the growing numbers of people who are coming to Nepal to trek in the war-torn mountains, guerrilla tourism seems to be one of the attractions.

Mr Pandey said: "I am getting the feeling that tourists are quite excited about it. This Maoist meeting is slowly becoming a tourist product."

Saoil am fac' iad an film Restless Natives?

meet the new Reform Alliance Conservatives

2004-03-27T02:13:00.000-05:00

With the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservatives into the new Conservative Party of Canada, the right clearly hopes to be able to hold on to the support of both of the old parties. But with the election of former Alliance leader Stephen Harper as the head of the new party, many former Tories are surely wondering whether they will really feel comfortable with what many are characterizing as a hostile takeover of their old party. A few federal and provincial Tories have already joined the Liberals.

Atlantic Canada will be the place to watch for any potential fallout. Consider the following:

1. The Conservatives control the provincial legislatures of all four Atlantic provinces; the only other province they govern is Alberta.

2. Stephen Harper won the leadership race on the first ballot, but did not win a single province east of Ontario; Belinda Stronach carried Quebec (61%), New Brunswick (50%), PEI (68%), Nova Scotia (53%), and Newfoundland and Labrador (53%). (She also carried Nunavut with 56%.) Harper only managed to break 40% in NB. Atlantic Canadians rightly see the Reform/Alliance crowd in general, and Harper in particular, as hostile to their regional interests and contemptuous of their marginalization (Harper infamously castigated the region for its alleged "culture of defeat").

How will the electorate react? We'll get our first answer in the spring (or fall?) federal election. After that, the provincial races take center stage. Fortunately for the Tories, all four Atlantic provinces held elections last year, so the next ones are as far off as 2008. Unfortunately for the Tories, their majority in two of those four is on the brink. Bernard Lord in New Brunswick has a majority of one seat, and John Hamm in Nova Scotia leads a minority government. So we are potentially a byelection or no-confidence vote away from another early test of ReformaTory fortunes in the Far East.

UPDATE: Here's an interview with Harper in the Halifax Chronicle-Herald, where he explains/spins his previous comments and promotes free market solutions to the region's ills (a policy that works so well here in the US).

blogging Canadian politics

2004-03-27T01:55:00.000-05:00

I've added a few Canadian politics blogs (of the leftish persuasion) to the links section.

בלאָגן אױף ײִדיש

2004-03-26T22:09:00.000-05:00

Someone recently posted to the Mendele mailing list with links for some blogs written in Yiddish. It takes me a painstakingly long time to read Yiddish, so I haven't gotten very far with them, but they look interesting.

Bar Pakhti
Noam Starik
Katle Kanye
Sholem Berger

!בלאָגט מיר נישט קײן טשײַניק

who was that masked, lime-green man?

2004-03-25T22:23:00.000-05:00

There isn't always room for Jell-O. From the Halifax Chronicle Herald:

Jell-O-Head's case going to trial

YARMOUTH - Robert Chetwynd is going to trial.

He's the Shelburne County man also known as Jell-O-Head who rode his horse through a Tim Hortons drive-thru last summer and now faces 27 charges under the Criminal Code and provincial statutes.

Apparently he started riding his horse to Tim's after losing his driver's license for DUI, but the management banned him because he allegedly sometimes "parked" in the handicap space or used the bumpers of other people's cars as hitching posts. So this time he tried the drive-through, but the Mounties got their man. He is charged with resisting arrest, threatening the life of an officer, and animal cruelty ("ramming" his horse Dillon into a cruiser), among other things.

Mr Chetwynd has his own website, where he gets to tell his side of the story:

Currently, The Coffee Cowboy is not allowed on the property of the Barrington Passage Tim Horton’s and has to have his medium double - double smuggled to him every morning!
QUESTION IS – WHY CAN’T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG!?

Nice to see the spirit of Rodney King lives on in the Maritimes. Be sure to read his mission statement; it's at once funny and touching.

PR for Scottish councils

2004-03-25T21:51:00.000-05:00

Yes, many Scottish councils are in desperate need of good PR, but this probably isn't what they had in mind; as of 2007, local government elections in Scotland will be held using a single transerable vote (STV) system. The Lib-Dems made this reform a condition of their coalition with Labour.

Not surprisingly, almost all the local councils were opposed to the move. But the only MSPs to vote against the STV bill were the Tories (who never pass up a chance to impede progress) and two Labourites (six others abstained). Opponents still hope to kill the measure, and local Labour big-fish-in-a-microscopic-pond types are threatening deselction for the Labour MSPs who voted for it. MSPs already have a B-List reputation of sorts (undeservedly imo), so it'd be interesting to see who these would-be kingmakers would get to replace them.

But the most interesting aspect of this move is that it puts Holyrood itself in a rather hypocritical position, since only 56 of its 129 MSPs are elected by PR. That equation was carefully calibrated by New Labour to ensure that the SNP would never form a majority, since Labour easily dominates the 1st-past-the-post seats. So now the Scottish Executive and its zookeepers in London will have to explain why pure PR is good for the councils but bad for Edinburgh.

na Gàidheal ùra

2004-03-25T21:37:00.000-05:00

Tha mi’n dòchas nach cuir seo dragh air na daoine aig CLI, ach feumaidh mi radh nach e Gàidheal Ùr a th’annam, ’nam bheachdsa. ’Se Sasannach Ùr a th’annam.

beware kossacks bearing blogs

2004-03-25T21:21:00.000-05:00

I've updated my links to include the Obscure Kossack Bloggers Project, a rag-tag assortment of blogs run by regulars at the not-so-obscure Daily Kos. There is Power in a Union and all that. Thanks to Maurinsky, Folkbum and all the rest who put the list together.

the New Hampshire Anti-Incumbent Ratio

2004-03-16T12:47:00.000-05:00

George W Bush, running virtually unopposed for re-election this year, only won 80% of the vote in the New Hampshire Republican primary. Some of the other 20% went to an assortment of obscure Republicans, but most were write-in votes for the Democratic candidates. In fact, John Kerry’s 4% earned him second place. This got me to thinking that the level of write-in support for candidates from the opposite party might give some indication of how endangered an incumbent president is, at least in New Hampshire. After fiddling around with the data, I decided to also consider the number of write-in votes for the incumbent in the opposite-party primary. For example, Bush got 257 write-in votes in the Democratic primary this year.

As a result of this not-nearly-exhaustive research, I present the NHAIR, the New Hampshire Anti-Incumbent Ratio. Simply, it gives the number of “anti-incumbent” votes (i.e. write-in votes for opposite-party candidates in the incumbent’s own primary) for each “pro-incumbent” vote (write-in votes for the incumbent in the opposite-party primary). Here are the results going back to 1972, covering all the primaries except for 1988 and 2000, when there was no incumbent running. (Data sources are here and here)

Incumbent/Year	Votes for incumbent in opposite primary	votes for opposite party candidates in incumbent primary	Ratio (anti-incumbent votes per 1 pro-incumbent vote)
Nixon 72	854	1821	2.1
Ford 76	405	1465	3.6
Carter 80	788	3704	4.7
Reagan 84	5058	7681	1.5
Bush 92	1434	8845	6.2
Clinton 96	1972	8690	4.4
Bush 04	257	8083	31.5

So, for every Democratic primary voter who wrote in Bush this year, there were 31.5 Republican primary voters who wrote in one of the Democrats. That puts him slightly out of line with the trend since 1972. Here’s a graphic representation of the comparison (if the graph images below are not displaying, you can see them, in reverse order, here):

Now the question is, does this metric correspond in any meaningful way to the subsequent fortunes of the incumbent in November? Well, with such a small data set and so many unaccounted-for variables, its statistical and real-world significance are obviously suspect. The presence of serious intraparty opposition in some cases (Buchanan, Kennedy), the effect of third-party candidates in November (Perot, Anderson), solidity of each base, and possibly evolving mores about employing cross-party protest votes are but a few of the messy realities to consider. But that’s why you’re reading this in the blogosphere and not in a peer-reviewed journal. So with those caveats out of the way, take a look at this plot of the NHAIR with the incumbent’s percentage of the vote in NH in November:

Carter appears to be an outlier, but not in a way that gives much hope to Shrub’s fortunes. According to this trendline, Bush can expect to receive somewhere in the neighborhood of -150% of the vote in New Hampshire. And statistics don’t lie.

Berlin Bands, first installment

2004-03-15T22:45:00.000-05:00

While spending some time in Berlin last year, I got in the habit of perusing the music listings in the invaluable biweekly magazine Zitty. Among the dozens of band names listed, some would jump out at me, either because they were pretty clever, really lame, or in that nether-region where cleverness and lameosity are barely distinguishable from each other. So I started collecting the names. Herewith is the first installment of Berlin Bands*, in this case taken from the two most recent online issues. I'll periodically post lists from past and future issues. Links provided wherever possible. Neither this listing nor the linked url's shall be construed as a personal endorsement of the music (but I will say that the photo of the Jazzin' Hot Fellows is worth your time).

Bananafishbones
Bang on a Can All-Stars
Bones/Coyote
Boogie Circus
Digital Perm
Dizzy's Jazz Gang
Dr. Haircut & The Schachtschnäbel
Funkenizer
Fuzzbeer
Gaston
Gluecifer
Hot Swingers
Jazzin' Hot Fellows
Kookie & Ferdie
Kuchenbecker's back in town
Monkey Ranch
Papa Henschels Salty Dogs
Spo-Dee-O-Dee
Spots & Birds and Telephones
Swingin' Peanuts
Texas Motherfuckers
Trick Lobsters
Umbrella Jazzmen
Wichita Lineman

*By Berlin bands I simply mean bands playing in Berlin; not all of them are Berlin-based.

a' cumail amach an t-saoghail ùr?

2004-03-15T00:53:00.000-05:00

Rinn National Geographic liosta air na h-àitean-turasachd as fheàrr 's an t-saoghal airson rudan mar àrainneachd agus gleidheadh nan cultur. Fhuair na fjordan Lochlannaich a' chiad duais, ach bha Eilean Cheap Breatainn dìreach as an deidh. Bha a' Ghàidhealtachd 7 air an liosta.

An e rud math a bhith air "a list of tourism destinations to have best warded off the effects of modern-day life," mar a sgrìobh an New Zealand Herald? Agus a bheil e fìor gu bheil Ceap Breatainn a' cumail an culturan beò?

She said the 300-kilometre Cabot Trail, alive with traditional Acadian, Gaelic and Scottish cultures, gives Cape Breton that special something when it comes to tourism.

Gàidhlig agus Albannach? Co-dhiubh, seo rud a tha an còmhnaidh a' cur èis air leasachadh na Gàidhlig; bho shùilean luchd-stiùiridh na turasachd, tha cultur nan Gàidheal "beò" fhad 's a bhios duine le sloinneadh a tha toiseachadh le "Mac" a' cluich air an fhidheall, ann an stoidhle sam bith. Neo fhad 's a tha bùth ann far bheil iad a' reic breacan is cds.

Nise, chan eil mi ag radh nach eil deagh-naidheachd idir ann. Bha mi fìor thoilichte nuair a chuala mi gun d'fhuair Frangag Nic Eachainn, tè-dheasaiche A' Bhràighe, post ùr mar Oifigear Culturach airson riaghaltas Albainn Nuaidh, ag obair air leasachadh cànanach is culturach. 'S iomadh rud math a thachair ann an saoghal na Gàidhlig bho chionn 10 neo 15 bliadhna. Ach a dh'aindeoin sin, chan urrainn dhuinn radh nach eil a' Ghàidhlig a' dol sios. Agus sin an rud nach urrainn iad a' faicinn. Chì an luchd-turais cèilidhean is dannsaichean is iomadh rud breagha, ach chan fhaic iad a' chànan a' tuiteam eadar an linn a' dol seachad agus an linn a' tighinn.

Cheney endorses Dean, McCain

2004-03-09T11:26:00.000-05:00

. . . disendorses Bush.

These are not times for leaders who shift with the political winds, saying one thing one day and another thing the next. We need a commander-in- chief of a clear vision and steady determination.

support MassEquality

2004-03-07T01:54:00.000-05:00

On Thursday, the Massachusetts Legislature reconvenes its constitutional convention in an attempt to pass an amendment banning same-sex marriage. Two amendments are expected to be voted on: one provides civil unions with all the same (state-granted) benefits of marriage, the other provides civil unions but lets the legislature define exactly what that entails.

While it's gratifying that civil unions have gone mainstream, gay families in Massachusetts stand to lose a great deal if either amendment passes:

While Vermont-style civil unions provide very real benefits to same-sex couples, they offer couples no access to federal benefits such as social security survivor benefits, joint income tax filing, and the ability to make tax-free gifts and property transfers to spouses. In addition, civil unions do not provide same-sex couples with any assurance that their relationship will be recognized in other states, leading to potentially devastating emergency room situations. In short, marriages are recognized universally and provide 1,400 state and federal benefits and protections, while civil unions provide only 350 state benefits and may not be recognized outside the state that issued them.

MassEquality is coalition of organizations, ranging from GLAD and the Log Cabin Republicans to the ADL and ACLU. They are working to defeat any proposed constitutional amendment limiting the right to marry. Right now they are raising money to fund an ad campaign. Check them out and give them your support.

UPDATE: Donate through this link and the Human Rights Campaign will match your contribution.

teagamh as t-earrach

2004-03-07T01:07:00.000-05:00

Tha i air a bhith gu math blàth is grianach a' seo ann am Massachusetts an Iar, bho chionn seachdain neo dhà. Ach tha e tràth 'sa Mhàirt fhathast, agus tha dà rud air nach eil sinn idir dòchasach ann an Sasann Nuaidh, a dh'aindeoin cho math 's a bhiodh iad a' dol: an t-earrach agus na Red Sox. Chan eil an sneachd fada bhuainn...