September 14, 2005

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The image shows an operational North Korean nuclear reactor.

ISIS North Korea page: “September 2005 — New satellite photos showing the 5MWe reactor at Yongbyon with a steam plume, indicating that it is again operational and the construction site for the 50MWe reactor showing some new activity at the site. Posted September 14, 2005.”

Satellite imagery (via DigitalGlobe) is the best.

Naval Institute Webstore: Product Details: BURN AFTER READING:
The Espionage History of World War II, by Ladislas Farago, U.S. Naval Institute Press. Great cover!

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Posted by W. Frederick to Proliferated at 9/14/2005 04:25:32 PM

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CNN.com - Afghans ‘let bin Laden escape’ - Sep 14, 2005: “Mashal told private Pakistani television channel Geo on Tuesday that U.S. forces made a mistake in entrusting the capture of bin Laden to Afghan commanders.”

Duh.

Publishers Marketplace: The Latest Deals: “With an introduction from former member of the UK Special Forces Thom Burnett, a team of writers’ THE CONSPIRACY ENCYCLOPEDIA, to Carlo De Vito at Chamberlain Brothers, in a good deal, by Mal Peachey at Essential Works.”

As if any conspiracy theorist in their right mind would trust such an authoritative source.

Interesting. It’s clear that the manuscript was given separate copy edits by American and English editors. Both copy editors seem to have taken liberties that I find annoying.

For example, at 315 we find

US: was a small, stout, bespectacled man
UK: was a small, bespectacled man

Jeers to UK for that one. Why not leave “stout” in there? the “it’s a synonym for beer” argument doesn’t hold water (as it were) b/c JKR is a UK writer…

At 369 we find:

US Harry recognized Voldemort at once.
UK Harry recognized Riddle at once.

As I’ve pointed out before, the distinction may be important. Not sure whether the UK or US c/e is at fault, but one of them is!

The US copy editor seems to think US readers are rather dense:

85 US everybody’s in mortal danger UK everybody’s in mortal peril
112 US Madam Malkin, the owner, said UK Madam Malkin said

Harry Potter Book 6 Differences –all the differences between English and American translations. Very handy for the truly detail-oriented conspiracy theorist!

Elf Tails
Classic opener: “So all in all, not one of Ron’s better birhdays,” said Fred. I’m beginning to agree with the poster who called Fred & George two of his favorite characters in all fiction. Can FRED & GEORGE: THE APPRENTICE be far off?

George observes that it was lucky Harry thought of the bezoar. But was it luck? If Snape deliberately left his Potions book in the cupboard for Harry to find, then it was not just luck. Even if it was not planned, it may have been fated … it’s certainly ironic that the h-b Prince’s prized textbook should come around to help Harry in his time of need.

The connotations of the name “Snape” are clear enough, but what about “Severus”? Did JKR choose this name to suggest a severe and serious personality, or to suggest someone who has “severed” his connections with his past? –that latter being something that I don’t think JKR believes is really possible.

Touching when Ron croaks “Er-my-nee” as his first words. Interesting (and a bit puzzling) that JKR doesn’t give us a reaction shot of her face when she hears that. I wonder if the movie will. I hope so.

“Half our family does seem to owe you their lives, now I stop to think about it,” Mr. W said in a constricted voice. “All I can say it was a lucky day for the Weasleys when Ron decided to sit on your compartment on the Hogwarts Express, harry.” Was it? Wouldn’t the Weasleys perhaps have been a bit safer if Ron had never met Harry? Or would the clock’s hands have turned to mortal peril even faster if Harry, alone and vulnerable at Hogwarts, had fallen prey to Voldemort/Quirrell? In any event, I question the idea that it was luck. It was a choice ROn made, one that was foreshadowed by his mother’s nice treatment of Harry at the 9 3/4 stop.

In plot terms, the Dd/Snape conversation that Hagrid overhead is obviously of huge importance. When Snape says “you take too much for granted,” what exactly is he referring to? Snape’s services as an agent against V — or Snape’s commitment to fulfill his Unbreakable Vow to Narcissa, thus fulfilling Dd’s tricky master plan? Harry picks up on the fact that “despite all he had told Harry, in spite of his insistence that he trusted Snape completely, Dd had lost his temper with him…” this does seem telling — Dd not one to lose temper easily.

Lavender treated as a figure of fun, even contemptuously, through most of the book, but is given one moment of insight in this chapter: “Friends, don’t make me laugh! She didn’t talk to him for weeks after he started going out with me!”

We know from JKR’s Mugglenet interview that this was the last Quidditch match, which I find weirdly disappointing.

Harry efficiently closes the Kreacher loophole — but lets it open at the end? “just stick to Malfoy like a couple of wart plasters.”