September 2005

What we expected: Harry makes a short stay at 4 Privet Drive.
Adele: Will poor Harry be stuck at the Dursleys’ all next summer?
JK Rowling replies -> Not all summer, no. In fact, he has the shortest stay in Privet Drive so far. (World Book Day chat, 3/04/04, http://www.mugglenet.com/jkrwbd.shtml ).
What we got:
It was indeed a short stay … but one of the most memorable ones as Dumbledore delivers the ticking off of a lifetime to the Dursleys.
A pleasant escape from 4 Privet Drive.
The theory that [Harry stands trial again in HP&THBP] has been put forward to explain why Harry does not spend as long in Privet Drive during this book as previous ones, but I am happy to say that he leaves the Dursleys early for a much pleasanter reason than a court case. (http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/rumours_view.cfm?id=23)
What we got:
The trip to Slughorn’s was not exactly pleasant, but the subsequent trip to the Weasleys was.

Here are some of the things that we expected for book six, and what we actually got.
More on the war between Voldemort and the good guys.
“In the fifth and most recent book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the last chapter, titled “The Second War Begins,” started:
‘In a brief statement Friday night, Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge confirmed that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has returned to this country and is active once more.
“It is with great regret that I must confirm that the wizard styling himself Lord - well, you know who I mean - is alive among us again,” said Fudge.’
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince takes up the story of Harry Potter’s sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at this point in the midst of the storm of this battle of good and evil.”(Scholastic press release, December 21, 2004; http://www.scholastic.com/aboutscholastic/news/press_122104.htm).

What we got:
. Fudge disappeared at the end of the first chapter and was scarcely seen again.  Remarkably, Voldemort was off-stage for the entirety of book six.  And we saw very little of the war … only the “campaign for Hogwarts,” which mainly consisted of reconnaissance and feints by Malfoy and Harry.

OhmyNews International: “last year I wrote a study on nuclear scenarios in the DPRK nuclear crisis. And one of my scenarios was the possibility of a unilateral, preemptive military strike by the U.S. government.

I asked, ‘Is it possible a president of the United States could do such a thing?’ And my conclusion was that yes, it is possible to imagine, but you have to be imagining a really, really unusual situation, because for the president to make such a decision, he would have to do so in the full knowledge that that would endanger the U.S. alliance with the ROK and Japan. I believe he would only make such a decision if he were convinced that the danger to the United States was so great that he would be willing to put all the relations in Northeast Asia in jeopardy.

So would you call that situation ‘crossing the red line’?

I don’t know. I have never seen the American ‘red line.’ I think they must be infrared and we need special glasses. (laughter)

So far what I have seen is that the presumed red lines get crossed, and nothing happens. So, what were our red lines? Restarting the reactor? Processing the plutonium? Declaring the DPRK is a nuclear power? Sending uranium to Pakistan or maybe even Libya? Where are the red lines? (laughter) I wish I saw them. I must need new glasses!”

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Posted by wfzimmerman to Proliferated at 9/28/2005 10:24:00 AM

International News Article | Reuters.com: “TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran’s parliament voted on Wednesday to speed discussion of a bill that would force the government to scale back its cooperation with the U.N. atomic watchdog, state media reported.

The bill to limit the scope of nuclear inspections is in retaliation for a resolution approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board of governors last week recommending Iran’s case be sent to the U.N. Security Council.

If approved, the bill would oblige the government to stop implementing the Additional Protocol of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) which allows U.N. inspectors to make short-notice visits to nuclear facilities.

About 300 protesters gathered outside the British embassy in Tehran on Wednesday to denounce the IAEA resolution submitted by Britain, France and Germany.

‘Nuclear energy is our legitimate right,’ they chanted. ‘We will fight, we will die, we will never surrender.’”

Message from the people of Iran to the people of the United States:

1. Our legislature is just as dumb as yours.
2. Our kooks are just as dumb as yours.

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Posted by wfzimmerman to Proliferated at 9/28/2005 09:53:00 AM

National Geographic News Photo Gallery: First Live Giant Squid Photographed

Here’s the giant squid in action! How’d you like to see that looking at you?

DREW SHARP: Complacent mood paralyzes Michigan: “You can count on a minimum of two losses each season, as surely as you can’t spell Lloyd without two L’s.”

This is a stupid argument. Practically every team in the country can count on a minimum of two losses each season.

Police Chief Abruptly Resigns in New Orleans - New York Times: “The police superintendent of New Orleans, Edwin P. Compass III, abruptly resigned today, four weeks after Hurricane Katrina put the city under water and into chaos, with people who had stayed behind left for days to fend for themselves amid reports of looting and lawlessness.
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‘I served this department for 26 years and have taken it through some of the toughest times of its history,’ Mr. Compass said today at a news conference. ‘Every man in a leadership position must know when it’s time to hand over the reins. I’ll be going on in another direction that God has for me.’

Neither Mr. Compass nor Mayor C. Ray Nagin would say why the police commissioner was stepping down.

‘It’s a sad day in the city of New Orleans when a hero makes a decision like this,’ said Mr. Nagin, who appointed the chief in 2002, shortly after Mr. Nagin took office. ‘He leaves the department in pretty good shape and with a significant amount of leadership.’”

Reading between the lines, it sounds as if it was made clear to Mayor Nagin that Federal dollars would not be poured into city with demonstrably unsuccessful police leadership.

Legendary Monster of the Deep, 26-Foot Squid, Captured on Film - New York Times: “today two Japanese scientists, Tsunemi Kubodera and Kyoichi Mori, report in a leading British biological journal that they have made the world’s first observations of a giant squid in the wild.

Working about 600 miles south of Tokyo off the Bonin Islands, known in Japan as the Ogasawara Islands, they photographed the creature with a robotic camera at a depth of 3,000 feet. During a struggle lasting more than four hours, the animal, about 26 feet long, took the proffered bait and eventually broke free, leaving behind an 18-foot length of tentacle.”

Incredible news. But there are no pictures on the &^%*(* NY times site!

Early Warning by William M. Arkin - washingtonpost.com: “Granite Shadow is yet another new Top Secret and compartmented operation related to the military’s extra-legal powers regarding weapons of mass destruction. It allows for emergency military operations in the United States without civilian supervision or control.”

Exeter News-Letter Local News: Seminary dedication stirs school memories: “Seminary alumnae, Lincoln Street School, the Spirit and Enrichment Council, Exeter Monument Company, Timberland, the Parent Teacher Organization, Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter Historical Society, local author Dan Brown and many others dedicated hours and financial support to make the dream of the trail and outdoor classroom [at Robinson Female Seminary] a reality.”