chuck kottke

loaded or unloaded carry-ons? Yes, I would have guessed as much in today's climate. These were empty shells on the key chain, right? That must have been a bit of a harrowing experience! I suppose they had to question him as a requirement of the law, and to show the system was working..:dozey: What gets me is that the 95% is taking care of the matter before it reaches the airport. The 9/11 hijackers were being tracked by our FBI (as well as the CIA, I would imagine), and because of internal personality conflicts and turf battles, the ball was dropped on the investigations. Twice! (it happened when the trade centers were bombed the first time as well). Then there's the matter of bad foreign policy that almost guarantees more attacks - having a smarter policy would save many, many more lives. I'm glad the security is tighter, but it need not be draconian for minor mistakes. Maybe they could employ more dogs to sniff for explosives instead, and look more for the real problems (like plastic glocks and such), instead of opening every tube of toothpaste or tossing the hand lotions. Technologies like back-scatter X-rays and other scans would help see better the items without having to open every case, etc. I wonder - all the pockets of poverty, and all the disaffected people dealing with bad governments supported by inane US policy, that's where unhappiness can lead a few to go to the extreme, especially when some extreme elements get a hold on these vulnerable few individuals, and convince them to become kamakazies. Then there's the issue of not integrating new citizens into countries; If these ethnic minorities are treated fairly and welcomed, there's usually no problem. But unfortunately, this has not always been the case. Kinda long-winded I am today! Anyhow, fly naked - there's less security problems!:P

In case anyone's interested, I did a little checking on who takes what from whom for the candidates.. Here's one aspect that is very telling- Under the Heading Campaign Donations.. % from donors of $200 or less: 1. Dennis Kucinich - 70% 2. Mike Gravel - 68% 3. Duncan Hunter - 54% 4. Ron Paul - 49% 5. Fred Thompson - 34% 6. John Edwards - 29% 7. Mike Huckabee - 26% 8. Barack Obama - 25% 9. Hillary Clinton - 14% 10. Mitt Romney - 14% 11. Rudy Giuliani - 12% Meaning the difference is made up by donations of more than $200, and that's usually part of the problem. To find out more, go to: www.opensecrets.org Or www.vote-smart.org (get the real scoop before you decide!)

Hey, Aren't you a New Yorker, Anna??:rolleyes:

Yea! They would have put me in a dungeon :lipsrsealed2::whip:somewhere... Guantanamo Bay, or maybe a secret prison in Poland? I dunno. Some of the stuff the US has done in the past decade really scares the **** out of me!:stunned: Just pulling my chain, eh?:laugh3:

Well, perhaps Spain needs to do more to correct the imbalances regarding English expatriates living there. But this looks like a pretty harsh way to get a point across, and I really wonder, given the couple's age, if much was done to help them understand, or to remedy the situation before they built. Wow, to invest 350,000 Pounds, and then loose the whole place.. this doesn't sound like some billionaire tycoon who just wanted to skirt laws and build in the protected areas.. Hmm.. given the nature of some recent land deals here in what should have been protected land, I wonder if the realtors don't push the limits of things (by knowing regs. and ignoring them), and then when some happy, unsuspecting couple buys, they're being duped by the real-estate seller... Maybe the town is in on the deal, and the officials get cut some money to keep quiet while the homes are being built? Stranger things have happened here!:thinking:

Well, I was just target shooting on the farm in the summer, and forgot some .22 shells in my pocket.. I didn't know they were there until I got past the metal detector, and sat on the bench waiting for a plane to arrive!:P (I suppose today I would have been sent off to some secret undisclosed location, and water-boarded!):shocked2: Hey, I meant no harm, and it was just an honest mistake!:) I'm mostly normal:wacky:

unwravel the mystery Yes, like some Greek epic poem, or any great work thus condensed, there is a sense of adventure!:bandana: True, I think he was being specific mostly but did not really provide all the details, so in a sense the great mysteries were a result of the music being taken out of context from where it was created.

That's sad news.. What turned him into a recluse?:confused:

OOPS! Definite not the best timing!!:laugh3: Once I had been down to the airport just south of here, and I walked though the metal detector with loaded bullets in my front shirt pocket! The thing went off, and they asked me to take the change and keys out of my pockets. I did, walked through a second time, and the detector said I was clear to go! It was only after I sat down on a bench and bent over, that I noticed the bullets in my pocket!! :stunned:(I had been target practicing the day before, and forgot they were even in there!). This was wayy before 9/11 though - I can only imagine what might have happened otherwise! Other than that, about the only scary flight story was flying over the Allegheny mountains - the plane felt like a tennis ball that someone was bouncing on the court - up and down, up and down.. (turbulence from air over the mountains)

answers Tnspieler1012, here's my best: "Lights go out and I can't be saved" >Closing his eyes and remembering the music "Tides that I tried to swim against" >Chris transposes himself into the mind of the keyboardist, who is unsure of himself at first, and still, against the stage-fright, restarts the song / or Martin can't resist the "pull" of the music.. "Have brought me down upon my knees; oh, I beg, I beg and plead" >He's humbled by the force of the music, and want's to know what it's about / what the keyboardist is about/ can't resist the song's appeal? Send more music? "Singing, "come out of things unsaid; shoot an apple off my head" >Explain yourself; why the plain clothes from another era? What is your politic? What great changes are you trying to make in the world? And then a reference to William Tell, who led the Swiss to revolt over the corrupt rulers, after being forced to risk his own son's life.. "With a trouble that can be named" >See above "A tiger's waiting to be tamed" >meaning a source of inspiration; or perhaps a bachelor? Catch a tiger by the tale - who are you? to find out more, and calm this person down? "singing, 'you are..., you are...'" > Who are you? or, you are at the moment, the music! ..at home with the music.. "Confusion never stops; closed-in walls and ticking clocks" >Deadlines mount, and frantic activity of life.. A deadline to meet in a closed studio, with the clock ticking away, adding pressure "Gonna come back and take you home.. I could not stop that you now know" >The keyboardist learns that the music was actually put into a song and played on the radio & elsewhere - so then the keyboardist knows! Taking the music from it's original source in the mall to England. Perhaps an invitation to take the keyboardist to England? Later.. "oh and I'm feeling skunk keys.." which was dubbed over as "oh and nothing else compares.." "You are Home, Home, where I wanted to go.." So maybe "you are" refers later to how someone feels when they feel "at home" with the music; or confident in ones' place to feel as one would at home. Something anyone who travels can relate to! "where I wanted to go.." A hopeful gesture? A longing for home? The music is inspirational; so are the lyrics! I think, like poetry, much is left to the imagination to have many meanings and be unclear, so as to create more a sense of mystery, a sense of discovery, and inspiration into new avenues of thought and feeling. Anyhow, that's the best from this humble farmer. I'm going back to my plow. Best of Success with the music!!

Dish Yes, it was good! Yumm! There is a little extra (sorry, no digital magic to share with you, or I would), so you've more than welcome to it! I traded some squash I grew in our garden here for some wild rice (a friend who goes ricing in a nearby lake had extra). It's nice to have local foods.. And what do you normally eat Starlight Annie?;)

vegetarian chicken with rice.. Well, I like mostly vegetarian dishes; but occasionally I'll eat chicken or fish. And you?:)

Hot!@Chile Wow, that's hot!! We might see a couple of days in the summer like that.. So, you're keeping cool indoors, I would imagine??:) Winter sounds oh so pleasant in Chile! OMG - that's like 50F! For us, that would be paradise! I'm glad you're so lucky!!:)

Oh my, that does sound beautiful!! What's the weather like?:)

"you are"... It's just a question about the mysterious keyboardist whom he encountered in the mall! Trust me on that one;) He's a fast lyricist.

Chile sounds pleasant! Hello Lore!:) No snow?? Hmm! then you have warm winters?!!;) (I like that thought!) ...this is the c c ccoldest part of winter here - about one week of very cold air, and then it warms slowly.. The mountains must be beautiful! 45 minutes - can you see them from where you're at in town? Supper is on - I'm having brown and wild rice mixed on a blend of squash, spinach, egg, and spices. Chili powder on top of white cheddar from LaFarge, WI.

Winter! YEA!! That's my favorite too, Lore! Do you prefer sharp or mild? White, yellow, or orange? Cheddar with salsa and chips, or just plain?;)

Pardon me, but Dave's Farm? You lost me there!

Hey, Don't Mess With Texas!:P You've got to wonder about a state that produces a president as goofy as ours tho... I'll stick with Jim Hightower - not all Texans are nuts, but unfortunately they export the goofy ones, and keep the good ones! Sure, and then the rest of us in the world outside of Texas has to deal with them..:thinking: Anyhow, I had fun today. It's been blueballs cold today, but with help from an engine heater and charger, the tractor kicked off fine, and I plowed the damn snow! There's nothing like a low-lugging power plant that snorts under load, and sends the snow a flyin'! Love the raw power of that machine!!

Well, if you gain building permission from the town, as the story mentions, isn't it the responsibility of the town to understand the laws and land use restrictions of a region, and to notify the would-be purchasers of the special conditions? It just seems like someone in the know - either the realtor, or the government agency via clear building restrictions, should have kept the Priors well informed. I wonder if they weren't duped by some real estate seller, who knew the limitations ahead of time, but because the law put the burden of knowledge of any restrictions on the buyer, figured he or she could make a quick buck, and take the fast train out of town. Our area of the US was rife with land deal swindlers of all types back in the late 1800's and early 1900's, selling very poor land to would-be farmers on land contract, and then when the purchasers could not pay (as the land was so poor), the land went back to the land dealer. It was a scam the went on for decades, so I wonder.. When a retirement age couple purchases their dream spot, invest a good chunk of their life's savings in the home, I doubt if they mean any harm - true, they should help out the local community more, and certainly learn the language and culture, but this is just wrong. They do pay property taxes, right? That must help out the local schools and roads, etc.? I would think, unless the tax structure limits this, that they would be a net plus to the economy..?

To the beautiful Lore

Songs are poetic, so in a sense, they mean many things at many different levels, and are a form of "fuzzy logic". Since this song is about someone, when he sings' "you are.." he is asking a question; but perhaps wanting to know more about that person than just what's at the surface, as the melody is enchanting and haunting, and this person is a complete mystery to him. Perhaps more than I could explain here; if you think about it, we all operate on the dreams along the threads of our feelings; If I wear my heart on a sleeve, I may be risking more than I care to, as memory tells me so.. This song is what the listener unfolds it to be; and it bears new gems with every turn.

Thanks! Yes, Pakistan has nukes, but I think it's unlikely that any reasonable country would use them except in an extreme and protracted war; even Musharraf I think would be unlikely to resort to this, except as a bargaining chip and bulwark against invasion. (at least this is my hope!) I did watch an interview of him on CBS's 60-minutes recently, and he danced around the issue of Bhutto's assaination - he would never say definitely that he was not involved, but kept saying how she should have used more common sense to protect herself; that she took too many chances, and there's always a threat of attack. Well, all true, but he never came down and said "Definitely not. I had nothing whatsoever to do with it". That's what troubles me about him. Hmm.. fall into the wrong hands? I wonder if Pakistan is already in the wrong hands! Of course there could be worse, or better.. But given the horrific nature of terror networks, he's shielding some very very bad people from arrest, I sense. After watching a Frontline special on the War on Terror, I think Musharraf has a dualistic nature - appease the west, then appease the terrorists, then... And he's a military dictator, so as far as wanting representative government, I think he likes to look in favor of it, but in reality, maybe not so much. I've read a few of the Pakistani papers, and they appeared quite open about the problems there - one good sign is open discussion and less censorship (or, less apparent censorship). I suppose your friends might have mixed feelings - I do too! I think Musharraf walks a tight-rope, and refuses to allow others to govern. I hope that eventually someone with a greater sense of justice eventually leads, and their nation (as well as ours) gets freed from corrupt leadership. Whew, got on a subject there.. Thanks again for the discussion!

Tell But it is the personal drama of Tell which forces him to participate in the uprising to lift the yolk of Austrian oppression. He is a modest huntsman, excelling all others as an oarsman and archer. In the first scene it is he who has the courage and skill to row a peasant safely across the lake during a storm in order to save him from capture by the troopers of Gessler, the viceroy of the Austrian emperor. In Act III, Tell is arrested for failing to salute the viceroy's cap and then ordered by Gessler to shoot an apple from the head of his son Walter. After doing so successfully, he admits that a second arrow, held in readiness, was meant for Gessler himself had he failed. He is taken into custody and ferried across the lake, but a storm rises, the boat is in danger, and Tell is called upon to steer it to safety. He escapes, and later in the mountain pass puts an arrow through Gessler's heart, thus freeing his countrymen from a tyrant and setting off a revolt which brings Swiss independence. William Tell is an epic drama, somewhat comparable in structure to a Shakespear chronicle play. It tells the story of one of the earliest European struggles to establish a democratic government. In this panorama of 14th century history, Schiller has made the people as well as their legendary hero important protagonists in the struggle for basic human rights. The patriotic fervor and abhorrence of foreign oppression which Schiller has expressed in this last great drama of his career had had a special appeal to German nationalists. There is a timelessness in William Tell, moreover, for any people subjected to political and social injustice. It sounds a stirring call to freedom and dignity. (excerpted from Encyclopedia Americana, Vol. 28)