06.08.11
Posted in Book Reviews, History at 5:36 pm by Administrator
Yesterday my boys and I popped into the Little Tokyo Public Library. Aaron wanted to look for some Japanese books, so I tagged along, and to my delight, I found the Japanese history section. From my readings of the dropping of the first atomic bombs, I seemed to find so much more on the Hiroshima bombing than the Nagasaki bombing. I wasn’t quite sure why that was, but from reading Hiroshima in America
, I learned that media was strictly censored during the war, and after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, those two locations were “off limits” to the journalists. They were only allowed on “guided” tours of prisoner camps and such, so what they saw and reported was very controlled. There were only two journalists who dared to defy those restrictions–an Australian journalist, Wilfred Burchett, and American journalist George Weller. Burchett managed to sneak into Hiroshima and report what he saw there, and Weller managed to sneak into Nagasaki and write what he found there. The reason I say “write” is because none of what Weller wrote made it past General MacArthur’s censorship committee, while Burchett managed to get his articles out because it is believed he wrote mainly for a British publication, so it may have inadvertently slipped by and got published. So that seems to explain why we got some information from Hiroshima, but not much from Nagasaki.
While browsing through the history section, I came across a book title, First Into Nagasaki: The Censored Eyewitness Dispatches on Post-Atomic Japan and Its Prisoners of War
, by George Weller. . . That title made me jump because it had been believed that those first writings on Nagasaki by George Weller were destroyed by MacArthur’s censor office, and thus Weller’s account of what he saw was lost. So I pulled down the book and read the inside insert which explained it this way,
“Weller died in 2002, believing it all lost forever. Months later, his son found a fragile copy in a crate of moldy papers. This historic body of work has never been published.”
Oh my! The copyright was in 2006. I checked out the book (along with several other books pertaining to the same subject and era, and some craft books, hehehe) and began to read. Not only was I curious as to what Weller saw and learned, but I wanted to know what could he have possibly written that was worthy of censorship? In Hiroshima in America (published in 1995), it was explained that the government wanted to make sure that they controlled the images of the U.S. involvement in the war and especially the dropping of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They did not want to appear brutal or doing anything unethical, etc. After reading some of the reports, I can see why they would not want this material out because it revealed that many civilians, including women and children were killed and injured from the bombs. Not only Japanese civilians, but also foreigners such as missionaries (there was the American Mission College called Chin Jei that was nearly destroyed) as well as some allied prison camps and were affected by the atomic bomb. Of course what do we expect during war, right? My dad’s hometown in the Philippines was also bombed by allied forces (the Americans) because the Japanese had heavily infiltrated the area. Many Filipino civilians died as collateral damage. During WWII it is estimated that 55 million civilians died and 22 million military personnel died. Civilians always die in wars.
Anyway, I just wanted to share with anyone interested that George Weller’s first account of Nagasaki was not lost after all, but now published in book form, First Into Nagasaki: The Censored Eyewitness Dispatches on Post-Atomic Japan and Its Prisoners of War. I should also mention that the second half of the book shares Weller’s writing of the “hellships” that carried allied POWs to Japan. I haven’t finished reading the book yet, but so far, two thumbs up!
Marlakins
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05.23.11
Posted in Book Reviews, History, family stuff at 11:15 am by Administrator
I’m currently reading a book called, “>Hiroshima in America, A Half Century of Denial by Robert Jay Lifton and Greg Mitchell. I started to read it a while back when I was reading things on nuclear weapons and it’s development, but I got side tracked and never really got into it. This time (more than a year later), I’m making more headway, and I’m finding it very enlightening in several ways. I’m not going to review the book just yet, since I’m not finished with it, but it has been giving me more insight and helping me connect some dots, which makes this a very interesting reading for me. One trivial detail was regarding the Hiroshima exhibit at the Smithsonian back in 1996. Our family had actually visited the Smithsonian during that time and saw the display, but didn’t realize that there was any controversy over the Hiroshima exhibit. According to Lifton and Mitchell, the Smithsonian had scheduled an exhibit marking the 50th year anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, which would display the Enola Gay (the plane that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima) surrounded by exhibits that would fully explore the decision to use the bomb and it’s effects. Lifton and Mitchell wrote that, “Soon veterans’ groups were claiming that the planned exhibit was pro-Japanese and dishonored U.S. servicemen. Newspaper editorials charged the Smithsonian with “political correctness,” and columnist George Will accused the curators of being anti-American. Both houses of Congress passed resolutions condemning the exhibit.” Then in January of 1995, the Smithsonian announced that it was pretty much canceling the exhibit. The display would only display the plane, a plaque, and a tape of the flight crew recounting the mission. And indeed by the time my family visited the Smithsonian back in 1996, that’s all that was there. Talk about censorship. It’s alive and well here in the good ‘ole U.S. of A. Here’s a picture from our album.
Aaron was little at the time, and very grumpy. I had to take a picture of him to remember how horrible he was that day! He’s in the top picture bent over backwards and crying. . . I’ve shown him this picture and told him that’s pretty much what he did all day long! LOL He claims no memory of it! LOL That little paper with the “150 Smithsonian” on is was actually a napkin from one of their restaurants that I saved. I like to do that kind of thing for our photo albums.
And here’s a closer picture with Brian (when he still had hair, hee hee) in front of the Enola Gay. They actually only had the front end of the plane, otherwise I would have taken a wider shot.
It’s a bit mind boggling to me that we can accuse governments of other countries of censorship, when we do the same here. And it’s doubly mind boggling to me that just presenting the “facts” would be labeled as “anti-American,” as if Americans can do no wrong. But Lifton and Mitchell’s book appears to be explaining it pretty well–anything that makes Americans look bad, regardless of the truth, translates to some Americans as being anti-American. What a shame. But that’s human nature and not limited to just Americans. I was just watching a video on YouTube called, “Japan’s Dirty Secret”. It’s a short documentary/interview regarding Japan’s Unit 731 in Harbin, China back in the 30’s and WWII. They did horrible, horrible things there that Japan still has not acknowledged or apologized to the China, and thus one of their contentions much like the Turks denying the Armenian genocide. Even with official documentation and admissions by the purpetrators themselves, there are those who refuse to believe it and think that “Japan has never done anything wrong.” I’m sure there are people like that in every country. I mean, I’ve seen footage of people who loved Stalin, Mao, and Hitler. . . American’s have not escaped that sort of brainwashing, and I think it’s primarily those who are so proud to be American (or any other nationality) that they can’t see the forest for the trees.
Just last night as I was reading Hiroshima in America I came across mention of John Hersey’s book, “>Hiroshima. I had actually read Hersey’s book years ago, and didn’t know that it was such a controversial book at the time of it’s publication in 1946. Maybe I’ll check it out again and re-read it in light of this new information. It’s a good read, and evidently part of the big controversy around the dropping of the bomb. Truman and the military were concerned that American’s would disapprove of the dropping of the bomb, so they made sure they gave us the “official narrative” that is was necessary. More on that when I finish reading Hiroshima in America.
Marlakins
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05.18.11
Posted in Book Reviews, Church Issues and Bible Interpretations, Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments, History, Treatment Decisions at 12:53 pm by Administrator
For anyone interested in medical ethics and it’s history, I recommend Acres of Skin by Allen M. Hornblum.
Acres of Skin: Human Experiments at Holmesburg Prison
“>
Originally I was gathering information on radiation when I stumbled across an interview with Allen Hornblum. He was discussing why he wrote the book and detailed some information on medical experiments performed on prisoners. While he admits that there were experiments done at several different prisons, Hornblum focused primarily on the Holmesburg Prison in Pennsylvania wherein prisoner experimentation spanned over the early 1950s to the mid 1970s. These experiments involved many substances from soaps, lotions, shampoos, etc. for pharmaceutical companies to bacterial and viral experiments for the U.S. military, to mind control drugs for the CIA, and radiation experiments for NASA.
Personally I find it fascinating that humans can be so cruel and heartless towards one another. Seemingly “normal” people have perpetrated horrific things upon their fellow human beings. Things we ordinarily would think was “unthinkable” to do to humans have been, and continue to be, inflicted upon people as if they were merely animals or objects. I find the duplicity a bit scary and a warning to be careful that I (or my family) not fall into that trap of condoning unethical practices. References were made to the Nazi and the Nuremberg trials where some of the “defense” arguments some of the Nazi medical doctors presented were that “they were not doing anything that the American doctors were not doing themselves.” The experiments done on U.S. prisoners and the mentally handicapped are examples of what the Nazi medical doctors were referring to. One only need look into the published, peer reviewed medical journals to verify their claims. The obvious duplicity was that we as American’s were pointing the finger at the Nazi doctors as being barbaric and inhumane sentencing them to imprisonment or death, while we were doing the same thing, but thought there was nothing wrong with it. It reminds me of reading early U.S. history about how slaves were considered only 3/5’s of a person and that even their children were born into condoned perpetual slavery. That used to be thought of as proper, and even part of our accepted law. As a Christian I believe we are to love one another, and there is no distinction between color or social status. Yet, we see time and time again people abusing one another, both religious and non-religious alike. I find it interesting how we “justify” questionable actions if “we” are performing them, while we can simultaneously “condemn” the very same action if “other” people are doing them.
Acres of Skin helped me to reflect upon my personal feelings regarding the “ends justifies the means” mentality. I am conflicted because I know that I live my life using the very substances or technologies that I have found came from dubious means. At the moment I try to limit that use as much as I can, but I certainly am nowhere near eliminating all those derived “benefits.” Even some of the literature I’ve read to figure out ways to treat myself have come from very questionable experiments. Where do we draw the line?
Overall, I give Acres of Skin two thumbs up. Hornblum discusses many more examples of prison experiments, including quotes from interviewees (mostly former inmates who were involved with or knew about the experiments) and various people who would talk to him about the Holmesburg experiments. Hornblum also discusses the moral implications and the outcomes of various experiments, including the subsequent banning of prisoner experimentation and the closing of the prison as well as other aspects of Dr. Albert Kligman’s, the primary doctor who organized and operated the prison experiments, medical research and experimentation operation. I found the book well-written, informative, and easy to read.
Marlakins
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07.14.10
Posted in Book Reviews, felt projects, hobbies, knitting and crocheting at 7:13 pm by Administrator
A few days ago I was doing my usual online snooping, when I came across some cute pin cushion designs. I wasn’t looking for pin cushions (I was flipping back and forth from various news articles to various craft sites, heh), but you know how one link leads to another, and lo and behold, I found a reference to a book called Pretty Little Pin Cushions. I found that my library carried a copy, so I checked it out and dove into my craft supplies to see what I could whip up.
The instructions inside included the pattern pieces that needed to be blown up 200%, but since I don’t have a copy machine at home that would do that, I just decided to make up my own pattern based on their instructions. Being that I had never done this before, my pin cushion ended up being quite large, ha! But I didn’t know that when I first got started. Here’s what it looked like in progress.
I actually only followed the pattern idea, but the rest of the design was mine. The pattern I used for the little crocheted flower on the top is from another book I have called Crochet Bouquet by Suzann Thompson. This book includes very easy to read simple flower patterns.
This is what it looked like completed.
And here’s a side view of it.
Now, I knew when I saw these little pin cushion ideas that I would get addicted to them and have to make several before moving on. I’m always amazed at how creative some people are, and love to look at all the stuff people share on the net. I’ve gotten so much inspiration from other crafters on the net. So, for my part, when I finish my projects, I will try to upload them to share as well. Oh, and the next one will probably be smaller, too, heh. Probably about 1/3 of the size, I think, would be better.
My review for the Pretty Little Pin Cushion book about a 7. I felt that the instructions could have been better as well as the designs. I think a person who doesn’t have much sewing and/or embroidery experience might have more trouble with this book. Also, some of the pin cushion designs involve knit and crochet, but doesn’t give the instructions for those patterns, just the shapes of how the pattern pieces should look like. I know how to knit and crochet, so can pretty much figure them out. But for someone who doesn’t, I don’t see how they would be able to make those patterns. However, I still liked the book because it gave me ideas. It was fun to try and quick as well. I’ve found that there are a lot more free patterns online employing so many different techniques that I’m itchin’ to try them out! Can’t wait! Too bad there’s only 24 hours in a day. . .
Marlakins
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06.09.10
Posted in Book Reviews at 9:20 pm by Administrator
Before I put it off much longer and forget what I learned from Hooman Majd’s book, The Ayatollah Begs to Differ, I’ll try to pound out some of my comments. I enjoyed Majd’s writing style, which made the book very easy and quick to read. He basically takes you along with him on his travels to Iran and shares his experiences and discussions with those he encounters while adding in explanations so that a foreigner can understand the meaning of what is going on. Plus it was packed with information such as Persian history and religious/cultural practices that helps a person like me understand a little more about Iranians and how they tend to view things.
My personal experience with Iranians is very limited. I do know some Iranians (who seem pleasant enough to me) and have eaten at Persian restaurants (oh yum!), but when I started to listen to speeches and interviews with Ahmadinejad, my curiosity of Iranians prompted me to try to learn a little more about Iran. In particular, Ahmadinejad’s speeches and interviews, while sometimes seemingly evasive in some answers (I wasn’t sure if he was purposely trying to evade the answer or if it was a translation issue or that he was trying to answer in a more complete way), for the most part appears very well thought out. It made me wonder why when he says Iran wants a nuclear program for peaceful purposes and doesn’t intend to build a bomb with it, people don’t believe it. The government in particular. Granted there must be some things that we civilians don’t have the privilege of knowing, but at face value, it makes me wonder why the U.S. keeps saying that Iran isn’t complying, while Iran keeps saying they are complying with IAEA regulations. From my point of view it’s just his word against our word type thing. Other countries have nuclear programs and even nuclear weapons, why should we be particularly scared or concerned about Iran having them? So, I wanted to read up a little. The Ayatolla Begs to Differ did help explain some of that.
The things I want to list off are the things that I had not known before reading this book (and that’s quite a bit, since I really knew zip about Iran aka Persia except things like it being mentioned in the Bible, in particular when discussing prophecy). I learned that Iran has a long history, and their original religion before Islam was Zoroastrian. The Iranian government currently recognizes four religions–Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Judaism, and of course Islam, which is the largest religion in Iran. These religions supposedly have a representative in their parliament. The Jewish population is somewhere around 25,000, the Christian population is around 300,000, the Zoroastrian is around 22,000. Then amongst the Muslims they are divided amongst the Sunnis and Shias, and as all other religions there are conservative and liberals so the degree to their devotion to their religion varies. So in the Arab world, there is tension amongst them, and according to Majd, Arab governments would rather Israel remain the dominant power than Persia. I think more so when a conservative like Amadinejad became Iran’s president. However, after the recent flotilla debacle, seems the tide has changed.
Majd explains how poetry is highly valued in Iran. They are also very passionate about their rights as illustrated by their yearly commemoration of their Imam Hossein who died 1400 years ago, so given the combination of their passion for their rights and their passion for poetry, they would tend to be very eloquent in speech. Majd explains their passion for their rights should not be confused with national pride, because it’s not the same thing. Rather, Iranians are passionate about justice or righting wrongs, not necessarily that all things be Persian. This theme goes along with how they are waiting for the Imam to return, who at that time will bring justice and right all wrongs. I guess it’s sort of like how we Christians are waiting for the return of Christ, who at that time will right all wrongs. This is actually the detail in the book that Majd claims is the reason why Amadinejad, and Iran at large, are so adamant about keeping their nuclear program even at the expense of all the sanctions. They feel that it is only fair that they be allowed to have a nuclear program as other countries also have them. Are there any other reasons? Possibly, but from listening to Ahmadinejad’s arguments as well as Javad Zarif’s arguments, it does line up to their responses.
Okay, so the other more trivial details that I learned are these:
- Iran doesn’t recognize dual citizenship.
- All satellite dishes are illegal in Iran, but many people still have them.
- The Grand Ayatollahs have their own website where they answer emails daily.
- The town of Ardakan it the important site for their uranium mine.
- They still have executions as well as animal sacrifices in some areas.
- Because of sanctions the people don’t use credit.
- Many Iranians use opium even though it’s looked down upon by their religious leaders.
- The general public prefer imported items as they feel they are superior to their own Iranian made items.
- Iranian officials don’t wear ties because ties have become known as a symbol of the West.
- Many Iranians still think that the British are in control of a lot of what goes on in Iran.
- Iran helped set up Hezbollah in the 1980s.
And then some interesting tidbits about Ahmadinejad himself is that he is the son of a blacksmith, and attended the University of Tehran, which is considered a prestigious school comparable to the U.S. Ivy League Universities. Basically, he’s a pretty smart guy. Ahmadinejad lives in a lower middle class neighborhood. Public officials in Iran, including the president, live at home, not at a special place like the White House. Ahmadinejad is a conservative, who many more wealthy class Iranians don’t really like, maybe because he’s a conservative and he’s not from a distinguished family. Plus he caters and appeals more to the average Iranian citizen and has done away with a lot of excess luxury. This explains his casual cream jacket he was often seen wearing.
There’s a lot more things in the book that I haven’t mentioned, but those are the things that I remember most. Oh, and finally Majd’s observation is that the society that Iran has that is fundamentally Muslim is very similar to what he thinks fundamental Christians would like their society to be. Majd writes, just replace Allah for God, and Muhammad for Jesus, etc. and it’s basically the same. Well, as a Christian, I suppose I could concede that some fundamental Christians would live similarly, but the “doctrine” itself is very different in that we Christians believe that Jesus is God. I’m sure that would be heresy to the Muslims and the Jews as well.
Overall, for anyone interested in learning a bit about Iran and it’s people, I do recommend The Ayatollah Begs to Differ by Hooman Majd. I’m sure there are other views of Iran that are quite different from Majd’s view, which I will also try to read as well for a more balanced perspective. And especially because I do think there is a lot more involved with the US conflict with Iran than just their nuclear program. But that probably involves a lot more history and that’s probably more than this ‘ole housewife can deal with, heheheh.
Marlakins
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05.20.10
Posted in Book Reviews, Historical Trivia at 12:18 pm by Administrator
I haven’t finished reading The Ayatollah Begs to Differ, yet, but I am about half way through the book. It’s going much faster than Dark Sun, the Making of the Hydrogen Bomb probably because it’s a smaller book and the style of writing is much easier and casual. Nevertheless, I’ve already learned a lot of stuff in this little book that I had not known just a couple weeks ago that has helped some things I’ve seen and heard make more sense.
Anyone following my blog may know that I have been following the Iran nuclear controversy and have had an interest in Ahmadinejad. I’m a bit late on the scene as I am learning about Ahmadinejad and some middle east history more recently. I’m finding it very interesting, and as a result have been trying to understand the U.S or West relationships with Iran and, in general, the middle east by going back into history to see who’s who and try to connect the dots to why things are happening now. Or even how significant certain claims are now.
So what got me interested in Iran and Ahmadinejad? I think it started from the news claims that Ahmadinejad stated that, “Israel should be wiped of the map.” I wanted to see what it was that he exactly said because I know that the media has a tendency to misrepresent things and that foreign languages can often be mistranslated, not to mention “intentions” can also be mistranslated. During my searches I ran into other speeches and interviews given by Ahmadinejad such as the speech he gave at Columbia University that riled everyone up because he seemed to claim that the Holocaust never happened. Oye! Then I also saw an interview with him and Brian Jennings and by then I had to admit that despite other people claiming that Ahmadinejad is a nut, he is still a captivating speaker “because” he is obviously a thoughtful, articulate, and intelligent man who has a very interesting perspective. Did I agree or disagree with him? To decide that I felt that I should do more research myself and find the facts to help me make a better decision. I know what I had been taught in school and from TV documentaries, but have I done any independent research before other than visit the Tolerance Museum? No, not really. So, from what I have read about wars and other world dealings I have tried to piece some of these things together. And that is what I continue to do to today by reading what I can get my hands on and why I’m currently reading The Ayatollah Begs to Differ to help me get a better or more balanced perspective (if possible).
Okay, so to cut to the chase, the part that gave me pause in the book was a couple paragraphs dealing with “why” Ahmadinejad bothered to bring up the Holocaust. It gave me pause because it was an angle that I had not even considered, and showed again that Ahmadinejad might be more clever than I gave him credit. Well who knows, this could just be totally off the wall, but I find it an interesting angle. I’ll quote the paragraphs below:
“What I wanted to know most from the president’s top media was who among the top echelon of government official had thought, other than Ahmadinejad himself, that organizing a conference on the Holocaust in Tehran (held in the winter of 2006 to wide ridicule mainly outside, but also to some extent inside, Iran) had been a good idea. At least in terms of how the media would see it. Iranians, particularly those who haven’t traveled much outside the country and no matter what their level of education, have very little knowledge, if any, of the Holocaust. Contemporary European and American history is not taught much is schools, films and documentaries on the Holocaust rarely make it to Iran, and books on the Holocaust are rarely translated. It was and is still generally accepted by most Iranians that something very bad happened to European Jews under the Third Reich, but because it didn’t affect or have anything to do with Iran, not even Iranian Jews, who were mostly unaffected by World War II, the Holocaust was rarely thought about by Iranians until their president decided to make it an issue of great import.
“Javanfeker was frozen by the question. He started at me for a very long time, not angrily, but more with a bewildered look in his eyes. . .
“I thought of Fuad, my Jewish-Iranian friend from Los Angeles who had explained to me his perspective on Ahmadinejad’s Holocaust denial with no small measure of admiration for what he saw as the finest example of Persian ta’arouf one-upmanship. Ahmadinejad, Fuad reasoned, had in effect said to the Europeans (and, in a letter, to Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany) that he couldn’t believe that Europeans had been or could be such monsters (and this at a time when Iran was being portrayed as monstrous). ‘You’re not monsters,’ Ahmadinejad was saying. ‘Surely not? Surely you’re a great civilization,’ a sentiment that could only compel the Europeans, and particularly the Germans, to respond in effect, ‘No, no, no we were. We really were monsters. The very worst kind.’ And by further asking why Israel had had to be created by them, he was essentially getting the Europeans to admit that they were entirely capable of genocide again. It didn’t matter, Fuad suggested, that Europeans by and large didn’t squirm, for Iranians and Arabs got the message, if only subconsciously. The Westernized and West-worshipping Middle Easterners whom Ahmadinejad loathes with the same passion as Khomeini did could hear the civilization they so admired shout, loud and clear, ‘Yes, yes, we committed the very worst genocide in history. Only a few years ago, and who knows, we could do it again.’ And Ahmadinejad must have, Fuad said, derived enormous satisfaction in hearing Europeans indignantly insist that their fathers were mass murderers. But Javanfekr was unwilling or unable to explain the thought process behind a Holocaust conference in Tehran, and maybe Fuad had been too generous in his reading of Ahmadinejad’s intentions.”
Hmmm. Of course I wonder how much relevancy that really has to what Ahmadinejad really intended, but it does seem to parallel the current arguments Ahmadinejad has with the U.S. of how we are the only country who has actually “used” nuclear weapons on another country who didn’t have nuclear weapons of their own. Personally, I think that the development of nuclear power may have come directly from Satan. To use it even for nuclear energy, in my opinion, is a Faustian bargain. As much as I think Iran, in principal, probably should be allowed to have their own nuclear program, I wish they wouldn’t for all of our safety (think Chernobyl). And that leaves us between a rock and a hard place.
Marlakins
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05.18.10
Posted in Book Reviews, food and restaurants, hobbies at 9:40 am by Administrator
My longtime girlfriend and I have decided to make a one day a month craft day. We like to meet up at my parents’ house since their house is midway between our houses, and it also gives us a nice excuse to visit with my parents. So we meet up around 11:30AM, go out for a bite to eat, then head back to the house for a day of crafting. For May our craft day was last Sunday and we all went our for dim sum for lunch. I’ll take this moment to put in a plug for Restaurant 88 in San Gabriel. Tasty food at a very reasonable price. Here’s a shot of one of the food carts.
For anyone who isn’t familiar with what dim sum is, it’s basically a Chinese roving buffet. Women roll carts around full of various foods and stop at each table who wants any. If you like what’s in their cart, they’ll just place however many orders on your table that you request and stamp your ticket. At the end, they tally up all the stamps and that’s how they figure out your bill. The nice thing about dim sum is that the orders are small, so you can try lots of different dishes. Here’s an example of what our table looked like at one point. Keep in mind that as you polish off your container, they take it away and more comes, so it’s ever changing.
Usually they have so many dishes that it’s almost impossible to try everything. They also have desserts, but after my AA days, I don’t indulge in those anymore. For that matter, since my AA days, I had even avoided dim sum all together for “years”, and only recently started venturing out again. Here’s another closeup of more dishes.
I especially liked this one, which is veggies wrapped in nappa cabbage.
Now don’t ask me what these dishes are called. While I have eaten them many times in the past, I have no idea what each dish is called. And as a matter of fact, sometimes there is a bit of a language barrier, since these dim sum places are pretty much operated by Chinese, who speak Chinese and tend to have heavy accents. And even so, there are mistakes in translation. Here’s an example of what I mean.
You might ask for a lobster, and they’ll give you a crab, ha ha ha!
So moving right along. After we stuffed ourselves we headed back to the house for our day of crafting. We’ve been working on cross stitch patterns. Here’s an old pattern I made years ago and finally decided to try making it into a small pillow.
Here’s the finished, well, “almost finished” pillow along with the other little cross stitch patterns I’ve worked up. I’m kinda out of practice sewing and kinda winged it to put this pillow together. It’s a bit crooked, heheh, but I’m just going to use it as part of my Christmas decor at home, so no big deal. Plus I think I’m gonna put some cording around it to help dress it up a tad more.
Okay, so I still have a few more pics that I’ll post later because I’m almost finished with another shrug. . . 
and I still have the museum pictures to share from last Friday. We went to the Wende Museum in Culver City, but there is one pic I want to take to add to the post yet, so will hold off until I get that shot. I’m also still reading a couple books that have some info that I think would be interesting to share. The book, The Ayatolla Begs to Differ is turning out to be rather interesting. I’m certainly learning a lot more that I didn’t know, and I also appreciate the different perspective. I know that many cultures think differently, and understanding the culture does help to understand their behavior and decisions. This book helps in that in a funny way because the author has a nice sense of humor.
So until next time, hope all is well!
Marlakins
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05.12.10
Posted in Book Reviews, Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments, Historical Trivia at 9:24 am by Administrator
Like many others, I’ve been keeping an eye on the Gulf oil leak. It’s really heartbreaking to know and think about all the damage being caused and that it’s still not over. The leak is still not contained and who knows how long it will take to contain it. From previous oil spills and leaks, the damages caused have not been fully reversed even after 20 or more years. Specifically, the Exxon Valdez spill 20 years ago; and the off shore oil rig blowout by Santa Barbara, California back in the 60s. It’s my impression that the oil rig blowout that happened in California back in the 60s is what spurred the green-type of movement or the environmentally conscious people here.
We environmentally conscious people tend to get a bad wrap at times as tree-huggers or hippie types, but really, it amazes me more that people aren’t more concerned about their environment. Well, on second thought, people hardly give a second thought as to what foods they’ll pop into their mouths, so why should they give a rats-a about the environment, right? Hmmm.
Anyway, yesterday I came across an interesting article that listed some “Bizarre Man Made Disasters“.
This pit is in Turkmenistan, and the caption in the article reads:
“In the desert in Turkmenistan is a hole 328 ft. wide that has been on fire, continuously, for 38 years. In 1971, a Soviet drilling rig accidentally punched into a massive underground natural gas cavern, causing the ground to collapse and the entire drilling rig to fall in. Poisonous fumes began leaking from the hole. To head off a potential deadly catastrophe, the Soviets set the hole aflame.”
There’s actually a list of about 11 places, the last one included being the Zone of Alienation in Chernobyl. I actually blogged about that on another post not to long ago. Actually, that’s the second disaster site cited on the article related to nuclear contamination, the other being in the Marshall Islands as a result of nuclear testing back in the 70s and still radioactive today. Which brings me to the article I read today that Russia and Turkey are schedule for some talks, part of which deals with building Turkey’s first nuclear plant. . . grrrr. The full article is titled “Russia weighs Turkey energy deal“.
Okay, okay, I understand that it’s for energy purposes, but I can’t believe that all the bright minds in the world can’t think of a better, safer option? I understand that Iran claims to want their nuclear program for energy as well, and on the grounds of principal, I can agree. But I just don’t like nuclear energy. The disaster in Chernobyl should be warning enough, not to mention all the nuclear waste sites that are growing and rendering our lands uninhabitable.
Anyway, I continue to just read and try to keep myself informed. What else can I do? I’m still going through Dark Sun, the Making of the Hydrogen Bomb. It’s taking me forever! And then I just recently picked up The Ayatolla Begs to Differ, by Hooman Majd. Not only is this book supposedly helpful in understanding some of Iran’s culture, but also helps to explain their tenacity of their nuclear power program. Maybe I’ll eventually blog about what I find there.
Marlakins
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04.07.10
Posted in Book Reviews, Historical Trivia, History at 6:31 pm by Administrator
The Day We Lost the H-Bomb by Barbara Moran turned out to be a very captivating read for me. Her writing style was very clear and easy to follow and included many interesting details that helped bring her story to life. While I did enjoy reading her book and learned a lot of interesting facts about how the military operates in some situations, some technical information regarding nuclear fusion, the history of the downed B-52 in 1966 carrying four nuclear warheads as well as other things, I do have to comment that in the beginning of the book I found some errors that made me cautious about the accuracy of the book. I’m a stickler for details and accuracy, so when just on page 12 and 13 I found some inaccuracies, I continued reading with caution keeping in mind that while the story is based on true events, the “exact” details may be off. I mean how can a lay person like myself know the difference without checking everything out myself?
So what inaccuracy did I find? On page 12 Moran wrote,
“. . . On August 7, 1945, U.S.forces dropped an atomic bomb named ‘Little Boy’ on the city of Hiroshima. “
From many other sources, it’s been recorded that it was August 6, 1945 when the U.S. dropped Little Boy on Hiroshima. But she goes on stating,
“Nine days later, they dropped a second, ‘Fat Man,’ on Nagasaki. That evening the Japanese surrendered. The war was over.”
No, many other sources claim that it was “three” days later, August 9, 1945, that Fat Man was dropped on Nagasaki. And again, no, the Japanese didn’t surrender that evening. It was “six days later” that Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945 and signed the surrender on September 2, 1945. That’s three big mistakes made in four short lines in Moran’s book. Three details that are easily verifiable through many other sources. Hmmm. Definitely something that makes one reading her book think “maybe” she’s not such a stickler for details. Proceed with caution. One might argue that those are small discrepancies, but I would beg to differ considering many people justify that the second bomb (Fat Man) had to be dropped because the Japanese refused to surrender. Well in light of the fact that they dropped Fat Man on Nagasaki only three days (not 9 days) after Hiroshima would show that Japan didn’t have much time to react, much less time to “refuse” to surrender. Consider that communications was wiped out. How could they even communicate and determine the damages in Hiroshima in three short days and then refuse to surrender? In three short days they probably didn’t even know what hit them being that it was the first nuclear bomb ever dropped on a city. Even after the second bomb was dropped it took Japan “six” days more to surrender. Why didn’t the U.S. just drop another bomb then? My guess is because they didn’t have another atomic bomb to drop otherwise they very well might have dropped another one even tho there were only about three cities left in Japan the hadn’t already been bombed. It’s been written that the U.S. had used all their nuclear fuel on hand at the time with those two bombs. Also Curtis LeMay’s forces had already been firebombing other cities in Japan for months with napalm beforehand killing more civilians than both Little Boy and Fat man. The civilian casualties didn’t seem to be an issue. I’m guessing the key focus was on an “unconditional” surrender, since there are accounts that Japan was trying to negotiate a surrender months prior to the dropping of both Little Boy and Fat Man.
The rest of the book ran very well considering I didn’t know of any other facts that were obvious errors. In short, Moran describes the events back in January of 1966 when a mid-air collision between a B-52 and a refueling plane sent the two planes crashing down on Palomares, a small town in Spain. While the crash itself was a story worthy for headlines, the more troubling detail was that the B-52 was carrying four nuclear warheads that needed to be recovered. The good news was the three were recovered shortly after the crash and had not detonated, although two had spread radioactive material on the tomato fields of some farmers. The fourth nuclear warhead was nowhere to be found, thus troops and a whole operation of divers and scientists were employed to scour the land and the ocean for that fourth missing nuclear warhead. It took about four months to finally find and retrieve the fourth nuclear warhead, which ended up about 2,800 feet on the ocean floor. In the end, the Navy billed the Air Force $6.5 million to search and recover the bomb, including soil transport of the contaminated radioactive soil. 4,800 barrels of contaminated soil were shipped to the Savannah River nuclear processing center in South Carolina. Moran writes that, “the Navy calculated that its total cost was actually higher: $10,230,744 or $126,305 per day. It was the most expensive salvage operation in history.” Amongst the villagers there were more than 500 claimants and were paid $555,456.45 in damages. Every year, about 150 residents of Palomares travel to Madrid–all expenses paid–for complete physical examinations, including urine testing for plutonium. So far, at least 1,029 people have received more than 4,000 medical and dosimetric examination. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, these tests show that about 5 % of the people studied carry plutonium in their bodies. A study done in 2007 surprised scientists as they found the plutonium contamination in Palomares was higher and more widespread than they had suspected, and several areas they had considered clean were contaminated with americium, a product of plutonium disintegration. In 2008 was another surprise discovery of two trenches containing radioactive debris left by the Americans. Construction was restricted as a result and the contamination area was widened. No remediation plan has been established as of yet.
Anyway, there was so much more to the story of this book. For anyone interested in nuclear history or even just a good “suspense” story, I recommend Barbara Moran’s The Day We Lost the H-Bomb. There’s information about nuclear fusion, some history regarding the Strategic Air Command, some discussion about the political tensions between Spain and the U.S., etc. Interesting, interesting book. There are people who use this story to support both sides of the nuclear disarmament controversy. We need to educate ourselves so that we can better understand the issues and concepts that we support. We should not be ignorant of such important issues since nuclear energy has the potential to impact everyone in the world. If we don’t take the effort to voice our opinions, other people less informed or even less careful or more radical will make decisions for us.
Marlakins
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03.15.10
Posted in Book Reviews, History at 4:04 pm by Administrator
After reading A Slow Death: 83 Days of Radiation Sickness, I did what I usually do after reading what I consider to be a good book–check out Amazon to see what other books other people read who also read the same book I did. From that handy service, I came across Atomic America by Todd Tucker.
One thing I like to keep in mind when I read books or articles dealing with controversial topics is what bent does the author have? Many times authors will have a specific agenda, but so long as the information they impart is valid and pertinent, I’m okay with reading their material. I just try to keep in mind that they may have a particular bias. From reading the inside leaf of the dust jacket of Atomic America I found that Todd Tucker served as an officer with the U.S. Navy’s nuclear submarine force. Since my particular bias has been against using nuclear energy, I thought Tucker’s insight as an officer working in the nuclear field would give me an interesting perspective of the other side. I also felt that since he specifically worked with the military’s nuclear force, he would have a more educated view of nuclear energy.
Tucker’s book did not disappoint. Not only did I learn many things about nuclear energy, particularly some history of how it evolved in the U.S. through the military branches and the public sector, but also learned of the first fatal nuclear reactor incident in American history–the SL-1 explosion in Idaho Falls on January 3, 1961.
Until I read Atomic America, I had never heard of SL-1, nor known of the three men who died from that nuclear accident. Their story, though true and aside from the rumors of two to the men’s uncontrolled passions, is stuff of science fiction novels and movies. To think that the bodies of these three men were so radioactive after the explosion that they had to be buried in lead caskets sounds like a story straight out of a sci-fi movie or a Marvel comic book. The shocking reality is that it was not from a fictional movie, but an event that happened in real life. These men have real graves of which can be visited today. Each cemetery for their grave sites has a special agreement with the military that since there is radioactive remains (parts of the victims’ bodies contaminated with long-life radioactive isotopes) interred at the cemetery, “under no circumstances will the body be moved from this location without prior approval of the Atomic Energy Commission in consultation with this headquarters.” Oh. My. Other parts of their bodies were too radioactive and were thus “severed” and buried separately in a radioactive waste site in Idaho Falls.
It could be easily tempting to run with such a sensational story as the SL-1 explosion, but Tucker did a nice job of retelling the story while at the same time trying to look levelly at the various angles of what was thought to have really happened and also chronicling the history and uses of nuclear energy to help put the SL-1 reactor in historical perspective. Tucker shares the history of Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, aka the father of the nuclear Navy, and how Rickover was very instrumental in allowing the public sector in on the uses and development of nuclear power. I appreciate from Tucker’s writing how he respects the hazards of nuclear energy. He does highlight many of it’s positive uses, but also examines the idea that a nuclear power plant can be inherently safe. Tucker quotes Rickover’s testimony before Congress regarding the Three Mile Island investigation wherein he stated:
“Admiral Rickover: I do not believe that nuclear power is worth it, if it creates radiation. Then you might ask me, why do I have nuclear powered ships? That’s a necessary evil. I would sink them all. Have I given you an answer to your question?
“Senator Proxmire: Youve certainly given me a surprising answer. I didn’t expect it and it’s very logical.
“Admiral Rickover: Why wouldn’t you expect it?
“Senator Proxmire: Well, I hadn’t felt that somebody who’s been as close to nuclear power as you have and who’s been so expert in it and advanced it so greatly would point out that, as you say, its destroys life.
“Admiral Rickover: I’m not proud. . .
“Senator Proxmire: Without eliminating it or reducing it many, mnay years ago, we couldn’t have had life on earth. It’s fascinating.
“Admiral Rickover: I’m not proud of the part I’ve played in it. I did it because it was necessary for the safety of this country. That’s why I’m such a great exponent of stopping this whole nonsense of war.”
I give Todd Tucker’s Atomic America two thumbs up. Definitely a good read for anyone interested in nuclear issues. I can see how nuclear proponents have used global warming to help them push their agendas, but personally I still think the risk is too high. It’s one thing to pollute the environment, but a totally different level to create wastelands that would remain dangerously radioactive for centuries.
I’ve already checked out Amazon for more related books, and have picked out my next book–The Day We Lost the H Bomb: Cold War, Hot Nukes, and the Worst Nuclear Weapons Disaster in History by Barbara Moran. Let’s see where that one leads.
Marlakins
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