Travel - Gettysburg

I went with my dad this weekend to visit my aunt and uncle in York, PA and while out that way took a day trip to Gettysburg. As someone who studied history it is a bit sad to admit that this was my first time being there, but it brought to me the even sadder realization that there are a ton of sites in the area that I have just never gotten around to. Oh well, perhaps I'll find the time to make a quick trip to Valley Forge before heading down DC ways. Anyway, beyond that little realization, the entire weekend was very good, very relaxing, and now I'm back for a few days before heading down to New Orleans. I know, a difficult life, but that will all be changing in a few weeks.
These are a couple of pictures from atop Little Round Top, a site where some of the battle's most significant fighting took place, and aside from strategic importance offers a very nice view.

News - Annan's Claims Unraveling?

I was rather shocked and disturbed Tuesday when I read a news report stating that a UN post had apparently been hit by the Israelis, killing 4. I was then also shocked to see this followed up by a statement from Kofi Annan referring to the incident as a "deliberate targeting by Israeli Defense Forces." It seemed unusual and perhaps unfair to make such a judgment and strong condemnation of one side so quickly. Now it is starting to look like I may have been right.

Perhaps I should have added another question to my previous post: who uses the UN as shields?

News - Middle East Crisis

It has now been 2 weeks since the outbreak of violence in Lebanon and Israel and as the fighting rages civilian casualties and suffering continue to mount. The worst violence has fallen on Lebanon, resulting in countless calls for a ceasefire and criticism of Israel throughout the international community. However, I feel a few basic questions might be asked to help one determine who really deserves the blame and responsibility for the humanitarian crisis now unfolding.

1. Who provoked this war by first invading a sovereign state and then killing and capturing its soldiers? (Something that has been done multiple times in the past as well)
2. Who amassed a massive arsenal, that was estimated to include 12,000 rockets and missiles at the start of the conflict, while devoted to the elimination of an entire nation? (All while, according to the UN, they were supposed to be disarmed)
3. Who indiscriminately fires on military and civilian targets alike?
4. Who completely disregards human life by utilizing citizens, even women and children, as human shields; blending in among civilians and using homes and apartment buildings for military headquarters and weapons storage?

Travel - Always a good decision

After my last day at work on Friday I took a trip up to Boston for the weekend to visit some friends from college. Despite all the driving it was still a good weekend all in all. I got to see a bunch of people at a party Saturday night, visited the campus and saw some of the additions that have been made since I was last up there (mainly a giant statue of St. Ignatius Loyola), and even picked up a much needed Boston College hoodie.
Unfortunately the weather kept us from following through on plans to spend a day on the cape, so instead my friend Doug and I did a tour at the Sam Adams Brewery.
While Sam Adams may not be my favorite brewer (still has some good ones), the tour did give me a new found appreciation for the fact that I was not around drinking beer 20-30 years ago. Thanks to the microbrewing revolution I never have to worry about going to the bar and finding nothing to choose from beyond Bud, Coors, and Miller, which is a very good thing.
With that said I'm going to wrap up this session by pointing you in the direction of the most recent podcast at http://instapundit.com/archives/cat_podcasts.php where they actually have a pretty interesting discussion about beer and brewing (from July 17).

News- Lost in the shuffle

Across the world these last couple of weeks there have been explosions and eruptions of chaos from the Middle East to Afghanistan and North Korea: subjects that I will hopefully have more time to address soon. Amidst all of that you may have missed it when this evening it was announced that Indian authorities have detained 6 people tied to last week's terrorist attacks in Mumbai. I wanted to address this briefly for the simple reason that Mumbai has almost been lost in the background, at least in the western media, with all that is now occuring. But we should not forget these horrific "Madrid-style" train bombings, which left 197 dead and 800 others injured. Events like this should make it clear that terrorism and Islamist extremism are not merely American or Israeli problems as some make them out to be, but much broader issues that must be recognized and dealt with by the world as a whole.

News - Gore

I never would have believed I’d be writing this say 5 years ago, but I’ve really come to admire and respect Al Gore. Recently it seems that Al Gore has been showing up everywhere: the movie theatre, magazines ranging from Giant, to Wired, to Rolling Stone, and even a hilarious SNL skit earlier this year (which are few and far between anymore). And there seems to have been a change in him, which I actually take as sincere this time around.

My biggest problem with Al Gore was never so much a matter of politics (though I had and still have several issues, not least being his foreign policy stances) as it was a matter of character. I never felt I could trust him because it seemed that above all else he was obsessed by the need to be President, probably rooted in a desire to surpass his father, the famous Senator, and would pretty much do or say whatever it took (This is something that I found to be pretty well described a few years back in the book The Perfect Tie: The True Story of the 2000 Presidential Election with its chapter titled “The Four Faces of Al Gore”). Beyond that, as we all know, Gore was never what one would call a charismatic figure and hardly inspired.

But all that seems to have changed. He appears motivated, energized, and fervently devoted to championing a cause that had been in desperate need of a champion, global warming. At times it baffles me to see people doubt or simply disregard what is a very real and very serious issue, but Al Gore is on a mission to change that.

His greatest push in doing so is the documentary An Inconvenient Truth, which I went to see at the theater last night. The film really does a fantastic job of getting the message across and the reality that is shown both visually and statistically is overwhelming, . Of course, it may not be as entertaining as say Pirates of the Caribbean, which I saw last weekend "savy?", but the message is too important to miss, and even despite the seriousness of the subject Gore should manage to get you to laugh at least once or twice.

Gaming - Everyone's favorite Italian Plumber

15 years. That’s how long it has been since the last true 2D Mario game came out. At least that was true until this May when Nintendo released New Super Mario Bros for the Nintendo DS. For anybody who grew up playing Super Mario, such as myself, this new entry in the series is a must (and if you didn’t and enjoy playing video games at all go out and get yourself an NES/SNES with Mario now).

While every previous Super Mario Game has evolved the franchise with New Super Mario Bros. Nintendo really has opted to go back to basics. Granted various characters and gameplay elements from all the previous games have been included, even the 3D ones (triple jump and wall jumps for example) and there are even some new gameplay additions, most notably Mega Mario and Shell Mario. But ultimately I think the look and feel of the game will remind people more of the original Super Mario Bros than anything, which is in no way a bad thing (except perhaps for the lack of Yoshi).

In terms of controls and gameplay it is classic Mario. Everything from the plot to save the princess to the world layout and the koopas and goombas should look very familiar. Perhaps most important the controls are spot on and should feel natural almost immediately to any fan of the series. One thing that I was especially happy to find is that Nintendo did not throw in any DS specific features just for the sake of using say the touch screen or microphone. While the DS’s special features have opened up all sorts of new gameplay opportunities it is good to see that Nintendo realizes they don’t have to use them just for the sake of using them.

When it comes down to it New Super Mario Bros. is just fun. Like any 2D Super Mario Bros game you could probably beat it rather quickly if you wanted to, but you are going to want to go back and explore all the secrets to really take advantage of the game. That and it is simply fun to pick up and play a level or 2 from time to time. I should note that Nintendo has also included some multi-player options, but I, unfortunately, have been unable to try them out yet.

Score 9.5 (Out of 10 by increments of .5)

Speaking of Italians (though not really). Viva Italia and congrats on the World Cup win!!! If anyone knows please tell me this, what the hell was Zidane thinking?

Gaming – Play Super Monkey Ball, Save Lives

Despite what some politicians may have led you to believe, it seems video games may not be all bad after all. A recent study actually found that surgeons who played video games like Super Monkey Ball (a great game in its own right. The original is arguably the most played party game among me and my friends) prior to performing certain surgical drills performed better and faster than those who had not. These results supported an earlier study by the lead investigator, Dr. James “Butch” Rosser, which suggested “playing video games sharpened eye-hand coordination, reaction time and visual skills.” So it seems the message here is to start playing some Super Monkey Ball and save lives… or you may at least want to ask your surgeon to.