Tuesday, March 25, 2003
Now Mongolia appears to be part of the "Coalition" fighting with the USA in Iraq. Maureen Dowd pointed this out in the NYTimes, but I thought she was just being her usual facetious self. But see the White House Web Page, which lists Mongolia among its Allies, right along with other M-powers Macedonia, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands.
Speaking of Mongolians, and since US forces are at the moment approaching Baghdad, this seems to be a good time to re-post Saddam's January 17th Speech in which he called Americans "The New Mongols" and implied that George Bush was the New Hulegu. Hulegu you will recall was Chingis Khan's grandson who sacked Baghdad in 1258.
Speaking of Mongolians, and since US forces are at the moment approaching Baghdad, this seems to be a good time to re-post Saddam's January 17th Speech in which he called Americans "The New Mongols" and implied that George Bush was the New Hulegu. Hulegu you will recall was Chingis Khan's grandson who sacked Baghdad in 1258.
Friday, March 21, 2003
For a blog out of Baghdad see Bloghdad. It is unclear who this guy is and how much longer he will be able to post but for the moment it is interesting. Even with cruise missiles whipping around you still got to go out and buy a loaf of bread. I can just hear the wife hollering, “And get a liter of milk too! And don't stop at the tea house on the way back!" I wonder if they are stilll selling lottery tickets.
Well, it has finally arrived. No, not the war (of course that has arrived too). I mean Spring. Here in Mongolia Spring officially starts at 9:00 am sharp. It is just a coincidence that this year the spring equinox falls right on the hour. Also, for all of you who tried to balance eggs at the moment of the equinox, forget it. As Sky and Telescope, says, "Eggs do not balance on end more easily at the equinox than at other times! Actual tests have demolished this bit of New Age goofiness; the ability of eggs to balance depends on tiny irregularities on their shells (and the persistence of the would-be balancer!), not on what day it is. This perennial silly-season story has nothing to do with how eggs balance."
At 9:00 am here in Mongolia it is a balmy 24 degrees F. As far as I can tell that has been no reaction whatsoever here about the start of the war in Iraq. This is of course of Buddhist country so the religion factor doesn't much enter into the picture - no one is calling for either Crusades or Jihads - and the local media doesn't seem to be making a big deal out of it. Of course it is still early . . .
At 9:00 am here in Mongolia it is a balmy 24 degrees F. As far as I can tell that has been no reaction whatsoever here about the start of the war in Iraq. This is of course of Buddhist country so the religion factor doesn't much enter into the picture - no one is calling for either Crusades or Jihads - and the local media doesn't seem to be making a big deal out of it. Of course it is still early . . .
Monday, March 10, 2003
Tuesday, March 04, 2003
Was I heralding the arrival of Spring a few posts back? This morning it's back down to 20 below 0 F (that's 29 below 0 C for you Europeans who insist on being different). Bad news for the street people, of whom there seems to be more and more of everyday in Ulaan Baatar. Totally destitute people are migrating here from the countryside, which has been experiencing horrific droughts and huge die-offs of livestock. And it probably isn't going to get better. See Extreme Weather on the Rise!
Monday, March 03, 2003
As noted below my Mongolian soothsayer says the war with Iraq will start on March 18. London bookies, who are taking bets on when the war will start, are giving the odds for the war starting the weekend of March 8-9 at 3 to 2. For the following weekend, March 15-16 the odds are 7 to 4. For the whole story see You Can Bet on It: Playing the Odds on War. The odds on Saddam being dead by June 30th are 3 to 2. If you want to place your own bets go Here or Here. Both of these are sports betting sites so it now appears that war is a sport. I am tempted to say that this whole thing is starting to look like a remake of Apocalypse Now but clearly we are moving into new, uncharted territory here.
Saturday, March 01, 2003
You may have noticed in the news that blogger.com has been bought out by google.com. If you haven't see Blogger Gets Googled. Apparently now we will all have to start bloogling. Is this progress?
Friday, February 28, 2003
Heard enough of armchair generals, barstool diplomats, pie-eyed pundits, and cut-rate Nostrodamases venting on the war with Iraq? Then read this rant about why everyone should, in the words of the author, "Shut your goddamn pieholes". Having just returned from north China, I think this expression should be modified to "Shut your noodle chutes!" Or for those people in the Alleghany Mountains, “Shut your damn beer drains!"
Well, it looks like George "Hulegu" Bush is going to roll the dice on this Iraq thing. I consulted one of Ulaan Baatar's famous fortune tellers yesterday and this person informed me that the US will invade Iraq on March 18. This person refused to comment on the outcome, but did point out that the ancient city of Baghdad was built in the shape of an enneagon, a figure with nine sides. So what we have here is a struggle between Saddam in his Enneagon and Donald "Rummie" Rumsfeld in his Pentagon. For the connection between the Assassins, who were wiped out by Hulegu in 1256, and enneagons see Here. By the way, it's back down to 15 below 0 F this morning: so much for the imminent arrival of spring.
Thursday, February 20, 2003
It's a Heat Wave! (cue up Martha and the Vandellas). It got up to 34 degrees F. (that's 1 degree above 0 for you Europeans) yesterday afternoon. I think this is the first time it has gotten above freezing this year. Women have reappeared from behind their scarves and furs . . . But that does not mean it has not been a bad winter, and it could still get worse: See here for an Update on the fourth-in-a-row catastrophic winter here in Mongolia.
Science Update: See the latest Blow to Darwinism.
Science Update: See the latest Blow to Darwinism.
Wednesday, February 19, 2003
Someone asked me what I am reading now . . . At the moment The Gardens of Light by Amin Maalouf. Just finished Maalouf's Samarkand. You might also be interested in The Assassin Legends: Myths of the Isma'ilis. See a Furious Rejoinder to those who have had the gall to compare Hassan Sabbah to Osama bin Laden. More details on these books in a moment . . .
