A New Friday Furo Questus Is Up

Questus Furore -
Look Lady, I'm Not Looking To Get Married, I Just Want A Second Date

What a lousy week.

Not that anything terribly bad happened. No major illness, accident, or tragedy befell me. In the grand sense of things, life is good. I'm still breathing, I live in happy and healthy surroundings, and nothing has occurred to make me doubt I will live out the next fifty or so years the actuarial tables predict.

Rather, my ego is being dealt the death of a thousand cuts. Minor setbacks and failings at work, at home, and in my abilities to manage my money, my health, and my romantic life, have all combined in a perversely well-organized combination so as to cause me to question not just one aspect of my life, but everything. And nothing scares an anal-retentive person so much as to have everything go quietly to hell all at once...

[For the rest of The Friday Furo Questus, please follow this link to The Wasatch Front.]

Nordlinger - Purpose Of An Open Mind

Another Nordlinger gem from today:

“A quick shift to the Alito hearings? There are a million things to discuss, but I'd like to focus on one. Sen. Richard Durbin, the Democratic giant from Illinois, said that Judge Alito was a man with "a mind that, sadly, is closed in some instances." Really? This is shocking, given that Alito is 55 years old. Anyone who hasn't closed his mind on certain matters by that time has weird problems.

“I'm reminded of something I heard Bill Buckley say, many years ago: The purpose of an open mind is to close it, on particular subjects. If you never do — you've simply abdicated the responsibility to think.”

Jay Nordlinger - The Marsh Arabs

Jay Nordlinger weighs in on the Marsh Arabs, as well as the Alito hearings and Harry Belafonte, among other things, over at NRO today. Worth reading. Here's one gem:

One could go on — and I have much more to say in that NR piece I've mentioned. But I'd like to close with this. Last week, I was talking to an Iraqi-born scholar who works in Washington, Nimrod Raphaeli. He is affiliated with the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). I asked why the Coalition forces receive so little credit on the Marsh Arab front. He answered,

"People should give the invasion credit for a lot of things. I often say to journalists, 'Just look at the Iraqi press. Look at freedom of association, look at freedom of speech.' These things never existed in Iraq. This is one occupation that brought freedom, not oppression; that brought freedom, not censorship. Where else do you find a military occupation that encourages a free press? This is a unique occupation."

Dr. Raphaeli continued: "People look only at the bad things. People forget that Iraqis can go out and demonstrate — against the government, against the Americans, against anyone. Before, Saddam commanded 100 percent of the vote! People can go out and buy newspapers from the extreme left to the extreme right, including classical communism. I can go on and on about the changes that have taken place in Iraq."

But those positive changes must remain unremarked, lest anyone think that the war has done some good. American security has been enhanced, and so has Western security generally. In the bargain, a lot of people have been liberated.

That's a very good bargain.

You've heard me say it before about Afghanistan: Many, many people would rather homosexuals be crushed to death, according to the Taliban's law, than that they suffer the indignity of being freed by George Bush and the U.S. military.

And many, many people would rather that Marsh Arabs choke on sand.

As I said earlier, funny old world, and often not so funny.

Mt. Augustine Awakens

A webcam image from the AVO, showing Mt. Augustine. Bad weather day, as clouds obscure the top of the mountain - not ash. But under the clouds, you can see brown "rivers" coming down the mountain. Those are lahars, mudflows consisting of ash and melted snow.

From the Alaska Volcano Observatory:

Unrest continues at Augustine Volcano and additional eruptive activity could occur at any time.

AVO recorded two discrete explosions at the summit of Augustine Volcano this morning at 4:44 a.m. and 5:13 a.m. (AST) and responded by changing the level of concern color code from ORANGE to RED. Satellite data confirm that an ash cloud was produced and in collaboration with the National Weather Service (NWS), the height of the cloud was estimated at 30,000 feet above sea level. NWS and AVO are tracking the ash plume which has detached from the vent and is presently drifting to the north and east of Augustine. As of about 10:45 a.m. (AST), the ash cloud has moved little since this morning and is about 30 mi (50 km) east and 45 mi (72 km) north of the volcano. An ash-fall advisory was issued by the NWS at 6:44 a.m. (AST) for the west side of Cook Inlet north of Augustine Island and remains in effect until 2:00 p.m. (AST). AVO has received no confirmed reports of ash fall.

Web camera views of the lower flanks of the volcano indicate that small volcanic mudflows (lahars) have formed and extend to about 500 feet above sea level. These flows pose no hazard beyond Augustine Island.

Seismicity has decreased significantly since the explosions, however, it is likely that stronger seismicity and further volcanic activity will resume.

There is no tsunami hazard associated with the current level of activity.

If the volcano follows a pattern similar to the 1976 and 1986 eruptions, we would expect a further intensification of seismic activity prior to similar or larger explosive events. It is also possible that an explosive eruption could occur with little or no warning.

AVO is monitoring the situation closely and will issue further updates as new information and analyses become available.

For more, check the AVO, or the brief piece I did before Christmas here.