Syria

Jul. 20th, 2012 08:34 am
randy_byers: (2010-08-15)
The online New York Times has this headline today: "U.N. Refugee Agency Reports Worsening Situation in Syria". This reminded me that a couple of weeks ago I learned that the work-study student in our office is originally from Iraq. A bunch of co-workers had lunch together recently, and he told us that his family fled to Jordan from Baghdad in 2003, then moved to the U.S. in 2006. They had applied to go to San Francisco but ended up in Bellevue instead.

I felt hesitant to ask him many questions, but at some point we were talking about the Iraqi refugee population. I asked him how the Iraqi refugees were doing in Syria, and he said, "They've all gone back to Iraq." I asked where they were living, and he said that most of them didn't have anywhere to move back to, it's just that the situation in Syria is now even more awful than it is in Iraq.
randy_byers: (2010-08-15)
Just spoke with Ron on the phone, and he says the Hudson has receded, leaving their basement full of mud. He was not washed out to sea. Power is still out, but there's hope it will be restored by the end of the day.

Illogic

Oct. 26th, 2009 11:03 am
randy_byers: (2009-05-10)
If you believe the rumors -- and considering how widespread they are, you probably should ...

-- Alex Koppelman, "White House, Reid hug it out over public option"

Political reporting in this country is for the most part really, really stupid, and this is a good example of the stupidity. Honestly, rumors become more trustworthy the more widespread they are? I think part of the problem is that most reporters (and most of us reading the news) know fuck-all about political strategy and are therefore reduced to chasing rumors. The thing that's amazing, however, is that no matter how often the rumors turn out to be false, the chase continues. You know, Lucy is always going to pull the football away at the last minute! There are a lot of people spreading disinformation, and you'd think that reporters would eventually learn this. Apparently there's a pay-off for helping to spread the disinformation.

For health care coverage reform, the best analyst continues to be BooMan at BooMan Tribune. He has the best grasp on the political strategy behind the reform effort that I've run across, and he doesn't get spun by the latest rumors.
randy_byers: (2009-05-10)
Professional Copy and Print, the printshop on 42nd and the Ave, has been gutted by fire. Everything inside is destroyed, and the area reeks of burnt chemicals and plastic. What's amazing is that the fire appears to have been contained within that space. None of the apartments above seem to have been burned, and Bulldog News, which abuts it to the north, is also undamaged except for the stench of smoke.

I got my last passport photo taken in that shop. I think I also printed Travels with the Wild Child there in 1996, although I may be misremembering.

My first thought was to wonder if the Taliban set fire to place. The idea is a bizarre non sequitur even to myself! I've always assumed that the place was run by Pakistanis, but I actually have pretty much no reason to believe that. They have a sub-continental accent, but that's about the extent of my fact base. This is the danger of an overly active imagination, I guess. Say, isn't Obama Pakistani? I hear he reads Urdu poetry.

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