Chocolate and melting ice will kill ya

Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in Environmental awareness worldwide. Yeah, he shares it with the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change but its Gore's. He has pledged to donate his portion of the $1.5M prize to the Alliance for Climate Protection. He reiterated his comments about his position about climate change by saying”The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity.” He also cited an African proverb to relate the challenge of environmental concern: “If you want to quickly, you go alone. If you want to go far, you go together.”

There was, of course, no mention by Gore that he would seek the Democratic Nomination for President. To be honest, Bill Clinton has proved that to effect real change you need to step outside the state agencies and offices such as the President of the United States. Clinton's Initiative has jump started lots of things like removing junk food from schools. Gore has found his cause and it is not a political one. These two men, regardless of what their politics are great leaders and able to inspire others to change conditions throughout the world.

In other news, Turkey is weighing its options on invading Northern Iraq. This is no doubt a retaliatory remark considering the resolution that will likely go before the House of Representatives. There have been rallies in Istanbul protesting the move in the US. So, does Turkey really mean they will invade the unofficial Kurdistan in retaliation for our legislature's decision to condemn a heinous 92-year-old massacre? Should we call their bluff? Is this the beginning of Congress growing a spin e in essence testing how much effect they have in foreign affairs? What does the Israel Lobby think of all this? Do they even care?

I can only say that this is poorly timed. Congress may be thinking that if they start issues with Turkey which may seriously restrict our ability to wage war in Iraq, they may be able to expedite our withdrawal. However, I think this only lays us prone to a far deeper international quagmire.

Moving on, the “Butcher of Depayin“, General Soe Win of Myanmar is dead at 59 after a long illness believed to be Leukemia. The General was also the Prime Minister in the Militarily governed and beleaguered state of Myanmar, also known as Burma. He is most known for his attack on Democratic opposition and its leader most notably, its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi in 2003. This may create some interesting changes in the Junta's grasp of power in the Asian country.

Lastly, it appears that people may crave chocolate according to the types of microbes and the amount in their intestines. Scientists think they may be able to manipulate the bacteria in someone's gut to get people to lose weight. Anyways...

On this day, in 1492, Christopher Columbus made landfall, just like a hurricane, in the Bahamas. He was entirely convinced he reached East Asia. He believed to the his death.

Still this day does not exist in 1582 for Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain. Stupid Julian Calendar!!!

In 1692, the Salem Witch Trials were finally concluded. There was no one left to burn, hang or drown.

In 1792, we started celebrating Columbus day in New York. There was no ticker tape parade.

In 1810, the Bavarian royalty invited the residents of Munich to celebrate a royal wedding betwixt Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria and Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. It is the first Oktoberfest.

In 1901, then President Theodore Roosevelt (yes the other one) renamed the executive mansion the White House. There was even an executive order about this. Why would this be so important? Because Executive Mansion sounds elitist and far above and outside the realm of the common working man whom were much more common then they are now. The White House sounds far more common and less aggrandizing.

In 1915, English Nurse Edith Cavell was executed by German firing squad for helping hundreds of Allied soldiers escape German-occupied Belgium to the Netherlands which was neutral. She was working for the Red Cross and this supposedly violated Military Law. The UK felt it was powerless to help her cause and actually believed they would hurt it. She was reburied in Life's Green in England where a memorial service is held every year on this date. Her name became popular to in France and Belgium after her death. Édith Piaf, who was born two months after the execution, is one very famous example.

In 1941, on this day as well as the next, the Germans, now the Nazis, massacred 11,000 Jews in Dnipropetrovsk (Дніпропетровськ ), Ukraine. They marched them to a ravine and then shot them there. Of the city's 80,000 Jews before the war, only 15 survived to the end of the war.

In 1960, Nikita Khrushchev, premier of the USSR, delivers his shoe banging speech at the United Nations General Assembly and declares “We will bury you”. This meant that the USSR would outlast the US. Their government would be there to bury ours.

In 1962, there was a Columbus Day storm in the Northwest that killed 48. It was known for its ferocious winds.

In 1972, there was a racial brawl of more than 100 sailors aboard the the carrier the USS Kitty Hawk as it sailed for the Gulf Tionkin.

In 1979, Typhoon Tip records the lowest atmospheric pressure not related to tornadic activity in the Pacific.

In 2000, due to two terrorist bombers in Aden, Yemen, a hole was rent in the hull of the USS Cole (I believe it was the larboard or port side) and 17 sailors died, one of whom was a friend of mine and fellow basic trainee. Thirty nine others were wounded. The evidence supports that al-Qaeda was responsible.

And finally, France passed a law on this day a year ago making denial of the Armenian Genocide a crime. Ho ho ho [the French “Ho ho ho”].

Good Night and Good Luck.