On What Happened in 2003

Somehow we were sent to invade a nation because it was a direct threat to the American people, or to the world, or harbored terrorists, or was involved in the September 11 attacks, or received weapons-grade uranium from Niger, or had mobile weapons labs, or WMD, or had a need to be liberated, or we needed to establish a democracy, or stop an insurgency, or stop a civil war we created that can’t be called a civil war even though it is.

-- Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran Kevin Tillman

Convicted Felon and Republican Congressman

Bob Ney (R-$$) has decided not to give up his house seat, reports the New York Times. "In his guilty plea last week, Mr. Ney admitted to taking many gifts from Mr. Abramoff, including a 2002 golfing trip to Scotland by private jet, and then lying about them in his financial disclosure forms.

To the dismay of House colleagues eager to remove him as a symbol of the corruption scandals that are tarring several Republican candidates in next month’s Congressional elections, Mr. Ney, defying House leaders, has refused to step down for now, insisting that he owes his staff and his constituents a few more weeks of his time."

This is Really Cool

Foreign Languages are Funny

Newlyweds

Newlyweds
Originally uploaded by chintanamin.

Family weddings are so fun. This weekend, we had a great time at my cousin Shan's wedding in New Jersey. Here's a picture of the four of us, all newlyweds!

Louvre Revelations at the High Museum

The High Museum is exhibiting a bevy of works from its sister museum, the world-famous Louvre. And the show is apparently bringing new insight to works by some of the masters:

When workers at the High Museum of Art uncrated a famous painting by Rembrandt for the upcoming Louvre Atlanta exhibit, curator David Brenneman was astonished at what he saw. The High's new light-filled galleries illuminated something in "Saint Matthew and the Angel" he'd never noticed before, even when he'd carefully viewed the 1661 painting at its home in Paris' Louvre museum: The angel has a wing. It was a detail unseen even when the piece traveled to the National Gallery of Art in Washington last year, where the museum's online catalog read: "Rembrandt humanized the spiritual inspiration that guided Matthew by painting the angel as a young boy, without wings."

WaPo on Transnational Desis

The Post covers the phenomenon of (legal) border-hoppiing Indian immmigrants in today's edition. My parents may someday add themselves to this phenomenon, as they keep threatening to move to India for part of the year. I can understand why - living there is much cheaper than living here, and they already own a flat outright. On the other hand, when I have a couple of kids, their song may change.

The Post article describes the phenomenon, and speculates as to its causes and ramifications:

In an era of webcams and discount airfares that help expatriates keep close ties to their homelands, researchers say Indians retain some of the closest, thanks in part to Indian media, which are particularly pervasive around the globe.

But few other immigrants live such "transnational" lives -- yet, said Muzaffar Chishti, director of the Migration Policy Institute at the New York University School of Law.

"Living in two places is going to be more of a phenomenon than we've seen in the past," Chishti said. "It raises, obviously, the very difficult question, a social and psychological question: What becomes home?"

They Love Boys...

Who knew that the GOP had an active NAMBLA wing? To start, Dennis Hastert and John A. Boehner did.

Trader Joe's Midtown Atlanta

has finally made TJ's coming soon list. In fact, the facade is almost done at the Midtown Promanade shopping center, former home of the sketchtastic Save-Rite store. I'm as excited as a little girl. Really.

Colbert on Macaca